Crown Prince Wang Lin of Prince Jiang's Mansion was assassinated not far from the entrance of the estate.
He had been stripped entirely naked. By the time he was found, he was as dead as one could be. His death was identical to Zhang Lun's.
The news quickly spread to the ears of every high-ranking official in Liangjiang Commandery.
Inside Zeng Anmin's dorm room.
"Once Literary Qi fills the seven hundred major acupoints, you can await the right opportunity. If you attain an epiphany, you can use the abundant Literary Qi to open the Purple Mansion. When the Purple Mansion is opened, seven hundred strands of Literary Qi will be absorbed into it and condense into one. This is called Vast Righteous Qi.
"At that time, you can be considered to have reached the Purple Mansion Realm."
Zhang Lun's gentle and refined voice still seemed to echo in his mind.
Zeng Anmin slowly opened his eyes and muttered, "Seven hundred and twenty strands of Literary Qi have gathered in the Purple Mansion to form Vast Righteous Qi.
"Brother Tongyu, I've done it."
Although he had progressed this quickly because the Dragon Inspection Map had taken a shortcut by opening his Purple Mansion in advance, it didn't matter. He was now a Cultivator of the Confucian Dao's Seventh Grade, standing in the Purple Mansion Realm!
His gaze slowly turned toward the Golden Finger's interface.
[Congratulations on breaking through the Grade.]
[Martial Art attributes have finished loading.]
[Please select one of the following three Martial Art attributes.]
"[Silver] Exquisite Martial Art: Weapons and Spiritual Artifacts obtained through this attribute cannot be used for forty years. After forty years, they will transform into random auxiliary Dao Spiritual Artifacts.
"[Silver] Martial Art Construction: Obtain Martial Arts Spiritual Artifact fragments. After seventy years, the fragments will evolve into a complete Spiritual Artifact.
"[Silver] Martial Art Reorganization: All Martial Arts Spiritual Artifacts obtained through this attribute will be upgraded to a random higher-grade Spiritual Artifact."
[Note: Unselected attributes will permanently disappear. Countdown: 30, 29, 28...]
He thought, "It's exactly as I expected. This system prefers that I break through my Martial Arts Realm."
Both of his Confucian Dao breakthroughs had given him highly impractical silver attributes. Only that single Martial Art breakthrough had yielded a prismatic attribute.
He thought, "Case closed. The system discriminates against the Confucian Dao..."
Zeng Anmin's gaze slowly swept across the three attributes.
"Exquisite Martial Art" and "Martial Art Construction" indeed looked tempting in their effects. However, they required too much waiting time—one took forty years, and the other seventy.
He passed on them immediately. By the time they matured, it would be far too late. The world would have moved on, and everything would have changed. Therefore, there was only one choice left.
[Martial Art Reorganization]: All Martial Arts Spiritual Artifacts obtained through this attribute will be upgraded to a random higher-grade Spiritual Artifact.
"This is the only one," Zeng Anmin muttered.
He made his selection. Instantly, he felt a wave of turbulence within his Sea of Consciousness. With a shift of his intent, he looked inside.
The short knife that had originally been suspended there had transformed into a completely unrelated Short-handled Hand Axe... However, streaks of prismatic light flickered across its surface, highlighting ancient, mysterious patterns.
Even though Zeng Anmin had mentally prepared himself, his breath still hitched.
"A Divine... Artifact!"
Although this was an Immortal World, the weapon grading system was not overly complex. There were only three tiers.
The first was ordinary weapons forged by common blacksmiths. The second was weapons engraved with Arrays by the Profound Array Department, also known as Spiritual Artifacts. The third was weapons that possessed a certain level of consciousness—these were known as Divine Artifacts!
"Dean..." The butler wore a grave expression as he looked at Qin Shoucheng, who was holding a fishing pole. Stepping forward quickly, he reported, "Wang Lin died on his way home last night."
Qin Shoucheng's hand paused slightly, astonishment flashing across his face. "Dead?!"
"Yes. He was assassinated by a Martial Artist wearing a Black Cat mask. A passerby witnessed the Martial Artist using an ornate short knife. Now, the Observation Department is hunting the culprit all over the city."
Hearing this, Qin Shoucheng remained silent. After a long while, he suddenly sneered. "If he's dead, he's dead. He brought it upon himself; he couldn't escape his doom."
Saying this, he was about to turn his head back toward the water when he suddenly froze. Involuntarily, a face with Dan Feng eyes surfaced in his mind. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Zeng Anmin... did he leave the academy last night?"
The butler's expression stiffened for a moment before he replied gravely, "I don't know, but... we can look into it."
A thoughtful gleam flickered in Qin Shoucheng's eyes.
At that moment, he gently twitched the fishing pole.
PLOP!
The bobber on the water's surface bobbed lightly.
"I've got a bite! I've got a bite! Hahaha!" Qin Shoucheng's face lit up with wild surprise. Having caught absolutely nothing for days, he was overjoyed to finally see a fish take the bait.
Just then, a faint aura suddenly materialized. Sensing it, Qin Shoucheng jerked his head up and looked toward the center of the academy. The hand gripping the fishing pole froze.
"A student has broken through, opened their Purple Mansion, and condensed Vast Righteous Qi!"
However, because his attention had been diverted, the fish slipped off the hook and splashed back into the water.
"Haha, this truly is a double bless—"
The butler was also beaming, just about to offer his congratulations. However, seeing the fish plunge back into the water, he paused abruptly. Caught off guard, he blurted out, "Lost at sunrise, gained at sunset."
Qin Shoucheng's face stiffened. He glared at the water's surface in annoyance and forced a smile. "At least my academy has gained another pillar of strength."
As they spoke, hurried footsteps approached.
"Dean! The person who just broke through to the Purple Mansion Realm is Zeng Anmin!" A Scholar's Attendant sprinted over as fast as he could, out of breath as he reported.
"Who?!" Qin Shoucheng's expression suddenly turned blank.
"Zeng Anmin..."
Qin Shoucheng shot to his feet, letting the fishing pole slide out of his hand and into the water. Acting as if he didn't even notice, he stared intensely at the servant and demanded, "Are you absolutely sure?!"
The attendant dropped to his knees with a THUD, pointing at the sky as he swore, "If even half a word of this is false, may the heavens strike me dead!"
"Five days... from the Entry Grade to opening the Purple Mansion?!" Qin Shoucheng didn't even blink. He felt as if the world were playing a massive joke on him. Let alone seeing it, he had never even heard of such a heaven-defying speed!
Reaching the Purple Mansion Realm so smoothly also proved that all of his previous suspicions about Zeng Anmin were absolute nonsense.
He thought, "That Zeng Shilin! Why does he have to be better than me at everything?"
Aside from literary talent, which was slightly inferior to his own, Zeng Shilin's Confucian Dao talent, his political maneuvering, his physical appearance, and even his ability to win a beauty's smile were all superior... And now, even his ability to sire a capable son was being completely crushed by the man.
Qin Shoucheng stood frozen in place for a full fifteen minutes.
"Dean?" After all, the butler was not a Confucian Cultivator and didn't fully comprehend the implications of such speed. He was the first to recover. Stepping closer to Qin Shoucheng, he asked in a hushed voice, "Should we still look into him?"
"Investigate my ass!" Qin Shoucheng suddenly snapped back to reality. Staring fiercely at the butler, he ordered, "No matter who comes asking—remember, no matter who, even if the emperor himself arrives in person—Zeng Anmin was in his dorm room seeking a breakthrough all of last night! He didn't take a single step outside!"
CREAK.
The door to Zeng Anmin's room was pushed open. A group of elderly men stared at him in utter shock.
"Zeng Anmin?! It really is him!"
"In just five short days, he jumped three Grades?!"
"Unheard of! Unseen!"
"Even the Confucian Saint back in the day probably wasn't this fast!"
As their eyes locked onto Zeng Anmin, they all simultaneously lost their voices.
Zeng Anmin looked back at them and blinked.
He thought, "It's secure! Could the sensation of the Governor's son breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm in five days possibly fail to overshadow the news of the Crown Prince of Prince Jiang's Mansion's death?"
He grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, and looked at the Tutors with a beaming smile. "Quan Fu greets all of you Tutors. I wonder what brings you all..."
Before he could finish speaking, an old man suddenly lunged at him. Trembling all over, the elder grabbed his hands and pleaded, "Quan Fu, I am willing to take you as my direct disciple and teach you everything I know without holding anything back! Are you willing?!"