At this moment, aside from a few of the highest-ranked powerhouses, no one yet knew what the Confucian Saint Xie Qian truly intended to do.
The Confucian School had not yet revealed its real purpose.
The slogan "Heaven's Equal Through Eternity," representing Xie Qian's true philosophy, was something that only a handful of people in the entire world knew.
And as the one whose Dao path stood in complete opposition to Xie Qian's, the Lord of the Four-Phase Calamity Lu Fuyi had undoubtedly heard these four words.
In fact, if one were to kill the Lord of the Four-Phase Calamity before fighting Xie Qian, without first triggering the Confucian side quest, her defeat dialogue would include a line mocking the player for knowing nothing,
yet still following Xie Qian to march willingly into an eternal prison called "Heaven's Equal Through Eternity."
Furthermore, when later investigating the fragmented remains of the "Extinction Path" cult after their leader's death, players would find a hidden record that contained partial information about this very matter.
That record had been dated thirty years ago.
Thus, it could be seen that the Lord of the Four-Phase Calamity had known of this phrase long ago.
She simply had not yet understood what those words truly meant.
So now, when Gu Fangchen boldly cried out "Heaven's Equal Through Eternity" with righteous fervor, Lu Fuyi naturally assumed he was one of Xie Qian's followers.
A lackey of the Confucian Sect.
, After all, players could change sides and identities at any time, couldn't they?
Gu Fangchen could only be someone of the Confucian School.
Otherwise, there was no way he could know of such a top-level secret phrase that had never once been revealed publicly.
And the reason the otherwise flawless plan had suddenly begun to fall apart could now be explained.
It was because within their plan, Gu Yuandao, the man they were cooperating with, had already secretly turned to Xie Qian's side.
Thus, Gu Fangchen's sudden counterattack was perfectly reasonable.
This was all part of a grand self-directed scheme meant to lure Lu Fuyi out and steal her Wheel of the Sea of Calamity.
When Lu Fuyi heard those four words, her expression indeed changed. She snorted coldly.
"So, it turns out you're just another Confucian dog."
Gu Fangchen seemed to realize his slip of the tongue and quickly shifted his expression. Then, adopting a defiant look, he tilted his head and exposed his neck, wearing the face of a man unafraid of death.
"Lady Calamity, if you're enraged, I'll stand right here. Kill me if you wish!"
"After all, the Wheel of the Sea of Calamity has already merged with me, it cannot be separated! A gentleman seeks benevolence and finds it; what grievance is there to hold? We of the Confucian School have never feared death!"
Perfect!
That line alone, "A gentleman seeks benevolence", was pure Confucian pretension!
After realizing he was one of the Confucian School, Lu Fuyi instead grew calm. Her abyssal eyes fixed on him as she said coolly,
"Heaven's Equal Through Eternity... so that's your belief?"
Her tone became strangely soft.
"Every one of you Confucian dogs prides yourselves on being martyrs for an ideal, believing that by sacrificing yourselves, you can make the world better."
"In truth, your sacrifices are nothing but self-indulgent illusions of nobility."
"For example, you now, you want to provoke me into killing you, yet in truth, you're certain I won't. You're frightened and proud at once... are you not trying to use this to threaten me?"
A mocking smile curved her lips.
"What I love most is seeing hypocrites like you."
At such sights, she could not help but wish to destroy them completely.
To move from despair to deeper despair was dull.
But to turn hope into despair, that was where the greatest karmic power was born.
Lu Fuyi paused, then said,
"Let me think..."
"I recall, your people are gathering at Dragon Hollow Lake right now, aren't they?"
As she expected, Gu Fangchen's eyes widened, revealing panic and guilt.
Of course, since he was faking being a Confucian, he was already terrified, no acting required.
Hmph, just as she thought.
Over the years, every rumor she'd gathered about Confucian activities seemed tied to this so-called "Heaven's Equal Through Eternity."
And the most recent one involved uniting the Seven Sects of Dragon Hollow Lake to strike against Sword Pavilion.
Whatever the case, there was clearly Confucian involvement, and they regarded it with great importance.
It was nothing like their previous small-scale operations.
Gu Fangchen forced his expression back into calm and said indifferently,
"So what? Lady Calamity, you're overthinking things, terribly."
"Do you not know that Gu Yuandao has returned to reclaim his rightful position as heir? He's my enemy. His mother and sister are here, of course he'd come back out of worry. Isn't that perfectly natural?"
Enemy?
You're clearly all in league!
Still pretending?
It seems Dragon Hollow Lake truly is vital to the Confucians.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you."
Lu Fuyi looked at Gu Fangchen and sneered to herself.
"I'll just let you see with your own eyes how meaningless all your efforts truly are."
Gu Fangchen's heart leapt; he gripped Lu Fuyi's hand harder, shouting,
"W-what are you going to do?"
Lu Fuyi shook her hand lightly, sending him staggering back with shattered bones, and turned toward the tavern.
Her faint voice echoed, word by word:
"I'll kill every last one of your Confucian comrades. You'll watch as your ideals crumble to dust."
Gu Fangchen stumbled, looked down, and saw that the bones of his wrist were completely shattered.
He rubbed it gently, grimacing.
"Hiss..."
Behind him, Qingjian pretended not to notice and followed his gaze toward the tavern, asking,
"My lord, she's gone. What are you still staring at?"
She sighed helplessly. They'd been talking for so long, and even now he stood there gazing after her,
How disgustingly sentimental!
Gu Fangchen knew the Lord of the Four-Phase Calamity's descent would certainly have been hidden from the others. Bearing the pain, he forced a grin.
"Nothing."
He shook his head with a sigh.
"Just thinking... would the Confucians really be able to handle such a beauty?"
The Sword Pavilion disciples nearby grew even more disdainful at his words.
This wastrel, did he think everyone shared his debauched tastes?
Confucian disciples were paragons of virtue, men of bamboo-like integrity, none of them would lose their composure before a pretty face as he did!
...
Meanwhile.
After being driven off by Gu Fangchen, Yang Zheng, son of the Sword Chief of the Sun River Sword Sect, fled in panic, not daring to stop for a single moment until he reached the gathering site of the Seven Sects.
There, aside from the Sun River Sword Sect, representatives from the Nine Sword Gate of Liuhua Province, Lone Cliff Peak of Stone Gate Circuit, and Sinking Sand Gang of Sun River Circuit were all present.
At that moment, under the command of Yang Qing, they were carefully inspecting the "Dragon-Serpent Arising from the Land" formation, awaiting Gu Yuandao's arrival to activate it.
"Father! Bad news!"
Yang Zheng stumbled in, shouting at the top of his lungs,
"Something terrible's happened!"
Yang Qing frowned.
"Lower your voice! What kind of behavior is this? How many times have I taught you? As the next Sword Chief, you must be steady!"
Yang Zheng panted, swallowing hard before blurting out,
"Father! Gu Fangchen already knew we were setting up the 'Dragon-Serpent Arising from the Land' formation!"
Yang Qing's face turned pale.
"What?!"