“Alas, I didn’t expect him to be so unbearable. If Fang Yun had argued with Master Xun to the point of spitting blood, his hatred for Fang Yun would be understandable. But it’s clear that he was injured by someone from the Mencius family, yet he treats Fang Yun this way. It’s simply unwise.”

“Scholars have always been dismissive of each other since ancient times. It seems that Xun Ye is not capable of great things. It’s a pity that Xun Tianling of the Xun family has such poor talent, otherwise the Xun family could have risen to a higher level.”

Han Shoulu suddenly shook his head slightly, as if he disagreed with the words about Xun Tianling. He wanted to say something but eventually didn’t.

Li Fanming said coldly, “Fortunately, Fang Yun has the protection of the Star Demon Barbarian, which prevents Xun Ye from taking action. If Fang Yun didn’t die at the hands of the Tyrant but died at the hands of Xun Ye, we would truly regret it.”

A newly arrived Presented Scholar frowned and said, “Can the Tyrant really obtain the method of dividing the soul? It’s not difficult to obtain the holy blood for soul division, but separating and recombining the soul is too difficult.”

Jia Jing’an smiled slightly and said, “Leaving that aside, the Book of Changes is one of the six classics of our Confucian school, which everyone must read. In it, Sage Confucius once wrote the ‘Commentary on the Changes’ to complete the Book of Changes. It says: ‘Therefore, the Changes have the Supreme Ultimate, which gives birth to the two modes. The two modes give birth to the four images, the four images give birth to the eight trigrams, the eight trigrams determine good and bad luck, and good and bad luck give birth to great undertakings.’ As long as you hold the holy text of Confucius that contains this sentence, you can divide the soul. However, I guess that the Tyrant is using the holy text of another Semi-Saint. If you think about it carefully, you can guess who it is.”

Li Fanming snorted and said, “What else could it be? He must be using the method of dividing the soul in the ‘Great Music’ section of ‘Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals’. The original text is ‘The Supreme Ultimate gives birth to the two modes, the two modes give birth to Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang change, one rises and one falls, and they combine to form a chapter. In chaos and confusion, they separate and then combine, and combine and then separate. This is called the constant of heaven.’ In the past, Lu Sheng used this to divide his soul into hundreds, comprehending all aspects of life, and thus became a saint. It is the most reliable method of dividing the soul.”

Everyone suddenly understood.

“If he used the method of dividing the soul from the constant of heaven, then it makes sense. The wealth he has been openly and secretly snatching is probably mostly used to exchange for the original manuscript of ‘Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals’ to use the method of dividing the soul from the constant of heaven. Since the Meng family is in decline, and the Tyrant doesn’t want to give the relics left by Meng Sheng to the Lu family, he can only rob the wealth of other prominent families.”

Someone suddenly said, “Did the Tyrant really turn into a black panther?”

“Brother Ma, why do you say that?” Li Fanming asked.

Fang Yun looked at this person, Ma Xiong. He was a famous scholar from the Ma Jun family, proficient in mechanical arts. The Mo family, Lu Ban family, Zhuge family, Ma family, and Zhang Heng family were the five major families of mechanical arts in the world. However, the Ma family paid more attention to the people’s livelihood. The new type of loom and dragon bone waterwheel were all invented by Semi-Saint Ma Jun. He even improved the Zhuge crossbow.

Ma Xiong said, “Although my mechanical bull was destroyed by the Demon Barbarian while escaping, my mechanical bird has always been there. When we were escaping, the mechanical bird saw a black panther heading towards the direction of the Dark Water River. At that time, I found it a bit strange. The Holy Land is either inhabited by Demon Barbarians or small beasts, or fierce beasts. There can’t be wild beasts. It should be someone’s spirit beast. I didn’t have time to think about it. Now it seems that the black panther should be the Tyrant.”

Li Fanming’s expression changed and he said, “The Tyrant has been preparing for this Holy Land for a long time. Since he is heading towards the Dark Water River, there must be good things there! Since he used poison to assassinate Fang Yun, we will go to stop him tomorrow! If we can destroy his soul division, he will definitely be severely injured and won’t be able to be promoted from Hanlin Scholar to Grand Academician in a short time.”

“You are underestimating the Tyrant. If his soul division could be destroyed so easily, he wouldn’t have risked everything to sneak into the Holy Land. However, we can go and take a look. Even if we can’t destroy his soul division, it’s a good deed to stop him!” Han Shoulu said.

Everyone looked at each other. They were clearly going to harm someone, but no one opposed it. They couldn’t help but laugh.

Li Fanming laughed and said, “Fang Yun, you should rest and recover these few days. We will go to the Dark Water River again tomorrow to see if we can disrupt the Tyrant’s plan.”

Fang Yun thought about his condition. If he could get out of bed tomorrow, he would go with them to take a look. If he couldn’t get out of bed, he would forget about it.

Hua Yuqing said, “Since your severe poison has been removed, my medical books and medical skills can come in handy. Today, I will give you some good medicine to replenish your blood and energy. I will recover my energy late at night and then use the medical book to treat you. I guarantee that you will be able to get out of bed as soon as possible.”

Fang Yun nodded in thanks.

Then, Hua Yuqing took out the good medicine from the Swallowed Lake Pearl and gave it to Fang Yun. Then he went into the cave with everyone else to rest and recover.

In the middle of the night, Hua Yuqing entered the cave where Fang Yun was, first used the medical book to treat Fang Yun, then left to treat others, and rested again when his energy was exhausted.

The rain outside the cave had stopped, the dark clouds in the sky had dispersed, and the moonlight and starlight shone on the ground, like silver gauze and white frost.

Fang Yun lay quietly, feeling the warm current formed by the medical book slowly flowing in his body, repairing the damage to his body.

After about a quarter of an hour, Fang Yun noticed that the warm current had disappeared, and then he tried to control his hand.

Fang Yun was delighted to find that he could quickly lift his arm. So he pressed his hands on the bed, propped up his upper body, and sat on the bed.

“Much better.”

Fang Yun thought to himself, coughed lightly, and found that his throat had also recovered. So he tried to say, “Better?”

His words were a bit slurred and his voice was a bit hoarse, but he had already recovered his basic language ability.

Fang Yun breathed a sigh of relief. Although his body had not fully recovered, he believed that he would recover soon if he continued like this.

“Your Majesty, are you awake?” Niu Shan, who was next to him, rubbed his eyes and sat up.

“Yes, don’t worry about me, you go to sleep. I’ll try to walk.” Fang Yun tried to stand up, but found that his legs were weak and he couldn’t get up.

“Do you need me to help you?”

“No, let’s wait another day.”Fang Yun sighed lightly and lay down to sleep.

At dawn, the Star Barbarians living in the village began to get busy, moving out of the caves and back to their tents at the foot of the mountain. Fang Yun was also carried out of the stuffy cave by Niu Shan and others and brought to the entrance of the tent.

The Presented Scholars also got up one after another, and Hua Yuqing once again treated the most severely injured with medical books.

Fang Yun asked Hua Yuqing, and Hua Yuqing’s answer was that it might take more than ten days for his legs to fully recover.

Fang Yun didn’t want to lie down all day, nor could he always use the rapid travel poetry to walk.

“Ah, if only there were wheelchairs here,” Fang Yun was thinking when he noticed that Ma Xiong was assembling a mechanical dog not far away. His mechanical bull had been damaged, but he carried many parts of mechanical dogs with him. Although the mechanical dogs were far inferior to the mechanical bull, they would still play a significant role.

An idea popped into Fang Yun’s mind. At this time, although there were similar things like the Military Marquis’s car driven by talent on the Holy Origin Mainland, there were no wheelchairs yet. Moreover, wheelchairs were not difficult to make, and wheelchairs made with mechanical techniques might be even more comfortable than those in later generations.

Fang Yun cleared his throat and said, “Brother Ma, I wonder if I could trouble you with something.”

Ma Xiong put down his work, walked over with a smile, and said, “You can talk now? That’s great. Let’s hear it. If I can do it, I will do my best.”

“It’s not too difficult. For those of you who understand mechanical techniques, it should be easy. I want to make a kind of chair, um, with wheels like a car, like a very small Military Marquis’s car. This should be simple for you, right?”

“This kind of chair already exists, and it’s very simple to make. It can be done in half a Time at most.”

Fang Yun said, “But the chair I want to make is called a wheelchair. I’ve never heard of it before. It’s a chair that I can sit on and move around with my arms, even without using talent.”

“Oh? That’s strange. There are chairs that need others to push, and chairs that are driven by talent, but I’ve never heard of your kind. Brother Fang, can you draw it?”

“Sure.” So Fang Yun took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and carefully drew the outline of the wheelchair. He also drew an exploded view, separately drawing the large wheels, small wheels, brakes, footrests, and other parts.

Ma Xiong took a careful look and exclaimed, “What a brilliant idea! Although it’s simple, it contains the essence of mechanical techniques! Can you explain the functions of these things in detail?”

So Fang Yun explained in detail, deliberately using the terminology of the mechanics on the Holy Origin Mainland.

The more Ma Xiong listened, the more excited he became. Finally, he slapped the table and exclaimed, “It’s no wonder you’re Fang Zhenguo! Not only are your poems powerful, but you also excel in mechanical techniques! You are the role model for us scholars, knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, truly a polymath! With this kind of wheelchair, many people who can’t walk can use it instead. It’s a great merit to help millions of people get off their sickbeds! The method of making this wheelchair can be included in the mechanics section of ‘The Path of the Saints’, and you’ve got another article for ‘The Path of the Saints’!”

Fang Yun didn’t expect Ma Xiong to be so excited. He laughed and explained, “I was really bored last night, so I recalled the ancient mechanics books and then came up with the method of making this wheelchair. What do you think, can you make it yourself?”

“Of course I can! This wheelchair is really simple. But since it’s my first time making it, it might not be very good. You can’t blame me.”

Fang Yun laughed and said, “As long as it works. Although I have some research on mechanics, my skills are far inferior to yours. How about this, you take some time to study the wheelchair in depth, and once you’ve fully understood it, you can publish it in ‘The Path of the Saints’, okay?”

“You’ve already thought of everything and drawn it all out for the wheelchair. I’m just moving my hands. You should be the first author, and I can be the second at most. But, are you really willing to let me help you write this mechanics article? The reward of the holy pages will naturally go to you, but I will share some of your honor and achievements.”

“Each has his own specialty. It’s safest to let a mechanic write this article. In the future, I will follow the example of the sages and dabble in all arts, but I can’t do everything myself. My ideas need to be turned into reality with the help of you mechanics.” Fang Yun said.

Ma Xiong said, “Would you like to cooperate with my Ma family? Let us make and sell these wheelchairs, and you can get a share of the profits. What do you think?”

Fang Yun thought for a moment and said, “A gentleman loves money and gets it in the right way. This wheelchair is designed for people with physical injuries. How about this, the wheelchair is divided into ordinary and superior types. The ordinary wheelchair is cheap, and you can deduct the share that should be given to me to lower the price of the wheelchair. The superior wheelchair focuses on appearance and luxury, and is sold at a high price to those wealthy families. I will happily accept the share of these superior wheelchairs.”

Ma Xiong looked solemn and said, “What a gentleman loves money and gets it in the right way. This sentence can be annotated to Sage Confucius’s ‘Wealth and honor are what people desire, but if they cannot be obtained in the right way, they should not be kept.’ You are indeed Fang Zhenguo, and I, Ma Xiong, am convinced.”

At this time, several Presented Scholars passed by, and one of them laughed and said, “Ma Xiong, what’s going on?”

Ma Xiong then told them what had just happened, and emphasized that the phrase “A gentleman loves money and gets it in the right way” was said by Fang Yun.

After hearing this, the Presented Scholars straightened their faces, bowed, and said, “Truly a virtuous scholar.” (To be continued.)