Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 346 Breakthrough! Venerable Realm!

The official's voice was neither loud nor soft, like a piece of iron that had been repeatedly polished, gleaming with a dull luster in the morning light.

"Taxes are the foundation of humanity!"

When he said this, his gaze fell on Zhu Ge.

"The foundation of humanity?" Zhu Ge repeated those four words. "Then tell me, what is the foundation of humanity?"

"Survival," the official Jingzhe said coldly. "For the human race to survive, they need food, clothing, shelter, and security."

"These things don't come out of thin air. Food needs to be grown, clothing needs to be woven, shelter needs to be built, and security needs to be protected."

"Taxes are a collection of the fruits of labor, used to maintain the structures that allow everyone to continue to live."

Therefore, taxes are the foundation of humankind!

"That's right." Zhu Ge nodded slightly. "You're right. Survival requires structure, and structure requires resources."

"But once resources are concentrated to a certain extent, the structure itself will become a consumer of resources, rather than a provider of resources."

He looked up and met the gaze of the official Jingzhe.

The official's gaze lingered for a moment: "You mean; the tax system itself can rot? Nonsense! I have never embezzled a single penny of gold, silver, or copper in my entire life."

"Everything changes, whether it's you or someone else." Zhu Ge shook his head: "Because the people who implement the system will change, and the people the system serves will also change."

"When a tax system was created, its purpose was to maintain the basic structure of life. But when the basic structure of life itself becomes a source of privilege for some, the tax system is no longer the 'foundation of humanity,' but the 'foundation of privilege.'"

privilege!

This is one of the most important factors that breed corruption!

The official Jingzhe was silent for a moment, then said, "So, how corrupt do you think the current tax system is?"

"It's rotten to the point that those who are farming feel that most of the fruits of their labor don't belong to them." Zhu Ge laughed.

"So rotten that those who are weaving feel that most of the results of their weaving do not belong to them, so rotten that those who are building feel that most of the results of their building do not belong to them."

"If a system makes most people who are producing feel that they are being deprived, then that system is no longer maintaining the structure of survival, but rather weakening it."

"And now, humanity is in utter misery, yet you continue to deceive yourself with your own innocence, believing that your innocence proves that corruption doesn't exist?"

"Do you realize that your failure to punish those who know the truth is far more terrifying than your own corruption!"

Jingzhe Guan stood there, the hem of his dark gray robe fluttering slightly in the wind, his gaze fixed on Zhu Ge, deep and lingering.

"Then how do you think things should be changed?" the Jingzhe official said indifferently. "Only those at the third realm can serve as the Jingzhe official. If we punish those at the third realm for the sake of farmers and craftsmen, who will be willing to help when demons, ghosts, monsters, and gods attack?"

"Who will do things for you?"

That's it!

Zhu Ge was so angry she laughed.

Fundamentally, it's still an elite mindset, not a people's mindset.

Zhu Ge knows best that there is really not much correlation between strength, talent, and birth.

Strong individuals can come from either the most gifted or the least gifted.

A person with great talent may be born into a wealthy and influential family, or they may be born in a remote and rural village.

Nothing in this world is absolute.

People who are gifted in mathematics, physics, and chemistry in their past lives may not necessarily come from cities, and those from rural areas may not necessarily fail to get into Tsinghua, Peking, Jiaotong, or Fudan Universities.

Therefore, a large population base is the foundation of human strength, while a clear method for discovering and cultivating geniuses is a necessary condition for human prosperity.

However, to achieve this, the first thing to break is the perception of people like Jingzhe Guan.

The same was true in ancient China.

Wealthy and powerful families have money and resources, and their children don't need to do labor; they only need to study.

Therefore, in the eyes of the world, most people with extraordinary talents come from aristocratic families.

How similar is it to the current Great Sheng Dynasty?

Strong individuals mostly come from powerful forces, and the probability of a strong person emerging from the lower ranks is infinitely close to zero.

Therefore, breaking down preconceived notions and outdated ideas is the most important thing.

However, implementing compulsory education is too difficult at present.

Let's not talk about demons, ghosts, spirits, or gods, nor about alien races like the winged race or mermaids.

Even within their own human race, the situation is complex and intertwined.

But it is difficult as it may be.

We have to do it.

This was also Zhu Ge's original intention in founding the newspaper.

Take it easy.

"Your perception depends on your level of understanding, and I don't blame you." Zhu Ge finally just sighed softly, "You don't know that when I created the Yi Dao Tianji Dao, I saw all sorts of visions of the future of humanity."

"You have no idea how little tolerance people who have seen the sun have for darkness."

"I don't blame you for any of this."

"But now I must say, humanity has reached a critical moment of survival."

"All that is rotten, decadent, and dilapidated will be swept into the rubbish heap."

"Humanity can only move forward, and it will inevitably move forward."

"Any mantis that stands in my way will be crushed by the overwhelming force."

As she spoke, Zhu Ge slowly took a step forward.

"How dare you!"

The official raised an eyebrow and sneered, "If you don't pay the tax, don't even think about entering the city!"

"I told you, you can't stop me."

Zhu Ge shook his head, his expression indifferent: "It's a pity that the poems in my heart were originally intended for other places, such as alien races, but—oh well, the corrupt internal forces are not wasted either."

As he spoke, the power within Zhu Ge's body transformed into literary energy under the Guiyuan system, and a massive amount of literary energy surged and rolled.

"Are you trying to rebel?!"

The official Jingzhe was shocked and enraged, and immediately extended his right hand towards Zhu Ge: "Since that's the case, I will suppress you!"

The official in charge of the Awakening of Insects knew that Zhu Ge carried too much on her shoulders, so he dared not kill her and could only choose to suppress her.

An endless pressure swept over them in an instant.

Liu Jianjian was immediately thrown away.

And the large group of people on Zhu Ge's head also revealed their true forms.

"not good!"

"Should we try to stop the gentlemen of the four seasons?"

"Should we stop him with our heads or our lives? The Four Seasons Gentlemen are holding back now and won't kill Zhu Ge, but if we make a move, they might kill us."

"That's right. We've already escorted Zhu Ge to Shengjing, and her fate is no longer our responsibility."

"No, strictly speaking, we haven't even arrived in Shengjing yet—"

These powerful individuals, connected by their divine senses, were all debating whether or not to help Zhu Ge.

Along the way, they rarely helped Zhu Ge and were basically bored.

Otherwise, this would be a good job, since opportunities to make Zhu Ge owe someone a favor are rare.

But it's a bit too late to act now.

Making a move now means taking sides.

"You call yourself a gentleman of all seasons, yet you don't understand the general trend of the times," Zhu Ge said softly.

In front of him, there was a faint arc-shaped shield blocking his way.

Self-bound!

The self-boundary that merged with the dawn's momentum finally came into play at this moment.

The Jingzhe Official, also known as the Gentleman of the Four Seasons, wanted to suppress Zhuge, which was tantamount to suppressing the entire Self Realm.

That's much harder than suppressing someone at the second realm.

Meanwhile, Zhu Ge was not idle either.

His brief resistance was merely to allow him to better compose poetry.

"Clinging firmly to the green hills, its roots firmly planted in the broken rocks, it remains strong and resilient despite countless trials and tribulations, defying the winds from all directions!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a pillar appeared in the void and took root in Zhu Ge's own realm.

The spirit of green bamboo!

When he brought this poem into the world, it immediately triggered a corresponding reaction from the Great Dao.

He then comprehended the "meaning of green bamboo" through the Confucian way.

At this moment, with the power of green bamboo and its own boundaries, as long as the Awakening Official doesn't actually make a move, he can't defeat Zhu Ge just by relying on his aura.

but----

Zhu Ge looked up at the sky, as if trying to see the palace high above through the layers of dark clouds.

However, this is only a defense.

That's not enough to truly enter the city.

unless----

breakthrough.

With Zhu Ge's current strength, he has already reached the peak of the second realm of martial arts, immortality, and Confucianism.

There is no pressure left to suppress it.

This is the perfect opportunity for a breakthrough.

He looked ahead.

Zhu Ge stood on the open ground inside the city gate, with the Jingzhe Official in front of him.

The invisible pressure that the Jingzhe official was exerting on him.

The pressure was like a thick, continuously settling airflow, slowly pressing down from above and covering the area where he was.

His own world was supporting the arc-shaped shield in the form of dawn, and the surface of the shield was rippling with a layer of fine waves, like water ruffled by the wind.

The ripples continued to spread, fold, and recombine. Each recombination consumed the energy reserves within the shield, causing the shield's thickness to slowly thin at an almost imperceptible rate.

Liu Jianjian was thrown several feet away by the edge of that pressure.

She did two somersaults in the air, and used her demonic energy to cushion the impact when she landed. She knelt on one knee to steady herself and looked up in Zhu Ge's direction.

She didn't rush over because she knew that rushing over at this moment would only distract Zhu Ge from protecting her.

She crouched there, her eyes fixed on Zhu Ge's direction, as if waiting for some signal from Zhu Ge.

Zhu Ge did not go to see her.

His entire focus was on the slowly advancing pressure before him, and the accelerating flow of power within his body.

Blood energy, literary energy, witch power, and spiritual power—the four forces were operating at a faster pace than usual under the influence of the Returning to Origin Intent, as if driven by that external pressure into a state close to its limit.

"You call yourself a gentleman of all seasons, yet you don't understand the timing of the seasons." Zhu Ge's voice continued to echo in the area shrouded in pressure, neither loud nor soft.

He didn't wait for Jingzhe Guan's response, but instead carefully sensed the state of the power within his body.

They have reached the limit that the second realm can achieve, and are already approaching the boundary that he has been intentionally avoiding.

That boundary was like a door he had been standing in front of for a long time, its surface already showing fine cracks. With just one more concentrated force, it would be pushed open.

"You want to use me to break through?!" Jingzhe Guan's voice turned cold, clearly sensing the changes taking place in Zhu Ge.

His voice remained steady, but there was a very slight fluctuation, as if it had been triggered by some unexpected change.

"I can't hold it in any longer." Zhu Ge grinned: "Even if the wind and snow press down on me, I will still stand proudly."

His voice was equally steady, but it carried a sense of certainty that had been confirmed many times before, like someone who had walked a long way finally seeing the end and checking whether their steps were still steady enough.

The next moment, he closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his body.

The self-bound energy is continuously releasing energy to maintain the arc-shaped shield, but the shield is being consumed at an accelerating rate because the pressure exerted by the Jingzhe official is increasing at an extremely slow pace.

He neither adjusted the structure of the shield nor tried to fight against the pressure.

He focused all his attention on the accelerating flow of energy within his body, feeling its direction, density, and rhythm.

Even the official Jingzhe wouldn't dare kill him under these circumstances.

"This membrane—"

Blood and qi are the first to reach that boundary.

As it flows through the meridians, it carries a texture that has been repeatedly polished, like a stable structure formed after being hammered many times.

When it touched that boundary, there was no obvious resistance. It was more like a layer of paper that had been repeatedly soaked was being permeated by water. The boundary was slowly softening, and those channels that had been blocked for a long time were opening up layer by layer.

Literary elegance followed closely behind.

Unlike blood and qi, literary qi is lighter and more adept at penetrating along tiny cracks.

It spread along the softening boundary surface, like a slowly unfolding film covering the areas that had already cracked.

Then, magical and spiritual power surged forth.

They differ in texture from blood and literary energy, each carrying its own rhythm and density, but under the influence of the concept of returning to the origin, they are arranging and flowing in a more harmonious way than usual.

Guided by Zhu Ge, the four forces converged in the same direction, forming a dense energy layer on the softening boundary surface.

Above the shield, the outline of the green bamboo phantom was becoming clearer.

It is rooted in the self-boundary of the blessing song, absorbing the surrounding energy at a certain fixed rhythm to maintain its own stability.

The pressure exerted by the Jingzhe official was partially dispersed by the phantom, while the remaining pressure was being continuously consumed by the shield.

Inside his body, that boundary was being continuously pushed, softened, and penetrated.

It's like an old door that has been tested many times, with the cracks on its surface even more dense than before.

Guided by the principle of returning to the origin, the four forces converged at the weakest point of the boundary, forming an energy layer that is continuously exerting pressure.

The official in charge of the Awakening of Insects neither retreated nor increased the pressure.

He simply stood there, maintaining his current posture, as if waiting for a process he had anticipated to complete its final steps.

The next moment, Zhu Ge's heart stirred.

The boundary that had been repeatedly tested and softened was completely pierced in that instant, like a barrier that had been dismantled.

The partially supported old wall collapsed completely under the final push.

"boom!!!"

The instant that moment arrived, Zhu Ge felt his senses expand in an unprecedented way.

It was as if a thin film that had been covering him was being peeled away, and details that were previously imperceptible were being revealed in a clearer form, like ripples on the surface of water gradually revealing the outline of the bottom after the water has calmed down.

He felt his Shangyuan Palace being continuously nourished by a clear stream, like a long-dried-up well being slowly filled.

The power accumulated during the second realm was rearranged, reorganized, and integrated.

He closed his eyes and felt the light filling the space of Shangyuan Palace at an even faster pace than before, like a newly dredged canal returning water to forgotten riverbeds.

When he opened his eyes, he could feel his perspective changing.

The Shangyuan Palace continues to expand, extending outward from its initial small area, reaching those places that were previously only vaguely perceived...

However, it is an information layer that cannot be directly observed.

Those layers are like layers of translucent drawings, each recording the existence of different densities. As he adjusts his perspective, they appear layer by layer and then disappear layer by layer.

When the primordial chaos was broken, the heavens were round and the earth was square!

"Shangyuan Palace has been opened up—"