Chapter 1 Start

In the Saint Origin Continent, within the Jiang family of Jing Kingdom.

As a family of literary ministers, the Jiang family had always maintained strict family traditions. However, within this very family, there existed an anomaly – the eldest daughter of the third generation, Jiang Xuan.

*Chi! Shua! Xiu!*

In the backyard of the Jiang residence, a figure leaped and shifted. No trace of talent energy could be seen on her, but her lithe body and swift spearmanship made it impossible not to sigh in admiration; she was a master of the spear.

If she possessed talent energy, her strength would undoubtedly increase exponentially. Alas, this woman had no talent energy. Despite her astonishing scholarship and patriotic heart, she lacked the opportunity to act upon them.

At that moment, an elderly man in a wide, purple robe walked in from outside the small courtyard. His long white hair cascaded down his back, and his face was covered with fine wrinkles. He had a high nose and gentle eyes that seemed to contain water. His entire being seemed to be enveloped in a faint white light.

It felt as if all worries would dissipate with just a single glance at him.

He didn't speak, but instead walked to the other side of the courtyard, where a long table was placed. On it was a sheet of paper with a poem written on it:

*With heroic bearing, she wields knife and spear,*
*The first rays of dawn illuminate the training ground.*
*China's daughters harbor many ambitions,*
*They love armed forces, not red makeup.*

Upon seeing this poem, Jiang Hechuan was greatly shocked. However, as he looked at the yard filled with knives, spears, and the lithe woman dancing with a spear, eager to soar into the clouds, he couldn't help but sigh, "If only Xuan'er were a man..."

"Alas..."

Jiang Hechuan sighed deeply. This sigh also attracted the attention of Jiang Xuan, who was practicing with her spear. She performed a spear flourish, held the red spear diagonally behind her, and walked towards Jiang Hechuan.

"Grandfather."

Jiang Xuan chuckled. She possessed a natural air of lightness. Her skin was delicate, her expression relaxed, and she wore red clothing beneath her armor. Her brows carried a heroic spirit. Anyone who saw her would exclaim in admiration.

"Xuan'er, did you write this poem?"

Jiang Hechuan asked with a smile. The poem allowed him to see a shadow of war poems, and it was an unprecedented, first-of-its-kind war poem written from a woman's perspective.

Jiang Xuan glanced at the poem written on the table and calmly said, "Yes."

Although she didn't write the poem, it perfectly expressed the state of mind of the women in this world. They also yearned to participate in the imperial examinations, gain talent energy, and serve the country, but their path forward was blocked.

How wise was Jiang Hechuan? Since the poem came from Jiang Xuan, he naturally understood what Jiang Xuan wanted to express.

Jiang Xuan had always possessed extremely high talent in poetry and prose. If she were a man, Jiang Hechuan was certain that the ten kingdoms would be bathed in her light. Even among the families of the Sage Clans, Jiang Xuan's talent was absolutely an unparalleled prodigy.

Unfortunately, Jiang Xuan was a woman. No matter how amazing Jiang Xuan's talent was, in this world, people believed in "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue." Only men could take the imperial examinations, and only men could obtain literary ranks.

As for women, even if there were exceptional women called "female jinshi" or "female Hanlin scholars," they could never possess talent energy. They only had a title, which would only make them a laughingstock.

Even the numerous women's academies in the ten kingdoms were not recognized by the government and were often shut down. Even if they came from famous and powerful families, as long as they were women, they could not obtain literary ranks.

Precisely because of this, even though Jiang Hechuan knew that Jiang Xuan was intelligent and would amaze the world if she could participate in the imperial examinations, he was helpless. Even as a Great Confucian, his power was still insignificant when it came to changing the world.

"Xuan'er, Grandfather knows that you have resentment in your heart, perhaps even towards all the Sages. But you must understand that the Sages are planning for the survival of the human race in the myriad realms. Others can make mistakes, but they cannot."

Jiang Hechuan's gaze was gentle. Although Jiang Xuan was a woman, she was a junior he greatly admired, so he was very tolerant of her. Even when she rejected the marriage arranged for her by the Jiang family some time ago, Jiang Hechuan didn't blame her.

"Xuan'er understands."

Jiang Xuan was very calm. She naturally knew that the Sages were focused on the myriad realms. If any one of them made a mistake, the entire strength of the human race would decline, which was an unbearable price.

But this was not a reason for those pedantic people to unscrupulously prevent women from studying Confucianism. They were only acting for their own selfish reasons. They lacked the vision and responsibility of the Sages, and all they cared about were those limited literary ranks!

"Alas..." Jiang Hechuan sighed. "The true people of ambition in the human race have vaguely sensed some clues, but they can't do anything. Once someone stands up, things will become clear."

To put it bluntly, they lacked someone to pave the way. That person had to be able to bear the criticism of the world, have enough fame, status, talent, and the courage to rival the Sages. It was too difficult to meet all these requirements.

"Yes." Jiang Xuan's gaze was distant. She knew who that person who would stand up was. Although she didn't quite agree with some of his later actions, at least he was the first to stand up for women.

Jiang Hechuan chatted with Jiang Xuan for a while, wanting to enlighten her, but he didn't know that Jiang Xuan's knot had already been untied.

Just after Jiang Hechuan left, the heroic Jiang Xuan changed. Her entire being possessed an extraordinary aura, and her brow glowed, as if she were about to ascend to immortality.

Jiang Xuan looked at the sky, her gaze seeming to see the myriad realms and the stars. She felt a sense of enlightenment: "Born into this world, give off a bit of heat and a bit of light, like a firefly, so that you can give off light in the darkness, without waiting for a torch. If there is no torch after all, then I will be the only light..."

"Grandfather, you're right, but I'm unwilling to wait, and I'm unwilling to receive his favor. Therefore, I will become the only light in this world!"

She would not wait. She had already made a decision the moment the Chaos Space appeared!

...

"The foundation of Confucianism lies in the Wenqu Star (Star of Literature). When the Wenqu Star moves, talent energy descends from the heavens, and only then can talent energy and Confucianism exist in the world."

Jiang Xuan had been transmigrated for eighteen years and naturally understood the history of the Saint Origin Continent. In this world, the human race, the demon race, and the barbarian race stood side by side.

However, the human race was born weak, and their physique was far inferior to the demon and barbarian races. For a long time, they were regarded as food.

It wasn't until the end of the Shang Dynasty that Marquis Xibo Jichang, later known as King Wen of Zhou, observed the sun, moon, and stars and wrote the immortal book *I Ching*. A celestial phenomenon occurred, and he was infused with talent energy. He was granted the title of Sub-Sage and set out from Xiqi to conquer Zhou.

The Xiqi army advanced with unstoppable momentum. On the day the Great Shang Dynasty was destroyed, King Wen of Zhou's talent energy transformed into a blazing sun, hanging high in the sky. Holding the sacred book *I Ching*, he recited it, and countless golden characters surrounded the blazing sun of talent energy, emitting golden light that illuminated the world.

The golden light didn't harm the human race, but ten thousand demons and three hundred thousand barbarians suddenly wailed miserably as their bodies split open from the inside out, splattering blood and dying one after another. In the end, five barbarian saints perished, and only one of the three demon saints escaped. On the Mu plains, blood flowed like pestles.

Later generations praised King Wen of Zhou: He slaughtered demons and barbarians with one hand, and secured the world alone.

After King Wen of Zhou passed the throne to King Wu, he devoted himself to studying the *I Ching* and lived to be five hundred years old. After that, no one possessed talent energy until Confucius was born.

Confucius personally wrote the *Spring and Autumn Annals*. When the book was completed, talent energy soared into the sky, celestial flowers rained down, stars shone brightly, clouds glowed for thousands of miles, thunder rumbled for ten thousand miles, and the world shook. He achieved the status of Sub-Sage.

Later, he founded the first academy, Qufu Academy, recruiting thirty thousand ordinary disciples, three thousand direct disciples, and seventy-two virtuous disciples.

Confucius used this to advance further, achieving the position of Sage, unprecedented and unmatched.

When Confucius passed away, his sacred body transformed into a pillar of talent energy that soared into the sky, lasting for a long time and visible to everyone in the world.

Three days later, the pillar of talent energy split into three, one entering Qufu Academy, one entering the thirty thousand disciples, and one entering the world.

Mencius, Xunzi, Zengzi, Zisi, and Yanzi and the other five half-sages used this to advance further and were granted the title of Sub-Sage. Since then, the era of talent energy began; since then, the contention of a hundred schools of thought returned to Confucianism; since then, the human race prospered!

The source of talent energy was the Wenqu Star. Therefore, the human race revered the Wenqu Star as the supreme star, the most important star for the human race.

"The stars here have divine power. Perhaps I can start my martial path from here."

Jiang Xuan had great ambitions. If she only wanted to compete with Confucianism, she could choose one of the powerful stars as a source of power.

But she didn't want to stop there. There were myriad races in the starry sky. The power of one star could allow the human race to contend in the Saint Origin Continent, but it wasn't enough for the human race to stand above all races.

If she only wanted to break the old rules and allow women to study Confucianism, it wouldn't be difficult. With her current power, she could become a Sub-Sage. Once she became a Sub-Sage, who in this world would dare to disobey her words?

Even if the Sages made a decision, they couldn't overturn her decision.

After all, the human race currently only had half-sages, no sub-sages, let alone sages.

But doing so would be meaningless. Even if women could participate in the imperial examinations, how much would the human race's strength increase? Talent energy had its limits. Low literary ranks were fine, but high literary ranks couldn't be sustained.

Moreover, Confucianism had extremely high requirements for literature. Poetry, lyrics, and odes were just the beginning. After that, they had to lecture on classics and write books. Many people would only become a *tongsheng* (government student) or *xiucai* (one who passed the county level imperial exam) in their entire lives.

But that little power wasn't even comparable to the lowest-level soldiers of the demons and barbarians. When they really went to the battlefield, they would be slaughtered in a one-sided massacre.

At the same time, before reaching a certain level, human Confucianism was always weaker than the demons and barbarians. Even in terms of lifespan, they were far inferior to other races. Even a sub-sage only had a lifespan of five hundred years, which was far from enough.

Therefore, Jiang Xuan would choose to open up another path, allowing the human race to have a broader direction of cultivation, not just Confucianism, not just talent energy.

"Stars... Drawing upon the power of the stars, transforming it into the 'Qi' of martial arts..."

In Jiang Xuan's heart, a path was gradually taking shape. To draw upon the power of the stars, she first had to solve the problem of how ordinary people could sense the stars.

However, she had already thought of this. After sharing her power previously, she would return to this world, comprehend the laws of heaven and earth, and then find Jiang Xuan of Douluo and ask him to create a soul tool based on the laws of this world to help mortals sense the stars.

As for the second point, she needed a place to store the power of the stars. This wasn't difficult either. Once a Confucian became a *tongsheng*, they could sense the Literary Palace, which meant that everyone had a Literary Palace in their body. She could completely transform the Literary Palace into a Dao Palace to carry the power of the stars.

The third point was the "method." Confucianism had the classics of the Sages and the literature of the hundred schools of thought, which was the accumulation of the human race for thousands of years. But if she wanted to open up the martial path in this world, she would need to create the martial arts method on her own.

Of course, with the insights and memories of the other Jiang Xuans, plus the many powerful cultivation methods in their memories, she didn't lack methods to refer to. Moreover, she only needed to create a general outline of martial arts. If people embarked on the martial path, there would eventually be geniuses who would create more paths and methods.

Therefore, what she really needed to consider now was the third point, the need to create a general outline of martial arts, and then wait for Jiang Xuan of Douluo to create a suitable soul tool.

Time flew by, and three months had passed. Jiang Xuan had created a martial arts method equivalent to the Great Confucian level. The early stages were extremely simple. For her, who had shared many memories and insights, it wasn't difficult to create it below the half-sage level.

"The half-sage level requires walking one's own sacred path, which is a process of transformation after one's own understanding reaches a certain level. This is no different from other worlds. Martial arts can also refer to this."

Jiang Xuan was now mainly focused on creating the path, and rarely cared about other things. But she also learned that this year's *tongsheng* examination was about to begin, which was a good opportunity, especially for those who failed the examination and women who couldn't take the exam.

That's right, she was going to undermine Confucianism. Every imperial examination brought joy to some and sorrow to others. If martial arts suddenly appeared when they were disappointed and could allow them to become strong, what would those people think?

She thought it would be very interesting, especially when those people discovered that even women could cultivate martial arts. In this world, many old fogeys would probably have their literary souls and Literary Palaces shattered!

"Soon, when the *tongsheng* examination ends, it will be the time for me to open up the martial path in this world!" Jiang Xuan's eyes were like torches. She was looking forward to that day.

...

There was an opportunity to take the *tongsheng* examination every year, but most people couldn't even cross this hurdle and couldn't obtain a literary rank.

But this didn't affect the human race's pursuit of literary ranks and talent energy. After all, this was a world where all other professions were inferior, only studying was valued. Some people couldn't even afford to eat, but they still had to try their best to support scholars.

On this day, it was the day of the *tongsheng* examination. Similar scenes could be seen in literary academies throughout Jing Kingdom:

The county magistrate shouted, "Bow to the Sage!"

All the candidates bowed.

The director of the literary academy shouted, "Bow to the Sub-Sages!"

The candidates bowed again.

"Bow to the Sages!"

The prefectural school director shouted.

The candidates bowed for the third time.

Then, the director of the literary academy would recite the "Ode to the Sages."

In the Saint Origin Continent, "literary academies" were extremely important systems, and were known as the three major systems of each country, along with the military and civil officials. They were responsible for educating the people, responsible for the imperial examinations, and were also the best schools in various places.

Of course, the true managers of all the literary academies and schools in the ten kingdoms were only Confucius. Whether it was the director of the academy or the literary minister, they were only managing the literary academies and schools on behalf of Confucius.

The literary academy was the place where the Sages lectured, while the various government offices were only part of the national monarch's court. In the hearts of many scholars, the literary academy had a higher status.

But before the examination, the candidates also had to worship the Sages in the Holy Temple. Inside, there was a statue of Confucius, and under the statue of Confucius were smaller statues of the six Sub-Sages, namely King Wen of Zhou, Mencius, Xunzi, Zengzi, Zisi, and Yanzi.

In addition, there were the saint tablets of the Sages throughout history.

After this, the candidates would enter the examination hall and officially begin the *tongsheng* examination. After the examination, the results would be known the next day.