The young man drove the ox cart, and the old ox steadily quickened its pace.

It felt like clouds were rising beneath their feet as they chased after her.

Zi Lu looked ahead with some worry, holding his sword, and asked, "That child named Jue is quite extraordinary, as swift as the wind. Is it alright to let him go alone?"

Confucius sat down again, smiling, and gestured for him to sit as well, saying, "It's alright."

"Besides him, who else could catch up?"

"Even if my legs could keep pace with that child, I wouldn't be able to convince her to turn back."

The gentle and benevolent Divine General retracted his gaze and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, she hasn't seen strangers for a long time and has been on the mountain for too long. If she has offended you, please forgive her."

"Please allow us to find Niangniang."

Confucius nodded with a smile.

Then, he continued the meal he hadn't finished, waiting for the real guests to arrive. However, it wasn't the expected guests who arrived, but another tall man, dressed in ordinary cloth, yet exuding an aura of bravery.

As soon as he arrived, he angrily demanded, "Where is Jue?!"

Confucius was about to speak, but the man slammed his fist on the table.

Some of the food spilled.

Zi Lu frowned.

Confucius explained the reason gently and politely, saying, "Qiu has already sent a disciple to find her. Please be patient. My disciple has already found the child and is bringing her back..."

The Divine General's aura gradually calmed down, and then, remembering the purpose of his visit, he turned to anger and said, "I don't care about any of that!"

"Was it you who startled Jue?"

"The face of my Kunlun, you old fool, how dare you?!"

He directly slammed his fist down again, rashly intending to teach the old man a lesson.

But somehow, the fist that was originally aimed at the old man landed on the table.

The food spilled.

The gentle expression on Confucius' face slowly faded.

The other party's hostility was clear, and Zi Lu also stood up.

Ji Wenzi thinks thrice before acting. Confucius heard of this and said: Twice, is acceptable.

When encountering a situation, one can retreat once as a courtesy. Is a second retreat necessary?

No.

How should it be handled?

Repay kindness with kindness, and respond to malice with justice.

The Divine General looked at the opponents in front of him with a sneer, glancing around. Besides an old man, there were those who looked like a coachman, a scholar, a farmer, a merchant, and a family official. A mere bunch of oddballs dared to fight a god?!

He gave an arrogant salute and said, "I have heard of your great name. Today, what will you teach me?"

...

When the ox cart returned again, the young man, whose appearance had not changed for a long time, was told, "You are now a senior disciple. Come, meet the new disciple."

Zi Lu grinned, pointing to the tall man beside him with a bruised face.

"Come on, call him junior brother."

The man, or rather, the Kunlun Martial God, was sitting there questioning his life.

What had he just witnessed?!

Those coachmen, the one in charge of money, the scholar, and the guy who looked like a farmer.

Why were they so ferocious?

When a group of people charged up with fierce smiles, it reminded him of the feeling of stars falling from the sky. This was not an illusion because soon, a fist as big as a casserole smashed into his left eye socket.

The farmer Fan Xu was helping him heal his injuries.

"Are you a farmer?"

"Ah, yes."

"Then why are you so good at fighting?"

"No, I'm not good at fighting."

The honest man, who had asked Confucius what benevolence was three times and received three different answers due to his own cultivation realm, naturally said, "I'm not good at fighting at all. I've only roughly learned the Six Arts under the teacher's guidance."

His expression was simple and honest.

He looked like a farmer, and he was indeed a farmer.

Later generations of the Agricultural School had two factions: one proclaimed that they had obtained the power of Shennong, and the other expressed their thoughts on valuing agriculture.

And the second faction was almost directly influenced by him.

And this rather honest man had served as a vanguard general in the battle of Qi against Lu.

He led the left division to directly wipe out the Qi army.

Even the Duke of Lu was amazed and asked why he was so good at fighting.

He replied: Taught by Confucius.

The Divine General's mouth twitched.

He looked at the man next to him who looked very shrewd and good at managing accounts.

Ran Qiu, who was considered by Confucius to be capable of managing the finances of a state with a thousand chariots, replied with a smile:

"I'm not good at fighting either."

Also in the battle of Qi against Lu, he led the infantry with spears in a charge that greatly defeated the Qi army. As a civil official in charge of finance, he directly took the lead in the charge. The scholar next to him, named Zhantai Mieming, who had once slain a dragon with a sword while crossing a river, wiped his sword and said regretfully:

"This is just the standard that we Confucian scholars should have."

"The teacher always thinks I'm not good enough, and often criticizes me."

The young man named Zeng Shen said, "It's nothing, far inferior to the eldest brother."

There is the story of Zengzi killing someone.

Although it was just a rumor, it was actually saying that rumors are terrible, but even a loving mother jumped over the wall and ran away. Without a doubt, although it was a misunderstanding, it also meant that his mother was quite sure that her son had the fierce combat power to kill someone in the street and escape under the encirclement of pursuers.

Duanmu Ci, who looked like a merchant but traveled between the states of Qi, Wu, Yue, and Jin, and wore the seals of the states of Lu and Wei, but resigned from office to do business between Cao and Lu, pondered something and casually said, "Me? Ci is just using some of the Six Arts taught by the teacher to strengthen my body, that's all."

Only Zi Lu, with raised eyebrows, grinned and said proudly, "I, I am indeed good at fighting."

In this era when the Age of Gods was nearing its end, Zi Lu left behind many legends.

For example, Zi Lu killing a tiger.

Confucius once traveled in the mountains and asked Zi Lu to fetch water. He encountered a tiger at the water source, fought it, and grabbed its tail to kill it.

It means that Zi Lu encountered a tiger while fetching water.

Zi Lu grabbed the tiger's tail and killed it.

Basically, there is only one way for a person to hold a tiger's tail and try to kill it.

In short, the tiger of that Age of Gods died miserably.

The problem is that after killing the tiger, Zi Lu patted his clothes, continued to carry the water, and went back.

The Divine General covered his eyes, unable to understand why there were so many powerful beings in the human world. Each of these accompanying disciples was slightly stronger than himself, but they used heavy, wide swords in close combat, and their archery was very strong in long-range combat. They had almost no weaknesses.

This is not surprising, after all, these disciples' archery skills were directly inherited from Confucius.

Five standards: Bai Shi, Can Lian, Yan Zhu, Xiang Chi, Jing Yi. (Explanations of archery terms - these are not translated to keep the specific techniques in pinyin form for consistency and recognition)

Among them, Bai Shi requires the arrow to pierce the target, and the head of the arrow must be white, representing sufficient power.

The second requirement, Can Lian, is to release an arrow first, and then three arrows continuously, with each arrow belonging to the previous one.

Not to mention the others.

"Confucius believes that scholars must have a strong physique, so that they can think. Except for Zai Yu, whose body is very poor and needs to sleep during the day, Confucius can only sigh that rotten wood cannot be carved. The body is like wood, and Zai Yu's body is already like rotten wood, so even someone like Confucius can no longer carve or demand anything from him."

Zi Lu casually taught his new junior brother some Confucian rules.

And this sentence means that, except for people with weak bodies like Zai Yu, Confucian disciples must understand the Six Arts and have a strong physique in order to bear their knowledge. The body and wisdom should never be separated.

Zi Lu turned to look at the young man driving the ox cart and said with a smile:

"However, junior brother, you have really done it, haha."

"This child really agreed to come back with you."

The little girl named Jue's expression turned cold.

Of course, when she saw Confucius, she subconsciously took a step to the left.

Hiding on the side of the ox cart driver.

It was a kind of unwavering timidity.

Both obedient and timid.

Zi Lu was slightly stunned, then burst out laughing.

Around this evening, finally, the real guests returned under the leadership of the gentle Divine General. She was a graceful woman. Seeing the Kunlun Divine General being beaten up by Confucius's many disciples, the expression in the Queen Mother of the West's eyes was indescribable.

Then she saw the young man driving the ox cart.

Finally, after meeting Confucius, after a simple inquiry and chat, Confucius noticed the Queen Mother of the West's gaze and asked, "Do you know my disciple?"

The Queen Mother of the West said calmly, "Don't worry, Confucius, I don't intend to take him away. On the contrary, I hope you will teach him."

"He was originally a potter, born of heaven and earth, walking in the wilderness."

"No one has ever taught him, letting him grow freely. It seems good so far."

"But... I'm worried that he will be coerced by some wrong ideas in the future."

"In the future... wrong?"

Confucius pondered and said, "Are you worried that he will learn bad things?"

The Queen Mother of the West said, "Indeed, but his personality is too upright. I heard that Confucius is gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and yielding. I hope you can also tell him what gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and yielding are, and let him also learn gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and yielding."

The graceful woman's tone was light and pleasant.

She thought that Confucius would definitely agree to her, and, as long as she thought of the original person becoming gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and yielding, a gentle and kind scholar, she felt very happy. But unexpectedly, Confucius refused her without hesitation.

"He is my disciple. I will not teach him like that."

The Queen Mother of the West said, "Oh, you don't want to teach him to be like you?"

The old man replied kindly, "If the world has one more foolish person imitating Qiu, but lacks a vivid child, isn't that a tragedy? It's like someone like Zi Lu. It's impossible to make him as gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and yielding as Yan Hui. It's also impossible to make someone like Zigong, who is proficient in speech and diplomacy, as brave as Zi Lu."

"In that case, Zi Lu would be an unremarkable person, and Zigong would be in pain."

"What Heaven imparts to man is called his nature; an accordance with this nature is called the Path of duty; the regulation of this path is called Instruction." (Translation based on James Legge's version of the Doctrine of the Mean)

"The disposition given to him by Heaven is his nature, following his nature can be called his Path, and going forward along his own Path is education."

Confucius explained the first three sentences of the Doctrine of the Mean.

Then, he retorted to the Queen Mother of the West without hesitation, "So, you want me to teach him gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and yielding, is to make him distort his nature and deviate from the path he should take."

"That is not what a teacher should do."

"I can already see that this child's character is like the bamboo of Nanshan Mountain, sharp and straight. As long as it is cut down, it can pierce the leather armor of a rhinoceros. I cannot make him learn to be smooth. That's like making a sword act as a ribbon on clothes. To be honest, he's not that material either!"

"It's like if I were to teach him, I wouldn't teach him the *Book of Changes*."

"He probably won't be able to learn it."

The old man teased his student.

The Queen Mother of the West frowned and said, "Then how do you plan to teach him?"

Confucius replied:

"Use propriety and righteousness as the feathers of the arrow, and use wisdom, benevolence, and courage to sharpen his edge."

He played the qin and chanted in response:

"There is bamboo in Nanshan, not soft but straight, cut and used, reaching the rhino's hide."

"I will apply glue and feathers to it, and sharpen it."

"To make it penetrate deeper."

I will make him even more upright and sharper.

Let him have a straight will enough to penetrate prosperous and turbulent times.

And a heart that will never be confused.

This is a teacher.

The Queen Mother of the West opened her mouth.

For some reason, she felt that after being taught by the old man in front of her, the potter, who already had a very straightforward personality, would become even more stubborn. Perhaps other people could not do this, but for some reason, the Queen Mother of the West, as the main god of Kunlun, could truly sense that.

The old man in front of her could really bring out the potter's reincarnated character to the highest degree.

And the purest degree.

Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, forging his nature.

Maybe thousands of years later, that little guy's personality will still be as straight as an arrow.

No matter how many turbulent times he experiences, he will still sharply penetrate the era.

Because the person who guides this nature to perfection is called Kong Qiu.

The Queen Mother of the West helplessly looked at the still somewhat dull teenager and suddenly asked:

"Little guy, what's your name?"

The young man replied, "I was picked up by the teacher on the road. I have no name or surname."

"No name or surname?"

The Queen Mother of the West pondered.

"Then, Jue." The graceful woman said jokingly, "I give you ten days to choose a name."

"As a reward for him bringing you back."

The little girl with a cold face was silent for a moment.

She quickly gave an answer.

"...Yuan."

The Queen Mother of the West's expression froze: "Why..."

The little girl, who had just emerged from thousands of years of confinement, shook her head in confusion:

"I don't know."

Her voice paused:

"But, Yuan is Yuan."

"It should be Yuan."

"The meaning of Yuan is..."

Her voice paused.

The old man next to her stroked his beard and explained:

"Yuan... water returning."

"From water, pictographic. Left and right, the banks. The middle resembles water."

"Torrential flow back and forth, ultimately returning here."

"This is, Yuan."

ps: Today's second update... four thousand words.

This historical flashback is over, and there will be no more long-term memories in large chunks in the future.

Also, this Yuan is not that Yan Yuan. From the plot, you can see that this one was picked up. Yan Yuan's father, Yan You, was also a disciple of Confucius, although his ranking was much lower than his son's.