On the banks of the Iron Talisman River, there were several elderly scholars wearing tall crowns and dressed in robes with large sleeves as they walked ahead of everyone else. There were young men and young women in Confucian robes walking behind them, and it was clear that they were all disciples of the Confucian Sect.0

The group of Confucian scholars was like a long azure snake, and everyone loudly recited the Exhortation to Learning as they walked.1

The river water gurgled, and the sound of recitation echoed.0

There was a young girl dressed in red among the group of scholars, and a small silver gourd filled with water tied to her hip. She was carrying a small green bamboo bookcase on her back, and after passing Red Candle Town and Go Table Mountain, she had once privately told Mountain Master Mao that she wanted to return to Dragon Spring Prefecture by herself. 1

That way, she could decide by herself where she advanced quicker and where she advanced slower. The old Confucian scholar hadn't agreed, saying that traversing the mountains and rivers wasn't a form of scholarly pursuit. This was an activity in which she needed to conform to the group.0

When they passed the water god temple of the Iron Talisman River, Yang Hua, the highest-ranking river god of the Great Li Empire, surprisingly appeared in front of the Confucian disciples. This was a river goddess who almost never appeared in front of other people, and she held a long sword with a golden tassel in her arms as she looked at the group of disappearing disciples who hailed from both the Great Li Empire and the Great Sui Nation. 0

Mountain Cliff Academy had already been stripped of its status as one of the seventy-two Confucian academies, so there was technically no need for a high-ranking river...0