Chapter 3983
Chapter 3983: Verbal Battle with a Philosopher
Just as everyone was shocked, Philosopher Sun said, “You say that I am shameless? Please tell me how I am shameless.”
“Just for the words propriety, justice, integrity, and honor to come out of your mouth is the greatest shamelessness,” said Long Chen lightly.
However, this elder was clearly a master debater. Even in front of Long Chen’s rude accounting, his expression didn’t change in the slightest.
“There is nothing wrong with a noble woman and a noble man coming together. But matters between a man and woman need the fathers and mothers to act as a go-between. For you to forcibly change seats in public in front of everyone shows a complete lack of decorum. It is shameless, it is uncouth, it is unscholarly, and it is a clear disregard of etiquette,” said Philosopher Sun.
“Tch, how laughable. If everyone required their parents to act as a go-between for marriage, then tell me where you came from? Did you break free out of a stone? Cursing me is no different from cursing your ancestors, no?” sneered Long Chen.
“What nonsense. The laws of etiquette have existed since time immemorial. You lack logic, so you resort to personal attacks. It can be seen just how inferior you are. Such rotting wood cannot be carved,” snorted Philosopher Sun.
“The laws of etiquette have existed since time immemorial? In the primal chaos era when humanity devoured raw meat just to avoid staring to death, when humans had no clothes to cover their bodies, according to your own logic, they should have simply died out, huh? Then none of us would exist in this world! Your ancestors had no parents acting as matchmakers, and that’s the only reason they reproduced until your generation. But now you express such an opinion? You are clearly unfilial toward your ancestors. You also mentioned the order between a ruler and their subjects. His Majesty himself didn’t even say anything about my actions, but you are here barking like a wild dog. As I see it, you are completely disregarding His Majesty, a complete lack of loyalty. Moreover, at your age, you can still be so shameless as to intentionally target me. It can be seen that you lack humanity as well. When targeting me, you tell me to respect my elders. You are clearly twisting logic, giving people a twisted view about life. That is unjust. You, someone who is not loyal, not just, not humane, and not filial, are sitting there shamelessly preaching to others. I have journeyed throughout the entire world, but I have never seen someone so shamelessly shameful.”
Upon hearing this, everyone was silent. Long Chen had managed to unleash such a verbal assault at once, his words sharp as blades, cutting straight to the core. As a result, everyone was struck dumb.
The princes and princesses looked at him worshipfully. If before this, they wanted him to lose face, now they were on his side.
That was because Philosopher Sun often criticized them, and he was very harsh, drawing their ire. Now that Long Chen had cursed him so thoroughly, they were all happy.
On the other hand, Yu Xiaoyun, Jiang Huixin, and Xu Lanxin were expressionless, but their sealed-tight mouths sold them out. They clearly wanted to laugh. Finally, the Philosopher Sun who was said to possess an unmatched tongue had met his match, and he was even cursed black and blue.
“You…!”
Philosopher Sun was enraged. Long Chen was clearly twisting logic, but his counterattack was ruthless. If Philosopher Sun wanted to resolve his points, he would need to do so one by one.
However, if he were to do so, that would reduce him to the point of discussing the Dao with Long Chen. But how could he, a grand Philosopher, be reduced to that point against him? Destroying Long Chen’s points one by one wouldn’t match his status.
“Hmph, the human race’s progress only continues forward. When did the wheel of history ever go backward? I can’t be bothered to explain such things to you. You say that I am not loyal? Tell me, which is the greatest, heaven, earth, ruler, family, or master?”
“Tch, you can’t answer, so you just change the topic? You’re just drawing me into your most skilled domain and using your incomparably thick idiotic experience to defeat me, right? I know that whichever one I choose, you have traps waiting for me. But I don’t believe such nonsense, so I’ll say whatever I want. In my opinion, the earth is the greatest,” said Long Chen.
In this case, the heavens referred to the Heavenly Daos, the earth referred to the father and mother, the ruler was the emperor, family meant blood relatives, and the master meant the master who raised you.
Heaven, earth, ruler, family, master. There were several rankings for them, but the first two never changed. The heavens were what gave birth to all things, while humans were all born from a father and mother. Without them, you would not exist. Thus, in all rankings, heaven was first and earth was second.
As for the rest, sometimes the ruler was third, and sometimes the master was third. Amongst cultivators, the master was third. While the parents gave birth to them, it was the master who gave them the chance to change their fates.
Amongst the scholars though, they would place the ruler as third, because without a powerful ruler, a nation would crumble. Without a powerful ruler, the people would have no assurance of safety.
If there was no nation, then naturally there would be no family. Thus, to Philosopher Sun, the most obvious order would be heaven, earth, ruler, family, and then master.
“Are you aware that if you marry the princess, you will need to marry into the imperial family? Your children will have the imperial surname?” asked Philosopher Sun.
“I am aware and I am willing,” said Long Chen.
Philosopher Sun smiled slightly and then looked at the wall. After pointing at the sunflowers in the murals, he said, “The golden disc shows off its brilliance as it soaks in the sun’s rays, but it completely forgets the favor of all the rain that raised it. All it thinks about is its own rapid growth.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Huixin and Xu Lanxin’s expressions changed. Yu Qingxuan in particular was enraged. Philosopher Sun was insulting Long Chen, saying that if he was to marry her, it would be for glory and riches. He even went so far as to say that Long Chen was forgetting his duty to his parents, that since his children would not have his surname, he was an unfilial son.
In front of his insults, Long Chen simply sneered and pointed toward the mural as well. Spotting a giant willow tree with two birds on it, Long Chen instantly thought of Liu Ruyan.
“Willow leaves are thin like silk, hanging off the branches in the thousands. The crow clamors, its cawing pleasing only to itself.”
In truth, those birds were brown, so they weren’t crows. But if Philosopher Sun was going to use the murals to attack him, Long Chen would directly counterattack.josei
What did an old fellow who refused to die know about love? All he knew how to do was chatter. As for the viewpoint of the secular world, Long Chen didn’t care at all. His feelings were something only he and his lovers needed to know.
Long Chen then looked at Yu Qingxuan. As expected, she was looking back at him. When their gazes met, it felt like they could see the depths of each other’s hearts. That unhesitating trust was the most precious thing.
In truth, in terms of creative literature, Long Chen’s counterattack was clearly inferior to Philosopher Sun’s. However, Philosopher Sun had been the one to attack first and had prepared himself, while Long Chen only replied casually. Thus, it could be said to be even. As a result, people were quite surprised by Long Chen’s quick reactions. They knew that cultivators rarely had such literary grace.
Philosopher Sun snorted. “Hmph, I also have a verse about willows: wild branches whip through the air like blades, bringing chaos. The wild leaves cover the sun and moon, concealing the light of heaven and earth.”
“I am wild? How laughable. Just now you said that I was using personal attacks, but aren’t you doing the same now? As I see it, you are even more inferior than before. But if you want to play, I’ll accompany you.”
Long Chen looked around and suddenly raised the teapot on the table. After that, he looked at Philosopher Sun, then at the teapot, and then back again before suddenly exclaiming, “It couldn’t be that you’re a teapot that achieved sentience, or are you?”
The stiff-faced Philosopher Sun appeared fat, and as he settled into a seated position, his face seemed even fatter. Upon closer observation, Long Chen couldn't help but draw parallels between Philosopher Sun's visage and that of a teapot. The longer he scrutinized them, the more striking their resemblance became.
Upon hearing this, quite a few people were unable to hold back their laughter. That was because their appearance was truly similar.
In an instant, Philosopher Sun’s expression grew unsightly. Flames almost burst out of his eyes.