Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

Gu Qing'e wiped her mouth, suppressing her discomfort, as the surrounding literary atmosphere gradually emerged.

"Junior brother, these ghouls are the most troublesome. I'll deal with the two largest ones later, and you stay around and wait for an opportunity to strike."

Chen Zhuo nodded, indicating that he understood.

He quickly scanned the pile of corpses, and two ghouls, noticeably larger than him, were taking shape.

The ghoul's skeleton had already solidified most of its form.

More early-stage ghouls wriggled around their feet, numbering no fewer than seven or eight.

They huddled together, their limbs intertwined, like a nest of beetles sharing carrion.

Gu Qing'e did not wait for them to fully take shape.

A word "urgent" flashed through the air as her figure swept over the pile of corpses, and the "war" incantation she had been preparing for a long time appeared in her hand.

Then he let out a soft sigh, "My strength can uproot mountains, my spirit can cover the world!"

A large character for "strength" appeared in the air, and Gu Qing'e stretched out her jade hand, her illusory five fingers spreading out in the air.

As she rhythmically slapped, the ghoul was tortured into letting out piercing screams.

"Is this what they mean by brute force overcoming all obstacles?"

Chen Zhuo watched this scene and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Junior Sister's move was really violent, it has refreshed my understanding."

Seeing that the battle on his junior sister's side was progressing smoothly, Chen Zhuo quickly completed the cleanup work by combining the "Fast" character technique with the "Moon" character technique.

He also took the stone with him.

It was a dark red stone, very small, small enough to be held in one hand, and at first glance, it didn't seem particularly special.

Upon closer inspection, nothing particularly special was found.

If the panel hadn't provided a hint, he would have completely overlooked it.

【Originium (Blue): A stone containing unique power; its effects are unknown and it cannot be equipped.】

"Another blue-quality item!"

Chen Zhuo was slightly surprised, but it was a pity that this was an item that could not be equipped, and its effect description was also quite puzzling.

A peculiar power, the purpose of which is unknown.

The only thing he knows now is that it can replace the consumption of vital energy.

After estimating the amount of stone remaining, it seemed enough to offset three more negative effects.

"Junior brother, what are you holding in your hand?"

Gu Qing'e had finished dealing with the ghouls and came to his side without him noticing.

"Here, a stone. Senior sister, do you see anything unusual about it?"

Chen Zhuo handed over the source stone.

Studying this stone isn't something that needs to be done secretly. It's a good opportunity to see if my junior sister recognizes it; perhaps we can find more clues about Originium.

Gu Qing'e took it and examined it carefully.

"What?! You were acting all mysterious just now. It's just an ordinary rock."

Gu Qing'e tilted her head. "At most, it's just a bit prettier. But I have plenty of jade pieces that are much prettier than this!"

As she spoke, the junior sister casually returned it.

"If you like jade, junior brother, come to my house another day and I'll show you my collection. I might as well give you a few pieces."

Seeing that even his junior sister couldn't recognize the source stone's true nature, Chen Zhuo's heart grew even more solemn.

This means that the stone is of a higher grade than he had imagined.

Putting the matter of Originium aside for the time being, the two finished dealing with the situation here and prepared to leave the pit.

"Senior sister, is this the end for us?"

"Otherwise, do you know any investigative techniques?" Gu Qing'e retorted.

Chen Zhuo thought about it and realized that it made perfect sense.

He's good at fighting and exorcising demons, but when it comes to chasing criminals across vast distances and solving cases, he's completely clueless.

"Such matters are naturally handled by those who specialize in the temple school of thought. Our mission has been successfully completed at this stage."

"Imperial school of thought?" Another new term appeared that Chen Zhuo did not understand.

Before he could ask, his junior sister seemed to know something and began to explain on her own.

"I suppose you have already comprehended the cultivation method and come into contact with the different schools of thought in literature and Taoism. We are following the school of thought in landscape and nature."

Chen Zhuo nodded. He was now following the path of a scholar-official, but his master had been too busy lately to teach him these things.

Just in time to ask my junior sister

His thoughts were momentarily lost when his junior sister continued speaking.

"As we all know, literary arts can be divided into the following categories in terms of function: offense, defense, support, domain, sealing, healing, and special. This is the most basic way of classifying them, but their practical effect is generally limited."

"An even more important division is the literary and Taoist school, which is determined by the cultivation methods."

"We practitioners of literature and Taoism are now mainly divided into four schools: landscape, humanities, temple, and the source of the heart."

"The origin of the landscape painting school lies in observing the phenomena of heaven and earth and nature, such as the sun, moon and stars, mountains and rivers, wind, rain, thunder and lightning, plants and animals."

"Just like the sun and moon literary arts you mastered before, they can be broadly considered as literary arts of the landscape school."

"Of course, every practitioner of the Dao of Literature can learn any literary technique, but the difference between them is reflected in the results."

"Like this."

The junior sister demonstrated the "Power" script she had used before.

"This is a typical technique from the Heart Source School. We wanderers can also use it, but the effect is not as powerful as theirs."

Hearing this, Chen Zhuo nodded. Others might not know, but his panel clearly showed the damage amplification when using the corresponding school of scripture.

This is exactly what my junior sister just said.

However, Chen Zhuo asked with some curiosity:

"Why didn't you use the writing techniques of the Mountain and Water School, but instead used the Heart Source School? Isn't that more strenuous?"

"Uh, this." Gu Qing'e paused for a second, then hesitated.

"Never mind that, Senior Sister has her reasons. Let's continue with our previous topic..."

Gu Qing'e stopped in her tracks before she could finish speaking.

Chen Zhuo looked at her with a puzzled expression, then glanced around. Before they knew it, they had arrived at another crossroads.

"Senior sister, you don't know the way, do you?" Chen Zhuo asked cautiously.

"How could that be! I'm not directionally challenged! I was just thinking about something!"

As she spoke, Gu Qing'e took out the navigation compass she had used before.

Chen Zhuo sighed inwardly. It seemed his senior sister had no sense of direction at all. Then he looked up at Gu Qing'e and said:

"Senior sister, no need to trouble yourself, I know the way."

After reviewing the marks he had made on his way here, he confidently headed in the right direction.

Gu Qing'e looked at Chen Zhuo suspiciously. She didn't understand why her junior brother was so confident when it was only his first time here.

Could it be a trick to deceive my senior sister? She followed after her with some doubt.

After a while, Gu Qing'e felt that she was indeed moving upwards, and she was amazed.

"Junior brother, you have a really good brain. You can remember the way so clearly after only one visit."

Chen Zhuo smiled slightly but did not reply.

"Senior sister, please continue explaining the different schools of thought among literary practitioners."