Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

After tasting the sweetness, Chen Zhuo turned his attention to the next text.

This time, however, his consciousness touched the words, but the scene before him did not change at all.

Undeterred, he tried a few more words, but none of them changed.

This puzzled him, as he wondered where the problem might have occurred.

"So what's the difference between the character '日' and other characters?"

Chen Zhuo observed carefully and indeed found some differences.

There are a total of 49 characters in this space, but only 8 of them emit a faint glow.

The character 日 (sun) is one of them.

Following this pattern, Chen Zhuo used his consciousness to touch one of the still-glowing characters.

In an instant, the familiar feeling returned.

The surrounding environment has changed; this time it's a battlefield!

The sounds of clashing swords and galloping horses, the screams and shouts of battle, shook the heavens.

During the observation, Chen Zhuo noticed that the imagery was much fainter than that of the character "日" (sun).

If I had to describe it by feeling, it would be somewhat soft and flimsy.

Based on his previous experience, Chen Zhuo carefully observed and tried his best to understand the imagery within.

But this one was much more difficult than the character for "sun," giving him a feeling of wanting to grasp it but being unable to.

This made him inexplicably irritable.

Just as he was about to change the word to observe, a sudden pain shot through his mind, and his mental energy was about to be exhausted!

The scene before him suddenly changed, and a stone tablet appeared in front of him, and his consciousness returned.

"Well done, you passed my test."

The familiar voice reached his ears, and Chen Zhuo's mind went blank for a moment.

Has he passed? But he's only grasped the meaning of one word!

But his body reacts faster than his reflexes.

He knelt down and performed the apprenticeship ceremony. Although we don't know what happened, it was undoubtedly a good thing.

"Master, please accept my bow."

He then handed over the apprenticeship gift prepared by his father, which was their tuition fee.

A jade pendant crafted from a demonic crystal.

Song Zhiyuan glanced at it and put it away. He didn't care much about the value of the item; it was just a formality.

"Rise. There are not many rules for joining my sect. Just remember the eight words: self-discipline, clear mind, slaying demons and eliminating evil."

"Discipline yourself and clarify your mind, slay demons and eliminate evil." Chen Zhuo repeated the sentence, and then kept it in mind.

"Next, have your senior sister show you around the Academy of Arts. After that, come to Yangzhengzhai to find me, and I'll tell you some things to note about the preliminary examinations for the young scholars."

After Song Zhiyuan finished speaking, he was wiped away on the spot like an eraser.

This scene made Chen Zhuo somewhat envious; when would he be able to possess such the ability to teleport at will?

"Hey, junior brother, stop looking. This is an ability you only get after becoming a scholar and cultivating your literary mind. You can't just envy it."

Gu Qing'e naturally put her arm around Chen Zhuo's shoulder.

"Come on, this way, let your senior sister show you around our School of Arts."

Chen Zhuo felt a little uncomfortable as he was embraced and felt a soft touch on his shoulder.

Despite her seemingly frail appearance, Gu Qing'e was surprisingly stronger than him.

He had no choice but to find a topic to distract himself.

"Senior sister, what's the meaning behind the inscription on that stone tablet?"

Hearing the title "senior sister," Gu Qing'e's eyes curved into crescent moons with joy.

His tone also became lighter.

"You'll learn this later, but since you asked, I'll explain it to you properly."

"The characters you see inside are called Heaven and Earth characters. The lower sequence of Heaven and Earth characters cannot be observed, seen, or understood."

It is the original form of power, and also the source of our arts and literature.

"Then why am I able to..." Chen Zhuo couldn't help but ask as he listened to Gu Qing'e's serious-sounding question.

Since it was impossible to observe, what did he see in that space before?

Gu Qing'e clearly understood his meaning and continued to explain:

"This involves the concept of cultural lineage. Although the written characters of heaven and earth are invisible, they can be seen by us, the lower-ranking scholars, through the projection of cultural lineage."

The stone tablet connects to the cultural heritage of Qingshan County.

Seemingly caught up in the conversation, Gu Qing'e released her grip on his shoulder and asked with great interest.

"Junior brother, are you curious why there are only 49 characters representing heaven and earth in it?"

Chen Zhuo nodded, "Please give me your guidance, Senior Sister."

He had figured out his junior sister's temperament; she seemed to particularly like being called "senior sister."

Sure enough, upon hearing Chen Zhuo utter the words "senior sister," Gu Qing'e's smile widened even more.

"This is because our Qingshan County cultural heritage has only included 49 characters related to heaven and earth since it was formed, while those less prominent characters are those whose corresponding works have been lost to time."

"There are countless words in the world, but very few people can truly understand their meaning."

"My master said that when he was studying at the Academy of Arts, there were only 43 characters in the cultural heritage of Qingshan.

After passing the imperial examination, he went to other literary academies to exchange ideas and study, and even visited the Shengtianfu Literary Academy, which expanded the number of characters in the Qingshan literary tradition to 49.

While explaining this knowledge to him, his senior sister Gu Qing'e also introduced him to the entire Academy of Arts.

Qingshan Academy is divided into three parts. Minglun Hall is the public area, which is used for daily classes, county examinations, and literary gatherings.

Yangzhengzhai is the teaching area for instructors. Each instructor in the academy has a room where classes are held at irregular intervals, and students can attend voluntarily.

The last Tibetan pavilion was where the scriptures were stored.

"Oh, junior brother, we've talked so much without realizing it. I still have to go copy 'Ten Lectures on Literature and Taoism,' so I won't accompany you to see Master."

Upon reaching the entrance of Yangzhengzhai, Gu Qing'e suddenly remembered something and made an excuse to slip away.

"By the way, junior brother, you also have a senior brother and a senior sister. They're not in the academy. I'll introduce them to you another day."

Chen Zhuo was somewhat confused as he watched his junior sister disappear quickly from his sight.

Why does it seem like the junior sister is a little afraid of her master?

He shook his head, dismissing those thoughts from his mind; they were none of his business anyway.

"In Yangzhengzhai, the largest room was the master's teaching place."

Recalling the directions his junior sister had given him, Chen Zhuo found the place smoothly.

Pushing open the door, Chen Zhuo saw Song Zhiyuan staring intently at a painting on the wall.

"Xiao Zhuo is here, where's your senior sister?"

"My senior sister went to copy 'Ten Lectures on Literature and Taoism'."

Chen Zhuo answered honestly, although he didn't know what the Ten Lectures on Literature and Dao were either, he had just asked his junior sister.

The junior sister didn't explain, she just smiled and said he would find out later.

Song Zhiyuan nodded, put that matter aside, and brought up another matter that concerned him.

"I observe that your literary talent has reached 10 points, and you have mastered the art of writing. You are already qualified to participate in the preliminary examination. Prepare well, and you will take the supplementary examination the day after tomorrow."

Hearing this, Chen Zhuo was somewhat puzzled: "Ten points? When did I get ten points of literary energy?"

He then glanced at the panel and saw that it really was 10 o'clock.

Looking through the records, I noticed a notification that popped up when he left the text space, which I hadn't even noticed.

[Your understanding of literary arts: warfare has deepened, Literary Ability +1]

This is undoubtedly a good thing, but...

"Master, hasn't this year's preliminary examination for the imperial examinations already ended?"

Song Zhiyuan waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's just a preliminary examination for students, not a prefectural or provincial examination. I can decide what to do."

Chen Zhuo was overjoyed; this was a real patron, and he immediately expressed his support.

"I will follow Master's instructions."