Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

Chen Zhuo slowly opened his eyes.

The surrounding noise gradually became clearer.

The huge "stone" character above the head has disappeared.

It leaves only a faint trace of literary charm in the air, and feels extremely cool to the touch.

He looked down at his hands; there were still ink stains on his palms from holding the pen, and his finger joints were slightly stiff from exerting too much force.

The information on the panel floated there quietly: [Literature: Stone (lv.3 Mastery)].

From mastering to becoming proficient, and then to achieving mastery, the speed at which this literary skill progressed was so fast that even he himself felt it was unreal.

The mastery of the third level means that his skill in the character "stone" has caught up with that of a veteran who has been immersed in this art for many years.

No, even some scholars who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations may not have mastered literary skills to a high degree.

He accomplished all of this in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Chen Zhuo knew, of course, that this was not due to his innate talent, but rather the power of the cultural lineage that was propelling him forward.

During his manifestation, many people simultaneously comprehended his literary arts.

Junior Sister Gu Qing'e was standing at a square table two steps away.

She held a cup of warm tea that she had somehow gotten her hands on, and she and Chen Tianshen and Chen Tianlang recounted the scene that had just happened, one sentence at a time.

Chen Tianshen's loud voice could be heard across half the teahouse:

"You didn't see it, that 'stone' character is this big, bigger than the Spring Breeze Pavilion's signboard, hanging in the sky! Chen Tianlang, don't you think so!"

Chen Tianlang, unusually, didn't correct him and nodded vigorously.

Just as he was about to continue looking at the raw stones on the stall, a crowd gathered around him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Chen!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Chen Zhuo responded slightly, and by the time he had dealt with all these people, the stall in front of him was completely empty.

"Where are the raw stones? He remembers there were many raw stones here when he first arrived. How come they disappeared in the time it takes to write a poem?"

"Lord Chen, thank you so much for your poem!"

The stall owner handed over two rough stones.

"One piece is what we agreed upon, and the other is payment for the adults helping to sell the stones."

Hearing the stall owner's words, Chen Zhuo seemed to understand something.

Looking around, I realized that Xu Yi had left sometime earlier.

Meanwhile, the others, including the eldest sister, the second brother, the third sister, and even Chen Tianshen and Chen Tianlang, were all holding several raw stones.

This made Chen Zhuo's vision go black; these guys were too sneaky!

The rough stone he got hasn't been cut yet!

Since everything was sold out, Chen Zhuo had no choice but to accept it.

After browsing around the other stalls a few more times and buying a piece of blue quality stone, I concluded my trip to the Bluestone Fair.

When they returned from the Qing Shi Society, the long night sky was still shrouded in the golden light of the Righteous Qi Array, and the simulated moonlight was faintly spread on the bluestone road of the Chen residence.

He walked through the corridor and pushed open the door to the study.

Qingluo had already lit the lamps, and there was a pot of warm tea and several plates of snacks on the table.

Chen Zhuo sat down at his desk and laid out the three raw stones he had obtained from the Qing Shi Gathering.

The first piece was a green mountain stone with blue water patterns, which was the one that Xu Yi won in a bidding war.

The second piece was a reward from the stall owner; it was about the size of a fist, with a dark gray outer shell, and its condition was so-so.

The third stone was the last one he bought, costing only 60 taels of silver, which was considered a small bargain.

The three stones lay quietly on the table, their appearance unremarkable.

But Chen Zhuo knew that the greatest gains from this stone gathering lay in these three stones.

He picked up the carving knife and began working on the rough stone.

The knife tip cut along the texture of the stone shell, and it felt crisper than he had expected. After three cuts, the stone shell cracked open, revealing a milky white chalcedony embedded inside.

The chalcedony was small, only the size of a thumb, but its color was extremely pure, like solidified milk, and it shimmered with a warm glow under the light.

If you smell it carefully, you can also smell a very faint fragrance wafting from the cut surface. Chen Zhuo took a deep breath and felt refreshed.

【Earth Vein Stone Marrow (Blue): A natural spiritual substance produced deep within the green mountains, containing pure literary energy. It can be consumed directly to enhance literary skills. The first consumption yields the best results.】

Chen Zhuo was slightly surprised.

Things that can directly increase literary energy are rare; they can only be born in places where literary energy is abundant.

It seems that what's underground is probably related to literature and literature.

Chen Zhuo thought to himself silently, then held the stone marrow in his palm.

It feels warm and smooth to the touch, unlike the bone-chilling coolness of Originium.

Without hesitation, he put the stone marrow directly into his mouth.

The marrow melted instantly upon entering the mouth, and a warm current slid down the throat, spread throughout the abdomen, and then spread along the meridians to the limbs and bones.

At that moment, he felt another force within his body being drawn out by the warmth.

It is the lingering charm of the cultural lineage that remains in the meridians when one resonates with the character "stone" in the heaven and earth during the daytime stone gathering.

The two forces converged in his meridians, intertwined and overlapped, and finally formed a warm vortex in his dantian.

The vortex spun several times before suddenly expanding outwards, and the flow of literary energy in the meridians was more than twice as fast as usual.

[Literary Ability +5. Current Literary Ability: 34 points.]

Chen Zhuo was stunned for a moment.

It jumped 5 points from 29 to 34.

The stone marrow itself provided about 3 points of increased literary energy, and the residual literary energy left over from the resonance during the day was activated by the stone marrow, giving an additional 2 points.

I'm just one point away from needing the 35 points of literary energy required to learn the sect's wide range of literary arts.

He wiped the carving knife clean and picked up the second stone.

That is, the piece that the stall owner gave away as an extra gift.

As the knife tip cut down, the stone shell was harder than the first one, and it took him some effort to peel it off completely.

Inside the stone shell was a mass of grayish-white chalcedony, of very ordinary quality, but in the very center of the chalcedony was a translucent crystal nucleus.

The crystal nucleus was small, only the size of a fingernail, but something could be vaguely seen flowing inside.

It doesn't resemble a liquid; it's more like a wisp of sealed light.

Chen Zhuo held the crystal core up to the light and examined it carefully, discovering an extremely fine engraving inside the crystal core.

There are traces of human intervention on it; the engraving is an ancient character: "启".

Chen Zhuo put the crystal core down and tapped his fingers lightly twice on the edge of the table.

Does the character “启” have any special meaning?

Chen Zhuo pondered for a moment, then shook his head. He decided to ask his master about it tomorrow.

Song Zhiyuan was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations and had studied the Qingshan County Annals for many years. This ancient character might be more useful to him than to himself.

Finally, he picked up the green mountain stone with its blue water-like patterns.

This is the most precious of the three stones, and the one on which he placed the most hope.

As the knife tip cut down, the stone shell cracked instantly.

The cut surface of the chalcedony was a very pale blue, completely different from the grayish-white waste material that had been cut open before.

In the very center of the blue chalcedony, there was a stone core the size of a fist.

The core was a darker color than the surrounding chalcedony, bluish-gray, with a very thin sheen on its surface, as if it had been polished by something.

He touched the surface of the stone core with his fingertips, and a familiar coolness rose from his fingertips.

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

It really is Originium!