Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

"This site contains residual forces that we cannot fully comprehend at present, under certain special conditions, such as when an earth dragon rises up or when a mineral vein breaks."

"Objects in the ruins would be drawn into the solidifying stony marrow, wrapped layer by layer, and eventually formed the rough stones we see today."

He pointed to the crystal core that Chen Zhuo had extracted.

"This crystal core is an ancient artifact from the ancient ruins."

"Its material is not stone, but a product of an ancient crafting method that we have not yet mastered."

The inscriptions are ancient characters, older than any script used today.

If I'm not mistaken, the Originium you found is a fragment of some kind of energy source from the ruins.

The ruins should have contained a complete energy supply system, but over the long course of time, the system itself may have collapsed.

However, the core components of the energy source were shattered and mixed into the marrow, forming what you call Originium.

The reason why Originium can counteract the negative effects of literary arts is that the energy sealed within it is essentially an older and purer power.

It shares the same origin as the literary energy we use today, but is closer to the primal form of power.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhuo seemed to be deep in thought, and suddenly a question came to his mind.

"Master, you've always suspected that the Eastern Stone Domain is the origin of literature and art. Is this ancient site related to your speculation?"

He had heard about this from his junior sister before.

Song Zhiyuan remained silent for a few moments.

The beams of light from outside the window rippled gently in the morning breeze, casting a soft blue shadow on the desk.

"Eleven years ago, when I was still at Shengtianfu Academy of Literature, I had a debate with Mr. Wenxiang."

Song Zhiyuan's voice was soft, but every word was heavy.

"I said that there may be literary and Daoist relics in Dongshiyu that predate even the First Emperor."

Mr. Wenxiang asked me, "What's the evidence?" I couldn't answer. It wasn't that I was nervous; it's that I genuinely had no evidence.

"At that time, all we could find were fragments of information from a few ancient books, such as the distribution of ancient mineral veins in Qingshan County, some unusual geological structures in the outer city area, and a few vague records in the county annals."

He pointed to the hand-drawn map of the mineral vein.

"It took me eleven years to verify the direction of every mineral vein in Qingshan County, compare the oral accounts of dozens of old miners, and mark every place name in the county annals on the ground."

Ultimately, all the veins point to the same location: a fault zone at the foot of the main peak of Qingshan Mountain.

The stone fragment your senior sister received from Liu Laotie yesterday, along with the crystal core you brought, are the most direct physical evidence we have so far.

If the existence of the ruins can be confirmed, and if the text within them can be deciphered, then I will have enough evidence to slam my fist on Mr. Wenxiang's desk.

It wasn't about winning the argument, but about proving that the Eastern Stone Region already had the rudiments of literature and the Way of Heaven before the First Emperor.

The source of literature and morality may not entirely originate from the Imperial Academy; perhaps half of it lies hidden in the stones of the mountains.

Chen Zhuo listened quietly, his mind churning with thoughts.

He hadn't expected there to be such a reason behind it. If it could really be confirmed that the area below was the birthplace of ancient literature and Taoism, that would be extraordinary.

Qingshan County will definitely undergo tremendous changes.

The beam of light from outside the window flashed once more, its blue light falling on the tattered county gazetteer on Song Zhiyuan's desk, illuminating the veins marked with new vermilion ink, as well as the old creases.

After a moment, Chen Zhuo finally spoke:

"So Master suspects that the Originium, or rather the energy source in this ancient ruin, was used by the ancients to supply energy in large quantities?"

If the ruins truly contain a complete energy supply system, then the Originium wouldn't just be a few pieces, but could be produced in batches.

The Qingshan stones that flowed out at the Qingshi Fair this time are just the tip of the iceberg. The amount of stones that were later sold after the decline of the Tongxin Alliance, as well as those that were directly distributed to the miners back then, is much larger.

Some might even be hidden under someone's pillow, on top of the roof beam, or under the stove.

A hint of approval appeared in Song Zhiyuan's eyes.

"Your senior sister is already doing this. She has found all the old miners who went down the mine with the Tongxin Alliance back then and is talking to them individually."

We'll buy what they keep at a high price.

But we can't make it public. Once news of this stone gets out, it will be out of our control in the market.

He looked at Chen Zhuo and said, "Since you have been in contact with the Tongxin Alliance, why don't you look through their database by following the list of miners? Some clues are easier for the gang members to access than for us."

"Disciple understands."

Song Zhiyuan nodded and returned the crystal core to Chen Zhuo.

"Keep this crystal core safe for now. I can roughly recognize the ancient characters on it, 'Qi,' which should be part of some ancient title or official rank."

A single character can only infer direction, not draw a conclusion.

Only if other stones with inscriptions from the same vein are found later will it be possible to piece together the complete context.

Chen Zhuo took the crystal core and carefully put it away.

Then he remembered something else.

"Master, there is one more thing. Yesterday at the Qing Shi Gathering, my poem 'Stone' resonated with the words of heaven and earth."

By sheer coincidence, my literary talent has reached thirty-five points.

The disciple wishes to request from the master the sect's comprehensive group attack techniques.

Song Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow slightly and looked him up and down.

"Thirty-five points? Your literary talent has increased rapidly. The last time I saw you, you were only in your early twenties. It's only been a few days."

He did not inquire into the reasons for the rapid increase in literary talent, believing that every scholar has his own opportunities and that a teacher should not pry into the details.

He simply stood up from behind his desk, walked to the bookshelf next to him, and took down a thin scroll of bamboo slips.

"Your junior sister has already demonstrated this group attack technique of our sect during the demon-slaying operation."

"A single swarm of ten thousand, three million strong, none know it came from heaven," she wrote, using a combination of the characters "swarm" and "wear."

Since you've already seen the results, I won't demonstrate it further.

He handed the bamboo slips to Chen Zhuo.

"This scroll is called 'The Secret of the Group Character,' which records the method of practicing the art of writing the character 'group.'"

Unlike the single-target spells you learned before, the word "group" does not directly release an effect, but rather "copy" another spell.

For example, if you apply the "group" effect to "pierce", you will not shoot a single arrow, but a whole rain of arrows.

When applied to the sun, it produces a shower of light.

The core principle is not difficult, but there are two difficult points: First, it consumes a lot of literary energy. Thirty-five points is the minimum threshold for entry. In reality, the literary energy consumed when releasing it may far exceed your expectations.

Secondly, the character "群" itself does not generate offensive power; its power depends entirely on which text you apply it to.

The stronger your base spellcasting, the greater the benefit to the "group".

Chen Zhuo accepted the bamboo slips with both hands.

"Your disciple will remember this."

Seeing this, Song Zhiyuan nodded slightly, and then took out another jade pendant.

"This is the jade pendant that has been passed down through generations, and it is also the reason why the art of writing characters can become the inherited art of our sect."

"Using this will give you a 99% chance of mastering this art."

At this point, Song Zhiyuan left everyone in suspense, saying, "As for the mystery behind it, you'll have to figure it out for yourself."