Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

After his shift ended that day, Chen Zhuo had just stepped off the city wall when Gu Qing'e caught up with him from behind.

"Junior brother! Good news!" Her voice was filled with excitement.

Chen Zhuo asked cooperatively, "What good news?"

Gu Qing'e handed over a piece of paper.

According to the latest report from the Long Night Monitoring Station, the concentration of Long Night energy outside the Righteous Qi Array has been decreasing for several consecutive days.

At this rate, the lockdown will ease in three to five days at most, and at least three days at least.

"Really?"

Upon hearing this news, Chen Zhuo felt a slight surge of excitement.

Is this long night finally coming to an end?

He took the letter and read it once.

The report was very brief, consisting of only a few lines of data and a conclusion.

But that conclusion was enough to put everyone at ease.

The long night is about to end.

Chen Zhuo leaned against the stone crenellations of the city wall and let out a long breath.

During this time, he went from having sweaty palms when he first stood on the city wall to now being able to release spells while discussing with other cultivators which pancake shop was the best.

I experienced the longest and most fulfilling period since I traveled through time.

With his literary energy exceeding forty, his list of literary arts was long and impressive, his cultivation technique analysis was over twenty percent complete, his first batch of talisman research and development was finished, and his cooperation with the Tongxin Alliance was on track.

More importantly, he found his coordinates on the map of this county.

But the relaxation only lasted a moment before his junior sister's voice pulled him back to reality.

"There's one more thing. The county government issued a notice this afternoon that Magistrate Zhou is to organize a team to penetrate deep into the night before it completely ends."

They said they wanted to hunt rare demons and collect special materials to increase revenue for Qingshan County.

The announcement specifically stated that this operation is open to all scholars of Sequence 10 or above, with double the usual points rewards and priority access to exchange for rare materials collected.

Furthermore, this operation was jointly organized by the Academy and the County Government.

Chen Zhuo paused for a moment.

"Deep into the night?" he asked, confirming.

The night is so dangerous, yet they organized people to venture deep into the night at this critical juncture.

This is an extremely dangerous act; one wrong move and you could lose your life outside.

"Yes." Gu Qing'e's tone carried a hint of uncertainty.

"In the past, the magistrate would make similar suggestions as the long night was about to end, saying that they should take advantage of the time when the concentration of evil spirits decreased and their activity weakened to make a quick buck."

"But Master always firmly opposes it, and his reasons are very valid: the Righteous Qi Array is still in operation, and the Long Night hasn't completely receded. Rushing in would be risking lives for points. But this time..."

She paused for a moment, then said, "This time, the master didn't object. After reading the announcement, he was silent for a while, and then only asked, 'Who will lead the team?'"

Upon learning that the deputy commander of the Qingshan Army was personally leading the team, he said nothing more.

Chen Zhu remained silent, and Song Zhiyuan did not object.

This means that the very act of venturing into the long night may be related to the ancient ruins he is investigating.

The magistrate organized this operation ostensibly to "hunt rare monsters and increase revenue."

However, if it involves clues to historical sites and their potential energy sources, the magistrate must have his own plans in private.

Song Zhiyuan's tacit approval was not a simple concession; his silence may have been more of an attempt to use this opportunity to obtain more information about the ruins from his accompanying disciples.

Both scholars, for their own purposes, temporarily acquiesced to the action.

The real variable lies in the writers who venture deep into the night, whether they can return from the depths of the night, and what they can bring back.

Chen Zhuo remembered the person leading the team; he was a martial artist of Sequence 8 who could barely walk through the long night.

However, it cannot be ruled out that the two scholars will personally participate.

No, Chen Zhuo had a premonition that his master would definitely take action personally.

Over the next few days, news gradually spread that the long night was about to end.

The entire Qingshan County town is making final preparations before the long night begins.

Long queues formed at the points redemption counter, where scholars who had accumulated a lot of points during the city defense exchanged them for ink sticks, talismans, blank talismans, and emergency pills.

The second senior brother worked non-stop in the temporary workshop of the Academy of Arts, stuffing a spare ink stick into the hands of everyone in the sect, saying, "I don't have any other skills, I can only make ink."

However, according to Chen Zhuo's observation, the quality of the ink sticks his senior brother gave him was better than any that could be bought on the market.

The junior sister spent the entire day drawing talismans in Yangzhengzhai.

The next morning, she came out with dark circles under her eyes and slapped a stack of spare talismans for "Guard", "Heal", and "Urgent" into Chen Zhuo's hand.

Each sheet was folded neatly, with not a single frayed edge.

Chen Zhuo quickly reviewed the resources at hand in his mind.

The two Originium stones combined would neutralize the essence of at least eight "Devour" spells.

A stack of runes, some of which are the highest quality "Originium Enhanced Version" runes among the self-made runes.

The ink sticks have just been replenished, enough for several consecutive high-intensity battles.

These are all the chips he has accumulated in this past month in a completely unfamiliar world.

What he will face next is an unknown danger deep in the night.

Chen Zhuo didn't ask him if he could avoid such a foolish question.

One of the duties of scholars was to eliminate evil and uphold morality.

……

On the eve of his departure, Chen Zhuo once again checked all the equipment and runes he had on hand.

It's always better to be prepared!

He currently possesses a "transfer" talisman, the one his junior sister gave him during the demon-slaying mission.

He placed the life-saving talisman in the inner pocket of his outer robe and reached out to check the angle from which to retrieve it.

It just so happens to be convenient.

Then he neatly stacked a stack of "Guard", "Heal", and "Urgent" talismans in the inner layer of his cloth bag.

The two Originium stones were wrapped together in a soft leather bag and stored separately in the innermost pocket.

Chen Zhuo sat at his desk and practiced drawing talismans one last time.

The line on the screen lit up briefly after the brushstroke was finished, then steadily emitted a faint, almost imperceptible blue light.

It's improved a lot compared to before.

Time flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to depart.

That morning, the temporary assembly point outside the city was already full of people.

When Chen Zhuo arrived, Chen Tianshen and Chen Tianlang were standing at the foot of the city wall, each carrying at least three weapons.

Chen Tianlang tripped over his own spear and stumbled, bumping into Chen Tianshen's back.

Chen Tianshen slapped Chen Tianlang across the face and tore him off from behind.

Then the two of them saw Chen Zhuo at the same time, and stood at attention like two new recruits being checked on their training results.

This is the personal bodyguard sent by his stepmother to protect him.

Chen Zhuo hesitated for a moment but did not refuse.

Just as he was about to say something, a familiar voice came from not far away.

"Brother Chen, what a coincidence."

Xu Yi walked over, fanning himself with a folding fan, followed by Wanyan Liang, who was carrying large and small bags.

Wanyan Liang was carefully holding a wooden box in his hands. The edges of the box were covered with copper plates, which was obviously a special box for storing inkstones.

His folding fan was clipped to his waist.

The words "a family fortune of ten thousand guan" can be faintly seen on the fan, but have been changed to "a family fortune of half ten thousand guan".

Moreover, the ink on the extra "half" character is very fresh.