Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

[Song Zhiyuan's Study Manuscript (Blue): Song Zhiyuan's thoughts, insights, and feelings left behind from his study of the scriptures. It contains profound literary meanings, and scholars below the rank of Xiucai (a lower-level scholar) can quickly improve their literary skills by studying it.]

[Note: This item embodies Song Zhiyuan's personal insights into the Way of Literature, and reading it may influence one's understanding.]

"It's a blue-quality item?"

Chen Zhuo's mouth gaped slightly. All she could say was that the scholar was indeed a scholar; he produced a blue-quality item right away.

Moreover, it seems to be able to quickly improve one's literary style.

As for the possibility of being affected mentioned in the notes, Chen Zhuo didn't pay attention to it.

After all, he is my mentor, so it's normal to be influenced by him.

When Chen Zhuo returned to his study with the manuscript, it was already dark.

As usual, Qingluo hung a lamp under the eaves and placed a pot of warm tea on the desk. She then quietly withdrew and closed the door behind her.

He placed the manuscript on the table, and the moment the bamboo slips were unfolded, a very faint scent of ink wafted from the pages.

The handwriting above is Song Zhiyuan's own.

His handwriting was upright and slender, exactly the same as the one he wrote on the college's announcement.

The opening sentence is: "The virtue of literature is indeed great; it is born alongside heaven and earth. Why is that?"

Chen Zhuo placed the teacup on the corner of the table and sat up straight.

I instantly realized that this manuscript was more than just a manuscript.

He continued reading.

"The mixture of black and yellow, the division of square and round forms, the overlapping of the sun and moon, all these form the magnificent image of the heavens; the splendid mountains and rivers, all these form the orderly shape of the earth. This is the writing of the Dao."

Looking up at the radiant sun and down at the hidden brilliance, high and low are positioned, thus the two polarities are born.

Only human beings possess this essence, which is bestowed upon them by their spirit; this is what is meant by the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Man). It is the epitome of the Five Elements, truly the heart of Heaven and Earth. From the heart arises speech; from speech arises civilization—this is the way of nature.

Chen Zhuo tried to understand this sentence:

The origin of literature is the Tao; everything that has literary flair and forms an interwoven shape is literature.

The sun and moon traversing the sky is "astronomy," mountains and rivers are "geography," the patterns of dragons, phoenixes, tigers, and leopards are literature, and the melodies of flowing spring water are also literature.

This is clearly an advanced concept in the landscape painting school.

Upon reading this, Chen Zhuo put down the manuscript, closed his eyes, and pondered for a moment.

Scenes I had seen during this period flashed through my mind.

The cyan-gold pillar of light rising from the protective shield of the righteous energy array, the ancient ruins triggered inside the mountain, and the ancient characters embedded in the green mountain stone that had been sealed for countless years.

This world itself is indeed speaking, but people may not be able to understand it.

Chen Zhuo picked up the manuscript and turned to the next paragraph.

Song Zhiyuan started a new line here, and his writing style was noticeably more forceful than before:

"Therefore, literature and the Way are not creations of man, but are inherent in Heaven and Earth. The literature of the Way existed before man and manifested before literature. Therefore, those who study literature do not create literature, but embody the Way."

It is not humans who created the principles of literature and the Way; the principles of literature and the Way are inherent in the universe itself.

The essence of literature and the Way existed between heaven and earth before human beings existed, and it was already manifested before the word "literature" was created.

Therefore, the practice of literature and the Way is not about creating something new, but about understanding the Way that already exists in the universe.

Chen Zhuo suddenly understood why Song Zhiyuan had given him this manuscript.

It wasn't because he lacked the literary talent to pass the imperial examination; it was because he had just returned from the depths of the mountains.

In the depths of the long night, he personally touched the rocks surrounding the ruins, felt the resonance of the character "stone" with the heavens and earth at the Blue Stone Gathering, and personally experienced the power of cultural heritage in the light of the protective shield of the Righteous Qi Array.

Song Zhiyuan encouraged him to take these real experiences with him and re-understand the origins of literature and the Way.

Upon reading this, his literary energy suddenly began to flow freely within him.

It was as if a very thin stream was slowly seeping into his meridians, neither fast nor slow, but leaving a layer of warm and gentle feeling wherever it passed.

[Literary Ability +2. Current Literary Ability: 47 points.]

Chen Zhuo's literary skill increased by two points, but he didn't pay attention to the panel. Instead, he continued to scroll down.

In the latter half of the manuscript, Song Zhiyuan wrote about the different schools of landscape painting:

"Literati of the landscape school observe mountains and waters to comprehend the way of heaven and earth."

Mountains are immovable and unshakable, thus they can bear weight; water is formless and indeterminate, thus it can penetrate.

Those who observe mountains grasp their essence; those who observe water grasp their spirit.

The way of mountains and rivers is not to be seen with the eyes, but to be felt with the heart. When felt with the heart, the way of heaven and earth will naturally appear before you.

This perfectly matches his experience when he comprehended the literary meaning of the character "stone" at the Qing Shi Conference.

At that moment, when he placed his palm on the stone, he felt not the shape of the stone itself, but a pulse coming from the mountain's skeleton.

At that moment, he understood the most fundamental meaning of the character "stone" without being taught: it is not hardness or solidity, but bearing.

And every word written by Song Zhiyuan in this manuscript, transformed into nourishment, corroborated by things he had previously encountered:

Mountains are immovable and unshakable, thus they can bear weight; this is what he felt when he touched that piece of waste rock.

He was unable to express himself in words at the time, so Song Zhiyuan spoke for him.

The warm current within my body continued to circulate in my meridians, becoming even more pronounced than before.

[Literary Ability +2. Current Literary Ability: 49 points.]

The literary quality has been enhanced by two more points.

The notification on the panel flashed by, but this time Chen Zhuo felt that the flow of literary energy in his meridians was more than twice as fast as usual.

Moreover, each stream of spiritual energy leaves an extremely fine layer on the meridian wall as it passes through the meridian.

Those layers of attachment are slowly thickening the walls of his meridians.

This isn't just a matter of increasing numbers; it's a change happening to his meridians themselves.

He turned to the last few pages of the manuscript. Song Zhiyuan's handwriting here was fainter than before:

"Therefore, the way to learn literature is not about breadth, but depth; not about quantity, but fluency; not about speed, but perseverance."

The way of mountains and rivers takes mountains as its bones, water as its veins, heaven and earth as its heart, and the inheritance of literature and the Way as its ultimate goal.

Those who practice this way should know that they themselves are but a grain of sand in the mountains and rivers, worn down yet undamaged, preserved yet not contending, steadfast yet not retreating.

When Chen Zhuo read the last word "retreat", he felt his literary energy surge and break through a very thin barrier.

All the dissipated literary energy was simultaneously forced back into the meridians by some invisible force, and then flowed out again.

The literary energy in the meridians is no longer a loose, fragmented stream, but a complete river of literary energy.

From this moment on, the flow of literary energy within his body no longer required conscious intervention; it would find the smoothest path on its own, never ceasing.

[Literary Ability +1. Current Literary Ability: 50 points.]

A score of 50 in literary talent is required to qualify as a Xiucai (a scholar who has passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations).

He slowly rolled up the manuscript and placed it on the table, recalling the standards for being promoted to Xiucai in his mind.

The literary energy has accumulated to 50 points.

Master at least three different categories of writing skills.

Passed the county-level imperial examination.

At least one poem or article should be widely circulated in the village.

He has now fulfilled three of the four requirements, and he has also long since met the requirements for disseminating his work, which are more difficult for others. Now all that's left is to pass the imperial examination.

So now all I need to do is wait for time to pass.

As for whether he could pass the Xiucai examination, Chen Zhuo could only say that his master was the dean of the Academy of Literature, who was in charge of the Xiucai examination.