Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

When Chen Zhuo opened his eyes, the color of the pillar of light had returned to calm.

At that moment, he felt his body brimming with literary energy.

In terms of categories, he can beat seven of his previous selves!

[Promotion Rank Nine: Scholar. Literary Ability +20, Spiritual Strength +3, Comprehension +3, Equipment Slots +1, Current Equipment Slots: 3]

[Analysis progress of the skill "Mountain and River Recreation" +10%.]

[Commentator's title: "Rising Star of Qingshan"]

The information on the panel appeared in a flash.

Chen Zhuo read through them one by one.

First, he finally achieved the Xiucai rank, and he also gained 20 points of literary talent in one go.

This is equivalent to nearly half of the original literary energy.

Then there are 3 points of spirit and 3 points of comprehension.

And most importantly, an extra equipment slot.

Then comes the progress of analyzing the cultivation technique "The Record of Leisurely Travels in Mountains and Rivers".

The parsing progress has now reached 30%.

It should be noted that becoming a Xiucai (a scholar who has passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) is just the beginning of learning about martial arts techniques, and by the time he was promoted to Xiucai, he had already analyzed 30% of the techniques.

They are far ahead of others.

Finally, there is a new title system.

Shift your gaze upwards, and an explanation appears.

【Qingshan Rising Star: Increases the efficiency of acquiring internal energy by 50% within Qingshan County. Occupies one equipment slot when equipped】

Chen Zhuo stared at this explanation for a long time, and finally spat it out in anger!

This title system is garbage; it even takes up an equipment slot.

However, the effect of this enhancement training is indeed quite good.

The buff he's currently equipped with still comes from the 20% increase in Qi acquisition efficiency from the Jade.

And this 50% is quite powerful.

I just don't know if they can be stacked together?

He decided to give it a try, since he still had empty slots in his equipment inventory.

Chen Zhuo dragged the title into the equipment slot, and the efficiency of obtaining literary energy changed somewhat.

After careful observation, it seems that the efficiency of acquiring literary energy has increased by 30%?

"?"

Then a big question mark appeared on Chen Zhuo's forehead.

This isn't what he expected!

They then realized what was happening and added 50% to the 20% case.

Having figured this out, Chen Zhuo frowned slightly; the combined effect was rather weak.

Is 1 + 1 less than 2?

Then he tried swapping the positions of the two equipment slots, placing the title before Wen Yu.

The situation is different now.

His boost reached 60%.

Does the order of the equipment slots affect the effect?

Chen Zhuo silently speculated, and then quietly noted down his discovery.

Sometimes this feature can indeed be surprisingly effective, since prioritizing equipment becomes an issue as you accumulate more equipment slots.

Chen Zhuo turned off the panel, looked up, and saw Gu Qing'e walking over from the Minglun Hall's corridor pillars.

Today she wore a light blue short-sleeved shirt, and the cuffs weren't tied up as usual; they were loosely rolled up on her forearms.

He waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand intermittently.

As she approached, she tilted her head and looked him up and down, then gently patted his shoulder with her palm-leaf fan.

"Scholar, how do you feel?" Gu Qing'e asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"I feel like I could beat my old self by seven times," Chen Zhuo replied with a smile.

Gu Qing'e was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"What kind of algorithm is this? The increase in literary energy is never calculated in 'units'."

She put away her palm-leaf fan and leaned against a nearby pillar.

"However, what you said is not wrong. The transition from a student to a scholar is the first real watershed in the cultivation of literature and the path of learning."

No matter how much literary talent you had before, that was based on your foundation as a student of the lowest level; now you have the foundation of a scholar who has passed the county-level imperial examination.

It's normal for the same literary skills to have twice the power in the hands of a scholar who has passed the county-level imperial examination versus a student who has only passed the county-level examination.

She paused, and her tone suddenly became more serious.

"But don't get too cocky."

You've just broken through, and although your literary skills have increased significantly, the cultivation methods for the Xiucai (秀才) stage are completely different from those for the Tongsheng (童生) stage.

The path to becoming a "Tong Sheng" (a student who has completed a preliminary examination) is one of accumulation; the path to becoming a "

From now on, you'll spend far more time refining each piece of writing than learning new writing techniques.

After saying that, she resumed her slightly teasing tone.

"Of course, you might be an exception, you freak. It takes others months to learn a literary skill, but you can learn it by writing a poem."

"When you wrote the character 'bamboo' in the exam just now, I knew you had a chance."

"Did you see that, senior sister?"

"It wasn't just me who saw it, everyone in the audience saw it."

Gu Qing'e pointed to the square outside the Minglun Hall, where several candidates from neighboring counties who had not yet dispersed were looking in this direction.

"Look, those people from other counties are still discussing how you did it."

One of them said you had prepared the poem in advance, while the other said you must have taken some kind of elixir to enhance your comprehension.

I almost went over and confronted them violently.

Chen Zhuo did not respond.

He didn't care about these comments, but he noticed that Gu Qing'e's tone was much lighter than usual when she spoke.

It's like I've finally grown up?

This feeling is a bit strange.

The two walked out along the corridor outside Minglun Hall.

Most of the people in the square had already left, and a few janitors from the College of Arts were tidying up the low tables and cushions used for the exams.

"Senior sister, what did it feel like when you passed the county-level examination and became a Xiucai?"

On the way, Chen Zhuo asked casually.

"Me?" Gu Qing'e thought for a moment, counting on her fingers.

"I didn't feel anything special. It was just like any other day, like eating and drinking."

Her tone was very ordinary.

"However, I was much younger when I took the imperial examination, unlike you."

"You only started studying literature at sixteen, and you passed the imperial examination at the county level in less than a year. That's considered fast even in Shengtian Prefecture."

Is it fast?

Perhaps, but she started relatively late and is still far behind those who have been exposed to literature and art since childhood.

With this in mind, Chen Zhuo suppressed his restless thoughts.

With your own equipment inventory, as long as you don't waste your time, you're sure to achieve great things.

The two walked out of the main gate of the Faculty of Arts.

The streets of the new urban district market are bustling with people, and the air is filled with the smell of freshly sawn timber and the aroma of tea wafting from the teahouses.

"Senior sister, where are we going?"

Gu Qing'e turned to look at him, a smile in her eyes, "Junior Brother, you'll see when we get there!"

Gu Qing'e led Chen Zhuo to the west side of the market, through two narrow alleys, and stopped in front of a small building facing the street.

The building's facade was small, with only a handwritten note pasted on the door frame that read "Zhengxin Academy".

The door was ajar, and the faint sounds of several people talking could be heard from inside.

"Where is this?" Chen Zhuo asked in confusion.

"This is Zhengxin Academy, which was founded by Shen Zhiya."

Gu Qing'e pointed to the note, "After I met him on the official road last time, he quickly established a simple academy here."

"He chose this location because it's close to the market, making it convenient for students to come and go."

"However, his recruitment methods are too careless. He didn't even put up a sign, just a note."

She tore the note off the door frame, looked at it in her hand, and said, "How are we going to recruit students like this?"

He shook his head as he spoke.

Chen Zhuo nodded and said unequivocally, "Let's go in and take a look."