Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

Pushing open the door, you'll find a small front hall.

In the center of the hall stood a long wooden table, on which lay several scrolls of bamboo slips and several sheets of talisman paper.

Two young students were sitting at the wooden table, engrossed in writing something on bamboo slips.

In the corner of the hall, against the wall, stood several rows of empty bookshelves, with only a few old books temporarily placed on them.

Next to the bookshelf was a bamboo ladder, the top of which rested on the second-floor railing, indicating that the second floor was not yet ready.

Shen Zhiya came down from the second floor, carrying a stack of old books with a thin layer of dust on their spines.

He saw Chen Zhuo and Gu Qing'e, paused for a moment, then nodded and placed the books on the table.

"Miss Gu, Mr. Chen, welcome. The academy is still under renovation, so the second floor is temporarily closed. You are welcome to look around the first floor."

Gu Qing'e looked around and pointed to the bamboo slips spread out on the table. "Did you compile these teaching materials yourself?"

"Part of it was compiled by myself, and part of it was a copy of the manuscript brought from the Northern Region."

Shen Zhiya picked up one of the bamboo scrolls and unfolded it. Several lines of text were written on it in neat small regular script:

"The first lesson of the Heart Source: Don't ask about heaven and earth, first ask about your own heart."

What is your heart? What is your desire? What is your fear?

The bamboo slips left a half-page blank at the end, clearly indicating that students were to fill in the blanks themselves.

He pointed to those lines of text and said, "The teachings of the Mind Source School do not have standard scriptures because everyone's mind is different."

All I can do is help them find their own hearts; the specific methods they use to find them vary from person to person.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhuo silently noted it down; this was one of the cultivation methods of the Heart Source Sect.

"Were these two students your first batch of students?" Gu Qing'e asked from the side.

"There are three in total. The third one took the day off to help his family move some goods."

Shen Zhiya sat down at the table and began to gather the scattered bamboo slips.

"The three of them have one thing in common: none of them are the most talented students."

The person on the left audited classes at the Mingfa Society for a month, but found that he had no understanding of laws and regulations, so he withdrew.

The person on the right spent half a year in Guanshan Society, and did a good job of observing mountains and waters, but he could never evoke a sense of literary resonance.

They just can't find their way, not that there isn't a way.

Chen Zhuo listened for a while and then suddenly spoke up.

"So how did you help them?"

In some well-developed areas, there are private academies like Guanshan Society and Mingfa Society.

They test students' aptitude for a particular subject when the children are very young.

According to the imperial court's statistics, everyone who can enter the path of literature is qualified to learn any school of thought.

The only difference is that some people are drawn to landscapes, while others are suited to temples.

As for him, he was already too old when he began to study literature and Taoism, so naturally it didn't matter what he studied.

Shen Zhiya glanced at him and remained silent for a moment.

Then he stood up, took an old wooden box from the bottom of the empty bookshelves in the corner, placed it on the table, and opened it.

Inside the wooden box was a stack of paper slips, each with a few hastily written sentences on it.

Chen Zhuo picked up the top one, which read, "I want to be someone who can stand in front of others."

The second one reads, "I want to draw the pomegranate tree in my yard."

The third sheet had crooked handwriting and contained only one sentence: "I want my mother to no longer have to wash clothes for others in winter."

"The seeds of the Mind Source Art are hidden in these thoughts."

Shen Zhiya gathered the paper scraps back into the wooden box. "Not all thoughts can be turned into literary arts, but the thoughts that can be turned into literary arts must be the ones that they are most unwilling to give up on."

I can't teach them how to write scriptures, but I can help them find what's in their hearts.

Once found, they will develop their own unique writing system.

Gu Qing'e stood by the wooden table without saying a word.

Chen Zhuo glanced at her and noticed that her gaze lingered on the stack of papers for a long time.

Gu Qing'e seemed to be thinking about something.

But he didn't say, so Chen Zhuo didn't ask.

……

Time passed, and a few days later...

Chen Zhuo was in his study looking through the bamboo slips of "Feng Gu" annotated by Song Zhiyuan when Qingluo suddenly pushed the door open and came in.

"Young Master, Miss Gu has arrived."

Hearing that his junior sister was coming, Chen Zhuo looked up, his eyes filled with some confusion.

My junior sister really came today?

Despite his doubts, he did not hesitate and put down the bamboo slips before walking to the front hall.

As soon as Gu Qing'e saw Chen Zhuo come out, she didn't exchange pleasantries and immediately grabbed him:

"Junior brother, come with me somewhere."

The two walked through the market, and Gu Qing'e didn't say much along the way.

Chen Zhuo didn't ask.

In some situations, the junior sister would talk on and on about everything.

He didn't say anything today, which is unusual and must be suspicious.

The paper sign that read "Zhengxin Academy" at the entrance of Zhengxin Academy has now been replaced with a formal wooden plaque, but the door is still half-closed.

The two students from last time were copying bamboo slips in the front hall.

Seeing Gu Qing'e enter, he put down his pen and stood up.

Just as one of them was about to speak, Gu Qing'e waved her hand and walked straight to the backyard.

Chen Zhuo followed behind her, passing through the back door of the front hall and entering a courtyard that was even smaller than the front hall.

In the center of the courtyard stands a blue stone platform, upon which rests a palm-sized rhombus-shaped crystal, translucent pale gold in color, with faint, fine light patterns slowly flowing within.

Shen Zhiya stood beside the stone platform, as if waiting for them.

He glanced at Gu Qing'e, then at Chen Zhuo, stepped aside, and pointed to the crystal:

"This is the inherited artifact I mentioned to Miss Gu before. It is the coordinate of a secret realm."

The Xinyuan School had more than one inherited artifact in ancient times, but only three are known to have survived to this day and are still active, and this is one of them.

The interior of the secret realm is a spiritual world constructed purely from the mind.

It reflects your heart directly; whatever is in your heart, it will reveal to you.

"The predecessors of the Xinyuan School used it to hone their inner selves, and later they also used it as a place for remote communication."

As long as one projects their spirit into the secret realm, no matter how far apart their physical bodies are, they can meet within it.

Upon hearing this explanation, Chen Zhuo had a sudden realization.

Isn't this just a remote network?

Such advanced things exist in this world?

Gu Qing'e stared at the crystal, her voice lower than usual when she spoke:

"I was stuck in a bottleneck period for a long time. The Mind Source Literary Art is different from the Landscape Literary Art. The Landscape Literary Art has scriptures to comprehend and notes from predecessors to refer to."

But the Way of the Heart is not there; if you're stuck, you're stuck, and no one can help you.

Mr. Shen said this crystal might help me find a breakthrough.

He looked at Chen Zhuo, his eyes full of expectation.

"Why me?" Chen Zhuo asked softly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help, but rather that he didn't want to help without a clear explanation.

"Because you have many things in your heart, but you are never trapped by them."

Gu Qing'e didn't look at him when she said this; she just stared at the crystal.

"Of all the people I know, you are the least likely to let your emotions sway your judgment."

Chen Zhuo nodded silently and looked at the crystal.

[Heart Crystal - Unknowable Realm (Gold): A special space connecting to the spiritual realm; entry requires authentication and cannot be equipped.]