Myriad Immortals

It's that time of year again to copy books.

Zhong Xuan arrived at the side gate of the Zhang residence.

It was the same old manager, still Qingzhou Zihao.

He was copying a book.

Then we heard a burst of firecrackers outside the door.

"Why are there firecrackers going off when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?"

Startled, Zhong Xuan paused his purple-tipped brush and looked out the window, where he could see thick smoke rising, creating quite a scene.

The steward of the Zhang family said:

"The second young master has returned."

Zhong Xuan suddenly realized.

The second young master of the Zhang family was named Zhang Linchun, and he was intelligent from a young age.

According to the Zhang family, he could read at the age of one and compose poems at the age of three. It is said that he took the imperial examination three years ago and became a student. He was only fifteen years old at the time and, like Zhong Xuan back then, was quite famous in Baisha County.

Zhong Xuan possesses innate wisdom, which is equivalent to having a cheat code.

The second son of the Zhang family possessed genuine supernatural abilities and was highly regarded by the Zhang family patriarch.

He heard that the second son of the Zhang family had gone to Yongning Prefecture to study a few years ago.

Now that he's returned in such a grand manner... he must have passed the imperial examination and become a scholar, and a martial arts scholar at that.

The Zhang family was wealthy, but as a merchant family, they were not considered respectable in the Qing Kingdom.

This has always been a worry for the Zhang family patriarch.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have spent so much money collecting and copying books.

The patriarch of the Zhang family had seven sons, but only his second son, Zhang Linchun, was academically gifted.

"Emperor Taizu of Qing established the civil service examination system, which was divided into civil and military examinations. Even the military examination had separate sections for policy-based examinations and classics examinations, so students still had to study."

The seats on the third floor of the library offer a perfect view of the Zhang family mansion.

Three layers inside and three layers outside.

You can vaguely see the Zhang family patriarch himself waiting at the door with his family, and a young man riding a fine white horse, looking incredibly proud.

It even blocked the neighboring street.

It was truly a triumphant return home.

Zhong Xuan withdrew his gaze.

Once a scholar passed the imperial examination, he was not only exempt from taxes and corvée labor and from kneeling before officials, but he also received a stipend, school land, and tuition fee from the imperial court every year, making him practically a recipient of the emperor's salary.

of course.

These things are nothing to the Zhang family.

The key point is that the second son of the Zhang family became a Xiucai at the young age of eighteen, and he has plenty of time. How could he not become a Juren in the future?

There was even a possibility of becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

That's why the second son of the Zhang family became the only person in the Zhang family mansion whom the patriarch dared not lose his temper with.

"If the second young master becomes a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in the future, even the county magistrate will have to come to his door to give him gifts."

The Zhang family steward couldn't hide his pride.

When the master becomes powerful, even the servants can benefit from it.

Although he was a steward and his food and salary were better than some of the concubines, he was, after all, a household servant who had signed a contract. He and his master were bound together by fate, so they hoped for the Zhang family to improve their situation even more than the master himself.

Zhong Xuan smiled faintly, then continued to bury himself in copying the book.

......

......

"This is today's payment for copying books, a total of eighty coins."

The Zhang family's accountant readily paid Zhong Xuan for copying the books.

Zhong Xuan was somewhat puzzled:

"I only copied five thousand characters today, which should be fifty coins."

The steward of the Zhang family said with a smile, "Today, the second young master passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. This is a great joy. The extra thirty coins are a special reward from the master. Mr. Zhong, please just accept them. He said it will help you absorb some of the scholarly spirit."

Zhong Xuan was taken aback.

He never expected that he would benefit from this incident.

"With the second young master's talent, he will definitely pass the imperial examination next year."

Zhong Xuan cupped his hands and said auspicious words.

The steward of the Zhang residence was so pleased that he even personally escorted him out of the residence.

Before the city gates closed.

Zhong Xuan left Baisha County.

"The imperial examination was divided into the preliminary examination, the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination. The preliminary examination was further divided into the county examination and the prefectural examination. Only those who passed the prefectural examination could be called students, also known as scholars. Only those who became scholars were qualified to participate in the provincial examination."

Zhong Xuan walked along the road, lost in thought.

Every step of the imperial examination process eliminated countless people; it was truly a case of thousands of soldiers crossing a single-plank bridge.

He achieved some success in practicing the Eight-Section Brocade within a month.

Perhaps I can reach the standard of a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examination) before next year's provincial examination.

The idea, which had been completely abandoned, was rekindled.

Zhong Xuan chose to participate in the academy examination, not because he wanted to follow the old saying "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river," but because practicing martial arts requires not only physical strength but also medicinal supplements, which are extremely expensive.

The money he earned from copying books was barely enough to make a living, let alone support his martial arts training.

If one could become a scholar, one would become quite wealthy.

Don't be fooled by the "poor scholar" image; scholars are anything but poor.

When Zhong Xuan arrived at the door.

He happened to see several children, around thirteen or fourteen years old, throwing stones at his roof.

suddenly.

A boy with pigtails sensed someone behind him.

He turned his head.

Then he saw Zhong Xuan standing behind him.

"Old man, you..."

For some reason, Zhong Xuan instilled fear in the boy today.

Seeing the other playmates turn around when they heard the noise, they noticed that the other children were looking over.

The boy with the pigtails finally mustered his courage again. He felt ashamed that he had been intimidated by an old pedantic scholar.

"Old man, you..."

This time, he still couldn't finish his sentence.

Under the horrified gazes of a group of children.

Zhong Xuan grabbed the boy with the braid by the back of his neck and tossed him around like a chick, sending him flying several feet away.

"Ouch..."

The boy who fell to the ground cried out in pain.

Seeing this scene.

The other children, not daring to provoke him any further, fearfully bypassed Zhong Xuan and went to the boy with the braid. They saw that he had broken his leg in the fall, so they quickly picked him up and slunk away.

After doing all this, Zhong Xuan walked into the house expressionlessly.

A heavy move?

He's just a child?

These half-grown children are actually the ones who least know their place.

If we don't teach him a lesson he'll never forget, he'll only retaliate more severely in the future.

Zhong Xuan had already eaten while copying books at Zhang's residence, so when he returned home, he immediately set up a boxing stance in his room, following the description in the Eight Pieces of Brocade manual, raising his arms as if lifting a jar, and squatting down into a horse-riding stance.

They practiced until late at night.

Zhong Xuan then finished his practice and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"A month ago, I could only practice twice a day, but now I can practice three times."

Besides becoming more proficient in Baduanjin, it was also because his physical constitution was improving day by day.

The saying "with each passing year, one's physical constitution increases by one point" does not mean that one's physical constitution only becomes stronger at the year mark. Rather, it means that after passing the 60-year cycle, one's physical constitution changes every day, and one point can be increased in exactly one year.

This point is quite significant.

The better one's physical constitution, the more obvious the effect of even a small amount of energy.

In other words, the older one gets, the faster one's progress will be.

The saying that "a young man has the upper hand in boxing" completely fails when it comes to Zhong Xuan.

Just as Zhong Xuan was about to crawl into bed to sleep...

Lines of small text appeared before my eyes.

[Bone structure: Crane-shaped]

[Effect: Light and agile body, allowing for swift and unexpected attacks. With a little training, one can achieve a crane-like physique, reaching the state of walking on snow without leaving a trace.]