The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Kong Yan stood up, walked to Su Shi, placed a hand on Su Shi's Baihui acupoint on the top of his head, closed his eyes, and slowly spoke.

His voice became deep and solemn, each word like a bell resounding from the depths of his chest: "Su Shi, listen carefully, from this day forward, you will be my last disciple, entering the lineage of Confucius."

"Today, I will impart to you the method of literary cultivation passed down through generations of Confucian masters. This method is called 'Literary Mind.' Heaven and earth possess righteous energy, which manifests in various forms. The human heart possesses a literary mind, and writing can communicate with the divine."

The moment he finished speaking, a warm and powerful force suddenly surged from Kong Yan's palm, which was pressing on Su Shi's head.

That power was not qi or blood, nor internal strength, but a pure, clean, and righteous energy that seemed to have existed since the beginning of time.

It flowed from Kong Yan's palm into Su Shi's Baihui acupoint, descended along his meridians, and passed through the Tanzhong acupoint.

He sank into his dantian, and then, like a key being inserted into a lock, turned it precisely.

Click.

The sound wasn't a physical sound, but rather something deep within the soul being awakened.

Su Shi felt the righteous spirit he had nurtured in his chest for over twenty years suddenly surge violently.

He was all too familiar with that aura; it was there when he wrote "Nian Nu Jiao: Reminiscences of Chibi" during the Wutai Poetry Case in his previous life.

It was there when the land was being reclaimed and cultivated on the eastern slope of Huangzhou.

It was there when it was exiled to the malaria-ridden land of Hainan.

It was still there when the poem "The ducks are the first to know when the spring river warms" was recited at the Yuyuantan Flower Viewing Banquet.

It had been with him for two lifetimes, never leaving, but it had never been so turbulent as it was now, as if magma that had been suppressed for thousands of years had finally found its way to the crater.

Then, it exploded.

A visible column of pale golden energy shot up from above Su Shi's head, piercing through the roof of the Grand Tutor's mansion's flower hall and soaring into the sky.

That was not the power of a martial artist's blood and qi, but pure, unadulterated righteous energy.

The bamboo in the courtyard swayed violently in the air currents, and bamboo leaves fluttered down.

But before they fell to the ground, each leaf was eerily suspended in mid-air, enveloped in a pale golden light.

It was as if paying homage to some supreme power.

Su Shi's body was trembling violently, and countless images flashed before his eyes.

It wasn't an illusion; rather, every poem and article he had written in his past and present lives had materialized and was dancing in the pale golden pillar of light.

He saw "The great river flows eastward, its waves sweeping away all traces of the past," and he saw "When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup to ask the blue sky."

I saw "Ten years have passed, and we are separated by life and death," and I saw "Let me live my life amidst the mist and rain."

Those verses are no longer just words, but living fragments of the soul, which are merged, sublimated, and transformed under the cleansing influence of righteous spirit.

Fourth-rank scholar, broken!

The breakthroughs have not stopped.

The righteous energy in his chest surged into his meridians like a flood that had been released from its dam.

His past life's plans for building the Su Causeway in Hangzhou's West Lake, his flood control strategies in Xuzhou, and his grain distribution records during disaster relief in Mizhou have all become part of his righteous spirit.

In his previous life, he was not just a scholar who wrote poems and admired the moon. He was a governor of eight prefectures, a person who managed the Yellow River, repaired water conservancy projects, and stabilized grain prices.

Those tangible political achievements and those genuine experiences of advocating for the people have all become part of his personal cultivation.

The pale golden column of energy changed from one to three, shooting out simultaneously from the top of the head and both shoulders, forming a huge pale golden vortex above the Grand Tutor's Mansion.

The scholars in the capital sensed this fluctuation almost simultaneously.

Several elderly professors at the Imperial College who were giving lectures stopped lecturing at the same time.

Several scholars from the Hanlin Academy who were proofreading classic texts looked up.

Even Chen Qi, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, who was far away in the Censorate, rose from his desk, looked in the direction of the Grand Tutor's residence, and muttered to himself, "This is... a breakthrough in the literary cultivation realm?"

Then comes the fifth rank, and it breaks through!

Kong Yan's beard billowed violently in the gust of air, but his palm remained firmly pressed on Su Shi's head, unmoved.

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, followed by relief, and finally, a rare surge of excitement.

He had lived for sixty-five years and had seen countless cultivators break through their cultivation levels, but he had never seen anyone break through three levels in the instant they accepted the teachings.

This talent is absolutely astonishing.

Little did people know that this was the depth of Su Shi's soul, accumulated through two lifetimes.

The spirit that Su Shi cultivated over several decades in his previous life was not the spirit of this life, but rather all the spiritual wealth he brought from another world and another time and space.

His poems, his political achievements, his hardships, his magnanimity—all of these were activated by the Dharma at this moment, transforming into the purest and most righteous spirit.

"Zizhan, calm your mind and focus on your dantian. You have enough qi. Now you need to stabilize it and not let your state of mind become unstable."

Kong Yan's voice rang in my ears, deep and powerful.

Su Shi gritted his teeth and, following Kong Yan's guidance, slowly pressed the surging, righteous energy into his dantian.

The pale golden column of energy slowly contracted, merging from three into one, then from one into a single line, finally disappearing into the top of his head.

Bamboo leaves drifted down slowly, covering the courtyard once more.

The pale golden vortex above the Grand Tutor's mansion gradually dissipated.

Sixth Rank in Literature, accomplished!

Su Shi slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes were brighter than before, with a faint golden luster flowing deep within his pupils—a sign of his righteous spirit manifesting outwards.

He looked down at his hands, then looked up at the courtyard outside the window, a mess churned up by the blast wave. He turned to Kong Yan, his face full of confusion, and asked, "Grand Tutor, those bamboo leaves... were they from me?"

Kong Yan withdrew his hand, sat back down at the desk, and picked up the teacup.

His face remained calm, but his fingers, holding the teacup, trembled slightly.

That wasn't fatigue, it was excitement.

He used the act of drinking tea to cover up the incident, put down his teacup, and slowly began to speak: "Do you know that in the previous dynasty, the Great Qian Dynasty, there was a top scholar named Yang Wenjing who participated in the imperial examination as a poor scholar. He broke through on the spot in the Golden Hall, jumping from the third rank to the seventh rank, and was praised by his contemporaries as 'becoming a saint on the spot'."

"In the past thousand years, only a handful of people have been able to achieve this level in the path of literary cultivation. Today, you have gone straight from the third rank to the sixth rank."

"Although you are not as powerful as Yang Wenjing was when he was a seventh-rank official, your temperament and writing skills are no worse than anyone else's. You, Su Zizhan, have not disgraced me."

Upon hearing this, Su Shi finally confirmed everything that had just happened.

He stood up from the chair, lifted his robe, and knelt properly before Kong Yan, placing his hands on the ground and banging his forehead heavily against the blue bricks.

He didn't utter any words of gratitude, but instead spoke slowly in an extremely respectful yet unobtrusive tone: "Disciple Su Zizhan will never fail my master's kindness today, nor will I betray the reputation of the Confucian lineage."

Kong Yan nodded slightly, gesturing for him to rise and sit down. He picked up his teacup and resumed his leisurely, scholarly demeanor: "Alright, enough with the grand talk. Go back today and consolidate your cultivation. When you report to the Hanlin Academy tomorrow, remember to wear your new official robes. From today onwards, you are a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, a sixth-rank official."

Su Shi bowed deeply again, then turned and left the flower hall.

He walked into the courtyard, stepping on the bamboo leaves scattered on the ground, and looked up at the exceptionally blue sky above, washed clean by the gust of air.

Suddenly, he threw his head back and burst into laughter. His laughter was clear and unrestrained, so loud that several sparrows on the courtyard wall fluttered up and took flight.

From the third rank to the sixth rank, Su Zizhan, the literary master of all time in his previous life, has finally been reborn.

Half an hour later, Pei Du was reviewing memorials in his office at the Censorate.

Suddenly, a strange commotion came from outside the window. He looked up and gazed in the direction of the Grand Tutor's residence, his brows furrowing slightly.

He certainly sensed that fluctuation.

All the scholars of the fourth rank and above in the capital could sense the overwhelming surge of righteous energy.

He put down his vermilion brush, walked to the window, and stood there for a long time, gazing at the pale golden remnants of clouds that had just dissipated above the Grand Tutor's residence.

A knock sounded at the door, and Chen Qi, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, rushed in, his face filled with shock.

He was just drafting a memorial to impeach the Ministry of Revenue's Water Transport Department when he suddenly sensed an extremely strong Wenxiu wave.

He had only felt the purity and intensity of that righteous spirit in a handful of people, but this direction was in the Grand Tutor's mansion.

He lowered his voice and tentatively asked, "Minister Pei, could it be from the Grand Tutor's residence...?"

"Su Shi," Pei Du interrupted him.

"Su Shi? That newly appointed third-ranked scholar? He... wasn't he a third-rank official?" Chen Qi's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Pei Du turned around, sat back down behind the desk, picked up the teacup, and took a sip.

His expression remained calm, but the way his fingers gently caressed the rim of the teacup betrayed the turmoil within him.

He put down his teacup and slowly spoke, his tone carrying a complex meaning, neither clearly admiration nor regret: "This morning, the Grand Tutor invited Su Shi to his residence for a chat. The fluctuation just now was a sign that he was about to break through from the third rank to the sixth rank."

"The Grand Tutor took him in as his last disciple and passed on to him the literary cultivation method passed down from Confucius's school, the 'Literary Mind'."

"The qi this person had cultivated over twenty years, along with the poems he had written, all transformed into righteous qi the moment the Dharma was opened, breaking through three ranks in succession."

He paused, then added, "Lord Chen, do you know what this means? Su Shi rose from the third rank to the sixth rank in less than half an hour, while it took you and me several years to rise from the fourth to the fifth rank?"

Chen Qi fell silent.

It took him six years, while it took Pei Du four years.

How long did Su Shi take?

In less than half an hour.

He stood there stunned for a long time before finally lowering his voice to ask, "Minister Pei, this Su Shi is so remarkable, and the Grand Tutor has taken him as his last disciple. Doesn't that mean the Grand Tutor's faction has gained another pillar?"

Pei Du did not answer directly.

He leaned back in his chair, gazing silently out the window toward the Grand Tutor's residence for a long time. His fingers tapped lightly on the stack of impeachment memorials on the table. Then he slowly uttered a meaningful sentence: "It's a good thing that the Grand Tutor took Su Shi in, but it's also a variable."

"Fortunately, he is upright and will not become anyone's pawn. The variable is that with his talent and cultivation, it won't be long before he makes a name for himself in the Hanlin Academy."

"At that time, whether it's the Grand Tutor's faction or the upright faction, whoever can truly win him over will be his allegiance."

"The Grand Tutor gave him the methods and foundation, but whether he can keep his heart depends on the Grand Tutor's own ability."