Chapter 4: The Second Page of the Mysterious Tome
Xu Yongsheng recalled the latest changes to the illusory tome when he was previously accumulating and refining the Ancient Sword of Righteousness, remembering the second page that seemed on the verge of turning but ultimately did not.
Now that he was proficient in both literary and martial arts, the 'buy one get one free' change might have come from this.
Like the diting diagram on the first page of the mysterious tome, the wonder of this second page currently showed no discernible cost.
After thoroughly checking himself again and finding no further gains, Xu Yongsheng, being able to pick up and put down, didn't dwell on it. He first composed himself and continued to focus on his own cultivation.
Within the Three Talents Pavilion, the personal pavilion in his chest was now filled with the Ancient Sword of Righteousness.
Xu Yongsheng's next goal turned to the Heavenly Pavilion at his glabella.
That night, six days ago, Diting went out and brought back a Martial Artist's unique skill called “Eagle Eye”.
The basic requirement for cultivation was to form a Nianqi bow in the Three Bone Hall of the Martial Artist.
The Nianqi among the Martial Artist's Five Phases and Five Qi, to some extent, corresponded to “Wisdom”, one of the five constant virtues of Confucianism… Xu Yongsheng mused thoughtfully.
Wisdom symbolized insightful perception, discerning principles, agile sensing, and, along with Propriety, assisted Benevolence. It was crucial for a Confucian Martial Artist's subsequent cultivation speed and progress. In actual combat, it enhanced a Confucian Martial Artist's perception, insight, reaction speed, analytical ability, judgment, and intuition.
This aspect was already one of Xu Yongsheng's favorites.
Due to his personal character and past experiences from Blue Star, he placed great importance on perception, insight, and reconnaissance warnings.
One of the five Confucian martial arts in Wang Chan's Southern Pavilion Miscellany, Fire Observation Pupil, required the Perfection of “Wisdom”, one of the five constant virtues, within the Three Talents Pavilion as its cultivation foundation.
He wondered if cultivating the Confucian Wisdom and mastering the Confucian unique skill Fire Observation Pupil would also stack with the abilities of the Martial Artist's Eagle Eye.
Through the information provided by the diting diagram, Xu Yongsheng had previously learned that Nine-Rank Confucian Martial Artists accumulating the Five Phases and five constant virtues could be aided and accelerated in their cultivation by five treasures: grass green jade, silver red blood, zitong jue (purple bronze jue), golden moon chips, and mystic yellow stone.
With the help of silver red blood, the Ancient Sword of Righteousness was indeed forged faster.
During the nearly two months of cultivating Righteousness, Diting went out every night, bringing back various pieces of information, one of which was:
【mystic yellow stone is produced annually around the winter solstice at the bottom of Cold Moon Lake in the Southern City of Eastern Capital.】
Unfortunately, it was not yet May, and the winter solstice was still far off.
Furthermore, Xu Yongsheng had long heard that the environment of Cold Moon Lake was special; even in the scorching summer, it remained extremely cold, and many formally ranked Martial Artists had frozen to death there. At least an Eight-Rank Martial Artist was needed to dive to the bottom.
Finally, among the three choices for the Nine-Rank Realm's five constant virtues and Five Phases, Xu Yongsheng, after consideration, chose “Wisdom” for the second phase.
He calmed his mind, silently accumulated, and recited the Book of Changes daily, nurturing his own Wisdom of the five constant virtues.
On the fifth day of the fifth month of Shengjing's eighth year, a neighboring boy, Liu De, came to his door: “Sir, our zongzi has honey drizzled on it. My mother asked me to bring it to you.”
“Why be so polite? Just call me Second Brother like before,” Xu Yongsheng said, accepting and thanking him.
Liu De was a bit embarrassed: “Second Brother, you’ve already entered the Rank, and you’re a scholar…”
After tidying up his things, Xu Yongsheng left with Liu De.
“Second Brother, there’s a Dragon boat race on the Luoshui River…” Liu De's face lit up.
Xu Yongsheng: “I saw it last year. I won’t join the fun this year; I’ll practice my cultivation a bit more.”
Upon hearing this, Liu De reflected: “Second Brother, you’re so diligent even after entering the Rank, then… I won’t go this year either.”
As he spoke, his tone turned regretful: “I still haven’t managed to cultivate the scholar’s body Qi.”
Liu De yearned to cultivate the scholar’s body Qi like Xu Yongsheng but couldn't. Fortunately, he had laid a foundation by cultivating the Martial Artist's blood Qi.
Xu Yongsheng walked and said, “There’s still more than half a year until the entrance exam. Whether studying Confucianism or martial arts, you need to focus.”
Liu De nodded repeatedly.
If he could pass next year's official entrance exam, he could also enter the Rank like Xu Yongsheng and become a true Martial Artist.
“If I can enter the Rank, I must buy a big house for my family,” Liu De said, his face full of longing.
The imperial court had regulations: only officials and those who had entered the Martial Dao Rank could choose famous gardens and grand mansions. Different ranks corresponded to different levels of residences. Ordinary wealthy households, even with vast riches, could not gain entry without a rank. Even for renting or buying, a matching identity was required for the contract.
When Xu Yongsheng had just entered the Rank, the ward chief, who had received notification through official channels from the Academy and the government, immediately came to visit. However, Xu Yongsheng preferred the tranquility of Yongning Ward, so he had no plans to move in the short term.
“Entering the Rank is just the beginning. Poverty for scholars, wealth for Martial Artists. The higher you go, the greater the expenses,” Xu Yongsheng said, feeling this deeply.
“Second Brother is right.” Liu De’s longing did not diminish: “However, just being free from the curfew makes things much more comfortable.”
Xu Yongsheng: “It cannot be said to be completely lifted yet.”
Compared to when he was unranked and unrated, becoming a Nine-Rank martial artist meant that the curfew, for him, changed from a complete curfew to a limited one. After reporting, he could pass through with a token, but he could not approach core areas like the palace city or imperial city, nor could he wander freely.
Among the Golden Guard and others on night patrol, there were certainly many who practiced martial arts.
But after all, a ranked Martial Artist's mobility was completely incomparable to that of ordinary people.
Giving them some freedom and arranging for them to cooperate with night patrols was one of the ways the imperial court maintained stability.
Currently, for Xu Yongsheng, this was the treatment for a Nine-Rank martial artist. It was said that there would be different treatment for Eight-Rank and Seven-Rank, and an entirely different scene for the higher Six-Rank and Five-Rank.
Catching the “early batch” of martial arts entering the Rank brought benefits to Xu Yongsheng in many aspects.
Besides the ward chief and Golden Guard soldiers visiting his home, the market prefect of South Market and the head of the ironware trade also visited the blacksmith shop immediately.
Not to mention that after Xu Yongsheng officially entered the Rank, he was directly exempted from various taxes.
All of this made Liu De look up to Xu Yongsheng and also filled him with motivation to go to the Academy Outer Courtyard, diligently cultivate, and temper his Martial Artist's blood Qi.
Xu Yongsheng remained calm as ever, heading to the Academy Outer Courtyard. After consulting the lecturer on some key points regarding cultivation, he continued to focus on his own practice.
That night, Diting brought back this message:
【Nine golden moon chips fell into a well in the third northwest alley of Xingyuan Ward in Eastern Capital.】
After reading it, Xu Yongsheng's eyes flashed.
silver red blood aided the cultivation of Righteousness.
mystic yellow stone aided the cultivation of Trust.
And golden moon chips precisely aided the cultivation of Wisdom!
He took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and only after dawn did he get up to wash, then left as usual.
Leaving Yongning Ward, he appeared outwardly calm and arrived at Xingyuan Ward.
Although the accuracy of the diting diagram's messages had been repeatedly verified, it only stated that there were golden moon chips here, but it did not say whether there was any danger.
Therefore, Xu Yongsheng cautiously observed the inside and outside of Xingyuan Ward without showing any emotion before entering.
In the faint morning light, the deep alleys within the ward were shaded by green trees.
Xu Yongsheng found the well, observed it carefully for a moment, and seeing no one around, quietly descended into the well.
Indeed, there were faint golden lights shimmering in the well water, and the glow appeared slightly curved.
Xu Yongsheng, as if fishing for the moon in the well, retrieved those pale golden curved “crescent moons,” and saw in his hand nine curved pale golden counting rods.
These were precisely the spiritual objects, golden moon chips, that could assist Nine-Rank Confucian Martial Artists in accumulating the “Wisdom” of the five constant virtues.