Chapter 8: Xu's Investigation of Things to Understand Principles
Is it good to be able to raise one's spiritual talent to the extraordinary level?
Of course, it's good.
What Xu Yongsheng, whose spiritual talent was ordinary, cared about was that during a previous lecture, Wang Chan had casually mentioned that the level of spiritual talent not only affects a Martial Artist's cultivation speed but also their potential.
But right now, whether it was a heavenly revelation spirit crystal, splendid spring heart, or snow rock immortal molt, not to mention the items themselves, he didn't even have a single clue or piece of information.
“Mirror flowers and moon in the water, seen but not touched.” Xu Yongsheng looked at the diting diagram, closing the illusory book: “At least for now, it's untouchable, so there's no need to dwell on it.”
Xu Yongsheng composed himself and went to the Academy to practice archery.
After cultivating the Eagle Eye and Fire Observation Pupil, Xu Erlang's archery improved by leaps and bounds.
Conversely, frequent archery practice also helped him continuously refine and improve his Fire Observation Pupil and Eagle Eye.
As for the last empty pavilion in the Three Talents Pavilion for his Nine-Rank Realm, the Earth Pavilion at his lumbar spine, Xu Yongsheng already had an idea.
The Confucian five constant virtues of benevolence.
This is also an aspect closely related to a Confucian Martial Artist's direct combat ability, and it is also the most direct aspect among the five constant virtues that affects the speed of a Confucian Martial Artist's cultivation progress.
Previously, due to silver red blood and Eagle Eye, Xu Yongsheng had chosen “righteousness” and “wisdom” for his Human Pavilion and Heaven Pavilion respectively.
This time, he would choose “benevolence” no matter what.
It just so happened that the martial arts 絕學 Ben Lei Palm he had previously obtained required at least one Martial Artist's Qi spear to be formed in the Martial Artist's Three Bone Hall.
The 'Qi' among the Martial Artist's five aspects and five Qis corresponds to “benevolence” among the Confucian five aspects and five constant virtues.
So, Xu Yongsheng recited the Book of Odes to nurture his benevolent Qi while continuing to familiarize himself with and refine his saber techniques and archery.
In addition, as his Confucian martial arts cultivation in the Nine-Rank Realm grew, other matters could also be put on the agenda for consideration.
In the future, if he wanted to Breakthrough from the Nine-Rank Realm to the Eighth-Rank Realm, Confucian Martial Artists also needed to participate in unique ceremonies and rituals.
Just as it was when he went from unranked to Nine-Rank.
Back then, special brush, ink, paper, and inkstone had to be prepared and personally nurtured by the cultivator; others could not do it on their behalf.
Currently, Nine-Rank martial artists also need to complete specific trials.
Specifically for Xu Yongsheng, this meant he needed to experience trials related to righteousness, wisdom, and benevolence, respectively.
These trials were originally an integral part of the complete ritual for Confucian Nine-Rank martial artists to enter the Eighth-Rank.
The Confucian practice of taming the fierce martial Dao horse, with a much lower risk of Qi Deviation than pure Martial Artists, stems from this continuously perfected ritual System throughout history.
For example, the trial required to nurture a Confucian Ancient Sword of Righteousness in the Three Talents Pavilion is to act righteously in the face of the powerful and speak out against injustice.
The trial required to nurture a Confucian Zhi's Tortoise Shell in the Three Talents Pavilion is to investigate an object, understand its principle, and reflect that principle in heaven and earth.
As for “benevolence,” it involves providing porridge and meals, and caring for the elderly, sick, and young orphans, continuously, day after day, rain or shine, for three ten-day periods.
On the surface, the last item takes the longest, but all related trials require laying the relevant Foundation for the Three Talents Pavilion first before they can be effective.
Therefore, Xu Yongsheng could put “benevolence” aside for now, continue to accumulate Confucian benevolence, and then proceed with it after the jade in the Earth Pavilion has matured. For now, he would complete the trials for “righteousness” and “wisdom.”
The trial for “righteousness” is quite random, and Xu Yongsheng does not intend to deliberately pursue it, so he is currently focusing on “wisdom.”
Investigating things to understand principles, for a Nine-Rank martial artist, the requirements are not too stringent.
However, Xu Yongsheng was indeed a bit casual.
He directly dragged over a four-legged stool, then spread out paper and brush on this four-legged stool, and began to write.
Xu Yongsheng already had a draft in mind for this, so he wrote a lengthy article in one go.
It was just that it differed slightly from the common perception of Confucian splendid articles in this world.
For example, in addition to text, Xu Yongsheng's article was also accompanied by many illustrations within the lines.
Broadly speaking, Mr. Xu, who followed the Confucian cultivation path, used some knowledge he had learned on Blue Star to explain from a mechanical perspective why the stool could stand stably and bear weight…
To say it was wrong, there was no major error.
It just had a hint of feigning ignorance.
Because in this world, when investigating a stool to understand its principles, people generally argue that through the stability of a four-legged stool, one can deduce the principle that one should be balanced and impartial in life.
Having attended a year of martial arts “preschool” in the Academy Outer Courtyard of this world, Xu Yongsheng could actually write similar articles.
But he wanted to try it now.
So, after finishing the article, he lit the paper scroll and solemnly prayed to heaven.
Then…
Xu Yongsheng could feel that in the unseen world, his vast Qi seemed to connect with the celestial firmament for a moment, and his consciousness became clearer.
This moment felt similar to when he had just formed the first Zhi's Tortoise Shell in his Heaven Pavilion between his eyebrows.
This basically indicated that he had passed the Nine-Rank Realm trial related to “wisdom,” and Heaven approved his method of investigating things to understand principles.
Xu Yongsheng let out a long breath, smiling contentedly.
Hmm, calculating the days, today is the twenty-eighth of June, the end of the month, so there's a night market… Xu Yongsheng was in a great mood, packed his things, and went out.
Before the curfew, he arrived at Chongben Ward.
In fact, with limited curfew, he could even go to Chongben Ward at night, but he would need to report to the Golden Guard.
Once they saw Chongben Ward, everyone understood tacitly.
In the Great Qian Dynasty, the Guanzhong Imperial Capital had East and West Markets, while the Heluo Eastern Capital had North and South Markets.
However, as the former Imperial Capital, Heluo Eastern Capital historically had a West Market in addition to its North and South Markets.
After the Great Qian was founded, the West Market also existed for a period, but it was established and abolished intermittently, until some years after the current Qian Emperor ascended the throne, it was finally completely abolished and converted into one of the city wards, which is Chongben Ward.
However, after the Qian Emperor did not visit the Eastern Capital for many years, the West Market of Chongben Ward revived in another way.
During the day, it was still an ordinary city ward, but at night, there were always a few days each month when it would be quite lively.
Due to the curfew, this liveliness was generally unrelated to ordinary commoners, mostly attended by Martial Artists of various Ranks, and the goods traded in the market were often mysterious, hence it was called the night market, which in a way could also be seen as a black market for cultivators.
On the evening of every night market day, the Demon Suppression Guard and Golden Guard outside Chongben Ward would increase their personnel and stand guard, turning a blind eye as long as no major commotion occurred.
The people who organized the night market naturally had extraordinary backgrounds.
Of course, heavy taxes were still inevitable.
After Xu Yongsheng entered Chongben Ward, he waited for nightfall.
This was not his first time here; he had bought a good anti-poison spirit item here at the end of last month.
This time, Xu Yongsheng, familiar with the route, changed his clothes, then took out a mask and put it on to conceal his face, quietly heading to Xiangde Temple, which did not have much incense burning.
Without a guide, without being spied upon, only after entering did he find a hidden world within.
When Xu Yongsheng arrived, there were already many people coming and going inside, mostly dressed in black robes and wearing various masks, with no one being noisy, only occasionally whispering to each other.