"Of course it's good! You think I'm just praising you on purpose? Although I'm not a great scholar, I still have this much discernment." Qin Yao glared at him.
"Then why didn't it trigger the Heavenly Gift?" Luo Cheng asked, pointing to the article on the table.
"This is not surprising. Huai Dao did not experience the battlefield, so he did not have a deep understanding of it. But from this poem, we can see that he is very knowledgeable. Both his choice of words and his descriptions are very skillful."
Although it won't become a precious scroll, once it circulates, it will inevitably become a classic text. Knowing that Luo Cheng was just a pure military general with some education, but only in literacy, Qin Yao explained it to him.
Mystic scriptures and fragments of secret scrolls are similar; they are exceptional poems and essays that have been loved and passed down through generations. Over time, they can aid in cultivation. The more people recite them, the more spiritual energy they acquire. The characters within these texts, due to this spiritual energy, gradually become sentient, and depending on the text, can bring about wondrous effects or aid in combat.
However, unlike the secret scrolls, these characters are essentially one-time use. After being used once, their spirituality disappears, and it takes a long time before they can reappear.
Whether it's esoteric texts or secret scrolls, they are not unique to Confucianism. For example, many scriptures of Taoism and Zen Buddhism are esoteric texts. However, because they were originally few in number, they were distributed and each school kept them as treasures of their temples, keeping them secret from others, which is why they are not commonly seen.
Confucianism is different, given its abundance of poetry and prose, resulting in a greater number of esoteric texts. However, in comparison, the esoteric texts of Taoism and Zen Buddhism are far more powerful. They have many followers whose devotion to scriptures is unquestionable and extremely devout, thus their esoteric texts are considerably more potent.
However, precisely because of its power, they cherish it even more, treating it as a trump card of their sects and rarely using it.
What the Mystic Canon and the fragments of secret scrolls have in common is that they gather a great deal of spiritual energy, or rather, righteous energy. Carrying them with you during cultivation will allow you to gather even more spiritual energy. The spiritual energy absorbed through the Mystic Canon is purer than that absorbed from the air, and you can draw a portion from it every so often, which is what makes them so precious.
"Good stuff! Quickly put it away." Upon hearing that this could potentially become a profound classic, Luo Cheng's eyes lit up, and he gently kicked Qin Mu to remind him.
"What's the rush! The competition isn't over yet!" Qin Yao said irritably when he saw Luo Cheng looking like he was afraid someone would steal the prize.
With so many people surrounding them, their opponents naturally noticed. The young man was quite impressive; he calmly finished writing. Murong Yun and the others watched him the whole time, and only after reading it did they approach Qin Mu.
Qin Yao and the others didn't speak loudly enough to affect the competition, but the attentive Murong Yun and the others could still hear them. They naturally thought Qin Yao was exaggerating, but they still couldn't help but feel a little restless.
After reading Qin Mu's poem, the group was immediately bewildered. As the saying goes, it's not that you don't know the goods, it's that you don't compare them. Qin Mu's poem was far inferior to Dongfang Yu's earlier one; even if one were to lie and say it was similar, it couldn't be said.
Dongfang Yu had been looking at Qin Mu and the others with arrogance, assuming that they would approve of his poem once they read it. After all, he had been preparing this poem for a long time and had written several drafts, but he was still slightly dissatisfied with it, which was why he hadn't released it yet. Today, he believed that he had exceeded his usual standard.
To his surprise, not only Qin Qiong, but also Qin Yao and others showed no interest in reading his work. After reading Qin Mu's writing, Murong Yun and the others looked at each other in silence for a long time.
"I won't go and see it. You've read both of their poems, so tell me, who won and who lost?"
After Murong Yun and the others finished reading it, Qin Yao asked, confident that what Dongfang Yu wrote was definitely not as good as what Qin Mu wrote.
Murong Yun's smile was awkward, and he said with a hint of bitterness, "Young Master, your literary talent is remarkable, I admire you."
At this moment, Dongfang Yu, who was paying attention to them, frowned upon hearing Murong Yun's words, strode over, and quickly picked up the poem written by Qin Mu.
“You do write better than me. I am Dongfang Yu, and I would like to have another match with you!” Dongfang Yu put down the Xuan paper and bowed to Qin Mu.
"Dongfang Yu! A gentleman like jade, I never thought the famous Young Master Yu would be such a sore loser. I think you and your brother Dongfang Wu are just like each other." Xiangli Yanran first looked at Dongfang Yu with surprise, then said with a disdainful expression.
"Of course Dongfang Yu isn't a sore loser. Let's have another match, and the outcome will be different. If you win, this piece of Hetian jade is yours." Dongfang Yu wasn't angry at Xiangli Yanran's words and still looked at Qin Mu calmly as he spoke, taking out a fist-sized piece of jade from his pocket to show it to him.
“Huai Dao bets with him that the jade essence is rare,” Luo Cheng said, his eyes lighting up.
Dongfang Yu looked at Qin Mu with confidence, believing that Qin Mu would definitely agree.
"What's the use of jade essence? Why should I compete with you again?" Looking at the self-satisfied Dongfang Yu, Qin Mu flipped his wrist, and a folding fan appeared in his hand. He asked as he opened and closed the fan.
"You don't know the uses of jade essence? Why don't you ask them before making a decision?" Dongfang Yu was taken aback when he saw that Qin Mu didn't know the uses of jade essence, and then shook his head.
"Hehe! Even if the jade essence is excellent, it's not something I necessarily need. If you insist on comparing it, wouldn't I lose face?" Qin Mu said, shaking his fan. In his opinion, there was absolutely no need to compare anymore. After all, he was just copying something, and those who walk in the dark are bound to encounter ghosts. If he got used to showing off, it would be too embarrassing if he couldn't keep up the act one day.
Once a reputation is ruined, it is not easy to rebuild it, and in Confucian cultivation, reputation is a very important aspect.
"Let's have a contest this time, a poetry contest! If you win, I'll add another hundred catties of top-grade jade," Dongfang Yu said through gritted teeth. He had heard Murong Yun propose a contest to compose prose. He acknowledged that Qin Mu was better at writing than him. However, he never believed that Qin Mu was better at poetry, even though Qin Mu had produced poems that inspired divine intervention.
To elicit a divine gift, the most important thing is that it must align with one's state of mind; that is, it must be something that comes from genuine feeling, something that cannot be forced. Dongfang Yu didn't believe Qin Mu could compose a poem that would trigger such a divine gift in this impromptu competition. Moreover, if Qin Mu agreed, then as the one who proposed the challenge, he would naturally set the topic.
"Are you sure you're writing poetry?" Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, put away the fan he was waving, and clapped his hands as he asked.
“That’s right, let’s compete in poetry! If you lose, all you need to do is bring out the fragment of the Spring and Autumn Annals, Guliang Commentary, which you just won. It won’t cost you anything, right?” Dongfang Yu said with delight when Qin Mu agreed.
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