Recognizing bronze inscriptions and oracle bone script is one thing, but remembering them is the key! Qin Mu discovered this problem long ago. He could retrieve characters he had seen before from his memory and write them down, but he would forget them as soon as he turned his back and have to recall them again. It was as if his memory had suddenly deteriorated; without concentrating, he couldn't remember what he had just learned at all.
According to Qin Mu's own understanding, memories reside in the soul, while spiritual power resides in the sea of consciousness. The two are closely related, but they are not the same thing.
The person in the sea of consciousness should be the manifestation of the soul, while spiritual power is just the power of the divine consciousness. In order to memorize the bronze inscriptions, one must first use spiritual power to construct the characters in the divine consciousness.
The text was intricate, and without extensive practice, writing it quickly was impossible, let alone writing it with a righteous spirit. Fortunately, Meng Ziyi provided dedicated guidance. Qin Mu guessed that Meng Ziyi must have assumed that Qin Mu cultivated in the same way as Mencius, belonging to the same family, since those who cultivated a righteous spirit were the most steadfast supporters of Mencius's book. Academic debates were also a significant matter; the emergence of another great Confucian scholar was crucial for enhancing one's own side's popularity.
In the past, the Meng family's biggest rival among Confucian scholars was the Xun family. Mencius advocated the inherent goodness of human nature, while Xunzi believed it was inherently evil. This was the biggest difference between the two families, which is why later generations tried to overpower each other. Even today, the Meng family looks down on Confucian scholars. After Dong Zhongshu's family gained dominance, although Confucian scholars gained the upper hand, and Daoism and Mohism were no match for them, it was still not the same as the Meng family's Confucianism!
Like the Confucian family, the Mencian family held a prestigious position, but most outsiders believed that both families relied entirely on the legacy of the sage. The emergence of a great Confucian scholar greatly enhanced the prestige of a school of thought.
Constructing characters in one's mind requires a great deal of mental strength. Since bronze script is better than seal script, Qin Mu's advantage over others lies in his ability to prioritize the characters he needs to construct.
Other families, even if they possessed inscriptions, had a limited number, which couldn't possibly perfectly match their needs—that was the difference. However, this also multiplied the difficulty; he could only construct ten characters in an entire night, and because it was constructed using mental energy, mental fatigue was inevitable. This meant that Qin Mu spent half of his daytime in sleep.
"The talismans of Taoism are actually derived from written characters. They were first carved on stone walls. Later, the Taoists discovered drums! So they carved the talismans on the drums to increase their power. First were stone drums, then bronze drums, and then bronze bells. That's why they are also called bell and drum inscriptions!"
"Literature carries the Dao! The same is true of runes; they are an explanation of the Dao. However, Daoist runes, based on ancient records, may appear complex, but in terms of their power, they surpass those of other schools of thought," Zhiyuan explained.
Qin Mu listened attentively. He knew some of the scriptures, but he hadn't learned much about runes. After all, without face-to-face instruction, he couldn't understand them even by looking at them. There were some in the manuals, but he had only copied them verbatim. So Zhiyuan began to teach him from scratch, starting with recognizing and drawing the most basic runes.
Zhiyuan was a kind and patient elder. He possessed the most comprehensive and extensive knowledge of Taoist scriptures, talismans, and secret techniques, which was why he was chosen to teach Qin Mu. It was also for this reason that Li Chunfeng was sent to Zhiyuan's tutelage. Qin Mu only now realized that Yuan Tiangang's reputation was merely widespread, while within the Taoist community, Zhiyuan's prestige was in no way inferior to Yuan Tiangang's.
Qin Mu once again felt the same way he did before his entrance exams: sleeping on the back of a rhinoceros in the morning, resting in the afternoon, drawing talismans in the first half of the night, and constructing characters in the second half.
However, with effort comes reward. With ten characters a day and a stable construction, he expects to reach the Nightmare Mountains, at which point he will be able to use all of his divinely bestowed poems in Jinwen script.
In terms of runes, he also gained a lot. After all, he only lacked basic knowledge. He became familiar with a large number of runes, and all that was left was to draw them skillfully.
Taoist runes have another advantage: they can be carried on animal hides. This allows for prior preparation, and when needed, they are activated with spiritual energy. Although they still consume spiritual energy, it is much less. The power of runes should not be underestimated; a single spiritual rune attack is equivalent to the full-force strike of its creator. If the animal hide used has animal patterns, and high-quality materials are used to draw the runes, the power can be further increased.
Qin Mu wasn't lacking in materials, but he had one more thing to do: learn how to process them. After all, how could he make good use of materials if he didn't know how to process them? Especially animal hides with animal patterns, which were precious in themselves and would be wasted if not processed properly. If he had prepared in advance, he could have asked someone to process the materials properly, but he had never had the time to process the materials that were almost piling up in the Heavenly Mystery Tower.
Speaking of the Heavenly Mystery Tower, the people dispatched this time have quite a few items with Sumeru Space. Yuan Tiangang and Meng Ziyi have both produced items out of thin air. After becoming a great Confucian scholar, Qin Mu no longer has many concerns. As long as others cannot guess the size of the Heavenly Mystery Tower, there will be no problem. Moreover, there are not many people in the country who can offend the Qin family.
The materials Qin Mu provided were of very high quality, which made Yuan Tiangang feel quite distressed, saying that using such materials for practice was a waste. Helpless, Qin Mu had to take out some more and ask the Taoists to help process them. Since he had plenty of materials and someone was offering help for free, he was more than happy to oblige.
Traveling is usually a tedious task, but as Qin Mu took out the materials, the camp suddenly became lively at night. The Taoists made talismans, while others wanted to buy a few, since those things could save lives in critical moments. Qin Mu was also happy to sell some; although he wouldn't earn much, he gained a lot of goodwill and could also increase the team's strength—a win-win situation.
Despite the busy schedule, the pace of travel did not slow down. When they entered the Longyou Road, many more people joined the group, but these people were going to deliver supplies. The group went straight out of Yumen Pass, proceeded along the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and finally entered the mountainous area. Fortunately, the forests here were not as dense as in the south, and the mountainous terrain was not difficult to traverse.
"It's really strange. These past few days, we haven't seen many wild animals, or even birds," someone said, puzzled.
“That’s not surprising. Wild animals have better instincts; they can detect the aura of ferocious beasts from a great distance,” Yuan Tiangang said, looking up into the distance.
Qin Mu could also vaguely sense a violent aura rising in the distant sky. Just feeling that violence gave him an urge to take action.
"Take turns releasing the Heart-Cleansing Mantra," Zhiyuan Buddha said, waving his whisk and turning to give the order.
As soon as Master Zhiyuan gave the order, several Taoist priests began to chant scriptures. As soon as the chanting started, Qin Mu felt the urge to take action disappear.
Qin Mu was still secretly surprised. Although he had released his divine sense to sense things without being on guard, he was still a great Confucian scholar, yet he was still affected.
"The stronger one's spiritual sense, the more easily one is affected by the aura of a ferocious beast. On the contrary, martial artists, whose soul and body are perfectly integrated, are not greatly affected. They just need to listen to the Heart-Cleansing Mantra every day." Seeing Qin Mu's expression change, Yuan Tiangang explained to him.
To be honest, Qin Mu's expression changed as he looked into the distance, which surprised Yuan Tiangang. At such a distance, one with poor spiritual sense could not perceive it. He could sense it because he had cultivated for decades, while Qin Mu had only been cultivating for a few years, and it could be said that he had watched him grow up.
Although Yuan Tiangang knew that Qin Mu's divine sense was exceptionally strong, he didn't press the matter, as it was someone else's secret. Asking might cause misunderstandings.
"Oh, I see." Qin Mu nodded. Logically speaking, the stronger one's divine sense, the less affected one should be, but that's only if one is prepared.
"Actually, it won't have much of an impact on you. Just be careful and don't let your divine sense linger for too long," Yuan Tiangang reminded him.
"The reason why ferocious beasts become the common enemy of all living beings is not only because they attack all living creatures, but also because of their aura. Wherever ferocious beasts stay, their aura is difficult to dissipate. If it is not dealt with, people simply cannot live there. Ordinary people infected by the aura of ferocious beasts will also become just like them, ferocious, bloodthirsty, and lose their minds," Meng Ziyi explained.
"Ah! There's something else. We really can't let them live," Qin Mu said in surprise.
“That’s right! We have two missions this time. The first is to defend against the ferocious beasts’ attack, and the other is to see if we can find the source of the beasts and solve or seal it! If possible, we will also have a large number of reinforcements. However, recently, it’s not just us; the wolf clan is also fighting off the enemy, so we can’t spare too many people,” Meng Ziyi explained with a smile.
This was not unexpected. After all, a fundamental solution would be the best outcome, but few were optimistic. So many predecessors had failed to solve this problem; how could it possibly succeed now? Fortunately, people like Yuan Tiangang and Qin Mu were all proud and confident, accustomed to facing difficulties head-on. They were unlikely to back down before even seeing the actual situation. Their words were merely a sigh; on the contrary, after the sigh, many were filled with renewed fighting spirit, determined to solve this seemingly unsolvable problem. To surpass their predecessors! This had always been the dream that Meng Ziyi and others had held onto.
Near the confluence of the three mountains, the malevolent aura intensified, turning the sky a blood-red hue, almost solidifying, and a stench of blood assaulted the senses. Opposite this blood-red aura was a golden aura, firmly blocking it and preventing the blood-red energy from spreading.
A simple camp stood at the mouth of the canyon, where several hundred people were besieging several ferocious monsters. The monsters were about the size of a triangular bull, about five meters long and more than two meters tall. They did not look as strong as the triangular bull, but their lean and capable appearance made them not to be underestimated.
These creatures, which looked as thin as skin and bones, could strike weapons as if they were hitting steel, sending red light flying. Each time they swung their claws, they could knock a guard away.
"Madam, please take this with you." Qin Mu took off the jade seal that he had always worn on his chest. Now that he had become a great Confucian scholar, he no longer needed to suppress his inner demons.
"Hmm." Knowing Qin Mu well, and knowing that he rarely changes his mind, Princess Changning took the jade seal and hung it around her neck. Then the jade seal fell into a ditch, and from the outside, it was impossible to tell that something was hanging there.
As the crowd marched toward the camp, Qin Mu could clearly see that the guards all had smiles on their faces. He could guess that they had been under a lot of pressure recently, and that they were so happy to see reinforcements.
Although it's called a canyon, it's actually quite wide, at least over a thousand meters. For a place where three major mountain ranges meet, it's considered a very spacious passage, since other areas are mostly narrow, winding paths.
Everyone who came was astonished by what they saw. It was a spacious area, and those ferocious beasts could have easily rushed out from the open space. But without exception, they all came for the humans.
It was ferocious, with a large, drooling mouth. When it saw a human, it looked like it was food. Its eyes were bloodshot. You could only see an extremely aggressive expression; nothing else was clear.
The eyes are the windows to the soul. Whether it is a human or an animal, if you observe carefully, you can see emotions such as doubt, curiosity, joy, fear, and threat. But in the eyes of a ferocious beast, you can only find one thing: an expression filled with boundless hatred and an extreme desire to attack.
The ferocious beasts come in an endless stream. You might kill one, and then two or ten more might appear. There is no pattern to it, and it shows no sign of stopping.
"At peak times, over a hundred appear simultaneously, and the longest they can stop is only an hour. The nighttime rest is shorter, but it never stops. Everyone here is constantly on standby, so we're all very happy to see you," an elderly man who came to greet us explained with a wry smile. Judging from his disheveled hair, he hadn't had a proper rest in a long time either.
"Senior Sima, please rest well and leave it to us," Meng Ziyi said, bowing respectfully.
"Alright! But be careful, keep half of them experienced people first." The old man nodded and smiled as he gave instructions. Then, he instructed the young man beside him, "Quan'er, introduce them to Master Yuan and the others."
"Those are the Sima family of historians, descendants of Sima Qian. After the Han Dynasty, they lived in seclusion, only recording history and not participating in it. They found that being in officialdom made it difficult to record history in the most accurate and impartial way. The old man's name is Sima Zhengying, and that is his son, Sima Quan. Many people know them, but they never have close relationships with them. In each generation, only the male members travel outside the palace, recording history based on information they gather themselves," Li Chunfeng explained in a low voice.
"Yes, the bystander sees most of the game! That's what a true historian is!" Qin Mu nodded in agreement. He understood perfectly well that the court's historians were inevitably influenced by the royal family. Even if one or two disagreed, they would be overturned and rewritten by the later emperors. Furthermore, during dynastic changes, it was necessary to fabricate some dark history to smear the previous dynasty; such history had very low credibility.
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