"Palindrome poems can be made, but why hasn't anyone thought of palindrome couplets?" Xue Yuanjing shook his head slightly and said.
"Young people are so quick-witted!" Kong Yida said with a smile.
"Don't praise him too much. If you keep praising him, I'm afraid he'll actually think he's a once-in-a-millennium genius," Li Gang said with a smile. Although he was smiling, his tone revealed his displeasure. Normally, it would be great for old friends to gather, chat and boast happily, and mentor the younger generation. What, Wang Ji, are you here to sabotage me? After all, today is the day I accept disciples. Can't we settle things today? We're not enemies, are we?
Wang Ji couldn't help but smile bitterly. He knew he was destined to take the blame, since he was the one who brought it upon himself.
“Huai Dao just won the contest. I can see that you are also a lover of wine, so I will give you this book I wrote, ‘The Classic of Wine,’” Wang Ji said, taking out a scroll from his bosom.
The scroll emitted a faint milky-white light. Qin Mu, who had seen secret manuals before, recognized it immediately as such.
"Second Grandfather!" the young man behind Wang Ji exclaimed.
Wang Ji turned around and glared coldly. The young man shuddered and finally shut his mouth.
"Old Wang, this is too valuable. You should take it back." Qin Mu was very surprised. He took a deep breath and refused with his hands clasped.
"It seems you have a good eye for things. However, this manual isn't as valuable as you might think. It has no offensive or defensive capabilities, nor any special function. It only allows you to retrieve a pot of fine wine every day. This wine manual is the culmination of my hard work, and I only gave it to you because I saw that you understand wine and have brewed so much fine wine. If you feel bad about it, just send me more fine wine in the future," Wang Ji explained.
"This..." Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Li Gang.
Seeing Li Gang nod almost imperceptibly, Qin Mu respectfully cupped his hands again and said, "Then this junior will accept it without being polite. Since you enjoy fine wine, this junior will naturally offer it to you!"
"That's more like it!" Wang Ji smiled and tossed the wine in his hand, which flew to Qin Mu's front.
Qin Mu hurriedly accepted the book with both hands, bowed slightly in thanks again, and carefully put it into his robes. Although what Wang Ji said wasn't important, this was a secret manual of a great Confucian scholar—the secret manual of a living great Confucian scholar. The fact that it lacked offensive and defensive capabilities was actually a good thing, meaning it contained the great Confucian scholar's own righteous energy, not energy replenished by heaven and earth after use. This righteous energy could be absorbed by those below the level of a great Confucian scholar. This was of immense benefit to them.
Qin Mu was unaware of this, and some people around him were filled with envy, looking at Qin Mu with longing.
After this incident, the mood was ruined, and everyone took their leave of Li Gang, as many of them still held official positions.
As Li Shentong left, he smiled and nodded at Qin Mu, his eyes filled with appreciation, which made Qin Mu feel relieved and much happier.
"You have official business to attend to, but you can come to my place every afternoon, and I will teach you cultivation." After seeing off the guest, Li Gang instructed Qin Mu.
"Your disciple obeys!"
"Hmm! Write down the poem you gave me and the 'Inscription of My Humble Abode'."
"Yes, disciple will write it as soon as I get back," Qin Mu replied respectfully.
Li Gang did not ask Qin Mu to write now, because he knew that Qin Mu wanted to write in his best condition and needed to go back to calm down and adjust his mind and body.
"Since you've become my disciple, I don't have much to give you. Consider this little thing a gift from your master." Li Gang took out a square stone from his wide sleeve and handed it to Qin Mu.
"Thank you, teacher!" Qin Mu said, expressing his gratitude and respectfully accepting the gift.
The stone was bluish-green and smooth to the touch, like jade. What surprised Qin Mu the most was that he could feel the surging, majestic energy contained within the jade.
"Teacher! This is too precious!" Qin Mu exclaimed in shock as he looked up.
"This is my father's favorite paperweight. It's a stone from a hidden place in Mount Tai. He used it for over fifty years, and he wouldn't let me touch it even once," Li Shaozhi, who was older than Qin Qiong, said enviously.
"Hehe, it's just a stone I got when I was young!" Li Gang said with a smile, waving his hand. Then he glared at his son and scolded, "If you had the talent to cultivate the Dao, there's nothing I wouldn't give you. But look at yourself, you're only a junior scholar now. Could you even use it if I gave it to you?"
Although he was already fifty years old, Li Shaozhi could only shrink back and dare not talk back when scolded by his father.
“The things that a great Confucian scholar wears or plays with all year round are imbued with a righteous aura, which is beneficial to others. But ordinary people only dare to absorb a little bit, after all, the righteous aura of a great Confucian scholar is extremely refined and pure. It is not so easy for ordinary people to assimilate it into their own righteous aura. If they are not careful, they will delay their own cultivation.”
"Huai Dao is different from you. Although he is also a scholar, he has undergone three divine trials, and his noble spirit is pure and refined. He is not much different from a junior great Confucian scholar," Li Gang explained.
Qin Mu then realized that this righteous energy could indeed be absorbed. As for Li Gang's statement that the nature of his righteous energy was not much different from that of a great Confucian scholar, he was also somewhat surprised.
“Teacher, this is too precious. As you said, my righteous spirit is already comparable to that of a great Confucian scholar. Why not leave it to my senior brother?” Qin Mu said, holding up the paperweight.
Seeing Qin Mu's sincere expression, Li Gang was even more satisfied and said with a smile, "Just accept it. Your senior brother can't use it, so giving it to him would be a waste. Huai Dao, you shouldn't give these things to others casually either. If the righteous energy of a great Confucian scholar is absorbed into the body and cannot be refined, it will only affect your cultivation and prevent you from making any progress."
Li Gang reminded him again, and Qin Mu understood and firmly remembered this point: this was the difference between a cultivator's righteous energy and the righteous energy of heaven and earth. A cultivator's righteous energy, or other spiritual energy, all bore the cultivator's imprint and had to be refined to become entirely their own.
The mark of the dead disappears, making it much easier to absorb and refine. However, this presents another problem: the items of a great Confucian scholar, worn for many years, possess certain characteristics and contain a large amount of righteous energy. But after use, once recovered, much of this righteous energy belongs to the righteous energy of heaven and earth. Although the nature may appear the same, the essence is completely different.
The great Confucian scholar possesses a body in perfect harmony, every movement in accord with the universe, allowing him to freely mobilize its power. However, this mobilization is not without limitations, primarily in its range. Once the righteous energy within a certain range is exhausted, he can only utilize the righteous energy of his own body. If he encounters an opponent of equal strength, he is likely to deplete these personal reserves.
Indeed, in Qin Mu's view, these things contained a large amount of righteous energy, essentially acting as a high-capacity battery. Think about it: after a battery is used, it's only filled with the righteous energy of heaven and earth, which has already been significantly reduced in quality, containing impurities and being quite violent. After all, it hasn't been refined by a great Confucian scholar. Imagine, who would dare absorb such righteous energy? And great Confucian scholars don't need it, so it's rather awkward.
In this way, the only things that are truly suitable for other people to cultivate are various secret manuals and treasures.
This didn't matter to Qin Mu; at least he had an extra high-capacity battery. He thanked Li Gang again and happily put it away.
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