Something profound was happening to him. An unprecedented experience, he embarked on the path of cultivation. Suppressing his excitement, Qin Mu carefully comprehended it.
The spot in front of his heart is the Tanzhong acupoint. He knows the human body's acupoints very well; he memorized them back when he was studying martial arts, even though it was all in vain.
He suddenly "saw" that the Tanzhong acupoint had transformed into a room-sized space, with a fist-sized, white ball of energy floating in the center, emitting a warm glow.
Of course, all of this was just his perception, not what he saw with his eyes. At this moment, Qin Mu's eyes were closed.
Not only did his Tanzhong acupoint change, but Qin Mu also felt an unprecedented clarity in his mind. It was as if he had a third eye at the center of his forehead, allowing him to see the blood vessels, meridians, and even bones in his body.
Qin Mu tirelessly searched for changes in his body, and he guessed that the ball of energy in his Tanzhong acupoint was the Righteous Qi. A surge of Righteous Qi in one's chest is enough to make even gods and ghosts flee in terror, and villains tremble in fear.
Although the righteous energy in the Tanzhong acupoint could be directed by his consciousness to drift around, it could only drift and would not leave the Tanzhong acupoint, which made him unsure how to use it.
After observing carefully for a long time, Qin Mu still discovered something unusual. Although the righteous energy did not leave the Tanzhong acupoint, it seemed to be breathing, with a trace of it penetrating into the body and dissolving into the flesh and blood.
Qin Mu guessed that this was the righteous energy replenishing his physical body. He had finally discovered a benefit, which made him quite happy.
"Phew!" Unable to find any other changes, Qin Mu finally let out a long breath and opened his eyes.
As the light entered his eyes, he realized that it was almost dawn. Through contemplation and breakthroughs, he had unknowingly spent the entire night.
Feeling refreshed, Qin Mu got up. He wanted to ask Zhiyuan some questions and also wanted to try reading to see if it would have any other effects. Reading, reading—how could he not read!
"The wicked Xiahou Qi ascended to heaven, but instead of being virtuous, he was thrown into the Yuan Yin Gonggong team..."
He casually took out a bamboo scroll from his bag, sat down at the stone table in the Taoist temple, slowly opened it, and began to read it softly in the dim light of the sky.
The books in the house were the most valuable items. Apart from a change of clothes, the most numerous items in his luggage this time were bamboo slips. Qin Mu had only been in the world for a few days and hadn't had time to read them yet. After reading a few sentences word by word, he realized that the contents of this bamboo slip were not only unfamiliar to him, but also somewhat strange. Upon closer examination, some of them resembled records, while others resembled divination.
"Cough cough!" Two coughs were heard.
"Master Zhiyuan! Brother Li!" Qin Mu turned around and hurriedly stood up to greet him.
"Brother Qin!"
"Brother Huaidao!" the two greeted at the same time, and then Li Chunfeng glanced awkwardly at Zhiyuan.
"It's alright, everyone can pay their own." Zhiyuan's face darkened, then he waved his hand and said.
"Hey! Brother Huaidao, you've made up your mind?" Li Chunfeng said in surprise as the two walked in.
Zhiyuan noticed this as well, but it wasn't surprising. After all, Qin Mu's scholarly air was undeniable; anyone could tell at a glance that he was a learned man. For him, achieving enlightenment was just a matter of a single thought.
"I don't know either, I was just about to ask the Taoist priest," Qin Mu said with a simple smile, scratching his head.
"After making a resolution, a person's two orifices open: the Tanzhong acupoint and the sea of consciousness between the eyebrows. These are the signs," Zhiyuan explained, stroking his beard.
"Oh! That's true. I wonder how I should use the Righteous Qi?" Qin Mu nodded repeatedly and asked.
"The supernatural powers of Confucianism are indescribable and cannot be explained. They vary depending on what one learns. Just now, I overheard Brother Qin reading and realized that what you lack most is a teacher to guide you."
"Indeed, please enlighten me, Daoist Master," Qin Mu said, bowing respectfully.
Zhiyuan stepped aside, refusing the greeting, and waved his hand, saying, "I can't give you pointers on this. You need a teacher to instruct you verbally and by example, providing long-term guidance."
“Take reading for example. It requires tonal patterns and rhymes, and to interpret each word in order to resonate with the reader and cultivate a noble spirit. As the saying goes, a small mistake can lead to a huge error. If it were a Taoist classic, I would have no problem with it. But if I were to teach you Confucian classics, I would be misleading you.” Thinking that such a refusal was somewhat inappropriate, Zhiyuan explained his reasons.
Qin Mu thought about the scholars swaying their heads and the Taoist priests chanting sutras as if they were singing, and then he realized that there were so many intricacies to studying.
"Thank you for your guidance, Taoist Master."
"Brother Qin, you flatter me. I didn't say anything. Compared to the kindness of receiving the scriptures, it's really nothing. When you choose a teacher in the future, you must find a true Confucian scholar so as not to waste your talent," Zhiyuan sighed.
To be able to achieve what Qin Mu did through self-study is truly astonishing, even to Zhiyuan. It's no less impressive than when he discovered Li Chunfeng back then.
"Brother Huaidao, were you reading the Book of Changes just now?" Li Chunfeng asked curiously.
"I don't know either. These are books from my family collection, and I haven't had a chance to read them yet," Qin Mu said somewhat awkwardly. After all, it wasn't right for him not to have read any of his own family's books. He opened the bamboo slips, looked at the last page, and after a moment of contemplation, continued, "The 'Thirteen Commentaries on the Gui Cang,' it really is the 'Book of Changes'!"
"What! The Gui Cang!" Li Chunfeng's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in surprise.
Even Zhiyuan frequently glanced at the bamboo slip in Qin Mu's hand.
"Brother Li, take it if you want to see it!" Seeing the two of them, Qin Mu guessed that this was another rare book, so he didn't care and handed it over.
"Thank you very much, Brother Huaidao." Li Chunfeng was so excited that his hands trembled slightly as he carefully accepted the gift.
Knowing that his apprentice was extremely obsessed with astrology and fortune-telling, Zhiyuan did not stop him. He simply patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother Qin, this favor is a bit too much. Remember to repay it."
"Your disciple will keep this in mind," Li Chunfeng nodded vigorously.
"Brother Li, there's no need for that."
“No, Brother Qin doesn’t understand the importance of this book. The Lianshan and Guicang have long been lost. Such a valuable thing would definitely be kept secret by anyone else,” Zhiyuan said solemnly.
Seeing the meaningful look in Zhiyuan's eyes, Qin Mu understood and secretly decided that he would never tell anyone he couldn't completely trust.
Seeing Qin Mu nod, Zhiyuan knew he understood, so he changed the subject and asked, "Brother Qin, may I ask your mother's surname?"
"My mother's surname is Jia!" Qin Mu didn't know why Zhiyuan asked this, and there was nothing to hide, so he answered directly.
"So his surname is Jia! No wonder!" Zhiyuan exclaimed in sudden realization.
The origin of the Gui Cang is unknown, especially after the great calamity at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, when a large number of classics were lost. During the reign of Emperor Wu, people were ordered to organize the royal classics, including the Gui Cang Thirteen Chapters with Commentary, but very few people have seen it.
"Jia Kui and Jia Liangdao, having lived through three generations of the Cao family, it's not surprising that they possessed such a collection of books," Zhiyuan explained.
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