Questions

Master Zhang rarely refrained from drawing an immediate conclusion. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Zhen Attribute... That does suit the style you showed just now."

"Tsk, tsk. What an uncommon Mental Nature." Wang Renzhi, who had been too lazy to even give his name earlier, now seemed interested. "Hey, why don't you just change careers? Stop being a sorcerer. I hear materials for Zhen Techniques are worth a fortune and nearly impossible to obtain. You can't exactly rely on a wooden sword alone to vanquish Yao and Demons, can you? You might be better suited to being an escort or a martial instructor."

"You're going too far! The Scholar Examination in Qingshan Town was only possible because of Xia Fan—" Halfway through, Luo You'er suddenly seemed to recall something and covered her mouth.

"Too far?" Wang Renzhi shrugged. "We're a team that will be acting together. Having someone who holds us back is a risk to everyone. As for that Scholar Examination you mentioned, I don't think it proves anything. Leaving aside the number of examination sites, with several hundred candidates taking part, what makes you think it was one person's accomplishment? Without him, would Qingshan Town's Scholar Examination really have failed to produce even one qualified candidate?"

"Ugh..." Luo You'er found herself unable to refute him.

"But if You'er insists, it's not as if I absolutely have to kick him out of the team." Wang Renzhi sighed softly. "After all, I'm a man destined for great things. At most, I'll just have to work a little harder myself."

"Then work harder," Luo You'er replied almost without thinking.

This time, Wang Renzhi was the one left dumbfounded.

As the person in question, Xia Fan could not help feeling touched. He had thought the little girl had always disliked him. Who would have thought that one day she would speak up for him—and against a handsome man's pride, no less?

Nothing felt more satisfying than watching someone better-looking than oneself get shut down.

At that moment, Luo You'er turned her head toward him and secretly made a clawing gesture.

What did that mean?

Xia Fan pondered it for quite a while, nearly spraying out a mouthful of saliva.

Could she be imitating a crab, reminding him to repay her with fried crab?

"Master," Yue Feng suddenly spoke up. "Since you said Mental Nature is acquired after birth, does that mean one's Trigram Attribute can also be changed through human intervention?"

"Hehehe... Good question." Master Zhang stroked his pointed goatee. "In fact, the Bureau of Military Affairs once conducted a detailed experiment to prove that Mental Nature can be molded. Put simply, they took ten children with the same Trigram Attribute and raised them in two groups. One group lived free from worry over food and clothing, while the other was left to fend for itself on the streets. In the end, three of them did indeed experience changes in their Trigram Attributes. But the price was far from ordinary. Their temperaments changed so drastically that they could no longer advance further in sorcery arts. In other words, Trigram Attributes can indeed be changed artificially, but the utterly different Mental Nature turns them into another person."

"According to the Bureau of Military Affairs' records, there have indeed been cases where someone's Trigram Attribute suddenly changed without affecting their cultivation, but all of them were special circumstances and difficult to replicate. For example, people who lost their memories after severe injuries, or those suffering from mental derangement." He looked at Xia Fan. "You need not lose heart either. Though the Zhen Attribute is difficult to advance in, it is not without sorcerers who have forged a path through it. You can first consider other sorcery arts, even martial arts techniques of the jianghu. Once you accumulate enough merit and rise above the sixth rank, you can directly apply to the Bureau of Military Affairs for materials."

They even had controlled-group experiments. The Bureau of Military Affairs' accumulation over the past hundred years truly could not be underestimated.

"Thank you for the reminder, Master Zhang," Xia Fan said somewhat guardedly. He had actually been mentally prepared for this result. While wandering with his master, he had noticed that some sorcery arts came easily to him, while others were far more difficult, often showing only the first faint signs of progress after one or two months. But his master had always nagged that learning sorcery arts was a long process, and that taking three or four years to master one was normal, so Xia Fan had not asked further.

Only the Zhen Technique, which even his master did not know, had stirred the Qi within him after he merely followed the other man's verbal description and sketched out an imitation from a gourd. It was faster than any technique he had learned before. That was precisely why he had devoted most of his effort to attempting and refining the Zhen Technique.

Now, Xia Fan had finally received a systematic answer.

As for classifying people by Mental Nature, he found it entirely understandable—just as some people in his previous life excelled in science and engineering while others excelled in art. Thoughts shaped one's personality, while personality in turn reinforced one's thoughts.

"You mentioned merit just now," Luo You'er asked curiously. "May I ask how advancement in the Bureau of Military Affairs works? And how many ranks are there in total?"

"Little girl, you're already thinking about getting promoted? Not bad! Matters like this must be planned early." Master Zhang praised her. "The Bureau of Military Affairs differs from the Six Ministries. Rank is rank, office is office, and the two cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Starting from entry level, sorcerers have eight ranks: Chukai, Shouxin, Inquiry into the Dao, Shifeng, Myriad-Edge, Sentinel, Azure Blade, and Feathered Garment. When you eliminate Evil Spirits for the Bureau of Military Affairs, create sorcery arts, improve materials and Talismans, or achieve other magnificent feats, you may be promoted. As for offices... Take the instructor position I hold, for example. No matter how long I serve in it, it is merely my duty and earns no merit."

"But you have dealt with Evil Spirits before."

"Indeed, which is why I am sixth-rank Inquiry into the Dao—but only sixth-rank." There was a faint note of regret in his voice. "As for offices, some exist to make forms of address more convenient, while others are for liaising with the court's Six Ministries. Those fools incapable of Qi Awakening will never understand that what determines one's standing is not the square chair beneath one's backside, but the strength one possesses."

"Enough about ranks for now. Since you have all completed your Mental Nature assessment, you may afterward visit the Library in the Record Department on your own and borrow any sorcery arts you wish to learn using your Sorcerer's Seal." Master Zhang concluded.

"May I ask... can we learn any type of sorcery art?" Wei Wushuang asked in surprise. "There's no additional fee?"

"If paying money let you learn one more sorcery art, the Bureau of Military Affairs would probably pay you to beg you to learn." Master Zhang looked at him as though he were an idiot. "The stronger sorcerers are, the stronger the Bureau of Military Affairs becomes. What reason would those above have to put obstacles in the way of strengthening you? Other than not being allowed to take books out of the Library or teach anything learned within the Bureau to non-sorcerers, the Record Department has no further restrictions."

"Heh, fatty, do you think you can master every sorcery art just because you want to?" Wang Renzhi seemed to have recovered his spirits and once again turned his ridicule on Wei Wushuang. "Sorcery arts may be free, but medicinal ingredients and drafting paper aren't. Learn too many at once, and be careful you don't go bankrupt."

"Uh... If the materials aren't too expensive, I should be able to afford them," Wei Wushuang retorted quietly.

"Oh? Then I underestimated you. But money can only solve the most basic problems. How much you can learn still depends on this." He pointed at his head. "I awakened less than three years ago, yet I still took a place in the top ten of the Scholar Examination."

"Top ten... Brother Wang, why didn't you go to Shangyuan City?"

"You all envy Shangyuan, but I certainly don't. You can go there anytime if you have money, but when it comes to freedom, how could it compare to Jinxia City? Sigh, only bumpkins blindly yearn for big cities."

Xia Fan could see it now. This Wang fellow was definitely either rich or powerful, perhaps both. His family likely ranked among the notable ones in Jinxia City, otherwise he could not possibly speak so recklessly—especially within the Bureau of Military Affairs. At the very least, when he boasted about himself, Master Zhang merely watched without the slightest intention of interfering.

It did not seem as though he deliberately targeted anyone. He was simply accustomed to speaking that way.

"I would also like to ask a question." Shangguan Cai rose to her feet. "I have witnessed battles between sorcerers before. To be frank... they were utterly clumsy. Against an experienced jianghu fighter or martial artist, they would have no ability to fight back at all. Especially the part where they shouted out their own sorcery arts... Are high-ranking sorcerers the same?"

That angle of questioning immediately drew everyone's attention.

Even Xia Fan very much wanted to know the answer.

"This year's first batch of newly promoted sorcerers is truly not bad. They are much sharper than those batches from three years ago." Master Zhang nodded in satisfaction. "Of course not! Arts arise from the heart and arrive with a turn of thought, so why would one need to speak them aloud? Yet even Sentinels, even Azure Blades, will still loudly recite their arts in certain situations. Can you guess why?"

"To strengthen their own awareness?" Yue Feng tried.

"Correct. Speaking one's thoughts aloud can be regarded as unifying mind and body. When skill levels are nearly equal, the effect of reciting an art will certainly be stronger than not doing so. If it has no impact on your situation, what harm is there in saying it aloud? Furthermore, if your awareness is clear enough, words can sometimes become a means of attack—for instance, when the art you recite is completely different from the art you are actually thinking of."

"So that's how it is..." Shangguan Cai revealed a thoughtful expression.

"Then if the opponent is an Evil Spirit, it's always good to shout it out?" Luo You'er slapped her palm in sudden realization. "They can't understand human speech anyway!"

"Precisely so." Master Zhang burst into laughter.

After the laughter gradually subsided, Xia Fan raised his hand again.

"May I ask a question unrelated to sorcery arts?"

"Oh? Ask."

"When I was in Fenghua County, I encountered an old woman." He recounted in detail what had happened three days earlier. "The Bureau of Military Affairs is a court institution that handles Evil Spirit incidents. Why are its fees so high that an ordinary household cannot afford them? Shouldn't sorcerers protect one region and keep others from suffering harm at the hands of Evil Spirits?"

This time, Master Zhang did not answer as Xia Fan had expected. Instead, he stared at him for a moment before asking, "You—who told you that?"