Qingshan Academy.
Lu Mingyuan strolled along at an easy pace through the campus that had been with him for twelve years.
As he walked, he reminisced.
There was a pond on the south side of the academy, ringed with weeping willows. A mushroom-shaped grass pavilion stood in the middle, called the Wind-and-Rain Pavilion. Its name came from the Analects: "I would bathe in the Yi, enjoy the breeze at the Rain Dance Altar, and return home singing."
The place was peaceful and free, a favorite spot for the academy's students to relax and unwind.
On the west side of the academy was a grove of purple bamboo, where scholars often gathered to compose poems in response to one another and form reading societies.
And on the east side, there was the peach-blossom grove...
Lu Mingyuan knew every sight and every thing here, every blade of grass and every tree, by heart.
Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't be able to come often anymore.
Just then, a deep voice drifted over. He had arrived at a classroom.
"Yesterday, we discussed how to solve the Chicken-Rabbit Cage Problem using the listing method. However, the listing method has one limitation: the number of animals cannot be too large, or it becomes quite troublesome."
"So today, we'll learn another simple method—the assumption method."
"Using yesterday's listing method, we can see a pattern: 'For every rabbit replaced by a chicken, the total number of legs goes down by two.' Through this..."
Hearing this all of a sudden, Lu Mingyuan smiled knowingly.
He hadn't expected Qingshan Academy to start teaching arithmetic so vigorously, too. It seemed his divine ability had made quite an impact.
He remembered that, in the past, not many people had been willing to study arithmetic.
Even the School of Mathematics had few people who specialized in it. How could anyone else dare to commit themselves to it?
If they wound up drawing water with a bamboo basket, wouldn't they have wasted both their time and their lives?
Thinking about this, Lu Mingyuan soon arrived at an elegant, unadorned pavilion.
This was the academy's records hall, where all the academy's documents and archives were kept.
A moment later.
"Lu Mingyuan, disciple of Cui Xiuwen, Elder Cui, divine ability [Complete Collection of Agricultural Tools], correct?"
Inside the hall, a young woman in a plain dress sat at a desk, carefully examining the file in her hands.
"That's right!"
Lu Mingyuan stood before the desk and nodded.
After confirming the details, the woman in the plain dress dipped her brush in ink and quickly finished recording the information. Then she stood and led Lu Mingyuan to the rear chamber.
The layout of the rear chamber was rather odd. It was mostly empty, with no furniture at all. The only thing inside was an ancient-looking stone mirror standing in the very center.
The mirror looked quite old. It was so weathered that its rough surface couldn't even reflect a person's image.
Following the woman in the plain dress, Lu Mingyuan furrowed his brow at the sight. Why had she brought him here? To look at a treasure?
Wait, no. Hadn't he come to register his divine ability?
Perhaps she noticed his confusion, because the woman in the plain dress explained, "This mirror is the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror."
"The Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror?"
Hearing the stone mirror's name only made Lu Mingyuan more confused. He had come to register a divine ability. What did the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror have to do with him? Was the mirror needed for that?
And why had he never heard of this mirror before?
Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror. That was an impressive name.
Appraising Heaven—could it really examine the world?
Wait. Examine? Could it be the kind he was thinking of? The sort that appeared all the time in games, the kind that could dig up every last detail about you?
If so, he was in danger. No, perhaps he was overthinking it.
Lu Mingyuan stared at the unremarkable stone mirror before him, his mind racing.
The young woman in blue had no idea what had flashed through Lu Mingyuan's mind. She continued explaining:
"A divine ability, [Heaven-Appraising], has been embedded in this Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror.
"This divine ability connects to the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network and can appraise any divine ability that has ever appeared on the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network."
At this, Lu Mingyuan froze.
Wait, this was part of the registration process? How had he never heard of it?
More importantly, could it appraise his other divine ability, too?
And if it could, what was he supposed to do?
Thinking of this, Lu Mingyuan stole a glance at the frail-looking woman in blue, Secretary Yun. Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to him, he looked around from the corners of his eyes, wondering if he should run.
If he did, should he just bolt, or knock Secretary Yun unconscious first and then run?
Or should he make an excuse, say he wasn't feeling well, and come back another time?
Wouldn't that make him look guilty?
And what would he do after running? Abandon his family and friends and hide in the mountains?
Could he even get away?
As Lu Mingyuan's heart churned and his mind raced, Secretary Yun's gentle voice reached his ears.
"All right, Lu Mingyuan. You can release the divine ability you created now."
At that, Lu Mingyuan suddenly felt calmer.
So what if he was exposed? He hadn't done anything wrong. Besides, the academy might protect him once he was exposed. After all, he was a big spender.
No, a fat sheep.
As for all those advanced techniques he'd used in the Divine Ability Supplement, he'd invented them...
No, wait. An old man with a white beard had taught them to him.
With that thought, Lu Mingyuan prepared to release his new divine ability, [Complete Collection of Agricultural Tools].
Only then did he notice that, at some point, the stone mirror before him had changed. Its surface now shimmered with a gentle radiance.
Now that looked like a treasure.
As for how plain it had looked before, you could've tossed it on the ground and nobody would've picked it up.
In the blink of an eye, a sickle appeared in Lu Mingyuan's hand. He stared at the treasure mirror in astonishment.
But if you looked closely, there was even a hint of delight hidden deep in his eyes.
A few lines appeared on the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror:
Divine ability: [Complete Collection of Agricultural Tools]
Uploader: Road Under Feet, real name: Lu Mingyuan
Price: 100 Qi Luck Points
Upload date: Human Era Year 1118, April 2
Race: Human
Household registration: Human, Great Gan Dynasty, Changfeng City, Guihua Lane, No. 36.
"So impressive. It can even identify my household registration and real name?"
Seeing no other unexpected information and realizing he hadn't been exposed, Lu Mingyuan relaxed. Then he feigned surprise and exclaimed.
Honestly, he hadn't expected the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror to identify his household registration. That had truly caught him off guard.
Secretary Yun, on the other hand, paid no attention to Lu Mingyuan. She formed a hand seal, and in an instant, the writing and radiance on the mirror vanished. It returned to being the same unremarkable, ancient stone mirror as before.
Only then did Secretary Yun speak. "It's not that impressive. Your household registration was filled in when you enrolled."
Lu Mingyuan understood. So it had been entered manually. Even so, it was impressive—almost as good as the electronic household registration and facial recognition systems from his previous life.
It was only after talking with her that Lu Mingyuan learned the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror was actually connected to a network.
That meant the information inside Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirrors all over the world was linked together. They all used the same divine ability: [Heaven-Appraising].
Secretary Yun also told him that every divine ability had to be registered through the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror. Whether you went through an academy, the government, or even one of the Hundred Schools, you had to pass through this step.
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan secretly rejoiced. It was a good thing he hadn't tried to fake anything and had wisely created a new alias. Otherwise, he would have been completely exposed today.
And if he had been exposed, what would the academy's attitude toward him have been?
Would they protect him, or carve off a pound of flesh first?
Finally, after Secretary Yun warned him not to tell anyone about the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror, Lu Mingyuan left the records hall with mixed feelings.
He was sure that experts had been stationed around the room where the Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror was kept.
And that Heaven-Appraising Treasure Mirror was there to trap people. It never missed.
If Lu Mingyuan hadn't been cautious by nature, he would never have escaped this calamity.
If he hadn't escaped, his life would have taken a completely different turn.
It seemed he still needed to join the Agricultural School as soon as possible and have them promote his new divine ability. Then, once he had Qi Luck Points, he could quickly buy a divination divine ability and see for himself.
Was divination really that mystical?
Was it as exaggerated as the books claimed, able to calculate the past and predict the future?
But if it really could, then it was only a matter of time before he was exposed. Or perhaps he already had been.
Suddenly, Lu Mingyuan shook his head, casting all those wild thoughts aside.
He couldn't let himself panic.
Now that the registration was done, the next step was joining the Agricultural School.
That was easy enough. The academy had an Agricultural School instructor. All he had to do was find one and pass the test.
This time, Lu Mingyuan planned to visit an Agricultural School instructor named Su Jin.
Teacher Su Jin was easygoing and patient with his students, so they often came to him with questions about the Agricultural School.
Even when Lu Mingyuan had improved the plow, Teacher Su had given him some guidance.
Qingshan Academy, Agricultural School branch.
A dignified-looking middle-aged man stood before Lu Mingyuan. This was Teacher Su Jin.
"Mingyuan, you know that to join the Agricultural School, you have to either improve an agricultural tool or create an Agricultural School divine ability.
"You said earlier that you were improving a plow. Have you finished?"
Although the student before him had a good relationship with him and was clever, making him a good fit for the Agricultural School, the school had strict requirements that had to be met. Su Jin wouldn't dare bend the rules on this.
"Teacher Su, I've finished!"
Then Lu Mingyuan summoned the hand-pulled plow.
Su Jin's eyes lit up when he saw it. Its structure did look suitable for pulling by hand.
Su Jin didn't care in the least that Lu Mingyuan had summoned the hand-pulled plow from a divine ability.
Back then, Lu Mingyuan had indeed wanted to turn the plow into a divine ability. When Su Jin heard about it, he had tried to talk him out of it, but Lu Mingyuan clearly hadn't listened.
In Su Jin's opinion, a plow cost at most twenty or thirty taels of silver, while a divine ability cost at least a hundred Qi Luck Points, nearly two hundred taels of silver. Who would buy one?
Besides, a good plow could be passed down to the next generation, and even the one after that.
A divine ability, on the other hand, vanished when its owner died.
But since Lu Mingyuan had insisted, Su Jin couldn't stop him. Still, this hand-pulled plow was quite interesting.
On the lawn in front of the building, Su Jin tested it for a while and discovered what made the hand-pulled plow so useful.
"Mingyuan, if you pair this hand-pulled plow with a divine ability that increases strength, it might work even better than a curved-shaft plow. It's much more nimble."
Lu Mingyuan knew that, too. But that would raise the cost even more, and there was another problem.
"Teacher Su, I've only used ordinary steel for this. If you apply too much force, it'll break easily."
Su Jin waved a hand, unconcerned. "That's simple. Once you join the Agricultural School, you can learn how to make advanced materials. Then you can replace the materials."
"So that means I can join the Agricultural School?"
Lu Mingyuan asked, beaming.
Although he had been confident he could join the Agricultural School, he still couldn't contain his joy when Teacher Su confirmed that he really could.
He didn't feel strongly about improving the plow with advanced materials. The techniques for making them surely weren't free, and replacing the materials would cost money, too. He could think about that later.
"Of course. Come on, I'll take you there now."
With that, Su Jin handed the hand-pulled plow back to Lu Mingyuan and headed for the academy gates.
If his recommendation succeeded, he would earn contribution points, too.
Before you continue