Wanting to buy osmanthus to share wine, but it's not like the days of youth.

The sudden question caught Zeng Anmin off guard.

Fortunately, he had already steeled himself mentally.

He had also anticipated that his father might grow suspicious of him.

"Heart Inquiry?"

Zeng Anmin's expression shifted, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at Zeng Shilin:

"Father, you used Heart Inquiry on me?!!"

"When did that happen?!"

"Do you distrust me that much??"

"Fine, tonight I'll go burn paper for Mother and tell her about this—let her come find you tonight for a talk!"

As Zeng Anmin spoke, his eyes even reddened slightly. After finishing, still unsatisfied, he added:

"And that time I went to the Jiaofang Division! I'm telling Mother about that too!"

At these words, Zeng Shilin's face froze.

Zeng Anmin's words made his scalp tingle.

He forced himself to meet his son's pained gaze, his heart growing uneasy.

Especially when Zeng Anmin mentioned "Mother"—a lump formed in his chest.

Facing his son's almost accusatory stare, Zeng Shilin cleared his throat:

"Ahem, let's set that aside for now. How has your progress on the Confucian Path been lately?"

Since his father chose to change the subject and drop the matter, Zeng Anmin naturally knew when to quit while ahead.

Bringing up the Confucian Path Realm, Zeng Anmin looked somewhat helpless. He rubbed his aching forehead and said:

"Since entering the Purple Mansion Realm, I've made no further progress. These past days, I've tried reading more, talking with others, and moving around more, but I still haven't gained any new insights."

After saying this, he muttered under his breath: "I just want to break into the Sixth Grade soon, so I can use Heart Inquiry on people and make solving cases easier."

Zeng Anmin's words darkened Zeng Shilin's expression:

"Break into the Sixth Grade soon? Such overreaching ambition—with this mindset, you'll never enter the Sixth Grade in this lifetime!!"

After speaking, feeling he might have been too harsh, he softened his tone and said earnestly:

"Once the Confucian Path reaches the Purple Mansion Realm, there's no more process of accumulation—only the comprehension of the Sages' lost teachings, the understanding of all things between heaven and earth, and the planning of one's own actions..."

Here, his father paused, then smiled:

"But no rush. I myself was stuck at this realm for over three years back then."

"Aside from insights, is there no other way?"

Zeng Anmin toyed with the jade pendant left for him by that girl from the Profound Formation Division, a puzzled look on his face:

"Can't it be faster?"

Seeing his son's impatience, his father's relaxed expression darkened again. He said sternly:

"Matters of the mind—once you grasp it, you grasp it. If you don't, others can say it a thousand times, ten thousand times, and you still won't."

Zeng Shilin had been through it himself and naturally knew how restless his son was. He frowned seriously, with a hint of warning:

"Don't rush things, understand?!"

"Fine." Zeng Anmin curled his lip, his reply distracted.

His father's expression eased slightly, and he spoke earnestly:

"When you have time, go back to Shuidu Academy and read more of the Words of the Sages in the Hall of Sages."

"Confucian learning is like life. You learned the principles of life as a child, but truly grasping them often comes much later—maybe five years, maybe ten, or perhaps never in a lifetime."

"When you act and verify the principles you once learned, suddenly an insight strikes you, giving you a new understanding, a deeper comprehension, and you'll feel moved to express that meaning."

"And that expression—the words you speak from that feeling—is your insight, an insight unique to you alone."

"Even if you use the Words of the Sages to voice it, it remains your own unique insight."

"In this world, there may be the same words, but never the same insight. Everyone's understanding is different."

"Those words are the key for you to step out of the Purple Mansion Realm and enter the Gentleman Realm."

"By then, your every word and action will influence those around you."

"And the Vast Righteous Qi within your Purple Mansion will no longer affect only evil spirits and ghosts."

Zeng Shilin paused here, teaching by example:

"For instance, when I blocked Qi Linxian's Instantaneous Movement Array, the Vast Righteous Qi has a certain restraining effect on all supernatural powers in heaven and earth."

"The wonders of the Confucian Path only gradually reveal themselves after the Gentleman Realm."

Hearing his old father speak as if he wanted to chew the food and feed it into his mouth, Zeng Anmin's gaze grew distant, lost in recollection.

He could naturally understand his father's well-intentioned advice.

His father had used the simplest, most straightforward language of this era to tell him how to advance.

Put plainly, it was a truth learned from books in childhood, but not understood at the time.

Then, when something happened later in life, it suddenly brought to mind what the teacher had said in class, and with a jolt in his mind, the principle finally became clear.

"First reading, you don't know the meaning in the book; rereading, you are already the person in the book."

Zeng Anmin suddenly recalled a saying from his past life.

That phrase struck him deeply.

In his past life's textbooks, there was an essay called "Lilac Knot."

"Everyone has many troubles in life—one ends, another comes. So lilac knots appear every year. Knots are endless, and so are life's problems. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too dull and tasteless?"

When he first studied it, he was only in sixth grade—how could he grasp such refined meaning?

He merely memorized it in a daze.

Later, twenty years on, by chance he opened that textbook again.

One glance, and he stood frozen for a long time, unable to snap out of it.

As these memories ran through his mind, Zeng Anmin's state of mind slowly began to shift.

"What are you spacing out for? Listen to your father properly..."

Zeng Shilin was in the middle of speaking when he noticed his son standing there in a daze. His face showed displeasure, brows furrowed.

He was about to scold him sternly when his pupils suddenly contracted.

Then his expression went blank.

"I wanted to buy osmanthus and go boating with wine, but in the end, it's not like those youthful travels."

Zeng Anmin slowly came back to himself, his face complex, speaking from the heart.

Boom!!!

After that one line, he suddenly felt thunder crash through his sea of consciousness.

Zeng Anmin froze, then his expression shifted as he quickly immersed himself in his sea of consciousness.

Within that sea, the Dragon Survey Map's phantom still stood at the very center.

But the mass of Vast Righteous Qi to the right of the phantom was now churning endlessly.

Like clouds and mist, undergoing a startling transformation.

At last, the vast righteous energy slowly changed color.

One wisp of azure qi, two wisps of azure qi...

Boom!!!

Wisp after wisp of azure qi drifted, eventually forming a single sentence.

"I wanted to buy osmanthus and go boating with wine, but in the end, it's not like those youthful travels."

Each character carried an ancient, vast resonance.

Once the sentence took shape, the azure qi slowly coalesced again, inseparable.

This...

Zeng Anmin snapped his eyes open, staring blankly at his father.

Had he just... broken through??

The Sixth Rank Gentleman Realm of the Confucian Path?!

Vast Righteous Qi could influence those around him?!

Wasn't this too fantastical?

He wanted to ask something.

But at that moment, his father's eyes were even more dazed than his own.