Exhortation to Learning
The Pan Household, a family with a long tradition of scholarship and officials, naturally had its own collection of books.
Book Repository.
Qiu Yan's Living Soul, drifting aimlessly, entered this Book Repository. The first thing that caught his eye was rows and rows of shelves filled with all kinds of books, including many ancient ones. In terms of sheer quantity, it far surpassed the study in the Ma Family Courtyard.
This is understandable. When Ma Yang came to Qingchang County, he couldn't possibly move the entire study from his old home in Eastern Capital. So he only selected a part of it. The Pan Household family had lived in Qingchang for generations, and the efforts of several generations had left behind a large number of books.
After two years of familiarization, Qiu Yan had long since realized that the printing technology in this world was still at the level of woodblock printing. Although there had been considerable improvements in the Great Rui Dynasty, it still had limitations. The cost of printing each time was not small, so books were not cheap, and most ordinary families relied on hand-copying.
Living Soul transformed, his senses expanded, and the information in the scroll appeared in Qiu Yan's mind; it turned out to be printed from woodblocks.
"Many of the books here are ones I've never read before. If I could calm down and record them here, and compile them into books, I could quickly enrich my Earthly Soul! Unfortunately, that would take too much time; I might not be able to compile ten books in one night, there are too many variables."
As he pondered, following the call, Qiu Yan's Living Soul slowly moved forward, gradually deepening its presence.
As time went by, the information that was perceived, captured, and fed back changed. The scrolls on the shelf were no longer woodblock prints, but handwritten copies, with yellowed paper, clearly indicating their antiquity.
Gradually, the calls grew stronger, and the Masters Section Bookshelf within the Living Soul began to tremble more violently, as if it were about to break free and fly out of the soul.
Finally!
The Living Soul arrived at the innermost part of the Book Repository--
This is an ordinary-looking wall, painted with a mural depicting a school, where a man in a tall hat and wide belt sits at the head of the table, below him are figures intently focused.
"Is this... Sage imparting knowledge and teaching?"
Looking at the mural and recalling the Pan Household's origins, Qiu Yan quickly made a guess. Without pausing, his Living Soul rushed forward and passed straight through the wall.
Behind that wall was a hidden compartment containing a scroll of bamboo slips.
"Hmm? In ancient times, before the invention of Papermaking Technique, when various states coexisted, they used bamboo slips to inscribe characters and record texts. Could it be...?"
As soon as Qiu Yan's Living Soul entered the dark compartment, before his thoughts could even settle, a surging aura pressed down on him, trying to suppress his Living Soul!
Fortunately, Qiu Yan had just been exposed to the Literary Qi of the Prefectural Academy during the day, so he was prepared. With a twist of his Living Soul, he barely withstood the pressure. Then, with a tremor, the Masters Section Bookshelf flew out of his soul. The bookshelf burst out with a suction force, enveloping the bamboo slips.
Boom!
A deafening roar!
A dazzling light burst forth from the bamboo slips, accompanied by an even greater and continuous immense pressure. The light and shadow distorted, creating an atmosphere of overwhelming pressure, as if Mount Tai were pressing down on you!
"Hmm..."
Qiu Yan's Living Soul was suddenly compressed and tightened, and even the flying Masters Section Bookshelf was also enveloped by the heavy pressure, creaking like a real object!
"This bamboo scroll is definitely extraordinary. My Earthly Soul is based on literature and has literary thoughts as its backbone. It was constructed according to the structure of Classics, Histories, Masters, and Anthologies, Literary Thought, and literature. The philosophy section is supposed to collect the Sage Worthies' Words. Now that this bamboo scroll has caused changes, it undoubtedly shows that the bamboo scroll is related to Sage!"
Just as Qiu Yan's thoughts were churning, the bamboo slip suddenly snapped open, revealing rows of characters floating out and, drawn by the suction force, surging toward the Masters Section Bookshelf!
A wise man said: Learning should never cease. Indigo dye is extracted from the indigo plant, yet it is bluer than the plant itself; ice is made from water, yet it is colder than water. A straight piece of wood can be used to make a wheel...
The characters emerged clearly one by one, presenting strange shapes that were quite different from the current writing style and structure. The sentences contained the artistic conception of continuous exploration and relentless pursuit.
"This is the Qi Script from the ancient state of Qi State! It's actually 'Exhortation to Learning,' written by Sage Sun! I never imagined that the Pan Household, who claim to be disciples of the sage, would actually possess such a collection of Sage's writings! If I could record the Sage's spirit and artistic conception in this bamboo scroll and store it on my Masters Section Bookshelf, the benefits would be immense! It would be comparable to studying it myself for ten years!"
In the blink of an eye, rows of text were pulled and fell into the lower shelf, where they solidified into several bamboo sticks with inscriptions on them.
Qiu Yan's Living Soul, meanwhile, resisted the immense pressure while concentrating on manipulating the Masters Section Bookshelf.
As the bookshelf absorbed more and more text, the bamboo skewers on that shelf also took shape one by one, strung together to gradually form a fragment of a bamboo slip.
However, as time went by, Qiu Yan's Living Soul began to flicker like a lamp, like a candle flame in a storm, which could be blown out at any moment.
His mind tensed up quickly, like a bowstring stretched to its limit!
"Unfortunately, my Living Soul level is too low. Faced with such a sacred object, my strength is insufficient to sustain it with just my Earthly Soul. If I had a physical body by my side..."
Sudden!
With a crisp sound, the entire hidden compartment trembled. Outside the compartment, the murals shook as if they had come to life, and the figures listening to the lecture in the paintings slowly began to move.
"Oh no! There's another restriction here, and it's been triggered!"
At this moment, Qiu Yan's Living Soul was being squeezed smaller and smaller by the surging power, almost condensing into a ball, and even the person in the soul felt suffocated. The Masters Section Bookshelf was also showing cracks, as if it was about to fall apart.
"If I continue, my soul will be suppressed and solidified by the Sage's aura on the bamboo slip, thus being sealed away! I must at least collect the first two paragraphs completely, otherwise the sentences will be difficult to connect, and all my efforts will be in vain. I don't know when I will be able to do it again. When I get back, I need to improve my cultivation, otherwise even if I have another chance, it will be difficult to condense the entire text into my soul..."
Qiu Yan struggled to hold on, and after a breath or two, his Living Soul began to solidify into a bead. Once it did, he would be imprisoned and unable to move again.
Finally!
Click! Click!
The Masters Section Bookshelf made a breaking sound and was about to collapse. Half of the bamboo slips in the hidden compartment had been spread out, and the words from the second paragraph of the article appeared and flowed out, turning into bamboo sticks on the Masters Section Bookshelf, with words engraved on them.
"Alright!"
As the limit approached, Qiu Yan's mind raced, and the Masters Section Bookshelf stopped absorbing the energy, flying back into his Living Soul. Then, a flash of azure light appeared in his soul, and his divine power erupted, forcing away the surrounding pressure. He then enveloped his Living Soul and rushed outwards, flying out before the figures on the mural could move, like a beam of light. With a few turns, he left the Book Repository.
Just as he flew out of the Book Repository, two figures also soared into the sky from a secluded courtyard not far away!
The two men looked strange; one had disheveled hair, and the other had a protruding forehead. The first one landed on the roof, glanced at the Book Repository with a look of doubt in his eyes, then looked up at the roof.
At the same time, Qiu Yan's Living Soul, which was flying at high speed, was also violently shaken. An extremely dangerous feeling rose in his heart. He had a sudden realization and dispersed the divine power that was enveloping his Living Soul, focused his perception, and extended it into the night sky.
Under the bright moon in the night sky.
A ball of pale blue light slowly descended, its light intertwined with Karma Fortune, releasing an aura of majesty.
Kamui!
In the Underworld Main Hall of the Yuanning City God, the gods who had been waiting for many days all changed color.
The Yuanning City God was sitting upright, flashed into the center of the hall, clasped his hands and bowed his head.
"Huang Yin Xiao'e, the capital of Yuanning, greets the City God of Jiannan Circuit."
The other deities also rose and bowed with clasped hands.
Flash!
Above the main hall, blue light exploded and coalesced into a face.
ps: Thanks to book friend "yuqin Yu Qin" for the reward!