One Who Dared Speak, One Who Dared Ask

That morning, Chen Xu followed Wu Zhengze to the County Academy to register his name.

During that time, he also asked Wu Zhengze about Confucian cultivation. Wu Zhengze had been a Juren Scholar in the third year of Yonghui. For some unknown reason, he had not continued on to seek the Jinshi Scholar degree. Instead, he had come to Jichuan County at the beginning of last year and become a Subordinate Eighth Rank County School Instructor.

Wu Zhengze had a stern and arrogant temperament, and ordinarily did not casually grow close to or converse with students.

But since Chen Xu had come asking, he would not refuse.

Wu Zhengze pondered briefly. "Scholars cultivate mainly through Literary Fame and Literary Fortune. The greater one's Literary Fame, the faster one's Qi Cultivation. The stronger one's Literary Fortune, the greater one's combat power.

"But most scholars never actually have a chance to fight. Ordinary demons and ghosts, upon seeing that we possess scholarly honors, naturally keep their distance and avoid us. They will not provoke you or me without cause.

"As for demons and ghosts causing trouble among the people, the Three Great Dao Palaces and the Prison Suppressing Department will handle it.

"Though Jichuan County has no subordinate Prison Suppressing Department office, Jichuan has neither Netherworld Ore nor famous spiritual mountains and local treasures. It is a barren place, and demons and ghosts have always been rare here.

"If the common people truly suffer hardship, they may also seek out the Daoist temple beyond the city.

"Qiyun Temple is registered with the Three Great Dao Palaces and has the authority and responsibility to deal with local demons and ghosts."

Hearing this, Chen Xu realized that the same question could yield entirely different conclusions and directions depending on who answered it.

In Mr. Zhou's world, even immortals whiled away their days in futility.

When Wang Mochuan spoke of cultivation, he mentioned only Qi Cultivation and scholarly honors.

But when Wu Zhengze spoke of cultivation, he immediately brought up the Three Great Dao Palaces and the Prison Suppressing Department.

As he spoke, his brows remained faintly furrowed. Though he repeatedly claimed that demons and ghosts had nothing to do with scholars, his subtle expression seemed to contain ten thousand words left unsaid.

Chen Xu asked again, "Teacher, can the method of Qi Cultivation only be obtained from the court after earning the Juren Scholar degree?"

Wu Zhengze shot him a glance. "Otherwise, you could find a Great Clan and marry into it as a live-in son-in-law. Perhaps you could obtain a method of Qi Cultivation early."

Chen Xu was immediately left speechless.

Yet Wu Zhengze seemed to grow interested instead, offering him guidance. "Do you know that although the Great Li realm belongs to the imperial court, it is also, in truth, a realm of the Great Clans?

"The Li Clan of Split Mountain in the Northern Frontier, the Xie Clan of Kaiyang in the Eastern Region, the Bai Clan of Kunlun in the Western Wasteland, and the Zhongli Clan of the Southern Zhao Witch Tribe.

"In our seven prefectures of Qingzhou Prefecture alone, there are the Cui Clan, Wang Clan, Ning Clan, Ouyang Clan, and countless other Great Clans of every size, their roots and branches tangled from top to bottom.

"If the Great Ancestor had not founded the realm, divided Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism into three teachings, and established the Temple of Literature to gather the realm's Literary Fortune, the Imperial Examination could never have endured for several centuries.

"As for allowing ordinary commoners to receive elementary education, or letting farming and merchant families study, that would have been even more impossible."

Chen Xu was somewhat startled. The teachers at the school had always taught only the Sage's Teachings or spoken of ancient figures and events. They never discussed the grand currents of the realm today.

He had not expected that once Wu Zhengze, this instructor who was usually far from approachable, opened the floodgates, he would dare tell Chen Xu anything.

As Chen Xu listened, he felt an even more magnificent scroll of the world unfurling before his eyes.

He could not help asking, "Teacher, then now... do the great clans not want the Imperial Examination?"

Good heavens—one dared to speak, and one dared to ask.

Wu Zhengze immediately raised his brows, then sat upright with a solemn expression. "Young man, you jest. The Temple of Literature has already been established. Even the great power of the Great Clans cannot avoid achieving their ends through the Imperial Examination.

"How could they abolish the Imperial Examination? If they abolished it, would that not amount to abolishing themselves?"

Seeing that Chen Xu still wanted to say something, Wu Zhengze sternly said, "Enough. Go back and prepare properly. Gather at the North City gate at the hour of the dragon five days from now."

Chen Xu suddenly felt regret, but he could only let it go.

Afterward, he followed Wu Zhengze to register his name at the County Academy. In the afternoon, he went alone to the market and bought quite a few things.

After returning home that evening, Chen Xu was sorting through the supplies he had purchased when he suddenly discovered that the Accumulated Likes in the Cauldron Scripture had shot upward as though riding a ladder to the clouds.

[Accumulated Likes: 1472]

[Free Attribute Points: 51]

[Firework Value: 653]

He had gained more than four hundred Accumulated Likes at once, while his Free Attribute Points had increased by twenty, as had his Firework Value.

Overjoyed, Chen Xu hurriedly checked the source of the likes.

Only then did he discover that a small portion came from the Thousand-Layer Pancakes he had sold that day, while most came from the [You Cooked a Man-Demon with Fire] incident.

Presumably, word of the beast-making affair had spread further through the streets and markets. Compared to food, such strange and bizarre tales were clearly far better fodder for conversation.

Chen Xu estimated that even if he did nothing for a while, he would still gain plenty of likes merely from people talking about [You Cooked a Man-Demon with Fire].

The final portion of the likes came from Chen Xu's hometown. They must have come from the pancakes Chen An had taken back earlier, which Chen An had then given to the villagers.

But Chen An had returned yesterday afternoon. For some reason, the villagers' likes had not arrived until today.

Chen Xu formed a rough guess and decided to return to his hometown early the next morning.

That night, after organizing the supplies he had recently purchased, Chen Xu stored most of the ingredients in Embers Kitchen. He then made dinner in the kitchen and prepared the ingredients he would need the following morning before finally returning to his room.

Recently, he had begun to enjoy the quiet solitude of the night.

Now and then, he could hear the two Rat Demons squeaking and talking through distant cracks. It was not noisy; instead, it created the strange contrast of "the mice chirped, and the night grew even quieter."

That night, the little mouse A Shi suddenly said, "Ninth Master, the scholar leaves tasty food on the stove every night. Why do I suddenly feel like something isn't right?"

The aged voice sighed. "You only noticed now?"

The little mouse asked blankly, "Noticed what?"

"The scholar is a kindhearted person. Other than that first night, the food he left every night afterward was clearly deliberate. He has taken our gifts in return too, has he not?"

"Ah, the things we gave back... were only blades of grass and bits of bark. The scholar is truly kind, so very kind..."

Squeak squeak squeak—

Listening to the two mice converse in the darkness, Chen Xu could not help smiling.

He had recently entered the Vessel Meridian Realm in cultivation, and with Innate Qi endlessly circulating within him, his senses of the entire world had gradually become sharper.

In the past, when he heard the two mice talking, their voices had seemed faint and uncertain. Though they sounded as if they were beside his ears, they also seemed impossibly far away.

It was as though the two mice were not in the human world at all, but in another strange world.

Now that Chen Xu's perception had improved, when he looked upon this world again—especially within thirty feet around him—he felt as though a veil of mist had been swept aside, leaving everything crystal clear.

He could distinctly sense that in the corner on the western side of the kitchen, there was a space that resembled a bubble.

As the myriad qi of heaven and earth flowed through the house, they would seep into that space as well, though there was a brief moment of obstruction between the two.

It was easy to see that it truly could not be called "another world." It was attached to the great world of reality.

So what exactly was it?

Was it the legendary Mote-Sized Grotto-Heaven? A Pot of Sun and Moon? Or something else?

With that curiosity in mind, Chen Xu spent 100 Firework Value and entered Embers Kitchen.

Curiosity was curiosity, but Chen Xu could not possibly rummage through the Rat Demons' nest just because he was curious. Even Rat Demons understood reason and restraint, and knew not to pry into others' privacy. He was a grown man who had studied for decades across two lifetimes—surely he could not be worse than two little mice?