That Xu Pingzhi Was No Son of Man

"What a fine poem! Ningyan truly had peerless poetic talent." Li Mubai clapped his hands together with a sharp smack.

He looked exceptionally excited, both delighted as a scholar who had come across a fine poem and eager to see how the academy's students would react to it.

Zhang Shen offered no critique, but the look he gave Xu Qi'an grew increasingly appreciative and self-satisfied, as though Xu Qi'an really were a student he had taught himself.

"The words are simple, yet their meaning runs deep. 'By lamplight at the third watch, till the rooster crows at the fifth, that is the time for a young man to study.' Brother Jinyan, do you still remember our days studying at the academy when we were young?"

Chen Tai savored the poem urging diligence in study, finding that it cut three parts into the wood and left a lingering impression.

Zhang Shen paused, recalling what studying had been like in the first half of the year. He said wistfully:

"Isn't that just how we were back then? My family was poor when I was young, and I could only eat two steamed buns a day. I often went hungry in the middle of the night, my stomach rumbling, and had to force myself to keep studying by lamplight."

Li Mubai said in a faint tone, "And that's why you stole my eggs every few days?"

Zhang Shen said displeasedly, "How can you call a scholar's business stealing? That was borrowing. Didn't I pay you back later?"

Li Mubai bristled and glared. "An egg in those lean days was worth no less than ten thousand taels of gold today."

Chen Tai coughed, interrupting the quarrel between his two old friends, and looked at Xu Xinnian. "Cijiu, after the spring examinations, you'll be eligible to take office regardless of your ranking. Have you thought about your future?"

The sudden shift to the main topic caught everyone a little off guard. Zhang Shen and Li Mubai both fell silent, instinctively considering Xu Cijiu's prospects.

Chen Tai glanced at the two great scholars, who looked ready to speak but held back, and gave them no chance to do so. "Generally speaking, the proper path to advancement in officialdom is to remain in the capital first, then take a post elsewhere. Though I hold no office, I have some standing in Great Feng's official circles. I could make arrangements for you to stay in the capital."

Zhang Shen, his teacher, immediately beamed. "That would be excellent. Cijiu, why haven't you thanked Brother Chen yet?"

"No need, no need. If he really wants to repay me, I do have an idea," Chen Tai said with a smile.

Hearing their old friend's words, Zhang Shen and Li Mubai sensed something was amiss.

Nobody said anything about repaying you.

Chen Tai smiled and said, "Ningyan, you're an uncut jade. If you want to fulfill your potential, you still need carving and polishing. These two old bastards are far too rough in their work. Come study under me instead."

"Get lost, you shameless old thief!" Li Mubai and Zhang Shen flew into a rage.

Xu Qi'an seized the opportunity and immediately said, "Sirs, I do have a question I'd like to ask."

He had come to Cloud Deer Academy today to get something for free.

"I've been stuck in the Essence Refining Realm for a long time. Since I have no merits to my name and my family is poor, I've never had the resources or opportunity to enter the Qi Refining Realm." Xu Qi'an bent ninety degrees in a cupped-fist salute:

"Please help me open my Heavenly Gate, sirs."

This was his second purpose in coming to the academy. He could sell the Law Artifact Song Qing had given him to get the silver to open his Heavenly Gate.

But that would not be fun at all, and Xu Qi'an was a man who pursued happiness.

Zhang Shen shook his head with an amused smile. "You're so desperate for a cure that you'll try any doctor. We cultivate the Confucian Dao. How could we help you open your Heavenly Gate? How a martial artist's Qi circulates within the body and travels through the meridians is something only you martial artists know."

The differences between the systems are greater than I imagined. A little disappointed, Xu Qi'an asked, unwilling to give up, "There's something I don't understand. Since opening the Heavenly Gate requires the help of an expert in the Spirit Refining Realm or above, how did the first person open theirs?"

"Do you think the path of the Martial Dao was created by a single person? That it was completed in a single leap?" Li Mubai asked him in return, raising his teacup before taking a sip.

Xu Qi'an shook his head to indicate that he did not know.

"It was opened up by generation after generation," Li Mubai said slowly. "Perhaps, at the very beginning, the Essence Refining Realm was already the pinnacle. Then someone opened their Heavenly Gate through a fortunate coincidence, and the Qi Refining Realm became the pinnacle of the Martial Dao. Only after many years did a complete Martial Dao system take shape."

"A fortunate coincidence?" Xu Qi'an had caught the key words.

"Having a Spirit Refining Realm expert help open the Heavenly Gate is the safest and most convenient method, but it isn't the only one." This time, Chen Tai took up the topic with a smile:

"When a baby is born, it possesses a strand of Innate True Qi. As the child grows older, the Heavenly Gate closes, and the Innate True Qi lies hidden within the body. To regain control of this Qi, one must open the closed Heavenly Gate again."

Xu Qi'an nodded. People ate the five grains and other foods, producing impurities that blocked the Heavenly Gate and the circulation of Qi.

His second uncle had taught him this theory before.

"There are many methods. Besides the familiar one of opening the Heavenly Gate, there are two others. First, the breathing method."

"The breathing method must be practiced from childhood. One must take medicinal baths every day to cleanse the meridians and open a passage through the Heavenly Gate. Over the course of more than a decade, it costs an enormous sum. This method has already been abandoned."

"The second method is to use an external force to open the Heavenly Gate. It is also the crude method the earliest predecessors used. For example, swallowing a demon core.

"A demon core is the condensed essence of a member of the Demon Race's cultivation. It contains immense energy. Once swallowed, that immense power will forcibly break through the eight extraordinary meridians, but because it cannot be controlled, it is a method with nine chances of death and one of survival."

So that's how it is. Although I didn't get it for free, I still got to feel it up for free. Not a loss. Xu Qi'an said gratefully, "Thank you for the lesson, sirs."

Just look at him: humble, polite, and pleasant to listen to. The three great scholars stroked their beards with smiles, extremely pleased with Xu Qi'an.

At the center of the academy stood the Sage Academy, also called the Sage Temple. Enshrined within was the greatest figure throughout the ages, the one who had founded the Confucian Dao.

Outside the Sage Academy was a large plaza paved with bluestone slabs, spacious enough to hold every student at Cloud Deer Academy.

Every year, when the spring and autumn examinations approached, the academy head would gather the students there and deliver an impassioned speech, urging them to study hard, earn scholarly honors, and devote themselves to the state until their dying breath.

A low wall stood on the plaza, its red paint mottled and flaking. Layers of paper clung to its surface, impossible to peel away.

This wall was Cloud Deer Academy's bulletin board, used to display essays, poetry, calligraphy, and paintings by the academy's teachers, as well as the occasional outstanding work by a student.

It also held notices from the academy.

Two study attendants came to the board. One held a rolled-up sheet of paper while the other spread rice paste on the wall. Then, working together, they unrolled an enormous sheet as tall as a person and pasted it onto the wall.

Their actions immediately drew the attention of nearby students, especially because the person-high sheet was so eye-catching.

"What have they put up? Come on, let's go have a look."

"Huh, it's not an essay. It looks like a poem. What's worth looking at there?"

"Since Layman Ziyang left the academy, it's made no difference whether or not we read the poems written by our teachers and great scholars."

As they spoke, the students gathered in twos and threes beneath the low wall, gazing at the enormous new sheet.

The characters on the paper flew like dragons and danced like phoenixes, their strokes powerful enough to pierce the back of the paper. A sharp edge showed in every turn and sweeping stroke.

"That's Teacher Zhang's handwriting," one student said, recognizing it.

More students focused their attention on the poem.

"'By lamplight at the third watch, till the rooster crows at the fifth, that is the time for a young man to study.' Shameful, shameful! After the autumn examinations, I never again studied late into the night by lamplight."

"At first glance, this poem seems simple and ordinary, yet it reveals a profound truth. It really makes one reflect."

"What do you mean, simple and ordinary? 'Black hair knows not to study hard and early; white hair regrets that learning came too late!' The great Dao is simple, and its lines contain the deepest truths."

"'White hair regrets that learning came too late'... I've been far too lax. I've been absorbed in playing Go and touring the mountains, spending less and less effort on my studies. Seeing this poem, I realize I'll surely regret it in the future."

"Which great scholar wrote this poem?"

More and more people crowded beneath the low wall, looking up at the poem. As they immersed themselves in its sentiments, the poem urging diligence in study struck a deep chord with them.

The scene described in the first couplet made the students hang their heads in shame. Though they had devoted themselves to their studies, who among them could study by lamplight at the third watch until the rooster crowed at the fifth?

Yet it was no empty claim, for such people did exist. The academy's great scholars and teachers often used their own experiences to admonish the students.

A few exceptionally hardworking students also stayed up late studying in this manner.

What truly made the young students' hearts tremble was the second couplet: "Black hair knows not to study hard and early; white hair regrets that learning came too late."

It was as though the lines foretold what awaited them. After searching their hearts, some of the young people who had recently neglected their studies felt their hearts tremble, afraid that when their hair turned white, it would be too late for regrets.

From the depths of their hearts arose the urge not to waste the springtime of their lives and to study diligently.

Not far away, at the edge of the plaza, the three great scholars watched the scene. Chen Tai stroked his beard and laughed. "People always say poetry is useless, little knowing that nothing moves the heart more. Xu Ningyan truly has peerless poetic talent."

Seeing the poem stir the students to such enthusiasm for their studies, Zhang Shen could not help breaking into a broader smile. "That's true. He took only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. At that level, he would rank among the best not only today, but throughout history."

Li Mubai suddenly asked, "He said he abandoned his studies long ago. Do you believe him?"

The two great scholars nodded at the same time. Li Mubai could not help smiling. "What makes you say that?"

"When he composed the poem, he had Cijiu write it down for him," Zhang Shen said.

"What scholar would have someone else write down his poem?" Chen Tai added. "Unless he isn't skilled in calligraphy."

Every scholar was proficient in calligraphy; it was a basic skill.

Li Mubai sighed. "What a pity. He has already reached the age of twenty. It's too late for him to switch to cultivating the Confucian Dao."

Chen Tai was deeply distressed. "To think that someone so talented learned martial arts! It's an utter waste of heaven's gifts."

A rough martial artist was unworthy of Xu Ningyan's extraordinary brilliance.

Zhang Shen seemed to remember something and said indignantly, "I heard from Cijiu that when the two of them were children, his father decided that Cijiu would study and Ningyan would learn martial arts."

"That Xu Pingzhi is no son of man! He let a promising scholar go to waste for nothing. Truly hateful, truly detestable," Li Mubai said bitterly.

The two great scholars wholeheartedly agreed.

PS: I really want the book to go premium sooner so I can start grinding myself to the bone (waggish).

Recommendation votes will keep me from ending chapters on cliffhangers.