The Emperor's Scripture and the Tomb Scripture

Following the guiding cultivator into the Jia-character room, Zhang Xuezhou continuously flipped through the Nine Revolutions Qi Harmony Technique, the Thirty-Three Chapters of the Daoist Canon, the Return to the Void Spirit Transmission Chapter, the Crimson Bird Array Qi Dao, and the Five Elements Flag Transmission Dao.

These were the relevant theories that Lei Bei found after searching through the bamboo slips. Zhang Xuezhou didn't care about anything else and quickly scanned the list of books on the bamboo slips before starting to memorize them.

Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou directly memorized most of the characters he could read, while he wrote down the characters he didn't know using code names.

Memorizing and reciting with limited literacy is extremely difficult, but it did not stump Zhang Xuezhou.

Upon entering Chapter Five of the Mental Strengthening Chapter, he not only improved his memory skills required for exam-oriented education, but he could even memorize things while distracted.

Even if two books were placed in front of him, Zhang Xuezhou could memorize them simultaneously.

He seemed to be flipping through the bamboo slips casually, but the contents had already been imprinted in his mind, becoming increasingly difficult to forget.

In the medical field, there is a term called 'hyperthymesia'. Zhang Xuezhou felt that after practicing the Mental Strengthening Chapter, he might have gradually developed abilities similar to hyperthymesia.

He can remember as long as he wants to.

Whenever he tries to recall, the relevant information comes to mind.

Zhang Xuezhou was even confident that he had surpassed Dong Zhongshu's ability to "read ten lines at a glance" and was far superior to Jin Chang's forced memorization ability.

"Didn't you say you were looking for the Pill Formula Canon?"

It wasn't until a gentle voice came from behind that Zhang Xuezhou snapped out of his rapid memorization.

"Your Majesty, you've come here too!"

Looking at the King of Huainan, and then at the red-clad officials accompanying King of Huainan, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

"I haven't found the formulas for the Longevity Pill and the Pill Formula of Immortality," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I think it's just bad luck. Now I want to learn some Huang-Lao techniques to change my luck. If I'm lucky in the future, I'm sure I can find the peerless Pill Formula!"

"Your approach is quite novel," the King of Huainan said, speechless for a moment before adding, "But the Huang-Lao school of thought that deals with 'Yun' (energy/luck) is found in the Di Jing (Imperial Classic), not in the thirty-three chapters of the Daoist Canon."

"The Book of Emperors!"

Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang speculated that Gai Han's classic texts on the Huang-Lao philosophy of "Yun" likely involved terms such as "Yun," "Qi," and "Dao."

However, the "Imperial Classic" has absolutely nothing to do with these terms.

Zhang Xuezhou thought about the two unlucky guys and realized it was normal for their guesses to be unreliable.

If these two had been lucky, Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang wouldn't have needed to seek a change in their 'fate'.

"The 'Huang' in Huang-Lao philosophy refers to the Yellow Emperor. Only someone like him, who was once the ruler of all under heaven, could have gained such insights after possessing supreme 'fortune'," said the King of King of Huainan. "The Di Jing (Imperial Classic) is derived from the content described in his insights."

"Then I'll study the Emperor's Classic!"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't stand on ceremony. When the King of Huainan pointed in a direction, he immediately put down the thirty-three chapters of the Daoist Canon and turned to look at the other forty-two volumes of the Imperial Canon.

His casual, flipping-through manner made the King of Huainan shake his head repeatedly.

But Zhang Xuezhou's behavior did stir something within him.

Lacking the alchemy techniques of the Yin-Yang School and the Yin-Yang Water-Fire Pill Furnace, the King of Huainan's failure rate in refining the Life-Extending Pill would inevitably be extremely high.

To succeed, besides a sufficiently high trial-and-error rate, he also needs a bit of 'luck'.

This little bit of 'luck' is very important; it may be the key to his success.

Adding the alchemical insights of famous figures at this point is of little benefit; insights are one thing, practical ability is another.

Moreover, the King of Huainan only learned about the ingredients of the Life-Extending Pill from Jin Chang, but did not know the proportions or the method of refining it. Therefore, the effect of his reference to other people's experience in refining pills was not very significant.

If one were to act more sincerely, the King of Huainan felt that only by completing a task in one go under the influence of auspicious 'fortune' could one have a sliver of hope.

"The Imperial Canon is the study of emperors; ordinary people can hardly learn even a fraction of its contents!"

Upon seeing Zhang Xuezhou repeatedly flipping through the bamboo slips, the King of Huainan emphasized one point.

"The fortunes of heaven and earth are difficult to fathom. The most effective way is to ascend the throne and enjoy the dynasty's fortune, or to become the king of us feudal lords," said the King of Huainan. "If you have the heart to serve the country and can expand its territory, then you too can benefit from its fortune!"

"Like this?"

Zhang Xuezhou's hand trembled slightly, sensing that everyone's attempt to change their "fate" was about to end.

"There's no such thing as Huang-Lao philosophy that has even the slightest effect," Zhang Xuezhou inquired. "It's just about preventing people from having too much bad luck!"

"Oh? Are you very unlucky?" the King of Huainan asked in surprise.

"I was separated from my parents for several years, and I was almost beaten to death several times. It's been very difficult for me to survive until now," Zhang Xuezhou said.

That's really unlucky!

The King of Huainan nodded and then gestured to the contents of a scroll on the bookshelf.

"It is said that practicing the Tomb Scripture can bring ancestral blessings," said the King of Huainan. "The Emperor's Scripture is difficult to master, but the Tomb Scripture is much simpler. You can take it and try learning it."

"The Book of Tombs!"

Looking at the "Tomb Classic" piled up alongside various Huang-Lao schools of thought, Zhang Xuezhou felt that there was a lot of content to memorize today.

"Then I'll flip through it and learn!"

He quickly flipped through the "Imperial Classic" and then began to read and memorize the six volumes of the "Tomb Classic".

"Having heard Your Majesty's words, you've saved yourself ten years of detours!" said the red-robed official beside the King of Huainan.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Xuezhou bowed in gratitude.

His act of flipping through the pages made the King of Huainan nod in approval, but when Zhang Xuezhou pulled his head back to continue flipping through the pages, he couldn't help but shake his head again.

Even if the scriptures are chosen correctly, how can someone who only skims through them truly learn anything?

The Wenying Pavilion's short one-hour timeframe was meticulously calculated, allowing most people to complete the search and find the relevant secret texts, but making it difficult to fully read the texts or achieve significant progress in cultivation within such a short time.

This would keep many people tied to the King of Huainan's Household, eventually turning them into guest advisors who would continuously serve the King of Huainan's Household.

If Zhang Xuezhou studies intermittently, he may need to return to the Jiazi Room later on.

But as soon as he thought that the other party was just a minor alchemist skilled in refining the Three-Day Grain Avoidance Powder, the King of Huainan's mind immediately calmed down.

Even if Zhang Xuezhou has the ability and the need, it would take a long time for the other party to become a first-class guest, and then a series of work would be required to obtain the right to enter the first-class room.

He withdrew his gaze, picked up the "Imperial Scripture" and examined it back and forth, his brows furrowing and relaxing intermittently, and he shook his head repeatedly.

It wasn't until footsteps echoed in the Jiazi room that the King of Huainan, holding the bamboo slips of the "Imperial Scripture," came back to his senses.

"Tian You, I want to be alone for a while!"

The King of Huainan put down the "Imperial Scripture" and whispered, which prompted the red-robed official to bow and retreat.

"The Di Jing and Fen Jing are ultimately too orthodox; achieving success in cultivation is an unknown matter of time. But the treacherous techniques of the School of Diplomacy are harmful to both oneself and others, bringing only temporary gain followed by endless troubles..."

The King of Huainan walked several dozen steps and took two scrolls of bamboo slips from the bookshelf.

The contents of the bamboo slips are not much, but these two scrolls of bamboo slips are enough to demonstrate the power of nature's creation.

The School of Diplomacy in the past often employed similar tactics, but its glory was only temporary before it fell into complete silence.

The King of Huainan stared at the bamboo slips for a long time before finally putting them into his sleeve and leaving the Jiazi room.