“Of course, I have no intention of absolving Great Qian of its cris. I’m rely giving you a reminder, little Tuanzi,” Li Shun added calmly, his expression unchanged.
“I understand,” Li Qing replied with a solemn nod.
That very afternoon, Li Shun naturally moved into the neighboring courtyard. From that point on, he finally had a place to settle down in Dongshan Town.
On the fifteenth day of the sixth month, Fang Xun received a reply from the Censorate.
The letter contained only a few swift, forceful strokes of calligraphy:
“Temporarily admitted under the sect, accepted as a nominal disciple. Should he step into the Primal Simplicity Realm within one year, he may then be recorded as a direct disciple.”
Along with the letter ca an ancient-looking brush, its aura restrained yet profound.
A faint trace of violet qi flowed along the brush shaft, upon which the two characters “Taixu” were engraved.
“It’s done!”
Although he had already turned Fang Xun into a puppet and could have directly seized his cultivation thod, proper status still mattered. Without legitimacy, things would not proceed smoothly. This outward formality could not be skipped.
“With Dong Chunqiu’s personal reply, I can now be considered truly under one of Great Qian’s Three Excellencies.”
“Such a seemingly simple step is worth decades of struggling for an ordinary person.”
As for the prerequisite of “entering the Primal Simplicity Realm within a year,” Li Shun dismissed it entirely.
Whether that year referred to Great Qian’s ti or the ti within the imperial mausoleum, with Fang Xun’s complete mories and cultivation experience at his disposal, he had more than enough confidence to break through swiftly.
“This Taixu Brush is no ordinary item either. Its tip is innately infused with spirit, enough to double the wielder’s combat strength before reaching the Spirit Resonance Realm.”
Fang Xun summoned Li Shun into the hall and, before all the officials present, publicly announced that he was accepting him as a disciple.
Though rely the garrison commander of Dongshan Town, Fang Xun was a disciple of the current Grand Censorate.
Li Shun’s entry into his sect was akin to a carp leaping over the dragon gate, ascending in a single step. The scene left everyone present burning with envy.
So even began scheming on the spot, considering how they too might find a way to enter Fang Xun’s tutelage.
Unbothered by the restless calculations around him, Li Shun shut his doors to visitors as soon as the ceremony concluded. Retreating into his courtyard, he officially stepped onto the path of cultivation.
“The first step to entering the Spring and Autumn Brush is to recite the classics of the sages.”
Though Li Shun himself had never read a single line of this world’s Confucian texts, Fang Xun had long mastered them.
With a re turn of thought, obscure passages and vast interpretations surged through his mind like a rising tide.
Heaven has its constant Dao; principles have their fixed order. Heaven does not speak, yet reveals itself through calamities and anomalies. The sages composed the Spring and Autumn Annals to illuminate these truths through subtle words.
What are “Subtle Words”?
A single word of praise is more glorious than imperial robes; a single word of condemnation is harsher than axe and halberd.
Thus, nas are the pivot of destiny.
If nas are correct, then speech flows true;
if speech flows true, affairs are accomplished;
if affairs are accomplished, the principles of Heaven are made manifest.
But if nas are not correct, even Heaven and Earth reject them.
We Confucian scholars take up the brush within the halls of state—what is our duty?
It is to rectify nas on behalf of Heaven. Where the brush falls, creation itself follows.
…
When a scholar takes up the brush and records one as “loyal,” that person is protected by the virtues of Heaven and Earth;
when he marks one as “rebel,” that person is cut off from the vital energies of yin and yang, and their life cannot endure.
It is not I who executes them, but the Dao of Heaven that strips them away;
it is not I who abandons them, but Great Righteousness that severs them.
Thus it is said:
Great benevolence is not benevolent;
great righteousness cuts off even kin.
The benevolence of a petty person clings to a corner and disrupts the greater order;
the benevolence of a gentleman wields the Spring and Autumn to determine the balance of Heaven and Earth.
“This chapter, Subtle Words of the Spring and Autumn, is the foundational canon of the Confucian ‘Spring and Autumn Brush’ lineage. Every word is a gem, lofty and profound, truly embodying hidden aning within simple phrasing.”
“They say that reading a book a hundred tis reveals its aning. Even an illiterate commoner, after hearing it a hundred tis, could gain so faint insight.”
“And as for …”
Within the sea of consciousness, lines of radiant golden script shimred into being. Like flowing threads of light, they intertwined and gathered in the blink of an eye, forming a resplendent, flawless passage.
In the next instant, the passage collapsed with a sudden roar, shattering into countless streams of dazzling light that surged into Li Shun’s limbs and bones like rivers returning to the sea.
The aura contained within this radiant flow bore a striking resemblance to the “Life Qi” he had seized when borrowing lifespan from the heavens. It could even be said that they shared the sa origin.
In that mont, the world reflected in Li Shun’s eyes seed to have a layer of murky haze peeled away, becoming clear and open.
He could distinctly perceive countless strands of dreamlike light drifting slowly through heaven and earth.
They resonated faintly with the newfound power within his body, producing a subtle, hidden harmony.
“This is the great power of heaven and earth’s creation, known as [Primordial Qi].”
“All living beings observe the Dao of Heaven and make use of it.”
“They transform it into [Principles].”
“Each holds to their own principles, each writes their own doctrine, and thus the Hundred Schools are ford.”
A realization dawned in Li Shun’s heart.
In that fleeting instant, he could clearly sense the wandering [Primordial Qi] around him being drawn by an unseen, majestic will, slowly converging toward him and perating his body.
Once this imnse power settled into his dantian, it quietly took on a distinct imprint belonging to the Confucian [Spring and Autumn Brush] lineage.
“To devour the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth, then refine it through the furnace of one’s own philosophical doctrine, ultimately transforming it into one’s personal Principle Qi…”
“This is the cultivation thod of the Hundred Schools!”
This step of absorbing qi and transforming it into principles was profoundly mysterious, the very foundation upon which all cultivation was built.
For those of ordinary talent, it might take hundreds or even thousands of attempts, stumbling through trial and error, before they could even glimpse the threshold.
Yet within Fang Xun’s mories, this thod of absorption and refinent had already been practiced countless tis.
Thus, when Li Shun executed it, it was as natural as moving his own limbs, effortless and familiar.
“To wield the Spring and Autumn, and determine the fate of heaven and earth.”
As his visualization deepened, the Principle Qi within him gathered like trickling streams.
In but a mont, within the qi sea of his dantian, a radiant golden phantom of a Spring and Autumn Brush condensed into existence, its brilliance restrained yet sharp.
“A beginner would require at least seven days and nights to form their own Spring and Autumn Brush.”
“And yet I succeeded in just a few breaths.”
“All thanks to Fang Xun.”
“The path he once walked has now beco my own.”
“A prodigy of the Confucian path, a century of bitter cultivation, all now to serve as my dowry.”
Breaking through realms felt as easy as reaching into one’s pocket.
In less than the ti it took to brew a cup of tea, Li Shun had transford from an ordinary mortal with no foundation into a Mortal Physique cultivator possessing divine abilities.
Vast, righteous Principle Qi surged endlessly through his ridians, faintly resonating with the “Life Qi” he had borrowed from the heavens.
With a flicker of thought, Li Shun raised two fingers like a sword, using them in place of a brush. With fluid, dragon-like strokes, he wrote the character “Strength” in midair.
Though no tangible golden character could be seen, it imdiately drew in the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth from all directions.
Under the augntation of the “Strength” character, Li Shun clearly felt his physical power surge dramatically.
“Primordial Qi is the most fundantal and pure force of creation within this world, perating all directions. Cultivators sense and draw upon it through their innate aptitude.”
“Principle Qi, on the other hand, is the transford energy that arises after a cultivator subdues this great power of heaven and earth and tempers it through the doctrines of their own lineage. Because the philosophies of the Hundred Schools differ, they give rise to a myriad of wondrous and diverse abilities.”
“And as for Life Qi…”
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