If Lizi noticed their reddened eyes, the bright maidservant never ntioned it. Instead, she presented the books the master requested in a tily fashion.
"These are the books you requested," she placed the Doctrine of the an and dictionary on one side of the table and another heap beside it. "These are so books I thought the master and young miss might need."
Nodding, Mingfeng thanked Lizi and had her fetch his writing materials from the study. At the ntion of writing, Anji seized the opportunity to broach a subject that had long been on her mind.
"Father, is it possible to make a smaller brush? I can write, but Brother Mingshen’s brushes are too big for . There is always ink on my sleeve. I feel bad when Lizi has to clean them..."
Agreeing to gift his daughter with a customised brush set, Mingfeng finally started the lessons.
"Let’s review what you’ve learned before lunch," Mingfeng smiled. "Could you read this paragraph?"
Anji remained propped up in her bed with a stack of cushions behind her. Her father turned the book and folded it for her, isolating from the book a random page closer to the front. Anji rembered this section from her lessons and read with fluid confidence.
"What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature. An accordance with this nature is called The Path of Duty. The regulation of this path is called Instruction."
Nodding proudly, Mingfeng confird that Anji could read the difficult book without aid. Even if this was the basic principle of the Doctrine of the an, it was the most important thing that applied to any foundation, including cultivation.
"Very good," he acknowledged, bringing a shy smile to Anji’s face. "You can read very well. Sorry for doubting you. We won’t be needing this then."
After putting the dictionary aside, Mingfeng checked on his daughter’s understanding. Although the paragraph only consisted of a few words, it was not the easiest to understand.
"What do you understand from the paragraph? I know you attained enlightennt about the nature of qi at the martial arts exchange. I won’t have you explain Nature anymore. However, do you understand what the Path of Duty and Instruction refers to in cultivation?"
The teacher asked her a similar question previously and explained the text. However, he explained it in the form of governnt politics. Could the Doctrine of the an also be applied to martial arts and cultivation?
Seeing the confused look on Anji’s face, Mingfeng had to thank Yan Ping for highlighting the issue to him. Although he had great talents within his sect, raising a genius child was very different from raising a bright child. People sotis forget that genius children are also children.
Chuckling, Mingfeng thought of a way to make it easier for Anji to understand how to apply a concept to more than one practice. Although Anji was a bright child, she was still unclear where the rules and boundaries crossed. Often, she took to heart what soone said and rembered it, even if it was a passing comnt. Her mind was still unflexible, lacking life experience to guide her in uncharted waters.
"Do you know why we study the Doctrine of the an?" Zhao Mingfeng asked, putting the book away for now.
Even after reading many books for a long ti, Anji never questioned why they were written. However, it had to be important enough that people read what was written. Scholars read it to understand better how to govern a province and people’s hearts to mitigate conflicts and increase life satisfaction. However, she understood that cultivators and even doctors had read this book.
"Is it a book to increase awareness in children so they can grow into good adults?" she asked. Seeing how all the righteous people studied it, this must be the right answer.
Mingfeng’s brain stalled for a while. Was it really the case? The author of this book taught it to children, and the governnt used it as a benchmark to select junior officials and scholars to join their ranks. In a way, Anji wasn’t wrong. While the Doctrine of the an was a great way to understand soone’s character and calibre, it wasn’t the reason he had in mind.
"You’re not wrong," he admitted difficultly. "However, there is a more important reason for cultivators to study this than anyone else. Most people think cultivators only needed to train hard in the way of the sword and master control of their qi. However, all cultivators who want to reach the Enlightened Core stage must understand books like this. Why do you think we do that?"
Growing up in a cultivator sect, Anji knew a few things. Although many people think anyone who has studied at a martial school could be a cultivator, only those who had attained the Enlightened Core stage and above were treated like true cultivators.
From the Initial Core to the Solid Core, these cultivators were known as pugilists. They were stronger than the average human because of their ability to harness and use qi. However, their understanding of qi was still at a basic level. They could only use it internally or imbue it to objects connected to them.
Only those who had attained the Enlightened Core stage and above were considered true cultivators. People of this level can transform their qi with special properties. Their qi can greatly influence the environnt. A good example is creating illusions and levitation.
However, the rare few who could get past the bottleneck of the Transcendent Core and reach the Heavenly Core can create martial sects of their own. These individuals are of a different realm compared to regular cultivators. People like her father and teacher were referred to as Immortals. They stop ageing, never fall ill and can live for a very long ti even without eating. So people claim that they can regenerate very quickly even if an arm is hanging by a thread, and immortals cannot drown even if you lock them in a vat for a day. They were revered for their godly abilities that defied logic.
If the nature of qi was affinity, did the ’Path of Duty’ refer to becoming an immortal and the ’Instruction’ the cultivation thod? Not everyone had cultivation talent. However, those who did have a duty to train hard and use their powers to better the world. In a way, that sounded similar to how the governnt chose their talents. Not everyone was good at studying, but those who were had the duty of studying hard and giving back to their country by managing a territory to the best of their abilities.
"Is the Doctrine of the an the origin of cultivation?" Anji asked after much consideration. "Maybe not just cultivation. Could it be the origin of the way in life?"
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