fifth form

Chapter 3178 Abnormal Human Community
"I want to be a marquis!"

"If you can't even read, you're only good as a human medicine!"

Zhang Xuezhou gained little from Changxin Palace, and when he returned, he was somewhat listless, even bringing Huo Qubing along with him.

What he said was simply a proper modification of the Xijing City Committee system.

If any sequence holder can bring a live ferocious beast back to Xijing City, no one will object to such a sequence holder becoming a committee member.

However, if someone possesses the power to subdue a ferocious beast, they are likely already on the committee.

Ultimately, this is just a target for others to refer to.

Besides sheer strength, it's also possible that some people got lucky and captured the ferocious beast.

Even if the opponent's strength doesn't meet the requirements, bringing a ferocious beast into Xijing City in exchange for a committee seat is a good thing that anyone would agree to.

As for the exit mechanism, if a member of the committee dies and his descendants are unable to support him, a ten-year buffer period is given for handover and replacement. For example, this is the case for Zuo Teng and Zuo Denggao. If these two brothers can stand on the front line within ten years, their original power will be inherited.

Zhang Xuezhou had hunted ferocious beasts and, according to the rules, should have been qualified to become a committee member. However, his strength did not meet the requirements, and he did not want to promote his luck as a case study. Therefore, he remained a candidate committee member. As for his authority, it was not much different from that of a committee member at present.

Real-world events cannot be directly applied to the Han Dynasty. Zhang Xuezhou was just making things up to get rid of trouble, but little did he know that Huo Qubing had ulterior motives.

After hurling a torrent of abuse at Huo Qubing, Huo Qubing gritted his teeth for a long time before finally uttering, "I'll study more seriously."

This was a small but unexpected gain. After all, Huo Qubing deeply hated Confucian classics and only liked Confucian arts and crafts. Normally, no one could persuade him otherwise. This was a rare opportunity for Huo Qubing to change his mind.

"A leopard can't change its spots, and I'm afraid you're just as incorrigible!"

"Who said that!"

Zhang Xuezhou added a few more remarks, which prompted Huo Qubing to retort with a sharp retort.

Many people believe that as long as one studies diligently by referring to past classics and practices hard, and with the aid of elixirs, one can continuously improve one's cultivation.

This is the standard procedure for cultivators, but Zhang Xuezhou has seen too many cultivators in a state of destitution and poverty.

Those closer to him include his parents Zhang Zhong and You Rong, as well as the Wood Daoist; those further back include the tribal warriors of the Fiend Kingdom, many cultivators of Mount Ling, and also the lower and middle levels of other holy lands.

The differences among people do not simply lie in the scriptures they study, but in the lack of systematic education, which leads to a lack of sufficient knowledge.

Only a few well-educated cultivators can steadily and quickly advance in their cultivation, such as the new emperor and Kong Anguo. Even if some cultivators have the opportunity to enter a higher realm and possess special talents in cultivation, without systematic education, they are likely to lack strength in the later stages and find it difficult to become great cultivators.

Huo Qubing had a special physical condition, which made him a genius in the eyes of some ordinary people.

However, as long as someone dislikes education or refuses systematic education, they will gradually become more like ordinary people as they grow up, eventually becoming no different from those barbarians from fierce countries.

"The Confucian classics contain 100,000 characters. If you understand and integrate 1,000 characters every day, 100 days of study will be enough," Zhang Xuezhou said. "You can stop being so stubborn if you can meet this basic requirement!"

"It's just... just 100,000 words, no problem for me!"

Huo Qubing cracked his knuckles, his body trembled slightly, but he continued to be stubborn.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't deliberately provoke him; he simply mentioned that if one possessed the ability to study the Six Classics of Confucianism in a hundred days, that would be sufficient to meet the basic requirements for learning his skills.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't seem like a proper sorcerer. Huo Qubing had no interest in the Confucian classics, but he was genuinely interested in Zhang Xuezhou's magic. If a sorcerer could fight Wei Qing in close combat and wasn't afraid of Wei Shao'er's sword thrusts, Huo Qubing found it hard to imagine what such an ability would be like in a skilled martial artist.

Putting everything else aside, if he could acquire even one skill, Huo Qubing felt that he would have no problem dominating the Imperial Academy, and people like Li Gan would have to kneel down and call him grandpa.

"Once I learn the skills to fly and take a beating, Li Gan's broken wooden bow won't even be able to pierce my skin, let alone swell my eyes. I'll just dismantle his bow, and given how much he cherishes his weapons, he'll definitely be begging me to spare his bow. Then..."

Huo Qubing was preoccupied with various thoughts, and he ignored the scolding and cursing from Wei Shao'er for skipping class.

"I want to study, to study lots and lots of books. Starting today, I will go into seclusion for one hundred days to study until I understand the Six Classics. No one should stop me from studying. I love studying, I love the Six Classics, and I love the Imperial Academy!"

Huo Qubing shouted, and Wei Shao'er, who had rushed back to the mansion in the afternoon, was completely astonished, feeling that Huo Qubing seemed to have something wrong with his head.

"It's a good thing to enjoy reading!"

Gongsun Hong stroked his beard and whispered on the second floor, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over a cauldron the size of a winnowing basket placed in the main hall of the mansion.

Huo Qubing was abnormal, and so were the emperors of the court, who actually went to great lengths to run errands for their ministers, even personally delivering the alchemy furnace to their residences.

In Gongsun Hong's knowledge of emperors, emperors were all high above and looked down on their subjects; none of them were as approachable as him.

Having reigned for nearly ten years in relative obscurity, Gongsun Hong did not believe the new emperor was any good. He thought that if the emperor had been peaceful and unassuming, he would have fallen long ago during the collapse of the royal family.

Of course, it was also quite unusual for Zhang Xuezhou to be so approachable to the emperor.

Gongsun Hong pondered his interactions with Zhang Xuezhou, but he simply couldn't understand how Zhang Xuezhou could be so close to the emperor.

This was an extremely enviable relationship, which allowed Gongsun Hong to have the advantage of being close to the source and thus obtain extremely important information.

As long as he achieves something, even if he doesn't enter the court in the same way as Dong Zhongshu, and even if he lacks the combined recommendation of Confucian scholars, Gongsun Hong feels that he has the ability to stand firm in the court.

He murmured something, and a flame the size of an egg slowly burned in his palm.

Gongsun Hong's desires led to a shift in his cultivation focus, and the level of his fire technique, which had previously been used for testing and verification, was greatly improved, no longer just a few sparks.

The advantages brought by a high cultivation level were very obvious, causing the flames of the Southern Bright Fire to expand several times. Gongsun Hong calculated his own level of magic and also considered the great cultivators who might be able to practice magic.

He is the most needed talent in the court at present. If the power of the Southern Bright Fire can be maintained, his scarcity will continue.

In many matters, having the advantage of being "first" means that even if someone later proves to be more outstanding, their position will already be high and difficult to challenge. Furthermore, their experience and other factors will give them authority, allowing them to maintain their position without worry.

When he was down on his luck, even if he possessed the correct method to cultivate towards the True Self Realm, where would he find so many cultivation resources to accumulate for advancement, and where would he find a suitable 'place' to break through to a higher realm?

Only by attaching himself to the powerful imperial court could Gongsun Hong feel qualified to seek his true self, instead of searching like a castle in the air as before.

"This young lady Wei is also abnormal; her qi and blood are very chaotic, like a woman experiencing postpartum hemorrhage. That Liu Xuan is also abnormal; he seems to be hiding something..."

With a smile on his face, Gongsun Hong nodded to Zhang Xuezhou as he entered the mansion.

He looked at the crowd and felt that not a single one of them was normal.

This abnormality even extended to Dou Shisan and Dou Shisi, who were guarding the house. Gongsun Hong could sense that the two of them were in very strange condition.

In this mansion, Gongsun Hong felt that he was the only normal person.