Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 133 Spreading beans and forming an army
Zhang Bo and others came to Lu Zheng and looked at the contents on the red cloth curiously.

Zhang Bo said, "This Taoist priest doesn't seem to be from our local area?"

The Taoist chuckled and said leisurely, "I have traveled extensively, and this is my first time in Changchuan County. Gentlemen, please feel free to look at anything you would like to buy."

"You haven't even put this thing on display, what are you letting us see?" Zhang Bo said with a smile.

"Whatever you want, I'll get it for you!" said the Taoist slowly.

Zhang Bo looked at Lu Zheng and whispered, "Brother Lu, what do you want to see?"

Lu Zheng knew that Zhang Bo was afraid that he would be deceived, so he stood up to speak up.

After all, the vendors at these stalls are all kinds of people, coming from different places.

If you buy something now, the seller may disappear in a while, and it is common for someone to suffer a loss.

Lu Zheng looked at the Taoist priest, pointed at the red cloth, and asked, "How much do you sell this method of turning beans into soldiers?"

The Taoist sat up straight, stroked his beard seriously, and said, "The method of sowing beans to create soldiers comes from ancient immortal arts. It is said that there were real immortals in that time who could sow beans and turn them into millions of soldiers to fight against demons and monsters..."

Li Zhao standing by couldn't help but say, "Don't brag about this for now. Your magic is definitely not that powerful. Show it to me!"

"Ahem..." The Taoist coughed dryly, "My technique of turning beans into soldiers isn't really a magical technique; it's just a simplified version, but it's not bad either. Everyone, take a look!"

After saying this, the Taoist waved his sleeves and a soybean rolled out.

The Taoist priest made hand gestures, muttered something, and pointed with his right index finger. A ray of spiritual light sank into the soybean.

The next moment, the soybean shook, the skin cracked, and four roots grew out.

Two roots turned into slender legs, and two roots turned into slender arms, and then stood up.

One of the arms changed again and became a small spear, as thin as a needle.

Immediately afterwards, the little bean soldier took a step forward and stabbed the ground with a spear, making a small hole, no bigger than a sesame seed.

"That's it?"

Li Zhao glared and said, "You bean soldier... I'm afraid you can't even kill insects!"

Everyone thought that this method of turning beans into soldiers was not as exaggerated as the legendary magic, but it was still powerful. However, they were greatly disappointed.

"Alas, I only exerted a tiny bit of spiritual power," the Taoist said leisurely. "If you can master this technique, you can not only command them to slay demons and ghosts, but also use them to explore the way, build fires and cook, and so on. Just scatter a few beans and you can summon a group of small servants. It's more convenient than bringing several living people with you!"

Lu Zheng felt the Qingwan cricket pupa in his arms move a little, and seemed to be interested in this magic.

"Can I take a look at the content of the spell?" Lu Zheng asked.

"Easy to say!"

The Taoist flipped his hand, took out a small booklet and gently threw it to Lu Zheng.

"The method of turning beans into soldiers is divided into two volumes. If you want it, I can sell it to you at a low price!"

Lu Zheng opened the booklet and took a look. He could see that it was indeed a magic technique, but it was incomplete and lacked the most important part.

"How much?" Lu Zheng looked at the Taoist.

The Taoist smiled and said, "I'll sell it to you at a low price, ten spirit stones, but it doesn't guarantee that you will learn it. Whether you can learn it depends on your own comprehension ability."

This is just an ordinary booklet. You may not be able to learn the spells by studying it.

There are better spell jade slips, which contain corresponding spell spiritual power. Practitioners can refine the jade slips and use the spiritual power contained in them to cast spells several times to increase their comprehension.

Zhang Bo, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but say, "I wonder how many pamphlets like this you have, and yet you still sell them for such a high price!"

The Taoist smiled and said, "Hey, this young man bought it for himself, so you can all learn it. I didn't ask for more money. I'm fair to everyone, and it's the same price!"

"Didn't you just say it was a 50% discount?" Li Zhao said.

"This price is for children and the elderly, but not for young people. I'm giving you a discount." The Taoist said slowly.

Everyone was speechless after hearing this. So this is what you mean by being honest and trustworthy?
The Taoist said, "You are all Confucian and Taoist scholars. How dare I deceive you? How about this? Since you are all practitioners, I will give you another book of magic for free."

The Taoist reached in and pulled out three booklets. "This is the second volume of the Bean-Sowing Soldiers method. These two are about the Life-Growing Method. If you have flowers or plants at home that aren't growing well, you can use this spell... You scholars, don't you always like to grow plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, etc.? This spell is suitable for you."

Lu Zheng looked at the Taoist priest, but didn't see anything unusual in his clear eyes.

"It can't be less?" Lu Zheng said with a smile.

The Taoist said: "It's not easy to practice. Unlike you Confucian and Taoist scholars, you don't need any spirit stones to practice. We must use spirit stones, and we can't have less."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng said nothing more and casually took out ten spirit stones and handed them to the Taoist.

Seeing this, the Taoist quickly stood up and said with a smile on his face, "Young people are so straightforward! I have a lot of good things here. Want to choose more? I'll give you a discount!"

Lu Zheng took the booklet, put it away, and shook his head slightly.

There was nothing special about the items that the Taoist wanted to sell. It was because of Qing Wan that Lu Zheng was curious and wanted to see the method of turning beans into soldiers, so he bought it.

The Taoist turned to look at Zhang Bo and the others, "Look, I'll give you a discount too."

Everyone shook their heads. Learning magic takes time and energy. They usually have to study, so where would they have the time to learn these little magic spells?

As for the elixirs and talismans, they had little interest in them. Lu Zheng and his companions left the Taoist's stall and went to look elsewhere.

The Taoist sat down again, stroking the spirit stone in his hand, and feeling the remaining breath of Lu Zheng.

"He is so upright that he doesn't even blink an eye at Hua Lingshi. He must be a big fish. I should have put some better things on him earlier..." the Taoist muttered in a low voice.

It's a pity that if he takes out better treasures at his current stall, others will just think he is cheating and selling fakes.

Zhang Bo walked beside Lu Zheng and couldn't help but say, "Brother Lu is really generous. I'm afraid these two spells combined won't cost that many spirit stones."

"It's okay. I don't need these few spirit stones." Lu Zheng smiled and said, "If you don't use spirit stones, they are just stones."

Li Zhao asked curiously, "Brother Lu, how many spirit stones did you get from slaying demons and ghosts? Why are you so generous?"

"Not much, just one bag." Lu Zheng said.

A bag, a storage bag...

Lu Zheng didn't count them carefully. The valuable things were piled up outside the Wen Palace in the Sea of Consciousness. Anyway, there was a pile of spirit stones.

Everyone didn't think much about it and continued strolling on the hill.

When we came to a small path, we saw a group of Confucian and Taoist scholars setting up stalls, selling calligraphy and paintings.

Some scholars even set up tables and chairs and prepared the four treasures of the study for guests to choose themes and make cultural treasures on the spot.

Some people here sell cultural relics just for money, while others do it for fame and to show off their abilities.

Zhang Bo also met a few students from the county and waved to them.

Lu Zheng had rarely come into contact with other people's cultural treasures before, so he couldn't help but look at them slowly and learn from them.

Not far away, a pavilion was bustling with activity, with a group of people gathered there to appreciate calligraphy and paintings.

Zhang Bo glanced at it for a few moments and whispered, "This is Zhou Yu from our county. His grandfather was a master calligrapher, and he's learned a thing or two. His calligraphy is so powerful it can slay demons and ghosts... It seems he's showing off some of his family's treasures."

Li Zhao curled his lips when he heard this and said, "What's so great about that? When Brother Lu first became a scholar, he wrote a piece of calligraphy and gave it to my father. My father praised it highly, saying that he couldn't write calligraphy like that. He even framed the calligraphy and hung it in his study..."

Zhang Bo was surprised and said, "Is that so? I think there will be a calligraphy and painting competition at the literary gathering tonight. Brother Lu might be able to show his talent."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Brother Li, you're exaggerating. My calligraphy isn't very good. I just asked County Magistrate Li to comment on my writing."

"What word?" Zhang Bo asked curiously.

"Heaven and earth have righteousness." Lu Zheng said softly.

Zhang Bo raised his eyebrows. Although these were only five simple words, he knew very well that not everyone could write these five words into a treasure.

Thinking of this, Zhang Bo came to an acquaintance's stall, excitedly borrowed a pen and dipped it in ink, waving his hands, releasing a literary aura.

The five big characters appear on the paper with full of spirit.

However, this spiritual energy soon dissipated, and eventually the words on the paper became an ordinary piece of calligraphy, without much literary charm.

Li Zhao chuckled and said, "See, I'm not kidding. I've seen a lot of waste paper in my father's study, and none of them could even write these five words properly."

Several friends nearby were also surprised. They didn't expect that Zhang Bo couldn't even write this five-character treasure.

Zhang Bo couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng and said with deep emotion: "Brother Lu, you have a righteous heart!"

He had come into contact with some people through his family elders and knew a lot of things.

The fact that Lu Zheng was able to write these five words probably shows that he has a righteous spirit, but he didn't even realize it.

Li Zhao winked and said, "How does it compare to that guy named Zhou Yu?"

Zhang Bo thought for a moment and said, "Just judging by these few words, Zhou Yu's character is not as good as ours, and he is even incapable of writing them."

Li Zhao chuckled softly and said, "Then things will be easy. If anyone dares to cause trouble for Brother Lu tonight, we can have a calligraphy contest. How can we lose?"

Zhang Bo thought that even if it came to a competition of literary talent, let alone calligraphy, few people would be Lu Zheng's match tonight.

Perhaps Lu Zheng has just entered the realm of scholar and his literary talent is still not strong, but with his righteous spirit, he can surpass most students.

Scholars who can cultivate a righteous spirit are rarer than the scholars in the world.

Zhang Bo once received some guidance from a certain scholar and tried to cultivate the great righteousness, but he couldn't get it right.

Zhang Bo looked at Lu Zheng, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

If he could obtain Lu Zheng's handwritten writings, he would go back and study them, and perhaps he would be able to find the entry method to cultivate the great righteousness.

However, Zhang Bo found it difficult to talk about this kind of thing.

Lu Zheng noticed Zhang Bo's expression and said with a smile, "Brother Zhang, just say whatever you want to say."

Zhang Bo blushed slightly and said, "I would like to ask Brother Lu for these five words. Any amount of spirit stones will do."

Lu Zheng smiled when he heard this. "It's just a few words. Brother Zhang, you're too kind."

(End of this chapter)