Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 365: Recommendation from the Academy

Seven hundred thousand contribution points were spent in such a short time that Lu Zheng couldn't help but sigh that the money was being spent like water.

He decided to keep some contribution points and exchange them for some suitable spiritual objects when he was about to leave Yunmeng Sect.

So, after the two of them walked around the palaces, they left the exchange hall.

Qing Wan's eyes were filled with all the rare and precious treasures she had just seen, and she couldn't help but say, "Their sect has so many treasures!"

Qing Wan felt that no matter how hard she practiced and earned money, she couldn't buy many good things.

Lu Zhengdao said, "After all, there are immortal cultivation sects with a history of over a thousand years. Some dynasties didn't last that long..."

The two of them hurried to Wanjing Tower at a leisurely pace.

When Meng Yuan saw the two people coming, he couldn't help but take another look.

Meng Yuan was still a little uncomfortable after not seeing these two people reading in Wanjing Building for a few days.

"I thought you didn't come here to read." Meng Yuan said slowly.

Qing Wan smiled and said, "We've learned so much, we've rested for a few days! We just went to the exchange hall to exchange some things. Your sect has so many treasures."

"That's right." Meng Yuan raised his eyebrows and asked, "What did you change?"

Qing Wan said, "Two Enlightenment Pills and the Five Elements Spiritual Charm cost me 700,000 contribution points!"

"The wisdom-enhancing pill? Have you eaten it?" Meng Yuan asked.

Qing Wan nodded heavily. "Yes, my brain is much sharper now! I'm telling you, I've figured out a lot of things, especially math. If you have any questions, just ask me!"

Meng Yuan smiled, then asked curiously, "Why are you trying to exchange the Five Elements' Spiritual Rhythm? Aren't you mainly studying Confucianism and Taoism?"

He thought the two would exchange for some literary treasures, but they ended up exchanging for these spiritual objects.

Lu Zheng explained: "It is beneficial to learn more skills for cultivation."

Meng Yuan said calmly, "The most taboo in cultivation is being indecisive. If you want to learn everything, you might not master anything in the end. You've learned so many skills, do you have a lot of enemies or something?"

Lu Zheng couldn't help but smile. "Come to think of it, I've really offended quite a few people, and I'll offend even more in the future. If I don't learn some skills, it'll be hard to save my life."

"Oh?" Meng Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Tell me about it? I still don't know much about you."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng said, "Let Qing Wan tell the seniors that I still have many books to read."

Lu Zheng went to the second floor and continued to read the classics.

Qing Wan blinked, sat next to Meng Yuan and muttered to herself for a while.

Only then did Meng Yuan know what the two had done outside.

Qing Wan shook her head and said, "That's pretty much it. Senior, do you have any thoughts after hearing this?"

Meng Yuanle said: "What do I want to feel?"

Qing Wan said seriously: "Don't you want to uphold justice like us?"

Meng Yuan stroked his beard and said, "I am already old, let you young people handle this kind of thing!"

Qing Wan stared at Meng Yuan without blinking.

Meng Yuan said calmly, "We have different paths, little kid. Some things are not as simple as you think. I am the elder of the Yunmeng Sect. The affairs of the Nine Kingdoms are not my responsibility, nor can I intervene."

Qing Wan asked, "What about outside the Nine Kingdoms?"

Meng Yuan said, "There are others who will take care of that. With my status here, every move I make will be noticed, and the sect will not allow me to do anything out of line."

Qing Wan said quietly, "Then your sect is truly inhumane."

Meng Yuan chuckled and said, "Our Yunmeng Sect is originally a sect dedicated to cultivating immortals. We don't care about worldly affairs. Moreover, we don't have the ability to do so."

Meng Yuan paused, then continued, "It's good that you young people have a heart for justice, but you still have to do your best and don't lose your life in vain."

Qing Wan said seriously, "As the ancients said, 'Even if I die nine times, I will never regret what I have done.'"

Meng Yuan smiled and said, "You are so young, yet you are already so old that you are indifferent to life and death? You do have the moral character and temperament of an ancient scholar."

Qing Wan stood up, shook her head and sighed, "Lu Zheng is right, people's thoughts are stubborn, especially those with higher levels of cultivation, who are more stubborn."

Meng Yuan was not annoyed when he heard this, he just smiled and said nothing.

Qingwan went to read books to make up for her shortcomings.

Life returned to how it was before, and Lu Zheng and his friend stayed in the Wanjing Building reading.

At noon, the young man from the Meng family came to Wanjing Building and found Lu Zheng.

"So Mr. Lu is here. He's really easy to find."

The young man from the Meng family greeted him with a smile. He had wanted to talk to Lu Zheng a few days ago, but he didn't find a good opportunity.

Lu Zheng looked at the young man and said, "So it's Master Meng. What's going on?"

Meng Shouyi, from the Meng family of Qi State, is the direct descendant of Meng Sheng.

Meng Shouyi smiled and said, "This is my first time meeting you, and I feel you are very kind. I heard that Brother Lu came here during his travels?"

"I guess so." Lu Zheng nodded.

Meng Shouyi asked, "Have you ever been to Qi?"

Lu Zheng shook his head and said, "That's not the case."

Meng Shouyi couldn't help but ask, "Brother Lu, would you be willing to travel to Qi? I'm a scholar at the Jixia Academy and can recommend you to go there. The collection of books there is no less than here."

"Well..." Lu Zheng smiled, "Brother, it's a good idea, but I don't have any intention of going to Qi for the time being." A strange look flashed across Meng Shouyi's expression. He didn't expect Lu Zheng to refuse so bluntly.

The Jixia Academy is a place that countless Confucian and Taoist scholars yearn for, but Lu Zheng has no intention of visiting the academy for the time being?

"Is that so?" Meng Shouyi took out a letter of recommendation. "I think Brother Lu has great talent. Please accept this token. If you travel to Qi in the future, you can use it to study in the Imperial Academy."

Seeing the token handed over by the other party with both hands, Lu Zheng couldn't refuse it.

Lu Zheng quickly took it with both hands and said, "Thank you, Master Meng, for thinking highly of me. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely visit you at the Jixia Academy."

Seeing that Lu Zheng received the letter, Meng Shouyi smiled. He came here just to win over Lu Zheng, and getting such a reply could be regarded as a step closer to him.

He believed that Confucian and Taoist scholars like Lu Zheng who went to the Jixia Academy would definitely want to stay there.

Meng Shouyi asked, "I've noticed before that Brother Lu has a very pure and righteous spirit. I wonder how you usually cultivate?"

"Stick to your heart..." Lu Zheng said.

The two chatted in low voices for a while before Meng Shouyi said goodbye and left without disturbing Lu Zheng any further.

Lu Zheng politely sent Meng Shouyi out of Wanjing Tower, and took out a jade slip, ready to exchange it with Meng Yuan for the complete contents of the jade slip.

Some of the classics on the second and third floors of Wanjing Building require contribution points to view in full, and not all of them are free.

Meng Yuan took the jade slip handed to him by Lu Zheng and lightly wiped it, adding the missing content.

He looked at Lu Zheng and said leisurely, "Jixia Academy, you don't seem very willing to go there?"

Meng Yuan heard some of the conversation between Lu Zheng and Meng Shouyi just now.

It wasn't that he intended to eavesdrop, it was mainly because they were not far away and the two of them were talking without avoiding others.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I heard that the Jixia Academy is the top Confucian and Taoist institution. Although I have never been to Qi, I have heard a lot about Qi's situation and the academy... Maybe the Jixia Academy is indeed very good, but it is probably not the academy I imagined."

"What are you imagining?" Meng Yuan's eyes moved slightly.

Lu Zhengdao: "When the Jixia Academy was first established, hundreds of schools of thought contended with each other, each with its own unique style, and it was a glorious time..."

Meng Yuan understood what he meant. Was he saying that the Jixia Academy had changed?

Thinking back to the Jixia Academy he had visited, Meng Yuan found that it was indeed very different from the previous academy.

Meng Yuan couldn't help but say: "Young man, don't think everything is so good."

"But it can't be too bad." Lu Zhengdao said, "Back then, the saint had 3,000 disciples, teaching everyone without discrimination. Most of them were people of both virtue and talent, and were willing to sacrifice their lives for justice..."

"But nowadays, the students in the academy are standing too high up, and they are more careful about their reputation, and rarely look down."

"Tsk..." Meng Yuan said slowly, "Then what can you do?"

Lu Zheng held the jade slip and whispered, "We can always find a way."

Lu Zheng walked out of the hall and went to the corner to read.

Meng Yuan couldn't help but shake his head and muttered softly, "You think others are stubborn, but why do I feel like you're the most stubborn one? It's so hard to be a good person!"

Time passes day by day.

Except for the sermons that Lu Zheng would go down the mountain to listen to every once in a while, he stayed in Wanjing Building almost all the time.

Qingwan is the same, and sometimes she will discuss some difficult problems with Mengyuan.

Meng Yuan became fascinated by the novel science of mathematics, and even used it to invent some new spells.

He even showed off in front of Lu Zheng and the other man, so that they could learn something.

……

"I want to go back."

One day, An Jing suddenly found Lu Zheng to say goodbye.

Hearing this, Lu Zheng said, "Are you leaving now?"

An Jing said: "It's been three months. I've been here for too long. It's time to go back."

"Time flies by so fast." Lu Zheng sighed.

He basically spent all his time reading in the Wanjing Building and didn't even notice that time was passing quickly.

An Jing smiled and said, "You've been reading, so of course you didn't notice... A lot has happened on Yuyue Peak recently, with martial arts competitions and discussions..."

When someone found out that Lu Zheng was invited by Yunmeng Sect by chance, unlike other people in Yuyue Peak, and that Lu Zheng had been staying in Wanjing Tower, some people ignored Lu Zheng.

An Jing asked, "When will you return to Anguo?"

Lu Zhengdao: "I don't know... By the way, I have some things that I'll leave with you for safekeeping."

After saying that, Lu Zheng took out a storage bag, a storage bag with his own restrictions on it.

An Jing's eyes changed slightly. What thing needs to be kept here with her?
An Jing looked at Lu Zheng, "What do you mean? Are you going to take another risk?"

She felt that Lu Zheng couldn't have asked her to keep the items for no reason.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly, "When you're out, what if something unexpected happens? You have to leave something behind..."

An Jing took a deep breath, took the storage bag solemnly, and said in a deep voice: "I will keep it for you and wait for you to get it."

She understood that there must be something extremely important inside, something that Lu Zheng considered more valuable than life.

(End of this chapter)