I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 64 Local Products
"Brother Wei, to be honest, I just got this badge and don't know what it does yet."

Xue Xiang weighed the plaque in his hand.

"Haha, then I'll be Brother Xue's teacher today."

Wei Wendao pulled Xue Xiang to sit down in a pavilion. "This token is called a Wen token. As the name suggests, it is a valid certificate that can be used to exchange for supplies at the Academy of Arts."

The specific number of plaques awarded is determined by the Canglan Academy and reported by the local authorities.

Those who received the plaque were either distinguished elders or people who had made significant contributions.

My ancestor also received this literary tablet during last year's Spring Festival.

But how did Xue Xiang obtain this writing tablet?

Upon hearing this, Xue Xiang thought to himself, "Wei Yang is a good friend," but he couldn't explain it to Wei Wendao, otherwise the explanation would go on and on. He simply said that Xie Haiya had given it to him.

"Brother Wei, what exactly can this document token be exchanged for?"

"See the side hall of the Academy? That's also an important resource repository in the city. Important items are stored there."

"I don't see any soldiers guarding it, and even the gatekeeper seems to have only a few teeth left."

"The Academy is heavily guarded. Even if it were openly open, it would be impossible to steal anything or even break in."

"I understand. Because of the safety of the College of Arts, all the essential supplies were stored there."

"That's only one reason. The effects of literary energy are significant. It nourishes divine weapons, preserves high-grade elixirs, and cultivates spiritual plants. Plus, with so many restrictions, where else would you put valuable items if not here?"

In fact, not only do important government resources reside here, but various sects also prefer to store their treasures here, hoping to nurture and strengthen them with the help of the literary energy. However, they need to pay money to store their items.

"I see. Brother Wei truly lives up to his reputation as the all-knowing scholar of the martial arts world."

"What? I have that title? Haha..."

"It's covered."

"Is there anything else you want to ask? I'm only just starting to understand what it means to be a teacher."

"In that case, let's stop chatting here and go into the warehouse to discuss it in detail."

"please."

"please."

Soon, the two arrived at a side hall on the west side, which was where the storeroom was located.

The two walked along the way, and apart from two sweeping boys, there was no one else.

Wei Wendao took out his official document and waved it in front of the three-zhang-tall, mottled vermilion gate of the side hall. With a creak, the storeroom door opened.

What comes into view are rows of shelves, numbering in the dozens.

"Did you see the colors of the markings on the side of the shelf? Gold, purple, black, white, and cyan. Since our signboard is cyan, we can only look for cyan shelves."

Wei Wendao introduced the place as he walked.

Xue Xiang's eyes scanned the surroundings, he was overwhelmed by what he saw.

The shelves were overflowing with resources: all sorts of weapons, elixirs, array flags, cultivation manuals, and potted spiritual plants...

Furthermore, each resource available for exchange has a note attached that briefly describes its use.

"Resources without labels are stored by others, cannot be exchanged, and it's best not to touch them."

Wei Wendao explained
Xue Xiang also noticed that those without sticky notes were mostly wrapped in brocade boxes or silk ribbons, clearly indicating that they did not want outsiders to see them.

“Brother Wei, I see that each item has a seal mark in seal script.”

"This is a restriction. As long as this restriction is not lifted, no one can take the items out of the Academy."

Once the exchange is confirmed, simply place the token close to the restriction, and with a thought, the restriction will disappear, allowing you to take the treasure.

The advantage is that it doesn't record who redeemed what, and you don't need to report to anyone, which is very convenient. "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Wei. Then I won't bother you any longer; I'll just browse around."

Xue Xiang was very perceptive and knew that he should give Wei Wendao some alone time.

The two parted ways, and Xue Xiang walked first to a row of gold shelves. To his surprise, he found that there were only a few boxes on the shelves, and when he opened the boxes, they were empty.

The entire golden shelf was just a shelf; there was no stock left.

Next, he went to the purple shelf and saw eight or nine items, including battle flags and remnants of soldiers...

One of the items caught his attention: a gray scroll.

Upon opening it, one finds a portrait of the ancient sage Zhou Yi.

Xue Xiang immediately sensed a familiar scent; it was exactly the same as the Kang Guangling portrait that Xie Haiya had given him.

"Purple, why are you purple..."

Xue Xiang was very distressed, as this was exactly what he needed most right now.

Only after having possessed it did he understand how painful it was to lose the cultivation accelerator.

Staring at the ancient scroll for a long time, he finally rolled it up reluctantly, put it back in its original place, and left.

Suddenly, a beam of light flashed from the northwest.

Xue Xiang rushed over and saw Wei Wendao holding a square box with a blue plaque affixed to the box's protective emblem.

The two dissolved together, revealing a clear glow.

To avoid suspicion, Xue Xiang was about to leave, but Wei Wendao stopped him. He opened the box open in a generous manner, revealing a box of inkstones inside, which were blue in color.

"If you obtain literary energy and want to cultivate, you must use this item. Although the blue soil is only formed from the essence of a Foundation Establishment expert, it is barely enough."

Wei Wendao accepted the letter and asked, "Brother Xue, do you have any further questions?"
If there are no further questions, I'll go find Lao Lu and the others first.

Xue Xiang said, “There is something I don’t understand. I just walked around and saw some items on the shelves. Although there were labels on them, the labels did not describe the purpose of the items. They only said ‘exchangeable’.”

Looking at the levels, all of them can be redeemed with a blue token. How is that possible?

"Those things are all local products, mostly dug out of tombs."

Things that have long been polluted by the earth's energy are naturally incompatible with the lush and cultured atmosphere here.

However, it contains many treasures, but they are covered in dust and grime, and have not yet been cleansed of their impurities.

"How can we wash away the dust and dirt from these local products?"

"The literary style will suffice."

Xue Xiang immediately perked up, but Wei Wendao waved his hand, "Don't overthink it, the little bit of literary energy we extracted isn't enough."

Let alone the literary quality of individual words, even the literary quality of sentences cannot shake the dust and grime on these rustic works.

Otherwise, there would be no such thing as "local products" anymore.

Xue Xiang thought about it and realized that made sense. If the dust on local products were so easy to remove, it would never be his turn.

Then I thought, I have golden literary talent, wouldn't that make me stand out from the crowd?

Wei Wendao, unaware of his thoughts, explained, "To wash away the dust on this earthenware, one must summon the Black Tiger of Literary Aura."

Even the Academy of Literature needs to deploy the Black Tiger of Literary Qi to activate its power. For example, during our city exam, the Black Tiger of Literary Qi was summoned by a formation and forced to operate.

However, the cost of deploying such a large-scale formation is quite high, and activating the Black Tiger's literary energy for an unknown, unreliable object would be extremely low in cost-effectiveness.

Xue Xiang said, "If that's the case, what's the point of leaving this pile of dirt here?"

(End of this chapter)