Divine Tang Era

In the cool shade under the eaves, Yi Luo lay on her small desk practicing calligraphy.

The noise of Qiu Jun coming in distracted her for a moment, but when she saw Xu Dan behind her, she immediately snorted and turned back to continue practicing calligraphy.

Xu Dan walked over with his hands behind his back, looked at the writing on the table, stroked his chin, and said with a shake of his head, "Not bad, not bad. Although the handwriting is still immature, the style is already there. If you practice diligently, it won't be difficult for you to reach one-twentieth of my level."

"Don't look, you jerk!" Yiluo covered the paper she was writing on and shouted angrily.

Then he said to Qiu Jun, "Father, he's imitating the Master's speech. Slap his hand."

"In this world, no one who can slap my hand has yet been born." Xu Dan puffed out his chest proudly, suddenly struck a pose like a roc spreading its wings, and kicked his right foot as he said, "I've studied boxing. What master? No one can compare to my eagle catching chicks."

Then, he switched to a right chop, landing softly, with the last finger lightly touching Yiluo's head.

"Watch me, the top student of Jingning, I'll beat up girls like you who don't study hard."

Yiluo immediately protested, put down her brush, and ran out. In an instant, a voice came from the next room, "Mother, that person hit my head just now, and I've become less intelligent. You have to help me teach him a lesson, spank his hand, and spank his bottom."

A light touch, and they become less intelligent? That's ridiculous. Even Xu Dan doesn't know what to say.

Qiu Jun smiled and shook her head, ignoring the conflict between the two, and continued walking towards the study.

As soon as Xu Dan stepped inside, he smelled the fragrance of ink and books, and felt refreshed and invigorated, as if he had acquired a scholarly air.

Inside the study, there was a rather large desk, its surface neat and tidy, with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones arranged in a pleasing, staggered fashion. Behind the desk was a bookshelf filled with all sorts of books.

"What kind of book do you want to read?" Qiu Jun asked.

Xu Dan replied almost without hesitation: "No historical records or classics, but legends, miscellaneous writings, Taoist scriptures, and books on martial arts and cultivation are all fine."

"I don't have many cultivation books here. I do have a few on martial arts, but I can't give them to you. You should still take a look at the classics; they might increase your wisdom and help you cultivate the literary path," Qiu Jun said.

"What literary path?"

Xu Dan had no idea what he was saying.

"The Way of Literature is a cultivation method that focuses on literary energy. Literary energy is the energy of poetry and prose. If one can create exquisite poems and prose that are famous throughout the world, thereby triggering the literary energy of heaven and earth and awakening the literary register, one can then cultivate by absorbing the energy of the literary register. Otherwise, one can only take the path of imperial examinations," Qiu Jun explained.

Upon hearing his words, Xu Dan quickly understood what was going on.

According to him, the Way of Literature is also a form of cultivation, like the Way of Immortals, the Way of Demons, and the Way of Ghosts. However, most cultivators absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, while the Way of Literature absorbs the energy of poetry and literature.

The practice is the same, only the methods differ.

The ways of heaven and earth, though different, all lead to the same end.

In truth, he didn't understand that the cultivation of literature and Taoism is divided into two types: one cultivates righteous spirit, and the other cultivates literary spirit. The former's realm is the same as Qi cultivation, while the latter is similar to the incense and deity path, both relying on the power of the masses for cultivation. The difference is that the power of the literary path comes from poetry and literature, while the power of the deity path comes from the offerings of the world.

To cultivate literary skills, one must first obtain literary records.

There are two types of literary registers: innate and acquired. One type is born from the interaction between one's own poetry and prose and the literary principles of heaven and earth; the other type is obtained through passing the imperial examinations; and the third type is cultivated by guiding one's literary energy, but this path is extremely difficult.

"Are you sure what book you want?" Qiu Jun asked again.

"Give me a copy of Mencius, and any Daoist classic you like, and any miscellaneous records or legends as well. Bring a lot, so I don't have to keep bothering you when I'm done reading them." Xu Dan had read the Analects and could recite many sentences from memory, so he was too lazy to look at it again. He hadn't read much of Mencius, though. Now that he had the time, he naturally wanted to take a look.

Qiu Jun then began searching on the bookshelf.

Yiluo, who had just run to her mother to complain, quietly came to the door, poked her little head in, and glared at Xu Dan when she saw him looking over.

Xiuran noticed a little magpie licking a candied hawthorn next to him and suddenly became interested, so he ran over to talk to her.

Little Magpie was a little shy, but children's friendships develop quickly, especially since they were both girls and had a lot in common. Before long, the two were chatting away. But then, for some reason, Yiluo said something that made Little Magpie's little mouth puff out, her cheeks turned bright red, and she even stopped licking her candied hawthorn.

"Brother Xu is very good. Mother says Brother Xu is good, I also think Brother Xu is good, Black Bear also thinks Brother Xu is good, Liu Liu also thinks Brother Xu is good, everyone says Brother Xu is good."

Little Magpie looked serious and said earnestly.

Yi Luo didn't expect that just whispering two words to the bad guy would elicit such a big reaction from Xiao Que'er.

With a quick glance, she changed the subject.

"Here, take these, these are the books you wanted." Qiu Jun took three books from the bookshelf and handed them to Xu Dan: one was Mencius, one was Tao Te Ching, and one was Dao Ye Za Ji.

Xu Dan didn't even look at it; he simply put it away.

Upon entering the noodle shop, Xu Dan bought a set of "Shuowen Jiezi" (a dictionary of Chinese characters).

Unfortunately, there are some traditional Chinese characters that I simply can't recognize. Some characters are even more completely unrecognizable and I've never heard of them before, so I had no choice but to buy a set to look them up at home.

The Shuowen Jiezi, or Shuowen for short, was compiled by Xu Shen, a scholar of classics and philology in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is the earliest Chinese dictionary that systematically analyzes the forms of Chinese characters and studies their origins. It is also one of the earliest dictionaries in the world and is hailed as "the first book under heaven".

The Shuowen Jiezi (说文解字) contains a very comprehensive list of characters; it basically includes everything that is in the book, and even some that are not.

The set of books consisted of fifteen volumes, stacked high, making it difficult to carry. Since the storage bag couldn't be exposed, Xu Dan had no choice but to have Qiu Jun tie it up with rope and carry it in her arms.

As she was leaving, Yiluo called out to them to wait, but she ran like the wind to the back room.

She came out a short while later, carrying a sachet in her hand, which she wanted to give to Little Magpie.

Little Magpie shook her head vigorously, expressing her resistance from the bottom of her heart. Her mother had said that good children shouldn't take other people's things without permission. Yi Luo tried to persuade her for a while, but seeing that she still didn't want it, she angrily shoved it into Xu Dan's hand and told him to give it to Little Magpie.

Xu Dan couldn't help but laugh. He took out a box of pastries from the ones Li Zhu had given him and gave it to Yi Luo as a return gift from Xiao Que'er.

Yiluo happily accepted it.

Back home, Xu Dan handed the sachet to Xiao Que'er, saying, "Take this. Yi Luo gave you this gift because she considers you a friend. If you feel bad about it, you can give her something in return. It doesn't need to be anything expensive; it's the thought that counts. For example, you could make a cloth doll or a sachet with needle and thread, or you could pluck a few feathers from Liu Liu and make a shuttlecock for her. Anything would be fine."

"What is a shuttlecock, Brother Xu?" Little Magpie asked, blinking her adorable big eyes.

"It's something you kick around with hair tied to a copper coin."

Xu Dan didn't know how to explain, so he plucked a few chicken feathers, tied them to a copper coin, and demonstrated by kicking it. After a few kicks, the little magpie's eyes lit up, as if something was stirring and awakening within it.

Xu Dan noticed her expression and laughed.

Seeing her eyes fixed on the shuttlecock, wanting it but not daring to ask, he gave it to her. It was useless anyway, and besides, it felt strange for a man to play shuttlecock alone.

"Mother, look what this is! Brother Xu made it."

Little Magpie ran up to Yun Niang and showed off, then happily took the shuttlecock to the yard and started kicking it.

The rooster paced back and forth, dissatisfied; all of these were its feathers!

Xu Dan had other things to do today, so after lunch and a short rest, he went out again. This time, he didn't bring Xiao Que'er; he went out alone.