Longzang

Chapter 40 Study hard
The courses for the next few days will be, in order: the history of Tang, the theory of heaven and earth, the theory of qi and fortune, and the theory of techniques.

There's no need to elaborate on Tang Shi's theories; both the theory of Heaven and Earth and the theory of Qi and Luck are essentially cultivation courses. The theory of Heaven and Earth discusses the operation of celestial cycles and the geography of mountains and rivers, as well as how to more efficiently absorb the essence of Heaven and Earth and accelerate cultivation by adapting to environmental changes.

The first lesson on the theory of heaven and earth was held on the mountain outside the Qisi Hall. After the teacher explained the principles, the students were asked to find the best place to practice on their own. There was no fixed answer to this best place. Each student had a different foundation and aptitude, and the path they would take in the future would also be different, so each person had their own corresponding best place to practice.

Wei Yuan discovered that his cultivation speed increased the higher he went, so he ultimately chose the mountaintop. However, he arrived too late; the spot had already been occupied by Bao Yun and Xiao Yu.

Upon seeing Wei Yuan, Bao Yun rushed forward, took his hand, and said warmly, "Junior Brother Wei is here too, let's cultivate together!"

Her hands were cold, smooth, and soft, making Wei Yuan feel inexplicably awkward holding them. He wanted to let go, but Bao Yun gripped them tightly in return. Courtesy told Wei Yuan that it would be impolite to force his way out and would invite criticism, so he could only endure it.

Wei Yuan followed her for a while, when Bao Yun suddenly stumbled and seemed about to fall.

Wei Yuan rushed to help him up, but when he lifted his foot, he suddenly flew up and inexplicably fell off the mountaintop, rolling down the slope for more than ten feet before stopping.

Bao Yun rushed over, helped Wei Yuan up, and said anxiously, "Junior Brother, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself anywhere? Oh dear, how could you be so careless!"

Wei Yuan wasn't sure whether he had fallen accidentally or for some other reason. He couldn't refuse Bao Yun's kindness, so he let her help him up.

Bao Yun helped Wei Yuan find a flat spot nearby to sit down. Wei Yuan was surprised to find that cultivation here was only slightly slower than at the summit, so he stopped complaining. Bao Yun gave him a few more instructions, telling him to take good care of himself, before returning to the summit.

And so the first lesson on the theory of heaven and earth came to an end.

The theory of destiny has only emerged in the last three hundred years, making it the youngest field of study. A thousand years ago, those who were blessed with destiny were extremely rare, and often achieved great supernatural powers. Therefore, when such individuals appeared, various sects devoted themselves to cultivating them. If they were in the secular court, they would either be founding fathers or important ministers who revitalized the dynasty.

Those who are blessed with great fortune are called the Chosen Ones. Once they appear, even the most powerful immortal sects will join the struggle, which will trigger countless conspiracies and bloody battles.

Over the generations, the number of people blessed with good fortune has remained relatively stable, sometimes more, sometimes less. However, starting four hundred years ago, the fortune of heaven and earth suddenly increased rapidly, and people blessed with good fortune emerged in droves, with children of good fortune frequently being born.

Over the next few hundred years, the overall fortune continued to increase, and more and more people were blessed with good fortune. Many of these people would have been the focus of the entire sect's efforts to cultivate if they had been around a thousand years ago, but now they could only receive more attention from the sect and be given more resources.

In the past, those whose Qi could reach one zhang in the Dao Test were undoubtedly chosen ones, the pride of humanity. But now, in the Tai Chu Palace alone, there are six people with Qi reaching one zhang in Wei Yuan's generation, two of whom haven't even been included in the palace's key cultivation list due to their poor aptitude. If it were a thousand years ago, even if these two were considered useless, let alone having slightly inferior aptitude, they could have been transformed into geniuses with countless rare and precious materials.

As fortune increases, research and cultivation methods related to fortune have emerged, resulting in numerous mature systems for cultivating using fortune. Furthermore, fortune no longer refers solely to personal luck but is subdivided into four aspects: the grand fortune of heaven and earth, the fortune of the times, feng shui, and human fortune, encompassing astrology, feng shui, geomancy, and many other disciplines, becoming a crucial part of cultivation. Those considered "children of fortune" are those blessed with the great fortune of their era. The grand fortune of heaven and earth is far too vast for a human body to bear. Heaven and earth remain unchanged for eternity; let alone one or two children of fortune, even the rise and fall of the entire human race is but a small ripple in a mighty torrent, and its complete extinction would have no impact on heaven and earth.

As one's fortune increases, the effects of having good fortune are not as strong as before, but there is still a fundamental difference between having it and not having it. Therefore, some powerful families painstakingly developed methods to transfer fortune, allowing them to take the fortune of others and add it to their own offspring. From then on, having good fortune was not always a good thing. On the one hand, one had to seek opportunities, and on the other hand, one had to avoid being discovered by powerful families, otherwise, one might end up benefiting someone else.

After doing this kind of thing a lot, people realized that being born into the right family is also a great stroke of luck.

The final section on techniques refers to the various techniques used on the path of cultivation, including not only magic but also medicine, weapon crafting, elixirs, talismans, witchcraft, and poisons. Besides the Taoist arts and divine communication, the Taichu Palace also has the Tiangong Hall, renowned for its weapon crafting, the Zaohua Hall, which focuses on elixirs, and the Xuanming Hall, which emphasizes medicine. Therefore, the course dedicates considerable time to the arts of weapon crafting and alchemy, while witchcraft and poisons are only taught in general terms.

The body-building stage focuses on cultivation, so the less important content of this stage was placed in the theory of techniques when the course was designed.

Seven days passed in this way, and the coursework was finally completed. On the eighth and ninth days, we returned to the courses of General History of Humanity and General Knowledge of Immortal Path.

However, on the ninth day, the Immortal Path Knowledge session was not given by Daoist Dixia, but by Feng Chutang.

Feng Chutang remained all smiles, displaying an exceptionally good temper, and didn't mind students joking with him. In this lesson, instead of following the pace of Daoist Dixia on ancient times, he jumped directly to the dividing line between ancient and modern times, namely the establishment of the Great Tang Dynasty and the implementation of the unified examination system for sects.

"While Daoist Dixia is in seclusion, I will use this lesson to talk about the origin of the sect's unified examination and why it is one of the key points that distinguishes ancient and modern cultivation. Daoist Dixia will talk about the impact of the founding of the Great Tang Dynasty on cultivation later."

All the students sat up straight, concentrating intently.

Since Feng Chutang said so, then the sect's unified examination must hold a particularly important place in history. Moreover, the students had already discovered in the previous two classes that much of what Feng Chutang discussed couldn't be found in historical records; it required piecing together countless scattered records from multiple historical texts to sketch a general picture. But these sketched pictures are precisely a crucial link in history. It can be said that without these links, one can only gain a superficial understanding of history.

Those students from prominent families, with their extensive family education from a young age, knew more or less why many events were not recorded in detail in historical books, simply to avoid mentioning those things for the sake of the emperor and those in positions of authority.

But precisely because they knew the reason, these children increasingly perceived Feng Chutang's profound knowledge and sharp insight. Therefore, even though this teacher seemed harmless, they listened intently, afraid of missing anything. After all, the things taught in class couldn't be found in books, and their own elders weren't necessarily experts in history.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival! If anyone has any spare monthly passes, feel free to give one or two to Zhang Sheng.



(End of this chapter)