Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 29: Strange Visions in Wen Palace
County school.

Night had fallen.

The bronze water clock dripped drop by drop every hour.

"It's done! It's done!"

Zhang Youyi, an elderly man with white hair, was wearing a faded crimson robe. His clothes moved without wind, and he was the first to wake up, laughing heartily.

Deep within his brow, there was the faint image of a small, bluish-gray pavilion called Wengong.

A moment later, the other newly enrolled students awoke one after another and opened their eyes.

Someone has a mud ball between their eyebrows, from which rises a tiled house and a literary palace.

Some people manifest their spiritual acupoints and consciousness in their homes and literary palaces.

The Tongsheng Wengong (Tongsheng Literary Palace) was built brick by brick by them, a place for their [literary souls] to live and cultivate.

The shape is naturally what they envision; whatever shape they want to build, that's what it will be.

Another hour passed.
"My 'Childhood Scholarship' is complete!"

Han Sheng Gu Zhimian woke up from his seclusion and opened his eyes.

The Scholar's Palace he created within his sea of ​​consciousness was constructed using three thousand bricks, according to his own design, forming three courtyards with blue tiles. Inside were three large tiled rooms, and a well in the courtyard gushed forth with flowing spring water!

To be honest, he had never lived in such a grand mansion before, and now that his literary soul resides there, it can be considered that his wish has been fulfilled.

Gu Zhimian looked around and saw that more than twenty students had already completed the creation of the literary palace and had long since woken up, and were discussing and exchanging ideas in low voices.

Although their faces showed joy, they still felt regret.

The fact that the literary work was completed early is not a good thing!

This means that they obtained fewer bricks by dissecting and analyzing the characters, which is why they were able to complete the Wen Palace more quickly.

Fewer bricks were used for the construction, so the scholar's palace was naturally smaller.

Just as a small and cramped house can hold much less talent, one will naturally be at a disadvantage when competing with others in literary arts due to a lack of talent.

This is detrimental to the literary and moral cultivation of young scholars in the long run.

"Look, Brother Li!"

Amid exclamations,

A soft, melodious chant emanated from Li Yunxiao's body.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and the Wen Palace deep between his brows turned out to be a majestic mansion, like a government office, with sword energy wrapped around its beams and pillars.

As one of the last few students to awaken, I couldn't help but feel proud.

However, when Li Yunxiao noticed that Jiang Xingzhou was still meditating with his eyes closed, his heart skipped a beat, and his face darkened.
"Why is he still building the Literary Palace? How many literary bricks has he collected?"

It was already early morning at the county school, and dawn was probably approaching.

The twenty-nine newly appointed students have all awakened from the process of breaking through the barriers of ignorance and creating a literary palace.

Even Han Yugui, a genius from a prestigious family, had been awake for nearly an hour.

Only Jiang Xingzhou remained seated upright, like a bell.

Bored while waiting, the students gathered in small groups and talked about the literary palace they had just created.

"What unusual phenomena have occurred at your Tongsheng Wengong?"

Cao An asked curiously.

"Ah! At the corner of the eaves of the lower palace, a 'July Fiery Blaze' has formed, it's quite beautiful!"

Lu Ming smiled.

As he spoke, he raised his fingertip and casually condensed a four-character incantation, "July Fire," with flames burning white.

This flame is incredibly powerful.

The temperature inside the county school rose rapidly, and the students felt parched, as if they were in a furnace.

The academic official Cai Chao glared at him, and Lu Ming quickly extinguished the flame.

Congratulations, Brother Lu!
Inside the palace below, a 'Guan Guan Jujiu' (a type of osprey) spontaneously appeared, its cries echoing across the palace walls. I was utterly astonished!

Han Yugui chuckled, his tone somewhat incredulous.

"Ah? Are there unusual phenomena in your literary palaces? Why is my literary palace surrounded by a bluish-gray haze, without any other unusual color?"

Zhang Youyi, an elderly man with white hair, looked dazed.

His literary palace was covered with withered vines on its mottled walls, and some of the bricks even had cracks, making it seem like the literary palace wasn't very good.

The students whispered among themselves, some beaming with pride, while a small number of them looked dejected and saddened.

"Guan Guan Jujiu" (a type of osprey) has appeared within the steps of a literati palace.
The eaves of the Humanities Palace are sometimes covered with what appears to be "July's fiery glow".
Even more outstanding are those whose "Tian Xing Jian" (天行健) characters in ancient seal script, shining with golden light, appear on the main beam of the Wen Palace.

In the Wen Gong Yuan pond of the Tong Sheng, a "red lotus" has bloomed, and one can vaguely smell the fragrance of pepper and orchid from "Li Sao".

This is an excellent sign.
An unusual phenomenon has appeared in the Palace of Scholars, but it is not a beautiful sight; rather, it hints at the possibility of receiving corresponding additional bonuses.

for example,

The image of "July's Fiery Light" on the eaves of the literary palace signifies that this student possesses an additional understanding of fire-related arts, amplifying its power by as much as 30%. The appearance of "Guan Guan Jujiu" within the literary palace indicates that the student has a unique understanding of bird and animal-related arts.

The "Red Lotus" growing by the Wen Palace Pond is exceptionally gifted in producing spiritual pills and medicines, surpassing others in both cultivating spiritual herbs and refining talent pills.

Everyone was surprised to find that their own literary skills as a child scholar were almost completely different from those of others.

The top ten students in the imperial examination all have their own extraordinary phenomena in the literary palace, gaining additional talents.

Ten of the students who were not yet students exhibited unusual phenomena.

The ten students who ranked last in the imperial examinations did not exhibit any unusual phenomena in the literary palace.

The white-haired old man Zhang Youyi at the very end is in the worst condition. His literary palace is entangled with withered vines, and several of the literary bricks have even cracked, showing signs of gradual collapse.

Inside the county school, the officials, instructors, and teachers were all somewhat anxious.

All the children awoke.

Jiang Xingzhou, however, remained with his eyes closed, making no move.

"Jiang Xingzhou has been in seclusion for several times longer than the other students, and it's still not over!"

The educational commissioner, Cai Chao, paced back and forth, his brows furrowed.

"What's going on? Could it be that he encountered some intractable trouble while creating the Literary Palace?"

Chief Clerk Shen Yanqing said with concern.

Based on their own experience, even the creation of the Tongsheng Wengong Palace back then did not take this long.

"No!"

Cai Chao thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"He must have spent a lot of time dissecting the text and extracting the inscriptions!"

Word choice is the cornerstone of literature!

The strength of the Tongsheng Wengong (a literary palace for students) depends entirely on how many character-specific bricks are used to build it.

Those of inferior status collect a thousand pieces, living in cramped and confined rooms.

Those of average means collect two to three thousand pieces; their palaces are ordinary.

The best ones, picking up four to five thousand, have a bright and spacious literary palace.

The top-tier pieces consist of six to seven thousand bronze bricks, showcasing the lavish and dazzling Wen Palace.

Going any higher... I can't even imagine!
Even for a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), it was rare to find seven thousand bricks used for building the Tongsheng Wengong (a literary palace for children).

I just inquired privately and learned that Han Yugui picked up 5,900 cultural bricks, which are the top-tier among the superior ones, and are already close to the best of the best.

I suspect Jiang Xingzhou is still collecting the literary bricks!

"Over five thousand?"

It must have been too long.

"Six thousand."

"They've already surpassed it!"

Cai Chao nodded.

"Could it be more than seven thousand?"

Shen Yanqing was taken aback.

"Silence! There's no need for further speculation!"

But then Pei Jingyi shouted a stern rebuke to stop him.

Knowing that Jiang Xingzhou might possess more than seven thousand Wen bricks is sufficient.

This is already extremely rare. Those brilliant and renowned scholars who passed the imperial examinations only had about six or seven thousand bricks when they were promoted to the rank of child scholar and built the Wen Palace.

Going any further, I really can't guess anymore!

Throughout the long history of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were no more than ten people who possessed literary talent, and the number of literary bricks in the palace exceeded seven thousand.

To know,
The top candidates in the preliminary examinations were numerous, spanning 1,500 counties in the Zhou Dynasty.

The three resounding sounds at the Confucian Temple would lead to the publication of articles "out of the county," a phenomenon that occurred every year or two during the Great Zhou Dynasty, and occasionally as well!
The number of Wen Palaces with more than 7,000 Wen bricks is truly rare; you can count them on two hands.

This is not something that can be deciphered by reading a book like "Primer of Prosody" and understanding the stories and profound meanings behind the three-in-one structure of "meaning, sound, and form" in the eight thousand characters.

To be able to analyze and interpret so many characters requires a student to have an extremely rich knowledge of books, having read at least tens of thousands of volumes.

It requires not only the arduous study of a poor scholar who disregards the passage of time, but also the vast collection of books in the treasury of a distinguished family.

Once these seven thousand bricks are passed on,

Jiang Xingzhou is currently a student with a low literary rank, which makes him vulnerable to being targeted.

They should keep a low profile and avoid causing Jiang Xingzhou any trouble.
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(End of this chapter)