Chapter 10

"Mr. Su's words are very wise. Gentlemen, please leave quickly to avoid delaying the examination!" County Magistrate Qi and Academician Wen, among others, joined in to persuade them.

Everyone was somewhat disappointed. It seemed they wouldn't be able to appreciate the work today and would have to wait until the Ministry of Culture rewarded the officials of Hong County to find another opportunity.

Moreover, it was not worth it to have a conflict with the special envoy of Qi Prefecture, Inspector Su. The act of kneeling to force a decision was a bit excessive, but the law does not punish the many. Everyone rushed in together, and now they all retreated, with no one actually being punished.

"It was presumptuous of me. Please forgive me, Mr. Su!" one person said, blushing with shame.

"Under the circumstances, I will not hold it against you," Inspector Su said with a smile.

"I entrust everything to you, gentlemen. I will take my leave!" The other lower-ranking officials, though reluctant, had no choice but to leave.

"Please walk slowly, gentlemen!" Inspector Su and County Magistrate Qi personally saw them off. Inspector Su still firmly held the examination paper, and no one could take it from him.

After the other officials left, the four chief examiners all breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, the four chief examiners all knew that persuading the other colleagues to leave was just a temporary measure.

How could something submitted to the Ministry of Culture be so easily given up? The number of literati in the world is so vast, and the difficulty of advancing as a literatus is so great, largely due to the literati themselves!

Resonant literature should be something all literati can learn, not the private property of a certain country or a certain clan. If all the literati in the Zhongyuan world shared all the literature, a large number of literati would advance overnight, and the status of literati would definitely be elevated!

But why should everyone share?

Even colleagues wouldn't easily share, let alone expect different countries to open their national academies?

When martial artists, spirit masters, craftsmen, and other professions are flourishing, this is just the literati being conservative and undervaluing themselves!

Inspector Su felt he had rested enough. He picked up the resonant literature, slowly unfolded it, and was surprised to say, "It's a poem!"

"Early Spring,

The small rain on the capital street is as smooth as butter,

The grass color can be seen from afar but not up close.

This is the best time of the year for spring,

Far surpassing the smoky willows of the imperial city."

After reciting the poem, Inspector Su felt as if he were basking in a spring breeze. It was indeed a beautiful poem, and he felt a strong sense of spring.

But he felt nothing inside his body; the divine palace remained still.

After reading the entire poem, County Magistrate Qi and County Deputy Cai also seemed to be deep in thought. After a brief inspection, they found that their divine palaces also did not resonate.

Everyone was puzzled at the same time, thinking of something and asking each other.

"Is this resonant literature a 'Spring' literary symbol?"

"I also think it's a 'Spring' literary symbol. What a pity!"

"Impossible! How can it be a 'Spring' literary symbol? This symbol is useless!"

Suddenly, an unusual phenomenon occurred. Academician Wen, who had been standing aside without speaking, was now trembling with excitement and repeated, "Early Spring... grass color... near but not close... Ah! I understand, I finally understand! Heaven is helping me! Heaven is helping me!"

At the end of his shout, Academician Wen became wildly excited. He suddenly placed his hand on his forehead, his expression solemn, closed his eyes, and quickly recited the complete poem. At this moment, his body emitted a faint blue light, and a large amount of elemental energy was compressed into the examination room, continuously entering Academician Wen's forehead. Academician Wen seemed to have turned into a blue light ball.

Everyone understood what this unusual phenomenon meant and was greatly surprised!

Academician Wen's divine palace had advanced!

This was the special phenomenon of a new literary symbol being successfully conceived in a literatus's divine palace!

Among the four examiners present who heard the "Early Spring" poem, only Academician Wen made a breakthrough, showing the selectiveness of resonant literature!

Inspector Su, County Magistrate Qi, and County Deputy Cai all looked at Academician Wen, who was conceiving a new literary symbol, with envy and jealousy. How could they not want to conceive a new literary symbol?

Even a useless literary symbol could increase the number of literary symbols in their bodies. A third-rank scholar needs to conceive four, and a fourth-rank literatus needs to conceive eight. The evaluation of a literatus's realm is based on the number of literary symbols, and even a useless symbol is a treasure!

Even if this poem couldn't help them conceive a new literary symbol, it would be good to expand their divine palaces or hone their literary hearts and strengthen other literary symbols!

Unfortunately, because they all knew the uselessness of the "Spring" literary symbol, none of them were extravagant enough to divert their precious divine palaces to leave even a little space for the "Spring" literary symbol, leading to the waste of the first appreciation of resonant literature today!

"Ha ha ha ha! I have been stuck at the third-rank scholar for twenty years, and I have finally broken through and learned a new literary symbol. Heaven has been kind to me, and Emperor Fuxi has favored me!"

Academician Wen burst into laughter. For a literatus, nothing is more exciting than conceiving a new literary symbol in the divine palace. Countless literati struggle to advance, studying others' works and joining the military to participate in the war against demons, exploring the wilderness, and searching for lost ancient texts, all to conceive more literary symbols and increase their strength!

The other three, while envious, asked repeatedly, "Academician Wen, is it really a 'Spring' literary symbol?"

"Indeed, it is a 'Spring' literary symbol!"

"Mr. Wen, I remember you have been at the third-rank scholar for over twenty years, with five literary symbols in your divine palace. If you add today's one, you will have six. Perhaps in a few years, you will have eight and enter the fourth-rank literatus, with a bright future!"

"I am nearly sixty, and County Magistrate Qi still says I have a bright future. How amusing!"

"Congratulations on the conception of a new literary symbol, Mr. Wen! It is a great joy!"

"Thank you all! I have only broken through once in twenty years. I was a bit out of control just now. Please don't laugh, don't laugh!"

Everyone congratulated and flattered each other, and then they began to discuss the poem.

"Since Mr. Wen has made a breakthrough today, it is best for Mr. Wen to appreciate the poem!"

"Of course, Mr. Wen, please!"

"Thank you, Mr. Su and Mr. Qi for your humility. I will not be modest!"

Academician Wen stroked his beard and smiled. This appreciation opportunity belonged to him, and Inspector Su was very considerate, personally handing the resonant literature to him.

Academician Wen held the examination paper, his expression joyful, and analyzed it sentence by sentence: "The content of the poem is closely tied to 'spring,' and the title 'Early Spring' is perfectly suited to the current season. The title is fitting, which is the first excellence. The capital street is the street of our country's capital, and it is raining today. 'Butter' means milk, and 'as smooth as butter' shows that the spring rain is nourishing. The first line is also fitting, which is the second excellence."

"After the spring rain, the scenery of spring is described in countless ways by literati. However, the candidate writes, 'The grass color can be seen from afar but not up close,' which is a marvelously vivid line! In early spring, the weather is still cold, and everything is desolate, with no signs of spring. But after the rain, the spring grass is the first to herald the arrival of spring, sprouting new buds. From a distance, it looks hazy, covered with a very light green. If you look for spring up close, you can only see sparse, delicate sprouts. How can this line not be vivid? This is the third excellence, and it is not an exaggeration!"

Inspector Su, deep in thought, added, "In hundreds of years, there have been countless poems about grass color, but to write it so vividly is indeed rare!"

Academician Wen slapped his thigh and shouted, "The best part is the last two lines. After he laments, 'This is the best time of the year for spring,' he still cannot express his love and admiration for early spring. Then he uses 'smoky willows of the imperial city' to contrast with the green grass, using 'far surpassing' to highlight the difference between these two beautiful scenes. Although the winner is the light green grass, it makes me feel the spring breeze and the revival of all things, full of vitality!"

"Is this not a 'Spring' literary symbol? We missed such a symbol, truly... truly... sigh!" Inspector Su stammered, and County Magistrate Qi and County Deputy Cai also beat their chests in regret, but it was too late to regret now!

Academician Wen stroked his beard and smiled, feeling extremely satisfied. He looked at his three colleagues, who were out of control, and felt an infinite sense of pride!

County Magistrate Qi grabbed Academician Wen and asked urgently, "Brother Wen, we have worked together for fifteen years. Why didn't I know you were conceiving a 'Spring' literary symbol?"

County Deputy Cai asked even more strangely, "Mr. Wen, although the 'Spring' literary symbol is not the hardest to learn, this symbol has little to do with a literatus's strength. You actually... you actually..."

He couldn't finish his sentence.

Because a person's energy is limited, and the divine palace cannot accommodate too many literary symbols at the same time. In the Zhongyuan world, where good literature is scarce, if a literatus wants to advance, they must concentrate their limited energy on conceiving more promising literary symbols. He couldn't understand why Academician Wen would conceive such a useless 'Spring' literary symbol.

In the Zhongyuan world, there are dozens of literary symbols. The 'Spring' literary symbol is composed of three parts: '日' (sun), '屮' (grass), and '屯' (settlement). The oracle bone script only contains grass and warm sunlight, symbolizing the revival of all things in spring, which is related to grass.

Generally, literati do not learn this symbol because it does not substantially enhance a literatus's strength, and the conception time is long. The 'Spring' symbol contains only the power of grass, and literati are not spirit masters who deal with spirit herbs and grasses all year round, so it is basically useless.

County Magistrate Qi wanted to get to the bottom of it because Academician Wen's strange behavior made him sense something unusual.

Academician Wen, who was nearly sixty, had been teaching in the county academy for a long time. He had read all the documents and classics of Hong County, so there was no reason for him not to understand these things, yet he did this, which was abnormal.

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it and that his process of conceiving the 'Spring' literary symbol had been caught, Academician Wen gritted his teeth, knowing that if he didn't explain today, he wouldn't be able to get out of it.

Academician Wen thought for a moment and asked, "I wonder how much the gentlemen know about the 'Life' literary symbol?"