Chapter 28

At five in the morning, Chen Changsheng opened his eyes. He wasn't waking up from sleep but from a state of meditation. Confirming that his body had not changed at all, he shook his head and walked back to the small building to take a bath. Leaning against the edge of the wooden tub, he let the slightly warm water soak his tired body and spirit, and sighed, his voice turning into a murmur through the wet towel: "When will I find a way?"

This wooden tub was about half a person's height, placed under the courtyard wall behind the building, very close to the wall. In the next moment, he heard a faint sigh and a voice full of distress from the other side of the wall: "When will I find that person?"

Chen Changsheng remembered the sigh he heard yesterday morning. He took the wet towel off his face and turned to look at the other side of the courtyard wall. All he saw was a patch of green vines. The wall was very high, and he couldn't see the scenery on the other side, nor did he know who was speaking.

The voice was very young, probably a girl's—everyone's sorrow is different, but it is still sorrow. Chen Changsheng suddenly felt some sympathy for the girl on the other side of the wall, but then he thought that his current situation didn't really give him the right to sympathize with others.

The next few days passed quietly. He read books in the library every day and practiced drawing starlight to cleanse his marrow at night. During the cleansing process, he always kept his eyes closed in meditation, unaware that the starlight had already seeped into his body. From the outside, there was no visible change, which was somewhat disappointing, but he continued to practice diligently without being affected.

Just like his cultivation, the renovation work at the National Teaching Academy was proceeding in an orderly manner. The priest Xin from the Teaching Hub did not stand in the front to oversee, but the funds allocated were not lacking and were quite timely. The craftsmen and laborers naturally did not dare to slack off.

Since the long-neglected wall could not even block sound, it was also possible for the wind to pass through.

The news of the National Teaching Academy's renovation quickly spread throughout the capital, and the fact that a new student had joined the academy gradually became known. However, because of the real reason for the academy's decline, people only dared to discuss it in private and did not dare to come and inquire. In the end, it only added some topics of conversation at dinner tables and tea tables.

Chen Changsheng did not know that the outside world was quietly brewing a storm. He silently read and practiced in the campus deep in the Hundred Flowers Lane, repeating the same life and not feeling that the days were monotonous and boring.

On the surface, it seemed that he no longer cared whether the cleansing of his marrow would succeed. In fact, his mind was entirely focused on it. The floor of the library had not been cleaned for several days, which was very rare for him, who was very particular about cleanliness. This was clear evidence.

The failure to cleanse his marrow did not mean that he had gained nothing from his studies and life here.

He read many books in the library. Most of the books were ones he had already read in Xining Town, and some were about cultivation, which he was seeing for the first time. By comparing them, he was surprised to find that many of the texts he had read since childhood were related to cultivation.

When he was a child, he recited the Daoist scriptures without knowing what the difficult words meant. When he asked his master, he did not get specific answers, thinking they were abstract concepts and did not think much about them. It was only after he came to the capital and read the introductory cultivation books at the National Teaching Academy that he realized there were cultivation methods, valuable experiences left by previous strong cultivators, secret techniques of major sects, and even some secrets of the demon race, all in the three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures in the old temple in Xining Town!

What did this mean?

Who said he couldn't cultivate? No, he just hadn't started cultivating, which was his previous thought. Now, he knew that this statement was also wrong. Who said he hadn't started cultivating? No, he had been cultivating from the moment he started reciting the scriptures!

The three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures in the old temple in Xining Town contained countless pieces of knowledge related to cultivation. In the past, in his spiritual world, it was like a thick fog. Now, the cultivation methods he understood were like tiny specks of dust, becoming the core in the fog, and the water vapor began to crystallize, causing a heavy rain!

Chen Changsheng entered a very wonderful state or journey, which could be called a sudden enlightenment or a sudden realization, like being struck by a thunderbolt. But the most accurate description was probably the four words: "accumulated and burst."

From the moment he was picked up by Ji Daoren by the stream, it had been more than fourteen years. He had been reading books day and night for fourteen years, and this fourteen-year reading life was a process of accumulation. He had already laid a very solid foundation. All he needed was a catalyst to transform the knowledge he had acquired over the past fourteen years into his understanding of the world and then into his own strength.

It was like a barrel of gunpowder being ignited by a spark.

Chen Changsheng's spiritual world experienced a great explosion. He greedily read all the books in the library, mastering the rules of cultivation, and recombined the information fragments from the Daoist scriptures in Xining Town, re-studying and truly mastering them. He understood the secrets of the cultivation world and the details of cultivation methods at an unimaginable speed. In terms of cultivation knowledge, there were probably very few people in the world who were more knowledgeable than him!

Although he failed to cleanse his marrow, he suddenly gained such a great harvest, which was a pleasant surprise and a comfort to Chen Changsheng. When his emotions calmed down, he had many doubts and unease. He walked to the window of the library and looked in the direction of Xining Town, silently thinking. The Daoist scriptures in the old temple were not ordinary, and his master was not an ordinary person. He had laid such a solid foundation for him, but why didn't he directly teach him cultivation? Why did he have to come to the capital to start? Was it because his illness was hard to cure, and he wanted him to come here to see if there was any opportunity?

Time passed, and another ten days went by. The people from the Eastern Imperial Mansion did not appear again, and the little girl named Shuang'er did not come either. The peaceful life was undisturbed, which made him very happy, but Tang Sanshiu did not appear either, which made him a bit unhappy. He had left his address at the inn, thinking that the other party should be able to find him. Well, that guy might also be practicing hard at the Heavenly Dao Academy.

The National Teaching Academy had only Chen Changsheng, and it was his academy.

He quietly read books and silently practiced, gradually forgetting the outside world, which had already forgotten him. Sometimes, he thought about the idle talks he heard at the Teaching Hub, the lively welcoming activities of the Heavenly Dao Academy and the Star Plucking Academy, and felt a bit envious, but not too much. He was already used to this monotonous life—reading books with his senior brother in the old temple in Xining Town, hearing only his own voice.

However, after many days of cleansing his marrow, his body still showed no change, and there was no hope of success. He would not give up, but he became a bit more indifferent. He decided that if it still didn't work in a few days, he would look for other methods in the books.

Indifference sometimes makes one lose some sharpness, but it also makes one more calm—this was Chen Changsheng's current mental state. He could not say that he had returned to his original self, but it was like returning to the beginning. At this time, looking at the light dust on the floor, he frowned, disliking it very much.

This dislike was more for himself, as he felt he had become much lazier.

He drew clear water from the well and began to clean the floor. As the dust gradually disappeared, a faint fragrance emerged from a part of the floor that had been wet and cleaned. He forgot that it was the sweat that flowed when he lit his destiny star, feeling puzzled. The fragrance was very faint and disappeared in the night breeze.

After finishing these tasks, he sat down casually and continued to draw starlight to cleanse his marrow.

The National Teaching Academy was silent. He closed his eyes and meditated, completely forgetting the distinction between self and objects, and did not hear the night birds in the woods outside the window suddenly chirping, their voices clear and pleasant, or the frog croaks that had stopped for many days resounding again, full of joy.

A butterfly flew in from the window and landed on the floor beside him, refusing to leave.

It was the part of the floor he had just cleaned.

...

...

Baihua Lane was an ordinary alley in the capital, of course. It was once very famous because the National Teaching Academy deep in the alley was once very famous, and at the other end of the alley, the Hundred Herbs Garden was also once very famous, as it was the royal garden of the previous dynasty.

The most famous rebellion in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty also took place in the Hundred Herbs Garden. When the Second Emperor, who was then a prince, hurriedly rode from his mansion to the palace, he was ambushed by several other princes here, and at that time, the Second Emperor was still wearing a sleeping robe.

The final outcome of that rebellion is known to the whole continent. The Second Emperor narrowly won the final victory, and his several brothers were executed on the spot, along with hundreds of their followers.

Because of this bloody, or rather, disgraceful history, the Hundred Herbs Garden lost its status as a royal garden and was managed by the Heavenly Virtue Hall of the National Religion, used to grow medicinal herbs and spiritual fruits. It is unknown whether it was because the soil of the Hundred Herbs Garden absorbed too much blood that day or because there were too many bodies buried underground, but the medicinal herbs and spiritual fruits grew very well and were revalued by the court, with very strict supervision.

In fact, only a few people knew that the Hundred Herbs Garden was strictly guarded not only because the medicinal herbs and spiritual fruits were extremely rare but also because important figures who did not want to be seen often came to live here. For example, when the Empress Dowager was first expelled from the palace, she practiced here in a temple, and it was because of this that the Heavenly Dao Hall later gained great benefits.

Now, there was also a noble person living in the Hundred Herbs Garden.

Under the old wall covered with green vines, there were stone tables and chairs. On the table was a tea bowl, and in the bowl was the extremely rare and precious Congyu new tea.

A little girl was drinking tea.

She had a youthful face, eyes like black stars, lips like red plums, long eyelashes, and two faint red blushes on her white cheeks, looking very beautiful.

It was a very healthy beauty, looking at which made one feel very pleasant and would not have any impure thoughts.

The little girl herself was not very happy, looking very distressed because she had not found that person.