Chapter Nineteen: The Book and the Sword

  "Ascetic practices?"

  When he heard this, Li Tu was slightly puzzled, but since he didn't understand cultivation, he wasn't particularly surprised. However, he couldn't help but wonder why Chang Fei became excited and agitated whenever the topic of cultivation came up. Was there something special about the seventh department hidden within the Academy? So he asked: "What is cultivation?"

  What is cultivation? The flying gaze hesitated, and it seemed that I hadn't thought about this question seriously before, so I was stuck for a moment and couldn't explain clearly. With a slightly awkward tone, I said: "I'm not sure what cultivation is either. It seems to be related to the way of the ancient sages, very mysterious. It's said that cultivators can possess abilities that ordinary people can't have, extremely powerful. When you cultivate, you'll understand what cultivation is."

  "It's just that the threshold for cultivation is very high, and among millions of people, only a handful can cross this threshold to become cultivators. Otherwise, in a prestigious school with numerous talents, there wouldn't be only such a small group of people, ordinary people are rarely seen."

  After finishing speaking, Chang Fei also had some sighs, but his eyes were filled with longing and great anticipation.

  "Cultivation, the way of ancient saints, one in ten thousand, sounds mysterious. But what exactly is being cultivated?"

  Li Tu thought to himself, feeling a little curious, but he didn't understand cultivation and didn't know what kind of existence it was. He also didn't have much yearning or expectation for it, but still had some curiosity and asked: "How can one enter the Seventh Department?"

  Chang Fei shook his head and said, "I don't know. Cultivation is very mysterious for ordinary people, it's hard to get in touch with."

  "You don't know either?"

  Li Tu was somewhat surprised, and didn't expect that even Chang Fei wouldn't know, this seventh cultivation method seemed really mysterious.

  "These were just mentioned by the elders in the family, but not explained in detail. However, the elders also mentioned that any student who enters the school has the opportunity to come into contact with it, but whether or not they can become a practitioner depends on their individual luck."

  Chang Fei slightly explained and at this time, a student beckoned him to come over. He said: "Excuse me, brother Li, someone is looking for me over there."

  "Thanks for telling me about this, Brother Chang." Li Tu said with some gratitude.

  "This is nothing, among these three hundred students, there are not a few people who know. Even if I don't say it, Brother Li will also know later, I just informed him in advance."

  After finishing speaking, Chang Fei nodded at Li Tu and then walked over.

  "What is cultivation, what is being cultivated?"

  Li Tu sank into thought, what was the seventh department of Xue Fu hiding and cultivating? It seemed very mysterious, and not many people knew. For ordinary people, playing the piano was a kind of cultivation, reading books was also a kind of cultivation, but the cultivation that Chang Fei mentioned was not referring to these, but rather an unknown field for ordinary people.

  What is this cultivation actually cultivating?

  "Could it be cultivation?"

  Li Tu suddenly had this somewhat absurd idea in his mind, but are there immortals in heaven?

  Whether or not there are immortals in the sky, there are people in the world who seek immortality and cultivate immortality. This type of person has abilities that ordinary people cannot match, is extremely powerful, and very mysterious.

  "Could it be that I'm really cultivating immortality?"

  Thinking of cultivating immortality, Li Tu felt a little excited.

  ……

  "Wow, I didn't expect you to be so awesome, taking two first places and even the overall first place, how did you do it?"

  "Hmm, you're Xiao Wei?"

  The sudden voice of the girl interrupted Li Tu's thinking, making him stunned for a moment, but hearing this voice seemed somewhat familiar, and after careful consideration, he knew it was the girl who had spoken up to scold Wu Qi on his behalf that day, and he had a good impression of her.

  "Huh, how did you know it was me?"

  Xiao Wei was shocked and very surprised, how did the blind man recognize him, he shouldn't know himself at all?

  "I remember your voice and what happened that day. Thank you."

  "Oh, I see. Don't mind what happened that day either. That Wu Qi is a vicious guy, many people have been bitten by him, and I don't like his character either."

  Xiao Wei smiled and continued: "I didn't expect your musical talent to be so impressive, and your arithmetic skills are also incredibly strong, you got the top spot."

  "It's just luck, nothing more." Li Tu smiled slightly.

  "Congratulations to Li Gongzi for taking two first places and becoming the most promising student in this imperial examination."

  A calm voice came from beside Xiaoyi, carrying an otherworldly aura.

  "Oh, I forgot to introduce you, this is Sister Ji, also known as Dantai Ji, who is also a guqin master."

  "It's actually Miss Ji, you're overpraising me."

  Li Tu was taken aback and slightly bowed.

  "Li Gongzi is too modest, with your talent in playing the guqin, you may become a national scholar in the future."

  ……

  It was approaching 7:00 am, and three hundred new students were already standing in the square, chatting and laughing together in twos and threes, filling the air with laughter.

  At some point in time, there were also many teachers standing on the square, similarly chatting with each other about the situation of this new student.

  Six people walked out of the main hall of the academy: three elderly men, one middle-aged man, one young man and an old woman.

  "What's your opinion on this division?"

  An old man wearing Confucian robes with wise eyes spoke up, it was the chief examiner of the imperial examination, Zuo Dao Bai.

  "Li Tu should be admitted to our school, he is the top scorer in the math exam."

  An old woman in a black robe with a face full of wrinkles immediately spoke up, her hoarse voice firm and resolute.

  "No way, Li Tu has already decided on the music department, he can't possibly join the math department. Moreover, he's a sixth-grade piano master with exceptional talent, putting him in your math department would be a waste of his gift, how could that be allowed."

  The white-clad young man immediately denied it.

  "Huh? What a waste of talent! You little kid, tell me clearly, isn't having both Li and Tai enough for you? Li is the top scorer in my class, can't he even get into our school's science department? Is this reasonable?"

  The old woman smiled strangely, her low and hoarse laughter was very unpleasant to hear. At the same time, her gloomy gaze stared at Gong Yangchuan, making him feel a bit hairy in his heart. He said: "Professor Mu, I mean Li Tu can play the piano better in music and give full play to his special talents. Moreover, he has the talent to become a national scholar. Wouldn't it be a waste to put him in science?"

  "Who says he won't amount to much after entering my math class? What kind of reasoning is this, looking down on my math class? The ten questions on the math test, that kid solved them all correctly in less than half a time unit, what kind of talent is this, so he must enter my math class."

  "No way, I've already chosen liberal arts and it's impossible for me to switch to science."

  The other four people quietly watched the old and young arguing, not making a sound to help, with a feeling of being unrelated. These two have been fighting over Li Tu many times before, each time it was a big fuss.

  "What about you? Have you set your sights on any students to recruit into your department?"

  Zuo Dao Bai didn't respond to Gong Yang's transmission and instead asked the three people beside him.

  "I'm willing to join your department, I have no other opinions." said the middle-aged man with a straight and upright body like a sword.

  "Ning Zhen is also the top of my imperial examination, and entering the imperial college is also a good choice, and it will be very helpful for his future growth."

  An old man in Chinese clothes slowly opened his eyes and said.

  "It's better if Ning doesn't join your Imperial Guards. If he joins, the imperial court will definitely lose a top swordsman, and the loss will outweigh the gain."

  The middle-aged man looked at the old man in Chinese tunic suit with some surprise and said in a low voice.

  "I know, so my request is not strong, being able to enter naturally is the best."

  The old man in Chinese clothes opened his eyes and said faintly, with a somewhat nonchalant tone.

  "Often flying into my book department, teaching well for a while, the future growth may not be inferior to Li Tu. It is said that Yin Xiaowei's painting talent is also good, and can enter my book department." Another gray-robed old man said.

  The bighorn sheep, who was staring at Professor Mu, immediately turned his head and said: "No way, Ou Professor's daughter is also my classmate in Music."

  "Hey, you're quite greedy, aren't you? You see anyone with good talent and try to snatch them up." The old woman in black turned her head and said, "Old Ou, at your age, you should be ashamed of competing with a young girl. Besides, that little girl's musical talent isn't bad either, she'd be a great fit for the music department too."

  The old man in white robes and the old woman in black robes were both stunned, looking at each other in confusion, unable to understand how the situation had suddenly turned around.

  "Little sheep, that little girl belongs to your music department, Li Tu belongs to my math department, it's settled."

  "It's no use."

  The Kung Yang Commentary and the Old Man in a Grey Coat both say.

  Unconsciously, the six of them had already walked to the square, and the freshmen and teachers were also waiting for the opening ceremony.

  Zuo Dao Bai and five others walked onto the stage. "From today on, you are all students of Xue Fu," he said. "You should strive to be strong and never stop fighting."

  The loud and clear voice spread throughout the entire square.

  "Boom——"

  Suddenly Li Tu felt a sharp pain in his head, as if something had exploded in his mind, and a mist appeared.

  In the fog, I vaguely see a book and a sword.

  A book and a sword appeared in his mind, what's going on? Li Tu was extremely shocked, but he indeed saw a book and a sword floating in his mind, and around the book were the four ancient characters "qin qi shu hua".

  What's going on?

  Li Tu was shocked beyond measure in his heart.