Chapter 420: 183. Xiao Shimei's Sage Time

183. Xiao Shimei's Sage Time

dingdiange:

The books of sages all say, know first and act later, knowing is easy and acting is difficult.

Even those who have progressed further only emphasize the unity of knowledge and action.

But Xiao Shimei, who has finished flipping through books and will never flip through books again from now on, now says... act first and know later, knowing is difficult and acting is easy.

Hearing this sentence, Ouyang Rong instantly understood why the Confucian Grade 6 realm after the book-flipper was interesting in the little ink spirit's mouth.

Speaking of which.

Grade 9 and Grade 8 are collectively known as lower-grade Qi refiners.

Grade 7 and Grade 6 are known as mid-grade Qi refiners.

Moving further up, they are upper-grade Qi refiners who can control Qi to ascend into the sky, known in the Jianghu as Grandmasters.

The gap between upper-grade Qi refiners and mid-grade Qi refiners is even greater than the gap between mid-grade Qi refiners and lower-grade Qi refiners.

However, Grade 6 Qi refiners, as the pinnacle of mid-grade Qi refiners, are the backbone of every manifest and hidden upper sect, as well as noble families.

In some Jianghu sects with not-so-small reputations, they are even the pillars placed on the table.

Just like the one-armed swordsman A Jie who failed in the sword competition at Taogu last year, he was also Grade 6, struggling in the Chang'an marketplace, famous early, and one of the famous great swordsmen in the two capitals of Guanzhong. The Guanzhong gangs all had to offer him up.

And if they were younger, like Xie Lingjiang from the Confucian sect, Rong Zhen belonging to the Astronomical Bureau, and Lu Ya from the Shangqing Sect, in large forces, they were not only the backbone but also cultivated as reserve upper-grade Qi refiners.

However, even among Grade 6 Qi refiners, there are heaven-and-earth differences, after all, the paths taken by different Daoist veins are completely different.

It is too difficult for mid-grade Qi refiners to be promoted to upper-grade Qi refiners, so among Grade 6 Qi refiners, those with heaven-sent talent and top-notch combat power will be recognized as Little Grandmasters.

Just like the Great Lady Xue Zhongzhu before the Taogu sword competition shook the world last year, who in the Jianghu on or off the mountain didn't know that her sword Qi rushed to the sky, her killing power was top-notch in the same realm, and she was the number one person under the Grandmaster?

At this moment, Xiao Shimei was not yet twenty and had already entered the Confucian Grade 6, the realm of the Sage.

In the quiet and elegant boudoir courtyard.

Ouyang Rong caught a scroll of books thrown casually by Xie Lingjiang and exchanged a few words.

Miaosi, who wouldn't let go of the ink ingot, looked with great interest at this red-clad figure who could be viewed from a distance but not played with, and was faintly holy, walking out of the room.

She was preparing to open a royal complaint against someone, but the next second, Miaosi, who was observing, only felt a black shadow flash in front of her eyes, and the side became empty.

Looking closely, Ouyang Rong actually strode forward, walked to Xie Lingjiang's side, and smiled as he hugged her waist.

Then he spun around a few times with Xie Lingjiang, who was also surprised and stunned, as if celebrating.

A certain holy little young lady, who had just been promoted to a Grade 6 Worthy and was still quite fresh, had the hem of her red dress spinning and dancing in the air—it was truly a beautiful sight. Paired with the irrepressible smile she wore at that moment, she looked just like a blooming red rose.

Ouyang Rong hugged this hot, plump, delicate body without any avoidance, stuffed the scroll back into Xie Lingjiang's hand, raised his head and laughed:

"Books can not be flipped through, but they still have to be read. Flipping and reading are two different things. You just sent a stack of books to Xiao Xuan, but now you don't read them yourself, isn't that a bit inappropriate."

The tone was joking.

The originally somewhat serious and formal atmosphere in the small courtyard suddenly became light and relaxed.

"I didn't say I wouldn't read. Hmm, flipping through books and reading books have always been two different things."

Xie Lingjiang smiled faintly.

Ouyang Rong had just hugged her thighs with both hands and lifted her whole body vertically off the ground.

Brothers who often hug sisters should know the degree of intimacy and sweetness of this action, second only to that horizontal princess hug.

Although her face turned slightly red, Xie Lingjiang did not push away at all. Instead, she wrapped her thin arms around his slender neck.

She lowered her head like a swan, looking at his pair of pitch-black eyes with light.

Ouyang Rong asked with a smile: "A Sage now?"

"Could it be that someone is still lower-grade?" Xie Lingjiang tilted her head and blinked.

"That's also one sword per person." He nodded.

"Ru Shixiong can't catch my skirt corner."

She used a little force with her thin arms to hook Ouyang Rong's neck, narrowed her eyes and stared, and continued:

"On the contrary, a certain sword-wielder is now caught by me. This is something those female historiographers of the Astronomical Bureau dream of."

Ouyang Rong sighed: "Attack power still needs to be improved."

After speaking, he suddenly raised his head, and his face leaned toward the holy and serious face that was close at hand.

Xie Lingjiang hurriedly leaned back to dodge, but turned her head away, her eyes wandering, not looking at Ouyang Rong, and even patted his forehead.

"Ru Shixiong is not allowed to move..."

"Hey hey hey, there is still a spirit here! Under the bright sky, in public, not allowed to flirt, can you two be serious! Don't corrupt this female immortal."

On the piano table to the side, a certain Confucian-robed small female Daoist who had been holding back for a long time jumped up, waved her hands, trying to attract the attention of a certain pair of shameless young couple, muttering, strongly condemning.

Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang didn't look at her.

Xie Lingjiang's expression returned to serious and calm, and she lightly pinched the flesh on his arm that was hugging her waist.

Ouyang Rong put down the fragrant beauty in his arms naturally.

Then he walked over, put away the piano box, placed the dissatisfied Miaosi on the ground to the side, and smiled:

"This is a private courtyard, what public? A smart ink spirit would have long learned to shut up and walk out, obediently and sensibly closing the door."

"It's the female immortal of ink!" Miaosi corrected with a straight face.

Ouyang Rong rubbed her small head:

"You came late, maybe you don't know clearly. The last one who called herself a female immortal has already been sent down by me and Xiao Shimei."

A moment later, under Ouyang Rong's "coercion and inducement," Miaosi left the quiet and elegant boudoir courtyard reluctantly.

Ouyang Rong turned his head back and found that Xie Lingjiang had taken out a zither and placed it on the original piano table.

Her red clothes fluttered, her expression was indifferent and leisurely, a pair of slender hands adjusted the ancient zither, the sunset in the sky fell on half of the zither body, half of the zither body was bright and half was dark, and at this moment, autumn wind rolled up fallen leaves, and half-yellow and half-green leaves slowly fell into the misty hot spring beside it.

"It's indeed different."

Ouyang Rong walked back and sat down opposite her.

Xie Lingjiang raised her head and looked at him, her expression somewhat lost in thought:

"That moment was like being knocked awake by a chestnut while sleeping. Ru Shixiong, I practiced Qi at eight, from a scholar, to a gentleman, then to a book-flipper. Just now, as I was flipping through, I got up from the book and walked out of the room. The doorway was slightly cold, but the slanting light welcomed me."

Her words stopped.

Ouyang Rong nodded, concisely: "If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening."

"I won't die. I want to live well, and you too." Xie Lingjiang said suddenly.

Ouyang Rong looked at her serious expression and suddenly raised his hand to knock on her smooth forehead.

"What silly things are you saying."

Xie Lingjiang tucked a few strands of hair behind her ears, looked elsewhere, and muttered:

"I am a Sage, beat you if you knock again."

Ouyang Rong smiled:

"Looking at it this way, the Grade 6 of your scholar Daoist vein, after sudden enlightenment, the ideological realm is indeed quite high. Is it always like this? This Daoist vein has a big pattern."

Xie Lingjiang shook her head lightly: "The Grade 6 of the scholar Daoist vein, actually, is not just the Sage path."

"What do you mean?" Ouyang Rong asked curiously.

"Ru Shixiong, who said that the scholar Daoist vein is exclusive to the Confucian sect? Since ancient times, the world hasn't only had this kind of scholar like Confucian students. Before... there were also the Hundred Schools of Thought in the Pre-Qin period."

Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows. Before he could ask, Xie Lingjiang lowered her eyes and said:

"As far as I know, the Grade 6 of scholars, besides Sages, also has... Mad Scholars and Knife-Pen Officials."

"Mad Scholars? Knife-Pen Officials?"

Xie Lingjiang nodded seriously:

"Hmm, different people flip through books and read books. Reading ten thousand volumes of books, the insights and realizations obtained are naturally different. We Confucian scholars flip through books and flip out a Sage path. Naturally, there are also people who flip out other directions. Mad Scholars and Knife-Pen Officials are two other paths.

"Not all literati and ink guests walk the Confucian Dao."

Ouyang Rong asked suddenly: "Knife-Pen Officials are the Grade 6 of Legalist scholars?"

"Hmm."

"Then what about Mad Scholars."

"Don't know, very rare, I haven't seen them." She shook her head.

Ouyang Rong was thoughtful.

Xie Lingjiang stopped the action of preparing to improvise on the zither and revealed a look of recollection:

"Actually, it's not just the Grade 6 of scholars that is like this.

"The Grade 9 to Grade 6 of the scholar Daoist vein, these four realms, since the Pre-Qin period, have had many ancient names, and are similar to the Sage, Mad Scholar, and Knife-Pen Official of Grade 6, and can walk many different paths.

"But many have already disappeared with the disappearance of the Hundred Schools of Thought, or were burned and destroyed by hostile forces. Even if some remain, they have become secret, small-scale Qi refining techniques passed down in families.

"We Confucian scholars, as a manifest upper sect, have gradually become the largest orthodox force inheriting the scholar Daoist vein. Confucian students have also gradually become linked with scholars, and various academies also possess the most comprehensive promotion paths for the scholar Daoist vein.

"Even some other remaining scholars of the Hundred Schools of Thought have been assimilated into the academies and started to merge. But because Grade 6 is the last realm before the upper grade, it is relatively important, so there are also small-scale paths of Knife-Pen Officials and Mad Scholars still existing in the world."

Xie Lingjiang explained slowly. Ouyang Rong's expression was focused. After listening, he couldn't help but ask:

"What about after Grade 6? Are the upper-grade realms like Grade 5 and Grade 4 not important? Or is it that too few people walk them, and the paths of other Hundred Schools of Thought scholars are lost?"

"No, there is nothing after Grade 6."

Xie Lingjiang shook her head.

"Nothing? What do you mean?"

She said seriously to Ouyang Rong, whose expression was somewhat surprised:

"I asked my father and the teachers of the academy about this question before. They said... the paths after Grade 6, the Hundred Schools of Thought are all the same, all roads lead to the same destination."

Xie Lingjiang paused and lowered her eyelashes:

"As for why, they said, as long as you know the true name of the Grade 5 scholar, you will understand."

"What is the true name of Grade 5?"

"Not yet known."

Xie Lingjiang shook her head:

"Father didn't say. Maybe he didn't expect me to break through to Sage so quickly.

"And from mid-grade to upper-grade, it is a great realm, a natural chasm, not comparable to the bottlenecks in front. Water grinding and hard boiling are useless. Don't know how many heads have turned white..."

Xie Lingjiang's tone was filled with emotion, and she added:

"I will send two letters tomorrow, one to my father in Luoyang and one to the Mountain Chief of the Bai Lu Dong Academy, to inform them of my promotion to Grade 6."

"Good."

Ouyang Rong smiled: "The teacher will definitely be happy to know, and will drink a few cups in private."

"He dares?" Xie Lingjiang hummed through her nose, "Someone is watching. If he steals wine again, I'll write it in the small notebook and see if I don't clean him up later."

Ouyang Rong covered his mouth and coughed, pretending not to hear that the teacher was a daughter-slave.

He turned and asked again:

"What is the difference between a Sage, a Knife-Pen Official, and a Mad Scholar?"

"The Qi refining techniques are different, so the direction of strength emphasis is naturally different."

Xie Lingjiang asked back: "Does Ru Shixiong know the Six Arts of Confucian students?"

"I know, the Six Arts: Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy, and Mathematics."

"The scholar Daoist vein of the Confucian sect is built around the improvement of these Six Arts stunts."

Ouyang Rong reacted: "Xiao Shimei's archery seems very good. I remember when we first met in Dragon City, it left a deep impression."

Xie Lingjiang nodded:

"Hmm, because archery is the main stunt of the Grade 8 Gentleman."

She stretched out her palm and gradually clenched it into a fist, looking like a simple and unadorned fist technique starting posture, and said softly:

"Practicing archery is practicing boxing.

"Sages listing archery as one of the Six Arts of a Gentleman is not without reason.

"When shooting an arrow, a person's posture is upright, utilizing the muscles of the whole body. Only when the fist is steady can the arrow be accurate. Since ancient times, in the army, those who can become horse archers or pull the highest stone-strength bow in the army are all the most exquisite soldiers, possessing a set of killing skills...

"And the arrow flying straight and centered also implies the Dao of a Gentleman."

Ouyang Rong asked softly: "One grade corresponds to one art?"

Xie Lingjiang nodded:

"Grade 9 scholar, Mathematics; Grade 8 Gentleman, Archery; Grade 7 book-flipper, Calligraphy; Grade 6 Sage..."

Her words stopped. This sudden silence made Ouyang Rong turn his head to look.

Only to see Xie Lingjiang's slender, scallion-white fingers, which had been stroking the body of the zither, suddenly pluck the strings.

Zheng—!

After a few string sounds.

Not far from the two sitting by the piano table, a cloud of mist that had been obscuring the eyes above the hot spring shattered. Also shattered were the fallen leaves brought by the autumn wind in the mist, cut into a pile of neat debris by some invisible blade.

So in Ouyang Rong's field of vision, the flower bushes and courtyard walls that were originally blocked by the water mist were revealed.

Ouyang Rong smiled suddenly:

"So Xiao Shimei's newly mastered art is Music?"

Xie Lingjiang nodded lightly.

He asked with great interest: "Then doesn't that mean you have to carry a zither with you in the future?"

"Who said only zither sounds are music sounds?" She tilted her head slightly and asked.

Without waiting for Ouyang Rong to speak, Xie Lingjiang suddenly withdrew her hands and stopped playing the zither.

She sat upright at the piano table, one hand clenched into a fist, placed flat in front of her lower abdomen.

The abrupt stop of the zither sound plunged the courtyard into silence.

But the next instant.

Ouyang Rong didn't know if his ears had adapted to this sudden calmness, or if all sounds were magnified ten times in his ears.

The originally subtle and hard-to-hear sounds of tree leaves swaying, book pages flipping, and spring water splashing came head-on, overwhelming!

In the boudoir courtyard.

Violent wind scurried.

A murderous intent.

The hot spring mist that had been rising continuously was completely dispersed, leaving nothing behind.

Ouyang Rong listened attentively for a moment and glanced at the scroll of books that Xiao Shimei had thrown casually not long ago.

The wind was flipping through the book.

He nodded.

"What a wind sound like a knife."

He sighed lightly.

(End of chapter)

dingdiange ===== CHAPTER 421 =====