15: Bright eyes and spring thunder, return

The banquet with Chen Zhou and Zheng Heng lasted until very late, and Qin Chuan accompanied them just as long.

It only ended when Zheng came over with a stiff expression.

Qin Chuan, however, enjoyed it thoroughly. Being with these two allowed him to learn quite a bit of useful information regarding the Dao of Literature.

Although the two didn't force any drinks on Qin Chuan at the banquet, he was still feeling slightly tipsy himself.

As if remembering something, Qin Chuan called out.

"Qing Mo."

"I'm here~" The elusive Qing Mo popped out from who knows where.

"Bring me brush and ink."

After Qin Chuan gave the order, a set of the Four Treasures of the Study was quickly laid out before him.

True to her name, Qing Mo stood by Qin Chuan's side, grinding the ink for him.

The reason Qin Chuan suddenly felt inspired was not because he wanted to write some timeless masterpiece.

He intended to rewrite the policy essay he had written during the prefectural examination.

Just now at the banquet, this had been the focus of Zheng Heng's topic.

An article that invites the jealousy of Heaven suddenly appeared?

Qin Chuan easily associated this with himself.

Just like poetry, such articles also possessed extraordinary power.

Unfortunately, both the first manuscript and the subsequent transcribed copy had been left by him at the Imperial Examination Hall.

— The prefectural examination wouldn't let him take any paper out, including draft paper.

Thus, Qin Chuan had no choice but to write it all over again from the beginning.

However, before writing this time, he opened the window in advance, solely to observe changes in the sky.

The might of thunder must be guarded against!

At the slightest sign of trouble, Qin Chuan was prepared to immediately stop his death-seeking writing.

With this thought in mind, Qin Chuan wrote the title.

Celestial Change Treatise

— He had just come up with this name, taken from the first two characters of its core philosophy.

Answers in the prefectural examination didn't need titles, but this line of reasoning and methodology came from Wang Anshi's Xining Reform. Although he had copied the content, it was impossible to blatantly write the words "Reform" on it.

Having decided this, Qin Chuan began to transcribe the general outline of the full text —

"Changes in Heaven are not to be feared, the ways of ancestors are not to be followed, and the opinions of others are not to be heeded!"

After writing this sentence, he glanced out the window and found neither dark clouds nor thunder, so he felt relieved and continued writing.

Fully immersed in the article, Qin Chuan's entire body seemed to be emitting a faint white glow — this was the external manifestation of Haoran Righteousness being highly stimulated.

Qing Mo stood by, her eyes sparkling with brilliance.

Finally, Qin Chuan set down the last character.

He glanced down and, as expected — Fu Xi had arrived, albeit late!

This time, that Fu Xi was not as well-behaved as it had been at the Imperial Examination Hall.

As its patterns twisted, it suddenly arched its body, as if it were sizing up why the surrounding environment was different.

The Divine Dragon peeks its head!

"Alright, alright, stop looking. This is my home."

Upon hearing this, the shadow of Fu Xi finally stopped.

As it slumped back down to circle the article, it cast a glance at Qing Mo beside him.

"Ah! Young Master."

That single glance seemed to possess immense power, making Qing Mo tremble uncontrollably. The inkstone beside her jolted, and a few drops of ink splattered onto the article.

As for her, she hid behind Qin Chuan, her voice filled with panic.

Seeing this, Qin Chuan sighed, vaguely guessing the reason.

He pressed Fu Xi back into the article.

"This is my maid, Qing Mo. Stop bullying her."

The shadow of Fu Xi rolled its eyes in a human-like manner, looking very much as if it felt it had only taken a glance.

Seeming to feel that it had no common language with Qin Chuan, a foolish human, its shadow glided over the article. After opening its mouth to swallow the few drops of ink, it continued to lie peacefully by the side of the article, feigning sleep.

Seeing this, Qin Chuan ignored the thing.

He turned and told Qing Mo to go rest, then opened his personal panel again.

Sure enough, he saw two newly added items in the special items column.

【Clear Heart Jade Pendant】 【Celestial Change Treatise (Favored by Fu Xi)】

Not only that, but when Qin Chuan injected Haoran Righteousness, he could clearly see the functions of both.

【Clear Heart Jade Pendant】: Literary artifact, possesses the effects of clearing the mind and inspiring talent.

Furthermore, it can form a protective shield to block attacks. The strength of the shield is related to the strength of the literary Qi; if depleted, it can be recharged by supplementing with literary Qi.

A defensive mechanism?

Qin Chuan was a bit surprised, but he could accept it.

As for the 【Celestial Change Treatise】, he was a bit confused.

It had three main functions, which were precisely the three core sentences: Changes in Heaven are not to be feared, the ways of ancestors are not to be followed, and the opinions of others are not to be heeded!

The names were long and tedious, so Qin Chuan abbreviated them to 'Heaven Change', 'Ancestral Law', and 'Human Opinions'.

Among them, the 'Heaven Change' function was the strongest.

It could modify, to a certain extent, the understanding of rules based on the mobilized literary Qi!

Words become law · Youthful low-spec version!

'Ancestral Law' was a support ability, seemingly capable of correcting flaws in things to a certain extent.

As for the last one, 'Human Opinions', Qin Chuan was speechless for a long time after learning its effect.

Commonly known as: The Great Shut-Up Technique!

Qin Chuan had already constructed an image in his mind of himself wielding a great sword, silencing the opponent with a fatal blow.

Ugh~ forget it, forget it!

The image is too beautiful, I dare not imagine it.

After reviewing these three points, Qin Chuan was quite satisfied.

After taking stock of his new gains, he prepared to look at the things he had already obtained.

The Saint's Teachings belonged to passive buffs, so there was no need to worry about them.

The Qingfeng Sword, that money-guzzling beast, went without saying—seal it!

The only thing that could pique his interest was that Bamboo Forest Map.

As Haoran Righteousness was injected, the Bamboo Forest Map began to stir.

With a swish, the desk in front of Qin Chuan disappeared.

Looking at the scroll of the Bamboo Forest Map, a jarring desk had indeed appeared in front of the thatched cottage.

Qin Chuan then tried bedding, brushes, pillows, and so on, having a great time.

Finally, he determined the basic function of the Bamboo Forest Map.

【Bamboo Forest Map】: Storage space. Its height has not been measured, but it has an area of about five hundred square meters.

This was not small; it was equivalent to the size of a basketball court.

Suddenly, Qin Chuan put all his belongings into it.

He had a hypothesis that needed verification!

In the blink of an eye, seven days later.

The prefectural examination results were posted!

— One had to admire the efficiency of the Da Zhou World.

Or perhaps, because of the special nature of the extraordinary world?

When Qing Mo excitedly saw Qin Chuan's name on the list at the Imperial Examination Hall and hurried back to report it, she heard a soft shout from outside the room.

"It's done!"

Subsequently, Qin Chuan's voice came through.

"...Is that Qing Mo? Come in."

Qing Mo opened the door and walked in, only to see Qin Chuan staring intently at her.

His bright pupils flashed like stars, and it even seemed like lightning was flickering within them.

For a moment, Qing Mo couldn't help but stare in a daze.

"...Young Master!"

"What's wrong? Didn't you go to the Imperial Examination Hall to see the prefectural examination results? Everything should be fine, right?"

Hearing this, Qing Mo finally came back to her senses and quickly said:

"Young Master, Young Master, you passed, and you're the top scholar, the First Anshou!"

"Oh, that's indeed not bad. You go notify Mother."

There was not much surprise on Qin Chuan's face — are you kidding me? Wang Anshi's policy essays, Li Bai's poetry.

As long as he didn't commit any taboos, it would be a miracle if he didn't get first place.

He just didn't know when the storm caused by the Celestial Change Treatise would blow to Jingzhou.

Once Qing Mo's figure disappeared from his sight, Qin Chuan returned his attention to what he had been focusing on just a moment ago.

【Dao of Literature Talent: Night Vision, Eidetic Memory, Thunderous Tongue.】

"It's time to go back. I wonder what I can bring back to my original body."