Chapter 23
Secretly, Shuang Er was unhappy of Chen Chang Sheng's quiet and stiff reaction. Perhaps she thought that since he has a marriage vow with the lady, even if their status differed greatly at least he should show some sort of ambition or confidence?
Also from her point of view, if it weren't for her lady that wrote a letter from the Nan Xi Temple, Chen Chang Sheng would be dead already. How would he have the chance to enter the Cla.s.sical Teaching and sit on a clean floor to read and xiuxing? Although she didn't need his appreciation, he shouldn't be silent either and treating it like nothing happened.
Shuang Er looked at him and shook her head. She took out a thin piece of letter from her pocket and handed it to him.
"Since you obtained the precious chance to xiuxing, then you should appreciate it and start from ground zero. Don't think of some strange way to boost yourself and place your hope upon others, especially women." Suddenly she thought of something and said strictly "Xiuxing, is never simple. Even if you don't have any hope, I hope you won't self destruct. Do you understand?"
Chen Chang Sheng took the paper and was stunned for a moment. He didn't understand the what she was trying to say. He thought to himself, even if he had hid in an academy as gloomy as a cemetery to read and xiuxing, the General's Mansion and that Lady Xu still think of him as an obstacle?
The sun outside of the library was hanging in the middle of the sky. The tree leaves were rocking back and forth from the breeze. The sunlight scattered under the tree and landed upon the earth. Luckily it was still early spring so the temperature wasn't too hot. The piece of letter contained a girl's fragrance but had no trace of sweat.
Chen Chang Sheng looked at the sentence upon the letter and remained silent for a long time.
"Look out for yourself."
The penmans.h.i.+p of the words were neat, but had nothing special. The strokes were very straight, which seemed naive and cute. Although Chen Chang Sheng guessed that this sentence was written by Lady Xu from the south, he couldn't connect the girl who has this sort of naive penmans.h.i.+p with the talented girl who is famous throughout the world.
He understood the sentence and it seemed as if he could faintly see the expression on Lady Xu's face when she wrote this sentence. For sure she had a cold face and wrinkled eyebrows, which expressed her impatience and irritation. But mostly, it was indifference.
She only wrote a sentence for him, but the most important word was "Yourself."
Yourself meant you.
You live.
You read.
You xiuxing.
You eat and sleep.
Chen Chang Sheng thought quietly for a moment and didn't think any further. He collected the letter and put it in his pocket. Then he stood up and walked to the bookshelf to find the forty nine books mentioned in the end of "Purification". While he was searching, he thought about the words Maid Shuang Er said previously and wrinkled his eyebrows. His fingers slowed down during his search for the books. Does it only need ten days to read all of these books a hundred times? How did she accomplish this?
"Purification" was just a summary. The forty nine books mentioned at the end of it was the actual studying material. The students need to use the knowledge and wisdom in those books to open their mind and solidify their view of the world to strengthen their souls.
It was purely a xiuxing in the spiritual field. It started when the Books landed on earth and humans started to xiuxing. The first step of solidifying their souls was always the same method. It was concluded and measured by countless pioneers and the method was proven to be the most effective and had the highest success rate. Since words were the only physical form of thoughts, then in order to use the ancestor's thoughts to help them transfer mind into strength, words were the perfect bridge to connect the two.
Since this method was used throughout the human word, the
Chen Chang Sheng walked around the bookshelves and searched. Although he was familiar with the order of the books it still took him an hour to find all of the forty nine books and moved them to the floor beside the window. Then he placed them in order.
He didn't start reading immediately. Instead he went to the Street of Hundred Blossom and ate at a restaurant. Then he rested around the lake's gra.s.sfield for an hour. After satisfied by his relaxation, he returned to the library once again and picked up the first book and began reading.
Previously when he was finding the books, he checked the t.i.tles and made sure he never read these books. Although he was a bit disappointed, he was curious as well. What were the content of these books that they can help humans solidify their souls.
The first books that he picked up was "Discussion of Pu Men". He was sure that he never read the book. When he opened the book and saw the familiar contents upon it, he thought he was seeing illusions similar to the entrance test of the Heavenly Academy.
Although this book was very thin, it felt heavy in his hands. He looked at the sentences in the books confused and discovered something with surprise. He had already read these materials when he was four years old, more precisely, he has already memorized this book entirely.
Except this book was named "The Scripture of Pu".
(Editor Binggo: Yo this guy.. be going against his s.h.i.+shou's teachings and started to xiuxing)
He was for sure a little surprised. It felt as if he returned to the testing field of the Heavenly Academy. He always thought this type of good thing won't happen again but out of chance it occurred once more. It took him a while for him to return to his senses.
After returning from his daydream, he quickly opened the second book.
This book's name was "Collection of Mausoleum of Knowledge".
He flipped through the pages as if a strong gale had blew open the book. He quickly realized that he had also read this book as well. The praises written by past poets for the Mausoleum of Knowledge were all in his head. Except when he first read these poems when he was five years old in the old temple of Xi Ning Village, this collection was named "Index of Fancy Poems".
Chen Chang Sheng remained silent for a while and flipped open the third book.
Still the same.
He read this book as well, except the t.i.tle was different when he read it while he was young.
The fourth book, the fifth book... He quickly scanned through the forty nine books for once and knew that he read all of these books.
Just like this?
This is a surprise? Chen Chang Sheng picked up the "Purification" once again and fell silent. He thought silently but the corners of his lip raised a little. His closed his eyes, but happiness filled his heart.
He remembered the words that Shuang Er said when she left.
"Xiuxing, is never simple."
He raised his head and looked outside of the window. The sunlight had scattered outside of the door. Although the wind is still blowing, there was no sign of anyone around. Chen Chang Sheng was a little disappointed. If that girl was still here, he really wanted to tell her that he may have a chance to solidify his soul faster than her lady.
But he thought again, Xu You Rong finished the forty nine books a hundred times to reveal its meaning. She successfully solidified her soul when she was only four years old. The little self pride that appeared in Chen Chang Sheng's heart quickly dissolved. He thought it was really was meaningless.
The next thing that he needed to do was to use the ways recorded on the "Purification" and use the words carved in his head from the forty nine books and transform the power of the words into fertilizers that can strengthen his mind. Then once and for all he will be able to solidify his soul.
If it was anyone else in this kind of critical moment, they will continue this process until they succeed. But Chen Chang Sheng looked at the sun and noticed it has already moved westward and dawn was here. He put down "Purification" and collected the books on the floor. Then he walked out of the library.
It was time for dinner.
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Since he needed to eat dinner, he ignored the chance to change his life. If this is self-discipline, then this self-discipline was too strict and harsh. It was almost to the point of self-harming. But it could also be viewed as self confidence because he believe that chance wouldn't slip away.
From the entrance exam of the Heavenly Academy to these forty nine books, Chen Chang Sheng already noticed some things. His master has already built the basic and the road for xiuxing. His master for sure wasn't just a regular Taoist.
The way of xiu xing was long and distant, but his senior and him read the entire Scroll of the Way when they were young and memorized countless literatures in their heads. This meant that he has already made his first step way before anyone else. He has already traveled ten thousand miles on the way of xiu xing, then of course he was able to arrive at the destination earlier than anyone else.
Chen Chang Sheng was always confident in himself, but upon realizing this he grew more confident. By now the night has slowly approached the capital and the sun was slowly setting in the horizon, but in his open heart, another red sun was slowly raising. Why would he be afraid of the darkness ahead?
After finis.h.i.+ng his dinner, he returned once again to the library and boiled a pot of water. Then he made a cup of tea he bought in the street of Hundred Blossom. He sat on the ground and meditated for a long time. His eyes skimmed through the forty nine books that were lined up perfectly and finally stopped at the "Purification".
The words in the books slowly raised in his head. The contents returned from his childhood memory and became extremely clear. Then slowly they released a certain presence that followed the path that was mentioned in the first chapter of the "Purification" and continuously traveled in his mental world.
Many years ago in the old temple, he had already opened his mind. The only thing he needed to do now was to solidify his soul.
He closed his eyes and thought quietly but gradually he forgot to think.
To clear one's mind and see one's soul wasn't that difficult.
It just requires practice.
Time slowly went by and frogs started to make noise in the wetland outside of the library.
It was still early spring.
The night darkened and the stars brightened. The capital was still full of noise.
But the Cla.s.sical Teaching was still quiet with its only resident inside.
The oil lamp inside the library was dim, but it seemed to never fade.
Suddenly, a light ring was heard in the building.
A breath of wind circled around the structure.
Chen Chang Sheng opened his eyes and confusion filled his pupils, but slowly it turned into calmness. Then finally they were filled with happiness.
He successfully solidified his soul in the time of one day and one night.
Xiu xing is just this simple.