txolops Chapter 94 One Must Be Strong to Forge Iron
Chapter 94 One Must Be Strong to Forge Iron
Shen Qing stepped into the courtyard. Lin Shouwei was leading several disciples to sweep the courtyard. When they saw him enter, they all bowed.
Shen Qing's gaze swept across everyone's faces, and she slowly nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."
After leaving the main hall, he asked Zhao Shoucheng about the details of running his shop.
Zhao Shoucheng answered each question, clearly having done his homework. After listening, Shen Qing only said one sentence: "You must remember to offer fair prices and treat everyone honestly, young and old. Qingyunfang is not about making exorbitant profits, but about building a good reputation."
Then he asked about the location of the Huang family ancestral hall. Zhao Shoucheng, unaware of the details, only said that a key to the ancestral hall had been found in the keychain left by Huang Wenyuan, but the entrance to the secret room had not yet been discovered.
Shen Qing nodded and ordered him to lead the way.
The Huang family ancestral hall is located behind the old house. Its lintel is not particularly tall and is not as eye-catching as the Huang family mansion.
Shen Qing pushed open the door and entered. Inside, it was just an ordinary ancestral hall with an offering table, several empty ancestral tablet bases, and a portrait of Huang Gongwang hanging in the central shrine.
Zhao Shoucheng looked around and then withdrew, leaving Shen Qing alone in the ancestral hall.
After the gate closed, Shen Qing spread his divine sense, enveloping the entire ancestral hall.
His divine sense penetrated the blue brick ground and sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy coming from below.
It was exactly the same as the array fluctuations he sensed when he overheard Huang Yuanji and his son talking underground.
Shen Qing didn't rush downstairs, but first carefully explored all four corners of the ancestral hall.
At the western corner, Shen Qing's divine sense touched a node that was continuously emitting spiritual energy, which resonated with the underground formation.
Shen Qing deduced that that was the entrance.
Shen Qing activated the Earth Escape Technique, circulating the Earth Spiritual Qi from his dantian throughout his body, and his figure slowly sank beneath the blue bricks.
He passed through three feet of earth, and suddenly found himself in a square, secret room.
The secret room was not large, about two zhang square, and the four walls were made of bluestone.
Several moonstones on the dome emitted a soft, clear light that illuminated the room as if it were daytime.
At the center of the bottom of the secret chamber is a spiritual eye, about a foot in diameter. The array set up around it is quite old, yet it is still in operation.
On the stone wall directly above the Spirit Eye, spiritual energy condensed into a thin layer of spiritual dew, which slowly flowed down along the cracks in the stone and gathered into a small spiritual pool at the bottom.
The pool water was clear and rich in spiritual energy, shimmering with a faint milky white light under the reflection of the moonstone. Several thumb-sized spirit stones had already condensed at the bottom of the pool.
Shen Qing sat cross-legged beside the Spirit Eye and probed its depths with his divine sense.
The spiritual vein connecting to the spiritual eye meanders from the depths of the earth. Based on its direction, Shen Qing deduced that this spiritual vein should extend towards the Qingshui River.
However, Shen Qing had no intention of pursuing the matter further, firstly because he was afraid of damaging the underground spiritual veins.
Secondly, as far as Shen Qing knew, the Qingshui River spiritual vein was protected by the Heavenly God Sect's formation, so there was no need to investigate further to avoid unnecessary trouble.
For a Qi Refining stage cultivator, one day of cultivation here is equivalent to several days outside, which is considered a very good improvement.
However, this place is somewhat of a double-edged sword for Shen Qing. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, it is quite difficult to quickly improve one's cultivation level.
Shen Qing stood up, took out a few low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, and embedded them into the spirit-gathering array nodes around the spirit eye. In a short while, the spiritual energy in the secret room became even denser.
This secret chamber, along with the spiritual eye, is large enough to accommodate several Qi Refining stage disciples for cultivation at the same time. From now on, this will be the secret cultivation place of the Qingyun Sect in Qinghe County.
Shen Qing left the secret chamber and returned to the ground floor of the ancestral hall. Zhao Shoucheng was still waiting outside the door, and he rushed forward when he saw Shen Qing come out.
"To defend the city, there is a secret chamber beneath the Huang Clan Ancestral Hall containing a spiritual eye that disciples can use for cultivation."
Shen Qing said, "This matter will not be publicized for now. From now on, you, Shouwei, and Shouxin will take turns coming here to cultivate, each person for no more than three days at a time. Moonstones are provided in the secret room, so there is no need to bring lamps or candles."
Zhao Shoucheng looked surprised, then replied solemnly.
When Shen Qing left Qingyunfang, it was already close to dusk.
The setting sun bathed Qinghe County in a golden-red hue, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys in the streets and alleys. He walked along the official road south of the city towards Qingyun Mountain.
On the way, Shen Qing went through the events of the day from beginning to end.
Zhao Yuanlang was no fool; he had exceptional abilities to have been able to sit in the position of the magistrate of Qinghe County for more than ten years.
The promises made today, seemingly out of goodwill towards the Qingyun Sect, are in fact all based on the same premise: the Qingyun Sect has a Mo Wentian who is suspected to be at the Golden Core stage.
Because Zhao Yuanlang was wary of Mo Wentian, he was willing to make things easier for the Qingyun Sect.
Because Mo Wentian left behind the method for cultivating spiritual fields, he was willing to take a gamble on himself.
Shen Qing silently reminded himself: Although Mo Wentian's identity has "gone far away," his influence still remains.
While it's possible to leverage trends in the short term, long-term development cannot rely solely on such strategies.
"In the end, one must be strong oneself to forge iron."
Shen Qing returned to Qingyun Mountain at night. He did not go to the sect immediately, but went directly to the academy.
The lights were still on in the academy.
Zhong Xiu and Fang Xue were helping Huang An and Huang Ning organize the books on the bookshelf; they planned to tidy up the academy before the start of the semester.
Upon seeing Shen Qing enter, the group stopped what they were doing and bowed.
"Sect Master." Zhong Xiu bowed, his expression remaining calm.
"How is the progress at the academy?" Shen Qing asked.
"All the trivial matters have been almost completed, but the book list will take another day to be finalized. Yesterday, Mr. Sun and the others went to the county school with Instructor Ma. He told us that he would return tomorrow and would like to discuss the start of the school year with the headmaster then."
Shen Qing nodded: "When Mr. Sun returns tomorrow, all of you should come to the main hall. We'll discuss the start of the school year together."
On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, Sun Wenyuan returned to Qingyun Mountain in the afternoon. He stood at the entrance of the academy for a while, looking at the newly repaired windows and the neatly arranged courtyard, he nodded slightly, and then walked straight to the main hall.
Shen Qing had been waiting in the main hall for a long time.
Zhong Xiu, Xu Ping, Fang Xue, Wang Shouan, and Wang Shouning stood on either side. After Sun Wenyuan entered, he bowed and greeted Shen Qing, who stood up and returned the bow, saying, "Please sit down, sir."
After Sun Wenyuan took his seat, Shen Qing got straight to the point: "I came to see you today to discuss the academy's reopening after the New Year. The holiday is coming to an end this year, and the academy is about to reopen. We need your advice on how to set the rules and how to recruit new students."
Sun Wenyuan took out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it over: "Sect Leader Shen, I have been discussing with Instructor Ma at the county school these past few days and have drafted a few regulations, which I would like to ask Sect Leader to review."
Shen Qing took the paper and unfolded it. Sun Wenyuan's handwriting was neat, tidy, and well-organized.
The academy is scheduled to officially open on the 26th day of the first lunar month, and will enroll 40 children in the new year, which is the same as last year.
The program was set at three years, divided into three stages: the initial academy, the preparatory stage, and the promotion of literature.
The first year of the primary school is dedicated to teaching basic literacy, arithmetic, and etiquette.
The second year of the revision course begins, where students are taught introductory lessons on the classics and basic knowledge of history and geography.
In the third year of his studies, Hongwen taught essay writing and practical arithmetic.
After reading it, Shen Qing gently placed the note on the table.