Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

Qinglan was stunned for a moment, held her apron with both hands, and whispered: "Can I learn it too?"

"Of course." Chen Yuan nodded.

Li Dalong glanced at Qinglan and said in confusion: "Mr. Chen, Qinglan is a girl, how can she learn to read and digitize?"

The middle-aged woman who was working also stopped and said: "That's right, Mr. Chen, if you can teach Tie Zhu, we will be satisfied. Qinglan will get married sooner or later, and it is useless to learn it, right, Qinglan?" "

"Ah?" Qinglan opened her mouth, then closed it silently, her eyes dimmed, she lowered her head, and squeezed her hands tighter, "Thank you, sir, I won't learn any more."

Chen Yuan smiled: "One is teaching, and both are teaching. It doesn't take much effort. Miss Qinglan might as well learn some writing. When she gets married in the future, her husband's family will also be able to look high on her. Uncle Li, what do you think?" "

Li Dalong hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Since Mr. Chen is willing to teach, let Qinglan also learn. Qinglan, why don't you thank Mr. Chen!"

Qinglan raised her head, loosened her apron, and her eyes were radiant again: "Thank you, sir! I'll go change my clothes right now."

After that, she quickly walked into the west hut, which was the one where Chen Yuan and she lived.

After a while, she walked out of the house. She changed into a gray-green dress with a few small patches, which was washed a little white and was very clean.

Seeing this, the middle-aged woman frowned and said, "You kid, this is for the Chinese New Year, why did you take it out now!"

Qinglan smiled and said: "Learning Chinese and Chinese characters from Mr. Chen is a big deal, I'm very happy."

Li Tiezhu nodded repeatedly: "Sister, you're right, I'll go change my clothes too!"

Li Dalong scolded: "Okay! You have grown taller again this year. The clothes your mother made for you last year have long been out of wear. For this year's New Year, dad will cut two more feet of cloth and ask your mother to change it for you. You Just don’t change it!”

Li Tiezhu then gave up and turned to look at Chen Yuan: "Mr. Chen, where should we go to learn?"

Chen Yuan asked: "Is there a river nearby?"

"Yes, I'll take you there right now!" Li Tiezhu responded and walked out the door.

Chen Yuan smiled and followed up. Qing Lan walked beside him, glancing at him quietly from time to time.

After the three people left the small courtyard, they walked down the hillside, then turned into the mountain. After walking for a while, they came to a valley.

This place is far away from the village, with dense trees, and a small river about ten feet wide flowing slowly. The shore is covered with sand, which is quite cool in the hot summer.

There were cicadas chirping in the valley, as well as the crisp chirping of birds, but there was no noise at all, adding a bit of tranquility.

Chen Yuan scanned around, selected a shade spot, walked over, and said, "Tie Zhu, bring three stones."

"Okay!" Li Tiezhu agreed and immediately went to look for the stone.

"I'm going to help too." Qinglan said, turned around and followed.

Chen Yuan didn't stop him. He came to the shade of the tree, raised his head and glanced around, and picked three branches from the tree that were about the size and thickness of a writing brush.

After a while, Li Tiezhu came over holding a stone in each hand, and Qinglan struggled to hold one in his arms.

Chen Yuan did not help, but quietly watched the two people place the stones on the ground, then sat down on a stone in the middle and handed over the two branches: "Take it, this is your pen."

The two took the branches and sat down on both sides of Chen Yuan. In front of the three of them was fine sand.

"Now I will teach you how to read and write. The first character is the word '人'..." Chen Yuan bent down slightly, used a branch to write the word "人" on the sand, and began to explain in detail.

He has experience in two lifetimes and has practiced Taoism for nearly a hundred years. He has extensive knowledge, sophisticated human feelings, witty remarks, and extensive quotations.

Starting from the word "人", other words will naturally be introduced, and the allusions and several different meanings related to it will be clearly explained.

The words used in Jiuxianzhou and Donghuazhou are the same, but the pronunciation is slightly different.

But with the knowledge and memory of Master Qingyou, Chen Yuan can be regarded as having read all the poems and classics of Jiuxianzhou. In the mortal world, he can be regarded as a learned scholar.

Qinglan and Li Tiezhu cherished this hard-won opportunity and listened very carefully. Moreover, Chen Yuan discovered that both of them were very smart and had excellent memories. In less than an hour, they had mastered more than thirty commonly used words.

Near noon, the three of them went back to eat, and then came to the river in the afternoon to learn how to read and write.

In one day, Qinglan and Li Tiezhu learned more than 200 commonly used characters. Not only could they write them, but they also memorized related allusions, idioms, and variations.

At dusk, Chen Yuan finished speaking another word, looked up at the horizon, threw the branch in his hand, stood up and said with a smile: "I'll stop teaching here for today, go back to eat first, and come back tomorrow."

Li Tiezhu and Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief and stood up from the stone. There was a hint of exhaustion on their faces, and they no longer had the smiles they had when they learned calligraphy in the morning.

They didn't know how long Chen Yuan could teach, so they all studied very seriously and did not dare to be distracted in the slightest.

Li Tiezhu, in particular, worked hard to learn. Even if Chen Yuan asked them to rest, he kept practicing calligraphy on the ground without relaxing for a moment.

Qinglan wanted to talk to Chen Yuan, but when she saw how diligent Li Tiezhu was, she was too embarrassed to talk and practiced calligraphy with Li Tiezhu.

Chen Yuan didn't interfere, but only allowed the two of them to rest for half an hour every half hour.

At this time, he would get up and walk to the river to watch the gurgling water, but behind him, the voices of Li Tiezhu and Qing Lan discussing difficult issues in low voices reached his ears word by word.

He looked down at the clear river, his eyes were leisurely, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but his face was slightly pale.

He just quietly dispersed his spiritual consciousness, which lasted for a little longer, and the injury of his soul was slightly aggravated.

…

Under the setting sun, Chen Yuan walked in the valley with slow steps, neither fast nor slow.

Li Tiezhu followed behind him, looking at Chen Yuan with respect in his eyes, and asked: "Mr. Chen, you are so knowledgeable, you must be a scholar, right?"

Chen Yuan laughed and shook his head.

"Could it be a juren?" Li Tiezhu widened his eyes.

Chen Yuan still shook his head.

"You are not a jinshi, are you?" Li Tiezhu widened his eyes.

Chen Yuan shook his head again: "I don't have any fame."

"Oh..." Li Tiezhu sighed disappointedly.

Qinglan glared at Li Tiezhu in dissatisfaction: "Mr. Chen will definitely pass the exam in the future."

Li Tiezhu hurriedly said: "Sister is right, Mr. Chen is so knowledgeable, he will definitely pass the exam and bring honor to his family!"

Chen Yuan smiled and said nothing.

Although he had not set foot on Jiuxianzhou before, True Man Qingyou had visited Jiuxianzhou, and there were also relevant books in Yuqinghai, so he knew Jiuxianzhou quite well.

Jiuxianzhou is divided into thirteen states, two of which are adjacent to Yuqinghai. Li Tiezhu once mentioned "Daren Dynasty", which should be Renzhou in the north.

The land of Renzhou is about half the size of Yuqinghai. There are countless sects and families, but they all respect Haoran Sect, one of the ten major sects, and there are many Confucian monks.

The Daren Dynasty established by Haoran Sect has lasted for tens of thousands of years and only respects Confucianism. There are academies everywhere in Renzhou, and everything is inferior, only reading is superior.

Although Li Tiezhu and Qinglan were the sons of hunters, they knew that only by studying and taking the imperial examinations could they stand out.

Chen Yuan said that he had no fame, so they stopped talking about it, and the atmosphere was a little silent for a while.

Qinglan suddenly stopped, picked a flower from the roadside, walked quickly to Chen Yuan, and raised her hand: "Mr. Chen, this is for you."

Chen Yuan took it. The flower looked like an orchid, but there were some differences. It was blue-purple. Chen Yuan put the flower to his nose and sniffed it gently. A faint fragrance was refreshing.

"Is it beautiful? Is it fragrant?" Qinglan blinked her big eyes and looked at Chen Yuan expectantly.

Chen Yuan nodded: "What kind of flower is this?"

Qinglan raised her lips slightly: "This is a blue orchid. My father named me this flower. It is only found in the nearby mountains. Mr. Chen has never seen it, right?"

Chen Yuan looked at Qinglan and suddenly remembered his little sister who liked to put wild flowers on her head. He raised his hand and pinned this blue orchid on Qinglan's head.

He smiled and said, "I haven't seen it before. This blue orchid is very beautiful."

Qinglan's body stiffened, and a blush appeared on her face. She raised her hand and wiped the blue orchid on her head. Her movements were very gentle, and she said, "Thank you... Thank you, young master."

Her voice was very low, so low that it was almost inaudible. She turned her head and laughed happily.

Li Tiezhu smiled and said, "Sister, why is your face red?"

"Shut up!" Qinglan pushed Li Tiezhu in shame and ran away quickly.

...

In the next half month, Chen Yuan spent the most leisurely time in his life.

No need to retreat and practice, no need to refine elixirs, and no need to fight.

He slept at sunset and got up at sunrise. Every day he went to the river to teach Li Tiezhu and Qinglan to read and write. The water was gurgling, the breeze was blowing, the cicadas were chirping in the forest, and the birds were singing in the mountains.

Li Tiezhu and Qinglan were very smart. After half a month, they learned more than 3,000 characters and knew their meanings. They broke dozens of branches and left countless traces on the sand by the river.

The two were gifted. If their families were not poor and they could not afford to attend private schools, they would certainly not be inferior to the children of scholars who passed down their family traditions of farming and studying.

On the fifteenth day, Chen Yuan wrote three words on the sand - Geography.

"Geography..." Li Tiezhu read it once and said puzzledly, "Mr. Chen, my sister and I both know these three words."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Today I will not teach you to read, but to teach you a book, which is called Geography."

Qinglan asked curiously, "Mr. Chen, what is this book about?"

Chen Yuan said, "As the name suggests, this book records the appearance of various places in Jiuxianzhou, including mountains, rivers, plains, swamps, deep pools and waterfalls, and everything else, as well as local customs and legends, and anecdotes from the rivers and lakes."

Qinglan blinked in confusion, "Jiuxianzhou? Where is that? ? "

Chen Yuan smiled and used a branch to touch the sand under his feet: "The land we are standing on is Jiuxianzhou. Jiuxianzhou is divided into 13 states. Daren Dynasty is in Renzhou among the 13 states."

Qinglan was stunned: "This Jiuxianzhou is so big!"

Li Tiezhu murmured: "I thought Daren Dynasty was boundless, but it only occupies one state of Jiuxianzhou. The world is so vast, it turns out that I was just a frog in the well!"

He is smarter and more diligent than Qinglan. He remembers every story and allusion that Chen Yuan told when he taught writing.

Half a month of hard study is equivalent to a year of private school for ordinary people. He has been reborn and is no longer the ignorant and vulgar hunter boy before.

Chen Yuan said: "Jiuxianzhou is vast and boundless. This Geography is just a brief overview, but it is enough to give you a preliminary understanding of this world."

Li Tiezhu's expression changed when he heard this. He suddenly stood up and bowed according to Professor Chen Yuan's etiquette: "Sir, can you teach us the Seven Classics?"

Chen Yuan raised his eyebrows: "Don't you want to learn this Geography?"

Li Tiezhu said: "Daren Dynasty is already vast enough. My sister and I can't leave it for a lifetime, even a county or a prefecture. I want to learn the Seven Classics, pass the exam, and never be bullied again!"

Qinglan frowned: "Tiezhu, we will learn as the master teaches. Those scholars who have studied the Seven Classics for a lifetime may not be able to pass the exam. The master's injury will be healed soon, so how can he have time to teach you."

The Seven Classics are the seven volumes of Confucian classics officially approved by the Daren Dynasty. They are profound and profound, and every word is a pearl. The questions for the imperial examinations in the past dynasties were all selected from the Seven Classics.

Even illiterate village hunters can name the Seven Classics.

Li Tiezhu blushed: "But that Li Wenju..."

"Alright!" Qinglan's pretty face turned pale and interrupted him, "Follow the master and learn well. Since the master teaches "Geography", it must be useful!"

Li Tiezhu sat down again, lowered his head dejectedly, and said nothing.

Qinglan stroked the hair on her forehead with her hands, her eyes dimmed, and she said softly: "I'm sorry, young master, Tiezhu is ignorant, you continue to teach."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he said calmly: "It is recorded in the Geography that the world is divided into thirteen states, namely Ren, Heng, Jiang, Tan, Xi, Ning, Yue, Yi, Wei, Li, Han, Nan, and Jing. Let's talk about Renzhou first..."

During this day, Li Tiezhu and Qinglan were in a low mood, just listening to Chen Yuan's story, and rarely spoke.

Chen Yuan didn't care, and kept talking until dusk, barely finishing talking about Renzhou.

The three returned to Li's house, and after dinner, the sun set in the west, and it was getting dark, so they went back to their rooms to rest.

Chen Yuan lay on the bed with his eyes slightly closed until late at night, when he suddenly opened his eyes, quietly came to the yard, and took out the jade pendant in his arms.

The sky was full of stars, and the bright silver light fell. After thirty breaths, the starlight dissipated. Chen Yuan opened his eyes, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

After the slow recovery of the power of the stars in the past half month, and the starlight was infused into his body tonight, his injuries were healed by a small part, and the damage and tearing of several major meridians were mostly restored. Finally, he could circulate his qi and mobilize his true energy.

Chen Yuan put away the jade pendant, returned to the house, meditated and practiced, and recovered a trace of true energy. He immediately opened the mustard ring, took out a bottle of healing pills, and swallowed it.

When the pill entered his mouth, it turned into a gentle and pure medicinal power, which spread to his limbs and bones, and quickly repaired Chen Yuan's injuries all over his body. (End of this chapter)