Knock, knock, knock!
Just before dawn, the sound of knocking on the door echoed again.
Chu Yao opened the door and saw Lin Feng holding a basin of hot water, looking humble and polite. This somewhat eased the tension he had felt all night. He exhaled a breath of relief, stepped aside to let Lin Feng in, and said calmly, "No need to close the door. The things are on the table."
Although they were teacher and student, they were also male and female.
Even when alone, they needed to maintain propriety.
Lin Feng said, "Good morning, teacher."
She put down the hot water and helped wring out a cloth.
After washing up, Chu Yao went to the east kitchen to heat up the food he had prepared the previous night. Lin Feng didn't have an exceptional memory, so even though the materials Chu Yao prepared weren't difficult, she found them a bit hard to remember. She read them out loud several times before getting a general impression.
But this wasn't a problem. As she absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, she would make great progress in all aspects. Besides, Lin Feng was very perceptive.
Chu Yao, a new teacher but very patient, broke down the basics of speech magic into small segments for Lin Feng to understand and absorb.
"Practicing is like rowing against the current; you must keep moving forward. Reciting can stimulate a resonance with the essence of heaven and earth. Different speech spells, different people, different mindsets and understandings all affect the resonance. Since I don't fully understand your situation, we can only try each one. But the most important thing is diligent practice. Don't think about taking shortcuts."
Lin Feng earnestly agreed, not daring to slack off.
She lowered her head, hesitant to speak.
Chu Yao, understanding what she wanted to ask, said calmly, "You want to know when you can condense your literary heart?"
Lin Feng nodded, "Yes, I'm a bit curious."
Chu Yao replied frankly, "I'm curious too."
Currently, the first known future female literary heart scholar—setting aside Wulang, whose gender is uncertain—naturally made Chu Yao curious about the differences between Lin Feng and male scholars in terms of cultivation progress and the grade of their literary hearts.
Chu Yao said, "It depends on talent, effort, and luck."
Lin Feng couldn't suppress her curiosity.
"How long did it take you, teacher?"
Chu Yao replied uncertainly, "About six months? Anyway, it was less than seven months, and the literary heart was successfully condensed on the first try..."
Lin Feng took note of this.
She didn't think her talent could surpass her teacher's upper second-grade, so she decided to set a goal of one year.
Little did she know, Chu Yao was an anomaly.
From sensing the essence of heaven and earth, to drawing it into the body, to opening the meridians and the elixir field, and finally to condensing the literary heart, everything went smoothly for him.
The other two of Chu Country's three great scholars also had upper second-grade literary hearts, but it took them two years and one year and ten months respectively to complete this path. One of them was unlucky, succeeding only after four attempts. Most other scholars took between two to four years.
Condensing a literary heart in six months was a near impossible miracle.
Reciting, copying, and memorizing.
In the beginning, these three tasks are dull and boring.
Young children being enlightened generally have no patience.
Making them sit properly, always keeping their backs straight, concentrating their minds, repeatedly chewing over segments of obscure and difficult speech spells, understanding the deep meanings behind them, and trying to use the spells to resonate with the essence of heaven and earth...even adults find this hard to do.
As someone with experience, Chu Yao understood the importance of gradual progress. Therefore, he deliberately lowered his expectations for Lin Feng, but after an hour, he saw results that exceeded his expectations.
Hmm, a pleasant surprise.
An hour passed quickly as Lin Feng recited clearly and asked questions. The sky gradually lightened, indicating it was now dawn.
Chu Yao left Lin Feng with two hours' worth of homework and went to the east kitchen to prepare breakfast. The kitchen maids were already up and busy. On the way, the teacher and student encountered Qi Shan, whose eyes were more bloodshot, looking as if he hadn't slept all night. They greeted each other courteously.
Chu Yao asked, "Didn't sleep well, Yuanliang?"
Qi Shan responded irritably, "How could I sleep?"
There were many reasons for his sleeplessness, such as the shocking words from Mr. Shen last night and Lin Feng's half-baked resonance attempts—one must know that the essence of heaven and earth has "emotions" and appreciates speech spells. These "emotions" rise and fall with the spells.
As Lin Feng just started learning, the essence of heaven and earth within a radius of two or three feet fluctuated wildly like it was going crazy, and literary heart scholars are sensitive to these fluctuations. To put it simply, it was like forcing a music connoisseur to listen to a newbie randomly strumming a pipa without distinguishing the frets or notes. If Qi Shan could sleep through that, he would be truly indifferent.
Chu Yao said calmly, "Give it three to five months, and it'll be fine."
Qi Shan had no choice but to endure Lin Feng; everyone goes through this stage. It's something you get used to.
"Hmph."
Qi Shan's response was a double eye-roll.
The two exchanged looks.
Qi Shan: Having a student makes you special?
Chu Yao: Yes, it does.
Upon entering the east kitchen, Chu Yao found every pot boiling with hot water. Firewood was limited in the bandit stronghold, so he casually asked why they were boiling so much water. One of the maids, busy with a fire-blower, stood up hesitantly and said it was Shen Tang's order.
Wulang?
"Did Wulang say what it's for?"
The maid replied, "To wipe down the piglets."
Chu Yao: "...???"
Equally baffled was Gong Shu Wu.
Just as they were about to start a new day of training, Shen Tang intercepted them halfway, with an excitement in his eyes that they couldn't quite understand.
Gong Shu Wu asked, "Wulang?"
Zhai Le's curiosity was piqued as well. "Brother Shen, are you joining us?"
Shen Tang shook his head and said, "No, no, no. I calculated that now is the perfect time to castrate the pigs! The temperature is just right, not too hot or too cold, and we starved the pigs for two meals last night. As the saying goes, 'Better a short pain than a long one.' The sooner we do the surgery, the sooner they can recover."
Gong Shu Wu: "..."
Suddenly, he remembered Shen Tang had previously invited him to help castrate the pigs. He had countless reasons to refuse, but the words rolled around on his tongue and were eventually swallowed back down. A gentleman's word is his bond; he had already agreed.
He said, "Fine, let's go!"
Zhai Le widened his eyes in surprise.
They're really going to castrate pigs!
After all, he's a ninth-rank great physician!
Where's the dignity in that?
Although he couldn't understand why pigs had to be castrated before eating their meat, he recalled Shen Tang's descriptions of the delicious pork and decisively followed. Shen Tang walked around the pigpen, moving like lightning, and grabbed a piglet by its hind leg.
The piglet woke up and squealed loudly.
Shen Tang shook it and threatened, "Shut up, be quiet!"
Zhai Le glanced at the piglet's lower abdomen. Yes, it was a male piglet, small but of decent weight.
Gong Shu Wu's face turned ashen.
He mentally prepared himself several times.
With difficulty, he asked, "What do we need to do?"
Gong Shu Wu thought he would be the one performing the castration, but Shen Tang laid the piglet down and indicated that one of them should hold its hind legs and the other its neck. Positioning the piglet to be completely at their mercy, Shen Tang adjusted his clothes, half-kneeled on the ground, and extended his hand to Gong Shu Wu. "Knife."
Gong Shu Wu: "...???"
He was so shocked that he forgot when he handed over the knife.
Shen Tang said, "Not such a big knife. This knife is longer than the pig. Just a palm-sized knife will do. Do you have one?"
Gong Shu Wu: "…Yes."
When Chu Yao and the others arrived after hearing the commotion, they saw the three of them huddled together around something. Before they got closer, the piercing screams of the pig, as if being slaughtered, already reached their ears carried by the wind.