Finishing the Five National Histories doesn't mean true mastery.
So, now that Song Yan is about to take the child-student exam, it's probably not going to be easy. Apparently, the exam is in ten days, and if he passes and becomes a child-student, he should gain some Qi Luck!
With a thought, Song Yan flipped through the Five National Histories. Before awakening, he was just a bookworm who read mechanically, clueless about deeper meaning. But now, even though his Divine Soul was sealed in the Reincarnation Passage, rereading the Five National Histories gave him a whole new understanding.
In the end, Yoyo Chen still followed. She knew Song Yan was frail and worried he'd fall on the way.
Honestly, his biggest confidence in passing the child-student exam comes from the System, that ultimate cheat.
With another thought, all the knowledge from the hundred-plus volumes of Five National Histories in the room was uploaded into the System. At the same time, Song Yan felt a flash of insight—if he spent 1 point of Qi Luck, he could fully master the Five National Histories.
With another thought, all the knowledge from the hundred-plus volumes of Five National Histories in the room was uploaded into the System. At the same time, he felt a flash of insight—if he spent 1 point of Qi Luck, he could fully master the Five National Histories.
"Nice!"
Song Yan nodded in satisfaction and spent 1 point of Qi Luck. Instantly, his mind was filled with insights about the Five National Histories. If anyone tried to discuss them with him now, nobody could match his depth of understanding.
The child-student exam only tests the Five National Histories, but the xiucai exam also covers parts of the Six Sage Discourses.
If you break down the xiucai exam into a hundred points, the Five National Histories account for seventy, and the Six Sage Discourses for thirty.
But here's the catch—
After a while, he decided to ask Yoyo Chen about the village, to see if any kids planning to study still needed books. After all, his set was just barely usable, and a new set would cost dozens of taels of silver—no one in the village could afford that.
How was he supposed to make money?
He saw Yoyo Chen tidying up the dishes.
"Yoyo Chen, stop what you're doing for a second, I have something to ask you!"
Refine medicine?
Yoyo Chen picked up a piece of fatty pork and put it in Song Yan's bowl.
"You eat too!" Song Yan picked up a piece for Yoyo Chen, making her smile sweetly.
Yoyo Chen thought for a moment, then shook her head in confusion.
Yoyo Chen grew anxious when she heard that, tugging Song Yan's sleeve to remind him: "Young sir, if you sell the books, what will you study?"
Skill: Body-Fortifying Art
Yoyo Chen finished washing the dishes and went to ask around the village as Song Yan requested. Song Family Village was just a regular mountain village, with a little over a hundred households and a population of barely three hundred.
About half an hour later, Yoyo Chen came back.
The father-in-law also has a son, who's already married.
Apparently, Chris Chen looks down on his scholar brother-in-law. Since childhood, he's trained at the martial hall, and recently, their father spent a lot of silver to get him a job as an imperial constable in the county yamen.
Yoyo Chen looked at Song Yan skeptically.
Yoyo Chen asked.
These books were left behind by his late father.
After all these years of flipping through them, they're still pretty worn out, but just barely readable.
"But who to sell them to?"
Song Yan started thinking it over.
After a while, he decided to ask Yoyo about the village, to see if any kids planning to study still needed books. After all, his set was just barely usable, and a new set would cost dozens of taels of silver—no one in the village could afford that.
With that in mind, he got up and walked out of the room.
He saw Yoyo tidying up the dishes.
"Yoyo, stop what you're doing for a second, I have something to ask you!"
"What do you want to ask, young sir?"
Yoyo Chen kept working as she spoke.
Song Yan asked directly, "Do you know if any kids in the village want to study but haven't bought books yet?"
Yoyo thought for a moment, then shook her head in confusion.
Song Yan said, "How about you ask around the village!"
"Alright!"
Yoyo Chen finished washing the dishes and went to ask around the village as Song Yan requested. Song Family Village was just a regular mountain village, with a little over a hundred households and a population of barely three hundred.
About half an hour later, Yoyo came back.
She found out that the village chief's seven-year-old grandson, Shitou, wanted to start studying. But even the chief's family couldn't afford a full set of Five National Histories.
They were worried about it too.
Since it's the village chief, he must be better off than most. Looks like the first bucket of gold will come from him.
"Yoyo, I'm heading to the chief's house!"
Song Yan got up and walked outside.
"Young sir, what are you going to the chief's house for?"
"Got something to do!"
"I'll go with you!"
"No need!"
In the end, Yoyo still followed. She knew Song Yan was frail and worried he'd fall on the way.
It took a full fifteen minutes to walk there.
Song Yan finally arrived at the chief's house, sweating and short of breath. Once again, he felt dissatisfied with his weak body.
"If only I had a martial arts manual—at least I'd be stronger!"
The chief's courtyard gate was open. Song Yan walked right in. The chief, Song Dashan, was shirtless, chopping wood in the yard. Nearly fifty, he was still sturdy; rumor was he'd practiced martial arts, but never got far.
"System, scan the chief's martial skills!"
Song Yan gave the order. An invisible light enveloped the chief, and soon a new martial arts manual appeared in the System: Body-Fortifying Art.
With just a bit of Qi Luck, he could master it instantly.
But—
Qi Luck was precious. He'd already spent one point mastering the Five National Histories, and only had four left—he couldn't waste them. So, Song Yan decided to train using the manual instead.
"Young sir, what brings you here?"
The chief didn't stop working, but called out in a loud voice.
The chief's voice was booming, as if he had a built-in loudspeaker.
Song Yan didn't beat around the bush: "Chief, I heard Shitou wants to study?"
"That's right, but just the tuition at the private school costs two taels of silver a year, and we still need to buy books. We really can't afford it!" the chief sighed.
"Chief, I have a full set of the Five National Histories at home. I can sell them to you cheap—would you be interested?" Song Yan asked with a smile.
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Yoyo Chen grew anxious when she heard that, tugging Song Yan's sleeve to remind him: "Young sir, if you sell the books, what will you study?"
But the chief's eyes lit up at the offer.
A full set of Five National Histories would cost at least fifty taels of silver new. Used books are hard to find in complete sets, and there's always worry about missing pages. So when Song Yan offered to sell, the chief was very interested.
Song Yan smiled and spoke up, his voice carrying: "Yoyo, I've read those Five National Histories for eight years—I've memorized them inside out. It's better to sell them to the chief, so our village gets another scholar. Who knows, maybe Shitou will become a xiucai or juren someday. That'd be a real good deed!"
Song Yan didn't outright praise Shitou, but his words pleased the chief. He was right—if Shitou became a xiucai or juren, their family would be honored. The chief suddenly felt eager.
"Really?"
Yoyo looked at Song Yan skeptically.
Song Yan took her hand and said softly, "I'd never lie to you, Yoyo. I've really memorized everything in those books—having them or not doesn't matter!"
"How much for your books, young sir?"
The chief asked. Whether Song Yan had memorized them or not wasn't his concern.
"Twenty taels of silver!"
Song Yan said.
"Twenty is too much. Five taels is my limit!"
The chief replied with a smile.
Song Yan said, "Chief, education isn't a trivial matter—you can't be stingy. Besides, a new set costs at least fifty taels. Tell you what, since you've looked after my family for years, I'll settle for ten taels. No haggling! If you try, I'll walk away and sell them in the county town for even more."
"Deal! But ten taels is no small sum. How about I give you three now?" the chief said.
Song Yan said, "How about half in cash and half in grain?"
"That's fine!"
The chief readily agreed. If he hauled grain to the county to sell, it'd be a hassle—paying Song Yan in grain made things much easier.
So—
That afternoon, the chief brought Song Yan five taels of silver and the agreed grain.
Naturally, he took the Five National Histories with him.
Before leaving, he said, "Young sir, if Shitou becomes a xiucai someday, you'll have helped!"
That night—
Dinner was no longer wild vegetable porridge but proper rice, and the side dish was cured pork instead of salted pickles.
The cured pork was a gift from the chief—probably because he felt he'd gotten the better end of the deal and wanted to make up for it. He sent two pieces, totaling about five jin.
"You eat, young sir!"
Yoyo Chen picked up a piece of fatty pork and put it in Song Yan's bowl.
"You eat too!" Song Yan picked up a piece for Yoyo, making her smile sweetly.
The grain from the chief would last the two of them half a year—longer if they were frugal.
After dinner,
Yoyo Chen tidied up the dishes, while Song Yan carried a stool out to the courtyard and sat down. From the System, he retrieved the Body-Strengthening Art—a manual with both text and illustrations.
It was very simple.
But it was also extremely basic. Even at its peak, it only granted a bit over a hundred jin of extra strength. Still, its main benefit was improving physical fitness and making the body sturdier.
So Song Yan set himself up and began practicing in the courtyard.
Such a simple technique—he understood it completely after only one read. He even corrected over ten mistakes in the manual. If he mastered it all, he estimated he could gain three hundred jin of strength.
"Young sir, what are you doing?"
Yoyo Chen asked.
"Training,"
Song Yan replied casually, then kept practicing. In just half an hour, he mastered the entire art.
He worked up a sweat, but felt his strength increase by several jin, and his constitution improved noticeably. He felt refreshed and no longer weak.
One day.
Two days.
Three days.
...
In just seven days, Song Yan had trained the Body-Strengthening Art to its peak, gaining about three hundred and fifty jin of strength. Even his height had shot up—he was now about 1.68 meters tall.
Of course, all this training also made his appetite grow.
He opened the System interface:
Host: Song Yan
Spirit: 91
Strength: 189
Skill: Body-Strengthening Art
Divine Ability: None
Qi Luck: 7 points
"Huh, my Qi Luck actually went up by three points!" Song Yan was surprised. It seemed that mastering the Body-Strengthening Art had given him more options for the future, hence the increase.