The ring fell silent for a moment.

“Disciple, your master asks you, a sapling growing on the edge of a cliff, what should it do?” Lin Yu’s voice was very calm.

Su Ming was taken aback, instinctively replying, “Take root, strive to grow.”

“And if the wind on the cliff is very strong, capable of snapping it at any moment?”

“Then… sink its roots deeper, grow sturdier, make itself able to withstand the wind.”

“Exactly the principle.” For the first time, Lin Yu’s voice lacked its usual teasing tone, carrying instead a kind of serene power. “Right now, you are that sapling growing on the cliff’s edge. The officialdom is that malevolent wind that can snap you at any moment. What you need to do now is not to compete with the wind over who is harder, but to close your door, sink your roots deep into this land, the deeper the better.”

“Your policy discussion essay is the branch you wanted to extend. Now the wind is too strong, the branch was snapped off. It hurts, it’s ugly. But as long as your roots remain, as long as you are still secretly growing, one day, you can grow into a towering tree. By then, forget a mere malevolent wind, even a raging storm, what can it do to you?”

Lin Yu secretly grumbled to himself, “Oh my goodness, to comfort this kid, I even pulled out my bottom-of-the-trunk soul-soothing chicken soup. Being a master is truly not easy, not only do I have to be a bodyguard, a teacher, but also moonlight as a psychological counselor. This wisp of a remnant soul, I’ve really worried myself sick over him!”

Su Ming stopped walking, standing under an ancient locust tree in the County School.

He raised his head, looking at the gnarled trunk and lush foliage. His master’s words exploded in his mind like thunderclaps.

Yes.

Roots.

What were his roots?

The Aura Concealment Art, this body that was being quietly transformed by spiritual energy, and this unfathomable master in his mind.

These were the foundation of his existence and livelihood!

The policy discussion, the scholarly honor, these were merely external things. Only one’s own strength was real and substantial, something no one could take away.

That sense of defeat that had almost swallowed him receded like an ebbing tide. In its place was an unprecedented clarity and resolve.

Su Ming turned around and strode towards the Jia-character courtyard.

His steps were steady, no longer carrying a trace of confusion.

Returning to the courtyard, the sky was already completely dark.

He didn’t light a lamp, walking directly to the well, taking off his upper garment, drawing up a bucket of icy well water, and pouring it over his head from above.

The chill of the well water instantly enveloped his entire body, making him shiver. But what followed was a high degree of mental focus and clarity.

Su Ming sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes.

The Aura Concealment Art roared into operation, smoother and more urgent than ever before.

Su Ming seemed able to “see” wisps of cool spiritual energy seeping out from the well mouth, scrambling to drill into every pore of his, converging into his meridians, washing through his limbs and bones.

Just as Su Ming was cultivating diligently, within the ring, Lin Yu’s soul body suddenly trembled.

Lin Yu immediately sank into internal vision.

That Spirit Gathering Array sustaining his existence was still operating with difficulty. But that hideous crack seemed… to have stopped expanding!

Not only that, the dim spiritual light around the crack had actually brightened by a sliver. The resentment and filth energy attached to it seemed to have been neutralized by something, becoming less active.

“It’s the spiritual energy!” Lin Yu understood instantly.

Su Ming’s day-and-night bitter cultivation these past few days had drawn a large amount of pure spiritual energy from this treasure well. This spiritual energy, using Su Ming’s body as a transfer point, was partly absorbed by Su Ming, while another part nourished the ring!

And the spiritual energy transmitted to the ring through Su Ming’s cultivation was purer than what the Spirit Gathering Array absorbed alone before. This pure spiritual energy was like good medicine, slowly repairing the Spirit Gathering Array eroded by resentment!

Although the repair speed was extremely slow, it was indeed improving! Moreover, Lin Yu seemed able to absorb this spiritual energy too.

Lin Yu thought to himself, “I can live again! Little ancestor, you are my savior! From today, drink this well water as much as you want, it’s on me! If it’s not enough, I’ll figure out a way to dig more for you! You must work twice as hard for your master, see if you can repair this broken array sooner!”

At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder why the spiritual energy from the previous “landlords” was much more “abundant” than this rookie Su Ming’s. Why didn’t the Spirit Gathering Array convert their spiritual energy? Was it because the Spirit Gathering Array mutated with those six blood streaks after shattering? Or was it because this kid Su Ming was too much of a rookie to control the spiritual energy, causing it to be “stolen” by the ring?

Lin Yu was so excited he almost floated his soul body, but the voice transmitted to Su Ming’s mind remained steady.

“Disciple, not bad, such progress in just a few days. But remember, guard against arrogance and impatience. The path of cultivation values persistence…”

Su Ming: “…”

Night receded, dawn’s first light emerged.

Su Ming opened his eyes, a mouthful of turbid qi shot out like a white ribbon, dissipating in the cool morning air. The chill of the well water had long since retreated, a warm, flowing strength coursing through his limbs and bones.

A night of bitter cultivation had strengthened the qi sensation in his dantian by another fraction.

“Disciple, how do you feel?” Lin Yu’s voice carried a hint of satisfaction.

“Spirit refreshed, unprecedentedly good.” Su Ming stretched his muscles and bones, emitting soft cracking sounds.

“Naturally. Did you think drinking this spiritual well water was for nothing?” Lin Yu said smugly, “Last night your mind was agitated, coupled with defeat, it was the perfect opportunity for breaking and then establishing anew. The cultivation effect was twice the result for half the effort.”

Lin Yu’s mental abacus clicked loudly, “Hehe, the harder the disciple works, the faster my Spirit Gathering Array repairs. Go on, good disciple, for your master to linger on a few more years, absorb fiercely for your master!”

Su Ming stood up, finished washing up, and was just about to head to the dining hall when the courtyard gate was knocked.

The visitor was Zhao Rui, sporting two large dark circles under his eyes, his face full of utter despair.

“Su Ming, have you heard? Your policy discussion essay was rejected by the County Magistrate!” He shouted as soon as he entered, his voice full of indignation, “I heard people say the reason was the government treasury is empty! What a load of crap! Last month, Young Master Wei’s family married off a daughter, just the banquet lasted three days! They have money for feasting and drinking, but no money to repair river embankments for the people?”

He was more agitated than Su Ming, the person involved.

Su Ming poured him a cup of the well water that had gone completely cold, saying nothing.

Zhao Rui took the water and drank it in one gulp, wiping his mouth, “How come you have no reaction at all? That was the top scorer’s policy discussion! Just tossed into the wastepaper basket like that? Are these officials all blind?”

“Finished?” Su Ming asked.

“Huh?” Zhao Rui was stunned.

“If you’re finished, go back and review your books.” Su Ming picked up a scroll from the table and started reading on his own.

Zhao Rui looked at his calm profile, feeling like he’d punched cotton, half his pent-up anger instantly deflating. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end could only mutter resentfully, “You, you’re really a monster.”

He left, crestfallen.

Su Ming’s gaze lifted from the scroll, watching Zhao Rui’s retreating back, his eyes calm.

Angry? Of course.

Disappointed? That too.

But these emotions, washed over by that bucket of icy well water and a night of cultivation last night, had long been scoured away and refined. What remained was only a clearer understanding.

Just then, the courtyard gate was knocked again.

This time, standing at the door was a servant from the Zhou residence, expression respectful.

“Top Scorer Su, Director Zhou requests your presence.”

Su Ming’s heart stirred. What was coming had finally arrived.

Stepping into Zhou Wenhai’s study again, the atmosphere was completely different from the previous two times.

Gone was the intimidating pressure of the first meeting, and the solemnity of the master-disciple ceremony. Zhou Wenhai sat behind the desk, holding not a scroll, but a set of exquisite tea utensils, leisurely warming the cups.

The air was filled with a faint aroma of tea.

“Here? Sit.” Zhou Wenhai pointed to the chair opposite.

Su Ming bowed and took his seat, his back still straight.

Zhou Wenhai pushed a cup of freshly brewed hot tea towards him. The tea liquor was clear yellow, its fragrance pure and cool.

“Try it, pre-rain Longjing.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Su Ming picked up the teacup but did not drink.

Zhou Wenhai glanced at him, put down the teapot, and slowly began, “The matter of your policy discussion, Professor Liu has told me everything.”

His tone was very flat, as if discussing an insignificant trivial matter.

“Do you feel very disappointed, very angry?”

Su Ming was silent for a moment before replying, “This student… is just somewhat puzzled.”

“Puzzled?” Zhou Wenhai smiled, a smile carrying a bit of self-mockery and the weariness of someone who had been through it all. “What’s there to be puzzled about? Being content with the status quo, not seeking merit, but avoiding blame, is the normal state of being an official.”

He picked up his own teacup, blowing on the steam.

“You think what you presented is a good plan benefiting the country and people. In their eyes, what you presented is endless trouble. Surveying, land acquisition, allocating manpower, managing funds and grain… which task doesn’t consume mental energy? Which task doesn’t offend people?”

“Do it well, the credit is the County Magistrate’s. Something goes wrong, the blame falls on the people executing below. If it were you, would you be willing?”

These words were even more blunt and exposed than Professor Liu’s.

Su Ming’s heart sank.

“This student… thought too simply.”

“It’s not that you’re simple, it’s that you’re not used to it yet.” Zhou Wenhai took a sip of tea, his gaze distant, as if piercing through the study walls, seeing somewhere far away.

He suddenly said softly, “Back in the capital, for a sum of funds to repair palace walls, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works could bicker for three years. A memorial, from submission to receiving a reply, going through the processes of the Six Ministries, would take forever. I’ve seen far more absurd reasons than this.”

The capital?

Su Ming’s heart shook violently.

Lin Yu’s voice also exploded in his mind, “Disciple! Pay attention! This old guy is revealing his background! The capital! He’s just a County School Director, how would he know the details of Six Ministries bickering in the capital? And he says it so casually and lightly!”

Lin Yu’s soul body flickered with excitement, “Something’s off, this Zhou Wenhai is definitely not right! He’s not a simple local snake, he’s probably retired from that dragon’s pool and tiger’s den of the capital! Goodness, this big tree of yours is even thicker and sturdier than your master imagined!”

Zhou Wenhai seemed to have just mentioned it in passing. After speaking, he put down his teacup, his gaze returning to Su Ming.

“So, having a policy discussion rejected is nothing. For you, it’s actually a good thing.”

“It lets you see in advance how deep these waters are, so you don’t dive in headfirst, get tangled by weeds before you even see the direction.”

He looked at Su Ming, his eyes becoming sharp.

“No matter how well you write an essay, it’s still just an essay. What you need to learn is how to make your essay become words others have to listen to, things others have to do.”

“This student will remember the teacher’s instruction.” Su Ming stood up, bowing deeply.

“Sit.” Zhou Wenhai waved his hand, “Empty talk is useless. Your policy discussion, although rejected, I think your other idea is worth trying.”

He changed the subject.

“That ‘officially supervised, privately operated’ paper-making workshop.”

Su Ming’s heart skipped a beat.

“You kid, you draw a big promise, and your guts are big enough too. Daring to drag the County School into the water, using it as a backer for your little workshop.” Zhou Wenhai’s tone carried a hint of amusement.

“This matter, I plan to arrange. From today, the Su Family Village paper-making workshop will be the County School’s first pilot project under ‘officially supervised, privately operated.'”

He took out a document already drafted from a drawer, stamped with the County School’s official seal.

“On my side, I’ll send an accountant named Wang. Nominally to oversee the accounts, actually, to keep an eye on things for the County School, and for me.” Zhou Wenhai handed the document to Su Ming, “Just have him submit the County School’s share of ‘public funds’ on time every month. As for other things, have him look less, ask less, interfere less.”

The meaning couldn’t be clearer.

This was giving Su Ming reassurance. What Zhou Wenhai wanted was the reputation, the political achievement of this “officially supervised, privately operated” model, and Su Ming’s favor. As for the little bit of silver in the workshop, he didn’t care for it and couldn’t be bothered to reach for it.

“Those flies in town who smell blood and want to pounce, with the County School’s banner blocking them, they should behave a bit more.”

Su Ming took that weighty document, a hundred emotions swirling in his heart.

The failure of his policy discussion had shown him the cold, ruthless nature of power.

And Zhou Wenhai’s current move showed him another side of power—protection.

“Thank you, teacher, for making this possible!”

“Don’t thank me.” Zhou Wenhai stood up, walking to the window, hands behind his back, “I’m investing. What I’m investing in is not your workshop, but your future, Su Ming.”

“Don’t let me down.”

Leaving the Zhou residence, Su Ming had an extra document in his hand and an extra person by his side.

Accountant Wang was around forty, slightly plump, with a kind face, always wearing a beaming smile, like the Maitreya Buddha in a temple.

But those small eyes of his occasionally flashed with a shrewd light.

“Top Scorer Su, I’ll be in your care from now on.” Accountant Wang cupped his hands towards Su Ming, his posture very humble.

“Mr. Wang, you’re too kind. I’ll have to trouble you from now on.” Su Ming returned the courtesy.

He knew this was someone sent by Zhou Wenhai, both a supervisor and a liaison officer.

Su Ming handed the already written letter, along with that document stamped with the official seal, to Accountant Wang.

“Mr. Wang, this is the village address and some arrangements. After you arrive, give this letter to Village Chief Zhao Dequan. He will understand.”

“Of course, of course.” Accountant Wang took the letter, carefully placing it in his robe, “Top Scorer Su, rest assured. Wang understands.”

The two parted at the street corner. Accountant Wang hired a carriage and headed directly south towards Su Family Village.

Su Ming stood in place, watching the carriage disappear around the corner, letting out a long sigh.

The chess piece had been placed.

Next, it was up to the village on how to respond.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep