Chapter Ninety: The Literary Star's Baptism

Song Mu stepped up to the gate of the Prefectural Academy and, together with the scholars of Shiyang County, bowed respectfully to Inspector Fan.

Inspector Fan wore a smile, stroking his beard as he nodded in satisfaction.

“Good, very good. Song Mu, you were the top scorer in the academy examination. In days to come, you must also represent the scholars of Jizhou Prefecture and win even greater honors.”

“Song Mu shall surely labor to the bone for this!”

Song Mu said it aloud, and Inspector Fan smiled as well, exchanging a glance with the others before stepping aside.

At his side, a minor official spoke up.

“Enter the academy and receive the rite of the Literary Star.”

Song Mu and the others straightened their robes and slowly went inside.

As Song Mu reached the academy gates, he could already see, beneath the red honor board, the papers of the top three scorers from this examination posted on both sides.

He also saw the poetry paper he himself had written. His poems were all there, and he could not help but smile in quiet satisfaction before composing himself and striding into the academy.

As Song Mu entered, the scholars of Jizhou Prefecture also filed in. When they passed the red honor board, they too looked toward the papers on either side, and then one of them suddenly gave a puzzled cry.

“Hm? Why are there only two policy essays on display?”

With one person speaking up, the others noticed it as well. At once, their expressions turned to astonishment. Seeing that there were indeed only two policy essays on the board, while the other space held nothing but a sheet of white paper bearing Song Mu’s name, they too were startled.

But there was no time to investigate further, and they could only continue inward.

More groups of licentiates entered one after another, and some of them also noticed the oddity, finding it rather baffling.

Only after all the victors had entered the academy were those papers brought out and displayed before the gate.

Countless commoners and scholars crowded forward to look, and some even read the works aloud. Their faces all showed excitement.

“These poems are truly excellent!”

“And the essays are good too. Did you see the red annotations? The ending of the top scorer’s classics essay is especially well done.”

“Wait, what is this? Why are there only two policy essays?”

“One is missing. The top scorer’s name is there, but his policy essay isn’t!”

Sharp-eyed people immediately spotted the anomaly when they saw the sheet of white paper bearing only Song Mu’s name.

And at that sight, all of them drew a sharp breath, for they suddenly realized a shocking fact.

Among the papers just displayed, Song Mu ranked first in the classics essay, first in the poetry and verse, and first in the policy essay as well.

First in all three!

And when they looked at the other papers, they saw the second- and third-place works from the academy examination, and in some subjects even the fifth- and sixth-place papers were among them.

Only Song Mu had taken first place in all three.

This discovery sent a tremor through everyone’s mind. That elegant young man from moments ago had actually swept the board so thoroughly.

At the same time, some people began to infer the truth.

“Fellow scholars, that day when the Half-Saint descended, could it have been for this Song Mu?”

Such a guess was made, and the others nodded in agreement. Some even chimed in.

“That must be it. Look at that poem from just now. The line about the endless, surging Long River—doesn’t that borrow from Du Fu’s Climbing the Heights?”

“Brother, you are right. Climbing the Heights is the foremost of seven-character regulated verse, and this poem is no small matter either. This is truly blue surpassing blue; no wonder the Half-Saint descended!”

Voices rose all around in a lively clamor, and the crowd’s hearts were all in turmoil. Their gazes swept repeatedly over the poems, and in an instant, those quick-handed enough had already copied several of them down, spreading them almost at once.

At the academy gate, Inspector Fan exchanged a few words with Ouyang Hong beside him.

“Song Mu refused Saint Du’s recruitment. That was rather rash of him.”

Inspector Fan said it once, while Ouyang Hong merely lowered his head in silence.

Though he did not know why Song Mu had made such a decision, Ouyang Hong remained neutral about it.

Having one’s own ideas was not a bad thing. There were many roads in this world, and it was not as though joining a school of poets guaranteed smooth sailing. After all, once one entered such a lineage, one would forever bear its mark.

And Song Mu was, in the end, a descendant of a family rooted in the literary vein. Ouyang Hong knew well the spirit and aspirations of that house, and he understood all the more why Song Mu had chosen as he did.

“Still, so be it. Even if he does not join a school of poets, I believe Song Mu will still carve out a great road for himself in the future.”

Inspector Fan merely sighed, then waved a hand.

But then he looked up at Ouyang Hong again, and this time he spoke with earnest gravity.

“Tell me more about Song Mu’s usual character.”

Hearing Inspector Fan speak thus, Ouyang Hong’s expression also grew solemn. He reckoned that Song Mu had already caught the inspector’s eye, and feeling a stir of excitement, he hurried to explain.

As the two conversed at the academy gate, Song Mu and the others had already reached the interior of the academy.

There was a sacrificial platform here as well, though not as grand as the one at the examination hall. On the platform stood the statues of Saint Confucius and Saint Zhang, and at the very top of the platform stood an elderly man.

He was the same officiant who had appeared at the examination hall that day, the guardian of the Literary Star.

A minor official stepped forward and led Song Mu and the scholars of Shiyang County up toward the platform. It was Song Mu’s first time ascending it, and he discovered that it was made of white marble, carved with archaic patterns.

With every step upward, Song Mu could feel the solemn grandeur of the platform.

When Song Mu and the eleven others had reached the high platform, he lifted his head and met the eyes of the old man in resplendent sacrificial robes.

The other man’s gaze was clear, and Song Mu sensed in it a deep and genuine relief.

“Fellow scholars, you have the time of one incense stick. Sit where you are.”

The old man said this in a calm and sonorous voice. Song Mu and the others looked at one another, then sat down cross-legged.

At that moment the old man had already turned away. At the highest point of the platform, the bronze box containing the Literary Star stood properly in place.

Slowly, the old man extended a hand, and a current of literary power flowed into the bronze box. Only then did everyone truly see the Literary Star’s original form.

It was a black stone riddled with countless holes, looking plain and unremarkable.

“Close your eyes and focus your mind. Guard your dantian. Remember this: when the azure radiance enters the body, let it follow its natural course.”

The old man said it again in that steady tone. Everyone answered at once, then closed their eyes and concentrated.

The old man’s finger released another trace of literary power, and it probed into the Literary Star. The next instant, flickering light burst forth from within.

In the blink of an eye, that charred stone became translucent and clear, radiating threads of blue light.

The blue radiance spread outward, but unlike before, it did not surge all at once. Instead, it slowly divided into more than a dozen streams and, like flowing water, entered Song Mu and the others.

As the azure light entered his body, Song Mu immediately felt literary qi roiling through him.

And before he had to do a single thing, the literary power within his body seemed to find a switch and begin to circulate on its own. In just a moment, it had started to move around his entire body.

The method of circulation taught in the chapter on literary power was now effortlessly guided by this Literary Star.

Before long, the azure radiance began to channel a vast amount of literary qi into Song Mu’s body.

That immense quantity of literary qi was nearly equal to the talent contained in a poem worth five dou of literary brilliance.

Song Mu was slightly shaken, but he immediately steadied his mind and carefully controlled the literary qi as it entered his dantian. With the help of the azure radiance, he slowly transformed it into literary power.

In the blink of an eye, the time of one incense stick had passed. The old man on the platform had already withdrawn his power, and at that moment his gaze rested on Song Mu, who still sat in meditation.

“An upper-grade licentiate. Very good.”

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