Chapter 114 - 114: 93: I am the King of Competition
Chapter 114 - 114: 93: I am the King of Competition
However, when it came to the inner struggle, no one had ever scared Lu Yuan, the King of Competition.
Please tell me, which traverser who wants longevity and immortality can strive as hard as him?
I, as a long-lived person, already compete so much, don’t you short-lived people still get defeated by me?
‘Even if I can’t surpass you now, even after you improve a few decades or so, I can improve for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. So two or three will be counted as five, and in the end, I will still win.”
Lu Yuan feels quite proud in his heart.
Half a month passed, and Lu Yan’s appointment came. He visited many friends and relatives one by one, and then took charge of his new position with a newly hired servant.
Along with it, Sun Siwen’s promotion letter also arrived.
By the end of December, at the most festive time of the year, he finally did as he had said before, and was promoted by one level to become the Education Official of Changning County.
The old Education Official retired this year, and after handing over his work at the end of the year, he would return to his hometown to enjoy his old age. Soon, the end of the year came.
In the last few days before the Government Office closed for the holidays, Sun Siwen finally completed the handover of his work.
Being promoted by one grade and level was naturally a happy event.
Therefore, during the last few days of the year, everyone in Sun Residence seemed joyful.
Lu Yuan was also happy for his good friend.
On New Year’s Eve, he even personally cooked a large New Year’s Eve feast, taking over the work usually done by Chun Ma, to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.
This year was different than the previous quiet ones.
There were three members of the Gu Family, Lu Yuan and his apprentice, and Sun Siwen, a total of six people, celebrating the New Year together.
After setting off firecrackers and watching fireworks, the new year arrived.
After the New Year, Sun Siwen, as a newly appointed official, naturally visited his colleagues in the county without a break, and received local gentry and scholars who came to send their New Year’s greetings at home, busying himself all the time.
Gu Songyun, influenced by Lu Yan, became even more diligent in his studies, and it was said that he did not even spare his evenings and continued to study by lamplight.
The level of his determination almost caught up with Lu Yuan.
Seeing his friend and his friend’s apprentice working hard, with promising careers and a bright future ahead,
Lu Yuan, who was waiting in front, also felt some pressure and became even more determined.
He not only devoted more time to practicing palm skills and cultivating Inner Strength, but also spent half an hour more reading Taoist Classics than in the past.
In this way, the time he spent studying and practicing martial arts every day reached seven hours, which was quite terrifying.
Of course, with such dedication and hard work, Lu Yuan’s cultivation advanced rapidly, and his understanding of the Taoist Classics also increased quickly, gradually reaching a higher level.
The New Year’s festivities were over.
Although now promoted to Education Official, Sun Siwen’s main focus remained on teaching students.
As for the other tasks of the Education Officials, most were delegated to subordinates for execution; he was mainly responsible for setting the general direction and did not interfere too much.
As for this, the county magistrate naturally supported it, and the others in the county had nothing to say.
Sun Siwen’s ability to teach students had been verified multiple times and received everyone’s affirmation.
For the achievements of the students he taught, it did not matter whether it was the county magistrate, other county officials, or even local gentry and powerful families; everyone benefited.
Therefore, why wouldn’t they support Sun Siwen’s choice?
On the contrary, these people were afraid that Sun Siwen would lose interest in teaching after being promoted, leaving the academy without such a good teacher, which would be a loss for the whole Changning county.
Now that Sun Siwen chose to continue teaching, they were relieved.
Having been promoted but still choosing to stay at the academy, Sun Siwen naturally had his own ambition.
According to his conversation with Lu Yuan, the newly appointed Education Official planned to spend a few years training one or two juren, then use this achievement to raise his rank again.
Striving to be promoted to the County Magistrate Seal within five years and becoming a Seventh Rank Deputy, and then endure for another three years to vie for the position of county magistrate.
Lu Yuan, who had already reached such a level in the Jianghu, naturally showed his affirmative attitude towards his friend’s ambition of being promoted to the county magistrate within eight years.
He even greatly praised and encouraged his friend to keep working hard.
Then he turned around, continued to practice hard.
Time flew by like this.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. By June, Zhou Qing, who had barely opened up the first of the meridians and two acupoints after practicing Inner Strength for half a year, finally became familiar with the operation of Inner Strength inside his body.
Under the care of Lu Yuan, he took the Blood Jade Divine Medicine and began his breakthrough.
The process went smoothly, and with the help of Blood Jade Divine Medicine, Zhou Qing’s Inner Strength skyrocketed, breaking through the first meridian
barrier instantly. He then attacked the second meridian and broke three more
acupoints before the medicine’s effect dispersed, stopping the breakthrough.
In just one day, he achieved what would have taken four years without the medicine, completing it in an instant.
However, such treatment was only available once.
With the Blood Jade Divine Medicine used up and no more in stock for Lu Yuan, Zhou Qing would have to follow his master’s example and practice through closed-door meditation to make breakthroughs in the future.
However, Zhou Qing was quite happy about this. He, who had not practiced for a long time, had not yet realized the difficulties and boredom of martial arts practice, and was now immersed in the joy of rapid progress in his cultivation.
Fortunately, as a master, Lu Yuan was quite attentive to his apprentice.
Knowing that his disciple had average talent and would need a long time to struggle, he took Zhou Qing with him to study Taoist Classics together.
At this time, Zhou Qing’s previous comprehension and talent came into play.
Although he had just started learning, Zhou Qing had made rapid progress and, in a short time, gained some understanding of the various principles and spiritual aspects of the Taoist Classics.
At this rate, it may take him less than two years for his Daoist knowledge to catch up with his master.
This made Lu Yuan very happy.
The good comprehension of the Taoist Classics by his apprentice, to some extent, could narrow the gap in talent and help him improve his cultivation more quickly.
Moreover, while teaching his apprentice the Taoist Classics, Lu Yuan also felt as if he was revisiting and sorting out the insights he had learned himself. This made him gain a deeper understanding of the Taoist Classics, and his perspective broadened.
In this way,
Not only was he teaching Zhou Qing, but Lu Yuan was also learning in the process of teaching.
Under their mutual confirmation, his understanding of the Taoist Classics progressed rapidly.
During the latest visit to Qingyun View, when discussing the Dao with Qi Yun Taoist and Kong Yuzhu, Lu Yuan even surprisingly had a back-and-forth exchange, arguing with each other.
This progress made both Daoists exclaim that he was a monster and then express their delight.
Within less than a year, they had one more genuine fellow Daoist, who was taught by themselves, who wouldn’t be happy about that?