The heat of midsummer in July shows no signs of cooling, and the treetops have been calling tirelessly for a month, and time is slowly passing in peace.

After that day, no one from the rivers and lakes on Rice Cang Mountain came. Xu Mingyuan also found that there were people guarding the mountain in the dark, and it should be a master of the rivers and lakes sent by the Bai family. Although Xu Mingyuan was a little unaccustomed, he did not refuse Bai Molou's kindness.

No matter how high the master sent by the Bai family is, as long as he stays at the foot of the mountain, it represents the attitude of the Bai family. If the Li family sends someone again, it will be an official tear of the face.

The master of the third grade, Xu Mingyuan doesn't have to worry about it now, but if it is a master of the second grade, it is not something that Xu Mingyuan can deal with now.

Xu Mingyuan's injuries were completely healed after ten days, and they no longer affected his sword practice.

Zhou Binjie showed rare resilience and perseverance in practicing boxing, and during these days, he climbed up the mountain early every day with the altar of wine, and his body was indeed better than before.

He has learned almost all of the Demon Boxing, but it is still a little difficult for him to finish it all at once, eighty-one style boxing, divided into three fights, although the strength is insufficient, the moves are presentable.

Even Qing Xuan secretly told Xu Mingyuan that if Zhou Binjie had always had this energy, maybe he would really be able to practice the second fat Yama in the future.

Xu Mingyuan's original intention was not to let Zhou Binjie get involved in the rivers and lakes, after all, his family background was already wealthy, and his ambition was above business, so he didn't talk to him about it, but after some guidance every day, he went to read by himself.

These days, he has also figured out that sword qi, and the three grades are called the dividing line, which is not unreasonable. After the three grades, there is a direct connection between the sword qi and the circulation of the dantian qi, and the more the dantian qi is, the more times the sword qi can be used.

The saying of this dantian qi was told to him by Qing Xuan, which is related to people's cultivation, those who have just broken through the realm of the three grades, I am afraid that they can only use the sword qi once or twice, and the longer they enter the three grades, the more the dantian qi is, and the more sword qi can be used.

Of course, this dantian qi is not a pool of stagnant water, it is being generated all the time, but the lower the cultivation, the slower the recovery. Like Xu Mingyuan, who has just broken through the third grade, if he wants to fully recover, I am afraid it will take half an hour. And Zeng Qingyi is a quarter of an hour is enough.

If you reach the realm of a product, I heard that it can be endless, and you don't have to worry about the exhaustion of the dantian's qi at all.

However, what surprised Xu Mingyuan was that although he had only just broken through the third grade, the dantian qi in the dantian was enough for him to use his sword qi five times.

According to his master, it should be because he has been trapped on the Sanpin line for too long and has accumulated a lot, so he will be more than ordinary people.

Moreover, after the third grade, the sword moves he accumulated before could also allow him to get a lot of benefits in his subsequent cultivation, which was much faster than ordinary people.

Xu Mingyuan can also understand this, he has spent too much time between various moves over the years, if he only learned one martial art, he might have broken through to the third rank long ago.

And after entering the third grade, the future cultivation will not only rely on hard training to break through, but more need is understanding, perception of martial arts.

Being able to integrate all kinds of tricks into a set of sword moves, Xu Mingyuan's perception of swordsmanship is probably still above some swordsmanship masters.

The third grade is followed by the second grade, and the second grade is called the realm of the little grandmaster, which has its own uniqueness, and it is already able to stand on its own and occupy a place in the rivers and lakes.

Except for those scary and unborn predecessors of the four major sects, the general sect has a second-grade small grandmaster in charge, so no one dares to bully.

It is the Qingcheng Sword Sect, the first major sect in Jiannan Road, and the head of the door is also a second-grade small master, which can be seen that above this river and lake, the second-grade little grandmasters are already masters.

Xu Mingyuan had only broken through the third grade, and the realm of the second-grade little grandmaster was still far away from him. Although the third grade can be called a master in the ordinary people of the rivers and lakes, there are still many small grandmasters of the second grade, and there are only a few who can break through the second grade.

A few days ago, Xu Mingyuan also followed Zhou Binjie into Shuzhou City, and brought some of the books and pen, ink, paper, and inkstone that he had talked to Guo Cailing before.

Zhou Binjie also cherished Guo Cailing, a little girl, and went to Nancheng to buy a set of high-quality study four treasures, and brought them to her together.

During these days, Liu Sanniang's family has gradually become familiar with Zhou Binjie, and they also like this rich son who has no frame and is easy to talk.

Zhou Binjie also brought some rare things to Guo Cailing twice in three days, treating her as his own sister. Zhou Binjie can understand what Xu Mingyuan means, so he also takes care of their family, but he won't behave too explicitly and embarrass everyone.

Xu Mingyuan knew that he couldn't stop the little girl's embroidery, so he also set a time for him, how much time a day to embroider, how much time to practice calligraphy, and not to pull down the calligraphy.

Xu Mingyuan also thought a lot about Bai Molou's words that day, Guo Cailing's hands couldn't put down calligraphy because he wanted to go to Chang'an, otherwise it might become an eternal scar in his heart.

Guo Cailing has always been obedient to Xu Mingyuan's words, and when she saw that Xu Mingyuan had a serious agreement with her, she also nodded seriously and agreed.

However, compared with Zhou Binjie's first-class four treasures of the study, the little girl obviously likes Xu Mingyuan a lot, holding the rod that Xu Mingyuan brought back from Xuancheng back then, and she can't put it down.

During this period, Zeng Qingyi and Bai Lingxuan also came to the mountain together, and seeing that Xu Mingyuan was injured, Zeng Qingyi couldn't help but itch her hands, so she had to ask Xu Mingyuan to fight with her.

Xu Mingyuan also wanted to see how big the gap between the third grade and the real three-grade peak was, so naturally he would not refuse.

With all his strength, Xu Mingyuan used five swords, and even the last sword was used, but after all, he still couldn't break Zeng Qingyi's sword, so he could only helplessly look at the red long sword that stopped in his ear.

Zeng Qingyi and the middle-aged swordsman of that day are both third-grade, but the difference in strength is indeed not small, and it is still much stronger than Xu Mingyuan.

Bai Lingxuan and Zhou Binjie were also watching from the sidelines, their eyes were shining, and finally they sighed that the two of them ended too quickly and didn't enjoy it.

Later, as trophies, Zeng Qingyi directly took a few solitary books, saying that it was a reward for winning Xu Mingyuan this time. And Bai Lingxuan also did the same, and then took two ancient books, saying that she was too tired to climb the mountain, and she wanted to take something to compensate herself, which made Xu Mingyuan feel painful.

However, if Xu Mingyuan goes to Chang'an, according to Qingxuan's lazy nature, he will definitely not help him dry the books, I am afraid that it will not be long before he gets damp and is eaten by rats.

This made Xu Mingyuan a little annoyed, if he sold it, as long as the news of these ancient books and solitary books in his hands was released, I am afraid that Micang Mountain would be crowded with those literati and ink writers.

But Xu Mingyuan is really reluctant to sell this house of books that he has accumulated over the years, if only there was a place to help him keep them properly.

But then it's about to be tested in the township, Xu Mingyuan also put this aside in advance, and prepared a few more poems first, maybe he will use them then.

He went to the academy and met Master Zeng, and the master also said that his ink and meaning were not a problem, and his questions were not comparable to ordinary scholars, but the poetry was still weaker, so he asked him to prepare more.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it was the day of the township test, Xu Mingyuan got up early, carefully freshened up, changed into a clean green shirt, and carried a bamboo box down the mountain.

If the academy examination at the end of July is a contest of a few outstanding scholars, then the township examination at the beginning of August can be said to be the most important contest for the entire Shuzhou scholars.

The imperial examination is held every three years, and if you fail this time, you will have to wait for another three years, which may not be anything for a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, but for those middle-aged scholars who have aged and failed to pass the examination, these decades of time are the accumulation of three years of continuous repetition.

Xu Mingyuan carried a bamboo box into Shuzhou City, and the streets were full of scholars carrying bamboo boxes, including rich children in brocade clothes, poor students in patched robes, old men with white beards, and fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys.

Xu Mingyuan drank a bowl of porridge at a roadside stall, ate two steamed buns, and listened to the two scholars of the same age next to him talking softly, cheering each other up, and couldn't help but smile.

The two were sixteen or seventeen years old, one had a square face, a mole on the center of the eyebrows, a round face, two dimples on their faces when they smiled, and they didn't look like they were dressed like rich children. Listening to their conversation, they are from Xinjin County, they should all be coming to participate in the imperial examination for the first time, they are all a little nervous, while cheering each other up, they also don't forget the question of each other's school ink, and their serious appearance makes Xu Mingyuan also a little emotional.

If a poor scholar wants to go out of his way, the imperial examination is undoubtedly the best way. Moreover, if you can let go of the sour Confucianism in the hearts of the readers, even if you fail the imperial examination, it is better to help people keep accounts in restaurants and shops than to work tirelessly in the field.

After Xu Mingyuan drank the porridge, he asked the boss for two more baked cakes, and got up with the bookcase, and the two scholars also happened to get up, seeing that Xu Mingyuan was also holding the bookcase, they all smiled and nodded with Xu Mingyuan, and smiled shyly.

Xu Mingyuan also nodded and smiled at them, and said with a smile: "The two of you are also going to the Gongyuan, so it's better to go together." ”

When the two of them heard this, they were all overjoyed.

The Facebook student smiled and said: "Under Zhao Qingliang, this is Feng Rui, I went to Shuzhou City yesterday to ask for directions and went to see the Gongyuan once, but today I am a little confused, if my brother Taiken goes together, it would be better." By the way, I don't know what Brother Tai is called? ”

"In Xia Xu Mingyuan, you two don't have to be polite, the time for this imperial examination is almost up, let's go to the Gongyuan first." Xu Mingyuan put the bookcase on his back, said with a smile, and walked forward first.

The two of them are really simple, and they should rarely go out, otherwise this street is full of scholars who are going to go to the scientific examination, as long as they follow the direction of the crowd, it will naturally be the place where the Gongyuan is located.

============Thank you wszsw and Gongzi Qingmo for your tips, thank you for your recommendation...... I recommend a friend's book "The Hegemony of the Tang Dynasty", if you like the Tang Dynasty, you can read it.