DNDAS

Chapter 33: Where Did You Live?

Fu Li's handwriting was as stiff as a child who had just learnt to write – when put together, every stroke just barely managed to form a complete word. It could be said that there was no sense of aesthetics. Zhuang Qing's gaze swept across one of the answers to the questions. He was left stunned.

Question: How should one increase their cultivation?

Answer: Listen to your heart. Breathe in Heaven and Earth's spiritual qi. Pray to the moon. Absorb the essence of moonlight. Take in the vitality of the Four Seas.

There was a huge discrepancy between this answer and the current cultivation methods. However, Zhuang Qing couldn't draw his gaze away from the phrase 'breathe in Heaven and Earth's spiritual qi'. A few hundred years ago, using the identity of a human, he had taken on an official's post in the imperial court. Due to this, he was able to get close to the archive of books and found many unpublicized ancient texts. Many books were badly damaged and made outlandish, illegal claims, but certain supernatural stories had indeed been recorded in these books. For example, the story of nine-tailed foxes praying to the moon, plants transforming into yao by absorbing the essence of moonlight, bird yao transforming into their human forms during a full moon, and other such sayings. At that time, he felt that these sayings were thought up by human scholars. Yet for some reason, he had always kept them in his heart.

Now that he suddenly glimpsed a similar saying written on Fu Li's exam paper, besides astonishment, he also felt that these methods might truly be the way the ancient yao cultivated. The cultivation methods of that time appeared simple and crude, but embodied reverence towards nature. Strategies made up a greater proportion of modern cultivation methods, so the influence of nature on cultivation naturally decreased as well.

As the times progressed, yao and humans also gradually reduced their dependency and reverence towards nature. It was unknown if this was good or bad.

"Boss, what's wrong?" Chu Yu and Xu Yuan had also accompanied Zhuang Qing to search for the exam paper. Seeing Zhuang Qing's grave expression, Chu Yu thought that he was angered by his benefactor's written exam results. Thus, he spoke up, "Benefactor might have been cut off from the world for too long. This... his poor results are pardonable."

Zhuang Qing ignored him. He took out his handphone and dialed Fu Li's number.

Fu Li was currently studying. Even after hearing the phone's ringtone, he didn't have much of a reaction. This was because it hadn't rung ever since its purchase. Only after staring at the handphone for more than ten seconds did he answer the phone.

"Mr Fu," Zhuang Qing placed the exam paper on the desk after Fu Li picked up. "I would like to consult Mr Fu on some things, do you happen to be free at the moment?"

Fu Li glanced at the half-memorized <Graduation Form> in his hands. "I'm studying now."

"I'll only take up a few hours of your time. I'll drive over and pick you up," Zhuang Qing's voice softened a little. "Is that okay?"

Hearing the other party's softer tone, Fu Li recalled that the other party was merely an underaged, parentless dragon. Unable to utter words of rejection again, Fu Li could only nod and reply, "All right."

On the other end of the call, Xu Yuan and Chu Yu looked at Zhuang Qing in shock. What was up with the boss today? He was actually willing to take the initiative to pick someone up, did his heart no longer ache from the petrol cost of a round trip?

"Many thanks," Zhuang Qing hung up. Noticing his two colleagues staring at him, he handed Fu Li's exam paper to Chu Yu. "Put this in my office."

"Oh," Chu Yu nodded. Had his benefactor's answers taken the boss' breath away?