Gu Ningyun asked Yang Churan about the details in the "Prosper Together" group chat after confirming ancient script teaching as their Specialized Mandatory Course.
She learned that if one wanted to teach ancient script to new disciples as a guide, one had to go to Book Peak to take an assessment and obtain the qualification to teach ancient script.
This was to prevent guides with insufficient ability from misleading the students.
In the formal disciple training plan, there were three basic courses: qi induction guidance, basic cultivation guidance, and common script teaching of the cultivation world.
There were five mandatory courses: Specialized Mandatory Course, spirit energy application class, body refining, Introduction to Music Cultivation, and Introduction to Food Cultivation.
Among them, the spirit energy application class was further divided into three sub-courses: spirit energy precision training, spirit energy manifestation of inanimate objects training, and spirit energy manifestation of living creatures training.
Body refining ran throughout the new disciples' entire specialized training period. Based on the body-refining cultivation techniques and the disciples' actual physical condition, medicinal baths and physical conditioning were conducted simultaneously.
Gu Ningyun and Wen Xuan divided the labor for these courses.
Gu Ningyun was responsible for: qi induction guidance, Specialized Mandatory Course, and spirit energy application class.
Wen Xuan was responsible for: basic cultivation guidance, common script teaching of the cultivation world, and body refining.
As for Introduction to Music Cultivation and Introduction to Food Cultivation, the sect would arrange dedicated instructors to teach them.
With the division of labor settled, the two set off separately, traveling between the various floating peaks.
They searched through records, watched recordings on recording stones, and consulted senior sisters, senior brothers, and elders, researching how to teach these mandatory courses.
Before submitting ancient script teaching as their Specialized Mandatory Course to the New Disciple Training Department, Gu Ningyun first went to Book Peak to sign up for the ancient script teaching qualification assessment.
Accompanying her were Mu Chenze and Jun Luo, who were also responsible for teaching this course.
Only by passing Book Peak's assessment first and obtaining the qualification to teach could they set ancient script teaching as their Specialized Mandatory Course.
Gu Ningyun and her two companions were all people who frequently dealt with ancient script, whether drawing talismans or setting up arrays.
Back at the very beginning, they had also received systematic instruction in ancient script from Senior Sister Yang Churan, the closed-door disciple of Book Peak's Great Elder.
Even so, obtaining the qualification to teach... took quite a deal of effort.
After all, knowing how to use it did not mean knowing how to teach it...
In ancient texts, a difference of a single character could change the intended meaning by a thousand li.
When drawing talismans or engraving array patterns, a discrepancy of half a character was the life-and-death divide between success and exploding patterns.
If they taught it wrong or taught it poorly, it truly would mislead students and cause no end of harm.
Therefore, to obtain the teaching qualification, one had to pass the following three assessments.
First was the basic assessment, which required being able to read, write, and translate.
The specific assessment content was: Book Peak would issue a thick ancient volume, and the disciple had to read it once, copy it once, and translate it once.
There could not be a single error in reading, writing, or translating; otherwise, it would be judged a failure, and the disciple would not be allowed to retake the qualification assessment for half a year.
Second was the extended assessment, which required being able to deconstruct ancient characters and explain the origin and meaning of every structural component.
The specific assessment content was: Book Peak would issue another thick ancient volume, and the disciples had to deconstruct every single character within two days at the assessment location.
If a single error occurred during deconstruction, it would be judged a failure, and they would not be allowed to retake the qualification assessment for half a year.
Finally, there was the supplementary assessment, which required disciples to master either talisman drawing or array formation.
Since Gu Ningyun and the other two were all at the early Foundation Establishment stage, the assessment content was to draw a mysterious-rank low-grade talisman or engrave a mysterious-rank low-grade array plate on the spot.
If drawing the talisman or forming the array failed, it would be judged a failure, and they would not be allowed to retake the qualification assessment for half a year.
Only by passing all three of the above assessments could one obtain the qualification to teach ancient script.
After signing up and receiving the overview of the assessment content, Gu Ningyun and her two companions looked at each other in dismay.
Aah, they finally understood why ancient script was so important, yet remained so unpopular as a Specialized Mandatory Course in training new disciples.
It turned out it wasn't that the senior sisters and brothers didn't place importance on it or didn't want to teach it.
Rather, Book Peak's teaching qualification assessment was just too difficult!
The first and third items were manageable; the former had their prior systematic instruction to fall back on, while the latter was backed by solid strength.
Only the second item, character structural deconstruction, had been touched upon by Senior Sister Yang before.
However, due to time constraints, she had only briefly explained a dozen or so characters and given a few examples.
Relying on just this bit of understanding, passing the assessment was absolutely impossible.
Mu Chenze silently posted their current predicament in "Prosper Together."
As if having anticipated this long ago, Yang Churan immediately sent a book list.
It was a densely packed, exceptionally long message containing about twenty book titles, each followed by a corresponding overview of its contents.
Introductory Level: Identifying Forms and Discerning Structures
《Analysis of Dual Script Forms》
Content: Analyze and differentiate ancient script from current common script, deconstruct stroke components, and distinguish vulgar characters, corrupted characters, and standard characters.
Usage: Cultivators first verify the authenticity of character forms to avoid using incorrect distorted characters, which could lead to backlashes in talismans or arrays.
《Deconstruction of Radical Structures》
Content: Deconstruct ancient characters into radicals and roots, explaining the original meaning of each component.
Usage: Deconstruct ideogrammic compounds and phono-semantic compound characters; this is foundational study for cultivating the Dao of Script.
Advanced Level: Tracing the Origins of Character Creation (Core: Etymological Deconstruction)
《Cangjie Character Origins》 (also known as the remnant volume of 《Primordial Script Contracts》)
The book is divided into three sections: Pictograms, Ideograms, and Compound Ideographs, strictly following the Six Writings to deconstruct every original character.
Content: Trace the natural phenomena and physical objects present when characters were first created.
Example: "Zhi" represents a footprint; "Xing" represents a crossroads; "Wu" originally meant setting out to fight with a halberd, not putting away weapons to end conflict.
Usage: Restore the images of the Heavenly Dao originally carried by characters; only by finding the root of character creation can one activate the inherent law power within the characters.
...
Gu Ningyun was left dumbfounded.
Mu Chenze broke out in a cold sweat.
Jun Luo looked toward the library. "Why don't we split into three ways and find all these books first?"
Thus, on this day, the library welcomed three of its most devoted seekers of the Dao once again.
These three seekers made a nest inside the building and stayed without sleep or rest for more than half a month.
Not until the day of the assessment did the three walk out of the library.
The weather was sunny and clear, the mist dispersed, and the clouds parted.
Seekers who had once walked in with heads bowed in sighs now walked out with heads held high and chests puffed out.
The three walking proudly had relaxed expressions on their faces.
They merely touched their slightly cool scalps, wondering how much hair they had left after pulling all those all-nighters.
They merely adjusted the identity jade tokens at their waists, inside of which newly added friends and transmission records stretched out endlessly as far as the eye could see.
"Senior Sister Yang, I was reading 《Analysis of Script Errors》, where it states that incorrect characters will distort Great Dao rules, causing Qi Deviation at mildest and triggering a character tribulation at worst. I wonder what that means?"
"Martial Uncle Yi Wen, Senior Sister Yang Churan said that you have deep research into 《Exposition of Mysterious Script Meaning》.
The text mentions that character pronunciations' five tones correspond to the five elements, and homophonous characters can mutually stimulate Dao Rhyme. I tried to understand it with examples, but I still couldn't grasp the core concept. I wonder if you might have time to explain it to this disciple?"
"Martial Uncle Yi Guan..."
"First Senior Sister Chan Shu..."
"..."
Meanwhile, as the assessment began, Book Peak's Peak Master, elders, and disciples all breathed a sigh of relief and put down their identity jade tokens.
They hoped that this time, more disciples would pass the assessment.
Rate on N.U.
