Chapter 144 — Brothers of the Same Lineage

"Disperse, all of you, disperse. There is nothing to see; I was merely exchanging pointers with Scholar Shen. " "So he did give that Shen a sound beating after all. " The scholars understood, and looked at Shen Mu with gloating delight.

To their astonishment, Shen Mu's clothes were still neat and bright, while it was the Bashan Libationer who was covered in dust; it did not look as though Shen Mu had been beaten, but rather as though the Bashan Libationer was in a sorry state. The Bashan Libationer looked at the gate and the fallen wall and said with some headache, "No wonder the Grand Libationer said you nearly tore the Scholars' Quarter down once.

If you were to make a move in the Scholars' Quarter, it would not take you long to tear it down.

Your skill is exceedingly high, but it seems something has gone wrong with your cultivation method—there is a flaw at your left shoulder. " He had not deliberately lowered his voice, and the scholars who had not yet walked off heard it at once; one by one their eyes lit up.

"So his flaw is at his left shoulder! " Shen Wanyun drew a long breath. He had sensed that there seemed to be something sluggish in Shen Mu's cultivation method, but had never found where Shen Mu's flaw lay; now at last the Bashan Libationer had woken him to it. "Now my place as senior brother can be kept," he thought to himself.

"Have the menial servants come to repair this wall and door. " The Bashan Libationer caught sight of Shen Wanyun and called him over.

Shen Wanyun hastily bowed.

"Teacher! " The Bashan Libationer said to Shen Mu with a smile, "In the Imperial Academy there are few scholars I admire. Shen Wanyun is one I trained with care.

Junior Brother, what do you think of him?

" Shen Mu nodded and praised him.

"No wonder Senior Brother Shen's strength is so great—it was Senior Brother who trained him.

Senior Brother Shen is the senior brother of the Scholars' Quarter; in both cultivation and strength he has reached an exceedingly high level, and once he enters the Divine Power Quarter he is sure to shine brilliantly. " "Senior Brother?

Junior Brother? " Shen Wanyun was somewhat bewildered. The Bashan Libationer laughed.

"Junior Brother, why do you call him Senior Brother?

Call him martial nephew. If you call him Senior Brother, would that not throw our seniority into confusion?

" Shen Mu hesitated. The Bashan Libationer walked into the courtyard and went on, "I realized long ago that relying on the Directorate of Education alone to teach scholars makes it easy to produce experts, but also easy to hold back talent. The Directorate teaches too many people: with the same divine ability, one man learns it at a glance, while another needs ten or a hundred repetitions. But the Directorate must treat all alike—those who learn at a glance must study it a hundred times alongside the dullards, and only when the dullards have learned it may they go on to other divine abilities. That holds back their progress in cultivation. " Shen Mu and Shen Wanyun walked into the courtyard, and the Bashan Libationer tossed over his wine gourd. "I once spoke of this to the Grand Libationer.

I told him that the Imperial Academy's teaching suits talent picked one in a thousand, but not talent picked one in a hundred thousand or a million. So the Grand Libationer let me try it myself. I sought out Shen Wanyun and taught him alone for a time, and he did me proud, serving several years as senior brother of the Scholars' Quarter. It is proof enough that cultivating a man on his own surpasses the Academy's teaching. Shen Wanyun is just such talent, one in a hundred thousand or a million. " "So that is how it is. " Shen Mu frowned.

"But if that is so, how does the Imperial Academy differ from a sect?

" The Bashan Libationer sighed.

"That is why the Grand Libationer and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping both fret over this matter. The Grand Libationer is about to resign his post; the one who frets most over it now must be the Imperial Preceptor. The Imperial Preceptor knows well that the Academy has the Academy's flaws, and so he has taken a few disciples himself and taught them with care. Yet the geniuses held back by the Academy are surely not few. " Shen Mu was stunned.

What the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping faced was whether to repudiate his own reforms—and yet repudiate them he could not. The elementary schools, the higher schools, and the Imperial Academy surpassed the sects by far in the matter of cultivating talent in great numbers; once the problem of nurturing genius was solved, they could surpass the sects in every respect!

"How does the emperor teach the heir apparent? In his youth the heir has Junior Guardians, Junior Mentors, and Junior Instructors; when grown he has Grand Guardians, Grand Mentors, and Grand Instructors.

These Junior and Grand Guardians are all figures of the rank of sect masters and faction leaders. So the heir apparent cultivated in this way has exceedingly great strength. I am now trying to take a few scholars in hand, teaching them cultivation methods and divine abilities, instructing each according to his ability. " The Bashan Libationer said, "The Grand Libationer's meaning is that once I find the knack, it can be spread abroad. The Grand Libationer says we should select the learned and gifted from among the scholars and have Libationers teach them specially, setting them apart from scholars of ordinary aptitude.

Junior Brother, you are the first Doctor of the Imperial Academy in our Academy—Doctor Shen. "①