I Seek Immortality Through the Confucian Way

Scholars cultivate Literary Spirit and seek to prove the Way of Letters. When Literary Spirit resides within, poems can shine with radiant light, and verses can resonate with the heavens and earth. A Child Scholar of the ninth rank is impervious to blades; a Presented Scholar can form military formations with his brushstrokes; a Grand Scholar, in a single stroke of anger, can startle the gods themselves. When a Sage walks the world, his very words become law, enough to rout a hundred thousand barbarian soldiers. In the present age, official positions are awarded through imperial examinations, the academies control all scholarly ranks, and the savage tribes lie entrenched across the Cangyuan Shore, biding their time to strike. Yet for a thousand years, no poet has possessed the genius of Li Bai, no lyricist has carried the soul of Su Shi. The Sage's throne remains empty, and the Confucian path has fallen into decline. Now, a destitute youth from a fallen noble house arrives, carrying within him the timeless masterpieces of a thousand ages—words that bear the Way, as he knocks upon the door of immortality.