Chapter 1 Double Happiness
On this day, outside Liu's house in Hengshan City, three yamen runners came with gongs and drums.

The housekeeper of Liu's house came out, suppressing the joy in his heart, as if he was afraid that if he was too happy too early, he would scare away the huge wealth.

He cupped his hands and asked nervously, "Three officers, did my young master win?"

"Congratulations, Mr. Liu and Mrs. Liu. Your family's top student, Mr. Ou Zanghua, has shown his ambition in this provincial examination and has been selected as the top scholar by the chief examiner!"

A yamen runner bowed in return and shouted with a festive look on his face.

When the housekeeper of Liu's house heard this, he immediately smiled happily. He arranged for the servants to throw copper coins to thank the neighbors and passers-by who came to congratulate him, and led the three yamen runners into the house.

For a moment, the whole street was filled with a festive atmosphere.

Inside Liu's residence, in a small courtyard called 'Wuyuan'.

A young man with a straight nose, thin lips, sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, has a fresh and handsome appearance.

This is today’s protagonist, Ou Zanghua.

In addition to his identity as Jie Yuan, he is also the fourteenth generation disciple of the Hengshan Sword Sect.

His master was none other than Liu Zhengfeng, a famous swordsman from the Hengshan Sword School whose entire family was later wiped out. He was also known as "Liu San".

Eight years ago, Ou Zanghua traveled from the 21st century to the Ming Dynasty for unknown reasons and was imprisoned in a bandit's den.

At the critical moment of life and death, Liu Zhengfeng, who had just entered the martial arts world, came in with several upright masters and rescued him.

You know, as a person who has received 16 years of modern education, the impact of seeing a group of people flying around with swords and fighting was simply explosive.

So Ou Zanghua's martial arts soul naturally awakened, and he shamelessly begged Master Liu to accept him as his disciple, wanting to uphold justice and eliminate harm for the people.

Old Liu was so annoyed that he had no choice but to accept this apprentice.

Then, through Lao Liu's self-introduction, Ou Zanghua learned his sect and full name.

Xiao Ou was stunned on the spot. When others traveled through "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer", they were either in Wudang or Huashan.

He was so good that he put himself on Hengshan Mountain and labeled himself as the number one villain.

But the master has already worshiped.
The sect also entered

I can't withdraw even if I want to
In order to protect his resentful master, Ou Zanghua decided to study martial arts hard and strive to protect his master's family in the future.

However, eight out of ten things in this world are not as we wish. It took him three years to practice the Hengshan School's introductory technique, the Hengshan Heart Technique, before he reached the second level.

You should know that Mi Weiyi, who started practicing a year later than him, has already reached the third level.

Although he had no talent in martial arts, Old Liu did not look down on Ou Zanghua.

Instead, he comforted him and told him that learning martial arts was not the only way out, and then he planned to arrange for him to learn bookkeeping in the Liu family's shop.

But can accounting save Lao Liu?
It's obviously unsalvageable.

Therefore, Ou Zanghua decided to take another gamble. He picked up the books of sages and devoted all his energy to the imperial examination.

When Old Liu found out about this, he didn't get angry. Instead, like a father, he enrolled him in the best private school in Hengyang City and bought various scholars' notes for him to study.

Then, Ou Zanghua showed great talent in the imperial examinations by virtue of his extraordinary memory and knowledge from two lifetimes.

In just five years, he passed the provincial examination and became the top scorer. A year later, he passed the metropolitan examination with an almost certain success, though he didn't exactly succeed.

By then, as a Jinshi, won’t he be able to protect his master’s family?
nonexistent.

Just when Ou Zanghua was feeling very proud, a "ding!" suddenly came from his mind.

Then a mechanical female voice was heard: "Congratulations, you have activated the Great Musician System. This system will help you become a great musician of historical level and leave your name in history."

"." Ou Zanghua's smile froze and he fell silent.

He has given up martial arts to pursue literature for five years and has achieved extraordinary success. Only a fool would give up studying literature to become a great musician!

Crappy system, get out!
"For the first time using this system, customers will be given a beginner gift pack, +1 achievement point, +5 reputation points!"

“Begin collecting basic customer information.”

Name: Ou Zanghua
Physical age: 18 years old
Height: 186cm
Skills: Level 2 of "Hengshan Heart Technique", Level 3 of "Hengshan Sword Technique", proficiency in flute playing, proficiency in calligraphy, proficiency in eight-part essays

Reputation: Famous in Hengyang City (Reputation Points +5)

Representative works: None

Looking at his basic information, Ou Zanghua asked curiously, "What are reputation points and achievement points used for?" The system in his mind replied, "Reputation points can improve skill levels, and achievement points can break through skill limits."

"Increase skill level?" Ou Zanghua looked at the ten points of reputation in his hand and tried to add five of them to the "Hengshan Heart Sutra".

The next moment, he felt his body relax, and the true energy in his body inexplicably became thicker.

"Is this the seventh level?" Ou Zanghua couldn't help but clench his fists, feeling the true energy in his body, and was extremely surprised.

Then, he added the remaining five points of reputation to "Hengshan Sword Technique".

All of a sudden, his mind gained a lot more insights into swordsmanship, and the muscles in his arms sometimes tensed and sometimes relaxed.

The seventh level of "Hengshan Heart Sutra"!

The eighth level of "Hengshan Sword Technique"!

Ou Zanghua was overjoyed, and immediately used his fingers as swords to perform the Hengshan Sword Technique in Wu Garden.

The movements are graceful, easy and beautiful.

It's a pity that Ou Zanghua has never been in the martial arts world, so he doesn't know how his current strength compares to the world.

After finishing the work, he smiled and said to himself: "Well, it seems that this system is not completely useless. It is not bad. So, how can I get achievement points and reputation points?"

The system immediately explained: "Reputation points are linked to popularity. The more people have listened to your music, the higher the reputation points will be. If the popularity reaches one city, you will be rewarded with five points. If it reaches one province, you will be rewarded with an additional ten points."

“Achievement points are tied to records. If the music you create is recorded by a national department, you will get one point for each piece.”

"I see." Ou Zanghua nodded, and at the same time sighed in his heart that this was a bit difficult!
You have to know that even in the 21st century with advanced information and open minds, a singer like Jay Chou, who is a mainstay of Chinese music, only has one song "Thousands of Mountains and Rivers" included in the album.

Even King Liu, a hard worker who has been in the industry for 40 years and sung more than songs, only had one song, "Chinese," included in the collection.

In the feudal dynasty where Ou Zanghua lived, actors were considered the lowest class and musicians were simply ignored. Only by picking and choosing in the long river of history could ten be found.

“So, if you want to do something creative, you still have to read!”

Ou Zanghua looked determined. He thought it would be best if he could get the top score in next year's palace examination. In this way, he would become the fourth scholar in this dynasty to win the top three places in a row, following Huang Guan, Li Qi and Shang Lu.

According to the Ming Dynasty custom, a first-class Jinshi would be granted the position of editor in the Hanlin Academy, whose main responsibilities were to compile the Veritable Records, record the emperor's words and deeds, lecture on classics and history, and draft documents related to ceremonies.

In this way, you will have more room for maneuver.

However, with my current level of eight-legged essay writing, it would not be a problem for me to pass the third-class Jinshi exam, but it would still be very difficult to get into the first-class.

Ou Zanghua weighed the matter for a moment and decisively added the achievement points to the mastery of eight-legged essay.

The plug-in emitted a golden light, and under the special effects of this one-hit-999 online game, proficiency turned into mastery.

At this moment, Ou Zanghua was no longer himself. Before his eyes were the explanations of eight-part essay masters such as Chen Jita, Wang Ao, Tang Shunzhi, Gui Youguang, Hu Youxin, Jin Sheng, Zhang Shichun, Zhang Chunyao, and Han Rong, which poured into his mind like the Milky Way pouring down from the ground.

Not long after, a sixteen-year-old girl ran in happily. Seeing Ou Zanghua in a daze, she smiled and said softly, "Big Brother, mother wants you to go to the back hall. Father will be here soon."

This fair-skinned and beautiful girl is the daughter of Master Liu Zhengfeng, Liu Jing.

In the original novel, this poor man was killed with a sword by Wan Daping, a disciple of the Songshan Sect, after he angrily cursed the Songshan Sect.

Ou Zanghua woke up, looked at the beautiful junior sister, smiled gently, nodded and said: "I understand, I will go there soon."

"Yes, senior brother, is it very difficult to take the imperial examination? I heard that only three people from Hengyang City passed this provincial examination! There were obviously more than a hundred people taking the exam." Liu Qing followed Ou Zanghua, looking at the senior brother who was like a god, and asked with a smile.

Since she was a child, she liked to follow her senior brother because he would tell her interesting stories, buy her snacks, and encourage her to practice martial arts.

Compared to his father, the eldest brother is gentler.

Compared with the second brother Xiang Da Nian and the third brother Mi Weiyi, the eldest brother is warmer.

Staying with the senior brother, Liu Qing felt that she didn't have to worry about anything, because the senior brother would take care of everything for her.

"For you, taking the imperial examination is easier than practicing martial arts."

As Ou Zanghua walked, he said calmly: "Compared with my junior sister, my martial arts skills are too poor."

"Big Brother is making fun of me again!"

The little girl pouted and said, "It was obviously the senior brother who gave in to me."

"Haha." Ou Zanghua smiled. He might have to give in to this little girl next time he practices with her.

(End of this chapter)