“How can this be acceptable?”
Although the Princess declined, her heart was incredibly excited.
She had only given away a partial scroll, yet Lu Changsheng had returned a complete cultivation technique, making her the beneficiary.
“I’ve said before, if there are gains, I’ll share them with you. I, Lu Changsheng, never treat my own people unfairly.”
“You…”
Yao Yusheng was inexplicably moved. Lu Changsheng treated her as one of his own and shared the complete cultivation technique, a gesture that truly touched her.
Lu Changsheng didn’t think there was anything to it; giving away a handwritten copy was no loss to him.
Yao Yusheng, upon receiving such a precious cultivation technique, surely would not spread it lightly.
As for what realm she could cultivate this Qing Emperor’s Qi cultivation method to, that would depend on her own aptitude.
Yao Yusheng gave a grateful look.
“In the semifinals, the first group, Song Ziming from Tianming Academy, versus Chen Zichu from Weilong Academy.”
The contest between the scholars of the Confucian Great Meeting continued, with two peerless geniuses from the Nine Great Confucian Sects competing against each other.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Chen Zichu was defeated.
“The genius cultivated by Tianming Academy really is formidable. It’s the second time we at Weilong Academy have lost to Tianming Academy.”
A middle-aged Great Confucian from Weilong Academy sighed.
Tianming Academy, claiming to be the leader of the Nine Great Confucian Sects, does boast about its own strength, but indeed, it has produced many talents lately, decisively suppressing Weilong Academy.
Song Ziming, the current top genius of Tianming Academy, enters the finals.
“In the semifinals, the second group, Mo Huazhi from Ziyang Academy, versus Xie Wenyun from Weilong Academy.”
The second group’s competition began, with Mo Huazhi taking the stage and taking out the Confucian Sage Brush that Lu Changsheng had given her.
The Confucian Sage Brush has not yet matured, but Confucian Cultivators do not overly rely on magical treasures; what matters more is their Magnificent Righteous Qi.
“I heard you are a new disciple accepted by the Master. Please enlighten me.”
Xie Wenyun had a gentle and elegant appearance, similar in temperament to Mo Huazhi. Both were learned and beautiful women.
“The ‘Vigorous Bamboo Scroll’ of South Foot Academy is well-known; to see it is better than to hear about it.”
Mo Huazhi and Xie Wenyun looked at each other, with the underlying meaning that she wanted to experience the ‘Vigorous Bamboo Scroll’ of South Foot Academy.
Xie Wenyun laughed lightly: “If you understand just one part of the ‘Vigorous Bamboo Scroll,’ I’m afraid you already admit defeat.”
“Please, enlighten me.”
Mo Huazhi rolled up her sleeves and began grinding ink.
Xie Wenyun also prepared at a calm and unhurried pace.
This is a spar between Confucian disciples, not a life-and-death battle, so there was no need to race against time.
After both were ready, they began to write.
From Xie Wenyun as the center, a vibrant breath of life spread outwards, the fresh breezes brought comfort and ease to the heart and mind.
“Such exuberant vitality!”
“Her literary intent is to create an entire world!”
The disciples of all the great Confucian sects were astounded and immersed in the artistic conception of the ‘Vigorous Bamboo Scroll.’
Stalks of Xiangshui Bamboo sprouted and grew rapidly, with Mo Huazhi completely absorbed into their artistic conception.
Literature carries the Tao; the sounds of the Great Dao resound.
“In my artistic conception, all writings must follow my rules.”
Xie Wenyun held the Spirit Brush, her strokes vigorous and forceful, and the bamboo forest took shape, forming a world of its own. Here, all the laws of heaven and earth bowed to her command.
“It’s said that the Saint of South Foot Academy created a calligraphy work named the ‘Vigorous Bamboo Scroll.’ Once one fully comprehends its artistic conception and replicates it, it is possible to forge a world where one can live undying.” Lin Tianyi saw the Sect-Defending Skills of South Foot Academy with his own eyes and praised accordingly, “Holy Son, I fear your disciple is in danger.”
Lu Changsheng remained unmoved.
He knew Mo Huazhi was still gathering her strength, planning to move in one go.
Finally, Mo Huazhi began to write. With the Confucian Sage Brush dipped in ink, she danced across the rice paper.
However, what Mo Huazhi wrote was not a calligraphy work from Ziyang Academy.
“The west wind blows ancient Dongting’s waves, in a single night the Xiang River’s lady’s hair turns grayer.”
The more Mo Huazhi wrote, the brighter her eyes shone.
This was a poem her master taught her on Qingyun Peak.
Mo Huazhi felt as though she had returned to her weaker days.
So many years had passed, yet Mo Huazhi never forgot Lu Changsheng’s teachings. In the poems and songs, she infused her own insights, forming her unique path.
Mo Huazhi had never made a move in public, hence no one in the Immortal Realm had seen her path.
“What character poster is she writing? Why have I never seen it before?”
“Could it be that this is a character poster recently created by the Master in the past few years?”
Bai Shuming from Bailu Academy, Nanhua Duke from South Foot Academy, Duke Huanglong from Tianming Academy, middle-aged Great Confucians from Weilong Academy, as well as geniuses like Xia Zi’an, Chen Zichu, and Xiaoxin, had neither seen nor heard of this character poster.
Not to mention them, even the Master himself was slightly moved.
He had never taught Mo Huazhi these poems, had he?
Even he had never heard of them before.
“Drunk unaware of heaven above the water,
A boat full of clear dreams pressing on the Xinghe.”
Mo Huazhi’s brushwork took a turn, her momentum grand, and her artistic conception formed.
The waters of Dongting swayed, merging with the heavens into one color, dazzling like the Xinghe.
The artistic conception of the “Vigorous Bamboo Scroll” was replaced by the one Mo Huazhi aggregated; the endless bamboo forest gradually faded away, replaced by the vast Yunmeng Marsh and the endless Xinghe hidden within, dreamlike and illusory.
“How is it possible… you have carved out your own Great Dao!”
Xie Wenyun’s face turned pale.
Her transcription was of a character poster created by a Saint from South Foot Academy; it was ultimately learning from others’ wisdom. But Mo Huazhi combined poems, songs, calligraphy, and her own Great Dao Comprehension to create her own path of the Literary Sage, surpassing Xie Wenyun’s artistic conception.
This was not something a Great Confucian at the Immortal Emperor Realm could achieve.
“Truly inconceivable…”
“The Master has a discerning eye, he has indeed taken in an impressive disciple.”
“There will be another Saint in Ziyang Academy in the future.”
Bai Shuming, Nanhua Duke, Duke Huanglong, Yi’an, and other Great Confucians and Saints did not skimp on their praise.
Even without having become a Saint, Mo Huazhi had already walked her own Literary Sage path; becoming a Saint in the future was just a matter of time.
“I’ve lost.”
Xie Wenyun saw that Mo Huazhi’s artistic conception was supplanting her own, knew she was inferior, and helplessly gave up the writing competition.
“I concede.”
Mo Huazhi rolled up the rice paper, and the Xinghe artistic conception disappeared with it.
If she had used the Xinghe artistic conception to attack, Xie Wenyun likely could not have withstood the boundless power of the Xinghe.
“With the ink treasure bestowed by my teacher, I have performed beyond my usual limits…”
Due to her reunion with Lu Changsheng after a long separation and reminiscing about old times, Mo Huazhi had a stroke of inspiration, enabling her to create her own style of writing so effortlessly.
She felt a profound compatibility with the Confucian Sage Brush.
If she could set her heart for heaven and earth, establish life for the people, continue the Ultimate Study of past Sages, and inaugurate an era of peace for all ages, amassing supreme merit, the Confucian Sage Brush would become a supremely treasured item. With this Magical Treasure, she could create a world out of nothing.
At the Confucian Sect’s assembly, many talented disciples of the Confucian Sects competed; the worlds they created with their writing were still illusory, but Saints, with their articles, could create real worlds, turning illusion into reality.
This was the terrifying aspect of Saints.
“Miss Mo from Ziyang Academy enters the final showdown.”
“Uncle Master Mo really is formidable.”
The disciples of Ziyang Academy erupted in cheers.
The Nine Great Confucian Sects were competingly secretly, and now Ziyang Academy had outshone the others, naturally exciting its disciples.
Xie Wenyun returned to her seat at South Foot Academy and said to Nanhua Duke, “Sir, your student is not talented enough and has lost the competition.”
But Nanhua Duke didn’t see it as a disgrace: “The disciple personally taught by the Master has something special, she will definitely become a Saint in the future. Losing to her doesn’t mean losing face for our South Foot Academy. Song Ziming from Tianming Academy is likely not her match either, because she has already developed her own literary style. You need to diligently cultivate in the future to keep up, understand?”
“I understand.”
Xie Wenyun sighed. She hadn’t expected that there were higher skies and people beyond. She accepted her defeat to Mo Huazhi both sincerely and verbally.
“Has my disciple already grown to this extent? But the Body of the Literary Sage seems to be quite rare in the Immortal Realm. The small world I came from had quite a few… “
Lu Changsheng remembered that back in the Mortal World, both Yu Xuanji and Mo Huazhi had the Body of the Literary Sage. It seemed that the small world he came from was fertile ground for the Spirit Sword Physique and the Body of the Literary Sage.
He wondered if the other small worlds among the three thousand also produce certain special physiques.