Chapter 394: Chapter 27 What Is Scripting
After taking his leave from Elder Shi Ding, Luo Yan encountered Miss Shi again.
She likely had tried many times before without success to persuade her father, so she was waiting here, looking eagerly for Luo Yan.
Realizing this, Luo Yan quickly had an idea.
First, he could not directly tell Miss Shi, “Master has already agreed,” because she might be ecstatic on the spot, but there’s a chance she would later overthink it, believing that her father always listens to Luo Yan and not to her—thus, she would harbor some resentment towards herself.
Next, he had to go along with his master’s plan, to spur Shi Liuli into a strong desire to cultivate diligently and to maintain enough interest in the White Jade Capital’s grand competition.
With this in mind, Luo Yan put on an extremely regretful expression, and under Miss Shi’s anxious gaze, he said heavily and slowly,
“Master said… he needs to think it over some more.”
Shi Liuli: ………..
Why put on such a scary expression then!
She patted her chest and took a deep breath:
“That’s to be expected, I didn’t think father would be persuaded so easily.”
“So I thought of another way: since Master trusts your strength more than mine, why don’t you just lose to me in our sparring?”
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“I see,” Luo Yan pretended to have a sudden realization, “I will go and fetch Master right away, and then we can show him.”
“What do you mean ‘show him’?” Shi Liuli was quite dissatisfied, “Junior Brother, don’t underestimate me, my strength has skyrocketed recently, it’s just that father refuses to believe it!”
“Is that so?” Luo Yan feigned surprise, “That’s great, why don’t you let me witness Sister’s strength first?”
Not long after, Shi Liuli began to doubt her life again.
How is this possible?
No, that’s not right!
I remember the junior brother doesn’t go out for experiential training much, let alone participate in real battles, so why is his combat prowess so much higher than mine?
Luo Yan also realized that something was amiss. Initially holding back to use only seventy percent of his power, he found that Miss Shi was weaker than expected—seventy percent of his power seemed like it might kill her with a single punch.
This won’t do, I’ll have to reduce my power to fifty percent.
After reducing another twenty percent of his True Yuan, the exchange of their Magical Treasures became more evenly matched.
Shi Liuli also breathed a sigh of relief. Junior Brother, why were you so fierce all of a sudden? At first, I really thought you were that much better than me!
Thinking this, she suddenly withdrew her Magical Treasure and said,
“Junior Brother, I heard that in the outside world’s Magical Competitions, Flying Swords are used more often, is that right?”
“Indeed,” Luo Yan explained, “The attack methods of Flying Swords are the fastest, and in a Cultivator’s battle, striking first often means suppressing or even killing the opponent first, hence Flying Swords are the most widely used.”
“But as far as I know, many Magical Treasures renowned for their speed have attack speeds not inferior to Flying Swords, right?” Shi Liuli naively asked.
“True, like needle-type Magical Treasures,” Luo Yan replied, “but most of them are rare and precious, hence not mainstream.”
Shi Liuli pondered. After all, she came from the Heavenly Craft Workshop, famous for forging Magical Treasures, so she had little perception of their scarcity. She thought for a moment and then asked,
“What about Daoist Magic then?”
“In terms of practicality, Daoist Magic is even above Flying Swords and Magical Treasures,” Luo Yan patiently explained, “mainly because Flying Swords and Magical Treasures are external objects, while Daoist Magic comes from the Cultivator’s own cultivation. Hence, in regards to safety and controllability, it’s higher, with no risk of being taken by others.”
“However, Daoist Magic is rarer than Magical Treasures, difficult to obtain without the background of a major sect, and mastering Daoist Magic also requires considerable time, so it hasn’t become widespread.”
“What about Talisman Scripts?” Miss Shi asked curiously.
“Talisman Scripts activate quickly, consume little True Yuan, and their power is quite impressive,” Luo Yan said with a smile, “but the problem is, they are one-time use.”
“If one wants to establish a style of fighting using Talisman Scripts, a large number of them must be kept on hand. This method of fighting can only be used by us from the Yuqing View, for other Cultivators out there, the cost is simply too high.”
Shi Liuli listened, half understanding, only remembering that this is “hard to acquire” and that is “too costly,” and subconsciously asked,
“Junior Brother, are the cultivators outside… very poor?”
Luo Yan: ?
This question was utterly preposterous. If Luo Yan had been asked this before his transmigration, this question coming from a wealthy young miss would get her strung up by the poor masses, wouldn’t it?
Fortunately, Shi Liuli also quickly realized how foolish her question was, and she hastily explained:
“Cough cough, I was just speaking off the top of my head. You don’t need to answer, Junior Brother.”
“Actually, both Flying Swords and Magical Treasures are in short supply throughout the entire Cultivation Realm,” Luo Yan sighed, “For cultivators, what everyone cares most about is how to improve their Cultivation Level and extend their lifespan.”
“The reason there’s such a situation is really because too few people are willing to learn Artifact Forging.”
Upon hearing this, Shi Liuli fell silent. She understood the underlying meaning of Luo Yan’s words:
Penglai Yuqing View insisted on studying unconventional and minor paths, and from the perspective of the whole Cultivation Realm, especially the Three Pure Orthodox Sect, this was definitely beneficial to everyone, after all, Yuqing View produced so many resources.
But in terms of personal development, every extra minute you spend researching minor and unconventional paths is one less minute you spend improving your own Cultivation Level and extending your lifespan. That’s why there are far fewer High Rank Cultivators within Yuqing View compared to the Kunlun and Shushan sects.
It’s as if everyone is sacrificing a portion of their own chances for enlightenment to provide support to the entire Orthodox Sect!
Realizing this, Shi Liuli also felt somewhat depressed and couldn’t help but ask again:
“Can’t we choose another path? I mean, everyone could focus on their cultivation… ”
“If we all abandoned Artifact Forging and focused on cultivation, it would be impossible for our Cultivation Levels to improve quickly. As a result, the status of Heavenly Craft Workshop within Penglai would plummet, so that path is not viable,” Luo Yan said with a smile. “But don’t worry. Sister, you have me, don’t you?”
Shi Liuli was struck as if by lightning, standing there in a daze.
All at once, she realized a problem she had never noticed before: every senior brother and sister in the Heavenly Craft Workshop had their corresponding research branches in the field of Artifact Forging.
Even when her Junior Brother initially entered the sect, the master directly arranged for him to study Formations and Cauldron Casting Methods.
But she knew nothing, and her father had never arranged anything for her.
So, was it my father’s hope for me to break free from the shackles of minor and unconventional paths and concentrate on improving my Cultivation Realm?
Seeing her distracted expression, Luo Yan immediately guessed her thoughts and silently chuckled to himself.
He had also asked Elder Shi Ding about this issue before, wondering why Shi Liuli wasn’t taught an Artifact Forging Method as well.
Elder Shi Ding had just rolled his eyes and responded:
I’d be willing to teach if she would be willing to learn.
Miss Shi’s character is completely unsuited for scholarly pursuits; getting her to sit down and immerse herself in something is simply impossible.
Elder Shi Ding meant that whatever Shi Liuli liked to do, she should just do it. After all, it wasn’t a problem for Heavenly Craft Workshop to support one more person doing nothing, as long as she was happy and content.
However, Luo Yan didn’t see it that way. He felt that Miss Shi wasn’t bad at heart; it was just that she had never had proper guidance before.
“Sister,” Luo Yan seized the moment, his expression earnest, “Yuqing View holds its place within the Orthodox Sect precisely because we sacrifice time and effort to supply resources to Kunlun and Shushan.”
“As for our share within Heavenly Craft Workshop, master, Linghu Senior Brother, Liang Senior Sister, and I will share the burden. We won’t become a drag on you.”
“You just need to focus on your cultivation and work hard to improve your Realm and Cultivation Level.”
“I…” Shi Liuli bit her lower lip, unable to utter a word.
Only then did she finally realize that her father truly held eager expectations for her.
However, when she thought about how she had been idle in the past and wasted so much time that should have been devoted to cultivation, she regretted it so much that she almost shed tears.
That was the time everyone had fought for her, after all!
“Can I really do it?” Shi Liuli lowered her head and fiddled with the hem of her garment, her soul as if it had left her body, “Junior Brother, you know me—I’m lazy, temperamental, lack perseverance, and have a fleeting enthusiasm for things… Can I really take on such a heavy responsibility?”
“I believe in you, Sister,” Luo Yan took her fidgeting hand in his, speaking fervently, “Even if master is still not at ease with you, I firmly believe that you, Sister, can become the pillar of our Heavenly Craft Workshop, and perhaps even of Penglai Jade Pure.”
“Start with the upcoming White Jade Capital competition, prove yourself, Sister!”