"Many people say I have a connection with Confucianism and urge me to specialize in it. Now it seems this pen was waiting for me here, could this be destiny’s arrangement?"
Kong Ran, though young, had a mature mind.
Even though his age limited his experience compared to others, he understood the political implications of the Ideograph Brush.
"Such a Magic Treasure is only used for daily Cultivation, but its value far exceeds ordinary combat Magic Treasures."
"In the entire Myriad Images Sect, there is probably only one such item."
"Whoever obtains it will undoubtedly become recognized as a promising newcomer within the Myriad Images Sect’s Confucian Cultivator circle!"
"If I get this brush, I will have an edge right from the start."
"No, it’s more than just an edge. It’s several times, several times over!"
Chu Xuangu noticed the changing expressions of everyone, all attracted by the treasure he brought out, and smiled inwardly.
He then pointed like a sword, urging his Mana, and condensed words and Chapters in mid-air—eighty-eight ’yong’ characters.
"Following the template of the ’Childhood Book Talk,’ those who replicate the fastest and most accurately will excel."
"But any mistake during the process will count as a complete failure, requiring a restart from the first character of that Chapter."
Quickly stating these rules, Chu Xuangu did not wait for questions and directly announced, "The Feiyun trial on Dianmo Peak, officially begins!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ning Zhuo was the first to act, urging his Mana to form characters out of thin air.
Upon seeing this, other cultivators reacted quickly, immediately following suit, competing to outpace each other.
Everyone started almost simultaneously, but after just a few breaths, someone began to lead and the gap widened rapidly.
It was Liu Fushu!
This young cultivator came from a poor background and had been diligently practicing calligraphy, excelling in this skill.
He had gained quite a reputation for this standout ability.
The first Chapter of ’Childhood Book Talk’ is the ’Yong Character Eight Virtues Song.’
Writing begins with learning the ’yong’ character.
The ’Yong Character Eight Virtues Song’ not only discusses the essentials of writing the ’yong’ character but also propagates Confucian aims.
One point like the initial movement of benevolence
Two horizontals like a righteous sword leveling the land
Three verticals as a ceremonial staff upholding the sky
Four hooks as if a wise blade returning in edge
...
’Childhood Book Talk’ is widely known in the Cultivation World, and almost all children study this book when learning to write.
Liu Fushu finished writing the eighty-eight ’yong’ characters first, just getting warmed up, feeling very light.
Seeing this, Chu Xuangu immediately extended another finger, using Mana to write in mid-air, composing a Lishu poem.
The whole ’Childhood Book Talk’ besides the eighty-eight ’yong’ characters, contains Lishu, Kaishu, Xingshu, and Caoshu poems, each style has twenty-two poems. Every poem is catchy, and the poems themselves serve as excellent character sheets.
Chu Xuangu wrote the third poem from the Lishu series.
It was precisely—
Silkworm begins, receiving sea mulberry,
Swallow trims, cloud’s tail, hidden charm.
Open stone gateway, stabilizing dragon elephant,
Bamboo scroll, a thousand years conveying Taoist discourse.
Liu Fushu knew this poem like the back of his hand, upon seeing it once, he buried himself in writing the poem.
He was about to advance boldly but made a mistake on the third character, the stroke not conforming to the exam’s standard.
He had to start again from the poem’s beginning.
Soon, he made another mistake on the seventh character, restarting once again.
Subsequently, he erred on the fifth character.
Three continuous mistakes left him stuck on the first line of the poem, unable to proceed.
Liu Fushu was stunned, unable to believe what was happening before him!
"What, what’s wrong with me?"
"Is this still me?"
"Am I too nervous?!"
Chu Xuangu witnessed everything, a gleam flashed in his eyes, disappearing quickly.
This was entirely within his expectations.
’Childhood Book Talk’ is so widespread that as long as one has the means to attend school, it would be practiced many times.
This was especially true for Liu Fushu. Being so skilled in calligraphy, he must have dedicated a lot of time, putting much hard work into it.
Every practice of ’Childhood Book Talk,’ was done with the utmost effort to meet the standards of each character’s poetry.
For him, these poems were not just memorized, but deeply ingrained to the point of reflex. Writing these characters, he could do it with his eyes closed, it was completely in his bones, becoming instinctual.
But now, the requirements of the test set by Chu Xuangu demanded using talisman making techniques to write ’Childhood Book Talk.’
This posed quite a challenge for those who diligently practiced!
Liu Fushu had practiced writing these poems to his very core, making his instincts stronger, thereby increasing the difficulty of counteracting them now.
Especially since before the test started, Chu Xuangu had announced the reward of the Ideograph Brush.
This Magic Treasure level reward was so significant, prompting Confucian cultivators to compete with all their might, fearing falling behind.
Under such circumstances, Liu Fushu, coming from a poor family background, was bound to become nervous, leading to a disturbance in his mindset, making errors more likely.
Chu Xuangu scanned the crowd and glanced at Ning Zhuo.
"Hmm, not bad."
Ning Zhuo’s speed was good, ranking in the top five.
Wen Ruanyu had shared information about Ning Zhuo with fellow Confucian cultivators.
Therefore, Chu Xuangu knew Ning Zhuo was more proficient in Talisman Making than calligraphy. The latter wasn’t widely known among Confucian Cultivators, and regarding the matter of the Ideograph Brush, he likely wasn’t aware of its significance.
This allowed Ning Zhuo to maintain a calm and ordinary mindset.
Ning Zhuo needed to keep an even temperament; by doing so, he could perform naturally, allowing the Confucian Cultivators to elevate him without suspicion to a higher level.
If any suspicion arose, not only would the Confucian Cultivators suffer criticism, but the plan to assist Ning Zhuo would likely fail.
Hence, the Confucian Cultivators had not disclosed their specific plan to Ning Zhuo. First, they were worried that Ning Zhuo, being so young, wouldn’t perform well. It was better to let him perform naturally. Second, previous communication and scheming could leave evidence.
If someone with ulterior motives discovered this evidence, it could cause enormous trouble for both the Confucian Cultivators and Ning Zhuo.
This involved the interests of White Paper Immortal City, and many would certainly investigate this matter.
The safest approach for the Confucian Cultivators was to avoid contact with Ning Zhuo, not communicating beforehand, and proceeding directly with the Feiyun trial.
This tested the Confucian Cultivators’ ability to control the situation.
And this was precisely one of their strengths!
Once again, a fresh start.
Liu Fushu scanned around, realizing he had fallen drastically behind.
"No no no! How could this happen? I should have been the one far ahead!" The more anxious Liu Fushu became, his eyes filled with bloodshot, and his expression growing increasingly rigid.
The top three positions had stabilized for a little while.
They were Bai Jiyun, Kong Ran, and Ning Zhuo.
"Ning Zhuo placing third... behind the first two is reasonable," Chu Xuangu thought inwardly.
He was familiar with Bai Jiyun, Kong Ran, and Liu Fushu.
Every Feiyun Conference, various organizations and factions of the Myriad Images Sect actively recruit new members, and the Confucian group was no exception.
They kept a close eye on promising newcomers, investing considerable time and energy.
Chu Xuangu was not anxious, everything was within his control.
In the next moment, he wrote another character sheet poem out of thin air—
The floating thread knots mountains, an elegant intention,
With a flourish and return, carrying fragrant dew.
The interplay of dry and moist, like fine spring rain,
The pen breaks mountains and rivers, continuing to write splendid Chapters.
Liu Fushu knew this before, but it was a Xingshu poem, not the Lishu he was working on earlier.
According to the order, after Lishu comes Kaishu, and only then Xingshu, but he had jumped to Xingshu.
"Alright, it’s the part I excel at." Bai Jiyun perked up, as Xingshu was his favorite script. At this moment, his situation’s seriousness hadn’t dawned on him.
As expected, the error on the eleventh character occurred the next moment.
He was writing too smoothly and, unwittingly, reverted to his Xingshu style.
Just like that, Bai Jiyun repeated Liu Fushu’s mistake, making consecutive errors, his rank plummeting from first place.
"I can’t believe it! I should be the one way ahead!" The once dashing and composed Bai Jiyun was now utterly dumbfounded, and tension bloodshot his eyes.