Li Qingshan was tempted to say, “Oi, I don’t think this had anything to do with you!” Throughout the entire battle, he did not use the techniques of the school of Novels at all.
But regardless, the battle still allowed the declining school of Novel’s reputation to surge. At the very least, no one dared to mock its primary disciple anymore.
After settling down, Liu Chanfeng gave him an update on the situation. “Qingshan, all thanks to my senior brother’s efforts, the Cloudwisp association you mentioned has basically been established now. Sure enough, the process of gathering the power of belief is much faster. If this continues, there’s a lot of hope for me to reach Foundation Establishment. This was all your idea, so you need to condense your Divine Talisman of Great Creation soon too!”
Li Qingshan hesitated, rubbing his chin in thought.
“Yeah, Qingshan. It’s just you now!” Outside, a voice rang out clearly. Sun Fubai circled around in the air on a white crane before landing in the courtyard.
Li Qingshan glanced over and almost failed to recognise him. Sun Fubai was still the same Sun Fubai as before, but a lot of his grey hair had vanished, and his face had a healthy shine. He radiated with energy as he walked. He was in high spirits. His leisurely aura as an old man had faded away, replaced by the determined spirit and aura of a middle-aged person.
“Senior brother, your cultivation!” Liu Chuanfeng exclaimed.
Originally, due to the limits of his talent, Sun Fubai was an eighth layer Qi Practitioner, and basically all hope of making further advances in cultivation had been severed due to his age. However, after being gone for most of the year, Sun Fubai had returned as a ninth layer Qi Practitioner.
With the progression of his cultivation, his true qi had increased, and all eight of his extraordinary meridians were connected now, so he obviously seemed younger. However, the core reason behind all of this was the influence on his mentality. Compared to idling around in a bookshop and waiting for his end to come, establishing foundations for the school of Novels and bringing glory back to the school was without a doubt much better for raising his spirits.
Sun Fubai smiled. “I didn’t sit around during this period. I casually wrote some things too.”
With how large the Cloudwisp association was, it was obviously impossible for it to thrive off just a single person’s novels. As the boss behind the scenes of the Cloudwisp association, Sun Fubai would obviously make use of the “mediums” he had created himself. Recently, whenever he dealt with the matters on hand and had nothing better to do, he would lift up his brush again and write.
He had read a myriad of books in his life and experienced the vicissitudes of human life, such that Liu Chuanfeng was nowhere close to matching his knowledge and wisdom. Following the path that Li Qingshan had laid out, he adjusted his writing style slightly and wrote things that ordinary people would like to see. The results were actually extremely good. Now, the popularity of the Ancient Cypress Elder probably even exceeded Liu Chuanfeng’s Master of Wind and Moon.
He had gathered large quantities of the power of belief. Having been stuck at the eighth layer for many years, the assistance brought on by this power allowed him to forcefully break through, taking another step forward with cultivation.
Li Qingshan asked, “Fubai, what brought you back here?”
Sun Fubai said, “I heard you were going to fight someone, so I came back to take a look. Looks like you’ve won.”
Now, only the three of them remained for the school of Novels. Now that they were all gathered here, it was a joyous occasion. They were all filled with delight.
Sun Fubai said, “I’ve brought some things back for you two too.”
“Oh? What is it?” Liu Chuanfeng accepted an ordinary, large bundle wrapped in white cloth from Sun Fubai. Apart from being tied together by red silk, there was nothing special about it. It did not give off any spiritual qi either.
Li Qingshan became curious as well. To cultivators, there was basically nothing good that lacked spiritual qi. Sun Fubai’s gift was rather strange.
Liu Chuanfeng opened it. It was filled with paper and letters.
In order to receive the feedback from below in time so that Liu Chuanfeng could adapt his stories, he made the members of the Cloudwisp association ask for the audience’s opinions once they completed their storytelling or performances. Afterwards, it evolved into many members of the audience writing letters to the “Master of Wind and Moon”. Even if they were not literate, there were special people who could write on their behalf. He gathered all of their responses and handed them over to Liu Chuanfeng.
Liu Chuanfeng opened them up and read them in a hurry. Obviously, most of them commended him, with quite a lot giving suggestions and expressing their anticipation for his works. He sat there and just laughed to himself idiotically. As the school leader with the least dignity, who was frequently mocked by others in the academy, he had found his long-awaited respect. He truly experienced the magnificence of writing novels.
This gift was truly more precious than any pills or spiritual stones.
Then, Sun Fubai said to Li Qingshan, “Qingshan, you like to drink, so I brought back the fine liquor from various lands for you. Although they’re not as great as spiritual alcohol and can’t assist you with your cultivation, they’re still something to relish.”
The domain of the Clear River prefecture that spanned fifteen hundred kilometers had produced several dozen fine liquors. Their ingredients and methods of fermentation all differed. Sun Fubai had chosen the best of the best among them, bringing them back for Li Qingshan.
Just his intentions behind this was enough to touch Li Qingshan. Sitting at home and tasting the fine liquor from various lands was quite a pleasurable thing to do.
Li Qingshan accepted the several dozen jars of fine alcohol and bowed. “Fubai, you’ve outdone yourself.”
Sun Fubai smiled. “It’s all but a trifle. Compared to your ideas, it’s absolutely nothing. I’ve already planted the tree by borrowing your ideas. If you refuse to enjoy the shade underneath, then you’ll really be letting down my hard work.”
Reaching there, just who could still decline him? Li Qingshan said, “I want to condense a Divine Talisman of Great Creation. Please teach me, Fubai.”
The power of belief could conjure anything and everything. While its effects were nothing special in Liu Chuanfeng’s hands, he had no idea on how to fight in the first place. For example, if he could summon something as simple as a metal chain, he could turn the tides of battle by catching the opponent off-guard as long as he timed it correctly, even if he failed to bind his opponent with it. If he knew something like that, it would only be easier for him to deal with a narrow-minded idiot like Chu Tian.
And, if he advanced even further and the power of belief he had accumulated was powerful enough, just trapping his opponent for a second would be enough for him to land countless strikes.
Sun Fubai smiled. The school of Novels had a successor now.
Liu Chuanfeng heard none of it. All he did was laugh to himself idiotically as he read these letters. He read them bent over, he read them laying down, and he even read them crouching down.
Sun Fubai and Li Qingshan smiled at one another.
……
An ocean surged with azure waves to no end. Countless rivers flowed into it. The seawater evaporated and turned into clouds, filling the rivers once again.
At this moment, a mysterious power suddenly flattened every single ripple on the sea. A simplistic, navy glyph rose up from the still seas. Countless water dragons rose up and merged there. The simplistic glyph became clearer and stronger, radiating with withdrawn light before hovering over the ocean in the end.
The seawater began to surge once more. Vaguely, there seemed to be a spirit turtle swimming about.
Li Qingshan opened his eyes. A divine talisman seemed to flicker in the depths of his eyes. The process of condensing the Divine Talisman of Great Creation was much simpler than he had anticipated, probably because of how pure his true qi was. He had completed it in less than three days.
However, the path of divine talismans was different from regular cultivation. Condensing a divine talisman was just the basics.
Sun Fubai had already returned to the prefectural city to deal with the matters of the Cloudwisp association. Li Qingshan had given him a few more suggestions, so he hurried back to make the Cloudwisp association even larger.
As for Liu Chuanfeng, he left the academy after he finished reading the letters. He wanted to follow the example of ancient novelists, to go out travelling and collect references.
As a result, only the primary disciple, Li Qingshan, was left on the large island. However, before he departed, he left something to Li Qingshan—a fine table.
The brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones had already been prepared.
The pure-white paper laid there flat, becoming even whiter under the snowy reflection from outside the window. On the brush rack were a row of weasel hair brushes of varying sizes and styles. Even someone as unsophisticated as Li Qingshan experienced an urge to write.
Several days later, Liu Chuanfeng returned from collecting references. He said he was collecting references, but he actually visited the various branches of the Cloudwisp association scattered across the land, listening to the storytellers tell stories he had written while secretly grinning. Riding around on a white crane, he had visited quite a lot of places in those seven or eight days.
He wondered just how Li Qingshan was doing. Hmph, writing novels isn’t that easy. He must have written some trashy works. I’ll teach him a proper lesson later and reestablish my dignity as a school leader.
Liu Chuanfeng arrived in the bamboo loft, and sure enough, he saw Li Qingshan sitting before the table with a brush in his hand and Xiao An on the ground, reading the commentary on a buddhist scripture. She spotted Liu Chuanfeng and glanced at him, but she said nothing.
However, Li Qingshan did not even look over. Liu Chuanfeng thought, Pretty diligent. He walked over and took a look. The white paper was empty. There was only a black blotch of ink that had dripped down from the tip of the brush.
“Where are the parts that you’ve finished?” Liu Chuanfeng asked.
Li Qingshan turned his head slightly. “What parts finished?”
“The novel!” Liu Chuanfeng said obviously, but he soon noticed that his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was rather messy too. Li Qingshan, who had been eternally high-spirited, actually seemed rather dishevelled now.
“Heehee!” Xiao An giggled, but Li Qingshan immediately glared at her. She stuck out her tongue and pulled a face.
Li Qingshan finally understood what barely forcing out six words over three days meant now.
TL: Forcing out six words over three days is a spin off of forcing out six words over seven days, which comes from a Chinese skit by Zhao Benshan, a renowned skit writer in China.
In the beginning, he wanted to write something original, but he gave up on that thought very soon. Although his memories of his past life were mostly gone, he still remembered a few iconic stories after all.
However, when he tried to convert these memories into words and express them through the tip of the brush, he immediately felt he was not made for this line of work.
He managed to write a little after quite a lot of effort, but his penmanship was so horrid that even he himself found it to be unbearable. Suddenly, he realised just how boring those iconic stories in his memories actually were.
He had tried calming his mind by drinking tea, he had tried riling himself up with alcohol, but none of it worked at all. He was unable to write anything at all. He even began to admire Liu Chuanfeng a little. Regardless of the quality, at least he could still throw a book together.
It took every shred of Liu Chuanfeng’s willpower to hold back his smile, but his smile still managed to leak out from every single crease on his face. All of the creases said the same thing, “Hah, to think you would have a day like this.”
He said ‘earnestly’, “It’s just like what I said, it’s not that easy. The first step is always the most troublesome. Come, allow the renowned novelist, the Master of Wind and Moon, to teach you how to write.”
Thud. Li Qingshan threw the brush away and leapt to his feet. “I’m not writing anymore. What’s so great about writing novels anyway? It’s a waste of time. I’m going to go out and move around a little.” He left through the door with Xiao An, flying off on a cloud and vanishing into the darkness before dawn. His rebukes could be heard from afar. “Stop laughing!”
Liu Chuanfeng was speechless. He shook his head and sighed. Looks like it really would be difficult for the legacy of the school of Novels to thrive on!
Around dusk, Liu Chuanfeng happened to be bent over a table, writing, when Li Qingshan entered through the door. There were bruises on his face, but his smile oozed with confidence. “I want to write novels!”
PS: Many of the stats in the past two days have reached record-breaking levels. Word count is false, but support is real. I’m almost going to laugh to myself idiotically like Liu Chuanfeng. Thank you. Many parts of the upcoming plot will be much smoother. As soon as I’m in a good mood, who knows, I might erupt with releases. Although I’m clumsy and slow-witted, I have plenty of time. I have neither boyfriends nor girlfriends. This might be misfortune to regular people, but to a novelist, this truly is great fortune. There’s probably no chance of a mass release today, but let me prepare a little. It’ll probably take a day or two! I will continue to request for monthly tickets for the month and subscriptions and support! I also want to write novels!
