Chapter 713

When Unlike Ning Zhuo arrived at the summit of Pointed Ink Peak, Chu Xuangui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But he did not rush to start the trial; instead, he filled the blank space on the rice paper before him with ink.

After finishing this sheet, he slowly raised his head, faced the dozens of cultivators at the summit, and solemnly announced: "The time has come, start the trial."

He pointed toward the sky, his magic power condensing into the test question—using the brushwork of talisman making to write the "Primer for Young Children".

Once this question was posed, the cultivators in the field could not help but look at each other.

It was too strange!

This style of questioning was vastly different from previous years!

The content of the test was quite bizarre; it actually required using the brushwork of talisman making to write a Confucian classic.

The "Primer for Young Children" was not profound; on the contrary, its content was very simple. The so-called "young children" referred to children being enlightened, as it was an enlightenment education book for children.

It was an enlightenment book for calligraphic fonts, mainly involving four of the five major fonts: clerical script, regular script, running script, and cursive script. As for seal script, because it was too difficult, it was deliberately excluded.

The five major fonts, which were also the main content of calligraphy, were aimed at various Confucian works.

Talisman making emphasized magic techniques, every detail of the talisman brush's ink application and pauses, the use of talisman paper and ink, and the cultivator's degree of understanding of magic techniques.

Brushwork style?

It had never been studied; as long as the talisman could take effect, it was considered a success.

"Why use the brushwork of talisman making to write Confucian works?"

"What exactly does Mr. Chu Xuangui want to test?"

"What is the font of talisman making? I have been cultivating for decades and have never thought about this question."

These were two unrelated things. The cultivators were unable to understand for a time the reason why Chu Xuangui wanted to link them together.

Bai Jiyun was a representative figure among the contemporary Foundation Establishment Confucian cultivators of the Flying Cloud Kingdom, fond of traveling to all corners and admiring beautiful scenery, and could be considered knowledgeable.

He also felt puzzled at this moment: "According to rumors, when the Ancestor of Writing created characters, the standard he referred to was talismans, thus creating seal script. But the 'Primer for Young Children' specifically excludes seal script."

Liu Fushu worshipped Chu Xuangui and secretly thought: "Mr. Chu's move must have a profound meaning; it's just that my aptitude is dull, and I can't fathom it for a moment."

Chu Xuangui scanned everyone, taking in the look of confusion on everyone's faces.

This situation was within his expectations.

It was normal not to be able to figure it out.

The true purpose of Chu Xuangui designing this strange question was to support Unlike Ning Zhuo.

Without waiting for everyone to think, Chu Xuangui took a brush from his sleeve.

He channeled a stream of magic power, causing the brush to float into the air, specifically to show it to everyone.

"In this Flying Cloud Trial, the winner will receive this Brush of Understanding."

Unlike Ning Zhuo raised his eyebrows slightly: "Magic treasure level?"

He was quite surprised, not expecting that such a heavy reward would be given in a mere Flying Cloud Trial.

The cultivators beside him erupted into even more intense discussion.

"My god! Did I see that right? Is it really the Brush of Understanding?!"

"What's going on with today's trial? Why would Mr. Chu bring out such a prize?"

"It's not easy to manufacture a Brush of Understanding; just obtaining the main material for the shaft, Heluo Jade, requires enduring a lightning tribulation."

"And that's not all. This brush is at the magic treasure level, which means it must have passed at least three tribulations."

"The main material is usually Heluo Jade; passing the lightning tribulation means passing the heavenly tribulation. But the earthly tribulation and human tribulation must also be passed. Otherwise, it's impossible to achieve this level!"

Unlike Ning Zhuo remained silent.

Hearing the cultivators' discussion, he immediately understood that he had still underestimated the importance of this brush.

Bai Jiyun narrowed his eyes, already realizing: "This Flying Cloud Trial is unusual. Being able to bring out a Brush of Understanding, I'm afraid those Golden Core-stage seniors will be filled with regret when they hear about it."

There were many Flying Cloud Trials, and the Confucian cultivation group had always had a weak presence in the Wanxiang Sect, with prizes never being this significant.

"It's conceivable that once this trial is over, it will spread like wildfire inside and outside the Wanxiang Sect."

Liu Fushu was the most excited.

He stared fixedly at the Brush of Understanding in mid-air, clenched his fists, his breathing grew heavy, and bloodshot streaks appeared in his eyes: "According to rumors, the number of Brushes of Understanding is limited."

"Because when a cultivator uses this kind of precious brush to copy, they can grasp the profound meaning of the author from the works and calligraphy books. Over time, as it accumulates, it can enhance one's realm in a certain aspect!"

"This kind of precious brush can be called a treasure of cultivation. The one before us is not at the magic tool level, but at the magic treasure level. For most cultivators, it can be used for a lifetime!"

"It is precisely because this kind of magic treasure can enhance one's realm and quickly cultivate experts that it goes against the harmony of heaven."

"The total number of Brushes of Understanding existing in the world has never been able to exceed ten thousand! Every Brush of Understanding manufactured after that will produce a disaster. Only by passing it can the treasure be successfully refined."

"And the difficulty of manufacturing each Brush of Understanding is getting higher and higher."

Liu Fushu was skilled in calligraphy and knew all the famous brushes in the world like the back of his hand. Among the thirty-six Great Spirit Bristles, there was a Brush of Understanding of All Wonders, ranked twenty-seventh.

The so-called thirty-six Great Spirit Bristles were the most famous precious brushes in the history of the cultivation world, with the lowest quality being at the spirit treasure level!

All the Brushes of Understanding in the world were refined by imitating the Brush of Understanding of All Wonders. Although they were imitations, because they were rare, they had always been precious and scarce; as long as Confucian scholars had a chance, they would pursue them with all their might!

Kong Ran's eyes were bright, his chest heaving, his breathing becoming rapid: "Treasure, what a good treasure!"

"Joining the Wanxiang Sect this time was truly the right choice."

"Many people say I have an affinity with Confucianism and urge me to specialize in Confucian studies. Now it seems that this brush is like it was waiting for me to arrive here; could this be the arrangement of fate?"

Although Kong Ran was very young, his thinking was very mature.

Even though he was limited by his young age and lacked the experience of others, he knew the political implications of the Brush of Understanding.

"Such a magic treasure is only used for daily cultivation, but its value far exceeds that of ordinary offensive magic treasures."

"In the entire Wanxiang Sect, I'm afraid there is only this one."

"Whoever obtains it is undoubtedly recognized in the Confucian circle of the Wanxiang Sect as a newcomer with a promising future!"

"If I obtain this brush, I can be said to be one step ahead as soon as I start."

"No, more than one step? It's simply many times over, many times over!"

Chu Xuangui saw the changing expressions of the crowd, all of them having their hearts and minds attracted by the heavy treasure he threw out, and smiled inwardly.

Afterward, he pointed like a sword, channeled his magic power, and condensed text chapters in mid-air, which were eighty-eight "Eternal" characters.

"Copy according to the 'Primer for Young Children' I have provided; the one with the fastest speed who meets the standard will be the winner."

"But as long as there is one mistake in the process, it will be considered a failure, and you must start writing from the first character of that chapter again."

After quickly stating these rules, Chu Xuangui did not wait for anyone to ask questions and directly announced: "This Flying Cloud Trial at Pointed Ink Peak officially begins!"

As soon as the words fell, Unlike Ning Zhuo took the lead, channeled his magic power, and formed characters out of thin air.

Seeing this, the cultivators were startled and immediately followed suit, scrambling to be first.

Everyone was almost at the same starting line, but after a dozen breaths, some people took the lead, and the degree of the lead increased rapidly.

It was Liu Fushu!

This young cultivator came from a poor background and had been practicing calligraphy diligently, which was also the skill he was most proficient in.

It was because of this prominent point that he had accumulated quite a reputation.

The first chapter of the "Primer for Young Children" was the Eight Virtues of the Eternal Character; anyone who practices calligraphy must learn the "Eternal" character.

The Eight Virtues of the Eternal Character not only expounded the essentials of writing the "Eternal" character but also promoted the tenets of Confucianism.

A dot like the initial movement of a benevolent heart, two horizontal strokes like the sword of righteousness leveling the frontier, three vertical strokes like a ritual staff supporting the sky, four hooks like the blade of wisdom returning the edge—the "Primer for Young Children" was widely circulated in the cultivation world, and almost all children studied this book when they learned to write.

Liu Fushu was the first to finish writing the eighty-eight "Eternal" characters, which was just a warm-up, very easy.

Seeing this, Chu Xuangui immediately stretched out his other finger, used magic power to write in mid-air, and wrote a poem in clerical script.

The entire "Primer for Young Children", besides the eighty-eight "Eternal" characters, consisted of poems in clerical, regular, running, and cursive scripts, with twenty-two poems for each type. Each poem was catchy, and the poems themselves were excellent copybooks for practicing calligraphy.

Now, the poem Chu Xuangui wrote was the third one in the clerical script poem chapter.

It was: A silkworm head starts the blade to harvest the sea mulberry,

The swallow cuts the cloud tail, the rhyme hidden deep.

The horizontal opens the stone gate to suppress the dragon and elephant,

Bamboo and silk for a thousand years carry the chapter of the Dao.

Liu Fushu knew this poem by heart; after just one glance, he buried his head to write the poem.

He was about to advance triumphantly, but made a mistake on the third character, and the brushwork no longer met the standard of the test question.

He had no choice but to start writing the poem again from the very beginning.

Soon, he made a mistake on the seventh character and had to start over again.

Next, he made a mistake on the fifth character.

Three consecutive mistakes actually made him linger on the first line of the poem, never passing it.

Liu Fushu was dumbfounded, simply unable to believe everything that was happening before his eyes!

"I, what's wrong with me?"

"Is this still me?"

"Am I too nervous?!"

Chu Xuangui took in this scene. In the depths of his eyes, a sharp glint flashed and vanished.

This was entirely within his expectations.

The "Primer for Young Children" was widely popularized; basically, as long as one had the conditions to attend a school, one would practice it many times.

Liu Fushu was even more so. He was so skilled in calligraphy that he must have spent a huge amount of time on this aspect, putting in too much hard work.

Every time he practiced the "Primer for Young Children", he would try his best to meet the requirements of each font's poem.

For him, these poems were not only memorized by heart but also memorized by hand. He could write these characters even with his eyes closed.

It was completely ingrained in his bones, turning into a kind of instinct.

But now, the requirement of the test question Chu Xuangui released was indeed to use the brushwork of talisman making to write the "Primer for Young Children".

For those who had practiced diligently, the difficulty was great!

Liu Fushu had already practiced writing these poems into his bones. The stronger this instinct of his was, the greater the difficulty of resisting it now.

Especially since Chu Xuangui had shown the Brush of Understanding before the trial began.

This magic treasure-level reward was too significant, attracting the Confucian scholars to compete with all their might, fearing to fall behind others.

Under these circumstances, Liu Fushu, who came from a poor family background, would inevitably lose his balance of mind due to nervousness. This made it even easier for him to make mistakes.

Chu Xuangui scanned the crowd and secretly observed Unlike Ning Zhuo.

"Hmm, not bad."

Unlike Ning Zhuo's speed was good, ranking in the top five.

Wen Ruanyu had mentioned some information about Unlike Ning Zhuo to his Confucian cultivation peers.

Therefore, Chu Xuangui knew that Unlike Ning Zhuo was more skilled in talisman making than calligraphy. The latter didn't know much about Confucian cultivators, and regarding the Brush of Understanding, he probably didn't know its important implications.

This could better allow Unlike Ning Zhuo to maintain a calm mind.

Unlike Ning Zhuo needed to maintain a stable state of mind; only with such a performance could he avoid revealing flaws, allowing the Confucian scholars to raise him to a higher level without suspicion.

If there were suspicion, not only would the Confucian scholars be criticized, but more importantly, the plan to help Unlike Ning Zhuo would fail.

Therefore, the Confucian scholars did not inform Unlike Ning Zhuo of their specific plan. For one, they were worried that Unlike Ning Zhuo was still too young and feared he wouldn't act well, so it was better to let him give a natural performance. For another, communicating and plotting in advance was easy to leave evidence.

Once investigated by someone with ulterior motives, these pieces of evidence would plunge the Confucian scholars and Unlike Ning Zhuo into huge trouble.

Concerning the benefits of the White Paper Immortal City, there would definitely be many people investigating this matter.

The safest way for the Confucian scholars was not to contact Unlike Ning Zhuo, not to communicate in advance, and to proceed directly with the Flying Cloud Trial.

This tested the Confucian scholars' ability to control the situation.

And this was precisely one of the strengths of the Confucian scholars!

Once again, starting over.

Liu Fushu glanced around and found that he had fallen seriously behind.

"No, no, no! How could this happen? I should be the one far in the lead!" Liu Fushu became increasingly nervous, his eyes filled with bloodshot streaks, his expression incomparably stiff.

The top three rankings had been stable for a little while.

They were Bai Jiyun, Kong Ran, and Unlike Ning Zhuo.

"Unlike Ning Zhuo is in third place, trailing the top two, which is also within reason." Chu Xuangui thought to himself.

He had some understanding of Bai Jiyun, Kong Ran, and Liu Fushu.

Every Flying Cloud Assembly, various organizations and forces of the Porcelain Elephant Sect would actively recruit new blood from the outside. The Confucian cultivation group was no exception.

They had secretly invested a lot of time and energy in outstanding newcomers.

Chu Xuangui was not anxious; everything was under his control.

The next moment, he wrote another poem in mid-air: The floating silk shrinks the meaning, lingering and long, the sweeping edge returns the blade with dew fragrance.

Dry and moist generate each other, the spring rain is fine, the brush breaks the mountains and rivers to continue the magnificent chapter.

Liu Fushu was still writing the previous clerical script poem, but this one was one of the running script poems.

Among the cultivators, many were slightly stunned.

According to the order, after clerical script was regular script, and only after regular script was running script, and finally cursive script poems.

Chu Xuangui, however, suddenly skipped regular script and went straight to the running script part.

"Good, it's reached the segment I'm good at." Bai Jiyun's spirit lifted; the font he liked most was running script. At this time, he still didn't understand the severity of the situation.

Sure enough, the next moment he made a mistake on the fourth character.

He had written too smoothly and unconsciously brought out the style of running script.

In this way, he had no choice but to redo it.

Mistakes, more mistakes, and even more mistakes!

Bai Jiyun was like a replica of Liu Fushu before, making consecutive mistakes, his ranking falling directly from the top spot.

"How could this happen?" The dashing Bai Jiyun was dumbfounded at this moment.