Li Zijun guided him like a patient teacher, her voice gentle and clear: “Mm, since you have already gained a preliminary feel for ‘using qi to control ink,’ then start by writing one character.”
“Just write the character ‘Hao’ from ‘righteous qi.’”
At those words, Yun Che perked up. In order to satisfy this “little teacher,” who had profound cultivation and broad knowledge, and to make the most of this rare opportunity, he decided to show some real skill.
He focused his mind and thought of Shoujin script, which he had painstakingly studied and practiced over and over in his calligraphy class in his previous life.
The brush tip fell.
Unlike the rounded, full, or dignified and steady regular script common in this world, and unlike the free-flowing spontaneity of running-cursive script, the character “Hao” under his brush immediately carried a refreshing, sharply upright bearing.
His strokes were slender, hard, and forceful; the brush moved swiftly and decisively; the start and finish of each stroke were like blades drawn from their scabbards, and the lifts, presses, and turns were as clear as if carved by knife and axe, sharp and fully exposed with nothing hidden.
The lines were so spare that they seemed almost to the extreme, yet within that thin hardness there was a resilience and force like steel sinew and iron bone; even at the thinnest point, they did not look dry or strained. The structure of the whole character was balanced, with the center tightly gathered and the surrounding strokes gracefully extended, giving it a unique, elegant sense of rhythm.
The ink spread into a faint glow on the paper, the trace of righteous qi flowing naturally, making the character “Hao” seem as if it had not been written on paper at all, but engraved in empty space with spirit and vitality.
It carried an air of aloof, rugged elegance and refined detachment, utterly unlike any calligraphy style Li Zijun knew.
Instantly, time seemed to stand still.
Yun Che could clearly feel that Li Zijun’s consciousness seemed to freeze in an instant.
There was no sound and no emotional response, only an extreme, motionless focus that locked tightly onto the still-wet “Hao” on the paper.
After quite a while, Li Zijun’s voice sounded again, carrying unconcealed shock and bewilderment as she muttered to herself:
“This kind of typeface… oh my, I’ve never seen it before. The start of the stroke is like a knife, the finish like a sword; the slender hardness is almost divine.”
“How… how did he even write this…”
She seemed to be carefully analyzing the path of every stroke and the force behind every turn, growing more shocked and more fascinated the longer she looked.
Li Zijun thought, “This structure, this spirit… he actually wrote it even better than I do.”
She had practiced calligraphy since childhood and considered herself quite accomplished in the art; the characters she wrote were graceful and refined, and they had also earned praise from her elders.
But this unfamiliar script, with its unique aesthetic ideas, its extreme pursuit of stroke strength, and the stern spirit woven into every line, made her feel a startling sense of novelty and shock, along with the shame of falling short.
She suddenly developed an unprecedented and intense curiosity about Xiao Che, who had taken over her body.
That curiosity was like a stone thrown into a still lake, instantly scattering all the wariness that had come from the forced possession.
Where did he come from? Why could he write such a strange yet charismatic script? How much more did he know that she did not?
Deep in her heart, there even flickered a subtly strange thought that she herself did not fully understand:
After seeing such an unusual script and experiencing the unusual efficiency that came from his controlling her body to cultivate, did letting him leave after two hours actually leave her with a faint, almost imperceptible regret?
She sort of did not want him to leave just like that.
Looking at the highly expressive Shoujin script “Hao” on the paper, Yun Che also felt a little pleased with himself and could not help but ask proactively in the sea of consciousness, “Miss Li, how did I write this character?”
The sea of consciousness fell silent for a moment.
Then Li Zijun’s voice sounded, and her tone seemed to have returned to its usual cool calm, though if one listened closely, a trace of very slight unease could be heard: “Mm, it was passable.
Though the brushwork was a little immature, and the handling of the strokes still lacked some maturity and smoothness, the structure of the characters was novel, the bones were already taking shape, and the intent it contained was also quite distinctive.”
“Only passable?” Yun Che said with deliberate disappointment, though he knew full well in his heart that from her stunned reaction just now, the effect was definitely far beyond merely “passable.”
“Ahem,” Li Zijun seemed a little guilty at his tone, or perhaps she was trying to preserve the dignity of her role as a teacher, and she immediately added, “For a beginner to perform this well is already quite remarkable.
Since you have already grasped a little of the method, then… then write a few more characters, and I will give you some pointers.
Write ‘righteous qi’ and ‘self-cultivation.’” She tried hard to make her voice sound like a normal teaching arrangement, rather than like someone who still had not gotten enough of that novel script.
Yun Che laughed inwardly; this Miss Li had clearly been stunned by the script, and her curiosity was practically overflowing, yet she still put on the airs of a senior teacher and refused to lower herself to ask directly. Instead, she used the excuse of “guidance” to make him write more so she could look at it a few more times and study it carefully.
That proud, tsundere streak was a little cute.
“All right, then many thanks to Miss Li for your guidance.” Yun Che said with a smile.
He lifted his brush again, dipped it in ink, and focused his mind. This time, he wrote the two characters “righteous qi.”
With the earlier experience and a more relaxed mindset, his brushwork became even smoother. The slender hardness and sharp edge unique to Shoujin script, wrapped in the warm nourishment of righteous qi, strangely fused into a quality that was “sharp on the outside, supple on the inside.”
The character “zheng” was upright and stern, every stroke like a halberd; the character “qi” carried a touch more flowing resonance, and its final hook seemed as if it would tear through the paper.
“This ‘zheng’ character’s central vertical stroke could be pressed 30% heavier to better reveal the foundation of its ‘uprightness.’” Li Zijun’s voice sounded at just the right time, and this time she was truly giving serious guidance, though her gaze clearly lingered more on those unique turns of the brush tip. “Still, this method of constructing the character by seeking stability through danger is rather ingenious.”
When it came to the two characters “self-cultivation,” Yun Che wrote with even greater focus. The three flicks on the right side of the character “xiu” were written with the slender grace of bamboo leaves; the character “shen” was stretched to give it a lean, upright figure, as though it were a gentleman strict with himself.
“The brush intent was coherent, and the aura… mm, it faintly matched the meaning of the characters.”
Li Zijun assessed, “It’s just that I have searched through the world of calligraphy, and I find no school that is similar to your brush method.
Did you create it yourself?” In the end, she could not hold back and asked casually, but the carefully probing tone gave away her intense curiosity.
Yun Che said without batting an eye, “I came up with some offbeat, unconventional tricks of my own; they are nothing worthy of polite company. Please excuse my poor showing, young lady.”
At that moment, text that only Yun Che could see appeared before his eyes.
The system prompt also arrived quietly:
『Ding! Detected that the host displayed otherworldly culture (calligraphy), arousing deep curiosity and a desire to investigate in the bound target, Li Zijun. Effective interaction achieved.』
『Intimacy +5 (Current: 17/100). Special state triggered: the bound target’s curiosity toward the host has increased significantly. Please keep working hard, host.』
『Friendly reminder: when the host’s intimacy with the bound target reaches 100, there will be a special reward, oh!!!』