Xiaoyao Prefecture
A few days later
Somewhere near Cloud Deer Academy, in an elegant secluded villa
Li Zijun’s bedroom was bright and spotless, still carrying that familiar scholarly air.
However, at the center of the writing desk, no scriptures or classics were spread open; instead, a single paperweight held down a piece of calligraphy.
On the paper there was only a lone “Hao” character, slender and upright, with restrained sharpness, exactly the Shoujin script Yun Che had written that day.
Li Zijun was not seated in cultivation; instead, she rested her cheek on one hand and, with the fingertips of her other hand, absentmindedly traced the direction of the strokes on the paper, her gaze fixed blankly on that “Hao” character as she had held that pose for quite some time.
“Xiao Che…” she murmured softly, and a rare hint of confusion and curiosity colored her cool, refined features. “With calligraphy this distinctive… what would the person look like?”
An indistinct figure unconsciously took shape in her mind, perhaps elegant, perhaps aloof, perhaps carefree, but in any case, someone who matched such calligraphy would surely… “not be unsightly.”
The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she felt, and an indescribable emotion she had never experienced before began to grow in her chest.
“Hmph!” She suddenly gave a light snort, lowered the hand that had been propping up her face, and tapped the character “Hao” with her fingertip as if speaking to herself. “You’ve already seen my…”
“Yet I don’t even know what you look like…”
“That’s way too unfair!”
A strong urge to “win one back” surged up in her.
“Next time…” Li Zijun’s gaze sharpened slightly as she made up her mind. “If he comes again next time, I must ask clearly where he is!”
“At the very least… at the very least, I have to make him leave something too!” What should he leave? Or… she had not yet figured that out, but in any case, it could not stay like this, with only her being “peeked at” one-sidedly.
Just then, soft footsteps sounded from outside the door, and maid Qingcha walked in carrying freshly made pastries. “Young lady, the pastries are here. They’re your favorite osmanthus cakes…”
“Young lady? Young lady?”
Qingcha called out twice before rousing Li Zijun from her daze.
“Ah? Oh, put them down.” Li Zijun hastily withdrew the finger she had been touching the character with, straightened her posture, and restored her usual cool composure, though the faint redness at her ears had not yet fully faded.
Qingcha placed the pastries on the small side table and looked worriedly at her own young lady, then glanced at the single character on the writing desk that had been studied over and over for days, and could not help but whisper, “Young lady, have you been… a little obsessed lately?”
“You stare at this piece of writing all day, and sometimes even mutter to yourself… The character is novel, but it shouldn’t make you this fascinated, should it?”
She had followed Li Zijun for many years and knew that the young lady was cold and focused, rarely putting so much extra thought into anything besides cultivation and necessary social dealings.
Li Zijun, having had her thoughts exposed, felt a little unnatural and said sternly, “Rubbish. I am studying the brush intent and the ‘principle’ contained within it. This typeface has never been seen before, so it naturally has research value.”
Qingcha stuck out her tongue. “Yes, yes, young lady. Who gave you this writing?”
Li Zijun replied, “A friend of mine.”
Qingcha clearly did not quite believe that explanation, but she did not dare ask further and instead brought up something else. “Young lady, why did we leave Jixia Academy and come all the way to such a remote place to serve as guest lecturers at Cloud Deer Academy?”
“Although it is peaceful here, compared to Jixia Academy, it falls far short in both cultivation resources and opportunities to exchange ideas with fellow cultivators.”
“Jixia Academy is the holy land in the hearts of all scholars under heaven!”
At the mention of Jixia Academy, Li Zijun’s expression faded, and a barely perceptible trace of distance flashed through her eyes. She lifted her teacup, took a small sip, and then said slowly, “A holy land? Perhaps it is a holy land in other people’s eyes.”
“But in my case, there is a tutor watching me all day, forbidding this and managing that, with more rules than the stars in the sky.”
“And those… old stick-in-the-muds, always spouting benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, yet not necessarily acting with any real honesty.”
She set down her teacup and looked toward the distant mountains outside the window, her tone carrying a trace of longing. “Rather than being trapped in some so-called holy land and walking within the grid others drew for me, I would rather come out and see the true world.”
“As the saying goes, reading 10,000 books is not as good as traveling 10,000 miles. Coming out this time to travel, broaden my horizons, and experience the mortal world may be even more beneficial to my cultivation.”
Qingcha nodded as if she understood and yet did not, knowing only that the young lady had extraordinary talent, unmatched among her peers in Confucian cultivation, and a very independent nature; since the young lady had decided, there must naturally be her reason.
It was just that… she always felt that this time, the young lady’s departure from the palace to travel was not as simple as merely “traveling 10,000 miles.”
“Then, young lady, this piece of writing…” Xiaoqin pointed at the writing desk.
Li Zijun’s gaze returned to the character “Hao”, and after a moment of silence, she said, “Put it away and have it carefully mounted.” After a pause, she added, “Use my box of rosewood scroll cases.”
“Yes, young lady.” Qingcha agreed, feeling even more curious; that rosewood scroll case was something the young lady only used when preserving treasured beloved items.
After Qingcha carefully put away the character and withdrew, the quiet room returned to silence.
Li Zijun sat alone by the window, her fingers gently rubbing the rim of the teacup, her gaze drifting toward the western horizon.
“Travel 10,000 miles… Xiao Che, will you be that special scenery I encounter along the way?” she murmured to herself, a very faint yet genuine curve lifting the corners of her lips.
The road of travel was still long, and that mysterious man she had met only once but who had left a deep impression had already become someone unforgettable in this journey, someone she faintly looked forward to meeting again.
…
Shenxiao Palace
Great Bamboo Peak
In the small courtyard, beside the plain stone table.
Ye Ruoyi sat down beside Yun Che, her beautiful eyes still sparkling with curiosity and surprise as she stared unblinkingly at him, waiting for his explanation.
“Brother Yun, tell me quickly!” She tugged lightly at Yun Che’s sleeve, her tone carrying a girl’s unique coyness. “You not only reached Foundation Establishment, but what was that gentle, weighty aura on you just now that made people feel so comfortable?”
“It seemed… it seemed a little different from our Daoist spiritual energy.”
Yun Che looked at the childhood sweetheart before him, who was truly happy for him, and felt warmth in his heart.
As for Ye Ruoyi, he did not want to hide everything from her, but the existence of the system was an absolute core secret that could not be revealed. After a brief moment of thought, he chose an explanation that was half true and half false.
“That aura?” Yun Che smiled. With a slight movement of his fingertip, a thread of extremely faint yet warm and mellow righteous qi coiled around his finger, emitting a faint white glow. “It is the righteous qi of the Confucian school.”
“The Confucian school? Righteous qi?” Ye Ruoyi covered her small mouth in surprise, her eyes widening even more. “Brother Yun, you… you actually cultivate both the Confucian and Daoist paths?!”
Born on Xuanji Peak, she naturally had broader knowledge than ordinary disciples and knew that in this world, besides Daoist Qi Refining practitioners, there were also Confucian cultivators, Buddhist cultivators, demonic cultivators, and demon cultivators, each with its own mysteries.
But cultivating multiple systems was extremely difficult; at the slightest mistake, cultivation techniques could conflict, and one could go mad from qi deviation.
Moreover, Confucian school cultivation placed extremely high demands on one’s character and learning; having spiritual roots alone was not enough to get started.
She had never imagined that Brother Yun, whom she had always thought was bitterly cultivating a Daoist cultivation technique with slow progress, had silently embarked on the path of dual Confucian and Daoist cultivation and even successfully reached Foundation Establishment!
“It was just a fortunate coincidence over the past few days,” Yun Che said vaguely, drawing the righteous qi at his fingertips back into his body, “I obtained a little lead into the Confucian school’s inheritance and tried practicing it on my own. I didn’t expect it to help with breaking through the bottleneck.”
“Wow! Brother Yun, you’re amazing!” Ye Ruoyi praised him sincerely, her little face flushed with excitement. “I knew it! Brother Yun is not as simple as he seems!”
She tried hard to think of the right words, then suddenly her eyes lit up and her voice became crisp and pleasant. “What was that saying again? In the Northern Sea there is a fish, and its name is Kun.”
“The Kun is so vast that no one knows how many thousands of miles it spans; transforming into a bird, its name becomes Peng. The Peng’s back is likewise unknown for how many thousands of miles it stretches;…”
“Hm, I forgot the rest, but anyway it means ‘If a bird does not sing, it is fine; once it sings, it startles the world!’ Brother Yun, you’re just like that!”
She said it a little haltingly, but her gaze toward Yun Che was full of admiration and pride, as if she were even happier than if she had broken through herself.
Yun Che was amused by her expression and also felt a twinge of emotion.
“It’s not nearly as exaggerated as you say,” Yun Che said with a smile, ruffling Ye Ruoyi’s hair. “I just got lucky and found a path suited to me. My foundation is still unstable, so it needs to be polished slowly.”
“Mm-hmm!” Ye Ruoyi nodded vigorously and said earnestly, “Brother Yun, you definitely can do it!”
“Although dual Confucian and Daoist cultivation is difficult, once you succeed, you will definitely be stronger than others of the same level!” She smiled with her eyes curved, genuinely happy for Yun Che, as if she could already see his radiant future.