Chapter 165: Strength Penetrates the Back of the Paper. That’s Not What I Meant!
The brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were spread out under the old peach tree.
Looking at the slightly yellowish and plain paper, Lou Hongzhi was full of antic.i.p.ation.
Senior was finally going to teach him the supreme Way of the Sword.
Qi’er was still obediently helping Liu Changchang grind the ink.
The white fox half-squatted on the bluestone beside the peach tree, curiously looking at the young man with the sword on the table.
The leaves of the old peach tree swayed with the wind, and the flowers and plants in the courtyard were also very energetic under the sunlight.
The courtyard was filled with joy and harmony, full of interest.
Liu Changgong handed the brush in his hand to Lou Hongzhi and said:
“If you want to learn to write with me, I need to see your calligraphy skills so that I can teach you according to your apt.i.tude.”
“How about this? You write a few words for me to see first.”
Lou Hongzhi was stunned for a moment, and it didn’t take him long to react.
‘Senior, are you thinking of seeing my foundation of swordsmanship through writing?’
Lou Hongzhi was still very confident.
When he was in Zhongzhou, his Master once forced him to write calligraphy for a few years, using writing to temper his Sword Intent.
Lou Hongzhi took a deep breath to calm down the nervous mood in his heart.
Lou Hongzhi’s expression was very serious. Liu Changgong saw Lou Hongzhi’s expression and nodded.
“Yes, Senior.”
“No need to call me Senior. Just call me Teacher.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Lou Hongzhi changed his words and smoothly took the brush from Liu Changgong’s hand.
The moment Lou Hongzhi took the brush, his upper body bent down as if he was holding a heavy sword.
Lou Hongzhi was very surprised.
It turned out that this brush looked very ordinary, but it was actually an immortal weapon. Holding it in his hand, it weighed thousands of pounds. He had to use all the spiritual power in his body to hold the brush.
Looking at the exquisite brush in his hand, he was amazed in his heart.
It was indeed an immortal weapon. The material of the brush and the tip of the brush must be materials that only existed in the Immortal World.
The feeling of holding the pen was like a huge mountain pressing down on the top.
Liu Changgong looked at Lou Hongzhi’s trembling wrist, and he was very worried.
This cultivator and student’s foundation was actually so poor. It seemed that his spirit stones were not easy to earn.
Liu Changgong frowned and said, “If you want to learn calligraphy, you have to practice your basic skills. If you can’t even hold the pen steadily, how can you write?”
Lou Hongzhi’s face was bitter.
That was an immortal artifact, and he really couldn’t hold it.
No, Jianglu had said that Senior’s words must have a deeper meaning.
Could it be that Senior Liu was saying that his hand holding the sword wasn’t steady enough?
It was also hinting that his foundation wasn’t solid enough!
Without taking small steps, how could he travel thousands of miles?
Without a solid foundation, how could he reach the peak of the Sword Dao?
Lou Hongzhi thought that his own foundation was already quite outstanding, but he did not expect it to be like a tiger made of paper.
Liu Changgong clenched his teeth and tried hard to hold the brush firmly. Then, he shakily wrote the words ‘Lou Hongzhi’ on the precipice.
After writing those three words, Lou Hongzhi put down the brush very carefully.
His face had long turned purple, and his face was full of shame.
Those three words were crooked, as if ants were crawling on it.
It was fine if it was ugly, but since he had used all his spiritual energy to hold the brush, the words he wrote did not have any Sword Intent or Daoist connotation at all.
It was just like the calligraphy written by a mortal child.
Compared to Senior Liu’s calligraphy, it was simply nothing.
Perhaps it was not appropriate to say this, the words he wrote simply did not have the qualifications to compare to Senior.
Lou Hongzhi was so ashamed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground and go in.
He lowered his head and glanced at Senior Liu from the corner of his eyes, discovering that Senior Liu’s face was full of disappointment.
When Lou Hongzhi saw Senior Liu’s appearance, his heart was also very bitter.
‘Senior, seeing that my foundation is so poor, you won’t change your mind and not teach me, right?’
‘A student like me is indeed not worthy of Senior’s attention…’
Liu Changgong looked at the three words written by Lou Hongzhi. He might as well say what he should say.
He was already mentally prepared, but he didn’t expect Lou Hongzhi, as a sword cultivator, to have such a poor foundation.
You’re a f*cking cultivator, you can’t even hold a brush properly?
Did you practice your sword for nothing?
Those words that looked like wild animals randomly scribbling on a piece of paper weren’t calligraphy at all.
To be honest, in his previous life, Liu Changgong’s handwriting when he was in kindergarten was even better than Lou Hongzhi’s handwriting.
However, since the tuition fees had been charged, Liu Changgong couldn’t honestly attack Lou Hongzhi.
After all, learning to encourage students was a teacher’s basic cultivation.
Yes, the problem had to be pointed out, but the way he spoke had to be careful so as not to attack the student’s fragile self-esteem.
For those kind of cultivators and students, their self-esteem would be damaged, and it might even affect their Dao heart.
Liu Changgong could not be careless.
Li Changgong thought about his teacher’s att.i.tude towards him in his previous life, and then he said earnestly, “Although your foundation is not ideal, there is still a lot of room for improvement.”
Lou Hongzhi, who had originally been disheartened and thought that he would be kicked out by his teacher, suddenly raised his head when he heard this.
His eyes were once again filled with hope.
What Senior meant was that he was still a material that could be created.
That’s right. That brush was so heavy. It was probably a test from Senior.
If it was an ordinary cultivator, he might not even be able to lift up an ordinary sword-type magic treasure, let alone that heavy brush immortal artifact.
When Lou Hongzhi thought of this, he looked at Liu Changgong eagerly, as if he had returned to the time when he first met Senior Liu.
Liu Changgong was scared by Lou Hongzhi’s gaze.
‘This guy, could he be gay?’
‘Cultivators are all dedicated to the Dao and didn’t care much about the skin. It is really possible.’
Thinking of this, Liu Changgong felt nauseous and quickly darkened his face, wanting to use this to dispel Lou Hongzhi’s ‘improper thoughts’.
“You wrote too heavily, and the ink was dyed on the table through the paper.”
“Strong through the back of the paper, that’s not what I mean. It means that the calligraphy is strong and powerful, the tip of the brush strokes can penetrate the back of the paper, but in reality, the brush strokes are like a dragonfly skimming the water.”
Lou Hongzhi listened attentively to Liu Changgong’s words and kept nodding, just like a pile driver.
Lou Hongzhi kept thinking.
Senior’s words meant that his swordsmanship was too sharp and too radical.
Thinking about it carefully, ever since he started cultivating the Sword Dao, it seemed to be like this.
He didn’t hold back and didn’t give his opponent any chance.
Too rigid, it could easily be broken. This was probably the truth behind Senior’s words.
A dragonfly skimming the water meant that when the Sword Dao was practiced to the Great Success stage, the sword would be like an arm. There was no need to waste any extra strength at all.
Liu Changgong didn’t stop his teaching.
“When your strokes were connected, they were too forceful, not round enough, did not acc.u.mulate power, and did not have a hidden edge. It seems that it is because you usually practice too little, and did not put in hard work to train your basic strokes.”
Lou Hongzhi understood again.
Senior should have said that he was only focused on raising his head and charging forward, and did not pay attention to many details.