Chapter 477 The Immortal Pen
Wan Zhenyuan yelled. Soon, two beautiful female Taoist priests in Daopao strode in from the hold, carrying a nearly two-meter-long writing brush together.
When the crowd saw the enormous writing brush, someone who didn"t know what it was laughed mockingly. "Master Wan, what is this?"
Dang Qiang, who had put on his clothes again, yelled, "Master Wan, why are you trying to use such a thing to fool us? This is an extra-large mop, isn"t it?"
Everyone burst into raucous laughter.
Wan Zhenyuan was so mad at Dang Qiang that he gritted his teeth, but his face showed nothing but a charming smile. "Zhenren Dang Qiang, you are so witty! Fellow brothers of the Tao, do you know what kind of powerful magical weapon this is?"
There were also cultivators on the scene who were knowledgeable about such things. Carefully looking at this huge writing brush, Zi Yuan could vaguely see some clues as to its nature. She whispered to Li Yundong, "It seems to be an immortal pen?"
"Immortal pen?" Li Yundong looked at it carefully and nodded slightly. "It does seem a bit like it!"
Su Chan, who was standing to one side, straightened up and said in a low voice, "Is it the magical item used by Zuo Ci during the Three Kingdoms Period in ancient China, the immortal pen?"
Zi Yuan looked at her with a smile. "It seems to be!"
Su Chan"s eyes were wide open, and she exclaimed, "Could it be the immortal pen that can write all the talismans in the whole world and the five-element thunder that can be used at will?"
Li Yundong smiled and pinched her nose. "Yep, should be none other!"
Su Chan was suddenly excited. "Woooow, Yundong, that is such an amazing treasure! You must get it! You must get it!"
Even though Zhou Qin had reached the Zhuji phase, her understanding of these powerful magical weapons was as shallow as a thimble. She could not help but ask Su Chan, "What kind of treasure is it? What are you all worked up for?"
Su Chan grabbed Zhou Qin"s arm, widened her eyes, and asked, "Sister Zhou Qin, do you know the author of the Baopuzi, Ge Hong?"
Zhou Qin nodded in confusion. "I know him! He"s a cultivator who wrote a book and told the world that G.o.ds couldn"t cultivate, but immortals can!"
Su Chan asked again, "Do you know who Ge Hong"s master is?"
Zhou Qin had also read a lot of Taoist cla.s.sics, and such a question was not difficult for her. She replied uncomprehendingly, "Sure, it"s Cheng Yin!"
"Then do you know who Cheng Yin"s master is?"
Zhou Qin laughed, "Of course I know. It"s the Immortal Taiji, Ge Xuan, who is Ge Hong"s grandfather. Su Chan, are you testing me?"
Su Chan widened her eyes and pressed on, "And do you know who Ge Xuan"s master is?"
Zhou Qin was stunned for a moment. "Is it... Zuo Ci?"
Su Chan shook Zhou Qin"s arm excitedly. "Yes. Zuo Ci is the master of the Immortal Taiji! And he is also the founder of the Danding Sect! This Immortal Pen is his personal magic item! Think about it. Fahai"s personal magic item was already so powerful, won"t this immortal pen be even more powerful?"
Zi Yuan also nodded and added, "Yes, it is said that the Immortal Pen can write any talismans freely. Even if you just write the word "thunder", you can attract heavenly thunder from the sky!"
Li Yundong saw that Zhou Qin still did not understand the mystery of the immortal pen, so he explained to her with a smile, "Zhou Qin, you are full of Zhenqi now, which makes you equivalent to a great master from a Wuxia novel. However, you don"t know kung fu moves, so when you settle a score with others, you may not be able to defeat those who have less Zhenqi but know a lot of kung fu. Those cultivators who use talismans are especially fast, accurate and fierce because they use talismans when they use magic."
"In the past, Su Chan gave me a Thunder Talisman. When I used a talisman to cast spells, it only took me a few seconds and I could hit whoever I want. I didn"t have to worry about hitting myself at all. But if I don"t use a talisman and just rely on my Zhenqi to cast spells, it takes at least a minute, perhaps even longer. The most important thing is that you have to worry about striking yourself!"
Zhou Qin was suddenly enlightened when she heard this. "Oh, I understand! So, is it hard to get these talismans usually?"
Zi Yuan took over the conversation, nodded, and said, "Yes, they"re very rare. It"s no exaggeration to say that one is worth a thousand pieces of gold!"
Zhou Qin looked at the immortal pen, her eyes filled with horror, "So if someone has the immortal pen, isn"t it equivalent to having infinite talismans?"
Zi Yuan chuckled. "Not quite. If you want to use a magic item like the immortal pen, writing a talisman will consume a lot of essences. I"m afraid that if I were to write two talismans, I"d run out of Zhenqi."
Zhou Qin frowned and said, "Then what"s the use of having it?"
Su Chan interrupted with a smile. "Sister Zhou Qin, you"re so stupid! You can write with it for self-defense! Moreover, talismans aren"t something that everyone can write! The process of learning to write a talisman is very complicated and difficult to understand. My master can only write heavenly thunder talismans. I can only write the amulet of invisibility myself. I can"t write anything else!"
Zhou Qin smiled and said, "I see, so I was being ignorant." Then, she turned her head to look at Li Yundong and instigated, "Master, why don"t you grab this immortal pen? Your might will be doubled if you have it!"
Li Yundong had thought that Wan Zhenyuan would bring out the Diyuan Jindan or Medicine King Tripod, but he hadn"t been expecting the immortal pen. Although it was also an extremely powerful magical weapon, he wasn"t interested in it at all.
Li Yundong smiled and said, "I have enough powerful magical weapons. Why would I need another? What"s more, powerful magical weapons are the same as magic. The most valuable thing is the essence, not the quant.i.ty! I haven"t used the burning thumb pot well yet. If I get an immortal pen now, aren"t you afraid that I will attract people"s attention?"
Zi Yuan opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. However, even though she had something on the tip of her tongue, she held back.
Su Chan was unwilling to give up. "Yundong, I remember that you once visualized the Immovable Wisdom King. You have six magical items in your hands, and one of them is the immortal pen! It means that it will be your powerful magical weapon sooner or later!"
Li Yundong laughed and said, "Since it will be mine sooner or later, I need not be in a hurry! Haven"t you seen that so many people here are looking at this immortal pen? Since so many people want it, I won"t join in the fray! If it"s really mine, even if I don"t want to grab it now, it will come to my hands in the end!"
Ruan Hongling, who had not spoken all this while, muttered in a low voice, "You have a powerful magical weapon to use. But Shijie Zi Yuan..." Before she could even finish her sentence, her foot under the table was stepped on by Zi Yuan, who then glared at her, not saying anything further.
Hearing this, Li Yundong looked at Zi Yuan in confusion and asked, "Zi Yuan, what"s wrong with you?"
Zi Yuan smiled. Just as she was about to speak, she saw a loud commotion nearby. Someone was yelling loudly, "Master Wan, this is an immortal pen. This powerful magical weapon hasn"t appeared in the world for over a thousand years. How did you get it?!"
Wan Zhenyuan had a smug look on his face. He chuckled and stroked his goatee. "That"s right. This is the exact same immortal pen that Taoist Zuo Ci used! If you don"t believe me, brothers of the Tao, you can take a look!"
After that, he pressed his hand onto the huge brush. Immediately, the brush shrank magically, and in the blink of an eye, it had turned into a small brush that was only twenty centimeters long.
Wan Zhenyuan picked up the Immortal Pen. Beside him, the beautiful female Taoist from the Gezao Sect obediently picked up a cup of tea with both hands. Wan Zhenyuan raised the pen and dipped it into the tea, then wrote the word "Hua" [TL: "Hua" means flower in Chinese] in the air.
The word "Hua" floated in the air and did not disperse. After a while, it started emitting a dazzling seven-colored brilliance, then quickly turned into blooming flowers in front of everyone.
Wan Zhenyuan laughed heartily. With a flick of his sleeves, he shattered the flowers that were hanging in the air. In a flash, petals floated through the air and the fragrance of flowers permeated the ship.
Zhou Qin was stunned. She asked in surprise, "You can produce flowers just by writing the character "Hua"?"
Su Chan also looked at the immortal pen with greed in her eyes, saying, "How about the character "Qian"?" [TL: "Qian" is the character for "gold" in Chinese]
Li Yundong couldn"t help laughing. He snapped his finger on Su Chan"s forehead and said, "You covetous woman, you only pay attention to money!"
Zi Yuan couldn"t help but laugh. "Flowers are the fruits of wood. The immortal pen can only write things like Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, the five elements, Earth lightning, and so on. It can"t create money. If you write the character "Qian", it won"t turn into gold!"
Su Chan couldn"t help feeling disappointed. She held her forehead and pouted.
At this time, all the people in the cabin believed that this pen was the real immortal pen. Their expressions became extremely enthusiastic and excited, and they all secretly rubbed their hands together. After a while, the Taoist a.s.sembly would be held and they would have the opportunity to fight for the treasure!
Although Zhang Ling of the Zhengyi School was experienced and knowledgeable, she was still shocked by the reward offered by Wan Zhenyuan, and she couldn"t help but ask, "Master Wan, you are so willing to bring such a precious treasure out as a reward?"
Wan Zhenyuan laughed generously and said, "For the prosperity of our Taoists culture and for the prosperity of our cultivation world, our Gezao Sect will not hesitate to destroy another sect to achieve this!"
His words caused everyone to cheer in unison. One after another, they cried, "Master Wan, you have guts!"
"Master Wan, you are so broad-minded!"
Zhang Ling frowned and thought, "No, Wan Zhenyuan is not the kind of person who would be willing to give up on his own interests. If he"s willing to take out such a powerful magical weapon, he must have a big plan! But what does he want? Could it be that... he is trying to gain popular support? But the price is too high, isn"t it?"
Zhang Ling was thinking secretly, but he could see that some cultivators in the cabin were already growing impatient. They all shouted, "Don"t talk nonsense. Let"s settle the score. Let"s see who can take away this immortal pen!"
Wan Zhenyuan pressed his hands together and said loudly, "Everyone, calm down. Listen to me!"
As soon as Wan Zhenyuan spoke, the clamoring people shut their mouths. The reason was either than his forceful remarks had aroused everyone’s respect for him, or that the immortal pen that he had brought out was suppressing everyone.
"Everyone, we are all respectable cultivators," Wan Zhenyuan said. "Of course, we can"t set a score like hooligans. Even if we want to battle, we have to come up with some rules!"
Immediately, one of the cultivators said with a smile, "Master Wan, you"re thinking too much. What"s been the procedure for the Taoist a.s.sembly in the past? That"s what the procedures are now!"
Wan Zhenyuan said, "No! The Taoist a.s.sembly used to be held in the deep mountains, and no one would have known about it even if we had an earth-shattering fight, but this time, we are holding it in a downtown area. On both sides of the moat are residential areas, shopping malls, and entertainment venues. Once we fight, the outside world will hear the noise. Do you want to turn the world upside down?"
The two hundred cultivators in the cabin were dumbfounded when they heard that. One asked, "Master Wan, how can we settle a score without fighting?"
Wan Zhenyuan laughed and said, "Look, the rule this time is: You have to fight while keeping the worldly mortals outside from noticing! What do you think?"
The cultivators of all the sects looked at each other. Some who had low cultivation quotients secretly retreated, while others who thought that they had high cultivation quotients said loudly, "Master Wan, we"ll do as you say!"
Soon, there was a response from those who were taking the lead, and most of the cultivators nodded in agreement.
Wan Zhenyuan nodded and said with a smile, "Very well. Now that everyone has agreed, I wonder which Zhenren will show first?"
As soon as he said this, a young man dressed in a Tang suit stood up. He cupped his hands and said, "Master Wan, I"ll go first!"
Wan Zhenyuan looked over and saw a man with a pair of tiger"s eyes and a lion"s nose showing a majestic look on his face. Wan Zhenyuan cupped his hands and said, "Ah, so it"s Zhenren Chen Yunyan from the Qingwei Sect. Forgive us for our disrespect!"
Chen Yunyan looked around with his fierce eyes and asked, "Master Wan, could I call someone"s name and have them come and compete?"
Wan Zhenyuan nodded and said smilingly, "As long as you follow the rules, of course, it"s okay!"
Chen Yunyan nodded, then suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Yundong with eyes like lightning. He pointed at him with his sword-like finger and said, "Li Yundong, do you dare to accept my challenge?"