Chapter 202: Talisman Pen Faster Than Blades

It was incredibly hard to become famous in the cultivation world, let alone achieve an idol-like status.

Just within Qingjiang Prefecture alone, there existed the Six Great Sects, the County Mansion faction, various powerful families, and numerous paths like alchemy, talismans, herbs, martial arts, and spirit arts. Each path had its own rules, and each group held its own views. Those excelling in one area might not earn respect in another. Someone brilliant in one field could be a complete joke in another. Talented individuals emerged constantly, each chasing their own goals. Who had time to spare paying attention to others?

But Fang Cun wasn’t anxious at all. One morning, he simply strolled alone to a large stone wall.

…

“Morning, Second Young Master Fang…”

Though it was early morning, many disciples of the Leshui Sect had already gathered before the stone wall.

Some sat quietly in meditation; others clutched stacks of ancient texts; and some merely stared blankly at the characters carved on the wall, having sat there for who knows how many days.

This stone wall area was originally the quietest spot in the entire Leshui Sect.

Anyone approaching the wall instinctively softened their steps and dared not make loud noises.

Even so, Fang Cun’s arrival instantly stirred a wave of animation. Many Leshui disciples looked up, saw Fang Cun, and greeted him warmly. Now, many in Leshui viewed Fang Cun as one of their own. They found “Elder Fang” too distant, so they unanimously preferred calling him “Second Young Master!”

“My fellow junior brothers and sisters, respectful greetings…”

Fang Cun also smiled and returned their polite greetings, not putting on any airs of seniority.

Truth be told, given his current status as an Elder of the Shoushan Sect, he could definitely address these Leshui disciples as juniors or disciples. But after mingling with them so familiarly, formal titles were forgotten. In a way, this was part of the cultivation world’s custom – everyone just called each other whatever felt right!

“Second Young Master Fang, free tonight? I’ve got a good jug of wine specifically to invite you!”

“Second Young Master Fang, I tried to seek your advice yesterday, but Brother Yu stopped me. Are you free today?”

“Second Young Master Fang, the Rear Mountain is deserted… I invite you to watch the moon with me tonight…”

…

The moment Fang Cun appeared, enthusiasm surged from the Leshui disciples. They crowded around him. Some invited him for drinks; others came with questions for discussion; a few shy female disciples even batted their large eyes at him, hinting at something…

“Plenty of chances in the future, but I’m afraid not today!”

Fang Cun politely declined them one by one, saying: “Today, I must leave Leshui Sect!”

“Huh?”

“Leave?”

The disciples were all stunned. “It’s only been a few days! Why must you go already?”

Many of them now knew Fang Cun had come to Leshui Sect to study their techniques and secret texts, hoping to complete what was missing in Shoushan Sect. Being disciples, they weren’t stingy with letting him study, and since the Elders and the Sect Leader had agreed, they naturally wished he could stay longer. Hearing he was leaving so suddenly was surprising. Leshui held countless ancient texts – how could he possibly finish in just one month?

In just a month, how much could he even learn?

“I am deeply honored by your kindness, fellow juniors. Second Son Fang has gained much insight in my month at Leshui Sect!”

Fang Cun answered with a smile, then turned his gaze back towards the stone wall.

Seeing Fang Cun really intended to depart, the disciples felt reluctant. They swarmed closer, chattering and questioning noisily.

However, some studious loners who focused entirely on learning found the commotion unbearable. Annoyed, they shouted: “If you want to chat, go elsewhere! This is the place for contemplating the Enlightenment Stone Wall, not for idle gossip and romance! Such noise! Where’s the proper decorum?”

Hearing this, many Leshui disciples immediately took offense, glaring angrily at them.

“Don’t argue, don’t argue! It’s Second Fang’s fault for disturbing everyone’s contemplation!”

Fang Cun hurriedly calmed the disturbance, smiling apologetically and saluting those absorbed in wall-gazing.

These recluses, who spent all day before the wall, weren’t socially adept. Seeing Fang Cun apologize, they fell silent again.

Some disciples closer to Fang Cun grew curious. Since he was leaving, why did he come to the Enlightenment Stone Wall at the last moment? Could it just be to say farewell?

Fang Cun smiled at the crowd, adjusted his sleeves, and walked up to the stone wall itself.

He stared upwards for a long moment. Suddenly, he leaped into the air, soaring before the wall. He extended a finger like a brush and began writing on the stone face.

“This is…”

Witnessing this, the Leshui disciples gasped in shock.

Even those who usually sat motionless before the wall, lost in contemplation, jumped to their feet, utterly astonished.

…

This Enlightenment Stone Wall was a tradition unique to Leshui Sect.

Truthfully, any major sect possessed something similar.

As a sect, besides teaching disciples and guarding local peace, another core duty was the deduction and refinement of new techniques.

This Enlightenment Stone Wall was a special feature of Leshui Sect. When its elders and disciples encountered difficulties they couldn’t answer through discussion while researching techniques, they would inscribe the problem onto this wall. It was then open for other elders and even disciples to ponder and solve. Solving a major problem was always rewarded with significant sect Merit and treasures.

Currently, inscribed right at the very top of the wall were three longstanding, unresolved problems.

These dedicated scholars spent days at the wall precisely to crack these three problems, hoping to achieve fame through it.

Of course, if they could actually solve them, they wouldn’t be called “oddballs” anymore.

But now, this very morning, Fang Cun had come before the wall. Suddenly, he had flown up and begun writing on it!

This stunning act left the Leshui disciples bewildered.

Many instinctively wanted to stop him. This wall, particularly the top three problems – untouched for centuries – had almost become a monument, a landmark of Leshui Sect. If a disciple felt sudden inspiration to tackle a problem, they first wrote their solution on paper and submitted it to the elders for review. If everyone could scrawl on it freely, the wall would be a chaotic mess long ago.

Yet, Young Master Fang Cun actually…

…

“Quiet… QUIET!”

Amidst the rising clamor, one of the “oddballs” cried out, urgently silencing everyone.

Immediately afterwards, more Leshui disciples noticed something. They stared dumbfoundedly as they looked upward at what Fang Cun was writing on the wall.

Soon enough, Second Young Master Fang’s actions at the Enlightenment Stone Wall alarmed the Leshui Sect’s Elders, Stewards, True Disciples, and even the Sect Leader himself. They rushed over from all corners of the sect, anxiously examining the words Fang Cun inscribed on the wall. What they saw left them utterly astounded.

Some peered closely, their hands even trembling with excitement.

Because what Fang Cun was writing now, his finger like a brush aimed at the distant wall, were spells and methods.

Many were techniques they had agonized over fruitlessly, but which seemed blindingly obvious the moment they saw Fang Cun’s solution.

“That is…”

Gazing at one particular method, someone suddenly comprehended, his expression shifting dramatically.

Sensing the gaze of countless eyes from across Leshui Sect, and feeling the intense, hushed silence hanging in the mountains, Fang Cun felt a surge of exultation. Swinging his “brush-hand” with increasing grace, thoughts flowing, profound method after profound method appeared upon the stone.

This wasn’t all, but just a part of everything he had witnessed and understood while reading through Leshui Sect’s vast archives over the past month…

His journey to the Five Sects was never only about studying techniques and manuals.

He had aimed to shock the world with a single feat!

Since he wanted to execute his plan to become an idol in the cultivation world, how could he manage without a few stunning, attention-grabbing stunts?

As for Leshui Sect’s three “unsolvable” problems…

Fang Cun could see it. And likely, the Leshui Sect Leader and some elders secretly knew too.

These weren’t actually “problems”!

They manifested the inherent limitations, the fixed constraints within Leshui Sect’s heritage!

The Leshui Sect primarily trained in the “Book” or “Documents” volume of the Seven Classics!

The “Classic of Documents” encompassed a vast array, numerous methods. Broadly categorized, it had three branches: Talismans (Fuzhuan), Chants/Spells (Zhouyan), and True Scriptures/Sutras (Zhenjing).

Talismans and Chants showed the most immediate and simplest combat effects when facing enemies. Thus, Leshui Sect excelled in these, making them key cultivation paths. However, truly profound masters of the “Document” path, especially the grand cultivators in Zhaoge, rarely specialized in these combat applications.

Leshui Sect focused on Talismans because they offered a fast track to power, useful in clashes with rivals and competition with the other Five Sects.

However, the esteemed scholars and elder cultivators in Zhaoge rarely engaged in combat; many never fought in their entire lives. Such Qi Refiners might be helpless before an assassin, but their deep understanding of the True Scripture doctrines, when taught widely, could empower Great Xia, producing thousands or even tens of thousands of powerful Qi Refiners, effectively strengthening the nation and propelling progress…

Put plainly, the “Classic of Documents” wasn’t inherently meant as a path focused on combat.

Leshui Sect resided on the border of the Yuan Nation, a harsh, barbaric region with intense pressure to compete. They had little choice but to take this route.

Limited by inherent aptitude, however, they couldn’t truly possess overwhelming power. Generation after generation, countless Leshui ancestors racked their brains over how to exploit the combat potential within Talismans, how to enhance self-protection abilities…

This was like trying to lose weight for beauty while insisting on swinging a giant hammer…

Leshui Sect had simply deviated. Focusing intensely on Talismans, all disciples, regardless of specialty, leaned towards Talisman skills.

These three problems were all variations of this core limitation:

To describe them specifically would be lengthy and complex.

But in Fang Cun’s view, they boiled down to questions like:

How to possess the strength to lift a cauldron while maintaining a willowy waist?

How to knock down a giant brute without looking thick-set and overly muscled?

How to jump down from a second-story height while wearing high heels and not twist an ankle?

…

And what Fang Cun now inscribed was a new technique born from merging methods found in Shoushan Sect’s Divine Nether Scriptures with Leshui Sect’s own talismanic arts. These techniques could still be cultivated using the “Treasure Body” method fundamental to Leshui, yet they incorporated the power dynamics from Shenming Sect’s arts. The result was fundamentally altered and appeared, at the very least, several times more profound and wondrous.

He wrote method after method. In the end, at the very conclusion, were inscribed four grand lines:

A barking cur should never block the sun’s rays,

Evil mists will melt away like snow decayed.

Guardians of the Way, mock not the scholar’s cap,

For a Talisman Pen, is a blade, swung swiftly back!

…

Whoosh!

Having written the last character using his finger like his pen, Fang Cun decisively withdrew his cultivation energy. His large sleeves billowed like an immortal’s descent as he gracefully floated down to the ground.

“This junior, Fang Cun, deeply thanks the esteemed Elders of the Leshui Sect. They generously permitted me to enter their sect and study the secrets of techniques, delve into Talismans and the Classic of Documents, to help complete the missing legacies of Shoushan Sect. Their magnificent benevolence is worthy of profound admiration. After over a month of insights gained here at Leshui Sect, I dare not keep this understanding to myself!

“As the moment of my departure arrives, I leave this inscription here. May both sects benefit, upholding our shared will to conquer demons and safeguard the Dao…”

…

Meeting the awestruck gazes from everyone throughout the sect, Fang Cun smiled and bowed mid-air.

His journey through the Five Sects to study their arts—even backed by the earlier won wager—had left many feeling he was merely there to take advantage. Hence the underhanded tricks and spiteful comments. Even if he presented lavish gifts to each sect, ensuring their satisfaction, on some level, they’d likely still view it as a transaction, or an investment made in him…

But what Fang Cun sought wasn’t just their investment, nor was it merely acquiring their techniques!

You offer me a simple peach; I repay you with luminous jade!

You give me something good? I shall give you something better!

He would make every one of these Five Sects, every Qi Refiner in Qingjiang Prefecture, understand that Second Young Master Fang wasn’t here to exploit them!

He was here to make them acknowledge his superiority!