The Calligrapher Sage stepped out of the pavilion, then suddenly turned back and asked:
"Three characters are missing from the final line of this poem. Did he not write them, or did he write them elsewhere?"
The Chess Devil remained silent. Li Ying trembled slightly, her hand clutching the small notebook in her sleeve, yet she replied: "He didn't write them."
She had already torn out the page with "planting potatoes" written on it, and she didn't know why she had lied.
The Calligrapher Sage gave her a deep look before turning away. Ji Chen hurried to follow, nearly tripping over his overly elaborate magic robe and books.
"Let's go!" The Chess Devil led Li Ying and Hua Wei down the mountain from the other side.
Though heading to the same destination, they deliberately took separate paths.
After their figures disappeared, True Person Xuyun stood up and breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't know why the Calligrapher Sage and Chess Devil had met, nor why they had parted on bad terms, but he felt an ominous premonition.
This was the third time he'd experienced such a feeling since Song Qianji shouted "Xian Jianchen" in the Cosmos Palace.
Something major must have happened within the Huawel Sect that he didn't know about, likely with serious consequences.
Just then, he received a communication talisman from his daughter Chen Hongzhu.
"Come to the Cosmos Palace to discuss important matters with the various Peak Lords and elders."
As clouds gathered and dispersed, the Star-Picking Platform experienced a brief period of emptiness before welcoming another group of young cultivators.
They were radiant with energy, many having been too excited to sleep all night. Some had even wanted to come early but feared displeasing the Sage.
Finally arriving at the summit at the second mark of the morning hour, they found the Star-Picking Platform deserted.
"I wonder what the Sage wanted us to see?"
"There are four lines of poetry carved here!"
Zhao Mu and Wei Zhanyang were the first to rush into the pavilion, and thus the first to clearly see the characters carved on the stone table.
Zhao Mu traced the sunken stone marks and trembled slightly: "This wasn't carved with a blade. Someone wrote this using an extremely soft, small brush."
Someone else asked: "Could it be that the Calligrapher Sage wrote this for us to study, hoping we might comprehend the true meaning of his brushwork through this poem?"
Wei Zhanyang shook his head: "My family collects authentic works by the Calligrapher Sage. His handwriting is vigorous and powerful, with a divine charm like the vast ocean and momentum like heavenly might descending. The first line of this poem has elegant, ethereal characters, like willow catkins dancing in the spring breeze - definitely not the Calligrapher Sage's work."
"'I intend to add spring breeze to drunken wine,'" someone read aloud before wondering, "It's just an unfinished doggerel poem. What's worth seeing here?"
"Marvelous!" exclaimed an excited Talismaster from the academy. "In the first line, the characters for 'spring breeze' have breath-like strokes, while 'drunken wine' shows intermittent brushwork - the writer's intoxicated state leaps vividly from the page. The brushwork penetrates the stone with ethereal elegance, where intent precedes form, the shape scattered yet the spirit unified..."
Many who initially didn't find it remarkable began, after this guidance, to see an indescribable charm emanating from the brushwork, realizing their limited perception had prevented them from appreciating its excellence.
Another Talismaster commented: "The second line shows brushwork transitioning from light to heavy, yet as natural as a river swelling with water, completely free of artifice. The final stroke of the character for 'end' in 'all matters end' resembles a noble scholar waving his sleeve in the wind, bidding farewell to floating clouds. I believe this line is the most exquisite!"
"No, the third line is undoubtedly the best - 'Who among the world's heroes can stand as my match?' Grand and unconstrained, immensely domineering, like a giant cleaving heaven and earth with a blade."
For a time, debates raged uncontrollably as paper and ink flew about, everyone scrambling to make rubbings and copies of the stone table's inscriptions.
Masterful calligraphy becomes copybook material, and this poem came to be known as the "Hero Summons."
"So this is what the Calligrapher Sage wanted us to see - saying whoever could surpass this could become his personal disciple. He wanted us to be completely convinced."The speaker was Wei Zhanyang. Having said his piece, he lowered his head and descended the mountain.
At this moment, he had no desire to look at the "Hero Summons" again, nor to recall his failure.
Suddenly, someone remarked, "Such exquisite calligraphy—I wonder who wrote it?"
"The characters for 'drunkenness' in the Hero Summons share the same brushwork style as the Egg Calligraphy. They must be from the same hand!"
Last night in the Cosmos Palace, Ji Chen had been exposed by Ji Guang and openly admitted he couldn’t write at all.
If it wasn’t him, then who?
The crowd looked around in confusion, but no one seemed a likely candidate.
Someone sighed, "During the Calligraphy and Painting Examination, I sat in front of Ji Chen. I heard him clapping over 'eggs' and even turned to glare at him. Ah, if only I had known then…"
Suddenly, another voice cut in, "If you sat in front of him, who was his desk mate?!"
The platform fell into abrupt silence.
Until someone softly uttered the name, still tinged with disbelief: "S-Song Qianji?"
Though reluctant to believe it, everyone had witnessed it with their own eyes.
After Zhao Mu left his writing on the cliff wall, he had taken Zhao Jiheng to provoke Song Qianji. The latter first mocked the wildflowers Song Qianji had drawn, then waved Ji Chen’s exam paper, ridiculing the single circle on it.
The author of the Hero Summons was actually Song Qianji, an Outer Sect disciple of the Huawel Sect!
Could it be that the Calligrapher Sage’s true intended successor was Song Qianji?
A group gathered, piecing together the truth like unraveling a cocoon.
"Impossible! It’s really Song Qianji? I remember he wasn’t a Talismaster at all. Could he be a hidden master?"
"If you couldn’t see it, that just shows your lack of discernment. I always knew he was no ordinary talent!"
"Hey, weren’t you the one laughing the loudest at those wildflowers?"
The aloof Star-Picking Platform had never been so lively.
Only Zhao Mu stood frozen.
The first time he had seen Song Qianji was at the waterside pavilion outside Yaoguang Lake, where he had painted a portrait of a beauty, only to be ignored by her.
The second time was during the Calligraphy and Painting Examination by the Colorful Stone Stream, where he had left his writing on the cliff wall, shining brilliantly, yet overlooked by the Calligrapher Sage.
He had always thought Song Qianji and he were from different worlds—that the other was merely an Outer Sect disciple who had stumbled into luck.
Only today did he realize how gravely mistaken he had been.
But why had his lifelong rigorous training fallen short of someone else’s casually composed doggerel?
Why had his painstaking efforts to emulate the Calligrapher Sage’s youthful demeanor been overshadowed by someone who merely touched a few stones and sketched a wildflower?
His eyes fixed blankly on the stone table, his face pale, a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his lips.
Yet he only pushed through the crowd, stumbling dazedly into the forest.
The Star-Picking Platform remained bustling, the discussions growing even louder.
"After 'better than seeking immortality,' he left out three characters. The climax of the entire poem—why didn’t he write it?"
Like the Music Examination’s stunning melody cut short by a snapped string, it left everyone with regret.
"But what in this world could be more important than seeking immortality?"
A scholar from the academy fanned himself with a folding fan: "As the poem goes, 'Better to die as paired ducks than envy immortals alone.' In my opinion, the last line must be 'Better than seeking immortality is lasting love.'"
"Not necessarily," argued another Talismancer. The poem's artistic conception is vast—how could it be confined to mere romance? I bet it’s 'Better than seeking immortality is writing a Talisman!'"
Speculations abounded—some analyzed earnestly, while others ventured wild guesses.
"Better than seeking immortality is seeking luck," "Better than seeking immortality is seeking wealth," "Better than seeking immortality is seeking a partner," and so on.In the end, people reached a conclusion:
"Even with countless shortcomings, none compare to leaving three characters blank, allowing the copyist to express their heart's intent. Just as there are unfinished melodies in music, there are incomplete poems in calligraphy—these broken melodies and fragmented poems should be called the 'Twin Wonders of Dengwen'!"
...
Song Qianji remained completely unaware of the impending crisis.
He was busy urging himself to cheer up and stay strong:
"Even if I got drunk, it didn't delay my work of farming down the mountain."
He watered and turned the soil for every plant, checked if the flower trellises were sturdy, and buried the withered flowers and fallen leaves.
Finally, standing under the eaves, he pasted a new Focusing Light Talisman.
In the vat, tender lotus shoots had just emerged, floating on the water's surface like small, round bronze coins.
Song Qianji patted his Storage Bag and pulled out a few patterned Yuhua stones with dazzling designs.
This was his greatest gain from participating in the Calligraphy and Painting Examination.
"Plop.The small stones sank into the water, and instantly, the reflections of sky, clouds, and his face rippled into shimmering waves, spreading circle after circle of ripples.
He gently touched the coin-like leaves and hummed softly:
"One red, one green, red and green hasten the new lotus. One county after another, a lifetime of planting unfinished, forever unfinished!"
Two white-bellied magpies landed on the flower trellis, chirping competitively as if responding to him.
"What planting can't be finished?" someone asked from the doorway.
Song Qianji turned toward the voice.
He saw a person dressed in black robes striding directly across the threshold.
Entering uninvited.
As this person stepped in, the magpies fell silent, and the chirping insects quieted.
Amid the swaying garden flowers and trees, the atmosphere subtly shifted.
The vibrant vitality of spring seemed veiled by a layer of indifference.
Song Qianji slightly frowned. In his Purple Palace, the Fountain of Immortality trembled faintly, as if issuing a warning.
The visitor had the face of a youth, with exquisitely symmetrical features, as if carved by the heavens with utmost care.
"Who might you be?"
As Song Qianji asked, he already had a guess in mind.
The person smiled: "Last night, you should have seen me."
An uninvited guest! Alarm bells rang loudly in Song Qianji's mind.
His post-drunk mind was quick to process.
He Qingqing hadn't exposed him. But He Qingqing's qin melody was too conspicuous, and her experiences too straightforward.
No relatives, no friends, the places she'd been, the people she'd met, how others treated her... With the status and resources of a Transformation Stage powerhouse, a simple investigation would reveal everything.
Could it be that Qin Xian had come to find the composer of the qin melody?
Song Qianji took a light breath. Senior Xian Jianchen, it's time for you to make an appearance again!
Your efforts are appreciated!
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