Returning to her courtyard, Li Nanzhu quickly resumed her position.
"The way of calligraphy: the form is the surface, but the intent is the soul."
Only after hearing Duan Xianxing's words did she realize that what she lacked was not the technique of writing, but the 'intent.'
Because she was using mental power as an auxiliary, she didn't have a clear goal for it. She had been writing simply for the sake of finishing the character.
Consequently, the characters she wrote possessed no power and could not be used as a combat method.
It could be said that she was trapped by a fixed mindset.
The character 'Yong' itself could be understood as the beginning of all character creation. Instead of being stifled by the complete character, she should break it apart. If she obsessed over the finished 'Yong,' she would never be able to create anything further.
Li Nanzhu immediately broke the character down into its individual strokes.
Steadying her mind and suppressing her slightly racing heart, she lifted her brush once more and slowly made a stroke in the air.
It was only then that Li Nanzhu felt her spiritual energy and mental power being rapidly drained.
However, a blue point of light slowly emerged before her. It was the beginning of the character 'Yong,' and it corresponded exactly to the Kan hexagram—the Water aspect!
It was a perfect fit for the water-attribute spiritual energy Li Nanzhu was calling upon.
The moment she completed the stroke, her spiritual energy was completely sucked dry.
Looking at the first stroke she had ever written, Li Nanzhu gave a light flick of her hand. The blue brushstroke instantly tore through the air, smashing a massive hole in her house and even striking the courtyard's defensive array!
She had succeeded!
Her theory was absolutely correct—the Eight Principles of Yong could each become an independent technique!
It was just a shame about the house.
...Whatever, she didn't care!
Li Nanzhu decided to study all the strokes first.
But first, she needed to recover her spiritual energy.
Duan Xianxing and Mu Wenyan rushed to Li Nanzhu's side due to the vibration of the defensive array. They only relaxed once they saw she was safe and sound.
Li Nanzhu hurriedly explained herself, leaving the two of them somewhere between laughter and tears.
Their little junior sister was actually researching techniques inside her own room. She could have at least done it in the courtyard.
However, seeing that Li Nanzhu's house was temporarily uninhabitable—after all, a hole that big would let the wind in at night—Mu Wenyan had no choice but to let her move into his courtyard for the time being. He had extra guest rooms where she could stay.
Why was it that only Mu Wenyan's courtyard had extra rooms while the others didn't?
It was all thanks to Feng Yi, who frequently dumped his disciples on Mu Wenyan. Sometimes it was inconvenient to look after them, so Mu Wenyan had simply built an extra house as a guest room for his junior brothers and sisters to stay in temporarily.
Now, it had become a convenience for Li Nanzhu.
"If I'd known, I would've built an extra house in my courtyard too. That way, I could live closer to Little Junior Sister!"
Duan Xianxing had been grumbling ever since Li Nanzhu decided to stay with the first senior brother. Li Nanzhu felt quite helpless.
"You can still build one now," Mu Wenyan said, patting Duan Xianxing on the shoulder.
"Great idea! Little Junior Sister, once I've built it, you absolutely have to come stay!" With that, he vanished.
Li Nanzhu: "?"
What just happened?
Regardless, she was more interested in continuing her research into the other strokes.
Unfortunately, her spiritual energy had just been depleted and hadn't recovered yet, so she had to give up for now. She used the time to tidy up the items in her room so that it wouldn't be too much trouble when it came time for repairs.
In a flash, seven days passed.
Li Nanzhu had more or less figured out the functions and effects of each stroke.
There were eight strokes in the character 'Yong': Ce, Le, Nu, Ti, Ce, Lüe, Zhuo, and Zhe. They corresponded respectively to the eight hexagram aspects of Water, Mountain, Thunder, Fire, Wind, Marsh, Heaven, and Earth.
She currently had no ideas for the last two, but through experimentation, she found that if she drew them using the corresponding attribute of spiritual energy, their power would double. When combined with the amplification from the Wanxiang Brush, the attack power could reach three times its original level.
However, for now, they could only serve as a final trump card, as using even one would drain all her spiritual energy.
Even so, Li Nanzhu was very satisfied. She finally had a trump card of her own.
Li Nanzhu had a gut feeling that after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, she would be able to write at least one more stroke. Combined with the triple attack power, she should be able to hold her own against someone at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage while only being at the early stage herself.
Of course, this was all speculation. She would have to wait until she actually broke through to find out.
Furthermore, it wasn't just her cultivation; her mental power also needed a breakthrough. Otherwise, it would be difficult to fully utilize the capabilities of the Wanxiang Brush.
Fortunately, after all this time, the month was almost up. She would soon be able to resume her cultivation.
Her house had long since been repaired, and Duan Xianxing had stayed true to his word. He had actually built a guest room behind his own courtyard, and at first glance, it looked quite nice.
Duan Xianxing had even asked her to stay there for a few days, but Li Nanzhu had declined. After all, some things were just more convenient to do in her own courtyard.
However, she promised that the next time her house blew up, she would definitely stay at his place, which finally cheered him up.
"Little Junior Sister, now that you're out of seclusion and have nothing to do, do you want to sneak over to the Sword Heart Sect in a couple of days?"
Looking at Duan Xianxing's expression, Li Nanzhu knew he must have been wanting to beat up Li Nanyi for a long time. It was only because both of them were in seclusion that they hadn't gone. Now that they were both free, the beating was back on the schedule.
"Actually, we could head out now. There's no need to wait two days."
"Eh? Little Junior Sister, don't you know? I must have forgotten to tell you."
Duan Xianxing's eyes sparkled with excitement, piquing Li Nanzhu's curiosity.
"You won't believe it, but Li Nanyi was punished immediately after he went back! Hahaha! So he's still locked up and hasn't come out yet!"
Hearing this, Li Nanzhu could guess roughly what had happened.
Why else would Li Nanyi be punished? It must have been because he failed to protect Cang Dongqing.
She just didn't know what the specific punishment was. Curious about this point, she asked directly.
"What was Li Nanyi's punishment? Was it because of Cang Dongqing?"
"Little Junior Sister, you guessed it!"
Duan Xianxing chuckled. He had made a special effort to investigate this matter, knowing his junior sister would be interested.
"After Cang Dongqing returned covered in injuries, Immortal Venerable Ling Xiao was absolutely furious. It's said that without even asking a question, he slapped Li Nanyi, sending him flying and making him spit blood!"
Li Nanzhu couldn't help but click her tongue. Ling Xiao was truly ruthless. To treat another disciple like this for the sake of Cang Dongqing, whom he had only taken in for a month or two... he really wasn't afraid of chilling the hearts of his followers.
"Supposedly, it was Cang Dongqing who pleaded for him, which prevented Immortal Venerable Ling Xiao from punishing him further. Otherwise, Li Nanyi might have had to take a trip to the Hall of Discipline."
The Hall of Discipline? That was harsh. Li Nanzhu hadn't expected Ling Xiao to be so cold-hearted. To be sent there even after receiving a slap from Ling Xiao meant one would lose a layer of skin even if they didn't die. How much did he have to hate this disciple? Li Nanyi really was quite pitiful.
But as pitiful as he was, Li Nanzhu wasn't going to sympathize with him. After all, she found Li Nanyi quite annoying as well. He interfered every single time. Now, she was even feeling a bit of schadenfreude.
"Ling Xiao might have felt he went a bit too far later on. Plus, Li Nanyi's protection was still somewhat timely, so he was only grounded for a month. But apparently, even Cang Dongqing hasn't gone to see him. How pathetic."
"So that means he'll be out in two days?"
"And then we can go beat him up!"
The two of them nodded in unison. Everything was ready; all that was missing was the first senior brother.
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