Chapter 385: Liu Donghe's article

The Lingxiao Flower Goddess watched Bai Zhang's departing back, suppressing her anger. She waved her hand, closing and locking the gate.

It was infuriating.

But it was still acceptable.

These scholars, or other cultivators, at least came directly to declare war; they weren't being secretive.

Their straightforward approach of coming to draw a boundary was actually easier to handle; she could just meet force with force.

Ultimately, they were still scholars. Even if they were dissatisfied, they wouldn't directly attack. In fact, if she had chosen to close the doors and talk, everything might have been polite, and the situation wouldn't have been too ugly.

What a pity.

However, as Bai Zhang said, after staying in Baiyue for too long, she no longer had that much patience.

Face?

If the situation looked good, would the other side not try to send her back?

What a joke. She wasn't planning to be gentle and kind with these people upon her return.

In Baiyue, regaining Face... would be more in line with the standard of 'barbarism.'

Attacking their sect, destroying their gates, or beating them until they dug up all the burial objects from their ancestral graves as compensation, resolving problems like a gangster, was the most common approach.

While that wasn't possible in Chang'an, she wouldn't truly play a game of 'mutual forgiveness' with these people.

However, doing this wasn't that simple; more preparation was needed.

"I've rested enough, time to continue preparations," the Lingxiao Flower Goddess muttered to herself, then picked up her terminal and walked out of the room.

——————

In the residential area of Chang'an, the Liu family.

It was already midday, and soon it would be afternoon.

Li Qi was currently packaging the physical Shamanic Silkworm Artifact and recording a video with his terminal.

"I'm ready here, how about you?" Li Qi said, looking behind him.

Liu Canzhi was carving scholarly Qi, which could then be directly sent to others, similar to flyers and instruction manuals.

"Almost, almost, just the last hundred copies. I just need to duplicate them," Liu Canzhi said casually, his hands still busy.

The two were making their final preparations.

They would prepare the samples and flyers, then wait for the Lingxiao Flower Goddess's literary gathering to commence. It would surely shake the Upper Garden, making it the best time for promotion.

Once everything was ready, the two exchanged glances.

It was almost time to get the essay.

They set off together, heading towards Liu Donghe's study.

Since it was within their home, it only took a few minutes for them to arrive at Liu Donghe's study.

Standing at the study door, Liu Canzhi cupped his hands and said, "Father, we've come for the poem."

"Good, it's finished," Liu Donghe replied from inside. Immediately, a light piece of paper flew out.

Just this one light piece of paper could influence the futures of countless people, including the future life of a fifth-rank official.

Li Qi once again experienced the power of 'influence.'

It was like how he, a seventh-rank cultivator, caused countless ripples when he moved in Baiyue, even suppressing all the Gu of a river. And his casual command made many Mountain Gods rush about, even attracting three Spirit Shaman and causing the death of over a thousand people in a village.

And now, Liu Donghe was doing the same thing.

However, Li Qi suddenly realized that if Liu Donghe, and other high-rank powerhouses like them, possessed such immense influence, why hadn't this world been in constant turmoil?

Li Qi's own words could stir up so much trouble. Logically, their actions should spread and bring about indescribable chaos.

Li Qi's original thought for controlling influence was to live in seclusion, hide his identity, and do everything secretly, which would prevent many things from happening.

This method was clumsy, but it was the best Li Qi could think of at his current stage.

Now, he found that a group of high-rank powerhouses, including Liu Donghe, seemed to wield their influence without a care, yet surprisingly, no negative consequences arose.

There must be some method behind it.

Li Qi pondered these thoughts, but then he saw Liu Canzhi had already taken the paper.

Compared to Li Qi, Liu Canzhi didn't think too deeply. He joyfully grabbed the paper and said, "Thank you, Father! Then we'll be going!"

"Go," Liu Donghe said with a stern Face, "but remember, do not do anything absurd under my banner. If you cause trouble, I won't help you clean it up."

"Don't worry, Father, have I ever done anything absurd? Besides, if you don't trust me, you should at least trust Brother Li," Liu Canzhi said casually, then pulled Li Qi and said, "Let's go, Brother Li, let's head to the Upper Garden!"

"Uh, oh, alright, then farewell, Uncle. We'll take our leave first." Li Qi greeted him and was pulled away.

Liu Donghe watched the backs of the two young men and shook his head.

Liu Canzhi, that fool, and Li Qi, they really did create something good...

Moreover, a product born from the combination of the Dao of Reason and Shaman Dao would not cause Dao conflicts. The Dao of Reason itself is a neutral Dao, and aside from this branch that joined the Human Dao, other branches of the Dao of Reason still adhere to their original philosophy, not taking sides among the various great Dao Orthodoxy.

This item is probably even more important than the two young men imagine.

It's not about how powerful this thing is; after all... current Spiritual Artifact assembly lines can already mass-produce Spiritual Artifacts below the fourth rank, it's just a matter of cost.

The reason you don't see mass-produced fifth or sixth-rank Spiritual Artifacts on the market is precisely this.

While fifth-rank Spiritual Artifacts can be mass-produced, who would dare hand their Spiritual Artifact over to an assembly line once they've truly cultivated to the fifth-rank? Fifth-rank cultivators have to fight for their lives in the outer realms.

Furthermore, fifth-rank Spiritual Artifacts still require those rare Materials, and the number of people who can use them isn't large. Mass production wouldn't yield high profits, unlike ninth or eighth-rank items which have massive quantities, allowing prices to be easily suppressed to a certain extent.

Therefore, although the technology exists, there's no demand for it. Almost all fifth-rank Spiritual Artifacts are custom-made by trusted refiners.

As for fourth-rank and above, that involves the issue of Spiritual Artifact sentience. These are not things that can be quickly mass-produced by throwing money at them. Each one is unique, almost an independent cultivator.

However, although it can't compare to existing Spiritual Artifact assembly lines, Liu Donghe could clearly see the value of this item. His vision was far more long-term than that of Li Qi and Liu Canzhi.

The Shamanic Silkworm Artifact represents the 'assembly line' of Shaman Dao.

Shaman Dao doesn't have such a thing, though they don't care much about it either.

But no matter how much they don't care, this item represents grassroots power. It's just... he wonders what those rigid sect members will think. But he is a Young Master, so he should be able to withstand it, right?

Never mind... that's Shaman Dao's own business. If they pursue it, it will be handled internally by the sect members; it won't reach Tang Nation. Liu Canzhi, that fool, will only gain benefits, no harm.

Although it's a bit despicable, he didn't plan this, so he can only try to make up for it.

Without this factor, he would never have composed a fu for the lingxiao flower.

Besides, he couldn't stop them either.

After all... Li Qi and Liu Canzhi truly developed it themselves. This is the Karma of the two young men; they brought this upon themselves.

However... if Liu Canzhi gets too involved, he will inevitably be implicated.

To establish one's Dao Foundation with the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact...

If he truly establishes his Dao Foundation, many things will inevitably get entangled. This world... is very complicated.

Forget it, let it be.

He can't manage too much of what young people do. Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes.

The perspective shifts to Li Qi and Liu Canzhi.

They curiously opened the paper.

Immediately, a vast and surging Qi rushed towards them!

This single piece of paper actually opened up a barrier around them, similar to a 'Blessed Land'!

Li Qi still had some difficult Yin Qi clinging to him, which he had picked up earlier from observing the battle between the Underworld Messenger and the demon dragon.

Difficult Yin Qi is extremely hard to remove. After all, this is the 'Qi' that permeates the Underworld. If there's too much of it, even a Shaman God might be needed to dispel it.

Li Qi had only a trace of it, which didn't significantly affect his body, but it could basically only dissipate naturally, washed away by the Yang Qi of the Yang world.

But now, simply by opening this paper, he felt a surge of vast righteous Qi that swept away all the difficult Yin Qi.

Opening the paper, the top read four characters.

"Ode to the lingxiao flower"

Then below was the beginning of that magnificent essay, also the preface.

"On the nineteenth of July, I visited White Horse Temple, standing alone in the empty mountains. The fresh rain moistened the softness, the sand was clear, and the stream wound around the banks. A waning sun, a few distant sky-glows, thin mist, gentle breeze, and the pure sound of a chime echoed through the heart."

"I saw an ancient tree, with flowers entwined upon it. It crowned the peaks, dwelling high, uniquely graceful amidst the ruggedness, blending pure simplicity with its untalented nature, strikingly unique on the sheer cliffs, thus able to wind and twist, leaving its mark on the emerald jade of the trees, stirring a long wind to flutter, its flower branches emerald and light red. Its name is Lingxiao, falling hundreds of feet, its sound filling ten thousand valleys, like the sound of ocean tides."

"Yet, I saw the ancient tree had withered. The temple monks, unable to bear cutting it down, planted lingxiao flower beneath it, allowing it to cling to the trunk and ascend, comforting their thoughts."

"Moved by these feelings, I temporarily borrowed the Vimalakirti Sutra room to compose this text, to be refined later."

After the preface, came the main body.

Li Qi and Liu Canzhi continued to read on—

"Lingxiao, a vine that grows by attaching to large trees, its flowers yellow-red, flourishing in summer."

"This is the grandeur of ritual demeanor, and the magnificence of royal institutions."

"Sparse, delicate flowers, rooted as if at the base of a tall pine, the vines leaning against each other, possessing the ambition of Lingxiao. Its forward-looking, disdainful charm and transcendent posture mean it is not a thing of fences and walls."

"Driving four white dragons and galloping, with emerald clouds half-hanging, seeing the weak-branched jujubes of King Wen of Zhou, the plums of Zhu Zhong of Fangling, the three peaches distinguishing cherry and barbarian, the two pears shining with cinnabar and white, the treasures of pomegranates and grapes, a hundred flowers painting the exquisite dawn, many sing songs of peaches and plums, recite verses of willows, peonies, and herbaceous peonies, but few sing of Lingxiao. Now, I sing of Lingxiao, praising its ascent by clinging to a tree, reaching the highest heights. Soaring high, its meaning is symbolic, beyond doubt—"

This was just an opening; thousands more words followed.

Li Qi found it very difficult to read.

Admittedly, the general meaning of these opening words could be understood, but the complexity of the allusions used was simply appalling.

For example, just the first sentence in the main text, only thirteen characters long, contained four allusions:

"Kao Yi You" says: Adorn ritual demeanor, complete written laws.

"History" says: Sages arrange sacrificial vessels, establish ritual demeanor. It says: The world's grand spectacle.

"Guo Shu" says: When sitting, recite poetry and books; when standing, practice ritual demeanor.

"Shang Lin" says: The lord has not yet seen its grandeur.

After reading the first sentence, and then the content, that string of "weak-branched jujubes of King Wen of Zhou, plums of Zhu Zhong of Fangling" in the middle, it was essentially a series of ancient stories. Although only a few characters, each character was composed of a series of stories.

Just the four characters "weak-branched jujubes" alone had:

"Xijing Zaji" says: There are weak-branched jujubes in the Shanglin Garden. "Guang Zhi" says: In the time of King Wen of Zhou, there were weak-branched jujubes, very beautiful, forbidden for people to take, placed in the tree garden. "Litchi Fu" says: Fangling's ethereal plums. "Jingzhou Ji": Fangling County has very beautiful jujubes; the Immortal Zhu Zhong came to steal them. Dashan Su also spoke of scholarship, reading the "Ode to Mount Yue," the weak-branched jujubes of King Wen of Zhou, as the staff of a walking stick. "Shi Ben": Rong Cheng created the calendar, as the millstone of a mortar.

This was only what Li Qi could understand and identify the sources of; there were many other things he probably couldn't figure out the sources for, not knowing what the allusions were.

The entire essay, several thousand words long, even with Li Qi's reading volume, he simply couldn't look up all the sources. Perhaps only a Confucian scholar of Liu Donghe's level could do it.

Such a multitude of applications and sources, besides proving Liu Donghe's vast knowledge, also represented the power of this essay.

Words have power, and allusions naturally do too.

Liu Donghe, with his knowledge and writing, introduced the symbolic power of these allusions, imbuing this essay with more profound heritage and strength.

Li Qi and the others read it through, all filled with admiration.

The central idea expressed in the entire essay was actually very simple: Liu Donghe saw a thriving large pine tree at White Horse Temple.

This pine tree was a hundred feet tall, and he thought it was some kind of tree spirit that had achieved cultivation.

But upon closer inspection, he found that the tree had long since withered. The flourishing branches and leaves on it were actually lingxiao flowers, gradually growing and climbing upwards, entwined around the decayed trunk.

The branches and leaves of the lingxiao flower, replacing the tree, continued to thrive, appearing extremely lush.

Then, in the subsequent paragraphs, he stated that while flowers like peaches and plums had many poems and essays praising them, the lingxiao flower did not. Therefore, he specially wrote this essay, praising the actions of the lingxiao flower, using it to metaphorically represent descendants, just like people today, standing amidst the ruins of antiquity, climbing towards a higher direction.

"The tree withered, yet the lingxiao flower still flourished, showing that it was not merely clinging. Climbing upwards along the traces of predecessors, how can such grand ambition not be praised?"

The entire essay, once completed, was eloquently written, profound, elegant, and robust, with clear reasoning. It was exhilarating to read, and upon careful consideration, it contained countless profound allusions and intricate stories, all interconnected.

Furthermore, 'Divine Ability' was infused into it.

Liu Canzhi, using his mental power, Divine Ability, and mastery of calligraphy and writing, penned this essay. The opening was already quite stunning, but that was merely an opening, far inferior to the main body.

This was a magnificent essay from which cultivation methods could be comprehended.

However, the content within it was of little use to Li Qi and Liu Canzhi, but for the Lingxiao Flower Goddess, it was probably no less than a complete tonic.

With this, everything was complete.

It was time to hold the literary gathering.