Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 142: Chapter 31: Lord Li Pursues Lin Chen Under the Moonlight

Cannot cultivate!

Lin Chen suddenly realized he didn’t know what to do?

Since arriving in this world, he had spent most of his time cultivating.

Initially, it was to change his destiny.

From the moment he became the top of the Martial Arts Hall, he had already changed his destiny, achieving a small leap in social status.

Later, after joining the Martial Arts Hall and experiencing the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall affair, though he didn’t show it, he kept a silent determination in his heart.

As he embarked on the Extreme Martial Arts Path, martial arts for him was not just about changing destiny; he found himself falling in love with the feeling of cultivation.

The relatively fair promotion channel in the Liang Dynasty allowed him to practice martial arts without distractions.

The Li Mansion was grand, with carved dragons and painted beams, complemented by lakeside mountain scenery.

But Lin Chen did not intend to leave the courtyard. In such a prestigious family, there are many taboos; he might as well just stay in the courtyard for the night.

Hall Master Tai asked a servant to inform him of a visit outside the mansion, and Lin Chen thought for a moment before entering the study on one side of the courtyard.

In Liang, there is no civil exam, but that doesn’t mean martial artists don’t read; it’s just most don’t delve as deeply as in ancient times.

When he first visited his master’s wife’s residence, the few landscape ink paintings hanging on the wall were full of artistic intent.

For people of this era, writing and painting were more of a hobby.

On the desk was a stack of calligraphy scrolls. Lin Chen picked one up and flipped through it. He didn’t understand much about calligraphy and was an outsider. The handwriting on these scrolls looked quite good, but as he turned to the next page, he forgot the previous one.

”Stone Soul Scroll”

When he saw this scroll, Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t know the font, but it captivated him.

The rock’s form unaltered by wind and snow,

The clouds root themselves into the heavens high.

They laugh at the peach and plum competing in spring,

Guarding alone the cold mountain’s eternal white.

This is a poem, not particularly profound, and the words are simple.

What attracted Lin Chen was the writing of this poem. Although he didn’t understand calligraphy, for some reason, he felt very comfortable looking at the characters.

Grinding ink, lifting the pen.

Lin Chen picked up some rice paper from the side, feeling an irresistible urge to copy it.

The first attempt was far from the original.

Frowning, he crumpled the rice paper into a ball and continued copying a second time.

...

...

Soon, the wastebasket on the study floor was filled with paper balls.

”Still lacking.”

”This stroke is wrong...”

On the original scroll, the horizontal stroke was like a cliff chopped by an axe, conveying force to the fullest, force penetrating three layers.

The vertical hook was like an ancient pine breaking through snow, vivid and thorough.

The right shoulder of the ”stone” character was deliberately raised three parts, forming the stance of a solitary peak piercing the sky.

Too proud!

The brush stroke mirrors the man!

Lin Chen recalled a sentence he had read about calligraphy in his previous life. Seeing his copied handwriting, he finally understood why he couldn’t replicate it.

The predecessor who wrote the ”Stone Soul Scroll” was an extremely proud and solitary person.

While he himself might have a proud spirit, he was not the same.

One can be proud but not alone.

Calligraphy does not require identical replication.

This time, Lin Chen lifted the pen again, making changes at the completion of strokes compared to the original scroll’s extreme execution of horizontal lines.

The same with the horizontal hook, the vertical hook.

Half a two-hour later, Lin Chen set down the pen. Looking at his rendition of the ”Stone Soul Scroll,” while it was approximately similar to the original, under closer inspection, it was entirely different.

As he copied further, Lin Chen was no longer confined to the ”Stone Soul Scroll” and began copying other calligraphy scrolls.

Like with the ”Stone Soul Scroll,” Lin Chen pursued similarity in form but not in spirit.

This was also the first time Lin Chen discovered that the pleasure brought by copying calligraphy scrolls was surprisingly similar to that of martial arts cultivation.

As he wrote, the qi blood in his body circulated with the pen, each stroke akin to a breath circulating a cycle.

...

...

In the adjacent courtyard.

A sorrowful sound of jade flute arose, Wang Yuyao, in a moon-white dress, leaned against the veranda, playing the cyan jade short flute. Li Qi and another woman sat nearby listening, their faces revealing sorrow, deeply immersed.

Expressing emotions through music...

”This flute sounds so sad, it makes you want to cry.” Li Qi’s eyes were slightly red.

”When Yu Yao suddenly came to Quzhou Prefecture, I felt something was amiss. I think she encountered something. Let’s comfort Yu Yao later.”

...

In the room next to the study, Lin Chen frowned as he listened to the flute.

The melancholy sound disturbed the mind.

He didn’t know who was playing the flute, but he could sense it was coming from nearby.

This area was all guest rooms of the Li Mansion. As a guest of the Li family, visiting someone’s house and playing such flute music, it seemed one had nothing better to do.

Setting down the pen, Lin Chen stepped out of the study, further confirming that the flute sound came from the neighboring courtyard.

”The Li family forbids noise; is it just targeted at me?”

The flute sound persisted without pause. Recalling what the servant of the Li Mansion said earlier, Lin Chen smirked.

Indeed, people are divided into ranks, guests into distinguished and ordinary.

Being an ordinary guest, he naturally had to abide by the Li Mansion’s rules, whereas perhaps the neighboring residents were distinguished guests, for whom these rules did not apply.

”Sister Wang, did something happen to you?”

After a tea break, the flute stopped, and a voice came from the neighboring courtyard.

”Yu Yao, is it related to that Young Master Qin...”

Hearing the voice from the neighboring courtyard, Lin Chen paused, then turned back to the study.

Eavesdropping could satisfy one’s curiosity for gossip, but Lin Chen had no interest in strangers’ privacy.

If he overheard something too private, it might even bring trouble to himself.

Returning indoors, he continued copying calligraphy scrolls.

In the neighboring courtyard, Wang Yuyao looked at her two close friends, her face filled with worry, ”Qin Chen already has someone in his heart; the falling flowers have feelings, but the flowing water is heartless.”