Lu Bai nodded in agreement.
He initially felt that Lian Cheng posed a significant threat, but after casually investigating the situation regarding Linghu Chong, he reached the same conclusion as Zuo Leng Chan.
If Lian Cheng was too brilliant, it would overshadow the brilliance of his senior disciple, Linghu Chong.
Perhaps this was intentional on Yue Buqun's part, allowing the true genius, Linghu Chong, to remain hidden from the outside world, growing in secret and then achieving a phenomenal rise once his cultivation reached a certain level.
By the time the Songshan Sect reacted, Linghu Chong would probably be comparable to their head disciple!
However, this was ultimately just his own speculation and could not be confirmed, so he could only report the information to his senior, allowing the senior to make the correct judgment.
Zuo Leng Chan had grand ambitions and was naturally suspicious.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was possible, but he was also afraid of overthinking things and couldn't determine who was the real genius between Lian Cheng and Linghu Chong.
“Yue Buqun is a cunning strategist, I can't figure him out for the time being!”
Zuo Leng Chan's apprehension towards Yue Buqun grew even deeper, and he pondered, “Junior brother, let's temporarily cease targeting the Huashan Sect, focusing on gathering intelligence instead. Pay close attention to Lian Cheng and Linghu Chong. They might both be geniuses. If there's an opportunity, eliminate them both, just in case. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it becomes!”
Lu Bai solemnly responded, “I understand. I will arrange for people to handle this right away.”
He then bowed and quickly withdrew.
However, Lu Bai couldn't help but frown. He knew that the Huashan Sect and the Hengshan Sect had recently taken action against the Mo Sect spies. Now, sending their own spies to investigate would be quite difficult.
If the spies were caught, wouldn't that expose the Songshan Sect's intentions?
But he couldn't disappoint his senior's expectations. No matter how difficult it was, he had to complete the task!
Time flew by, and a month quickly passed.
Lian Cheng's life became routine.
Every morning, he would head to the guest rooms to listen to the early morning lectures given by Ding Yi Shi Tai and the other Hengshan nuns, mainly focusing on Buddhist scriptures. These could bring tranquility to one's mind and should be beneficial for one's daily insights.
After the lecture, he would immediately leave, fearing that he would be stopped by the Hengshan nuns.
Ding Yi Shi Tai didn't object to him listening to the lectures, but she was definitely not happy about him interacting too much with the nuns.
He remembered that during his first visit to listen to the lecture, as soon as the session ended, a group of nuns came to him, insisting on asking him for swordsmanship guidance. He couldn't refuse, but he felt Ding Yi Shi Tai's piercing gaze the entire time.
It was obvious that the Hengshan nuns, though devoted to Buddhism, were still young. If they interacted with a man as outstanding as Lian Cheng too much, they might develop feelings for him.
Ding Yi Shi Tai was afraid that her good nuns would fall in love and have the desire to leave the sect.
Wouldn't that be a huge loss for the Hengshan Sect!
Lian Cheng was also scared of Ding Yi Shi Tai, so after each lecture, he would use the Ling Bo Wei Bu to slip away, and then he would take a large bundle of paper and ink to the Si Guo Ya to practice calligraphy.
His purpose was simple: to comprehend the Tai Xuan Jing!
Zhao Ke man Hu Ying, Wu Gou Shuang Xue Ming.
Yin An Zhao Bai Ma, Sa Da Ru Liu Xing.
Shi Bu Sha Yi Ren, Qian Li Bu Liu Xing.
Shi Le Fu Yi Qu, Shen Cang Shen Yu Ming.
...
Qian Qiu Er Zhuang Shi, Xuan He Da Liang Cheng.
Zong Si Xia Gu Xiang, Bu Can Shi Shang Ying.
Shui Neng Shu Ge Shang, Bai Shou Tai Xuan Jing.
“Second junior brother, you've been running to Si Guo Ya every day for the past month just to write Li Bai's "Xia Ke Xing"? And you write it hundreds of times each day, wasting a lot of paper and ink. Are you deliberately trying to make the bookstore rich?”
Linghu Chong glanced at the pile of papers at the foot of the cliff, feeling quite speechless.
In recent days, his second junior brother had been going up to the Si Guo Ya every day, writing "Xia Ke Xing" one hundred times, using various types of calligraphy: Seal script, Clerical script, Regular script, Running script, Cursive script, and even the extremely obscure Ke Dou Wen.
Oh, Ke Dou Wen was also a type of Seal script, known as Ke Dou Zhuan.
He really couldn't understand what his junior brother was doing.
It wasn't like he was comprehending a new martial art. Instead, it seemed he was obsessed with calligraphy, completely immersed in it.
Fortunately, Lian Cheng practiced martial arts every day, and his skills were steadily improving. So, although Linghu Chong was worried, he didn't try to dissuade him. He just occasionally came to visit.
Besides, Linghu Chong also liked Li Bai's "Xia Ke Xing" a lot.
Wasn't this kind of heroic and powerful Xia Ke exactly what he, Linghu Chong, aspired to be?
Oh, he seemed to understand why his junior brother kept writing "Xia Ke Xing". He probably couldn't get enough of writing this poem. The more he wrote, the more he could feel the heroism and power of the legendary Xia Ke!
Lian Cheng ignored Linghu Chong, writing the poem while comprehending it.
He never paid attention to the poem's artistic conception, but instead observed the shape of the characters, seeing if they had any connection to martial arts.
After writing in various scripts, he felt that Ke Dou Zhuan was more like a graphic form, after all, it was a script from the Pre-Qin Dynasty and one of the earliest pictographic characters.
Moreover, perhaps the Tai Xuan Jing in the last chamber of the Xia Ke Dao was written in this Ke Dou Zhuan?
The more he thought about it, the more excited Lian Cheng became. He felt that he was vaguely grasping something.
So he said, “Senior brother, I'm going to enter seclusion on the Si Guo Ya. I don't know how long it will take. Please take care of the sect affairs with Master and Mother. If all goes well, I should be able to reach the First-rate level by the time I come out!”
“Really?”
Linghu Chong was surprised.
He wasn't doubting him, but he was puzzled.
He couldn't understand what Lian Cheng had realized. Could writing "Xia Ke Xing" every day actually stimulate his insight through the heroism and power of the Xia Ke?
Thankfully, Linghu Chong wasn't stupid. At least he knew that this method wouldn't work for him.
But while he hoped Lian Cheng would succeed, he couldn't help but feel envious.
His junior brother already had First-rate level strength. If his internal energy also reached the First-rate level, wouldn't his strength reach the Super-First-rate level?
He realized he needed to work harder as well. He couldn't constantly be surpassed by his junior brother. Not to mention maintaining his dignity as the senior disciple, but even in terms of taking responsibility for his master and mother, he couldn't lose.
“Alright, go ahead and enter seclusion. Master and Mother are here to take care of the sect.”
Linghu Chong nodded. Then he remembered something and quickly said, “Oh right, Master Mo from the Hengshan Sect recently appeared in Hua Yin County. What do you think we should do?”
Upon hearing this, Lian Cheng couldn't help but conjure an image of a withered and disheveled old man in his mind.
The old man always carried an Er Hu and wandered the streets, looking like a street performer. Every song he played was melancholy and sorrowful, making one's heart ache.
He had never met Master Mo, but he admired him greatly.
Maybe it was because he had mentioned Master Mo that Linghu Chong had taken note of it. He hadn't expected Master Mo to be in Hua Yin County.
Should he go and meet him?
In the original story, Master Mo appeared very few times and his appearances were always brief, but he always left a deep impression on people.
No matter what others thought, Lian Cheng truly admired and respected Master Mo.