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Chapter 41 - 41: 041, (Gentleman’s Pen)
Chapter 41 - 41: 041, (Gentleman’s Pen)
Chapter 41: 041, (Gentleman’s Pen)
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the crowd, Ji Li strained on tiptoes to make herself visible for Lu Xun.
Once their eyes met, Lu Xun noticed Ji Li seemed a little skinnier. Her baby fat was still visible on her face, but it had lessened.
Perhaps she was outgrowing her youthful features, or her path of cultivation had presented its fair share of challenges.
Of course, there were some areas where she didn’t lose weight, on the contrary, she was just 16 and still had room for physical development. He wondered how she might grow in the future.
Some men seemed particularly attracted to this trait, to the point of being accused of being “gold-diggers.” Lu Xun wasn’t concerned about that.
Many men saw a young girl and thought they were into Lolita types, saw a mature woman and believed they liked older women instead. No need to overthink it, these men were just relentless in their lust.
After days of not seeing each other, Lu Xun did want to have a little chat with Ji Li.
Given their history, he had also thought of several excuses to explain his absence, hoping it would prevent any perceptions of unkept promises.
But Ji Li stood amidst the crowd, and if he was to approach her, the disciples around would certainly step aside. If a person of his status was to mix with Outer Sect Disciples, people wouldn’t be comfortable.
So he waved at Ji Li and said, “Come over.”
“Whoosh”, Ji Li’s small, round face turned bright red instantly.
The Outer Sect Disciples knew that their Young Elder and Ji Li had come to the Demon Sect together and probably knew each other before, so they made way for her.
She gritted her teeth, shamelessly rushed beside Lu Xun.
Many of the female disciples felt a ripple of jealousy, weirdly enough, some male disciples looked on with envy too.
Lu Xun seemed perfectly at ease. Looking at her, he teased, ” Used to want to use me as your furnace, feeling shy now?”
Seeing Ji Li fall silent, he continued, “Still harbouring that thought?” Ji Li glanced up at him and said as she averted her eyes, “Disciple dares not.”
The corner of Lu Xun’s mouth twitched. You naughty kiddo! You’re still thinking about it! Not giving up, huh? I treat you like a junior, yet you covet me…
– How infuriating!
Seeing that all had gathered, Elder Qiu Shui led everyone towards the trial ground.
As the senior of the Outer Sect elders, she asked, “Young elder, would you prefer to go first or watch others try first?”
Lu Xun held a special status so it’s up to him to decide.
With a slight smile and a gentle expression, he replied loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’ll go first. It might ease the tension.”
Given his unique status, and his recent achievement of achieving Sword Heart, the new disciples respected him immensely. Most of his reputation value points came from these disciples who were new to this world.
“Our Young Elder is so approachable!”
“Yes, he’s so considerate of us.”
The murmurs echoed through the disciples, none of them ever thought that in this world of immortals, someone would create a fake persona just for reputation points, following the path of a male idol.
“From today onward, I’ll be the Demon Sect’s idol!” Lu Xun reminded himself,
“Take it step by step and aspire to be a popular male lead!”
In his mind, tools should be reused, and reputation points can be harvested in waves continuously.
After about 20 minutes’ walk, they reached a clearing.
In the center of the clearing, there was a table with an ordinary-looking brush on it.
A gigantic piece of paper was floating in midair.
Lu Xun observed the sheet of paper and its basic information came into his view:
“An exceptionally large piece of low-tier talisman paper.”
This talisman paper, apart from being large, didn’t seem to be interesting. It was among the most affordable, often-used talisman paper for cultivators.
The focus of this trial was the brush, an ordinary brush formerly owned by a scholar.
Elder Qiu Shui stood by the table and announced loudly, “This brush was purchased from a small town by our master and used for writing and painting.”
“Your trial today is to take this brush and make marks on this large sheet of talisman paper. It doesn’t matter what you write or draw, whoever uses the brush for the longest duration will be awarded a Green Pill!”
For the Outer Sect Disciples, elixir was a treasure. One pill can enhance their cultivation by several days, or even several weeks.
The Green Pill was of a pretty good grade even in the Inner Sect. For the Outer Sect disciples, it was an absolute gem.
The green color was simply too tempting.
“Do your best,” Lu Xun told Ji Li.
He could notice that Ji Li had also reached tier three in the Qi Consumption Technique, one level higher than him.
She was indeed a worthy asset, with 8 enlightenment points and swift cultivating progress!
If her qualification was converted to game mechanics, she would be considered as enlightenment 8! While Lu Xun could gain a maximum of 20 experience points per day after one Grand Circulation, Ji Li could get 160 points…
In ten days time, 1600 points would accumulate, enough to level up from o to 3.
Given she was a native of the Heavenly Dust Continent, this comparison wasn’t quite accurate. But she could get one elixir supplied by the Demon Sect every seven days, which matched her progression speed relatively well.
Fortunately, he could earn experience by completing quests and killing monsters…
Encouraged by Lu Xun, Ji Li nodded vigorously.
Only then the clueless Ji Li realized that standing next to Lu Xun had by default positioned her to be the second person to grab the brush and therefore, the first of the Outer Sect Disciples to attempt the trial.
This made her slightly nervous, but she wasn’t going to back out now. After all, she was audacious and unorthodox, having inappropriate thoughts about her Young Elder.
Seeing everyone ready, Elder Qiu Shui asked, “Young Elder, shall we… begin?”
Lu Xun nodded and casually sauntered towards the table, his casual stride radiating a casual finesse.
The brush on the table appeared quite simple. Elder Qiu Shui had mentioned earlier that it was purchased from a small town.
Upon close examination, one would find that the brush was not only ordinary but also cheap, probably one of the least expensive brushes.
Before quickly starting, Lu Xun attempted to ascertain the basic details of this brush.
His current level was quite low, so the details he could thus obtain were limited. But since this brush was part of a task, the basic information that popped out was quite comprehensive.
After reading the complete basic information. Lu Xun couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
He was now just a level 2 player, but a brush that a scholar had used before was at level 20!