Chapter 290 – Disciple of Novels (2/2)
This paved a brand new path of cultivation. In the very beginning, all it did was record the gossips and strange legends among the people, turning it into tales and rumours, which would then be passed on through word of mouth. After generations upon generations of inheritance and improvements, especially after the school of Mohism invented mechanisms for printing books, it finally became the school of Novels of the present day.
Repeat a lie enough and it would become the truth. They used ink and brushes to create tales, using themselves to provide this component. As a result, fantasy would spring alive in their hands. It could create anything and everything. In terms of being interesting, there were probably no schools that could rival the school of Novels.
However, Li Qingshan had already witnessed its battle applicability. Unfortunately, all it was was interesting. Being interesting was not enough to defeat opponents. Writing a novel that people actually believed to be real, with characters that they would cry and laugh along with, was probably even more difficult than managing a city. It was not like cultivators lacked money anyway when it came to running a city. All they needed to do was hire a few advisors skilled in administration and pour in a few million taels of silver, and the place would prosper by itself.
Li Qingshan had read several impressive novels in his past life, and he did not mind becoming a plagiarist, but he had almost no impression of them anymore after almost two decades. Compared to that, he would be much better off if he just stuck with his Gui Water Method of Condensing Qi!
Faced with Liu Chuanfeng’s eager gaze, Li Qingshan shook his head and declined. “Thanks, but there’s no need for that. Where’s my room?”
Liu Chuanfeng was completely disappointed. He forced out a smile. “It’s very big here, so anywhere you’d like.”
Li Qingshan bowed slightly and left. He wandered through the courtyard and the building. He discovered that while it was not on par with the temple in the school of Daoism, it was not exactly small either.
The elevated bamboo and wood structure formed several winding corridors. As he walked through them, the clear sound of footsteps would echo around. The spring breeze would blow into his face, and the bamboo grove would sway. There was a slight chill in the air.
With his footsteps, he would gradually kick up ripples in the water below the bamboo building. The water gradually grew deeper too. When he arrived at the back of the courtyard and opened the bamboo door, a small, jade-green lake reflected the blue sky and verdant bamboo before him. It was a wonderful sight.
A bamboo rocking chair stood on the porch quietly. Li Qingshan sat down on it, and with a creak, it swayed gently, as if he could pass his entire life in a trance and wash away his carnal thoughts like this.
He sat there for a while before standing up. He smiled. He finally had a place of belonging now. He did not have to worry about his life being in danger, nor did he have to think about killing others here. He could cultivate slowly.
Now, it was time to go see Xiao An.
Arriving at the front room, Liu Chuanfeng was no longer there. A set of blue robes were folded neatly at the door, with a Cloudwisp brush on top.
Li Qingshan put on the clothes, stowed the brush away, and wore the tablet on his waist. He rode off on a cloud, flying towards Anāsravāṃ island of the school of Buddhism.
The full name of the island was Threefold Anāsravāṃ island, based off the threefold training1 and practises of buddhism—śīla, samādhi, and prajñā, or moral virtue and precepts, meditation, and wisdom and insight respectively. As mentioned in buddhist scriptures, “Gathering your mind results in moral virtue. From moral virtue arises mental training and stability, and from mental training and stability arises wisdom and insight. This is called the Threefold Anāsravāṃ disciplines.” The place was also known as Threefold Disciplines island, or Moral Virtue, Meditation, and Wisdom island.
Arriving above the island and looking over from afar, buddhist pagodas were scattered across the place, full of solemnity. He could vaguely hear the chanting of buddhist scriptures. It rivaled the school of Daoism’s Wuwei island in terms of scope. Xiao An was here.
In the Sea of Books within the Town of Flowing Clouds, Liu Chuanfeng bowed all the way to the ground as soon as he entered through the door.
Sun Fubai’s heart sank. “Junior brother, what are you doing? Don’t tell me… the school of Novels has been abolished?”
The hundred schools in the academy were not fixed. There were some differences from prefecture to prefecture. Apart from the ten standard schools2, there were many places that did not possess minor schools like the school of Music, the school of Medicine, and so on.
The academies also practised the survival of the fittest. It had been several years since the school of Novels had gained a disciple, so the various school leaders had already submitted a written statement together to the Academy of the Hundred Schools in the Ruyi commandery so that they could remove this stain in the academy of the Clear River prefecture.
If the school of Novels were not a part of the ten standard schools that the founding emperor had designated, the higher-ups would have accepted their request a long time ago. But even with that being the case, they had issued an ultimatum. If the school leader, Liu Chuanfeng, was unable to reach Foundation Establishment or accept any new disciples, then they would abolish the school of Novels in the Clear River prefecture and take back Cloudwisp island so that another school could occupy the island.
Sun Fubai originated from the school of Novels. He was unwilling to see this happen, so having run out of choices, he would try whenever he saw a slightly talented Qi Practitioner. There was always a possibility, but he had actually given up on all hope too.
Liu Chuanfeng shook his head hurriedly. “Thank you, senior brother. Thank you, senior brother. Our school of Novels has gained a successor. There’s no need to worry about it being abolished.”
“Who is it?” Sun Fubai widened his eyes. Just who was so unlucky?
“Li Qingshan!” He might have had a bad temper and might have been unwilling to learn the secret arts of the school of Novels, but he was truly the primary disciple of the school of Novels.
Sun Fubai remained dazed for quite a while. His eyes reddened slightly too. His hard work had finally paid off.
“Junior brother!”
“Senior brother!”
“Boss, do you have any cultivation methods?” A while later, a Qi Practitioner walked in and just happened to see Liu Chuanfeng and Sun Fubai holding hands and looking at one another with tearful eyes. He was actually left speechless, leaping up in fright and backing out of the store in a hurry.
After Li Qingshan’s departure, the slovenly daoist priest lectured the methods of daoism a little further in order to demonstrate his tolerance before dispersing everyone. He asked Juechenzi, “Where has that bastard gone?”
Juechenzi said, “Master, he seems to have… he seems to have…”
“What’re you stuttering for? Spit it out? Has he gone to plead with that damned bald ass One Thought? Or has he gone to find Liu Zhangqing for a retest?”
Juechenzi said, “Neither. He has gone to Cloudwisp island.”
The slovenly daoist priest said, “What? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Juechenzi said, “I wanted to tell you earlier, but as soon as I mentioned Li Qingshan’s name, you told me to shut up.”
The slovenly daoist priest slapped his thigh. “My word! He might as well go find that damn bald ass and become a monk instead. Get him to piss over here. I’ll accept him into my school of Daoism.”
Juechenzi said, “It’s already too late. School leader Liu handed in the register immediately. Li Qingshan has already become a disciple of the school of Novels, and he’s the primary disciple.”
The academy had its rules. No matter how they contended against one another during the entrance examination, once a disciple joined a school, that was it. No one could change that, or the academy would have been reduced to a mess a long time ago.
The slovenly daoist priest felt regret. Li Qingshan’s inflexible will and staunchness suited his tastes very much. Others might have deemed him to be rude seeing how he openly cursed at a school leader, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he felt some admiration outside of his anger. When he was young, he was also renowned for his hubris and rudeness. Who knew how much suffering he had gone through because of his horrible temperament.
“Master, you should’ve just stuck to scolding him a little. What you said towards the end was just too insulting. It’s no wonder that he couldn’t put up with it any longer.”
“Are you saying that your master is in the wrong?”
“Disciple dares not.”
The slovenly daoist priest was utterly miffed. “Of all the normal choices he had, he just had to choose to go write novels. I’d like to see just what he turns into.”
1. The island is basically named after the Threefold Training or Disciplines prevalent within buddhism, which involves following precepts, meditating, and gaining wisdom and insight. Anāsravāṃ in this context means that these three disciplines are karma-neutral practices—they don’t come at the cost of karma and merit, allowing for liberation from suffering in the end. Anāsravāṃ is the opposite of sāsrava, which does come at a cost of karma and merit, so while you can derive benefit in the present, sāsrava practises are likely to lead to negative consequences in the future.
Anyway, you can read more about the Threefold Disciplines here: