Lanke Chess Edge

Chapter 384: Nine Calligraphy Styles, Climbing Up to Daliang Monastery

After setting up the inkstone and gathering a stream of clear spring water, Ji Yuan personally began grinding the ink.A good ink stick was not only distinguished by its appearance and fragrance, but also by its exceptional quality. The ink would feel smooth when ground, and the flow would be extremely even, turning the water in the inkstone black almost instantly.

Almost all the characters on the “Sword Intent Inscription” stood up straight, each one looking towards the inkstone.

Grinding ink brought a simple sense of ritual, making Ji Yuan’s heart more peaceful. This change in will even affected the atmosphere around Ji Yuan, making the originally restless characters appear unusually quiet.

The ink ground in the inkstone was like a pool of clear black spring water, not only perfectly clear but also exuding the faint fragrance of ink, so delicate as to be without a single flaw.

He picked up the brush, pulled his sleeve up, and dipped it in ink… During this process, the “Sword Intent Inscription” had already “slid” onto the table in front of Ji Yuan.

The temple steward was not that fond of literature, so there was no writing desk in the room, only a small round table. However, at this moment, the small round table was no less elegant than any altar.

“The Sword Intent Inscription was written by Zuo Li, preserving his divine intent at his peak, which makes you all naturally extraordinary. However, Zuo Li at that time was ultimately not the true Sword Immortal Zuo. The characters are heavy, sharp, and lack variation, but they possess more spirit…”

Ji Yuan picked up his brush, the tip hovering just above the “Sword Intent Inscription” as he gazed at the quiet little characters.

“Calligraphy is also a manifestation of the Tao. Even the strongest strokes, when imbued with ink, can reveal one’s spirit. When I brush ink for you, you must not only absorb the ink, but also contemplate the intention behind my brushstrokes. I will brush ink for you on various days to come using nine different styles of calligraphy.1 Today is the first style. If anyone is distracted and doesn’t pay attention, I will not be repeating it again just for you. Do you understand?”

The Sword Intent Inscription was quiet, but Ji Yuan knew it wasn’t that they didn’t understand, or that they were distracted and hadn’t heard; on the contrary, these small characters were all quite attentive.

He nodded, and the wolf-hair brush finally descended, landing on the first character, “I.”2

(I have loved weapons since childhood, especially swords. I received a wooden sword at the age of six…)

The emotions conveyed throughout the entirety of the “Sword Intent Inscription” reflected the changes throughout Zuo Li’s life, from his youthful excitement and trepidation of entering the martial world, to the loneliness of being the best. However, as Ji Yuan wrote the words in ink, he naturally tried to remove Zuo Li’s imbued emotions and showcase the fluidity of the handwriting itself.

It took more than an hour to finish writing the scroll, though the actual time he spent with his brush to paper was less than half of that; most of the time was spent grinding the ink.

After writing it once, he had used exactly ten ink sticks. Moreover, Ji Yuan had added his own spiritual energy and a trace of mysterious yellow Qi as he ground the ink, which consumed a considerable amount of his mental energy.

But the result was gratifying. The ink of the entire “Sword Intent Inscription” was now bright and shining. Each small character lay like a meditating cultivator, quietly enveloped in this layer of light. After a long time, the ink gradually dried, but the radiance remained undiminished.

“Excellent, truly worthy of being born as calligraphy spirits!”

Ji Yuan sincerely praised them, genuinely liking these little fellows, keenly aware of their unique and wondrous nature.

Among these hundred or so characters, there are a few that were repeated, but even two seemingly repetitive characters actually contained similar yet distinct spiritual essences.

Although it was only a hundred or so characters of the whole, Ji Yuan was never a greedy person; and it was already a blessing to have obtained these hundred or so characters.

Moreover, although these characters formed the “Sword Intent Inscripton”, Ji Yuan believed that with his assistance in brushing the ink, their differences and distinctions would increase without breaking their unity and integrity, allowing the characters to combine themselves into countless possibilities.

Ji Yuan placed the wolf-hair brush on the brush holder, stretched his limbs, and sat down to meditate.

…

Although people often came to burn incense at the Land God Temple in Lilong Township, it was actually relatively quiet for Ji Yuan. He stayed there for three days. Apart from the writing and application of ink on the first day, the next two days were quite pleasant and relaxing, mostly spent wandering around Moyuan County.

As a place famous for its ink production, how could Ji Yuan not take the time to explore? He learned about the general manufacturing process of various fine inks and heard about the history of ink production in Moyuan County, as well as its various cultural characteristics.

During this period of time, the Land God of Lilong Township brought Ji Yuan boxes of high-quality ink several times, covering all the major ink categories such as lacquer soot, pine soot, and oil soot ink.3

On the third night, after the temple steward and the temple staff had all gone to rest, there was another gentle knock on Ji Yuan’s door.

Ji Yuan was deducing the cultivation method, “The Wondrous Technique of Heaven and Earth” as he wrote with his brush. Hearing the knock on the door, he knew who was outside. He simply said, “come in,” and then continued to write with his brush.

The Land God, carrying a much smaller box in one hand and gripping his wooden staff in the other, pushed open the door. Seeing Ji Yuan writing, he moved even more gently, carefully closing the door before slowly stepping forward and whispering.

“Haha, Mr. Ji, I’ve found something of the finest quality, and have come to present it to you!”

The Land God had indeed found a lot of excellent ink these past few days, but he still felt that it wasn’t enough. This ink couldn’t compare to that spiritual coin.

Today, however, he finally felt a little more at ease. Of course, the ink in his hand still couldn’t compare to the value of the coin, but in his opinion, it was the best ink in the world, and it was somewhat more substantial of a repayment.

“Please take a look, sir!”

The Land God walked to the table and opened the box as if presenting a treasure.

Ji Yuan just made another miscalculation, disrupting the natural flow of his technique. So he stopped writing and turned his head to look into the Land God’s box. Inside lay a dozen ink sticks bearing patterns resembling layers of golden thread.

“What might this be?”

“Hahaha, sir, you may not be aware, but this is the extremely rare Golden Fragrance Ink. It is almost never circulated in the regular market. Even the rich, powerful, and influential often find it hard to obtain, and may not even have heard of it!”

“So this is Golden Fragrance Ink!”

Ji Yuan blurted out, surprised. In the past couple days, as he toured Moyuan County, he had heard tell of Golden Fragrance Ink from an elderly disabled ink maker.

It was said that this kind of ink was extremely difficult to make, with an extremely complicated process, much like how a swordsmith might struggle to forge a superior sword. In the ink-making process, the ink paste was embedded and pressed, layer upon layer, forming thin rings of golden patterns like cicada wings.

“Fragrant ink, black as paste, melting on brush, solid on paper!”4

Hearing Ji Yuan reveal these details, the Land God was even more pleased; the more knowledgeable Mr. Ji was, the better.

“As expected of Mr. Ji, your understanding is thorough! Indeed, this is Golden Fragrance Ink, a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Do you like it, sir?”

“I like it, of course I like it! Thank you so much, Land God, for finding this Golden Fragrance Ink for me! Thank you!”

Ji Yuan bowed and thanked him. These dozen or so Golden Fragrance Ink sticks were perfect. He would use them for the ninth round of writing those small characters, and he would even have a few extra.

Having obtained so much ink, Ji Yuan did not want to push his luck. He told the Land God that he had enough ink and that there was no need to look for more. He also informed him that he was about to leave.

This relieved the local Land God, but also left him somewhat disappointed.

This individual was definitely a highly skilled immortal cultivator with profound and unparalleled abilities. If I could stay at the local temple, he might obtain a great opportunity, but such things could not be forced. This was already a matter of fate.

After the land God left, Ji Yuan took out all the ink he had and placed it on the table alongside the Golden Fragrance Ink. He had a total of four large boxes and one small box.

These top-quality inks were a testament to the hard work and dedication of many experienced ink makers. The creation of each piece of superior ink was a time consuming, laborious, and painstaking process. The ink is time-consuming, laborious, and painstaking. In particular, the Golden Fragrance Ink stood out among the batch, every single piece unique.

With boxes of such high quality ink laid out before him, even Ji Yuan felt a sense of pride, as if saying, ‘I, Ji Yuan, am now very wealthy’.

The next day, Ji Yuan got up very early, bid farewell to the temple steward, and headed north.

Watching Ji Yuan’s departing figure, the temple steward didn’t feel any immediate relief. To be honest, he had been quite nervous at first and treated him with great care. But this Mr. Ji was like the warm winter sun, and he was witty, humorous, and knowledgeable. It was naturally comfortable to be around him, and all the pressure he felt disappeared.

Although it had only been a short three days, the temple steward and even the two temple staff were reluctant to see Mr. Ji leave. They simply told Mr. Ji that if he were to pass by again in the future, they hoped he would stay at the temple again.

During their lunch break that day, the Land God once again appeared in the temple steward’s dream, and praised him greatly.

As for Ji Yuan, he naturally headed towards Daliang Monastery. He didn’t necessarily have to see Monk Huitong at this time, but after hearing some amusing stories at the dinner table, he really wanted to see if that monk was still in such a predicament.

To some extent, Ji Yuan also had a slightly wicked sense of humor, as long as it wasn’t too serious.5 In any case, there were still a few years until the Cultivator’s Grand Assembly, so he could still go to Daliang Monastery first and then Yuhuai Mountain without fear of arriving late.

…

Even though Ji Yuan did not deliberately use flying techniques to travel, and simply strolled around the country of Tingliang nonchalantly without resting overnight, he arrived at Tongqiu Prefecture on the northern border half a month later. This was precisely the prefecture that held Daliang Monastery.

As Mr. Liu had said, the country of Tingliang fared better than the country of Zuyue, but was still far inferior to the country of Dazhen. Many of the regions he passed by on the way were not wealthy; although the people could eat and dress warmly, they had almost no savings. In this social environment, it was difficult to receive effective assistance should any natural or man-made disaster occur.

However, Tongqiu Prefecture, being adjacent to the capital of the country of Tingliang, was naturally more prosperous. When Ji Yuan visited the surrounding prefectures, he saw more smiles on the faces of the people living there.

At the end of the ninth lunar month, Ji Yuan stood outside Daliang Monastery, walking with other pilgrims on the road leading to the monastery.

The road here was paved with bluestone, and was wide enough for four carriages to travel side by side. In addition to pedestrians and carriages, there were also people pushing carts carrying incense, candles, and other paraphernalia, others carrying wooden sticks with candied hawthorns, hawking their wares as they went. It was a lively and bustling scene.

Ji Yuan took in all the laughter and chatter of the pilgrims. Before long, he overheard several voices discussing Monk Huitong. From their clear and melodious voices, it was obvious the words came from young women.

The distant sound of the bell from Daliang Monastery echoed from afar, and a magnificent Buddhist monastery slowly appeared before his eyes.

T/n: Thank you all for the well-wishes! It was an excellent break and I really needed it. Would recommend. Also I may be like 2 weeks late for this, but happy lunar new year!

There are either 5, 7, or innumerable styles of calligraphy depending on who you ask. The most referenced ones are oracle bone script (often left out because it is the oldest and no longer in use), large seal script, small seal script (large and small are often conflated together), clerical script (also known as official, draft, or scribal script), semi-cursive, cursive script (also known as sloppy script, though by contrast it is considered to be beautiful and the highest art form, though very hard to read and completely impractical), and regular script. That makes 7 styles that are widely known. It is possible that JY was using “9” as a signifier for “a lot,” as the number 9 is often used in Chinese and other Eastern languages to denote “hey there are a lot of things here” even if there aren’t exactly 9 (9000, 99, etc. all follow the same pattern) 吾 (wú): I/my (archaic) Inksticks are characterized by the type of soot used to create them, the most common being the 3 listed here. Herbs are often also added to the ink stick to add fragrance and preserve the ink. This phrase is 4 sets of 4 characters, like a kind of rhythmic mnemonic. It’s not poetry, it’s just a repeated sentence with a rhythm to make it easier to remember. Think of phrases like, “leaves of three, let it be” and “i before e, except after c” that have their own rhythm or rhyme T/n: It’s good to have humor, but I also like that they’re explicitly calling out “as long as it isn’t too serious,” because if it truly makes the person feel unsafe then that’s no longer funny. So kudos to the author