Chapter 1598 - 587: The World’s Greatest Calligraphy (Part 2)

Zhou Xuan propped his chin and pondered, "Sequencers are all erudite scholars with great wisdom who also understand the arts of calligraphy and painting... Is that not describing me?"

"Pfft..."

Zhu Fuyao couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Being forthright by nature, she didn’t mind laughing openly, without worrying about propriety. She patted Zhou Xuan’s shoulder and said,

"Master, I believe you when you say you are an erudite scholar with wisdom, but when you claim to understand the arts of calligraphy and painting, I don’t believe that."

"Ah? Is the hardest part of this actually calligraphy and painting? I thought it was wisdom."

Zhou Xuan’s expression turned into a questioning face.

"Calligraphy and painting are indeed difficult."

Zhu Fuyao said earnestly.

"Difficult in what way?"

Zhou Xuan asked, "To not speak of distant examples, let’s talk about our Zhou Family’s Troupe—within the ceremonial section, there are ceremonial masters who always need to inscribe banners for customers, each being quite skilled in calligraphy.

The words they write are praised by everyone nearby."

"Those are just human world laymen, appearing neat and tidy at first glance. But if you scrutinize carefully, you’ll find their strokes are clumsy and their compositions restrained, not qualifying as the grand path of calligraphy."

After Zhu Fuyao’s comments, Zhou Xuan exclaimed, "Oh, I didn’t see it, Miss Zhu you actually understand calligraphy?"

"What kind of talk is that."

The conversation between Zhu Fuyao and Zhou Xuan was very lively, naturally bringing out her character. She lightly jabbed Zhou Xuan’s chest with her fist, boasting,

"I’ve mentioned to you that within the Jade Capital, if you want to communicate with a Sequencer, you must go through Granny Qian.

Though I am the Saintess of the Zhu Family in Jade Capital, I am also a Disciple of Granny Qian. If I didn’t understand calligraphy and painting, I wouldn’t have been accepted by Granny Qian."

"Is calligraphy and painting so important in the Jade Capital?" Zhou Xuan became increasingly puzzled.

"Ink, brush, Danqing and furnace elixir are the two most highly regarded skills in our Jade Capital."

Zhu Fuyao explained further.

"Then if you want to continue this discussion, your Brother Zhou will show you some calligraphy and painting."

Zhou Xuan immediately summoned Bone Teeth, casting out a painting towards the sky.

This painting followed the path of Zhou Xuan’s previous life’s great expressiveness, using no vibrant colors but only a few strokes in ink to outline the flowers and birds,

the work was simple, but the thought it contained was not,

Zhu Fuyao, though well-versed in calligraphy, was not too knowledgeable in painting—not knowledgeable in the sense that she was not proficient at painting, but as a Saintess of a prestigious family in Jade Capital, she had been exposed to it and thus possessed keen eyes for evaluating paintings, and very high ones at that.

She took just one look and said, "Master Zhou, this painting is incredible, a few ink dots depict flowers and birds, said to be flowers and birds, yet only capturing the essence, scrutinized closely, it’s not quite like flowers and birds,

between semblance and non-semblance, it holds rhythm and artistic conception."

Zhu Fuyao’s words captured the core of great expressiveness—simplicity that is uncarved, valuing idea over form.

If the concept is correct, whether the form is lifelike is not that important.

"Young lady has understanding." Zhou Xuan laughed and said.

"Your way of addressing is too cheeky, making a person both seem old and young."

Zhu Fuyao first chuckled, then said, "Master Zhou, if you were willing to go to the Jade Capital,

not to mention your skill in alchemy, just saying your prowess in painting, it could serve as my Danqing mentor."

"You said that in the Jade Capital, Danqing and elixirs are of utmost importance, my painting is so good and it’s only enough to be a teacher?"

Zhou Xuan felt speechless, this little girl, after praising ink, brush, Danqing, the outcome is just being teacher material?

Zhu Fuyao sat on a peach blossom seat, her long legs dangling and swinging back and forth, she laughed and explained, "Though calligraphy and painting come from the same source, in the Jade Capital, the status of calligraphy far surpasses painting.

If you are a skilled painter, you can be a seated teacher in various prominent families, but if you write well, now that’s truly remarkable."

"How remarkable?"

"Well... I’ve heard, only heard... If your writing is superb, your name can enter the ’Holy Heart Sutra’, and you’ll be a Sequencer."

"Does it have such effect?"

Zhou Xuan asked.

"Of course." Zhu Fuyao, delighted with discovering Zhou Xuan’s aptitude in expressiveness after seeing his painting, then asked,

"By the way, they say calligraphy and painting come from the same source, one excellent in painting should not lack in calligraphy, Master Zhou, since we’re idly chatting, why not write a couple of pieces for a look?"

"I can certainly write and show."

This time, without using Bone Teeth, Zhou Xuan waved his right hand towards the distance,

a gust slowly arose, carrying a branch directly into Zhou Xuan’s hand.

Holding the branch, Zhou Xuan squatted down and began writing on the ground.

The Lotus Temple was already in ruins, the bricks on the ground long lifted, exposing relatively soft earth,

however, even if it were not earth but solid blue bricks, with Zhou Xuan at his current incense fire level, writing on tiles with wood would be just a casual task.

He grasped the tree branch, recalled the calligraphy from his previous life a bit, and wrote a line of text—Zhi Yu Shuai’s Book, Huan Gong arrived at Lu, breaking Qiang bandits, heavily wounding the bandits, presumably capturing them.

This line was from Zhou Xuan’s previous life’s "Breaking Qiang Stele", also known as "Wangluo Stele", a letter to a friend by the Book Saint Wang Xizhi.

Though just a small letter, its fame was immense, although not as universally known as the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection", among major calligraphy families, its status was very high,

likewise the calligraphy master Mi Fu, greatly admired the "Breaking Qiang Stele", calling it the "number one legal book under heaven."

Zhou Xuan in his past life adored calligraphy, naturally putting great effort into imitating this stele,