Chapter 215
"Impressive, right? Hmph! I got inspired after looking at your comic last time."
"Since the Guanshen Tu can move, if I apply the techniques used to create it to the sketchbook, I can achieve the effect of a comic!"
Ouyang lifted his chin, his words resonating with conviction, as if he had made a groundbreaking discovery!
"Animation!?"
Li Mo gasped.
The thought of merging the techniques of the Guanshen Tu with a realistic sketchbook... truly a genius idea!
But something felt off.
"Shocked, huh?"
"I'm more shocked by your research direction, Senior Brother."
Li Mo shook his head and handed the sketchbook back to Ouyang.
"But your aesthetic sense still needs improvement."
"???!"
Ouyang was instantly petrified, those words echoing in his mind like thunderclaps in a clear sky.
Aesthetic sense... still needs improvement?!
...
The next morning.
The sky was bright, with not a cloud in sight.
On the mountain path of Hengyun Sword City, Li Mo held a steaming donkey meat bun, walking and eating, while Ying Bing walked a short distance beside him, her head slightly bowed, holding her sword and moving at a leisurely pace.
The two walked in silence.
Jiang Chulong tugged at her brother Li's sleeve, her gray-white eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Today, the atmosphere between her brother Li and Sister Bing felt strange...
As if there was something she couldn't quite see between them?
Before long.
They reached a fork in the road, and the number of disciples from the Sword City noticeably increased. A few people approached, seemingly returning from errands.
"The Xiyu Tower has calmed down, but trouble has arisen again."
"Yeah, you’d think he’d run south after becoming a traitor, but instead, he’s causing chaos in our Yunzhou."
"Let’s hope they catch him soon and avoid any major disturbances."
"Li Shaoxia, Ying Xianzi?"
The group, who had gone out to post notices, greeted them. They were quite famous in the Sword City now.
Li Mo had generously donated to repair the Sword Pool formation.
Ying Bing was revered by countless people for her teachings at the Sword Pool, regarded as a celestial being.
Even that little girl with the blindfold was taken seriously by all the elders, who were willing to share the Sword Tower's legacy with her without reservation.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Mo caught sight of the wanted poster.
Chang Bolong.
A traitor general from the Southern Army, wanted for a bounty of five hundred taels for information leading to his capture, and five thousand taels for capturing or killing him, with the added bonus of choosing martial arts from the Sword Tower.
Such a bounty would surely attract many bounty hunters.
Li Mo wasn’t particularly interested in the reward; he just glanced at it casually.
Before long, they reached the fork in the road.
Li Mo was headed to the Sword Tower, while Ying Bing and Jiang Chulong were going to the Sword Pool, so they had to part ways.
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
"Just buy something casual."
"Okay..."
Li Mo took a few steps forward, then inexplicably turned back.
And there he saw Ying Bing's graceful silhouette.
He chuckled to himself; it wasn’t like they were parting for long.
So, Li Mo strode toward the Sword Tower again.
What he didn’t know was that, in that moment he turned back, the girl had tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and suddenly looked back, capturing the proud figure of the young man in her eyes.
Ying Bing's gaze lingered for a moment before she headed toward the Sword Pool.
Little Princess Jiang blinked.
Sure enough, something was off...
---
**Chapter 230: Wherever She/He Goes, the Brush Stirs Up Storms**
At the peak of the Sword Tower.
The scene around the strange stones remained unchanged at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one could notice subtle differences.
For instance, a few more fish swam in the clear spring, and the trees had grown denser...
Li Mo had just finished copying the strange stones for the third time, and as usual, he was just a bit off.
So he stood at the top of the Sword Tower, gazing into the distance.
"That’s the Sword Pool..."
As soon as Li Mo spotted the large circular plaza, his mind conjured an image of Ying Bing standing on the high platform, pointing with a ruler.
Ying Bing always had an aura of someone who grasped the truth.
Little Li could even imagine what she was explaining.
Where she needed to demonstrate, the look she gave to the less talented disciples...
"Wait, why is last night’s scene popping up again?"
"Wait, why does she keep coming to mind?"
Li Mo couldn’t help but mutter to himself; he should be focusing on copying the strange stones...
"What are you looking at?"
It was Wei Zhaoliu.
She still wore those glasses made from North Sea crystal, her face somewhat obscured, and her hair was much shorter than before. From her aura, she had likely just returned from observing the strange stones again.
"Looking at Han Xianzi."
Li Mo’s gaze remained fixed on the Sword Pool.
"Huh? You can see her?"
Wei Zhaoliu's eyes widened, thinking that this Li Shaoxia had truly terrifying eyesight. She nodded and said, "Oh, you mean Ying Bing? I went to listen to her teachings; it was truly awe-inspiring. I can’t believe I once thought to compare myself to her..."
Li Mo asked, "Why did you cut your hair so short?"
"Well, every time I listen to her, I feel like I make progress in my swordsmanship, and then I come back and try to erase the hammer marks."
"And then?"
"Every time I fail, so to remind myself of the lesson, I cut a bit of my hair."
"......Looks like you’ve indeed gotten a bit stronger."
Li Mo suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
But half of that guilt belonged to Ying Bing; if it weren’t for her, Wei Zhaoliu wouldn’t often feel like she was improving.
He should finish copying the strange stones as soon as possible.
That way, he wouldn’t have to witness the day Wei Zhaoliu went bald.
"Why is he always drawing strange stones?"
Wei Zhaoliu was puzzled. Was this some new form of cultivation?
Creating the Guanshen Tu?
Some predecessors from the Sword City had entertained this idea, but it always fell through because the strange stones themselves didn’t seem suitable for observation, though the sword marks on them could be.
Yet, few had the qualifications to bear the divine intent of those sword marks...
Li Mo sat down in front of the strange stones.
He took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The ink was ground from the tea Ying Bing had brewed that morning.
He had only five sheets of the precious Qingmai jade paper left from what had once been a plentiful stock.
Little Li was determined; the Sword City allowed him to comprehend the strange stones, but he couldn’t take them away.
Before leaving Yunzhou, he had to finish his drawings...
"This stone shouldn’t just be a stone."
Little Li murmured to himself.
---
At the Sword Pool.
In the past, when sword masters came to Yunzhou to teach, there were no breaks. But since Ying Bing arrived, that rule changed.
What she taught was profound yet simple, requiring time to comprehend and ponder.
Otherwise, as she spoke, others might not understand.
A break of half an hour was neither long nor short.
Ying Bing held Tian Shuang, standing on the high platform of the Sword Pool, and decided to brew a pot of tea to relax her mind.
When one quiets down, thoughts tend to wander.
So she closed her eyes, and her mind drifted back to last night, the hazy moonlight and flickering candle flames in the private room... that sensation lingered, and the more she tried to forget, the more real it became.
Even the warmth of his palm seemed to remain...
Some of the more perceptive disciples below exchanged glances, their eyes sparkling with wisdom.
"Is Ying Xianzi having another epiphany?"
"Wow... she masters the ultimate sword techniques in the blink of an eye! It’s very possible!"
"I wonder what profound sword principles she’s contemplating..."
The disciples looked at each other, but they didn’t dare speak too loudly.
Fearing they might disturb Ying Bing’s ‘enlightenment.’
Ying Bing: "....."
No, she couldn’t think about it anymore.
She took out her tea set, planning to brew some tea to distract herself, but her gaze suddenly paused.
Is this her tea table?
The tea set on the table was a gift from Li Mo not long ago. It looked simple, but the material was quite precious. Unfortunately, there was only one cup.
This morning, the only cup had been taken by him to drink.
The tea leaves were given by him, the tea table was crafted by him, and the little snacks for tea were made by him.
Aside from that...
Gurgle... the water used to wash the tea splashed onto the large-headed doll beside her.
Hmm...
Anyway, this Xumi object was quite sturdy, so it became her tea pet.
Even her tea pet was a chibi version of Li Mo’s large-headed doll!
"When did... his shadow start to linger everywhere around her?"
"Really..."
Ying Bing pressed her lips together, gently poking the large-headed doll on its forehead, making it wobble.
Table of Contents
