Chapter 119: The Market (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
"What is it?"
Looking at the arrogant young man who seemed to know nothing of the world, Qi Shan suppressed his inner turmoil: "You really dare to dream of pacifying the world? When you're poor, you should cultivate your own virtue; when you're successful, you should help others. You're struggling to even have enough to eat, yet you dream of helping others and bestowing wisdom upon all people?"
"Why not?"
Shen Tang's words were initially just a lighthearted jab at Zhai Le, but Qi Shan's question provoked a rebellious streak. She was determined not to lose face, and she spoke with righteous indignation and conviction!
"Even a common man has lofty ambitions! As long as the blood in his heart is still hot, he will not be indifferent to the plight of these people."
So, in this world, you have to pay taxes for bragging?
If you don't even dare to think about it, then you're really doomed.
"I am young and strong, and I can even use my powers of speech to create things, so why can't I think about it? Du Shaoling wandered in Sichuan, destitute and impoverished, with only his starving children and old wife by his side, yet he could still cry out, 'Where can I find a spacious house?'"
An unexpected change occurred!
Shen Tang only uttered four words, and in an instant, all the literary energy that filled his dantian was completely drained, leaving not a trace!
A strong sense of powerlessness spread through her limbs and bones, causing her vision to go black and her legs to go weak, causing her to fall forward.
If Zhai Le hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed her shoulder, her face would probably have made intimate contact with the ground.
"Brother Shen! Brother Shen, what's wrong?"
This unexpected turn of events also frightened Qi Shan.
"Chen Youli? Youli!"
He thought it was Shen Tang's old ailment acting up again, but when he checked her pulse, he found something was wrong—it was weak and feeble, and she was in low spirits.
This is clearly a sign that the literary energy in the Danfu (a type of alchemy practice) is exhausted.
Zhai Le's medical skills were only mediocre; even he could tell.
The two looked at each other in bewilderment.
The premise for exhausting literary energy is that Shen Tang has just used a powerful literary spirit, and it must be a literary spirit that is extremely domineering and exceeds the limit of endurance.
The problem is—
The three of them were together just now!
When did Shen Tang use that kind of literary inspiration?
"Wildfire cannot burn it all; the spring breeze brings it back to life."
Qi Shan had no time to ponder this. He pursed his lips, circulated his literary energy, and helped Shen Tang recover her literary strength. In just a moment, a rosy glow returned to her pale and eerie face, and the suffocating weakness she felt as if she were drowning was greatly reduced, allowing her to barely get up on her own.
"Youli, what just happened?" Qishan asked.
Shen Tang herself was also completely baffled. She said, "I don't know either. Suddenly the world started spinning, and I felt weak and uncomfortable all over..."
"Brother Shen, do you think you don't know what kind of literary spirit you used?" Zhai Le's relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by an extremely serious reprimand. "It's common sense that you shouldn't try unfamiliar literary spirits so easily!"
Unfamiliar...
Literary Mind and Spiritual Power?
Qi Shan frowned as if he remembered something, then his brows slowly relaxed. He said, "Just now, was Young Master Shen trying to say, 'How can I obtain thousands of mansions to shelter all the poor scholars of the world and make them all smile?'"
Shen Tang shuddered upon hearing this.
The feeling of having all her spiritual energy drained from her Danfu was terrible; she didn't want to experience it a second time, but—
Why do you say nothing's wrong?
Qi Shan's eyes were filled with complex emotions: "Because it's just an ordinary sentence to me, I can say it naturally, and not only me, but Young Master Zhai can too. You repeat it to him."
Zhai Le felt confused, but still repeated it.
As expected, nothing happened.
Shen Tang took a moment to realize what it meant, her eyes widening in astonishment as she asked in confusion, "Why is that?"
Qi Shan said, "You activated that incantation."
However, the writing style was insufficient to support it, so it failed.
Shen Tang: "I didn't..."
Qi Shan instructed, "Just be careful next time."
That's what he said, but he still had many unresolved questions in his heart. For example, that incantation completely exceeded the limits of what Young Master Shen could bear. His spiritual energy in his dantian was completely drained, leaving not a single trace, yet he only felt weak.
In all the previous examples, the protagonists either suffered a backlash to their dantian or their lifespan was endangered, resulting in a short lifespan.
In comparison, Young Master Shen is simply an anomaly.
Could it be related to that national seal?
"How can I be careful? Maybe I should just start practicing silence meditation..." Shen Tang felt frustrated again—talkative people in this world are really unfriendly. The last time she felt this frustrated was when Gu Chi, the nemesis of talkative people, was beside her. "I'll die if I don't talk!"
Who would have thought that saying something could ruin your life?
Zhai Le, standing to the side, had to remind her.
"Brother Shen, the activation of Word of Power isn't done by simply reciting it..."
Oral recitation of incantations is meant to increase accuracy and success rate! The true activation of incantations comes from the mind. However, not everyone can achieve perfect concentration and focus. If the mind wanders, the incantation will either fail or its effectiveness will be greatly diminished; hence, oral recitation is necessary.
Shen Tang: "..."
She suddenly felt like withdrawing into herself.
Can't I even even think about it?
Fortunately, things weren't that serious.
"Just control your literary mind and don't easily urge it on."
As a seasoned veteran, Qi Shan had a certain understanding of Shen Tang and quickly found the problem—because young master Shen lacked common sense, and he might not know things that others took for granted. Following this line of thought, he could find the crux of the problem.
In short, Shen Tang cannot control Wen Xin.
Shen Tang felt that she was being looked down upon.
"...What do I not know how to control?"
All the flatbreads, plums, maltose, and even the wine stored in the cellar in the village were created by her using her magical words.
If this were an online game, the skills would have been maxed out long ago.
This guy actually said she couldn't control her literary mind?!
Qi Shan felt an urge to roll her eyes: "Because your idea of 'being able to control' is completely different from our idea of 'being able to control'."
Shen Tang insisted on getting to the bottom of it: "What's the difference?"
Qi Shan: "..."
As it turns out, the differences are vast.
Literary scholars can control the actual effect of words by varying the amount of literary energy, either enhancing or weakening it. Shen Tang simply skipped this step.
Imagine the power of words as a production line, with the spiritual energy of the alchemy palace as the raw materials and the effects of the power of words as the final product.
The scribe, following the instructions given in the power of words, controls the production line to adjust various raw materials and finally manufactures the desired product.
This is normal.
Shen Tang, on the other hand, is a hands-off manager. He starts the production line as soon as he gets an order, without even checking if there are enough raw materials, and goes straight for the gas pedal, operating at full capacity. What if he runs out of raw materials and hasn't even produced a semi-finished product? He'll be in a real bind then!
Following that, Qi Shan presented another piece of compelling evidence that Shen Tang could not control Wen Xin, leaving Shen Tang speechless.
"If you are truly skilled and adept at it, why do you only make one cake at a time? You could easily fill the entire bamboo basket at once."
Shen Tang: "...???"
Shen Tang: "...!!!"
Seeing Shen Tang's expression, Qi Shan knew he was right.
He said helplessly, "It's alright. We'll go back and fill in the gaps. With Young Master Shen's talent, it shouldn't be long before he can take control. If we can completely control it, similar out-of-control incidents shouldn't happen again."
|ω｀)
I was exhausted from competing on the new book monthly ticket rankings, so I went to bed late last night and was woken up early this morning by my parents to go out and play. I was so sleepy and not in good spirits, which is why the update was late.
P.S.: I discovered today that I only need 2100 achievement points to reach five stars for Empress, so I'm planning to give it a shot. Also, thanks to Unicorn_LF, the newly crowned adorable author of Empress's, for contributing to the five-star achievement. I don't know if she's following the new book, but I still want to say thank you very much (*▽*).
P.S.: By the way, there's double monthly votes from the 1st to the 7th, so if you have a guaranteed monthly vote, you can vote now! There's also a crowdfunding event for quadruple monthly votes after 8 PM from the 1st to the 4th (*▽*)
(End of this chapter)
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