Chapter 354: Chapter 324 [Master of Calligraphy]

“Mr. Zhu, I’ve finished writing.”

After completing his writing, Lin Qianxuan set down his brush and showed respect to Zhu Junhao.

“Let me take a good look.”

Zhu Junhao picked up the paper and examined it closely, praising it repeatedly.

Although Lin Qianxuan’s milestone might only have the effect of calligraphy +1, in essence, it was equivalent to someone with some talent practicing writing for twenty years or more with dedication.

In this day and age, how many people have the time and resources to immerse themselves in a single endeavor like this?

Just based on this single piece of writing, Lin Qianxuan could surpass Xu Ningyuan’s achievements.

“Good, good, excellent! Vibrant and spirited, lively and ethereal, as if detached from the mundane world. This piece on seeking knowledge, although different in its tenacity and vigor compared to mine in the past, has its own charm.” Zhu Junhao mused, then asked Lin Qianxuan: “Xu Zhi, would you be willing to give me this piece of writing?”

“If Mr. Zhu likes it, please take it.” Lin Qianxuan replied.

“Hahaha, then consider this as your gift to me for becoming my disciple.” Zhu Junhao laughed, “From now on, you are my official disciple.”

“Xu Zhi!” Xu Ningyuan reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianxuan understood the implication and immediately knelt down to pay his respects.

“Disciple salutes the honored teacher.”

Zhu Junhao neither evaded nor shunned, but accepted Lin Qianxuan’s courtesy.

From this point on, he directly doubled in status, becoming a fellow disciple with Xu Ningyuan.

“Good child, keep this for now. At the apprenticeship banquet later, I’ll give you a grand gift.” Zhu Junhao handed Lin Qianxuan a jade ring, then smiled and helped him up.

“Thank you, Master.” Lin Qianxuan said as he accepted the jade ring.

After having lunch with Zhu Junhao at the academy, Lin Qianxuan and Xu Ningyuan took an ox cart back to the village.

No one knew that the dean of the Yimin Academy, who hadn’t taken in a disciple for over a decade, had once again accepted an official disciple.

Xu Ningyuan was filled with emotions. He originally thought it would suffice if Lin Qianxuan could study there, but who knew the teacher would personally take him as a disciple.

Given Master’s current age of eighty-five, it wouldn’t be wrong to call him a final disciple.

“Ah, people indeed have different destinies. I once waited in the snow for an entire day and night before moving the teacher with my sincerity, and even then didn’t receive a single smile afterward…” Xu Ningyuan sighed, “I may not have achieved much, but you are different. You are young and extraordinarily gifted; you must achieve great things in the future!”

“Sir, it’s just that your time hadn’t come yet.” Lin Qianxuan said.

“Just call me Senior Brother. We are now fellow disciples.” Xu Ningyuan added.

Lin Qianxuan complied easily and called him Senior Brother.

Although he appeared young on the outside, in terms of psychological age, he seemed the elder.

The matter of Lin Qianxuan becoming Zhu Junhao’s disciple hadn’t been announced yet, but Zhu Junhao had already begun making the necessary arrangements.

Being an official disciple is different from an ordinary disciple, especially under the tutelage of a renowned scholar like Zhu Junhao.

Among the students he had taught in his lifetime, many achieved great accomplishments.

The notifications for the apprenticeship banquet had to be sent out, which surprised and amazed countless people.

The village remained peaceful and harmonious, and in his spare time, Lin Qianxuan still tended to flowers and vegetables and even pondered improvements in tools.

However, he hadn’t engaged in technological improvements of tools yet.

Being too young and lacking the capability to achieve results, and even if he could have created something, without a force providing protection, it could backfire and bring disaster to himself.

Everything had to wait until after he officially acknowledged a master, built a reputation as a genius, and then proceed from there.

Five days later, the academy handled some trivial matters for Lin Qianxuan, officially enrolling him in the academy.

Due to his young age, a fourteen-year-old female student was assigned to accompany him, taking care of his daily needs.

However, Lin Qianxuan did not require assistance for every meal like ordinary children; he mainly needed help with laundry and cleaning, and he managed everything else himself.

Inside the academy, no one was yet aware of Lin Qianxuan’s identity; they merely guessed he was a child from a wealthy family. Only a few high-ranking officials knew Lin Qianxuan was Zhu Junhao’s official disciple, sharing meals and living arrangements with him.

Although Zhu Junhao was already eighty-five, he was still robust and healthy.

His health regimen was excellent, and his physical condition surpassed that of many men in their thirties and forties.

Whenever he had free time, he would teach Lin Qianxuan some fundamental knowledge, and Lin Qianxuan only needed a basic guide to learn the rest on his own.

Zhu Junhao found it a relief, and every time he saw Lin Qianxuan, he was filled with joy.

In the study room, Lin Qianxuan finished reading a book and said to his older fellow student attendant, Jiang Simin: “Sister Simin, please fetch that ’Records of Things’ over there for me.”

Jiang Simin nodded and handed Lin Qianxuan the book, saying: “Xu Zhi, the dean asked you to read more of the ’Classic of Poetry’ and ’Broad Literature’ these days. Don’t forget it.”

“I’ve already memorized those two books, or else I wouldn’t have time for these miscellaneous ones.” Lin Qianxuan replied as he opened the ’Records of Things’.

Although his attributes had been reset to that of an ordinary person, his new self had quite a remarkable memory.

When he concentrated, memorizing a book was effortless.

After completing his coursework, he finally had the mind to learn more about this world in detail.

“As long as you know.” Jiang Simin said.

She continued reading her own book after giving Lin Qianxuan the one he wanted.

Not just anyone could become a companion reader for Lin Qianxuan.

Securing this opportunity wasn’t easy for her.

It was her pure family background, intelligence, and consistently good reputation that gave her this chance.

Now she also hoped to leverage this opportunity to advance further, aspiring to escape the fate of having to marry at sixteen.

As Lin Qianxuan immersed in his reading, he further broadened his understanding of this world.

The country he was in was called Yong Country, a feudal state with unspecified land size and approximately forty to fifty million people, though exact census data was lacking.

In terms of the productivity of feudal society, this population should be considered large.

Even the current situation scarcely counts as a flourishing age.

After all, even Lin Qianxuan’s little village has access to books, so calling it a prosperous era isn’t far off.

However, it seems to be in a state of decline after peak prosperity.

Anyway, from what the academy students say, the information Lin Qianxuan hears about the court isn’t very positive; it seems this system is on the verge of collapse due to being overly bloated.

Additionally, Lin Qianxuan hasn’t found any explicit descriptions of extraordinary power in books.

Most likely, there are none.

Lin Qianxuan also doesn’t feel any special energy in this world that could be utilized.

The rules are rather lazy, so ordinary people can’t absorb Heaven and Earth Energy.

At most, you might synthesize some vitamin by basking in the sun.

Unless some genetic modification is done, touching the Extraordinary Realm seems unlikely.

Of course, there are ways to progress without being extraordinary.

Lin Qianxuan thinks once his body matures a bit more, he can train well, refine some essential nutrients, and at least achieve a peak human attribute.

Combined with his skills, in cold weapon combat, handling ten opponents with slight maneuvering wouldn’t be an issue.

If he completes a few more milestones and gains bonuses, the upper limit would be hard to say.

After finishing his book, a notification suddenly popped up in front of Lin Qianxuan.

[Tip: You have read extensively, achieving the “One in a Hundred” level milestone [Reading Extensively].]

[Reading Extensively: Memory +1. (Note: Your amount of reading has surpassed many.)]

In an instant, Lin Qianxuan felt his memory capacity significantly enhanced.

Not only the memory of the brain, but muscle memory also seemed to have changed.

Photographic memory was no longer an empty phrase.

Complex actions performed with the fingers only need one or two repetitions for the body to remember clearly.

This means in the future, not only in learning, but his hands-on abilities would be very strong too.

“Shouldn’t I achieve a decathlon?” Lin Qianxuan mused, smiling slightly.

He was already contemplating achieving the next milestone.

Through study and learning, time quickly slipped away.

Until three months later, when the apprenticeship banquet officially commenced.

Guests were countless; all who came were either rich or noble.

Not only from Baiyang County and Qinghan State, but notable figures from the whole of Xiaojiang Prefecture also sent gifts at least.

It was only at this moment that Lin Qianxuan slightly realized Zhu Junhao’s high social standing.

It’s said that with just a nod and writing a name, he could ensure a person’s lifelong wealth and comfort.

Xu Ningyuan, having such a teacher, yet living like that, somewhat shamed Zhu Junhao.

But then again, as a teacher, who can ensure every student achieves success?

Moreover, that was Xu Ningyuan’s own choice; his inability to endure the life of being someone’s lackey, given his overly straightforward nature, was unavoidable.

In any societal relation, one must learn to be tactful to survive better.

Under the witness of many guests, Lin Qianxuan respectfully offered tea to Zhu Junhao and performed a calligraphy demonstration.

Compared to before, his calligraphy had improved during this period.

With enhanced muscle memory, a little practice brought great results.

Now, his calligraphy skills, to give an appraisal, should be considered the peak that ordinary people can reach.

“This calligraphy is truly excellent! Worth a thousand gold if one can obtain a piece!”

“He’s already in a class of his own! Unbelievable that he’s only four years old!”

“No wonder Mr. Zhu broke the rule for him as an exception, Xu Zhi’s talent truly is extraordinary.”

…

Amid so many witnesses, Lin Qianxuan achieved another milestone.

[Tip: You’ve performed calligraphy before an audience, achieving the “One in a Thousand” level milestone [Master of Calligraphy].]

[Master of Calligraphy: Calligraphy +3. (Note: The words you write are about to transcend the mundane.)]

This [Master of Calligraphy] milestone is one level higher than before, with the text color changing from white to blue.

Yet, Lin Qianxuan still felt like making a comment.

“Just one in a thousand? More like one among a thousand top talents, right?”

Lin Qianxuan thought that with his calligraphy, it’d be hard to find someone better than him in the whole of Yong Country’s society.

Even if comparable, the styles differ, each having its strengths and weaknesses.

Claiming it’s just one in a thousand is truly unreasonable.

However, this was just a milestone level judgment, nothing more to say about it.

The blue milestone provided a high bonus; when Lin Qianxuan wrote again, it felt different.

The words seemed to discreetly convey his mood and the meanings behind the text.

Simply put, it was infused with spirit, having soul.

Letting others see his writing, it truly felt like experiencing and understanding the emotions and stories he wished to express, a strong sense of immersion indeed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep