Cosmic Trading System

"Ding!"

"Calligraphy level, second level peak!"

Shortly after, the Cosmic Trading System provided a specific level.

"As expected, I have indeed reached the second level peak!"

Lin Yun took a deep breath in his heart.

There's a significant difference between the second level peak and the second level completing, even though separated by a small step.

It is very challenging to reach perfection in anything, just like it's challenging to reach the peak of a realm.

Having studied hundreds of martial arts techniques, Lin Yun understood this perfectly.

On his own, sometimes, it was even more difficult for him to elevate a martial art technique from being accomplished to its peak than to promote it from being a beginner to accomplished several times over.

Practically speaking, second level peak calligraphy could already produce works with a second-level spirituality.

Such was the huge gap.

"I wonder if Mr. Lee has ever seen my work?" At this moment, Lin Yun looked up at Ji Lee, smiled faintly, and said.

At this moment, an idea took shape in his mind.

"Huh?" Ji Lee was taken aback. The other's works? Could it be that the other was also a practitioner of calligraphy?

Lin Yun looked towards Wu Bo.

"Mr. Lee, I forgot to tell you just now. Mr. Lin brought a gift for you when he came. This is..." Understanding what was going on, Wu Bo quickly turned around, took a scroll from the table beside him, and said.

Originally, he had planned to show this scroll to Ji Lee, but Ji Lee's reaction just now was too significant, leaving him no time to do so.

"Let me see..." Ji Lee nodded continuously.
Discover hidden stories at empire

Although he had reached a not low level in calligraphy, he was still very curious about the works of his peers. Especially when the particular peer was the famous boss of Qingyun Company.

"Have you not seen that the water of the Yellow River comes from the sky, rushing to the sea and never returns..."

Soon, a magnificent character appeared before Ji Lee and the butler. The moment they unrolled the scroll, they even felt as if a surge of mighty river water was rushing towards them from afar.

"Humph——"

Looking at these characters, Ji Lee quickly gasped in surprise.

Being a master of calligraphy, he quickly judged that the quality of this font exceeded his own.

"Huh? Something's not right...."

Soon enough, he sensed something and furrowed his brow.

"What's wrong?" Seeing this, Lin Yun was taken aback and asked curiously.

Ji Lee was a master of calligraphy and must have been extremely sensitive to it. Perhaps, what he had discovered was the reason why his works were having difficulty birthing spirituality?

"The artistic conception is not right. This font has high quality, but its artistic conception is not perfect... This 'Li Bai's Drinking Alone,' the author of this font didn't fully appreciate that sense of the artistic conception..." Ji Lee thought for a second and said.

"This font, is it written by Mr. Lin?" Soon after, Ji Lee thought of something. He looked up at Lin Yun and spoke with a serious expression.

He could never have imagined that Lin Yun's calligraphy realm was so high that it would make him feel inferior. Even Lin Yun's calligraphy framework made him see his own shortcomings, which was exactly the realm he had been striving for.

He had a feeling that if he were to study this font for a while, his calligraphy realm would certainly reach a higher level.

In short, it was a great gift.

This gift alone was enough to trade many of his works, even his most recent peak works.

However, when he thought of this, he couldn't help but blush slightly.

With Lin Yun's calligraphy realm being so high, would he really covet his works?

It was absurd. He had earlier thought of offering his works for Lin Yun's help in enhancing his mental strength which was narcissistic of him.

So, apart from the works, what else could he afford to offer?

Money?

The other party was the boss of Qingyun Company, the products and games of which were famous worldwide. Given Qingyun Company's formidable strength, would it be short of money?

Thinking this way, Ji Lee couldn't help but feel even more ashamed.

He lost to Lin Yun, the person he was most proud of in calligraphy, and fell short in other aspects. This defeat made him both mentally and verbally submissive.

"Artistic conception?" Lin Yun mused.

Indeed, the reason he wrote Li Bai's 'Drinking Alone' was mainly because Lin Yuanshan wrote it back then. At that time, although he felt a great emotional upheaval when he saw the characters, he hadn't really pondered over the artistic conception behind this poem.

"Could it be that the most important thing for a work to give birth to spirituality is the artistic conception?" Lin Yun looked at Ji Lee and asked.

At this moment, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have misunderstood it all along. He thought that if he used the first-level peak drawing principle, his work could give birth to first-level spirituality and if he used the second-level peak drawing principle, his work could give birth to second-level spirituality.

Perhaps, it's not so?

Was it because he had a deep understanding of the starry sky, he reached the artistic conception of that picture?

"Mr. Lin is very insightful. That's right, this is the key to whether a work can give birth to spirituality. The importance of artistic conception even surpasses technique. If the artistic conception is reached, it is very easy to give birth to spirituality. Mr.

Lin, have you ever seen those abstract paintings from abroad?" Ji Lee laughed.

"Abstract paintings from abroad?" Lin Yun asked, looking surprised.

"Yes, those abstract paintings... I don't quite agree with the content of many of them, but some abstract paintings have a high artistic conception, so they can also give birth to spirituality," Ji Lee nodded.

Lin Yun pondered in silence.

No wonder.

At this point, he had been puzzled about something. Some abstract paintings were hard to appreciate, but they could still fetch sky-high prices. It seemed that those abstract paintings also gave birth to spiritual works?

Indeed, did they?

He remembered that some of the spiritual-items he had obtained from various countries a while back contained a few abstract paintings. Among them, the spirituality level of one even reached level two.

It seemed that the artistic conception truly was important.

In his study of the Drawing Principle and calligraphy, he had only learned the skills, but the artistic conception still needed him to comprehend on his own.

Just like when he had learned many martial techniques. Although he had studied many of them to their peak, he still needed to practice again and again, gradually contemplating and comprehending their principle.

Wasn't he also grasping the artistic conception of some martial techniques?

Reaching the peak of technique was to reach the Dao, and the Dao was a mysterious concept, an artistic conception.

In that moment, Lin Yun thought of many things.

"Mr. Lin's calligraphy realm is very high. I, Ji Lee, am ashamed in comparison. This calligraphy should be spiritual. Mr. Lin has already covered some aspects of artistic conception.

Even if I don't say it, Mr. Lin will understand sooner or later. Ji Lee's previous proposal can be dismissed…" Ji Lee paused, looking embarrassed.

"Why would Mr. Lee say that? As the saying goes, a false pass is like a scroll that spans thousands of volumes, and the truth is in just a sentence. Had Mr. Lee not pointed out this detail, I may not have understood it for quite some time…" Lin Yun said with a light smile upon seeing Ji Lee's demeanor.

The words were polite indeed. This time, he planned on visiting several people. Even if Ji Lee had not said anything, he would have learned this from others.

"This calligraphy has greatly touched me. I feel that my understanding of calligraphy will have a breakthrough. This in itself is a great gift. How could I still have the audacity to ask for anything else?" Ji Lee shook his head, a trace of respect in his tone.

He was inspired by Lin Yun's calligraphy. In a sense, Lin Yun was his teacher. If he still asked for more, it would be too much.

He was a proud man, but he knew his limits.

Lin Yun nodded slightly upon seeing this, further confirming his previous thoughts.

"I have a proposal. I wonder what Mr. Lee might think about it?" Lin Yun said with a smile.

"What is it?" Ji Lee asked curiously.

"This world is somewhat different from before. Since Mr. Lee has played 'Future Storm', I believe you must have noticed this difference. Mr. Lee's comprehension of calligraphy is very high, and I'm interested in recruiting you. What do you think?" Lin Yun contemplated before speaking.

"Recruit me?" Ji Lee raised his eyebrows.

The word 'recruit' that Lin Yun used didn't sit right with him; it gave him a rebellious feeling.

At this time, he remembered rumors of conflicts between Qingyun Company and Huaxia officials, further confirming his suspicions.

However, he was born and raised in Huaxia, living a peaceful and prosperous life. He owed this to Huaxia and didn't want to go against it.

"I'm just a scholar. I have no courage nor strategy. I simply love calligraphy. It seems you have misunderstood, Mr. Lin," Ji Lee said while shaking his head as he thought.

"Haha, what level does Mr. Lee think can be reached with a high level of calligraphy comprehension?" Lin Yun laughed.

Some strong practitioners in the Drawing Principle could use a single character to defend, attack or destroy other strong practitioners, and even change the world. In some cases, they could even exceed the effect of martial arts practitioners.

He had encouraged all of humanity to practice martial arts, and he promoted the game 'Future Storm' worldwide in order to select some talents. Now, he had encountered such a talent. How could he overlook this?

"What level? Are you referring to selling the spirituality born from a work?" Ji Lee frowned.

"Mr. Lee, may I suggest having a look at this video?" said Lin Yun, shaking his head.

Whoosh.

While speaking, Lin Yun waved his hand and a projection immediately appeared beside them.

It was better to show than to tell.

In the projection, a man who resembled a human from Earth and had a similar background to ancient Earth stood alone against a thousand soldiers in a wilderness. He was a scholar dressed in a green robe.

He saw the scholar observing the rushing force of thousands of soldiers. One hand was behind his back and the other held a brush. His face was calm.

"Buzz–"

Without warning, the scholar gently wrote a character in the air. A special ripple filled the air, and the character shone gold before flying towards the thousand soldiers.

"Huff– Huff– Roar–"

The next moment, a gust of wind appeared not far from the scholar, blowing quickly towards the opposing army. Sand and dust flew, men and horses were thrown into the air.

Just then, the scholar wrote another character in the air.

"Boom–"

A thunderbolt exploded amidst the fighting force of soldiers. Their losses continued to mount as limbs flew into the air, and wails filled the air.

Then, the scholar wrote several more characters in the air. Each one caused significant damage to the opposition.

In just a short while, the scholar stopped, everything calmed down, and not a single person stood on the other side. All threats had disappeared.

From beginning to end, one of the scholar's hands was always behind his back with an indifferent demeanor.

Only after everything was over did the scholar put both hands behind his back, turn away by himself, and walk away leisurely.

Seeing Lin Yun pull out the projection, Ji Lee was merely a little surprised, and subsequently paid no more attention.

Projection technology already existed. It was very normal for Qingyun Company, with its strong technical power, to have such advanced projection technology.

However, why was Lin Yun showing him this movie?

Ji Lee was somewhat puzzled.

Frankly speaking, while watching this video, the scene of the scholar using calligraphy to fight the army, appearing so calm and composed while facing thousands of soldiers on his own, his blood was boiling.

Every man dreamed of being a hero.

Even though he was already in his forties, he was no exception.

Especially since the scholar used calligraphy to fight, and he himself practiced calligraphy, he felt a strong sense of resonance.

How wonderful would it be if he could do it too?

He couldn't help but think that in his heart.

But, it was just a movie after all.

He didn't believe it was real, because it was too exaggerated.

"Does Mr. Lee think it's fake?" Seeing Ji Lee's expression, Lin Yun laughed.