What Kind of Book Spirit Is This?

"'This man was the murderer who harmed your Sixth Junior Brother, and your Sixth Junior Brother had loved monkeys all his life. So I had two huge macaques found and locked him up with them on Mount Hua.' As she spoke, she reached out, clasped Linghu Chong's wrist, and sighed, 'Who would have thought that I, Ren Yingying, would end up locked together with a huge macaque for the rest of my life, never to part again?' As she spoke, she flashed a radiant smile, her every movement infinitely delicate..."

Daylight had already broken outside the window. Unbeknownst to him, Chen Luo had written through the entire night again. Only after reaching the final sentence did he write the word "The End" at the bottom of the page.

At this point, he had finished writing all of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer in his mind.

Ji Zhong stared at that stack of manuscripts with glowing eyes. Chen Luo had told him earlier that he could only read it once it was finished. Seeing Chen Luo looking relaxed now, he hurriedly asked, "Young Master, are you done?"

Chen Luo nodded. "I'm done!"

Ji Zhong was overjoyed. He reached out to take the final stack of manuscripts, but just as his hand neared it, the sound of a sharp sword being drawn suddenly rang out from within. Then a flash of sword light shot from the manuscripts. Ji Zhong failed to notice, and the sword light sliced open his finger.

"What razor-sharp Sword Qi!" Ji Zhong exclaimed in shock. Suddenly thinking of a possibility, he looked toward Chen Luo. "Young Master, could this book also condense a Book Spirit?"

Chen Luo ignored Ji Zhong's question and focused entirely on the pages. Just like when Zhong Kui had first appeared, all the manuscripts of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer rose into the air without a breeze, floating overhead. Then the words on the pages detached one by one and flew out into empty space. Nearly a million words gathered together, forming two human figures that began practicing various martial arts.

Ji Zhong's eyes widened until they were perfectly round. He had originally planned to use Righteous Qi to enhance his eyes and watch the techniques being practiced, but unexpectedly, the figures formed from words suddenly shot two more streams of Sword Qi at him, aimed directly at his Righteous Qi-enhanced eyes. Ji Zhong dodged the attack and hurriedly dispersed the Righteous Qi in his eyes. Only then did the phantom stop attacking.

But Ji Zhong was worthy of being The Smiling, Proud Wanderer's number-one fan. Watching the movements of the Elegant Script phantoms, he actually recognized every corresponding martial art.

"This is Chong Ling Swordplay!"

"Mount Hua Swordplay!"

"Mount Song Swordplay!"

"Wudang Swordplay!"

"Mount Heng Swordplay!"

"Saints above, Nine Swords of Dugu!"

"My heavens, the Sunflower Manual!"

By the time he saw the later techniques, Ji Zhong could no longer control himself. He excitedly reached out and grabbed Chen Luo by the arm. "Those moves really exist! They can really be cultivated!"

Chen Luo stared fixedly at the two figures made of words as they practiced the moves. Having been steeped in all kinds of blockbuster films in his previous life, he was not surprised. He was waiting for the Book Spirit to appear.

At that moment, Zhong Kui also quietly manifested behind Chen Luo and said in a low voice, "This is Book Spirit Manifestation, my lord. This Book Spirit is extraordinary."

Chen Luo nodded slightly. Only after the time it took to burn a stick of incense did the two phantoms stop their movements. Then they slammed into each other, transforming into a round sphere wrapped in words and floating in midair.

Chen Luo reached out and gently touched the sphere of words. Cracks appeared across it. As the cracks slowly widened, a seven-colored light shot out from the black sphere of words.

As the cracks grew wider and wider, the sphere of words suddenly exploded, transforming once more into countless individual words that fell back onto the paper like raindrops. The sheets arranged themselves into a neat stack and dropped from the air onto the writing desk.

A mass of seven-colored mist now floated in midair, looking exactly like the mass of Seven-Colored Mist within Chen Luo's body. Just then, a claw reached out from the mist.

A claw?

Chen Luo froze for a moment. How could it be a claw? And it looked like a cat's paw.

Those paw pads were so pink and tender...

No, that wasn't the point! What happened to the Book Spirit of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer? What was this thing?

While Chen Luo was letting his thoughts run wild, another crisp sound came from within the mist—

Meow~

Had something gone wrong? There weren't any cat-eared girls in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer!

Before Chen Luo could continue thinking, the figure within the mist finally slowly poked its head out.

Just as expected!

It had a round head, two small, floppy ears, and a sword-shaped mark in the middle of its forehead. Its entire body was pitch-black, without a trace of any other color. A pair of adorable, wide eyes reflected the candlelight in the room!

It was a Black Cat!

The Black Cat gracefully walked out of the Seven-Colored Mist. It first looked around the study, then swept a disdainful gaze over Ji Zhong and Zhong Kui, before finally fixing its eyes on Chen Luo.

"Meow—"

The Black Cat took one step forward and landed on Chen Luo's head, curling itself into a ball. The mass of Seven-Colored Mist flew toward Chen Luo along with it and ultimately entered his body.

"Young Master, is this... the Book Spirit?" Ji Zhong asked, desperately holding back his laughter. The Smiling, Proud Wanderer was so freewheeling and grand—he had imagined what kind of Book Spirit might appear, but he had never expected a tiny, adorable creature.

The Black Cat on Chen Luo's head shot Ji Zhong a glare. It remembered this man. Every time he looked at it, he wore such a lecherous expression. And now he was actually mocking it?

The Black Cat kicked off with its hind legs and prepared to pounce on Ji Zhong and scratch him. But Chen Luo raised a hand and caught it by the scruff of its neck, lifting it before his eyes.

The Black Cat blinked its jewel-like eyes. All four limbs dangled in the air, and it wore a resigned, aggrieved expression.

Seeing how adorably it acted, Chen Luo also sighed. Wasn't it supposed to be an extraordinary Book Spirit? How had it ended up looking like this?

"Little one, what abilities do you have?" Chen Luo teased. Unexpectedly, a crisp young girl's voice suddenly rang out in his mind. "Master, I'm really amazing!"

Chen Luo was startled and looked at the little Black Cat. "Was that you speaking?"

The little Black Cat nodded, then transformed into a streak of black light and rushed into Chen Luo's body.

A stream of information surged into Chen Luo's mind, and he instantly understood the origins of this Black Cat Book Spirit.

"So it was you!" Chen Luo sighed inwardly. He turned his head toward Ji Zhong. "Brother Ji, how about accompanying me for a couple of moves?"

Ji Zhong froze. "Young Master, you're an ordinary person!"

"Just try it! If you beat me, I'll let you be the first to read my next martial-arts novel."

"There's going to be another one?" Ji Zhong was overjoyed. "Let's go!"

In the small courtyard outside the study, Ji Zhong watched Chen Luo with a half-smile. "Young Master, it's still not too late to admit defeat."

Chen Luo smiled faintly. "In The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, there's a martial art that no one has ever mastered. Yet it's more powerful than both the Nine Swords of Dugu and the Sunflower Manual. Do you know what it is?"

"How could there be such a martial art? Even if you're the author, you can't make things up." Righteous Qi surged around Ji Zhong's entire body. "I won't bully you, Young Master. I'll only use ten percent of my strength."

After saying this, Ji Zhong raised a hand and pointed at Chen Luo. "Swift."

The moon was dark, the swallows flew high,

The Barbarian King fled through the night.

He wished to pursue them with Light Cavalry,

But heavy snow filled his bow and blade.

As Ji Zhong's "Swift" rang out, the phantom of Light Cavalry condensed before him. Wielding a Horse-Slaying Blade, it charged toward Chen Luo. Although Ji Zhong had said he would use only ten percent of his strength, his mind remained taut, ready to dispel the Light Cavalry phantom at any moment so that Chen Luo would not be injured.

He was merely accompanying the young master in a wager to help him relax!

But Chen Luo's expression was solemn. His right hand held a long sword angled downward, while the fingers of his left hand bent and counted from one to five. He clenched his hand into a fist, then extended his thumb, followed by his index finger, until all five fingers were spread wide. Then he bent his thumb again and curled his index finger... It sounded complicated when described, but in truth, it all happened in an instant. The movements even resembled forming hand seals in some Japanese anime.

Seeing Chen Luo's movements, Ji Zhong's heart jolted. He seemed to have seen a description of such a move in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, but he simply could not remember...

In the time it took to say it, the Light Cavalry had already charged before Chen Luo. It swung its blade down at him, and a cold glint flashed through Chen Luo's eyes.

"Now!"

Chen Luo suddenly flickered aside, dodging the Light Cavalry's slash from an impossible angle. He rushed forward toward Ji Zhong, but he did not travel in a straight line. Instead, he followed a strange curve.

Ji Zhong's expression shifted slightly, and he shouted again, "Defend!"

Tall Pine appeared once more. Yet with Chen Luo's sword pointing straight ahead, he actually bypassed the pine-tree phantom's defense, dodged the phantom birds flying from within the tree, and stopped the sword tip at Ji Zhong's throat...

"You let your guard down!" Chen Luo withdrew his sword.

"What? How did that happen?" Ji Zhong looked astonished. Although he had held back, Chen Luo's final strike had made him feel as if there had been nowhere to dodge.

"Allow me to reintroduce my Book Spirit." Chen Luo spoke as the Black Cat appeared atop his head, looking at Ji Zhong with an expression of utter arrogance.

"Its name is: How Tai Shan Is!"

Chen Luo was about to say a few more words when he suddenly felt as if a thousand needles were stabbing into his mind. A wave of agony struck, his vision went black, and he fainted...

Orioles sang for miles amid green and red,

Writing words to make friends.

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