Hiding Talent, Minor Accomplishment in Body Dao!

Only after finishing the writing did Chen Yi come back to his senses.

He looked at the lyrics on the Yunsong Paper, each character large or small, simplified or connected, stretching into a continuous piece like a painting, unified as a whole.

"So this is how it can be."

"Minor Accomplishment in the Way of Calligraphy doesn't just guide improvement in handwriting—it's also the artistic conception of the Way itself. I just hadn't discovered it before."

"And not only can I gain mysteries through fortuitous opportunities to raise my realm, I can also make progress through my own insights."

Just like this time, the Qi generated within him from the Great Spear Stance Cultivation unexpectedly connected with the will of heaven and earth as he wrote, giving his characters a touch of divine charm.

Thinking this, Chen Yi read the lyrics once more, then picked up his brush and wrote the lyric title Qing Chun Ze - Graceful Spirit Ode on the right side of the paper, and on the left, the inscription "Chen Qingzhou, Year 21 of Anhe, spring, night wanderings, casual notes" and such.

He didn't feel the slightest impropriety in composing lyrics for a woman who wasn't his wife.

After all, "a graceful maiden is a gentleman's good match"—he was but a mundane man, so naturally he had no stirrings of conscience.

On the contrary, Chen Yi looked at the freely flowing lyrics across the page with great satisfaction.

"First there was the Ode to the Luo River Goddess, now there's the Graceful Spirit Ode—that means Cao Zijian and I split the world's eight-tenths of talent between us."

Of course, this was just his own wishful thinking.

Cao Zhi's seven-step poem relied on his own scholarly ability.

As for Chen Yi's ability to write the Graceful Spirit Ode, aside from some balanced tonal parallelism, it was mostly due to emotional inspiration.

If he were asked to write another similar piece, he'd probably still have to be a porter of the Three Hundred Tang Poems and Song Lyrics.

Still, beyond the "beauty" of this lyric, what truly stood out was his calligraphy.

"Right now, my skill in Wei Qing script should rank me among the famous masters of this era."

"It's time to learn other scripts—running script, cursive script..."

Just as Chen Yi was pondering, a soft knock came from outside the door.

Then Wang Lixing's voice followed: "Son-in-law, the Chou hour is already half over. It's time for you to practice your stance cultivation."

Unbeknownst to him, it was already four in the morning.

Chen Yi acknowledged, placed the Graceful Spirit Ode on the table, and got up to leave.

"Brother Wang, did you keep watch outside the garden all night?"

"Military duty demands it. I hope the son-in-law will understand."

"No harm, no harm—just a casual question. Let's go..."

Xiao Die heard the noise and jolted awake, scrambling out of bed to dress properly.

Seeing that Chen Yi and Wang Lixing had already walked far away, she couldn't help slapping her face in self-reproach.

"Xiao Die, Xiao Die—the son-in-law is already up, and you're still sleeping in."

"As punishment, you'll prepare the son-in-law's morning meal. Also, after his martial training, he'll definitely sweat, so you need to prepare bathwater and clean clothes."

Xiao Die made her plans while tidying the ink, brush, paper, and inkstone on the desk.

When she saw the poetry content on the scattered sheets, she flipped through them one by one, her bright, spirited eyes fixed on that Graceful Spirit Ode.

Though she had only studied alongside Xiao Wan'er for five years and wasn't highly learned, she could already understand the meaning of the lyrics.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have grasped earlier, after reading Chen Yi's poem Marrying into the Xiao Family, that its implication was "the son-in-law still wants to escape the Xiao Family."

Thus, when Xiao Die finished reading Qing Chun Ze - Graceful Spirit Ode word by word, a look of surprise immediately appeared on her small face.

"...Jade Steps, Jade Trees, Like You, Rare in the Human World. Once startled the Guye immortal to age, sighing at the Luo River's empty ode, the Red River's vain song... Even with pigments, hard to paint the bones, a thousand autumns alone shine over the Chu sky's vastness."

"Graceful Spirit Ode, graceful... Could it be that last night the son-in-law saw the Eldest Miss?"

In certain matters, Xiao Die was quite sharp.

Especially connecting Chen Yi's appearance outside the Jiaxing Garden wall with the word "graceful" in the lyrics, Xiao Wan'er's figure surfaced in her mind.

And in her heart, the only one who could match the beauty described in this lyric was the Eldest Miss.

As for the Second Miss, Xiao Jinghong... well, they were about equal.

Thinking this, Xiao Die nearly threw the lyrics away, her little heart pounding wildly, feeling she had discovered a huge secret.

"Heavens, the son-in-law and the Eldest Miss... no, no—it's the son-in-law's feelings for the Eldest Miss... that can't be right either, nor is it."

Xiao Die suddenly felt her brain couldn't keep up.

After mulling it over, a look of resolve appeared on her small face. "Xiao Die saw nothing. Xiao Die can't tell anyone anything."

Only this way would the son-in-law not be punished by the Eldest Miss for this "rebellious lyric."

"That's right, Xiao Die knows nothing. Xiao Die doesn't know..."

Muttering to herself, Xiao Die tidied the desk and thoughtfully placed Qing Chun Ze - Graceful Spirit Ode at the very bottom, so no one else would see it.

What she feared even more was the Second Miss seeing it later... Would the son-in-law be beaten to death?

On the other side, Chen Yi had no idea about Xiao Die's inner turmoil.

He was following his earlier plan, concealing his martial arts talent.

To avoid revealing any clues to Wang Lixing, he acted with great care.

Either his stance would falter during the training, or he would hold the posture without any effect.

His most common issue was an irregular breathing rhythm, forcing him to cough every so often and interrupt the spear stance cultivation.

"Son-in-law, your stance today is much worse than yesterday's." Wang Lixing couldn't help but speak up:

"Are you troubled by a restless mind, unable to clear away stray thoughts?"

Chen Yi pretended to ponder, then nodded along, a hint of apology on his face as he said:

"Perhaps I didn't rest well last night. I always feel lacking in strength, my breath is short, and my body is somewhat weak and fatigued."

Wang Lixing looked him up and down, frowning: "Son-in-law, it seems your body has been overly depleted, and yesterday's prolonged stance training without timely replenishment has taken its toll."

Hearing this, Chen Yi blinked. Was he saying he was physically weak?

He hadn't expected Wang Lixing, with those thick brows and big eyes, to be so sly with his words—actually calling him weak.

This was an insult he could endure...

Endure! He had to endure!

Thinking of his plan, Chen Yi gave a dry laugh: "Maybe so. How about we stop here for today? I'll have Xiao Die prepare more food later and see if I feel better tomorrow."

Wang Lixing hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "That's fine."

"But martial arts training requires diligent, unbroken practice—like rowing a boat upstream. One day off is fine, two days can pass, but after three, four, or five days, even a high cultivation base will regress, let alone..."

Though he didn't finish, his meaning was clear—without effort, one cannot succeed in martial arts.

"Once I've rested, I'll definitely make up for it."

Seeing this, Wang Lixing had no choice but to take his leave, heading straight out of Chunhe Garden.

Chen Yi watched Wang Lixing walk away, wiping the thin layer of sweat from his forehead.

Good thing he left early; any later and he would have been exposed.

In truth.

Because he had raised [Martial Dao] to Initiation yesterday, the moment he began practicing the Great Spear Stance Cultivation today, he entered the state directly.

If he hadn't reacted in time and coughed to interrupt, his bones, tendons, and skin would have all radiated heat, generating a thread of Qi to harmonize with his internal organs.

"Having too much talent isn't always a good thing."

Thinking this, Chen Yi opened his panel and directly raised "Martial Dao" to Minor Accomplishment.

Instantly, some profound and mysterious Dao Intents appeared in his mind, like a lake shrouded in mist, waiting for him to peer into its depths.