"Most predecessors achieved little through their studies simply because they lacked the literary talent needed to lay a foundation. Without enough literary talent, it was as though their Qi Sea and dantian had yet to fill. Naturally, the literary palace and literary gall that came afterward, comparable to Foundation Establishment and Core Formation, were also difficult to develop."
"Those cultivating the divine abilities and spells of the Spell Dao, or the Sword Dao of Sword Cultivators, were likewise often prevented from reaching great mastery by the limits of their spiritual roots and comprehension."
"When it comes to cultivation and magic power alone, we Puppet Masters truly cannot compare with them."
"I have no solution to that either. But when it comes to literature and talent, I have the memories of my past life as my foundation, a complete system unto itself. Why would I ever fear a mere Xiucai rank?"
Li Chen knew his own limitations. He understood perfectly well that he possessed no literary gifts or natural talent, but the Confucian Arts of this world, along with the reading and reasoning they entailed, were matters of the mind.
Fine writing was born of nature, chanced upon by a masterful hand. So long as a piece of writing or a principle had never existed in this world, never been explained by its predecessors, and was put forward by him, then it was his creation.
Compared with everyone else, his advantage was simply overwhelming.
No matter how outstanding a genius in this world might be, no matter how overflowing their talent or exceptional their literary grace, they possessed only a single lifetime's gifts. Setting aside compatibility with the Dao Path and the effects of magic power, in an age of Dharma's Decline, they might not surpass the accumulated achievements of a