"What are you thinking, young master? You only have this one piece of calligraphy. Being able to write a hundred or so pieces that still contain Righteous Qi doesn't mean you can write a thousand."
Hearing Su Mu's words, the maid beside him pursed her lips, shook her head, and said this.
Su Mu opened his mouth at her words, but before he could speak, he closed it again.
He felt he could produce quite a few pieces of calligraphy, but then he wondered: if he wrote too many, wouldn't that be too conspicuous?
For the moment, Su Mu could not decide whether producing more calligraphy and demonstrating his great value would be a good thing or a bad thing.
If he demonstrated his value, his little life should undoubtedly be secure.
But then Su Mu worried: would they simply lock him up afterward? And make him write calligraphy every day?
Besides, if he earned too much money, surely someone would be tempted?
These were all things Su Mu worried about, so for a time, he could not decide what he ought to do.
He was still fairly free now. He could come and go from the palace grounds as he pleased and earn a little money, but if he really produced a hundred or so pieces of calligraphy, that might no longer be the case.
But if he did not earn money, how could he send things from here to Earth without Spirit Stones?
Su Mu suddenly found himself troubled.
The painted lady beside him stopped writing. Seeing Su Mu's furrowed brow, she thought her words just now had angered him. Her heart gave a slight jolt, and her dark brows drew together.
Clearly, she was a little nervous.
She had forgotten just now that, no matter what, he was her master. If Su Mu grew angry, he could erase her at any moment.
"Young master, are you angry?"
The painted lady's voice was ethereal, carrying a trace of unease.
Su Mu came back to his senses at her words. Seeing the worry in her beautiful eyes and how pitiful she looked, he immediately waved a hand.
"It has nothing to do with you. I'm just stumped by something."
Su Mu naturally was not angry at what she had said. He merely had a headache over what he ought to do now.
How about trying to bring the eldest princess over to my side?
Su Mu considered it and felt this was the only good way forward.
As long as he struck the right balance, earning enough without making anyone green-eyed, and had the eldest princess protecting him, he should be fine.
And whatever he gave the eldest princess could not be too paltry.
At this thought, Su Mu drew a slightly deep breath, focused, and spoke to the maid beside him.
"I'll recite. You write."
"Yes."
The painted lady became obedient now, reaching out with her slender, jade-like hand to pick up the brush beside her and lightly dip it in ink.
"The Dao that can be spoken is not the constant Dao. The name that can be named is not the constant name."
After some thought, Su Mu decided to try writing out the Tao Te Ching and see what happened. Without risking the child, he could not snare the wolf.
If the Tao Te Ching proved truly extraordinary here, he could stop halfway through and switch to something else.
Su Mu was making a few little calculations of his own.
Yet while Su Mu recited, the painted lady beside him did not move for a long time. Seeing this, he frowned.
"Why aren't you writing?"
"Young master, you haven't recited anything..."
The painted lady looked at Su Mu in utter bewilderment, her face full of confusion.
Su Mu froze at her words, then recited the opening chapter again.
But the painted lady before him still looked at him blankly, as though she had heard nothing at all.
She can't hear it?
Su Mu's heart jolted, and a saying suddenly came to mind: the Dao must not be lightly passed on...
From the looks of it, the Tao Te Ching is many times more precious than I imagined?
"Go back for now."
Su Mu frowned and, after some thought, told the painted lady to return to the painting first.
The maid bowed and withdrew.
After taking a look, Su Mu returned to his room. Once he had shut the door tightly, he took out the calligraphy beside him, anticipation stirring in his heart.
If the Tao Te Ching is so extraordinary, might writing it out earn me Heaven's favor or something?
If I gained Heaven's favor, would that mean I wouldn't die so easily in the future?
This thought instantly filled Su Mu's mind, prompting him to try writing a little and see what would happen.
He took out an ink brush. With the characters he now knew, writing a little of the opening would be no problem.
Soon, a line of characters flowed from his brush onto the white paper on the table.
But the characters had barely appeared when, with a puff, the white paper abruptly burst into flames. The fire damaged nothing else, merely burning the white paper away completely.
Su Mu's mouth twitched. Is this another case of the Dao not being lightly passed on, so I can't even write it down?
But there was no reaction when I recited it just now?
If that's the case, how am I supposed to use this Tao Te Ching?
For a time, Su Mu was at a loss, but he could not see that, in the clear night sky, a once exceedingly dim star had suddenly begun flickering from a barely visible state, then gradually brightened until it shone like a lamp.
"What's going on?"
At the same time, quite a few people within the palace grounds instinctively raised their heads to look into the night sky. When they spotted this suddenly appearing star, their mouths fell open.
"An anomaly?"
At the Stargazing Bureau, an old man in Daoist robes looked at the star that had suddenly appeared in the night sky. After careful calculation, he frowned. This star had appeared so abruptly that he could not divine the slightest trace of its origins!
At that moment, the eldest princess also gazed intently at the star, somewhat shocked.
It was said that the stars in the sky corresponded to people in the mortal world. The emperor was the Purple Tenuity Star in the heavens, and cultivators each had their own stars. The brighter the star, the greater the cultivator's allotted fortune.
And now, all of a sudden, this star's allotted fortune seemed to be soaring without limit.
"State Preceptor, where did this star come from? Does it pose any danger to our Great Liang?"
At that moment, numerous voice transmissions reached the ears of the Daoist at the Stargazing Bureau.
After counting on his fingers and making careful calculations, the Daoist's expression eased somewhat. "For the moment, it has no adverse effect on our Great Liang. In fact, our Great Liang's National Fortune has even grown a little more cohesive because of it?"
The State Preceptor spoke softly.
He knew these people could hear him without his using voice transmission.
"If that is so, we should send people to find this person and honor them as a distinguished guest of our Great Liang!"
"Send people to find this person immediately!"
Very soon, a conclusion was reached on the matter. Since this person's appearance could make Great Liang's National Fortune a little more cohesive, they naturally had to make every effort to win this person over!
At that moment, in Green Hollow a thousand li away, the Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly felt a premonition and took a tortoise shell from her storage bracelet.
The Nine-Tailed Fox tossed it lightly. When she saw the characters that appeared on the shell after it landed, she was startled. Then a smile suddenly blossomed on her lovely face, her beauty beyond compare.
"All my previous divinations showed certain death for me in my Heavenly Tribulation, yet now a thread of hope has appeared? And the turning point is still predicted to fall on my birthday. Interesting!"
The Nine-Tailed Fox waved her jade-like hand, and the tortoise shell before her vanished. As though nothing had happened, all returned to calm.