My Master Knows It All-Chapter 377 - 159: A Discussion of Dao Resulting from a Mix-up_6

Chapter 377: Chapter 159: A Discussion of Dao Resulting from a Mix-up_6

"The question was too difficult."

"I hadn’t revised that particular knowledge point."

"I made a mistake during the exam."

When the results came and they got their papers back, they realized that their so-called underperformance meant not getting a perfect score and the mistake was getting one question wrong.

That was the sort of feeling the twelve Peak Masters had.

Cao Zhen was puzzled. Are you guys finding it interesting to compete with yourselves? There’s still one person here, don’t you know to look at what I wrote?

Eventually, the twelve Cave Masters seemed to realize that ignoring someone completely wasn’t very nice, and one Cave Master said with a smile, "Why don’t we take a look at Peak Master Cao’s masterpiece?"

"Having a look couldn’t hurt."

"I’m curious to see which style of calligraphy Peak Master Cao excels in."

As they spoke, they had already approached Cao Zhen, bowed their heads, and began to look at the Xuan paper laid out on the table in front of him.

The next moment, the twelve men inhaled sharply, their eyes filled with disbelief as they followed the writing in front of them.

"Without Cao Zhen, the path of painting and calligraphy would be as eternal night."

The first character, "Heaven," was written with powerful strokes. Upon seeing this character, they even felt the illusion of looking up at the sky.

The next character was wild and unrestrained—this was Mad grass!

The third character...

Fourteen characters, each written in a completely different style!

What’s more shocking is that every character, each style, was intricately sublime to the extreme. These words, they were simply...

The twelve men, looking at the fourteen characters in front of them, felt a surge of energy within their bodies, and faintly sensed an urge towards enlightenment.

Around them, the crowd watched the immobile twelve Cave Masters, and for a moment, were bewildered. What’s wrong with the Cave Masters? Why aren’t they moving?

Could they be on the verge of enlightenment?

That’s impossible. They are all Cave Masters. How profound would Cao Zhen’s writing have to be to enlighten the Cave Masters?

Moreover, twelve Cave Masters at that!

Yet, the Cave Masters continued to stare motionlessly at the writing. What did this mean?

Suddenly, a dense aura of ink surged towards the sky.

Dark Ink Cave Master!

Everyone turned their gaze to Shen Xing Hai’s master, Cave Master Peng Moba of Dark Ink Cave, ranked as high as sixty-first.

Peng Moba was surrounded by characters formed of black qi, spiraling around him and flying off into the distance, unbroken for thousands of miles...

"Enlightenment!"

"It’s true enlightenment! Cave Master Peng has achieved enlightenment!"

"This... after seeing that calligraphy by Cao Zhen, Cave Master Peng achieved enlightenment. Does that mean..." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"How is that possible!"

"A piece of writing, if it can lead to enlightenment, must exceed the viewer’s own level by far! How could Cao Zhen surpass Cave Master Peng so greatly?"

"Cave Master Peng’s Dark Ink Cave is the highest-ranked among the twelve that specialize in calligraphy, and he is also the one with the highest cultivation base and the deepest attainment in calligraphy. Is he not as good as the other?"

Surrounding disciples from Thousand Caves Door simply couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

"It must be that Cave Master Peng, upon seeing the other’s writing, had a moment of realization. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Cao Zhen’s writing is better than Cave Master Peng’s."

"Right, it must be that Cave Master Peng’s attainment is so high, he just found something he could learn from, and that led to his enlightenment."

"It has to be."

In the midst of the disciples of Thousand Caves Door’s discussions, Cave Master Peng finally emerged from his enlightenment. He turned his head and bowed to Cao Zhen, saying, "Thank you, Peak Master Cao, for your guidance. The grace of sudden enlightenment is beyond repayment."

Cao Zhen was at a loss for words. It wasn’t that they were each saying they had nothing to repay? Did the meaning of having nothing to repay actually mean they wouldn’t repay?

Couldn’t you bring me some medicinal herbs? Couldn’t you give me some treasures?

As Cave Master Peng spoke, he let out a long sigh, "Without Cao Zhen, the way of painting and calligraphy would be as eternal night through the ages. Today, Peng finally understands the meaning of this saying. I fear that only this sentence is worthy of Peak Master Cao’s astonishing and superb talent."

All around, the people who heard this were greatly taken aback.

"What does this mean?"

"Does Cave Master Peng feel that he is inferior to the other party?"

"Cave Master Peng was defeated?"

"This..."

"What about the other Cave Masters?"

"Right, didn’t Cao Zhen challenge several Cave Masters at once? The twelve Cave Masters each excel in different styles of calligraphy. Perhaps, he only surpassed Cave Master Peng in the style he excels in, but not necessarily the others."

"Yes, different styles of calligraphy..."

While everyone was still discussing, the other eleven Cave Masters expressed one after another, "Peak Master Cao has great talent, we are thoroughly convinced."

"Peak Master Cao has won."

"Who would have thought that there’s such a person of amazing and superb talent as Peak Master Cao in the world."

The eleven Cave Masters looked at Cao Zhen, and beyond their amazement, there was deep remorse, profound remorse!

They had just begun to vaguely sense a flash of enlightenment, yet Cao Zhen’s fourteen characters represented fourteen different fonts, and each of them excelled in only one font.

If only they excelled in more than one font, had more to study, they believed they definitely would have achieved enlightenment.

But regrettably, for each font, there was just one character, and they fell just a little short of enlightenment.

Enlightenment is but an instant of realization.

Now, having failed to achieve enlightenment at the first glimpse of these characters, no matter how much they studied them after returning, they feared they would be unable to attain enlightenment.

Moreover, not being able to become enlightened could not be blamed on anyone else but themselves.

Yet, faced with the same single character, Cave Master Peng had achieved enlightenment.

Shen Xing Hai, listening to his master’s thanks and the other eleven Cave Masters’ praise, was greatly puzzled. What kind of writing could subdue these twelve Cave Masters?

At this moment, he couldn’t care less about his identity as a disciple. Driven by curiosity, his figure flashed, and he appeared directly in front of the desk, looking down at the rice paper filled with black characters. Upon seeing this, his entire being felt as if heaven and earth were spinning.

This...

How is this possible? Can this be the work of a human?

Fourteen characters, fourteen different fonts, each font so exquisitely mastered, each at such a profound level...

How did Peak Master Cao accomplish this!

He himself was reputed to be the disciple with the highest natural talent for the Calligraphy Dao in Thousand Caves Door over a thousand years.

The last person to be given such an evaluation was his own master, yet his master had also once lamented that his (Shen Xing Hai’s) talent actually surpassed his own.

His master had even said that his achievements would definitely surpass his, and had declared that among his contemporaries, there were hardly any disciples who could exceed him in the Calligraphy Dao.

Yet today, he had encountered such a person.

This Peak Master Cao, though a Peak Master, was about the same age as himself!

How could he have become so skilled in so many styles of calligraphy at such a young age!

He wasn’t even the master of Calligraphy Mountain, but of some Four Treasures Peak, ranked the Hundred Peaks’ hundredth Peak Master!