In a grand yet simple hall, a middle-aged man with a tall stature and immense pressure held two jade marbles in front of his eyes, looking through them…
He saw the scene of Yunyin leaving the pavilion and instead walking to the martial arts practice ground. Initially a frown had formed at the casualness of this official, as if disregarding norms, completely contrasting his appearance in court.
Yet as he observed him, he sensed the air of a respected scholar, one of those scholars that were extremely casual, representing their state of mind. Only such a state of mind, unbound by rules, can truly achieve great success in scholarly achievements. Well, at least some of the scholars – other kinds require a mind even more strict than officials.
Observing the interaction between Yunyin and Yueling, a smile formed on his face. How could a father not be proud seeing his daughter praised? Even more so because it was a fellow official.
Ranks didn't matter, what mattered was that all officials were internally conceited and externally arrogant towards martial artists, regarding them as brutes and barbarians who only knew how to use fists and not speak.
So, whenever other officials heard of his daughter, even if they appeared compliant and kind outwards, with his own Mental Realm, how could he not sense their dislike?
Those fellow assistant ministers of his stage didn't care about these matters, they only lamented that he had a daughter who would never marry into the house of another official, as none of these official families could accept a daughter who practiced martial arts.
The combined effect of various situations led to him always distrusting outsiders when it came to his daughter –
If it wasn't for the fact that he knew how rotten the Jianghu was, he'd rather his daughter leave the capital and enter the Jianghu. Or maybe he was just unwilling to send her to a sect, where marriage was often a question of frivolity.
Alas... he had thought about it for a long time and already decided that if his daughter didn't find any official she liked by the time she reached the sixth stage, he would allow her to roam the world on her own.
Whenever it came to his daughter, his mind couldn't help but lose focus. Returning back to the matter, he saw finally how the young official he had invited according to their Ministry of Revenue's customs seemed to be quite…
Well, he really couldn't describe it in one word. Compared to the stiff-faced official in court, whose words were full of "respecting the rules", this face… was too different.
He actually asked his attendant who came with him for a piece of paper, his brush, and ink!
Now he was actually drawing right in front of his daughter's practice!
With a swing, the assistant minister stood up, putting away the two marbles, which were actually a product combining the attendant profession and a special crafter's work.
…
Yunyin, who had been observed through the eyes of the steward, was engrossed in his own doings.
Observing the water dragon's dance and attacks, he truly felt a sense of artistic desire.
After asking Heiluan for paper, ink, and brush, he walked to a table on the side of the field, observing Miss Ning while holding his brush, Heiluan already grinding the ink for him.
"Use more water," he told him as he focused intently on the dancing dragon in front of him.
As he was observing, he saw Miss Ying taking a different position – legs steadfast on the ground, one holding position up front, the other stretching to the back. Holding her whip, she pulled it from behind to reach up to the sky!
The dragon's head, at the tip of the whip, enlarged and became ferocious, as if about to roar into the sky – at the same time, her unoccupied hand stretched to the side, forming a water dragon claw –
Whip and hand, position and determination –
At this moment, this great attack, a deadly attack that would take the life of someone, became a scene of extreme beauty for Yunyin –
His hand rashly moved the brush, ink fell on the paper as strong strikes brushed across its surface.
Strike after strike, the watery ink formed the shape of a dragon. Yueling's position blended seamlessly into the dragon, yet one claw was more prominent than the other three.
A roaring water dragon from head to tail took shape, glittering light forming on it as Yunyin completed his piece of art. Only the final step remained, the step that raised him from the stage of a mortal artist to a scholar learned in painting.
"ROAAAAAAR"
The dragon image suddenly came to life – or rather, the dragon directly rose from the paper into the sky, roaring at the white clouds!
One of its claws glittered in the shadows, about to strike with its supreme might –
"Come back!" Yunyin said, calling it while raising the paper.
His brush rose and fell, pulling the dragon back into the painting with a huge stroke.
The dragon's power ceased, it fell into the painting, yet any onlooker saw the exact image once more. A dragon rising from the painting into the sky, roaring and about to strike.
"A great piece of art," Yunyin, exhausted, suddenly heard a surprised voice.
Turning his head, he saw the face of the official he had come for.
He instantly stood up and cupped his hands, "Official Jie greets Assistant Minister Ying!"
"Wearing casual garments and walking with a scholar's gait, I think I should call Official Jie rather 'Scholar Jie'!" the assistant minister said, laughing aloud as he looked at Yunyin.
"That's not a problem," Yunyin nodded, not minding.
"Huh?" the assistant minister was stumped when he heard it, "You don't mind?" he asked with some confusion.
"Official or scholar, martial artist or merchant… they're all just titles under the premise of having reached a certain stage. The most fitting would be 'Ninth Rank Professional', but that feels a bit weird, so any title I take is really of no importance.
Anyways, these titles, they have nothing to do with my mannerism, behaviour, achievements, ability, ambitions, conflicts…" Yunyin rattled on with the air of a philosopher.
Assistant Minister Ying, hearing this, felt a headache incoming.
In the world, there were Religions and Schools of Thought. Sometimes interchangeable, sometimes independent. But the core of these two is that these people always liked to ramble about all kinds of things!
Scholars… could be described as the profession closest to these two, and they also tend to have various ideals… truly annoying!