Chapter 9: 009: Quenching Thirst by Visualizing Plums

The air was awkwardly silent for three breaths.

Qi Shan replied helplessly, "Martial Spirits condense Qi within the body; Literary Hearts control the world without."

Although Shen Tang desperately wanted to say she understood, just to avoid being mistaken for someone with a low IQ, she still had to say—

"I... don't quite understand. Could Mr. Qi explain it in more detail?"

Qi Shan didn't expect Shen Tang to understand on the first try.

This young master was perhaps truly a savage from some godforsaken corner; she couldn't grasp his refined and concise explanations.

Thus, Qi Shan switched to more common parlance.

"The Martial Spirit has 'martial' as its core. The character for 'martial' (武) is composed of 'dagger-axe' (戈) and 'stop' (止), signifying conquest and a show of force. To stop the dagger-axe is the essence of martial—using war to end war. Therefore, most Word Spirits act upon the self, tempering the body to make it incomparably strong, capable of facing a thousand alone. Most are lone wolves."

Shen Tang nodded thoughtfully.

"Most Word Spirits act upon the self. Does that mean a small portion don't?"

"Correct. Take the Word Spirit 'One Call, A Hundred Respond' as an example—if used by a feudal lord or a strategist, it can rally a hundred soldiers. But if used by a commander, it can compel a hundred soldiers to don armor and mount their horses, condensing their momentum into a single, sharp, elite blade. If the morale of the troops is unified, the elite force becomes even stronger, unmatched."

Qi Shan, having gained experience, anticipated Shen Tang's follow-up and answered before she could ask.

"Some Word Spirits are common to both Literary Hearts and Martial Spirits; there is no need to be curious about that."

The same Word Spirit has different effects in different hands, depending on individual understanding and the level of cultivation.

Shen Tang: "..."

Qi Shan continued, "Literary Hearts are different from Martial Spirits. The essence of a Literary Heart lies in 'strategy' and 'calculation.' Therefore, Word Spirits tend to lean toward control and layout, using them to maintain command over complex, treacherous, and ever-changing situations. There are twenty ranks of Martial Spirits; the higher the rank, the stronger the user. Thus, the world believes the same of Literary Hearts—that the higher the grade, the stronger the user. But in my view, this is a very wrong perception. With a Literary Heart, the contest is here."

He pointed to his own head.

If your brain isn't sharp enough, even if you possess a second-grade high-tier Literary Heart, don't easily provoke a ninth-grade low-tier Literary Heart whose background you don't know.

Shen Tang pondered for a while.

She felt like she understood, yet she also felt like she didn't.

"So, a Martial Spirit is someone personally getting into a brawl, and if they're stronger, they form a gang and take their brothers to brawl. But a Literary Heart doesn't easily enter the fray; instead, they act as the mastermind behind the scenes, hiring other thugs to fight for them? The former shows off muscles, the latter shows off brains?"

One is a damage dealer, the other is a support?

Qi Shan was silent for a few breaths after hearing this.

Although he didn't understand what "showing off" meant, he could guess the general meaning from the context.

Expressionless, he said, "You could understand it that way."

Shen Tang thought about it carefully and asked, "...But isn't that very passive?"

"Passive?"

"No matter how good your brain is, it can't withstand a crowd of enemies with fists."

The Literary Heart is a support and command role, and most of its skills are as such; output mostly relies on the Martial Spirit.

Once isolated and captured, wouldn't one just be waiting to have their neck cut?

"As an adult, can't one grasp both the Literary Heart and the Martial Spirit? Must one choose only one to cultivate?"

She wanted both the fish and the bear's paw!

Qi Shan slightly understood her line of thinking.

"Since records began, it's not that there haven't been examples of people condensing both a Literary Heart and a Martial Spirit, but—"

"But what?"

Qi Shan poked at the campfire and said faintly, "They either died young, were simple-minded, or their abilities were mediocre, no different from an ordinary person."

Shen Tang: "..."

It seemed the "dual cultivation" cheat code wasn't meant for her.

She hugged the scroll, feeling dizzy.

She recognized every character on it, and she could memorize the notes Qi Shan had written at a glance, but she was completely confused about how to cultivate or use them. When she asked the "newbie NPC," his explanation was also profound and mysterious—purely a subjective, consciousness-based flow.

As expected, one shouldn't expect too much from a freebie.

Time passed, and her stomach began to beat its drums again.

Shen Tang rubbed her belly, looking at the "Gazing at Plums to Quench Thirst" on the scroll, the image of green plums appearing in her mind.

"Didn't you say a Literary Heart can 'create something from nothing'... It wouldn't be too much to ask for a few green plums with your 'Gazing at Plums to Quench Thirst,' would it?"

If there were enough green plums, she could even preserve some to eat later.

Qi Shan had excellent hearing and poured a bucket of cold water on her.

"Of course it is too much. Although 'Word Spirits' are miraculous, they cannot provide food. If they could—there wouldn't be so many people starving to death in this world." Thinking of something, Qi Shan sighed softly at the campfire. "Months ago, while traveling, I saw with my own eyes the people of an entire city..."

He paused there, voluntarily ending the topic.

He didn't need to say it explicitly; Shen Tang could imagine the rest.

It was nothing more than the tragic scene of corpses littering the ground.

She said, "Why can't they? 'Word Spirits' can manifest sharp blades, warhorses, and armor; they can allow a mere commoner to fight against a thousand troops. Why can't they manifest a small green plum? It's all creating something from nothing; why the discrimination? Even if they really can't, they could at least help with farming, right?"

Using Literary Hearts and Martial Spirits to work the fields—even if the efficiency wasn't as good as mechanization, it would still be much better than ordinary people facing the yellow earth and backing the sky.

If she could manifest food—

She felt she could sell plums to earn some travel money.

Transmigrated to another world, penniless and a fugitive, it was truly too hard for an ordinary shut-in artist like her.

If this path was also blocked, she would have to fall back on her old profession of drawing for others. She wondered if anyone would be willing to commission her.

Qi Shan did not give a direct answer.

He only said, "I cannot answer your previous question, but as for the last one—you will understand once you have more experience in the future."

In this turbid and chaotic world, who would be willing to beat swords into plowshares?

They would surely be attacked by all.

The young master's idea wasn't something no one had tried before; there were ambitious people who traveled everywhere to lobby, assisting feudal lords and advocating for reform, but they all failed for various reasons and met tragic ends.

Thinking of these unpleasant matters, he irritably closed his eyes for a nap, occasionally hearing Shen Tang muttering "Gazing at Plums to Quench Thirst."

About half a quarter of an hour later, she was still struggling with "Gazing at Plums to Quench Thirst."

Qi Shan didn't even open his eyes: "Learning Word Spirits requires fate. There are thousands of Word Spirits in the world; if one doesn't work, don't waste time going down a dead end. Just move on to another. Of course, you can't learn everything either; greed leads to poor digestion. Quality is better than quantity."

"Oh, I understand."

Following that was a crisp *crunch* and the sound of chewing.

Qi Shan: "???"

The remaining rations and water skin were all with him; where did Young Master Shen get something to eat?

He could faintly smell the fragrance of green plums.

Qi Shan: "!!!"

He snapped his eyes open and looked at Shen Tang.

The latter was sitting cross-legged on the ground, with a dozen round, emerald-green plums piled on her lap. Each one looked fresh, tender, and crisp. Shen Tang was chewing while frowning deeply from the sourness, her face scrunched into a ball, yet because she was so hungry, she had no choice but to swallow.

"You... where did you get these green plums?"

Qi Shan widened his eyes, his tone strained, his throat bobbing as he swallowed several times before regaining the ability to speak.

Shen Tang blinked, forcing back the tears brought on by the sourness.

"Green plums? Oh, I kept trying the 'Gazing at Plums to Quench Thirst' Word Spirit, and I tried very hard to activate my Literary Heart, but it never had the effect you noted. After trying a few more times, a plum just appeared out of thin air... Look, it's like this—"

"Gazing at Plums to Quench Thirst!"

After saying this, Shen Tang demonstrated it once more.

As the Word Spirit fell, a green plum appeared out of thin air in her palm under Qi Shan's gaze.