Chapter 839: Transmigrating to the Cultivation World to Be a Plagiarist of Literature

"How about it, Brother Lu? If you cannot write one, there is no need to force yourself. Simply admit it," Yang Changbin sneered as he watched the Immortal Fairy daze off, thoroughly convinced that Lu Yang was incapable of composing a poem.

Meng Jingzhou wished to compose a poem, but the hard truth was that he simply lacked the talent, capable of nothing more than crude doggerel.

Meng Jingyu gazed anxiously at the Immortal Fairy, tugging at her sleeve in deep worry, having clearly seen that Zhong Yi and Yang Changbin were deliberately targeting her Brother Lu.

Luo Wushuang frowned, feeling that Yang Changbin had crossed a line.

"Write it I shall," the Immortal Fairy declared, retrieving the four treasures of the study from her identity jade plaque. She ground the ink and set to writing, swiftly completing a lyric poem.

"So fast?" Yang Changbin's brow furrowed. It was as if she had prepared it long ago, her brush moving without a single shred of hesitation.

An unwarranted sense of dread welled up within him; could Lu Yang truly be a master of the Confucian Dao?

A maidservant took the parchment and presented it to Ye Mengyin behind the green gauze curtain.

Ye Mengyin had been observing the commotion. Hearing Yang Changbin demand a poem, she had intended to defuse the situation, never expecting Lu Yang to actually compose a lyric on the spot.

As her eyes swept over those few short lines, a look of astonishment washed over her face, and her hands trembled uncontrollably with excitement. Could this... could this truly be composed on the fly by Fellow Daoist Lu?

She had fully prepared herself for the eventuality that his poetry might be lackluster, ready to write and recite a piece on his behalf.

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that Fellow Daoist Lu possessed such towering literary genius.

"Miss?" the maidservant whispered, noticing her lady's unusual state.

Awakening as if from a dream, Ye Mengyin regained her composure, steadied her breath, and prepared to recite the poem.

"Why has Fellow Daoist Ye not read the poem yet?" Zhong Yi raised an eyebrow, a flicker of curiosity rippling through the crowd at this unprecedented delay.

Right then, Ye Mengyin's crisp, melodic voice drifted from behind the green gauze: "The Jade Lantern Festival Lanterns—To the Tune of Qing Yu An..."

The crowd fell dead silent, eager to hear what Lu Yang had written, whether it was mere doggerel or a masterpiece.

"The east wind tonight blows open a thousand flowering trees, and showers down stars like rain. Noble steeds and carved carriages leave a fragrant trail. The music of phoenix flutes echoes, jade chalices turn with light, and all night long, fish and dragons dance."

An absolute, deathly silence ensued.

Every soul present was instantly drawn into the scenery painted by the lyric, utterly captivated. "All night long, fish and dragons dance... Just a few short lines in the first stanza, yet the scene of the Lantern Festival is brought to such vivid life."

Many poems had been written about the festival, but none in hundreds of years could draw listeners so completely into a vision with so few words.

Several glances stole toward Yang Changbin; regardless of how the second stanza fared, this exquisite imagery alone left Yang Changbin’s overly ornate verse far behind in the dust.

Yang Changbin’s face turned ashen; he had never expected the poem he so painstakingly prepared to be eclipsed by Lu Yang's impromptu creation.

He let out a cold snort. What if the first stanza was brilliant? If the second stanza proved mundane, the entire piece would be ruined.

Meng Jingzhou, however, was not particularly surprised. After all, she was an all-powerful ancient immortal; composing a few exceptional poems was a trivial matter.

Meng Jingyu stared at the Immortal Fairy with pure adoration, finding her look more dashing by the second.

Was Brother Lu not only a prodigy in cultivation and combat, but also a master of letters and verse?

From behind the green veil, Ye Mengyin softly read the concluding stanza.

"With snow-willow ornaments and golden threads in their hair, they pass by with laughter and a faint fragrance. A hundred, a thousand times I search for her in the crowd. Turning my head all of a sudden, there she stands... where the lantern light is dim."

As she reached the end, Ye Mengyin stared dotingly at the final line. A hurried glance earlier had kept her from grasping its profound depth, but reciting it aloud allowed her to perceive Lu Yang's underlying sentiment.

"There she stands where the lantern light is dim... was this line written for me?"

Not a single sound broke the silence.

Upon hearing the final lines, someone who had been about to sip tea froze mid-motion, their cup hovering fruitlessly in front of their mouth.

Many more whipped their heads toward the Immortal Fairy in utter disbelief.

If the first stanza was a rare and beautiful description of scenery, the second stanza elevated the entire piece to an entirely different realm.

A masterpiece for the ages!

With this single lyric, all other poems concerning the Lantern Festival were rendered inferior, completely beyond comparison.

Yang Changbin had intended to nitpick and humiliate Lu Yang even if the second stanza was good, but as the final words echoed, his mouth opened and closed soundlessly, and he could only shut it in bitter defeat.

He was not even qualified to critique such a work.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

The Immortal Fairy turned to look at Meng Jingyu beside her. Meeting her gaze, she found herself utterly baffled by the crowd's immense reaction.

Meng Jingyu was still deeply immersed in the romance of the lines, and when her eyes met the Immortal Fairy's, her heart thudded wildly against her ribs.

To use poetry to express love... could it be that the one Brother Lu had been searching for all along was her?

"Splendid, truly splendid! Who would have thought Brother Lu had indeed inherited the true mantle of the Daoist of No-Words, capable of producing a masterpiece that will endure through the ages!" Zhong Yi had schemed to humiliate Lu Yang, never imagining the man was a hidden dragon. Lu Yang had always presented himself as a cultivation genius, never once revealing his status as a Confucian scholar.

Zhong Yi considered himself a man of deep calculation, but he knew that if he possessed such talent, he could never hide it; he would have used it to win fame long ago.

Furthermore, despite his repeated provocations just moments ago, Lu Yang had never risen to the bait.

A trace of fear crept into the look Zhong Yi cast toward Lu Yang; to cross a man whose mind was as deep as an abyss would surely invite ruin.

"And you claim to be unskilled in poetry?" Luo Wushuang recalled Lu Yang's earlier modesty and looked at him with an amused smile. If this counted as unskilled, then no one under heaven would ever dare call themselves a poet.

"I only just learned it," the Immortal Fairy chuckled, scratching the back of her head.

She recognized the look on their faces; it was the exact same expression people wore whenever she took Xiao Ling and Lianyi out to play the fool and catch opponents off guard.

She hadn't expected the lyric the Second Chief had helped her write to have such an effect.

"Little Yang, you are amazing!" Within the mental space, the Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang with sheer excitement, a feeling she hadn't enjoyed in a long time.

"Wait, Little Yang, what is that look on your face?"

Lu Yang’s expression was incredibly bizarre, though he had fully anticipated the crowd's reaction.

He let out a sigh. "It's nothing. I just didn't expect that my identity could be used in this manner."

Lu Yang truly had not foreseen the day he would play the plagiarizing scholar to show off, even if it was the Immortal Fairy doing it in his stead.

The Immortal Fairy did not quite catch his meaning.

"Your identity?"

She recalled Lu Yang often mentioning terms like a golden finger, a grandfather or grandmother in a ring.

When she had asked what that meant, Lu Yang explained it referred to an entity dwelling in one's mental space, using their vast knowledge to help the host show off.

With that thought, realization dawned upon the Immortal Fairy. "Oh, I see! Following your logic, Little Yang, your current identity must be the tag-along brat!"

Lu Yang was left speechless.

I help you show off, Fairy, and this is how you repay me?