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墨書 Inktalez
If you see this line, it probably means Jinjiang has drawn again. Entering the main hall, Spirit Sword Destiny glanced around. In the not-so-grand hall, there were more than twenty people sitting or standing on both sides. This should be the total number of people remaining in the sect at this moment.
The Xiaoyao Sect has a great reputation in the outside world, largely due to a highly influential Ancestor Master, who also passed down one of the top cultivation methods, Xiaoyao You. However, there aren't many disciples in the sect; no one is organizing any trials to recruit disciples, and the elders are not particularly enthusiastic about picking up apprentices from outside. Taking in disciples relies entirely on chance, and teaching them is done rather casually.
In other words, this is a sect where everyone from top to bottom is living leisurely, with a calm approach to cultivation. Although they lack ambitions for dominance, in Spirit Sword Destiny's view, they are definitely a force of Righteous Path that cannot be ignored.
Han Yue led them to the front of the hall to pay respects to the sect leader seated at the main seat.
The sect leader, Ye Zhiqiu, had long white beard and eyebrows, giving him an immortal appearance; he looked to be at least several hundred years old.
"I have heard about your situation from Qing Yao. Two young ones, let me ask you again: do you truly wish to learn the way? This path is unlike others; it is fraught with difficulties and may yield no results throughout your life. You might even face calamities and fall midway. Are you really determined to walk this path?"
His tone was gentle yet carried an implicit authority.
Xu Xiaofei and Spirit Sword Destiny exchanged glances and replied in unison, "Yes, we have made up our minds."
"Good! I hope that you will never regret today's choice on your future path of cultivation." Ye Zhiqiu did not linger on unnecessary words; after they bowed three times, it was considered as the rite of entry.
He then immediately asked them a second question: "What do you wish to learn?"
They had considered this question last night. Without hesitation, Xu Xiaofei said, "I want to learn swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship?" Ye Zhiqiu stroked his abundant white beard and glanced at the elders standing on either side with a smile, saying cheerfully, "It seems this disciple isn't for you; he will belong to me. Xu Xiaofei, from now on you are my disciple under Ye Zhiqiu."
"Yes, disciple pays respects to Master."
"Good child. I often enter closed-door meditation, so let Han Shixiong teach you on my behalf." Ye Zhiqiu said, "Although Han Yue is young, he has already gained my true teachings. With his guidance, you won't go astray."
Han Yue stepped forward and said loudly, "Disciple will not disappoint Master’s trust and will teach Xu Shidi with all my heart and effort."
"And you?" he asked Spirit Sword Destiny.
"I want to learn Alchemy."
"Alchemy?" Ye Zhiqiu, who had lived for hundreds of years and seen it all, was momentarily taken aback.
A strange silence fell over the hall as everyone turned to look at a Daoist with his hands behind his back and a cold expression. This Daoist exuded an ethereal aura, and despite the gazes directed at him, he remained as still as water, ignoring them completely.
"Ahem," Ye Zhiqiu cleared his throat, "Yang Zhen, wake up. A disciple wants to learn Alchemy from you."
Only then did Yang Zhen glance at the hall: "Which one?"
Upon seeing Spirit Sword Destiny, he nodded slightly. "If you want to learn Alchemy, go ahead. In the future, I can only teach you three parts; the other seven depend on yourself."
"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I understand," Spirit Sword Destiny replied.
"Good. You two children will study the basics of Taoist School with Qi in the morning. Let her teach you the introductory techniques from Xiaoyao You as well. In the afternoon, you will practice with your respective masters," Ye Zhiqiu said. "Since you've chosen your path, walk it well."
Spirit Sword Destiny thought this was quite similar to university—public classes in the morning and specialized courses in the afternoon, each with their own mentor.
Ye Zhiqiu made arrangements with a single sentence and then introduced Spirit Sword Destiny and Xu Xiaofei to everyone in the hall.
The elegantly dressed woman in palace attire was Spirit Fox Master Qing Yao, and beside her was a delicate girl who seemed to be Four-Tailed Fox Zhuan Yu.
Xu Xiaofei quietly asked Spirit Sword Destiny, "Is that fur cloak behind her actually her tail?"
Spirit Sword Destiny smiled but hadn't answered when Zhuan Yu shot him a glare from afar. "You're the one who talks too much. This is made from the fur of a fox that sweet-talked Ancestor! Unfortunately, human skin isn't pretty; there's no use in peeling it off."
Xu Xiaofei wasn't fooled this time and laughed, "Since it's useless, I'd rather keep my skin intact."
Qing Yao chuckled as well. "Your friend is quite amusing. Whether or not to peel skin depends on your performance in the future."
The atmosphere in the hall instantly became much more relaxed.
After the event, following Qi Yan out of the main hall, Xu Xiaofei couldn't help but say, "Brother Lin, your master doesn't seem very enthusiastic."
"As long as I can learn something, it doesn't matter if he's not enthusiastic," Spirit Sword Destiny replied.
Qi Yan glanced at him, her eyes seemingly filled with sympathy. "It's not just a lack of enthusiasm... If you can't keep up, don't force yourself. It's still early enough to switch to another path."
Her words made Xu Xiaofei even more worried, while Spirit Sword Destiny remained calm. "I believe he won't make things difficult for me. Even if he teaches less, I can study more on my own."
Qi Yan led them to the academy on Yuxiu Peak and first visited the Scripture Tower.
Currently, they could freely borrow books from the first floor of the Scripture Tower. To access the upper floors, they needed to advance in their cultivation.
After receiving their "textbooks," they began studying the basics of the Taoist School in the academy. The morning quickly passed, and after lunch, Han Yue dutifully came to take Xu Xiaofei away.
Although Yang Zhen appeared aloof, he hadn't forgotten about his newly accepted disciple. After Spirit Sword Destiny listened to Qi Yan lecture for a while longer, he saw a hastily folded paper crane wobbling as it flew over. Just as it reached him, it fell to the ground as if afraid to exert any more effort. Qi Yan picked it up and unfolded the paper crane, revealing circles and dots inside—it was a map from the academy to the Alchemy Room located on Baopu Peak, causing her mouth to twitch slightly.
"I'll take you to the Alchemy Room," she said.
"Thank you, but there's no need to trouble Senior Sister," Spirit Sword Destiny replied as he took the map. "Since my master wants me to go on my own, I'll just ride the crane myself."
He walked out of the academy and patted the crane that had been waiting outside in a daze. "Let's go."
The map was drawn simply but was clear enough. Spirit Sword Destiny didn't take any detours and soon found Baopu Peak. Looking down from above, he saw that the Alchemy Room occupied a vast area.
He descended on the crane and landed in front of the Alchemy Room.
"You've arrived?" Yang Zhen's voice sounded in his ears.
"Yes, disciple has arrived."
"Come in."
Spirit Sword Destiny walked in, and Yang Zhen was already waiting inside. He led Spirit Sword Destiny into a room filled with cabinets lining the walls, and the floor was cluttered with many bottles and jars.
"This is the Herb Room. Aside from a few rare materials, everything else is stored here," Yang Zhen said, then asked Spirit Sword Destiny, "How many of the materials in these cabinets do you recognize?"
Each drawer was engraved with labels indicating the contents inside.
Spirit Sword Destiny took a quick glance and replied, "I only recognize a few common herbs, like Ginseng and Angelica. I don't know any of the celestial materials."
Yang Zhen nodded, "It's good that you can recognize some."
He somehow produced an extremely heavy book and tossed it to Spirit Sword Destiny: "If you want to learn Alchemy, knowing the herbs is fundamental. I'll give you five hours to memorize all the names, properties, and effects of the herbs recorded in this book. You need to compare them with the actual items stored here."
It was indeed a hefty book! Holding it felt burdensome; the cover had already come off, revealing pages filled with illustrations and text. It seemed to be something like a Herb Catalog.
"Understood," Spirit Sword Destiny said without blinking.
If it were someone else, being asked to memorize this book in five hours might make them anxious enough to lose their appetite. Fortunately for Spirit Sword Destiny, he recognized at least eighty percent of the contents in this catalog.
Yang Zhen was also pleased with his performance: "You can study here; just leave through the side door at night." He pointed to a closed side door, "Remember, do not leave this room on your own. I've set up a Defensive Barrier here; if you hear any noise, there's no need to panic."
"I understand, Master."
After giving his instructions, Yang Zhen left, and Spirit Sword Destiny looked around.
He could indeed sense the Defensive Barrier that Yang Zhen mentioned. It seemed that Yang Zhen did not take his disciple lightly; the barrier was meticulously arranged, practically perfect, with several talismans affixed at door seams and wall corners for reinforcement.
As for why such a powerful Defensive Barrier was necessary...
Spirit Sword Destiny opened the book and began memorizing the herbs. As he studied, he took out a bit of material from the cabinets or bottles to look at and smell.
Time passed unnoticed as Spirit Sword Destiny memorized page after page.
“Boom”
Suddenly, a loud noise echoed, and the ground shook beneath him. It felt as if the mountain was about to collapse.
The barrier enveloping the house suddenly appeared, its golden light flickering continuously. After a while, it calmed down and vanished again.
Spirit Sword Destiny held the book and couldn't help but smile wryly.
His spiritual perception, stronger than most cultivators, had already detected that not far away in the Dan Furnace Room, a Stove had exploded into fireworks, and the materials inside the Furnace had turned into a pot of ash. Yang Zhen had flashed out of the Dan Furnace Room as soon as he sensed something was off with the Stove, his expression still as cold as ever, brushing off a bit of ash from his Snow White Robe.
Pointing with his hand, he began to clean up the chaotic ruins.
Although there were disciples on every peak of the Xiaoyao Sect, none practiced Alchemy, and this was the reason why.
Spirit Sword Destiny knew that Yang Zhen was undoubtedly one of the best alchemists around; however, he did not follow conventional paths. He looked down on refining formulas that had been verified by predecessors countless times and always sought to innovate and improve upon them.
With innovation, there are bound to be failures. Fortunately, failures weren't too frequent—perhaps one explosion every two or three attempts.
Spirit Sword Destiny recalled Qi Yan's secretive advice: “If you need any elixirs, you can go down the mountain to buy them; it's best not to use the ones your master gave you!”
Indeed, the elixirs refined by Yang Zhen were highly effective, but they often came with peculiar side effects—like taking an internal injury medicine that inexplicably caused scales to grow all over one's body; or using a Wind Spirit Pill that temporarily increased escape speed, which was great for fleeing but rendered one unable to speak normally for half a month afterward, only able to make crow-like “cawing” sounds.
Spirit Sword Destiny steadied himself and picked up the book again.
The power of that recent explosion wasn’t too strong. The barrier only sustained minor damage. However, without the barrier, he would be in quite a predicament right now with no spiritual energy at all.
Although he had backup plans, still—
He was the second major boss in this game; surely he wouldn't be blown up here?
…It shouldn’t happen.
"Let's go," Spirit Sword Destiny said. "She told you the location of the sword's burial site, so you lead the way."
"What?"
Shaoyuan jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Li Ji only told me about one person and warned me not to let anyone else know. You're actually going to follow me?"
Spirit Sword Destiny: "..."
When did this guy ever not annoy him? Did he really care about a broken sword?
"Very well, very good," Spirit Sword Destiny said lightly. "Then you can dig it up yourself. It's getting late, so I'm going back to rest."
He turned to leave.
"Wait, wait," Shaoyuan thought for a moment and quickly reached out to grab him. "You should come with me."
In the courtyard where they were, there was a rockery and a pond, with a weeping willow by the pond.
Shaoyuan walked under the weeping willow, took three steps east, and stopped. "Right here, she told me to dig this up."
"So close?" Spirit Sword Destiny was a bit surprised.
"Yeah, that's how she is," Shaoyuan replied.
He glanced at the ground beneath him, then looked at Spirit Sword Destiny, who silently stared back at him.
After a moment of eye contact, Spirit Sword Destiny said, "...Yes, Master, I will dig here right away."
He removed a piece of rubble from the rockery and broke a branch to make a simple digging tool, then began to shovel dirt one scoop at a time.
Although he had never dug a hole in his life, his movements were still concise and effective. In no time, a deep pit appeared on the ground.
With another scoop, Spirit Sword Destiny suddenly sensed something unusual.
In the dark pit, it was as if someone had struck a match; a flash of fire suddenly illuminated their eyes.
A shiny, smooth pebble lay quietly at the bottom of the pit.
"Isn't it supposed to be a sword? How did it turn into a stone?" Shaoyuan asked curiously.
He also jumped into the pit and scooped it up, examining it closely in his hand.
It turned out to be an Amber, which contained a beetle preserved inside; even the fine patterns on its wings were clearly visible.
"Hey? What is this!" Shaoyuan exclaimed.
As he shouted, the surface of the Amber shattered, and the beetle fell out—moving its antennae and flapping its wings, it was surprisingly still alive.
Then, this pale golden beetle flew out of the deep pit without looking back, heading in a certain direction.
"This is the Shadow Insect's larva; it will lead us to the Mother Gu. Hurry and follow!" Spirit Sword Destiny said.
He immediately followed, and Shaoyuan hurriedly caught up.
They saw that the larva flew over most of the villa before stopping in mid-air above Yingyue Lake. After hesitating for a moment, it dove straight into the water.
Spirit Sword Destiny silently recited an Avoid Water Spell and followed it into the water.
Before long, he surfaced holding a narrow sword box.
The things hidden by the Shadow Insect were invisible even when right under your nose; no spells could detect them either. Li Ji had put considerable thought into hiding the Taikang Sword, so it was no wonder that those two couldn't find it no matter what.
The sword in the box had been taken out by Shaoyuan.
The blade shimmered with a brilliant green light, filled with spiritual energy, truly a fine sword.
"We're going to..." Shaoyuan said.
At that moment, arrows flew towards him. By the time he reached the word "go," he had already become a sieve.
Spirit Sword Destiny had already raised a Shield Wall Barrier before those arrows got close, blocking them all outside.
"Your master is dead, and you are now free. This matter has nothing to do with you. Hand over the sword to me, and I will let you go!" an old voice said.
Spirit Sword Destiny thought that if Shaoyuan were truly his master, he might consider this proposal.
However, that was not the case.
"Father, just kill him too; how can we let him go?" another younger voice said. "He has killed many of our people and even threatened to throw us into the lake to feed the fish. Now that his master has become Fish Feed, let him accompany his master!"
Spirit Sword Destiny turned to look back.
Indeed, it was the father and son who had possessed the Original Master and occupied Fan Family Villa.
They had clearly followed him all the way here.
Letting Shaoyuan see Li Ji was also part of their plan. Since Li Ji refused to reveal the whereabouts of the Taikang Sword to them, she would have to show up in front of her lover, right? This Taikang Sword was originally an heirloom of the Fan Family; after Li Ji became an Earthbound Spirit, it would be useless for her to keep it. She would surely return it to Fan Shaoyuan.
This was a perfect opportunity to find the Taikang Sword and then kill and seize treasures...
Unfortunately, although they had calculated well, they had miscalculated one crucial thing.
No matter how much the other party shouted, Spirit Sword Destiny merely smiled and ignored them.
Shaoyuan was transformed into a tattered sack before dissipating into the air. The Taikang Sword, however, remained suspended in mid-air, emitting a faint blue light, as if an invisible hand was holding it.
“Fish Feed? So you all are concerned about whether the fish in the lake are hungry?”
His cheerful voice suddenly floated over from an unknown source.
The true form of Shaoyuan, the "Shen," was born in the marshes and roamed the rivers and seas, having a certain affinity for the fish and shrimp in the water.
The father and son duo's expressions changed.
They had witnessed Shaoyuan being pierced by arrows, and its breath had already vanished. Could this voice be coming from the underworld?
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