Chapter 27 Class (Part 4) With the help of the Book Spirit, Master performs magic tricks. ...

Qingxing paused for a moment, then honestly replied, "I don't know."

She's been so busy lately that she hasn't had time to study her own meridians or even to guide Qi into her body.

"That's really strange. Your spiritual sense is stable, but your spiritual network is stagnant." The little fireball looked at her suspiciously. "Such a strange situation, it's understandable that you didn't notice it, but didn't your master notice it either?"

Qingxing told the truth: "Master has gone into seclusion."

“…Alright.” The book spirit was somewhat speechless. It circled the green apricot twice more, then cleared its throat and said in a serious tone, “Since I’ve run into you today, I’ll lend you a hand. My name is Sanhuo, you’ve met me before.”

"My name is Qingxing." Qingxing nodded in response, her eyes filled with undisguised curiosity.

Last time, Jiuquchen guided her to draw Qi into her body by channeling his own spiritual power into her spiritual network. However, the book spirit's spiritual power was weak, and even Guda couldn't enter rashly. How could this little book spirit help her?

Sanhuo scratched its head, looked left and right, and finally flew into the mountain of books behind it with a "whoosh," leaving behind only the words: "You wait."

Qingxing sat quietly in place as instructed. She couldn't see anything, but she could hear a rustling sound coming from the pile of books.

A moment later, the little fireball popped its head out. It had a piece of bark paper on its head and a blue scroll in its hand.

Perhaps the scroll was too heavy for it, because Sanhuo flew with great difficulty and almost knocked over the mountain of books beside it.

Qingxing quickly went up and took the object from its hand.

"Thanks." Sanhuo nodded in satisfaction, then peeled the bark paper off his head and handed it to Qingxing. "I am a spirit of cultivation manuals. Although my spiritual power is weak, I am fortunate to know some books related to the circulation of spiritual power. Take these two books back and study them carefully. If you can understand them thoroughly, they will definitely make your spiritual network run smoothly!"

Thank you.

Qingxing unfurled the scroll and looked at the meridian pathways drawn on it, feeling a sense of joy.

For some reason, in every life, she would be stuck for a year or two by some inexplicable power within her whenever she broke through a new realm. She didn't care before, but now that she had a great responsibility, she had to take it seriously.

Sanhu crossed his arms and said, "It's a small matter. These two scrolls are rare treasures, and I don't usually show them to others."

Qingxing was taken aback: "Why give it to me?"

Sanhu shrugged nonchalantly: "I find you pleasing to the eye."

Qingxing was speechless, thinking to herself that this book spirit really did things as it pleased.

She didn't respond, but lowered her head to examine the scrolls closely. Both scrolls were quite old, with frayed edges and worn characters in the middle. But Qingxing could sense a faint flow of pure spiritual energy within them.

Especially the bark paper, which is extremely light in the hand, but the two characters "我执" (self-attachment) on it are written with sharp strokes, showing how profound the calligrapher's skill is.

Another blue-covered scroll was inscribed with "She Zhi," but it was clearly inferior to bark paper.

"It seems you've already made a choice... but the two books need to be combined," Sanhuo reminded him.

Qingxing asked, "What if we only compile one book?"

“You’ll become a cripple in the cultivation world.” Sanhuo glanced at her and added, “These two cultivation methods are supposed to complement each other, but you’ll have to figure out exactly how they complement each other yourself.”

"Okay." Qingxing bowed slightly to the Book Spirit, expressing her gratitude once again.

Sanhuo was pleased to see her so polite, so he said a few more words: "The Taihua Mountain cultivation course is really useful. Look, how much these young people know how to respect others! Unlike those bad guys from hundreds of years ago!"

Upon hearing this, Qingxing was slightly surprised: This book spirit named "Sanhuo" looked and sounded like a child. She originally thought that the oldest person was no more than a hundred years old, but she had underestimated him.

Seeing that she was staring at him, Sanhuo guessed what she was thinking and chuckled, "What? I don't look like I'm hundreds of years old?"

Qingxing said earnestly, "I can't tell."

But when she thought of Gudako, who had lived for thousands of years, she felt both understanding and a little sentimental: Book Spirits really do look young.

Upon hearing Qingxing's words, Sanhuo must have found something that made it laugh. It tumbled in the air, its laughter echoing throughout the study.

Qingxing was somewhat confused, but the book spirit was, after all, her senior, and had just given her the cultivation method. She couldn't just cultivate on her own, so she had no choice but to ask Sanhuo what he had just said, trying to pull him back from his immersive laughter.

"I'm a little curious, who were those 'bad guys' from hundreds of years ago?"

"Ah, you mean them?" Sanhuo wiped his eyes, sniffed, and finally stopped making strange noises.

It recalled for a moment, then continued, "Back when I hadn't yet been accepted by Mount Taihua, I was left with these two scrolls in a secret room in Peach Blossom Valley. One day, a few ignorant and arrogant teenagers barged into the secret room. I scolded them, but instead of reflecting on their actions, they threw my books into a puddle!"

Thinking of those laughing and playing teenagers, it got a little angry again: "Hmph, I was just too good-tempered back then, otherwise I would have burned their butts and made them beg for mercy on their knees!"

Qingxing chimed in, "Senior is right."

Unexpectedly, Sanhuo glanced at Qingxing, as if he had suddenly thought of something, and his tone became unpredictable: "Speaking of which, those two cultivation manuals in your hand are the ones that were thrown into the water back then."

"Ah," Qingxing was a little surprised. The thought that such a good cultivation technique was almost destroyed made her feel a little regretful. "It should have been set on fire."

Sanhu snorted coldly: "One of the boys even tried to ask me for those two scrolls later."

Qingxing asked at the opportune moment, "Did you give it to him?"

“I wasn’t planning to give it to him originally. But he was too talented, he was only one step away from ascension, and the Taihua Sect Leader was his friend back then. The Sect Leader even came to ask me, how could I hide it?” For some reason, Sanhuo got angry again, and flames suddenly flared up on his body. “I get annoyed just thinking about this. Isn’t that boy strange? He clearly had two great opportunities in front of him, but he changed his mind before taking the books, saying something about ‘an immortal appearing in a dream and obtaining another immortal technique,’ and then he abandoned my cultivation method.”

"Does he really think he's some kind of chosen one!"

Qingxing was slightly taken aback. She couldn't help but think: Ascension already occupies a spot in the Heavenly Realm. If more people become immortals, there will be less for everyone to share. Are those gods really willing to send dreams to help mortals ascend?

After thinking for a moment, she asked again, "Did he ascend to heaven later?"

"No," Sanhuo replied indifferently. "He's dead."

The book spirit's sudden remark left Qingxing dizzy, and she instinctively asked, "Why?"

“He went mad and became a monster,” Sanhuo added. “You should know his name.”

Qingxing: "Who is it?"

Sanhuo: "Nonsense, that great demon king who almost turned the human world into a hell."

Even after leaving the library and feeling the cool summer breeze on her face, Qingxing was still a little dazed.

The scrolls of cultivation techniques in her hands gleamed coldly in the moonlight. Qingxing stared at the cover for a while before rolling them up and putting them into her cloth bag—she really hadn't expected that she would hear about the young demon king from five hundred years ago.

But the era of the war between humans and demons was too long ago, and now people only listen to it as a story, and Qingxing was no exception. She only sighed silently in her heart, and then treated Sanhuo's words as a minor episode, and put them out of her mind the next day, going about her business as usual.

The training courses at Mount Taihua were tightly scheduled. Aside from being a little tired at the beginning, Qingxing gradually got used to the rhythm and even began to understand the temperament of the instructors. Whenever she had the chance, she would skip class and go to the Sutra Repository to study formations.

But if you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet eventually. If you try to escape too many times, you're bound to get caught eventually.

The Sutra Repository was under construction for several months at a time, and Qingxing would inevitably pass by it on her way to the Advanced Study. One day, just as she arrived at the entrance and was about to go in, she was stopped by Shen Wan, who was pestering her senior sister.

Seeing Qingxing openly carrying an arithmetic book, she asked in surprise, "Shouldn't you be in the school at this time, Senior Sister? Why are you here?"

Xie Yuzhou was standing behind Shen Wan. As soon as she said this, everyone's attention was drawn to her, even the senior sister turned to stare at Qingxing. Qingxing could only awkwardly sniff and admit, "The class was too boring, so I skipped it."

"So that's how it is." Shen Wan smiled maliciously. From then on, she often camped out in the Sutra Pavilion. Every time Qingxing appeared, she would call on people to wander around Taihua Mountain aimlessly. Later, Wenren Xi somehow found out about this. As the second oldest senior brother, he not only did not reprimand such behavior, but also brought out his privately kept "Complete Guide to the Secret Realms of Taihua Mountain" and joined in the nonsense.

Qingxing let them make noise, not wanting to spoil their fun, so she never refused their invitations. She would secretly take time to cultivate, and when she had free time, she would study the two mental cultivation manuals.

The mental techniques are dry, and the words "attachment to self" and "letting go" are inherently contradictory, so Qingxing really couldn't see any complementarity between them.

Fortunately, there were some easy-to-understand parts in it, and as she read it for a long time, her cultivation level gradually improved, and she entered the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm at a young age.

Occasionally, when she had some free time, Qingxing would bring her recent cultivation progress to visit her master in the back mountain. However, perhaps because he was in a critical period of seclusion, Jiuquchen rarely paid attention to her. Qingxing didn't care; she would just sit with Guda at the cave entrance, recite a line of words, and then leave.

Days passed by, the sweltering heat gradually faded, the days grew shorter, and the cicadas and birdsong in the trees fell silent. The mountains had long since changed color. Qingxing hadn't initially noticed the passage of time until one morning when she opened the window and something hit her on the head. Looking down, she saw round, bright red apples on the ground and realized—autumn had already arrived.

The Sutra Repository has been completed, and Shen Wan has been making preparations for a celebration down the mountain. She pulled Qingxing, who had just finished school, and asked her to come along.

Qingxing hesitated: "But I haven't participated in the construction."

Shen Wan dismissed it: "What's the big deal? Anyway, Master gives us plenty of spirit stones. It won't be a problem if one more person comes!"

Having grown tired of staying in Mount Taihua, Gudako seized the opportunity to urge, "That's right! Master, you should go!"

Under the expectant gazes of the group, Qingxing finally gave in and accepted the invitation. She then turned around and began packing the things she might need for the descent down the mountain. On the day of her departure, she slung her cloth bag over her shoulder, closed the courtyard gate, and was about to go find Chen Wan when she suddenly sensed something was amiss.

Outside the courtyard gate stood a rag doll the size of a palm. The person who sewed the doll was probably not very skilled—the doll was made of patchwork old cloth, the eyes were two big crosses drawn on the spot, and even the stitches on the body were crooked.

It's like a little thing that was made hastily on a whim, sitting there all alone, looking rather pitiful.

As Qingxing pondered which puppeteer had casually made it, she slowly approached, intending to pick it up. But as soon as she got close, she froze.

The doll stood with its hands on its hips, its expression arrogant, a strange smile playing on its lips. The more Qingxing looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. She noticed a blue lotus flower on the doll's right hand and couldn't help but recall the handkerchief at the entrance of the cave behind the mountain. She cleared her throat and tentatively asked, "Master?"

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Author's Note: Book Spirits have no gender.

I mentioned the presumptuous talk mentioned earlier; for those who don't remember, please refer to Chapter Six.

(Good news, I bought another cover.)

I'll probably update six chapters this week.