After returning from the Baohe Hall, Li Changzhou seized the time to peruse Taoist texts.

With his physical abilities, he could go ten days or half a month without sleeping without affecting his strength. It's just that being in a state of "concentration" all the time takes a bit of mental strain.

As Yaochi was reading a Taoist technique about physical transformation, her hand suddenly reached out and pressed down on the words in the book.

"I don't have time to argue with you right now." Li Changzhou waved her hand away, and as his hand and sleeve brushed past, he caught a whiff of fragrance.

"I'm jealous." Yaochi reached out and covered the words again.

Li Changzhou closed his eyes and simply pondered the spell in his mind.

"What's your relationship with that 500-year-old empress?!"

"What 500-year-old empress?" Li Changzhou did not open his eyes.

Yaochi snorted.

A black mark appeared between Li Changzhou's brows, and the next moment, the head of a black bird emerged as if hatching an egg.

Blackbird shook its head and struggled to completely pull its body out of Li Changzhou's head.

The black bird, about the size of a palm, fluttered its wings and flew around the library, then suddenly landed on a bookshelf, looking down at the two of them.

"Did you cause this yourself, or was it a curse?" Yaochi wasn't sure, unsure whether to intervene.

Li Changzhou's collar bulged, and another black bird poked its head out from there. Then, birds flew out from his face, hands, and body.

boom!

His entire body exploded, and Li Changzhou transformed into hundreds and thousands of densely packed black birds, filling the study with the sound of their flapping wings.

The black bird suddenly flew back, melting into strands of black light. The black light dispersed, revealing Li Changzhou's figure.

Fortunately, he entered "deep focus" and directly comprehended a Taoist technique for which he had no prior knowledge. Unfortunately, if the Jiajing Emperor were still alive, or if he were to encounter any dragon vein in the future, these Taoist techniques would be useless.

Can Shao Yuanneng, who possesses the power of the Dragon Vein, suppress magical power and Taoist magic?

This must be taken into account.

"Hello!"

Li Changzhou opened his eyes and looked at Yaochi, whose face was beautiful under the lamplight: "What's wrong?"

"When the Empress touched your hand, you didn't react at all. How can you face me, Qinglan, and your sister?" Yaochi questioned.

“The Empress’s hand? I thought it was you.” Li Changzhou fell into deep thought. “It seems that this Empress wants to harm me. Could she be a player? Or an undercover agent from some demonic or Taoist sect? I heard from Qinglan that most of the Ming Dynasty Empresses came from humble backgrounds. Since they came from humble backgrounds, it would be easy for them to impersonate others.”

"So you thought it was me?" Yaochi laughed.

She continued, "Why do you think the Empress wants to harm you? Can't you just think, like me, that you're handsome and capable, and want to challenge you? Also, don't just 'listen to what Qinglan says,' you can listen to what I say too."

Li Changzhou opened his hand, and a black bird flew out from his palm. It didn't fly far but landed on the table, its red eyes staring at the Taoist book spread out on the table.

Honestly, I've been using Yeguo Reading to read and follow my favorite books lately. It has easy source switching, multiple reading voice options, and is compatible with both Android and Apple devices. (yeguoyuedu)

"Interesting." Li Changzhou laughed, flicked his sleeve, and another swarm of black birds flew out.

A black bird picked up a book from the bookshelf, and a second black bird opened the cover. The first black bird stared at the words on the cover with its red eyes. After a while, the second black bird turned to the second page.

The entire library was decorated in this style.

The blackbirds worked in pairs, some on the bookshelves, some on the floor, some hiding in corners, and many more seemed to be gathering around the table for light or warmth.

Li Changzhou and Yaochi were surrounded by birds that were reading and turning the pages of books.

"It looks like a pigeon in a park." Yaochi held one in her hands; it felt warm and smooth to the touch, very real.

She poked the bird's head with her finger, thinking that its black body and scarlet eyes were a bit ugly, but since it had crawled out of Li Changzhou's body, it felt very familiar and even a little cute.

Li Changzhou looked at the flock of birds in front of him. The Taoist books recorded this spell as mainly used for escaping and gathering intelligence, but he used it to memorize the Taoist books.

No matter what it is, once it is created, its use depends on the person who uses it; it never has only one purpose.

'Then, are there other uses for my skills?' In this world where the dragon vein suppresses everything, Li Changzhou had to think about this question.

He looked up and saw a black bird that was reading a book suddenly swoop down and grab a spider that had crawled in through the window.

Spider Eight reacted with lightning speed, grabbing the black bird. After a few seconds of entanglement, the black bird fell to the ground, already dead.

The spider emerged from under the black bird, its long, slender legs taking flight as it scurried towards the window.

A dragon as thick as a finger coiled around it and landed on the table in front of Li Changzhou.

From the moment Li Changzhou looked up until the spider landed on the table, a mere four or five seconds passed. There was no sound in the study except for the rustling of the black bird turning the pages.

“The Spotted Spider,” Yaochi glanced at it, “also known as the ‘Black Widow,’ probably an animal player, or a monster.”

A hissing sound came from the study. A king cobra slithered out from beside Li Changzhou's feet, raised its ferocious triangular head, and flicked its forked tongue, swallowing the 'Black Widow' into its belly.

"Is it the Empress? Or someone else?" Li Changzhou reached out his hand, and a king cobra bit his wrist.

"Do you want it? It can prevent future poisoning." He asked Yaochi. The king cobra released its grip, and the fang marks healed as quickly as a movie replay.

Yaochi rolled up her sleeves, revealing her slender, snow-white wrists, and said with a grin, "If it were anyone else, I definitely wouldn't agree, for fear they would poison me."

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