Translation: Aerial Rain Translation (aerialrain.com) by koffeam
"No." Shen Zhengheng was a bit dumbfounded. "If it's spirit stones, we have it."
"Master." Li Che also said, "This disciple also has spirit stones."
The master and disciple each took out a small brocade bag from their storage space. Li Che fumbled and handed it to Meng Qi, while Shen Zhengheng directly pushed the brocade bag into her hand.
Meng Qi "..."
Su Junmo and Sikong Xing just stared blankly.
Only Pei Mufeng's expression remained unchanged. As if for him, everything Meng Qi said or did was normal.
Meng Qi opened the small brocade bags and took a look, then returned one of them. She mentally calculated. Li Che didn't seem to love Lu Qingran, and the two should be just in a pure friendship. When Lu Qingran had a close relationship with other men, Li Che never showed dissatisfaction or jealousy, and instead smiled with blessing every time.
Alright, they must be just ordinary friends.
Meng Qi threw the bag with the smaller amount of spirit stones into her storage space, and then said to Shen Zhengheng and Li Che: "I still don't know what array is it. I have to look at it again."
"I understand." Shen Zhengheng nodded, "Then we will trouble Young Daoist Meng."
Shen Zhengheng didn't question Meng Qi. Some cultivators put heavy secrecy on the inheritance of their sect and wouldn't divulge it to outsiders. He also knew Su Junmo. Although this man was from Demon Realm, Su Junmo spent a long time in Three Thousand Worlds and made acquaintances with many large sects. Since Su Junmo guaranteed Meng Qi's expertise in arrays, it must be true. After all, it was said that the knowledge about arrays was much better preserved in the Demon Realm compared with Three Thousand Worlds.
Shen Zhengheng took another look at his disciple and went out of the room before Meng Qi could give another instruction.
Pei Mufeng stared at Meng Qi and said with a low voice, "I will stay outside the door." Then, he turned around and followed Shen Zhengheng outside.
When Shen Zhengheng left, he also took away other disciples of Canglang Academy.
The door once again closed, and the room became quiet again.
Li Che couldn't see, and he sat on the bed calmly.
Su Junmo and Sikong Xing sat at the only table in the room.
Sikong Xing glanced at Meng Qi. "You see..." She lowered her voice and leaned toward Su Junmo, "Should we go out too?"
"No!" Su Junmo's face turned black, "We should be here to protect Meng Qiqi."
How could he go out? Meng Qi probably was the Lord's lover, while Li Che was a handsome young man. Even if it was a patient, he couldn't leave Meng Qi inside a bedroom alone with a half-naked man. If the Lord knew about it...Su Junmo couldn't help but shudder.
Su Junmo raised his eyes to look at the busy Meng Qi. At this moment, Li Che's white inner shirt had been taken off to his waist, revealing a slender back without a trace of excess fat. The handsome young man had his long hair dangled around his body. His black hair contrasted with his white skin. Because the poison made him unable to see, he looked a little helpless.
He looked very tempting.
"No!" Su Junmo repeated firmly, "You and I must stay here, and we can't let them be alone."
Sikong Xing raised her eyebrows. With both hands propping her cheeks, she stared at Meng Qi intently.
Meng Qi's hands were stretched out, tracing the array on Li Che's back little by little. A light shone on her side face, making her long eyelashes seemed to be coated by a gentle light. Her skin, which was originally white and tender, looked even more transparent.
"Meng Qiqi is really good-looking." Sikong Xing changed her posture, "And she is also very strong. When she is so focused and serious like now, she is even more beautiful. Unfortunately..." She sighed softly. "The beautiful flower already has an owner."
Su Junmo "..."
He should also drive out this damned Sikong Xing.
"Is Meng Qiqi being troubled?" Sikong Xing knocked the table lightly.
Su Junmo returned to his mind. He and Sikong Xing exchanged a glance, and then turned their heads helplessly at the Meng Qi, who began to pace forth around the room with her head drooped.
Both of them were from fox clans, who had long not been familiar with the study of arrays. They didn't know anything about it and couldn't help Meng Qi at all.
"Is there a way we can help Meng Qiqi?" Sikong Xing looked for a while and asked Su Junmo. "Didn't you always follow Lord Demon Monarch? They said that Lord Demon Monarch is a genius in arrays, cannot you ask him to help Meng Qiqi?"
Su Junmo"..."
He also wanted to, but who dared to make such a request to the Lord?
He...
"Huh?" Su Junmo's expression suddenly stunned. He quickly dug into his storage space.
"Help me guard the place." Holding a piece of jade slip, Su Junmo hurriedly said to Sikong Xing and immediately closed his eyes without explaining further.
After pacing ten laps around the room, Meng Qi finally figured out an idea. In her previous life, she carefully remembered all the arrays her Master taught her. In actuality, what she learned from her Master was much more complex than the small array on Li Che's back.
However, compared with typical Three Thousand Worlds refinery cultivators, the way Meng Qi studied arrays was completely different.
In Three Thousand Worlds, arrays were mostly used by refinery cultivators, and the way they studied arrays was not much different than the way medical cultivators studied medical techniques. They would start from the foundation and learned the most basic and simplest arrays first. They learned about materials needed to create each array, how different materials performed differently, and also the varieties of the most basic arrays.
It was said that refinery cultivators were not only required to learn how to use arrays, but also how to dismantle them. This was how a new variety of arrays could be born.
But Meng Qi never studied these things. Her Master had always been: "Okay. You can use this one."
Then he would proceed to teach Meng Qi the array he thought she could use. All the basics were skipped, and he directly taught her how to use it.
Meng Qi could use wide sets of arrays, but she was not very good at dismantling an unknown array to study its function and principle. Even so, her knowledge base was vast. Although the array she saw on Xue Lingfeng and Li Che's body was completely unknown for her, she still figured out something after thinking hard all night.
"Meng Qiqi." Just when Meng Qi began her twelfth lap, Su Junmo called her name.
"Huh?" Meng Qi turned around.
Su Junmo's expression was strange, and his gaze looking at Meng Qi was somewhat odd. Even his voice seemed to be absent-minded: "If you are not sure yet, do you want to go and take a look at the books about arrays?"
"Huh?" Meng Qi's eyes lit up, "Where can I go to?"
"Beyond The Heaven." Su Junmo nodded firmly, "You should find the books you need there."
"I've also looked at it the last time I went to Beyond The Heaven." Meng Qi said. "But refinery cultivators have been declining for thousands of years, and their re-emergence has just begun in the last hundreds of years. Moreover, refinery cultivators keep even more secrecy towards their sects' inheritance. Whether it is Cloud Immortal Pavilion or Beyond The Heaven, none of them sell books dedicated to the study of arrays."
After leaving the Huajiang Manor, Meng Qi went to both place to check, but found no books specialized in arrays.
"Um..." Su Junmo pondered for a moment, "I know about this small shop at Beyond The Heaven that sells various books from all over the three realms. From the gossip books to history records to biography of great predecessors to spell records...they have all kinds of books. Some are rare, some are odds. Maybe you will find something there."
Meng Qi glanced suspiciously at Su Junmo. Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated. It was said that whether it was the Demon Realm or the Devil Realm, the inheritance about array was far better than the Three Thousand Worlds. Su Junmo came from the Demon Realm. Maybe he really knew something.
Also, after getting drunk in Fentian City last time, she vaguely remembered seeing Master in Beyond The Heaven. At first, she thought that it was just a sweet dream she had after getting drunk. But when she went to Beyond The Heaven again, she was told that Beyond The Heaven indeed had a cloud waterfall that she had seen in her dream.
Meng Qi's eyes flickered. There was also that mysterious voice she suddenly heard in the forest outside Huajiang Manor. The array formation that was activated at that time was absolutely out of reach with her current ability.
And finally, the record that was taken by Fentian Palace's elder at the Demon Realm. The legendary celestial demon white tiger sovereign actually had the exact same face as her Master.
"Where is this shop located?" Meng Qi asked Su Junmo. Her gaze was burning brightly.
"In the northwest corner of Beyond The Heaven." Su Junmo said hesitantly, "But I can't give a guarantee. After all, it is only a possibility. But we have no other choice. Meng Qiqi, you should go and try your luck."
"You are right." Meng Qi agreed. She took out the jade slip and went straight to Beyond The Heaven.
Su Junmo took a long breath and finally wiped his sweat. "Fortunately, Meng Qiqi believes in me."
Sikong Xing curled her lips, "What are you planning to do?"
"I can't tell you!" Su Junmo's face suddenly became serious. "But......" He raised his head. There was disbelief in that gaze, but also a relief after having his previous guess confirmed. "Little girl, you better listen to this brother's warning. From now on, be respectful and polite to Meng Qiqi. Don't always pester her for small things."
Su Junmo sighed and murmured, "Fortunately, I'm smart and always stand firm by Meng Qiqi! But it's normal. To be honest, I also like this little girl. She is honest, kind, and dedicated..."
"What are you whispering?" Sikong Xing was puzzled.
"Nothing!" Su Junmo returned to his senses, "Anyway...protect Meng Qiqi well. Follow her, and you won't suffer!"
The night in Three Thousand Worlds seemed to have no effect at Beyond The Heaven. The vast city was indeed shrouded by night, and the seven floating islands seemed to look bigger and more prominent in the night sky. But the whole city was still brightly lit and full of activities.
After entering Beyond The Heaven City, Meng Qi went straight to the teleportation array that connected to the northwest area. After leaving the array, she walked along the city wall towards the northwest corner. This area seemed to be more secluded, and many shops had rather weird signs. Meng Qi sometimes couldn't tell what they were selling just by looking at the shop name.
The closer it was to the northwest corner, the quieter the surroundings became. Meng Qi finally arrived at the shop Su Junmo recommended. It was located in the most extreme corner, its exterior was quite shabby, and there wasn't even a name on the shop sign.
The shop looked very deserted, but it was open.
Meng Qi raised her head to glance at the empty sign. She then took a deep breath and walked in.
As soon as she entered the door, her eyes suddenly widened. In contrast with the exterior, there were no signs of being deserted inside. The shop interior was very spacious. Numerous bookshelves stood from the ground to the ceiling, filled with countless slips made from bamboo or jade.
However, there seemed to be no classification on the bookshelves, and both bamboo slips and jade slips were all piled around haphazardly.
Meng Qi looked at the rows and rows of bookshelves, her eyes filled with amazement and wonder. This shop looked so small from the outside. But inside, it was a separate space altogether.
Right in front of her, there was a staircase leading to the next floor. Meng Qi looked up. The spiral staircase went up far away, and she couldn't see its end.
"Fellow Daoist, what are you looking for?" An old man's voice suddenly came from behind.
Meng Qi turned around and saw an old man with youthful vigor standing behind with a smile.
Maybe it was her illusion, but Meng Qi saw the old man look at her up and down and then nodded with a meaningful smile.
.
Meng Qi "???"
"What books does Young Daoist need?" The old man walked to Meng Qi's side.
"My book halll collects all kinds of books over the years, and there is nothing you cannot find here." He reached out his hand and took a bamboo slip from a bookshelf in front of Meng Qi. "We have the records of all kinds of legends and history. Of course, if your luck is good, you may also find the cultivation notes left behind by great predecessors, or even an unknown spell. For example, this one..." He handed the bamboo slip to Meng Qi.
The warm bamboo slip made Meng Qi seemed to feel that she was touching a real thing.
The sleeves of the old man's robe flicked, and a bright light scattered from the bamboo slip. He slightly raised his jaw towards Meng Qi, "You may read it."
Eh?
Meng Qi held the bamboo slip curiously.
Weren't the objects in Beyond The Heaven supposed to be unreal? People couldn't directly use the things they bought here. Bamboo or jade slip records were no exception. The last time Meng Qi got bamboo slips from Sister Xue, she also had to leave Beyond The Heaven and fetch it at the relay station before she could read it.
Is this 'Heaven And Earth Book Hall' so powerful?
She held the bamboo slip and poured a bit of aura into it. The content inside immediately went into her mind.
"Huh?" Meng Qi looked at the title in surprise: "Biography of Celestial Demon White Tiger Sovereigns...what is this?"
Meng Qi quickly scanned the content line by line. This bamboo slip turned to be a record of the life of successive white tiger sovereigns spanned over tens of thousands of years. In addition to their various heroic deeds and brilliant performance, it also recorded the love story of every white tiger sovereigns.
Meng Qi blinked in surprise, but kept devouring the content. Cultivators generally read very quickly, unless it was cultivation notes or other books with similar nature that had to be read carefully and slowly.
This one she was reading right now was akin to an unofficial biography, so Meng Qi could read a few volumes in less than half an incense stick of time.
Meng Qi finished reading two volumes in a daze. Both volumes were writing about white tiger sovereigns from ten thousand years ago. She retracted her spiritual sense from the bamboo slip and looked at the old man, who was still smiling at her. She said embarrassedly: "Senior, I am sorry. I have been distracted."
"It's okay." The old man smiled amiably, "What book does Young Daoist need? Tell this old man. There are too many books here. It will be easier if I find them for you."
"I wonder if there are any introductory-level books about arrays?" Meng Qi asked.
"Oh?" The old man muttered for a moment and nodded, "Yes, there are. Wait for a moment." He turned around and slowly walked up the stairs.
Meng Qi glanced at the old man's back. He was wearing a gray robe. Although he seemed quite old, he was tall and still looked pretty strong.
Thinking that the old man would need some time to fetch the book, Meng Qi couldn't help taking another look at the bamboo slip's content.
In the Demon Realm, the white tiger clan was one of the celestial demon's royal clans. It was said that the number of white tiger demons was very small. Even so, they were still the most dominating existence in the Demon Realm.
The white tigers were too strong. Even among other celestial demon royal clans, few could enter the white tigers' eyes. They often had to wait for thousands of years until they found a Dao companion with whom they were willing to spend the rest of their life together.
Furthermore, the white tigers were very loyal towards their other half. Once they found their Dao companion, they would never betray or leave.
Meng Qi fell into a daze again, until the old man's voice suddenly rang again: "Young Daoist, Young Daoist?"
"I'm sorry." Meng Qi returned to her sense. "It seems I was being distracted again." She blushed slightly.
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