Meng Qi seemed to be in a trance. The voice, even with a trace of anger, was pleasant and familiar. Even if she died thousands of times, she wouldn't fail to recognize the owner of this voice. Meng Qi was sure that she was not hallucinating. Both the last time outside Huajiang Manor or this time, the man's voice she heard was not her own imagination, but truly existed.
"...Yes." She replied in a daze.
The black-robed man gave her a slight glance. "What 'Yes'?" A mockery flashed across his face. "Are you going to admit defeat?"
"Never!" Meng Qi said with a grim determination. A flame suddenly ignited in her heart. So what if this man was more powerful than her? She was not afraid of him!
"So you won't cry unless you see your own coffin?" The black-robed man sneered. He bent over and took a thin green branch from one of the white ghost puppets he summoned.
"Don't say I bully you." He threw a bamboo slip to Meng Qi. "The nine medicinal ingredients needed are recorded in it. I want you to fully admit your defeat."
The bamboo slip was long and thin, but its color was dark blue, unlike the yellow bamboo slips commonly used in Three Thousand Worlds. On the back of the unfamiliar bamboo slip was a row of characters inscribed in archaic script. Meng Qi touched it with her fingers and read: "Ji Wujiong."
"Huh?" The black-robed man turned his head in reflex and looked at Meng Qi subconsciously.
It turned out that his name was Ji Wujiong.
Meng Qi quickly recalled her memory. She indeed had never heard this name. If such a powerful cultivator went in and out with Lu Qingran in the previous life, she surely would have heard the rumor about him, so this person probably only appeared later and met Lu Qingran after her death.
Ji Wujiong's cold gaze swept across Meng Qi. He didn't seem to care that she knew his name, and said mockingly as always: "Still standing there stupidly? Are you that eager to call me 'My Lord'?"
Meng Qi: "..."
She lowered her head and quickly memorized all the nine medicinal plants she needed.
"Don't worry." The man's voice rang again in Meng Qi's mind, but it was even colder than before, "Just do it like the last time."
Meng Qi lowered her hands and relaxed her mind and body. The long hair tied behind her back suddenly swayed, her blue robe flew, and her figure flashed quickly like the wind. In her hand, the silver medical knife danced across the ground with a 'swish, swish' sound, and yellowed grass flew around. In no time, a complete array began to take form on the ground.
"Look clearly." The man's voice was still cold. "The name of this array is Thousand Cranes. The one he used is just Hundred Ghosts And Hundred Charms Array. Merely a Hundred Ghosts, why should you feel wary?"
"I see." Meng Qi responded in a whisper. The corner of her eye swept across Ji Wujiong, who clearly couldn't hear the man's voice. Ji Wujiong still stood in a leisure manner and glanced at Meng Qi lazily from time to time; his jaw was slightly raised in arrogance.
"You still look at him!" The man's voice was dark with a trace of anger that became more obvious. "Do you want to lose?"
Meng Qi pursed her lips and returned her gaze on the ground seriously. She could memorize arrays much faster and easier than memorizing a sword or cultivation technique. When the last stroke from the medical knife fell on the center of the array, Meng Qi already memorized the complete Thousand Cranes array.
"Spirit stone." The man said in a deep voice: "Eighth-grade."
Meng Qi quickly took out twelve eighth-grade spirit stones from her storage space item and held them in her hand. She then tossed them on the array, and in an instant, the array shone in blue light, illuminating her delicate face.
Ji Wujiong glanced over and raised his eyebrows disdainfully: "Thousand Cranes array? It is nothing than—...what are you doing?!"
Meng Qi wanted to sigh. This Ji Wujiong was truly knowledgeable. However, it was too late. Countless blue shadows emerged from the array and turned into hundreds of goshawks that soared to the sky. Unlike the 'crane' in the array's name, those goshawks fluttered their wings and flew high, brandishing their sharp talons and beaks majestically.
In an instant, the whole ground was covered by the shadows of goshawks flying in the sky. Those goshawks, large enough that their wings spread out was longer than Meng Qi's arms, swiftly rushed in all directions.
"You can modify Thousand Cranes array like that." Ji Wujiong squinted towards Meng Qi. His eyes were burning, and even the usual disdain and mockery on his face were all now gone: "Very good!"
"Isn't it just modifying an array, heh—" The man's voice in Meng Qi's mind finally became softer. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the voice seemed to be less angry, and with a trace of satisfaction.
Meng Qi said nothing. She looked up at the goshawks that flew swiftly across the sky and saw some of them rushed to the ground towards the tiny ghost puppets summoned by Ji Wujiong. The goshawks didn't pay any care. They brandished their talons and quickly robbed the medicinal plants found by the puppets.
Not only that. After robbing, the goshawks lowered their head and pecked on ghost puppets. With a soft 'poof,' they quickly turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared. Then the goshawks waved their wings calmly, turned around, and flew back to Meng Qi.
When they flew in front of her, their talons flicked, and they threw the looted plants into her hands.
Meng Qi was dumbfounded!
Ji Wujiong stared blankly for a moment. He originally thought that this girl summoned goshawks with the modified Thousand Cranes array to make them fly faster and find the needed medicinal plants as soon as possible.
Never crossed in his mind that she would directly rob it!
Not only the goshawks robbed his plants, but they also killed his ghost puppets!
This is unbearable!
He can't bear it!
Ji Wujiong jumped up furiously. The long black saber once again scratched on the ground and quickly drew a new array.
"Hundred Ghosts Night Parade." Inside Meng Qi's mind, the man's voice rang again.
"Is it amazing?" Meng Qi asked in a low voice.
"Amazing?!" The man sneered, "It seems that we must teach him a lesson, so that from now on, he won't dare to use any array in front of you!" He ordered: "Take a profound-grade spirit stone and hold it in your hand."
Meng Qi nodded and took out a profound-grade spirit stone from her storage space item.
"The real modification doesn't require any useless bluffs and tricks. Otherwise, the enemy will have plenty of times to stab your chest when you are busy drawing the array, just like him." As he spoke, the man controlled Meng Qi's body once again. He moved quickly and accurately, and the silver medical knife instantly erased a few lines on the array they previously drew.
The medical knife swung once again, and in the next moment, a new exquisite array was drawn in the center of the original array. The profound-grade spirit stone in Meng Qi's hand began to shine. Her fingers flicked, throwing the spirit stone into the center of the newly-modified array.
A sharp and high eagle scream suddenly resounded through the blue sky. The Grand Tournament's barrier, which was originally very silent, seemed to be torn apart by their voice.
In the center of the array drawn by Meng Qi, a huge, very lifelike goshawk swiftly rose from the ground and rushed to the sky.
Ji Wujiong suddenly looked up. Only then did Meng Qi see that his eyes had turned blood red at some point. Even the three weird scars on his face faintly glowed in red.
All the remaining ghost puppets were slowly gathered back towards their master. But when the goshawk's voice resounded through the sky, they seemed to be frightened and stopped in their place.
Meng Qi could even see they raised their heads to look up at the sky.
"Blood moon." The man said to Meng Qi again. "Throw it into the sky."
Meng Qi didn't even pause to think. She quickly took out the blood moon and threw it into the sky.
The huge goshawk swooped down suddenly, taking away the blood moon in one bite. Then it screeched loudly towards the sky, as if to tear of the entire barrier with its voice. Even the ground and the sky seemed to be shaken.
The man's voice finally had a hint of good mood: "This blood moon is only a thousand years old. Pretty useless. In the future, I will find for you another blood moon that is more than ten thousand years old."
Chapter 79
Meng Qi didn't have time to feel sorry for the bloody moon. She raised her head and looked at the sky. Under the blue cover, the majestic and huge goshawk spread its wings, really seemed to cover the whole sky.
Although the goshawk was only a summoned projection, it was very lifelike. Even the feathers on its wings seemed to be very distinct, sharply pointing at the tiny white figures of the ghost puppets on the ground.
Meng Qi turned her head toward Ji Wujiong. His eyes were blood red now, and the scars on his face also faintly glowed red, as if about to burst into a flame.
The narrow black saber in his hand pointed diagonally to the ground, and his lips gesticulated as if he was holding back his emotion.
"Just a small bug!" The man's voice inside Meng Qi's mind had now become relaxed, with a hint of laziness. "You can start thinking of what you want him to do for the next twenty-four hours."
Hearing this lazy tone, Meng Qi's mind subconsciously recalled her Master's figure. A man in a wide-sleeved white robe and headdress, a face that was far more refined than even the celestial beings, an elegant bearing that seemed to be detached from the mortal world.
That person liked the spring afternoon the most. Under the peach blossom tree was a wooden chaise lounge covered with soft cushions, and next to it was a small black table with seasonal fruits. He lay lazily on the chaise lounge, eyes half-closed, watching Meng Qi's doing her training.
That was the most peaceful and beautiful time in her two lives.
Now, listening again to the man's casual tone that seemed to pay no heed to anything, Meng Qi's expression also turned relaxed. In contrast, Ji Wujiong's eyes, as well as his scars, had turned scarlet.
Logically speaking, Ji Wujiong's ability was clearly much better than hers, but Meng Qi still felt relaxed for some reason.
She was suddenly afraid of nothing.
She could face any difficulties and obstacles with no fear!
The corners of Meng Qi's lips lifted slightly, and her smile reached her eyes.
Ji Wujiong glared at her and snorted coldly. In an instant, the array in front of him exploded fiercely. All the remaining ghost puppets merged into one lump, which grew increasingly bigger before finally, a large white arm emerged from the ground.
A figure of a white giant slowly formed inside the array.
"Heh—"" The man's voice chuckled lazily.
"Hahaha..." Ji Wujiong laughed coldly.
Meng Qi stood solemnly. In her hand were several profound-grade spirit stones. After receiving the payment from Feng Alliance, she was very wealthy and could easily supply what her Master needed to defeat Ji Wujiong.
Another loud shriek sounded throughout the blue sky. The goshawk suddenly swooped down, spreading its sharp talons, and fiercely pounced on the white giant. Although the giant was bigger, its movement was far less flexible than the goshawk.
What's more, one was in the air, moved swiftly and sharply, and could fly away and dive back at any time with a forceful momentum.
In an instant, the white giant was forced to dodge repeatedly and even had to retreat several times.
"Look carefully at his movements." The man's voice suddenly reminded Meng Qi.
"Yes." Meng Qi turned her eyes at Ji Wujiong. The narrow black saber in his hand was carving on the ground once again, seemingly was drawing a new array.
Meng Qi's right hand was hanging on the side, mimicking the trajectory of Ji Wujiong's movement with her fingers. With each stroke, Meng Qi's carefully memorized the array he was drawing.
"Have you memorized it?" The man asked gently.
"Yeah." Meng Qi nodded obediently, "But I don't know what it is."
"This guy probably studied under a devil cultivator." The man said. "Just remember it for now, and I will teach you slowly later.'
"...Okay." Meng Qi was stunned for a moment before nodding softly.
It was just a simple sentence, but for some reason, her nose was sore, and her eyes were a little hot. She shouldn't feel sad just because of Ji Wujiong's few words.
Master clearly treats her very well!
Meng Qi quickly blinked her eyes, driving away the tears that almost spilled.
The battle between the goshawk and the giant ghost puppet was almost over, with the ghost puppet summoned by Ji Wujiong on the loser's side.
Ji Wujiong cursed suddenly. He thrust the narrow saber into the ground and turned to look at Meng Qi coldly. The blood color in his eyes gradually faded, and the scars on his face turned black again.
Ji Wujiong's eyes turned back to normal as he glared coldly at Meng Qi: "You win."
"Huh?" Meng Qi asked curiously, "What about your new array? You are not going to activate it?"
"No more spirit stones." Ji Wujiong snorted coldly. As his voice fell, the giant ghost puppet slowly faded.
The goshawk screeched, and its sharp talons swiftly fell on the giant ghost puppets. Just like the smaller ghost puppets just now, the giant turned into a light smoke with a soft 'poof' and disintegrated into the wind.
The goshawk returned to the sky, and other smaller goshawks began to flew back from all directions. Except for the two medicinal plants they robbed from Ji Wujiong before, the goshawks quickly brought back the other ingredients needed to solve the poison of Qiwu powder to Meng Qi.
Ji Wujiong snorted coldly, refusing to look at Meng Qi at all.
He actually still had some spirit stones remaining on him before. Except for the spirit stones he used to pay back some of Lu Qingran's debt to the Cultivator Alliance, he still had about one hundred eighth-grade spirit stones. For most cultivators, this amount would be enough for a long time.
In Ji Wujiong's entire life, he had never needed to think about spirit stones before. Therefore, he had no idea that living in Three Thousand World without having sufficient spirit stones would be very hard.
After he was forced into an embarrassing situation because of Lu Qingran's debt, Ji Wujiong, who fell into his weakest state, began to keep some spirit stones on him at any time just in case. On the competition with Meng Qi just now, especially on the final stage, he quickly used up all his stock.
The new array was finished, but without spirit stones, he couldn't activate it.
This was the second time Ji Wujiong was beaten back by a lack of spirit stones.
And both were because of Meng Qi!
Meng Qi raised her eyebrows and chuckled. Her mood right now was extremely good. Winning over Ji Wujiong was only one of the reasons, and also the least important one.
Meng Qi summoned her little medicine cauldron with satisfaction and threw into it all the medicinal plants the goshawks gathered for her. Then she raised her eyes toward Ji Wujiong: "You don't have spirit stones?"
Her voice was bright with a hint of laughter: "Do you still think that you are invincible? After all—...ugh."
Meng Qi hadn't finished her words when a sudden chill came out of her spiritual sea. Immediately after, all the aura in her body seemed to be drained, and everything before her eyes became blurred...
"Ugh—" Meng Qi groaned again. Her vision suddenly darkened, and her body fell to the ground.
Ji Wujiong turned his head and saw this scene.
"Hey!" He subconsciously stepped forward and looked at the fainted blue-robed girl. Her face was pale, her long eyelashes hung down, and her thin body fell on the ground. She looked very pitiful.
However, the smile on the corner of her lips was still there.
She didn't finish her words just now, but Ji Wujiong could see what she was going to say. It was that he found out that he was no match for her, so he made an excuse to admit defeat.
She thought him to be that kind of person?!
Ji Wujiong crouched down. The slightly cold sleeve of his black robe swept across Meng Qi's cheeks. A dim light of a spell flashed from his slender fingers, illuminating the girl's pale and tender face.
"Aura overdrawn..." Ji Wujiong's eyes flickered slightly. It was no wonder. After all, Meng Qi, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, refused to back on and insisted on fighting face to face with him. Meng Qi should be thankful that he didn't want to be a bully, so he decided to use summoning arrays instead of offensive ones. Otherwise, even if there were one hundred Meng Qi, she would all be wiped out in an instant.
Ji Wujiong flicked his sleeve and stood up. His eyes fell on the ground, toward the small bronze cauldron Meng Qi used to refine medicine. This cauldron looked very plain. It should be the most common type in the market—the lowest-grade medicine cauldron used by ordinary medical cultivators.
He was not surprised at all. Compared with Meng Qi's profound knowledge of arrays, the things she used on her body were very plain and ordinary.
"Is Three Thousand Worlds right now so ignorant of good and bad, like and dislike, talented and talentless?" Ji Wujiong muttered as he glanced down at Meng Qi's still pale face and her ordinary blue robe.
Just now, in order to fight Meng Qi, Ji Wujiong spent a lot of spirit stones. He no longer had spirit stones at hands and couldn't even refine medicines, so he simply chose to sit cross-legged on the side.
Ji Wujiong closed his eyes, clasped his hands, and started to rapidly revolve the aura over his body. However, every time the aura made a full circle and returned to his spiritual sea, he subconsciously frowned. In no time, small beads of sweat appeared on Ji Wujiong's forehead, and the back of his black robe was gradually soaked with perspiration.
For cultivators, every time their aura made a full circle in their body and returned to the spiritual sea, it would be followed by a refreshing and comfortable feeling. However, Ji Wujiong seemed to be enduring immense pain instead, and more and more sweat soaked his body.
...
Inside the Grand Tournament's barrier, there seemed to be no distinction between day and night. The blue sky was always bright, and the breeze was blowing over the bare and sparse land.
Meng Qi didn't know how long she had been unconscious. When she opened her eyes, the surrounding was still very bright, and her small bronze medicine cauldron was standing not far away within her reach.
"Ugh—" Meng Qi tried to move. Her body was still aching, but the bitter cold that seemed to penetrate her soul was no longer here. Meng Qi propped herself with one hand and slowly sat up. She knew this sensation. It was similar to the last time outside Huajiang Manor. The spiritual aura inside her body was overdrawn, causing her spiritual sea to be empty. As a result, she fell asleep for a long time before finally recovering.
Meng Qi lowered her gaze and looked at her hand for a moment, then subconsciously took a glance at her surrounding.
Master...
She tried calling into her mind.
As expected, the man's voice no longer appeared. If it weren't for her spiritual sea that was still aching and seeing that the medicinal plants she threw into her small medicine cauldron before she lost consciousness were still there, Meng Qi almost thought that the voice she heard before was nothing but a dream.
"Hey!" A pair of black boots stopped in front of her.
Meng Qi raised her head and met Ji Wujiong's eyes. She swallowed her disappointment and stood up with shaky legs.
Ji Wujiong snorted coldly, but it was rare for him to not being sarcastic.
Meng Qi took a deep breath. She drew an array around the small bronze cauldron and threw in a few spirit stones. A flame instantly burst out from the array, surrounding the entire cauldron. A slightly bitter and astringent medicinal fragrance spread out in no time, mixed with the fresh smell of grassland, and spread into the surrounding.
Ji Wujiong: "..."
Did he see it right?!
This girl actually used Lihuo Great Fire array just to concoct a simple antidote?!
Ji Wujiong looked at the array Meng Qi used to refine medicine. His expression was complicated.
He then stared at her again.
He could also use the Lihuo Great Fire array, so he naturally could see that the array Meng Qi used was not the original, but a weaker variation.
Even so, to use it to refine medicine...
Well, it indeed seemed plausible!
Very good!
Ji Wujiong liked this kind of arrogance, and he finally was no longer so angry when looking at Meng Qi.
Meng Qi focused her mind on the medicine she was refining, but she couldn't help being distracted. She knew that her Master had helped her again and gave Ji Wujiong a lesson for her sake. However, he left so quickly that she had no time to say anything, not even goodbye.
She didn't know when they would meet again.
Meng Qi looked at the bright Lihuo flame. Her eyes were a little dazed. The euphoria she felt before losing consciousness had totally been deflated when that person suddenly disappeared again. Even though he had just promised to find her a blood moon, and also to slowly teach her the arrays Ji Wujiong used...
Meng Qi absent-mindedly picked up a dead branch and drew the last array Ji Wujiong failed to activate. This array was pretty complicated, with many overlapping and interconnecting lines, and actually was very difficult to draw in one go. Meng Qi didn't inject any aura into it and simply drew line by line exactly by her memory. Like this, even if spirit stones were embedded, the array couldn't be activated.
Ji Wujiong was originally just standing aside, glancing lightly at Meng Qi from time to time. Later, he saw her using a dead branch to draw an array on the ground. Her head was drooped, seemingly was lost in thought, so he began to watch her openly. Then he saw her drawing line by line skilfully before finally closing the last line, completing the array in one go.
Ji Wujiong: "..."
He suddenly felt speechless. Wasn't the art of arrays supposed to be declining in Three Thousand Worlds, and had barely reemerged one or two centuries ago? Wasn't it supposed to be fallen behind other cultivation branches, and now was regarded merely as a tool for refinery cultivators to refine magic weapons?
How could someone still in the Foundation Establishment stage was so profound in arrays that he was caught off guard?!
"Hey!" Ji Wujiong finally lowered his posture. He squatted down in front of Meng Qi's bronze cauldron and looked straight into her eyes: "You have also learned this array before?"
"What?" Meng Qi returned to her sense and glanced at Ji Wujiong. She then lowered her gaze to the ground and looked at the array she had just drawn: "No." She said matter-of-factly. "Isn't this the array you drew before? The one you claimed to have no spirit stones to activate? I never see it before."
Ji Wujiong: "... ..."
Even though he had just being mocked, he didn't get very angry. It was even rarer for him to not answer back sarcastically.
Ji Wujiong examined Meng Qi's expression. This girl was unconscious for almost one day. Once she woke up, she immediately began to refine the antidote. On top of that, she looked totally unhappy, and didn't show the slightest joy of winning!
She also said that she had never learned this array before. But she picked up a dead branch and drew such a complicated array without missing one stroke?!
A complex emotion suddenly flashed in Ji Wujiong's eyes. He looked at Meng Qi with a scorching gaze, his tone was full of disbelief: "Just now, you..." He frowned, seemingly was still unable to fathom: "Did you really memorize this array by looking at me drawing it just once, and even from such a distance?"
Just now, he clearly saw Meng Qi drew the array in one go. If she injected her aura when drawing, then this array...
Heh! No, it wouldn't!
She was only a weak Foundation Establishment cultivator. With such a pitiful cultivation base, she didn't even have one-tenth of the aura needed to draw this array.
Ji Wujiong stared at Meng Qi for a moment, then stood up suddenly. Seemingly had just made a difficult decision and looked a bit anxious, he walked toward Meng Qi.
"Meng Qi." Ji Wujiong stopped and lowered his gaze at Meng Qi. "Have you ever learned arrays systematically?"
Meng Qi shook her head.
As expected!
Whether it was when Meng Qi used the dead branch to draw this array, or when she drew the Thousand Cranes array before, it took him only one glance to see that she had never studied arrays in a systematical manner!
However, this made the situation even more exciting.
"Ahem..." Ji Wujiong paced back and forth a few steps and coughed several times before Meng Qi finally looked up at him.
"Since I have nothing to do anyway, let me tell you about the history of arrays." Ji Wujiong's tone suddenly changed drastically. It was no longer was full of thorns like before.
Meng Qi looked at him suspiciously and reminded: "We need to pass the Grand Tournament's test as soon as possible to leave this place. Have you forgotten?
(Please do not read it in Wattpad or other sites outside aerialrain.com. Thanks!)
"Cough, cough, cough..." Ji Wujiong coughed again, "Am I not waiting for you to finished refining the antidote?"
Without giving Meng Qi a chance to refute again, Ji Wujiong quickly continued: "Ten thousand years ago, arrays were thriving in three realms of Three Thousand Worlds, Demon Realm, and Devil Realm. At that time, sword cultivators and spell cultivators already had the same status as now, and they could run rampant in the three realms. However, cultivators who specialized in arrays, as long as they had reached the pinnacle of their art, were able to contend with several sword cultivators and spell cultivators of the same cultivation base. That's how powerful they were!"
Meng Qi: "...What about medical cultivators?"
"Medical cultivators..." Meeting Meng Qi's clear eyes, Ji Wujiong quickly changed his words: "...have always existed peacefully with others. They are kind and benevolent, and totally indispensable in any era!"
Meng Qi: "..."
He sounded insincere!
Ji Wujiong actually praised medical cultivators thrice in one breath, which was totally unthinkable compared with his previous attitude. Just by looking at his attitude towards the Medical Society Alliance, it was clear that his disdain towards medical cultivators ran deep in his bone.
"But medical cultivators always disdain to participate in conflicts." Ji Wujiong continued. "So, it was sword cultivators, spell cultivators, and those who specialized in arrays who dominated the world of that era." He paused for a while. "At that time, cultivators who specialized in arrays were called array cultivators."
"Yes." Meng Qi nodded.
"Sword cultivators, spell cultivators, and array cultivators were the three major cultivation branches, and no side could overwhelm the others. In addition, that was a very chaotic era. The three realms had yet to be completely separated, and the three races of human, demon, and devil often fell into various disputes. Bloody battlefields were everywhere, and the world was full of murderous air. Cultivators of the Comprehending Perfection and Great Ascension stage, which in this era had almost been never unheard of, often fought for seven days and seven nights. Blood permeated from the ground to the sky, and even the sun, moon, and stars seemed to be dim."
Meng Qi's interest was gradually piqued, and she began to listen attentively. Ji Wujiong was extremely knowledgeable. Meng Qi had noticed this even when his remarks were still full of mockery and thorny words. Unexpectedly, once his attitude was changed, he was very pleasant to listen to.
"Then what?" Meng Qi asked again.
Ji Wujiong turned his head toward Meng Qi, and the corners of his lips curled up quickly. He was originally looked very cold, arrogant, and gloomy. The big scars on his face only made him look even more frightening, and his actions were secretive and extreme. Even when he was forced to cooperate with Meng Qi, his expression was full of disgust and condescension.
Just now, Meng Qi fought him to the end despite knowing their huge discrepancy in strength. He didn't lie. If he still had spirit stones left, he was confident that he would win. Meng Qi was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If he lacked in spirit stones, then she lacked in the spiritual aura.
However, regardless if it was the Three Thousand Worlds, Demon Realm, or Devil Realm, the strong was always worthy of respect and admiration. After that battle, Ji Wujiong no longer felt so disdainful of Meng Qi. Later, he discovered her amazing and extraordinary talent in array, and he instantly saw Meng Qi was much more pleasing to the eye.
Ji Wujiong lightly coughed again: "However, the number of array cultivators were not many, and their knowledge is not easy to pass on."
"Why?" Meng Qi couldn't understand: "As long as an array was recorded in a bamboo slip, future generations can learn it by rote memorization. On the contrary, sword and spell techniques are much more difficult to be recorded and hard to be learned without the guidance from a teacher." She asked, "Why is it not easy to pass on?"
Ji Wujiong: "..."
Okay, he was now sure that Meng Qi's talent in arrays was indeed extraordinary.
Otherwise, how could she say such a thing!
"The person who taught you arrays should also teach you that when drawing an array, you must do it one go. The aura injected during the process absolutely cannot be cut off. Otherwise, the array will fail." Ji Wujiong was not only not getting angry, he even became more patient.
"Yeah." Meng Qi nodded.
"This is exactly why arrays are difficult to be passed on. Sometimes, it only takes a moment of carelessness to ruin the whole array. The more complex and bigger it is, the difficulties only grow exponentially."
"It's similar to a sword technique. The one you practiced before..." Ji Wujiong didn't know what sword technique Meng Qi tried to learn. After all, it was too weak to enter his eyes. "Although you memorized every movement perfectly, can you immediately use it?"
Meng Qi: "..."
She really couldn't. Even if she lowered her speed to try making the correct movement, the strength of the sword technique would also lose. Now that Ji Wujiong brought it out, she finally understood.
"This is normal!" Ji Wujiong glanced quickly at her and then said: "But you cannot be blamed. Every cultivator has different talenta of their own. It's okay if you don't have the talent to become a sword cultivator." His tone was stiff, but he still forcefully said: "There is no need to be sad."
Meng Qi: "???"
Did she mishear something? Ji Wujiong's character wasn't supposed to be like this, right?
This person had spared no effort to mock her before. He even said that she made the best choice to be a medical cultivator, because if she chose either sword or spell cultivation, the sect wouldn't be able to bear her, and would kick her out on the second day.
Ji Wujiong ignored Meng Qi's shocked face and continued: "There are millions of paths for million cultivators. Choosing the suitable path for yourself is the most important thing."
Meng Qi: "..."
She stared at Ji Wujiong dumbfoundedly.
"Cough...your talent in arrays is not bad. Judging from your cultivation base alone, I never expect..." He paused for a moment. "There is quite a bit of aura in your array."
"Oh." Meng Qi responded lightly.
"Now the study of arrays in Three Thousand Worlds is in decline. The group of stupid refiners inherits only the simplest arrays. But they are short-sighted, so they hide in their sect and use those arrays only to refine magic tools and weapons..."
As Ji Wujiong spoke, his eyes fell on the Lihuo Great Fire array Meng Qi used to refine medicine.
This was not the same! Meng Qi could modify the original Lihuo Great Fire array to suit her needs, yet still retained one-third of its original properties. This talent was beyond amazing!
Ji Wujiong ignored the burning flame: "Array cultivation, like sword or spell cultivation, is powerful enough to dominate the world. The path of array cultivation is vast and expansive, going straight to the blue sky. It definitely doesn't lose to other cultivation branches."
"The person who taught you..." Ji Wujiong looked at Meng Qi: "...should have seen your talent in array cultivation. Unfortunately, he is short-sighted and arrogance, and cannot see that you—..."
"He isn't!" Meng Qi stood up suddenly and glared at Ji Wujiong fiercely. There seemed to be a Lihuo great fire burning in those eyes.
She said furiously: "He is a man as great as a high mountain, and whose mind is as open as a valley! He has never been prejudiced or arrogant! Be it arrays or other things, he is extremely talented and powerful! It is because I am not good enough that I am not qualified to be his disciple."
Meng Qi took a deep breath. She rarely got so angry.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Ji Wujiong conceded, "He is very powerful, perfect, and strong!"
Meng Qi glanced at him coldly and suddenly said, "You lost the bet."
"Yes." Ji Wujiong admitted easily. "The content of the bet is that the loser obeys the winner's order for the next 24 hours. You were unconscious for more than fifteen hours, but I don't bully a little girl, so let's count it begin now."
"Okay." Meng Qi said: "From now on, every time you speak, you must add this sentence..." She paused: " 'I lose to the person who taught Meng Qi arrays. He is too strong, and I am inferior to him.'"