Chapter 115: Don

“Looks like you’ve learned something again? Go on, what do you want to learn today?” As soon as the hour of You arrived, Li Maolin appeared as usual; with a single sweep of his spiritual sense, he noticed Feng Xue’s waistband now bore a route etched in law-silver, silently cursing the boy’s uncanny aptitude—yet he asked in a tone as calm as still water.

Feng Xue still wanted to learn more, but he was leaving tonight; after a moment’s thought, he made no request for new material, instead pulling out two strands of golden thread.

“Master promised me three more trials—two days remain. I won’t learn anything new today. Could you first check what’s wrong with these two strands of law-gold?”

“Oh?” Li Maolin, unsurprised, took the law-gold threads and examined them—

"Ah, your law-gold’s outer shell is too thin. Since your waistband already uses law-silver, you must’ve failed to cultivate law-gold and barely managed to get law-silver to work, right?"

“Exactly, Master, your insight is piercing!” Feng Xue, delighted that the man spotted the flaw at once, offered lavish praise; Li Maolin merely smiled, brushed his fingers over the law-gold, and Feng Xue—having studied under him for this long—immediately activated his Gaze of Qi, seeing waves of anomalous spiritual power seep inward, pressing deeper into Feng Xue’s engraved rituals until nearly half were buried, then stopping—

“Try it now.”

Feng Xue took back the law-gold threads, tested them briefly, and his eyes lit up instantly; Li Maolin explained:

“Do you think gold transmits spiritual power more efficiently, or silver?”

At this question, Feng Xue paused slightly; though puzzled, he didn’t try to outsmart the riddle but answered honestly:

“Gold, I’d say.”

“In conclusion, you’re correct,” Li Maolin said; Feng Xue immediately frowned: “Conclusion?”

“Yes. In reality, excluding external factors, silver’s conductivity surpasses gold’s. But because of collective belief, people hold gold superior to silver in every way, more precious—and under this external influence, gold’s actual performance improves. Yet this enhancement manifests only at the final stage, like the final interest payment in a calculation. We craft artifacts before belief influences them, so we must consider performance prior to belief’s interference (Note ①)…”

Li Maolin carefully explained how belief-power affected spellcasting, and how to eliminate its interference to ensure artifact precision…

If before, Li Maolin had merely taught Feng Xue out of obligation or to weather a tribulation, now he was truly revealing his true skill, for he believed that if he could take as a disciple a soul blessed with great fortune, it might make the next six months far smoother for him—and increase his chances of surmounting the ultimate leap on the fifteenth of July, far outweighing the gain from simply devouring the boy outright.

Still, he had to test him—first, he must confirm this boy was truly a lucky cultivator without sect ties.

Li Maolin taught with care; Feng Xue listened with focus. To an xuan-cultivator of this world, belief-power amplification was merely a minor error—but to Feng Xue, who planned to cross into other worlds, this error was colossal.

Just as Feng Xue pulled out his notebook, Li Maolin’s brow twitched—a sense of discord rose in his heart. His soul realm was so powerful that a mere flick of thought revealed the truth—

Feng Xue’s motion when taking out his notebook today was different from usual!

“Did you switch your Hutian Bag? Did you make it yourself? This boy has indeed been gathering belief-power lately—but why switch now?”

Suspicion sparked; Li Maolin looked again at the guesthouse room and saw flaws everywhere. Though he’d only taught Feng Xue here four days, combined with his prior ten-day observations, he’d formed a clear picture of Feng Xue’s and the serpent demon’s routines—and now, this discord meant Feng Xue had changed his habits for some reason.

“Some furnishings are gone—preparing to move? But his house isn’t even finished; how could he buy new furniture during the New Year?”

Li Maolin weighed every detail in his mind—then a thought suddenly leapt into his mind—

This boy plans to run away!

He didn’t know why—but clearly, this boy intended to leave Lucheng during these New Year days.

“No, no, wait—maybe it’s possible… no, not right…” Li Maolin’s heart grew chaotic: on one hand, if Feng Xue left Lucheng, free of xuan-cultivator interference, he’d be easier to ambush in the wilds; on the other, leaving Lucheng might expose him to unknown xuan-cultivators.

Two thoughts tangled in his mind—then Li Maolin suddenly realized:

This boy didn’t just now want to run—he’s wanted to run all along!

If his guess was right, this was a lucky little devil. All the events in Lucheng these days must’ve felt to him like walking a tightrope—he knew he was unworthy of his fortune, yet dared not reveal himself as a novice carrying a priceless treasure…

Though this logic seemed bizarre by the orthodox standards of this world, Li Maolin was a demon cultivator; viewed through the lens of a demon’s jungle law, it made perfect sense!

“So that’s it—this boy probably inherited some legacy from a deceased demon cultivator. That explains his wide-ranging knowledge and peculiar logic. As for the great demon, perhaps it was forcibly enslaved by a device like a Spirit-Subjugation Ring, hence its half-hearted service!”

“But if I’m right, then why is he only now preparing to flee? Likely because something just happened—he fears leaving now would make him look like the mastermind behind it… From this angle…”

A new idea struck Li Maolin: if before, he’d merely intended to test Feng Xue as a potential disciple, now he must adjust his plan!

After all, Feng Xue had delayed his departure twice due to sudden events—perhaps a third delay would still work!

He didn’t need to stall him long—just until after the New Year, until he harnessed the New Year’s renewal belief-power to achieve soul-body unity. Then, even if Feng Xue didn’t want to leave, Li Maolin would push him out!

…

Miss Deng had waited outside the guesthouse since four-thirty, drinking a pot of fine tea until its color faded, eating three boxes of snacks; as darkness fully fell, she sighed:

“No movement at all… Wait, that’s odd…”

She sprang to her feet, rushing toward the guesthouse—but her body froze in place by a spiritual light—

“You foolish girl, what are you doing? The fact you realized this now means the spell has already been lifted. Forget whether you can fight him—you’d have no proof if you went now. Who do you think the city folk believe: you, a spirit-medium, or the orthodox xuan sect?”

Hearing Master Huijiu’s words, Miss Deng sank back down, voice bitter: “That’s why I must seize the chance! Otherwise, these southerners will never respect us!”

(End of Chapter)