Chapter 86: Li Maolin Feels Something

Because it was a guesthouse, Feng Xue had become far more cautious in his cultivation, even reducing the energy-charging of the Five Elements Jade to a room deep inside—fortunately, Mo Ying could indeed consume it, and with prior notice, no Qi would leak out.

With Feng Xue's flow, he quickly filled all four sets of Five Elements Jade, then reset and reconnected every shattered jade tablet from yesterday's damaged prototype machine, only then relaxing a little.

Though he didn't know why he'd been targeted, no matter the reason, fleeing was certain—but just as he couldn't run the night the corpse puppets attacked, the demonic cultivators hadn't been caught yet, and the entire county was on edge; fleeing now would be tantamount to walking straight into death.

Better to first use his status as a traveling scholar, posing as a tourist to map out an escape route, then strike when everyone's distracted—just luck out, and that would be utterly foolproof.

Having planned his strategy, Feng Xue took out his notebook and began studying the continuity technique Li Maolin had taught him.

The ritual for this wasn't difficult at all; it even felt deliberately simplified so one could perform it even with severed limbs—but compared to the simplified spell itself, the details outside it were numerous.

From Feng Xue's modern perspective, it was like using superglue to stick the severed limb directly back in place; the spell only ensured the limb could reanimate, while how much of its original function remained depended entirely on the user's "feel."

But in Feng Xue's view, this was simply because the technique was designed for extreme conditions—if one performed scientific debridement, disinfection, and alignment of the wound before reattachment, the success rate could be greatly improved, and with subsequent Qi nourishment, restoring the limb to its original state within one or two years didn't seem too hard—

Provided the limb was preserved intact.

In comparison, the technique of controlling the body through spirit possession combined with object manipulation was even more important to Feng Xue.

"Mo Ying, stop shutting yourself in, alright? Come out for a bit—I've got new teaching material!" Feng Xue pulled out the scroll and spoke in a tone so gentle it made Liu Yunxi shiver; upon hearing this, Mo Ying replied bluntly:

"I'm not coming out! My body hurts! I need rest! I haven't finished learning the current material yet! Later!"

"Oh? Refusing the wine and choosing the punishment, huh?" Feng Xue's face darkened, immediately reaching for the Jade Seal—but remembering how hard Mo Ying had worked last night, he reconsidered and put the seal away, deciding to settle accounts with her in his dreams tonight.

"Hmph!" A cold, slightly petulant voice echoed in Feng Xue's mind; he couldn't help smiling, then lowered his head to resume studying the ritual—this study lasted until the You hour, when he glanced at the Jade Emperor statue in the main hall, shook his head, and prepared to go downstairs for food—when suddenly, a knock came at the door—

"Sir, your dinner!"

"I didn't order anything?" Feng Xue frowned, shoved everything on the table into his Pot-Bag in one motion, then pulled out a jade belt and fastened it around his waist, covering it with his outer robe, before approaching the door, peering out through the shoulder-level gap in the wall—and then…

"No lifespan?" Seeing the middle-aged server, whose head bore no name, carrying four dishes and one soup, Feng Xue understood at once—still maintaining a state ready to activate his escape technique, he opened the door.

"Master Li, how did you…?"

"Your eyes are still sharp!" Li Maolin made no denial, yet still maintained the posture of a waiter, entering the room with the tray, placing the food on the table before saying:

"This is still a guesthouse, so showing up without cause is still conspicuous—but I promised to teach you the Three Seasons, so I can't break my word. How are you progressing with the continuity technique? Shall we continue today, or switch to something new?"

Hearing Master Li say this, Feng Xue first gently stroked Liu Yunxi as previously agreed; seeing no reaction, he knew the rat's scent was still present.

But he didn't fully separate Master Li from the rat—instead, he led him into the main hall, took out his study notes and the ritual diagrams he'd drawn:

"I've mostly mastered the ritual. Please check it. As for practice, it's still inconvenient right now—once I return to my own residence, I'll buy some live chickens and rabbits to practice with, how about that?"

Li Maolin had long grown numb to Feng Xue's learning ability, but given how often his research notes revealed insights even Li Maolin needed to ponder deeply, he still picked them up and read through them several times, saying as he read:

"Fine. Then tell me—what else do you want to learn?"

"Artifacts—I want to learn artifact forging!" Feng Xue thought of his one-use-and-broken 【Multi-Ritual Linked Spell Unit Prototype】, and decided he really needed to learn proper forging techniques.

Upon hearing this, Li Maolin felt inexplicably disappointed. How to put it? After so many days, Feng Xue had only asked about techniques connected to demonic cultivators—yet today he suddenly asked about something so conventional, his prepared mood for disguising spells as mundane techniques had gone completely off-kilter!

But not needing disguise was also good—Li Maolin didn't dwell on it, and said directly:

"Artifact forging is a vast and profound system, far beyond the simple one or two rituals you've dealt with so far. With two of the Three Seasons already passed, only five days remain—there's no time to teach you, let alone explain all the forging methods. If you truly want to learn this, decide clearly which aspect you want to focus on, or you'll end up with a hodgepodge of scattered knowledge."

"Old Li really is an honest man!" Feng Xue couldn't help feeling moved by this, and said at once:

"I haven't yet entered the Dao—my soul is weak, my control feeble—so I thought of using artifacts to break each spell into steps, simplifying casting—but the artifacts I make are too fragile…"

Listening to Feng Xue's explanation, Li Maolin was utterly stunned. How to put it? The idea sounded reasonable—but upon deeper thought, he could only sigh:

"No wonder he's from a wealthy family—damn, he's got serious money and power!"

Yes, aside from "serious money and power," Li Maolin couldn't find any better term.

But recalling the boy's absurd Qi reserves, his spiritual power surely wasn't lacking either—wasting such talent by not forging artifacts would be a crime… yet… with this kind of gift, why hadn't his sect ever taught him?

Thinking of this, all previous doubts rose again; Li Maolin forcibly suppressed his greed, yet his gaze unconsciously drifted to the Jade Emperor statue in the main hall.

But his mindset trembled instantly.

It wasn't that he was frightened by the Jade Emperor—quite the opposite—he now firmly believed Feng Xue was absolutely not a Shenxiao Sect heir!

(End of Chapter)