Chapter 198

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

Very quickly, Xu Zhangqing followed behind Bai Ling'er and arrived at the third floor of the Rain Water Pavilion.

The moment he went up, he felt that this place and downstairs were two completely different worlds.

The third floor's area was even larger than imagined.

It was all rows of numbered rooms, like 301 and such.

He originally thought it belonged to the living district, but it turned out to be a floor specially for making talismans.

Judging by the looks of it, these Water Spiritual Root cultivators have their work and lives separated.

Everyone on this floor, without exception, is a Talisman Maker, or a Talisman Maker's family member.

Bai Ling'er, Bai Zhu'er.

One at Qi Refining Late Stage, one at Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

By rights, they shouldn't have the qualifications to enter the third floor of Rain Water Pavilion.

But they have a good father, a Senior Talisman Master at the Foundation Establishment Perfection Stage.

Precisely because of this, the two girls can come and go freely, completely unaffected.

Very quickly, Xu Zhangqing saw Bai Ling'er's father.

This person's name was Bai Xiaotian.

Beneath sword-like brows were a pair of eyes sharp as cold stars.

Years of drawing Spiritual Runes had made his finger joints distinct, his palms even stained through with ink-colored pigment.

He wore a set of ink-colored cloud-patterned robes, the hem embroidered with a circle of wave-shaped water patterns.

Overall he gave off a steady, reserved feeling.

Judging by appearance, he looked to be around forty or fifty years old.

For a Cultivator, this age isn't considered old, it's even quite young.

Bai Ling'er bounced and hopped forward: "Father!"

Xu Zhangqing followed close behind, hurriedly cupping his fists in salute: "Senior Bai!"

Bai Xiaotian glanced at his youngest daughter, saw her mouth covered in food, and only felt a headache coming on: "Can't you wipe your mouth?"

Other people's daughters are either making progress, or on the road to making progress.

My own youngest daughter is either sneaking food, or on the road to sneaking food.

In terms of drawing talismans, although she has improved, she's still ten thousand eight thousand li away from becoming a Talisman Maker.

Fortunately the eldest daughter is promising; she's now a Junior Alchemist, so he doesn't need to worry about her.

But Bai Ling'er counter-questioned righteously: "Do you wipe your mouth halfway through eating a meal?"

"You..."

Bai Xiaotian nearly got red-hot with anger; to calm himself down, he simply shifted his gaze sideways onto Xu Zhangqing, sizing him up and down with a scrutinizing look: "You're that Spirit Farmer Ling'er often mentions, the one who cooks really well?"

"Uh... right." Xu Zhangqing nodded.

Bai Xiaotian asked curiously: "You're a Wood Spiritual Root, how did you suddenly get interested in Spiritual Runes?"

Xu Zhangqing explained: "With the increase in my Spirit Field quantity and the rise in my strength, whether it's Spiritual Arrays or Spirit Tools, almost all of them require Spiritual Runes, so I wanted to understand them."

Bai Xiaotian nodded slightly: "It seems you're someone who longs for progress. That's good, I appreciate people like that."

Hearing this, Xu Zhangqing always felt there was something more in the other party's words.

At this moment, Bai Ling'er stood on tiptoe, waving her dirty right hand in front of her father's eyes: "Father, the books?"

Bai Xiaotian lowered his head and asked: "Just giving a few books would do, why do you need me to personally annotate them?"

But Bai Ling'er counter-questioned righteously once again: "He's a Wood Spiritual Root Spirit Farmer; without annotations, would he be able to understand them?"

Bai Xiaotian froze, his mouth opening and closing, unable to say a single word.

It wasn't that he was angry, but he suddenly discovered there seemed to be a tiny bit of reason to it.

Xu Zhangqing stood at the side, his expression already unable to hold.

After a good while, Bai Xiaotian finally recovered, then flicked his sleeve and several books on Spiritual Runes appeared in his hand: "Take them."

Bai Ling'er took them, turned around and presented them to Xu Zhangqing like claiming credit: "Hehe, I said I'd do it and I did!"

Xu Zhangqing cupped his fists in salute again: "Thank you, Senior Bai, thank you Ling'er!"

After giving thanks, he took the books into his hands.

He lowered his head to examine them, discovering they were full of the traces of time, even the books' titles had already blurred.

Judging by the looks of it, Bai Xiaotian would often take them out to flip through.

Precisely because of this, he was able to become a Senior Talisman Master at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

I'm afraid half his life has been dedicated to the Rune Path.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaotian waved his hand: "You can go."

Xu Zhangqing cupped his fists in salute for the third time: "Alright, I'll head back to the Spirit Fields first."

Before leaving, he fished out a few kinds of food again and gave them to Bai Ling'er.

This time, he was truly too grateful to the other party.

If these few books were taken out, they'd definitely be scrambled for by the Water Spiritual Root apprentices.

Only when she couldn't carry them all did he turn and leave.

Returning from the third layer to the second layer, he discovered there were far fewer people here.

The Formal Disciples from just now seemed to have all left; even Huo Wan and the others were gone.

Only three people remained.

One was the heavily injured Lan Tian.

One was the Steward of the Water Control Pavilion.

And the last one appeared to be a female Physician?

Toward passersby, they paid no heed, not even sparing a glance.

Xu Zhangqing saw this and did not continue staring; he strode quickly to the first layer of the Water Control Pavilion.

Sure enough, even the Water Spirit Root Disciples gathered here were fewer.

Although some were still discussing the matter of Lan Tian and Mo Sha, the mood had stabilized considerably compared to just now.

Xu Zhangqing saw this and secretly thought: "This Mo Sha most likely wants to take advantage of the Formal Disciple Competition not having started yet to test his opponents' strength first, even eliminate a few in advance."

Someone like Lan Tian, although he is the number one Formal Disciple on the Water Control Pavilion side and sounds very powerful.

But one must know, he has already been defeated by several people.

One of them is Chu Qiu.

Therefore, if Mo Sha still wants to challenge, his next destination is most likely the Spirit Beast Valley.

Thinking of this, Xu Zhangqing strode out of the Water Control Pavilion, then took out Chu Qiu's Communication Talisman.

He originally wanted to notify the other party in advance, to let them prepare.

As a result, there was not the slightest response from the other side.

Seeing this, Xu Zhangqing more or less guessed the situation.

He put away Chu Qiu's Communication Talisman, then summoned the Big Leaf Grass.

Of course, it was not to go check the situation at the Spirit Beast Valley.

It was to go home.

If he could notify, he would notify.

If he couldn't notify, it didn't matter.

After all, he was just an ordinary Spirit Farmer.

He neither wanted to participate in the Formal Disciple Competition, nor get caught up in this storm.

Farming honestly, bit by bit increasing his lifespan and raising his strength, was better than anything.

One hour later, Xu Zhangqing returned home.

Wangwang, the Pearl Chicken, the Fortress, and the five Fire Crows were already resting.

Seeing this, he did not disturb them, but went to the study, lit the Glazed Lamp, and planned to read the few books annotated by Bai Xiaotian.

When he opened the first book, Rune Zhengyuan, a rich fragrance of paper and ink wafted out.

The first page was the table of contents:

One, Origin of Runes: The Concretization of Heaven and Earth's Laws

Two, Ancient Period: The Initial Formation of the Rune System

Three, Middle Ancient Transformation: The Popularization of Talisman Paper and Low Rank Runes

Four, Recent Ancient Development: The Fusion of Runes with Artifacts and Spiritual Arrays

The content inside was not complicated.

Coupled with Bai Xiaotian's annotations, it was even more easy to understand.

Usually, Xu Zhangqing would use a Lingzhi Scan to directly inscribe it into his mind, forming a memory.

But this time, he stubbornly read on, even becoming engrossed.

……

……

In a flash, the day agreed upon with Senior Sister Yu arrived.

Thinking the other party might be neglecting sleep and food due to alchemy, Xu Zhangqing specially prepared a sumptuous Lingfan, then mounted the Big Leaf Grass and flew toward the Earth Fire District!