Fu Yangzi’s expression froze.
It was one thing for the sect’s young disciples to be reckless and full of themselves, but the Talisman Master who had just been discoursing with him so eloquently had said the same thing. This…
Fu Yangzi found it hard to accept. “How could that be possible? How could the Patriarch have drawn, drawn… a turtle on a book?”
“Why couldn’t she?”
Li Yijiu looked at him. “The Patriarch was human, not divine. She had the same six desires and seven emotions as anyone else. It’s not strange for her to occasionally do something out of line. You don’t have to overanalyze everything. Do you think you could keep up appearances all the time?”
Of course not.
Fu Yangzi hadn’t been born a Talisman Peak Elder. He’d had his share of chaotic, exasperating years too. He was at a loss for words. “There is some truth to what Master says…”
But for someone who had studied the matter for hundreds of years and considered himself to have achieved a little something, this was not an answer he could accept in an instant.
Fu Yangzi looked at the hundred copies of the… mysterious talisman pattern he had drawn, now in Li Yijiu’s hands, and asked in puzzlement, “If you think it’s… a turtle, why did you make me draw it?”
“You already know the answer.”
Li Yijiu made no attempt to deny it. “This is one of the out-of-line things I do. You have my apologies.”
“…”
So she really had just been messing with him?
Fu Yangzi’s feelings were complicated. He was also astonished that an expert would do such a thing. With a long sigh, he cupped his hands and said, “I’ve learned my lesson.”
Li Yijiu returned the salute. Remembering she had other things to do, she put the stack of turtles into the Qiankun Pouch the shopkeeper at the talisman shop had given her. “I have important business to attend to. We’ll talk another time.”
Fu Yangzi brightened. “There’ll be another time?!”
Li Yijiu: “…”
She’d only said it out of politeness.
Before Li Yijiu could say anything, Fu Yangzi excitedly took out a square mirror about the size of his palm. “Master, shall we add each other on the Spirit Network?”
Li Yijiu: “…The Spirit Network?”
Just like the shopkeeper, Fu Yangzi had imagined her as an expert who lived in seclusion. He immediately explained the Spirit Network to her in detail and even gave her a mirror.
“This is a Spirit Mirror. It connects to the Spirit Network. Artifact forgers made it based on descriptions in the Patriarch’s surviving writings. The Patriarch truly had a wondrous imagination…”
Li Yijiu stared silently at the Spirit Mirror in her hand.
This… wasn’t it just a mobile phone?
Its shape was a little different, but the functions were very similar. You could add friends, chat, send voice messages, and make video calls. They called it things like “voice transmission over a thousand miles.”
When she had first arrived in this world in her previous life, she’d been dying to have one.
But after she made one, nobody except her cultivation partner was willing to play with her, so she’d put the thing out of her mind.
She hadn’t expected that people in later generations would come up with it again.
And the features were pretty well developed, too.
Fu Yangzi urged her, “Quick, choose a Spirit Network name for yourself, so I can add you as a fellow Daoist.”
“…”
It was so strange to have this in the cultivation world.
Li Yijiu poured spiritual power into the Spirit Mirror and began choosing a name.
Patriarch—nickname already taken.
Patriarch Mingdeng—nickname already taken.
The Real Patriarch—taken too.
She tried again and again. Every nickname she could think of related to Patriarch Mingdeng had already been claimed.
She even found countless names clearly belonging to fanatical admirers, like “Patriarch, Patriarch, I Love You,” “Patriarch Mingdeng Is My God,” and “I’ll Smash My Head Against a Wall for Patriarch Mingdeng.”
“…”
Li Yijiu sighed. “Wodi Ge Guigui…”
This world was insane.
Just then, a line of text appeared on the Spirit Mirror—
Wodi Ge Guigui: registration successful!
“…”
It could take voice commands, too?!
So advanced. Way too advanced…
But why couldn’t she change her name?!
Fu Yangzi asked, “What’s your Spirit Network name?”
Li Yijiu didn’t want to talk. In silence, she showed him the Spirit Mirror.
“…”
Fu Yangzi’s expression turned strange. He hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Ahem. I’ve added you…”
Li Yijiu saw a message appear on the Spirit Mirror: [“Qingxin Sect’s Unremarkable Heaven-Grade Talisman Master” wants to add you as a fellow Daoist. Will you cruelly reject him or happily accept?]
“…”
Wasn’t he the only Heaven-Grade talisman master in Qingxin Sect?
How was that nickname any different from using his real name?
Li Yijiu tapped “happily accept.” [You and “Qingxin Sect’s Unremarkable Heaven-Grade Talisman Master” are now fellow Daoists. You can chat now~]
She put the Spirit Mirror away. “I’m leaving.”
“Until we meet again, Master Gui!” Fu Yangzi called after her.
“…”
What the hell, Master Gui?!
Li Yijiu left at a rapid pace.
After that, she bought some household necessities and snacks and drinks that could be stored, then went to an apothecary to buy spiritual herbs for refining the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Tempering Pill. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find the medicinal primer, Marrow-Cleansing Grass.
The apothecary’s shopkeeper told her that precious spiritual herbs of this kind rarely circulated openly. If any did, they would be at auctions; most were snapped up by the major sects and prominent families.
Li Yijiu wasn’t surprised.
That had been one of the factors she’d considered when choosing to join Qingxin Sect. It was common for powerful organizations to monopolize information and resources.
She returned to Qingxin Sect before dark.
Lulu and the others had also come back from class.
When Lulu saw Li Yijiu lying in the dormitory, playing with a Spirit Mirror, with bedding spread across her bed—though it hadn’t been there before—she stopped short, her face still showing concern and worry.
She asked, “…Fellow Daoist Li, after Talisman Arts class, did you go apologize to Elder Fu Yangzi? Why didn’t you go to your cultivation theory class? Did the Elder punish you?”
Li Yijiu said, “No. I just skipped class.”
“…”
Just? And you’re that shameless about it?!
Well, somehow, she wasn’t surprised…
Lulu said, “…Fortunately, Elder Yao Wuji from Pill Peak filled in for the cultivation theory class this time. He’s mild-tempered and generous, so he probably won’t hold it against you. He’s teaching alchemy tomorrow afternoon, so don’t skip that class too, Fellow Daoist Li.”
Li Yijiu nodded. “I’ll go.”
She wanted to ask him about Marrow-Cleansing Grass.
Yin Lan gave a derisive laugh. She hoped Li Yijiu would break more sect rules and get expelled. Then she glanced at the Spirit Mirror in Li Yijiu’s hand. “You can actually afford a Spirit Mirror?!”
It wasn’t something an ordinary person could get their hands on.
Although the Spirit Mirror was an Earth Grade spirit artifact, it was intricately made and in high demand.
There were only a handful of Earth Grade artifact forgers in the Spirit Domain. They couldn’t mass-produce it, so it was priceless and hard to come by. Most owners had a certain status, influence, and connections.
Even she, the dignified Young Miss Yin, didn’t have one!
Her parents did, but they refused to give her one, saying, “Why does a child like you need a Spirit Mirror?”
What gave this Fifty-Nine the right to have one?!
Li Yijiu nodded, then took the wolf-hair brush from her waist. “So now you don’t think I’m pitiful anymore, and you want your Earth Grade talisman brush back?”
“…”
Why bring that up again?!
Yin Lan couldn’t bring herself to ask for it back. Her face twitched with anger. “I said I didn’t want it, so I don’t want it! Can you stop waving that brush in front of me all the time?!”
Li Yijiu said, “Good. You’re very generous. Thank you.”
She hung the wolf-hair brush back on her belt.
“…”
Generous, my ass! Thank you, my ass!
Yin Lan was so angry her chest hurt.
Yu Jin looked at the Spirit Mirror in Li Yijiu’s hand, the Qiankun Pouch at her waist, and the bedding on her bed. She remembered they hadn’t been there before. “Fellow Daoist Li, have you been here the whole time?”
Li Yijiu said, “Of course not.”
Yu Jin pressed her. “Then where did you go?”
Li Yijiu said, “I’m not telling you.”
“…”
Yu Jin was at a loss for words. This Fifty-Nine really knew how to get under her skin. “…Fellow Daoist Li, stop joking. I’m only asking because I’m concerned about you. You can’t get these things just anywhere, and Qingxin Sect’s rules are strict. You didn’t go somewhere you shouldn’t have, did you?”
Li Yijiu answered frankly, “That’s right. I went down the mountain. Want to come with me next time?”
“…”
She was so frank that Yu Jin didn’t believe her.
More importantly, how could someone in the early Qi Refinement stage get past the mountain guards and the mountain-protecting formation?
Yin Lan pulled Yu Jin away. “Let’s go cultivate in the Scripture Pavilion.”
She felt that if she stayed with Li Yijiu any longer, it would be hard not to break the sect rules, draw her sword, and stab her.
The two left the dormitory.
Lulu was about to sit in meditation when she saw Li Yijiu still sprawled over a pillow as if she had no bones, playing with her Spirit Mirror and cracking sunflower seeds. The corner of Lulu’s mouth twitched. “You…”
Li Yijiu tossed her a packet of sunflower seeds. “Want some?”
Lulu: “…”
She’d only wanted to ask if Li Yijiu really wasn’t worried about being expelled.
Lulu looked down at the seeds in her hand.
Well, she’d just try one…
Crack, crack, crack… They were delicious.
Li Yijiu looked as if she was simply relaxing and playing with her Spirit Mirror, but in reality, Fu Yangzi had been pestering her so incessantly that she’d spent most of her time answering his questions.
Fu Yangzi was vigorous and spry for his age.
But she was a Qi Refinement-stage cultivator who needed sleep!
Wasn’t there a block function?
This was so annoying.
Thanks to him, Li Yijiu showed up for class the next day with dark circles under her eyes. And as luck would have it, Fu Yangzi was teaching the morning class.
Fu Yangzi frowned when he saw her. “Were you out stealing chickens and dogs?”
Li Yijiu said, “Yes.” I was out stealing you.
“…”
Li Yijiu handed him the hundred turtles he had drawn.
Fu Yangzi took them, assuming she looked this way because drawing them had exhausted her. Disdainfully, he said, “It was only a hundred copies of a… talisman pattern. And it wore you out this much?”
Li Yijiu looked half asleep.
“Can I go?”
Fu Yangzi impatiently waved a hand. “Go, go, go!”
So she went back to catch up on sleep.
Fu Yangzi hadn’t even realized what he’d agreed to before flipping through the stack of “mysterious talisman patterns.” He was surprised. Had this troublesome girl really done the work properly, without cutting corners?
And she’d drawn them so well?
He remembered what the expert had said: “The Patriarch was human, not divine. She had the same six desires and seven emotions as anyone else. It’s not strange for her to occasionally do something out of line. You don’t have to overanalyze everything…”
Fu Yangzi stared at the images on the paper, lost in thought.
Had he really been overanalyzing it?
Was this really just a turtle?
Wait.
Fu Yangzi’s hand stopped as he turned the pages.
Why did this turtle look so familiar?