When the spirit boat docked at shore, Xiang Qi was still meditating in the hold.
Despite a five best true disciple in her own right, it was no secret Scorching Metal Valley’s standards were lower than the other four’s. Her talent falling a bit short when compared with Su Junyu. High second-grade foundation made her a rarity throughout Divine Province, however, she lagged behind in the five best true disciple group, whose average foundation was at low first-grade.
After Foundation Establishment, one’s foundation was set in stone, with harsh and bitter toil needed just to make slight adjustments. With subtle care carving, a high second-grade foundation was very much capable of reaching low and even average first-grade.
It spurred Xiang Qi to dedicate herself fully into cultivating, far more than her peers.
The ship’s shaking stirred Xiang Qi awake. She walked on deck and had to blink at the sudden blanket of white covering Argent Apex. It wasn’t her first time back to the headquarters, but seeing it under the snow was. The news of the western border conflict sprung to mind.
Western Sea’s Dragon King harnessed the sea’s water to change half of Divine Province’s weather.
For a former peacekeeper, the news wasn’t just a distant battlefield information. She knew just how much the common people suffered from this change. Argent Mountain’s heavy snow meant the entired western area of Divine Province was filled with commoners braving a disaster.
Xiang Qi shook her head hard. Dragon King’s power was not something she could counter. It was up to western area’s peacekeepers to handle it. There was no point burdening herself with these thoughts.
The girl jumped off the spirit boat and walked for the Immortal Institute. Being in Argent Apex’s inner city, flying was banned. The inner city was fairly large, making the trek a long one. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Today was 15th, the day of the Lantern Festival.
With longer lifespans came little interest in mundane events, though cultivators still took note of some customs. Lantern Festival just so happened to be one of those few that caught their attention.
In ancient times, when humanity established itself and cultivation flourished, Lantern Festival was seen as celebrating the birthday of the highest god. When Daoism was at its peak, the 15th of first lunar month was when Dao descended, according to ancient cultivators. In humanity’s long history of eighty thousand years, baring the few eras where demonic cultivators ran rampant, the Lunar Festival tradition never ceased.
Even more peculiar was that humanity’s Lantern Festival and Ghost Festival had deep significance in ancient demons’ culture. Research showed that on the day of the Lantern Festival, the demons’ leader, Eastern Emperor, celebrated his birthday, receiving homage from thousands of demons. And on the 15th of the seventh lunar month, he bestowed his blessings on the Divine Province by scattering something called imperial nectar. Animals that received a single drop of it would awaken and become demons.
The reason behind it was unknown, but Lantern Festival became a custom and cultural tradition. Modern cultivators attached great importance to it. Unlike mortals, who emphasized family gathering, cultivators didn’t gather with fellow Daoists to catch up on old times.
Evening was approaching, with the Mistshroud Mountain Array shimmering in wonderful hues as rose-colored clouds swayed beneath the sky. The Immortal Alliance’s display of power was much grander than even during New Year’s Eve.
Xiang Qi gazed at the sky with a darkened look. Last year around this time, she was still a peacekeeper in the eastern area, having returned here to spend the holidays with her companions. The one to gather them all was Li Ziye.
Xiang Qi’s mood sank. Li Ziye got what he wished, to give his life for peace. But to her, the fight had cast a shadow on her heart. To shed the weight of that fight off her shoulders, Xiang Qi put off reaching Core Formation, planning to spend the following years learning about the ways of the world.
Recalling Li Ziye, Xiang Qi’s mind drifted towards Wang Qi, the boy he saved.
Who’d have thought the country bumpkin she met would become the greatest and flashiest talent of modern cultivation? She heard how he even won against Transcendent’s descendant, this freshmen generation’s most outstanding Ai Changyuan.
[Will he surpass me in ten years?]
[I’ll look for that moneybags first, then pay the brat a visit.]
Xiang Qi went to the storeroom behind the Immortal Institute, kicking the door down.
The door didn’t budge and stayed like that. Su Junyu wasn’t home.
“What’s taking this guy so long to return?” Xiang Qi pondered. “Was he forced into a blind date by his family?”
Unlikely as it seemed, the girl couldn’t help but picture this nerd who had been by her side all this time and was oblivious to a girl’s feelings, forced into a blind date.
[Hi-hi, sound like fun!]
With a grin plastered on her face, Xiang Qi steered for Wang Qi’s room. Using the ‘close brothers’ excuse, she kicked his door as well. “Hey, Junior Brother, I’m here to see… What the hell are you doing?”
Xiang Qi was horrified. Wang Qi was sitting at the desk, with books and even more papers floating around him. Wang Qi didn’t look to even be controlling them, too focused on scribbling stuff down.
Looking up at Xiang Qi’s shout, his gaze looked lost. “Oh, Senior Sister… is it 15th already?”
Xiang Qi pointed at the floating books and papers. “First off, explain to me how you did this.”
“This?” Wang Qi paused as he mulled the question. “You mean the books?”
Xiang Qi nodded. Wang Qi waved and a book wobbled as it flew to Xiang Qi, flipping its pages to show its cover with a metal clip attached. “What’s so shocking about Celestial Hymn Odyssey’s electromagnetic field?”
Xiang Qi saw it as an affront to her intelligence. “Hey, none of the papers here have that clip. Then there’s the page flipping you just did. Yo can’t be so bored that you put a clip on every page, are you?”
“Take a closer look on the books and the papers’ bottom.”
Xiang Qi now noticed the pages’ corners were soaked, just like the seemingly random papers floating about.
“Water particles are polarized and can be used with a slight adjustment.”
The casual way Wang Qi explained it left Xiang Qi shellshocked.
[Does this guy realize what he’s done?]
Xiang Qi could no longer keep her cool.
She noticed what Wang Qi was writing.
“Are all of these… theories?”