Once inside, the trio sat on the floor with some overly compressed cushions that smelled funny. Anji did not question the state of the apartment lab. If anything, it would partially explain why the academic zone disease was running rampant in this claustrophobic living rat maze. Many diseases thrived in places that lacked sanitation. It would be the first thing she had to rectify. Thankfully, it was what Researcher Xi was interested in.
"Pardon the poor hospitality. I’d offer you alcohol, but we are in the presence of a child," she apologised. "I don’t have tea, but would you like some water?"
Refusing at once, Senior Researcher Mo cut to the chase.
"I will be bringing Anji back after lunch. If you need anything, you have about four hours to get it done. There will not be a second chance and absolutely no extension. Bringing her here to meet you is my biggest concession."
Puzzled by how strict Senior Researcher Mo was, Anji wondered if there was bad blood between him and those who resided in the academic central. Despite the hostile treatment, Researcher Xi beamed.
"Thank you," she bowed. "I was not expecting you to agree to my sudden request. In that case, it won’t take long. Anji, could you show me the talismans you use for chores? If you don’t have them, you can draw them here."
Shoving a thick stack of talisman papers and ink, Researcher Xi waited expectantly.
The lack of preparation made Anji fumble for a bit. She had a few talisman papers for chores with her because she thought she would be using them to help clean a researcher’s quarters. However, Researcher Xi had no intentions of cleaning her chaotic lab. Instead, she seemed more curious about Anji’s self-developed talismans.
Pulling out a few spares, Anji asked if Researcher Xi wanted to know all the talismans she had developed. Although there were more than five different types of talismans in the stack that Anji handed to her, Researcher Xi’s eyes lit up like stars when she learned this was not everything.
"Please do! It would help me greatly if you could redraw all the talismans you ever created, even those that did not work!"
Even those that were faulty? Anji had no idea why anyone would want broken spells. However, she figured as long as it was not destructive and dangerous, it would be fine.
Giving the child some space, Senior Researcher Mo left Anji to recreate the spells. In the meantime, Researcher Xi began to disassemble the talismans she received. The senior researcher observed them as they worked on separate projects. Truthfully, he agreed to Researcher Xi’s request because he was partially curious about the successor their sect leader had chosen.
After learning about her background, some senior researchers were dubious about Zhao Anji’s capability. Nepotism did not go very far in a sect like theirs. Hence, many proposed a month of harsh internships to test her worth. Instead of protecting the weak and sickly child, Yan Ping allowed them to do as she pleased with the condition that Anji must have proper care in the form of controlled nutrition and medical check-ins daily. Moreover, she opened up her personal accommodation to the girl, something never done before.
In return, nobody should complain about Anji’s worth if she survived the month of internship. More importantly, the sect leader made a wager. If Anji could prove to be more knowledgeable than their researchers, everyone in the sect had to be ready to participate in an upcoming war to assist the Rainbow Alliance in hunting down the traitor from their graduates.
Although the investigation of the traitorous graduate was still ongoing, they had several hints thanks to the newly formed intelligence department formed by the Celestial Dragon Sect. Yan Ping was being very mysterious with her information about the founder of the new intelligence agency, only letting them know that Hong Nian Niang was involved.
As far as Hong Nian Niang was concerned, everyone knew that Zhao Anji was her goddaughter. Moreover, it seemed like Anji made a great impression on many of the sect leaders in the Rainbow Alliance. Chen Zhong, a man known for his neutrality, sent persimmon seeds to their sect as gifts alongside many rare martial manuals as a "token" to build good relations in exchange for the Mystical Qilin Sect taking great care of Anji. Anyone could tell it was a bribe. However, Yan Ping still ordered for those persimmon trees to be planted in the orchards. Some of the seeds were given to the gardeners for research.
Since receiving persimmon leaves infused with qi, some researchers have started working closely with gardeners on a new project. Nobody knew if cultivating artificial spiritual herbs was possible, but with the special persimmon tea leaves as a clue, Anji had already sparked their curiosity a few years before she entered the sect.
Now, he was acting as a neutral secret judge to verify Anji’s worth. Researcher Xi had been a fan of their sect leader for a long time. It would be her if anyone could identify Anji’s worth as a successor. Anji self-studied spells under Yan Ping’s guidance for the last three years in the Celestial Dragon Sect. If she failed to master the basics of spell writing even after learning from the best, she would automatically be disqualified.
For an hour, Researcher Xi worked in silent amazement. The spells written by this young child were almost as good as researchers who had been in the field for a decade. Her understanding was solid, and many spells were equipped with a failsafe feature, something most novice spell writers missed out on.
However, the more she disassembled the created spells, the more doubts she had. Who was Anji? Why did her spell calculation methods seem so familiar? There was something that did not add up. For such a simple ignition spell, there was no need to go to such lengths to control its output capacity and conversion efficiency. Wasn’t it an overkill to add an internal energy storage in the talisman?
Every other spell that Anji wrote had a similar concept. The concept of efficiency ruled and took priority. It did not matter if it was the efficiency in activation speed, energy conversion, control accuracy or channel flow. The spells was written methodologically in a way that even novices of spell writing could understand it. The troubleshooting efficiency increased with this systematic spell-writing method.
In all her research years, only one person could win Anji’s spells in terms of efficiency. Yet, their writing styles were shockingly similar.
Nobody knew who Anji was and why a child was allowed to join their sect. There were many rumours and theories based on speculation. However, after studying these spells, Researcher Xi shot an alarmed look at Senior Researcher Mo for confirmation.
’Is she who I think she is?’ Researcher Xi asked the babysitter telepathically.
For a while, Senior Researcher Mo only remained still like a statue. Anji was still busy replicating some of her past failed spell inventions. However, the slight nod from the secret judge made Researcher Xi stand up immediately from excitement and disbelief. She looked at the senior researcher and at Anji with sheer joy.
To think she was meeting with the person closest to their esteemed sect leader! Researcher Xi finally understood why Anji’s circumstances were unique. Everyone had a unique spell-writing signature, even if they weren’t conscious of it. Through analysis of spell writing styles, it was easy to identify the spell writer. Even if it fooled everyone else, witnessing the similarities in master and disciple through their spell-weaving methods was solid proof for Researcher Xi.
With only a few precious hours to spend with their sect’s successor, Researcher Xi ditched analysing spells. She had many things to gift their young leader before she left. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NoveI★Fire.net