The Underground Palace Changes, 'Gong Shaojun' Appears

After Luo Ci left, Lin Qi stood there, looking at her wooden sword, which had been charred black. It made her feel both heartache and a headache.

After tidying up the remains of the wooden sword, Lin Qi decided to buy a new one when she went to Tianyi Peak tomorrow.

However, her plan to practice sword techniques would likely fall through.

Lin Qi wasn't someone who could sit still.

Since she couldn't practice sword techniques, she decided to look into books on Talisman Crafting.

The thought of Talisman Crafting made her inevitably think of the Underground Palace.

Her fingers unconsciously touched the Phoenix Feather on her disciple jade token. Lost in thought, Lin Qi found herself back in the Underground Palace.

However, the Underground Palace this time had undergone some changes compared to when she last entered.

A mark had appeared on the "德" (De) character door. Lin Qi examined it carefully for a long time and realized that this mark was similar in size to the drop of Ice Phoenix Essence Blood on her forehead.

As she was pondering how to get the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood from her forehead out, a cold energy condensed on her brow, and the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood appeared in Lin Qi's palm.

"So I can control this drop of Ice Phoenix Essence Blood with my thoughts..."

Lin Qi took it out and put it back several times, completely mastering the method of controlling the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood.

She controlled the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood to be imprinted into the "Virtue" character door, and in an instant, the other several doors disappeared simultaneously.

The Underground Palace shook.

Frost spread from the "virtue" character door, gradually encasing the entire Underground Palace in ice.

Lin Qi shivered from the cold emanating from the Underground Palace.

When her consciousness returned, she realized that the Underground Palace had changed drastically.

A flood of information entered her mind, and she learned that the Underground Palace had merged with the Talisman Crafting room and the Formation Array room.

The two rooms occupied half of the space each.

Since Lin Qi hadn't opened the door to the Formation Array room yet, the space belonging to it was covered by a barrier, and she couldn't see its specific appearance.

Lin Qi had initially thought that the changes to the Underground Palace would only make things more convenient for her. However, when she turned around, she saw a tall, cold, and stunning beauty.

She was so startled that she took a step back.

Even though her brain was frozen, she recognized the person in front of her in an instant. "Mom... Mommy?"

Who could tell her why Gong Shaojun would appear in the Underground Palace?!

After shouting, Lin Qi realized something was wrong.

This wasn't Gong Shaojun!

To be precise, she had no aura; she didn't seem human, but rather like a... puppet.

Unfortunately, Lin Qi had only just entered the Cangwu Realm, and her knowledge in this area was extremely limited.

The 'Gong Shaojun' heard Lin Qi's shout, her eyes moved, and she bowed to Lin Qi, "Master."

With this declaration, Lin Qi understood everything.

This was probably another gift left behind by her ever-calculating 'Mommy.'

"You... were left by my mommy?"

"Madam instructed me to guard the Underground Palace and protect Master," the 'Gong Shaojun' mechanically uttered.

Lin Qi, having received the answer, managed to calm her shock.

"What is your strength?"

The 'Gong Shaojun' looked at her blankly, as if she didn't understand the meaning of her words.

Lin Qi sighed. She shouldn't have expected too much from a puppet.

However, in the next second, the puppet 'Gong Shaojun' gave her a surprise.

She handed over a Phoenix Feather Bracelet, saying, "This is a cultivation gift prepared by Madam for Master."

A gift?!

Lin Qi's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.

The moment Lin Qi's fingertip touched the Phoenix Feather Bracelet, it actively pierced her hand and recognized her as its master.

A consciousness appeared in her sea of consciousness. Lin Qi couldn't wait to enter the space to check.

The space wasn't large; it was just a spiritual field with a patch of black soil.

Several light clusters floated beside the spiritual field.

Lin Qi wasn't very interested in farming and headed straight for the light clusters, her gaze sweeping over them one by one.

They were all... unclear.

Not entirely; two of the light clusters were clear.

One was an egg, and the other was an ordinary-looking wooden sword.

Turning around, the 'Gong Shaojun' puppet was already waiting behind her. She asked, "Can I only take things that are visible?"

'Gong Shaojun' nodded quietly.

Lin Qi carefully took out the wooden sword and the egg.

She pondered over both items for a long time without any results. When she asked 'Gong Shaojun', she just kept shaking her head and saying she didn't know.

Lin Qi had no choice but to figure it out herself.

In the end… she figured out nothing.

The only comfort was that a wooden sword had fallen from the sky, saving her the money to buy one from Tianyi Sect.

Should she be happy?

Lin Qi figured that many of the items in the underground palace were protected by restrictions. It was likely Gong Shaojun's way of preventing Lin Qi, being young, from casually squandering these precious treasures.

Once her strength improved, these treasures would probably slowly reveal their true forms.

Lin Qi stopped feeling anxious.

Before she left, she casually scattered the seeds she had bought into the black soil of the space.

After leaving the space, Lin Qi discovered that the Phoenix Feather Bracelet had merged into her arm. A pattern like a lifelike carving appeared on her fair, tender arm, so beautiful it looked like it was about to leap off Lin Qi's wrist.

She touched the pattern on her wrist and was quite satisfied with the result.

The bracelet was too conspicuous and could easily attract unwanted attention.

After merging into her wrist, no one would probably guess it was a storage space.

After pondering over the items, Lin Qi couldn't wait to start learning Talisman Crafting.

She first practiced drawing with the stationery and scrolls on the underground palace's desk. When her spiritual energy was almost depleted, she would leave the underground palace.

While using the Phoenix Feather Bracelet to restore her spiritual sense, she meditated to recover her spiritual energy and simultaneously studied the knowledge in the books.

Being able to do three things at once saved time, and Lin Qi felt clever about her arrangement.

As Lin Qi continued to use them, she discovered that drawing on the scrolls with the brush from the underground palace particularly tested one's control over spiritual energy.

To leave a single stroke on the scroll required not only a smooth and even flow of spiritual energy when the brush touched the paper, but also that not a single trace of it should dissipate. Simultaneously, it demanded precise control over force and movement.

After all that effort, she could finally draw two strokes smoothly this time.

She wondered when she would be able to craft a talisman.

In the latter half of the night, Lin Qi began practicing the Pure Spirit Art, slowly absorbing spiritual energy.

Under the moonlight, strands of cold air penetrated Lin Qi's body from the high-grade cold stone at her waist, surging through her meridians into her dantian.

When Lin Qi opened her eyes again, her body's surface was covered with a layer of frost.

She shivered involuntarily.

Hugging herself and rubbing her arms, she decided to first remove the high-grade cold stone and put it into the storage space.

"No wonder Master said I needed to temper my body with the Fire Spirit Flower every half a month. With this concentration of cold air, I feel like I'd freeze to death quickly if I didn't temper myself."

However, the high-grade cold stone did indeed significantly promote cultivation, and the effect was very obvious.

Previously, Lin Qi needed to meditate for at least two hours to fill her dantian once. With the assistance of the high-grade cold stone, the time was cut in half, and this was even after she had broken through to Qi Refining second stage.

Despite a whole night of effort, Lin Qi still felt full of energy and had a sense of satisfaction.

Thinking about entering the Lübing Abyss with her Senior Sister tomorrow, she took out her notebook to list the things she needed to prepare.