"Alright, let go of me first. Hugging a club and getting all sentimental—don't you think you look utterly foolish?" Liusu said. "If Li Qingjun sees this, she'll probably think you have some strange fetish. Then your happy event will be ruined."
Qin Yi sat to one side, laying the Wolf Tooth Club across his knees. "I already felt uncomfortable all over when I left home without you by my side. If something had really happened to you, I don't think I'd even know how to go on living."
Liusu fell silent for a moment, then sighed without speaking.
Within the dark body of the club lay boundless, secluded emptiness. Its soul power was weak; it could only move the club within an arm's reach. It could not travel far, nor did it dare to. The lone courtyard was quiet and remote, filled with endless, limitless solitude.
Remaining eternally alone in Immortal Trace Mountain would have been one thing. But once it had tasted the mortal world again, it no longer wished to relive that feeling.
The instant outsiders climbed over the wall, even though it was certain there could be no problem with this formation, a fleeting sense of helplessness still rose in its heart. It wished Qin Yi were by its side.
Qin Yi said, "From now on, even if I go to meet the king, I'll bring you with me. Otherwise, I won't go."
Liusu chuckled. "Then will you let me seize your body?"
Will you let me seize your body—not, are you afraid I'll seize your body?
Liusu truly wanted to seize his body. That was the greatest knot between them.
Qin Yi knew that, at least during the time they had first met, the thought of body seizing had definitely lingered in Liusu's mind day and night. He was not being overly suspicious; it was inevitable. Liusu had never tried to explain itself, because it truly did wish to seize his body and disdained to patch together lies in its own defense.
The bloodline of Qin Yi's body was unusual, and useful to it.
They had guarded against each other all the way until now. Neither side knew what sort of relationship they were supposed to have.
"You..." Qin Yi sighed softly. "Do you really want to kill me?"
Liusu remained silent for a long time.
After quite a while, it slowly changed the subject. "These people were very low-level cultivators. They avoided the Royal Palace guards and climbed into the rear courtyard. They were most likely Donghua Sect disciples, taking advantage of your audience with the king to come investigate your background. For Dong Huazi, the sudden appearance of a Dao cultivator capable of debating him is probably more alarming than anything else."
Qin Yi tacitly listened to its somewhat chattering diversion and did not continue the previous question. After listening through it all, he asked, "What kind of sect is Tianshu Divine Palace First Hall?"
Liusu paused. "Never heard of it."
Qin Yi tapped his forehead. Right. Liusu had been in the mountains for who knew how many tens of thousands of years. Sects had risen and fallen countless times in the world—how could it possibly know them all?
It seemed he would have to find another way to learn the common knowledge of the current cultivation world.
"Minghe came from this sect. From the king's tone, this sect should be very famous in this age... like how people in Journey to the West would react upon hearing names like the Heavenly Court or Jade Pool."
"I expected as much," Liusu said. "So? Did she really take Dong Huazi's side?"
"At the very least, she stands opposite Li Qinglin. This is the greatest variable. If it isn't resolved, then no matter how thoroughly Li Qinglin calculates everything, it will be useless."
"When there is an absolute disparity in power, mortal wisdom is stretched thin," Liusu said blandly. "I suggest you prepare to run at any time. Making Swift Travel Talismans will be today's lesson."
Run away... Qin Yi pressed his lips together and said nothing.
"Can't bear to leave Li Qingjun?" Liusu saw straight through him at once and laughed. "What did the king say?"
Qin Yi's face reddened slightly as well, but he answered honestly. "He said he would give it more thought, but I think he has probably already made up his mind. He is not a king who truly values state affairs. The reason he wants a marriage alliance is most likely just so the Western Wasteland will stop invading and disturbing his cultivation. Since he is that kind of man, my pills will probably attract him more than whether the Enemy State bothers him or not."
Liusu fell silent again.
Qin Yi asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing... At this moment, you are probably on both Dong Huazi's and Mang Zhan's lists of people who must be killed. Best not leave the house unless necessary."
"I hardly go out to begin with."
Liusu did not answer. Instead, it suddenly began to chant softly, "Heaven attained the One and became clear; earth attained the One and became tranquil; valleys attained the One and became full; man attained the One and gained longevity..."
Qin Yi froze for a moment, only to hear Liusu continue chanting without pause, reciting several hundred words before it finally stopped.
He seemed to understand something and silently committed it to memory.
"The Dan is the single; the One is the single. Only the Dao has no counterpart, thus it is called Dan." Liusu concluded, "This is the most fundamental Inner Core Dao. I cannot guarantee there are no hidden traps or backdoors in it. Whether you practice it is up to you."
Qin Yi was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "Alright."
Whether he practiced the Inner Core Dao or not, it was not something that could be achieved overnight. The thing he could truly master quickly right now was indeed the Swift Travel Talisman. Even if he did not use it to flee, it would still give him a few more measures of security.
Qin Yi casually ate some lunch, then began making talismans.
Yellow paper, cinnabar. Things he had never believed in at all in his former world—yet now he not only believed in them, he was making them himself.
He learned talisman-making even faster than pill refinement. When he had studied medicinal principles, he had no foundation whatsoever and had relied entirely on decent intelligence to force his way through. But in his previous life, he had studied calligraphy and painting. The sketches in the old residence at Immortal Trace Village had merely been casual work; in truth, he was proficient in many forms of calligraphy and painting. Applying that foundation to drawing talismans was practically a gift from heaven.
Without mana, the most important part of talisman-making was absolute precision in every line. Not the slightest error could be tolerated; a discrepancy as small as a hair could lead to an error a thousand miles wide. Talismans were already immensely complex, engraving the most profound laws of heaven and earth. How could it be easy to draw them with absolute precision?
Just that foundation alone, if someone without prior exposure tried it, they might not be able to make even a single lowest-grade talisman after several months.
Yet when Qin Yi had first learned the Levitation Talisman a few days ago, he had only ruined three before succeeding once.
"Tch, this part even needs flying white brushwork? What kind of scam is that? How can the trailing threads of flying white possibly be absolutely precise?" Qin Yi helplessly tossed aside a ruined talisman. Many parts of the pattern Liusu had carved into the ground with the Wolf Tooth Club could not perfectly correspond to paper and brush. It could only explain and correct things as Qin Yi drew. He had already ruined seven or eight Swift Travel Talismans without success.
"Be content. Having so much cinnabar and talisman paper for you to waste would have been impossible back in Immortal Trace Village. Otherwise, the first thing I taught you would have been talisman-making rather than medicine-making. These things are quite expensive, especially Yellow Celery Paper and Crimson Spirit Cinnabar. They naturally contain spiritual power, and their production is probably very scarce. They are not easy to find." Liusu teased with a smile. "Work hard and become the prince consort. Things will be much easier afterward."
"Pah. If I held such thoughts, Qingjun would never think highly of me."
Liusu laughed. "Acting without acting—this is the realm of cultivation. So it turns out it is also the realm for courting young ladies? The so-called formless courtship is the deadliest?"
Before it had finished speaking, Li Qingjun's voice came from outside the door. "Qin Yi..."
Her voice lacked its usual brisk, fiery vigor. Instead, it carried the air of words hovering on her lips, yet refusing to emerge.
Qin Yi turned his head. Li Qingjun stood gracefully outside the door, quietly looking at him, her gaze like water.
"Uh, has the funeral ended?"
"Mhm..." Li Qingjun lowered her head slightly and said softly, "I heard rumors from the palace. Someone said..."
"What?"
"You said that even if there were ten thousand peerless beauties, you would want only Qingjun." Li Qingjun clutched the corner of her clothes and asked softly, "Is that true?"
Qin Yi's brush paused over the talisman paper, leaving a blot of black ink. His heartbeat suddenly quickened.
The air suddenly became very quiet. A faint breeze swept past the courtyard and drifted into the room, lifting the hem of Li Qingjun's skirt and gently carrying up the discarded talisman papers on the ground, like flying flowers.
The reckless, fiery young woman stood with her head bowed, her cheeks flushed red. As Qin Yi watched her, he suddenly recalled the day they had first met, when she had kicked open the courtyard gate with one foot. Compared to her now, it felt like a dream.
Before you continue