Ye Ziyun took two inscription scrolls out of her Spatial Ring.
Powerful experts recorded techniques on scrolls in the form of inscriptions. When the time came to fight, they could simply activate the scrolls and unleash powerful battle skills, much faster than performing them directly. However, inscription scrolls were often extremely expensive. Even a blank scroll cost hundreds of Spirit Coins, a Bronze-level inscription scroll could sell for over a thousand, and a Silver Rank one might cost tens of thousands. As for Gold Rank scrolls, their price was beyond imagining.
This was not something ordinary people could afford. It was exceptionally precious.
"These two inscription scrolls both bear Snowflake Engravings." Ye Ziyun slowly unfolded one of the Bronze-level scrolls with her slender, pale fingers. "There seems to have been a problem when these inscriptions were drawn. They've never been usable, but I can't figure out what's wrong."
Nie Li glanced at the two inscriptions on the scrolls and immediately saw what was wrong with them.
After cultivating for so long in the Book of the Temporal Demonic Spirit in his previous life, Nie Li's knowledge of all kinds of inscriptions had reached its absolute pinnacle. He knew every attribute and every variety of inscription inside out. Correcting two Bronze inscriptions was effortless for him.
"Even ordinary professors can't see what's wrong with these two Bronze inscriptions. With your family background, couldn't you ask your father to explain them?" Nie Li looked at Ye Ziyun.
A trace of sadness flickered in Ye Ziyun's light-purple eyes.
Nie Li suddenly understood. Ye Ziyun had grown up without a mother. Her father was the City Lord, busy with countless affairs, while her grandfather was a Legendary Demon Spirit Master who had to lead his subordinates in exploring the Sacred Ancestor Mountain Range and eliminate potential threats to the City of Brilliance. Naturally, there was no one to explain things to her.
Thinking of this, Nie Li felt a surge of sympathy for Ye Ziyun. "From now on, whenever you have a question, you can come find me here at this time every day!"
After speaking, Nie Li looked at the two Bronze inscription scrolls and pointed to one of them. "This Bronze inscription is the wind-and-snow type, Snowflake Engraving: Blade of Wind and Snow. There's nothing wrong with the structure of the inscription itself, but the scroll is counterfeit."
"Counterfeit?" Ye Ziyun exclaimed.
"Exactly. The forger's methods were extremely clever. If your eye wasn't sharp enough, it would be perfectly understandable to be deceived into buying a scroll like this." Nie Li smiled. "Snowflake Engraving: Blade of Wind and Snow is written in the blood of Snowflake Spirit Worms. The blood of an adult Snowflake Spirit Worm is silvery gray, not this bright silver-red. In my estimation, this was written with the blood of a young Snowflake Spirit Worm. The young worm isn't strong enough, so the Snowflake Engraving: Blade of Wind and Snow can't be activated."
The blood of an adult Snowflake Spirit Worm was silvery gray, while that of a young one was silver-red. Ye Ziyun had never imagined the problem could lie there. She had taken this unusable Bronze inscription scroll to many of the academy's professors for advice, even the vice principal, but none of them had found the problem. After all, the Bronze inscription scroll was complete!
This question had been troubling Ye Ziyun for a long time. At last, today, the mystery had suddenly unraveled.
So she had been thinking about it from the wrong angle all along. There was nothing wrong with the way the inscription had been written. Of course she would never find a flaw by looking at the writing!
What level of knowledge did it take to spot a problem like this at a glance? Could even the professors and vice principal not compare to Nie Li in learning?
Ye Ziyun felt deep admiration for Nie Li and lowered her guard a little. Someone with such profound knowledge surely couldn't be a bad person, could he?
"What about this Bronze inscription?" Ye Ziyun pointed to the other one. As she did, she took another look at Nie Li. He was just a little taller than her, with sharply defined features, sword-like brows, and bright, starry eyes. He was quite handsome.
In the past, Nie Li had barely stood out in class. Only today, after Ye Ziyun had begun to understand him, had she come to feel such deep admiration for him.
"This inscription is the wind-and-snow type, Gale Snow. Gale Snow was originally a Silver Rank inscription, but the version passed down from the Dark Era was incomplete. Later generations filled in the missing parts, but that lowered it by one rank, turning it into a Bronze inscription," Nie Li said.
Ye Ziyun was puzzled. She had never imagined there was such a story behind it. Which book recorded this history? How had she never come across it?
Nie Li continued, "Besides being downgraded to a Bronze inscription, the repaired Gale Snow has some problems with its structure. It often develops problems during use and becomes unusable. Its structure needs to be changed."
"Change its structure? How?" Ye Ziyun's eyes were full of confusion. Even her grandfather would not dare alter an inscription on a whim. The inscriptions passed down from ancient times were already in a fairly perfect state. Although her grandfather was a Legendary Demon Spirit Master who could create inscriptions of his own, changing an existing one was difficult.
"Do you have a pen?" Nie Li asked Ye Ziyun.
Ye Ziyun moved her right hand and took a silver-horn pen from her Spatial Ring. It had been made from the pointed horn of a Horned Sheep.
Nie Li took the silver-horn pen from Ye Ziyun. His fingertip accidentally brushed against her palm, and the smooth, soft skin sent a little shiver through him.
Ye Ziyun immediately pulled her hand back and looked up sharply, watching Nie Li warily. She thought he had touched her on purpose, but he was holding the silver-horn pen with a perfectly serious expression, his face focused and intent.
Perhaps she had been overthinking it. That brief touch had stirred a strange, unfamiliar feeling in the young girl's heart.
With a few simple strokes on the blank paper, Nie Li sketched an inscription more complete than Gale Snow. Every line was proportioned perfectly, without the slightest discrepancy, as if it had been printed there.
It was an astonishing feat. Nie Li had drawn such a complicated inscription with only a few casual strokes, leaving her amazed. This revised Gale Snow was far more complex than before, so complex that Ye Ziyun could hardly understand it.
"This is the complete Gale Snow inscription," Nie Li told Ye Ziyun. "It belongs to the Silver Level."
Ye Ziyun's gaze settled on the Gale Snow inscription, her delicate brows drawn together. The revised Gale Snow was twice as complex as the original. She couldn't verify its actual effect right now; someone would have to turn the inscription into a scroll first.
She had never seen an inscription in this form!
"This inscription is made up of thirty-six basic inscriptions," Nie Li said. "That's what makes it stable. In its incomplete form, it was unstable!"
Ye Ziyun gave a puzzled hum in reply but didn't press him. Instead, she put away the inscription Nie Li had drawn, intending to have someone make it into an inscription scroll and test whether it was truly a Silver Rank inscription, as Nie Li claimed.
Ye Ziyun asked him a few more questions about Snowflake Engravings and cultivation techniques. Nie Li answered them all with ease, and with his guidance, her doubts cleared away. She admired him even more. How much time would someone have to spend learning to acquire knowledge as vast as Nie Li's?
"Classmate Nie Li, thank you for explaining everything. Don't forget our agreement. We'll meet here again tomorrow—don't be late." Before leaving, Ye Ziyun smiled, her lips curving like a luminous pearl veiled in a soft glow, her beauty bright and refined.
That radiant smile left Nie Li momentarily dazed. By the time he came to himself, Ye Ziyun had already waved goodbye and left, her graceful figure swaying charmingly as she walked away.
Nie Li suddenly felt cheerful. He was quite satisfied with how his first conversation with Ye Ziyun had gone.
Just as he was about to leave, a figure suddenly darted out from the side and grabbed Nie Li by the collar.
"It's you." Nie Li's gaze fell on the newcomer, his expression darkening. It was Shen Yue.
Shen Yue clutched Nie Li's collar with his right hand and glared at him viciously. "What were you talking about with Ziyun just now?"
"Let go, or I won't be polite," Nie Li replied coldly.
"Heh. You think you can afford to be impolite with me? Nie Li, you think way too highly of yourself. Who do you think you are? You think knowing a little about inscriptions makes you impressive? You're still far from it! Stay away from Ziyun from now on, or I'll make you regret it!" Shen Yue said darkly.
Du Ze, Lu Piao, and the others saw what was happening from a distance and immediately rushed over. Six or seven lackeys stood beside Shen Yue as well, glaring at Du Ze, Lu Piao, and the others. The air between the two sides crackled with tension.
The other students farther away in the library saw what was happening and hurriedly gave them a wide berth, afraid the flames of the conflict would spread to them.
"What happened?"
"I heard Shen Yue and Nie Li had a fight over Goddess Ye. They're about to throw down."
"Who's Nie Li? How dare he offend Shen Yue? Shen Yue's a direct descendant of the Sacred Family!"
"Nie Li's crazy. He really doesn't know his place! Shen Yue's about to reach Bronze 1-star. How could Nie Li possibly be a match for him?"
In Shen Yue's eyes, dealing with Nie Li was simple, given his strength. He only had to use a tenth of his power to crush him!
Nie Li looked at Shen Yue's arrogance with scorn. To him, Shen Yue was nothing but a brat. He had never considered Shen Yue a worthy opponent! Even your entire Sacred Family is barely worth playing with. Who do you think you are, Shen Yue?
In terms of strength and Soul Power, Nie Li was currently weaker than Shen Yue. After all, he had only been cultivating the Heavenly Dao Divine Art for two days. But to Nie Li, Shen Yue's way of using strength and Soul Power was as crude as that of a primitive man.
Even if my strength is only 38 and my Soul Power only 32 right now, I can still toy with you with ease.
"You think you can throw your weight around just because you have the Sacred Family backing you? You think having a Green Soul Sea makes you a genius? You're still far from it!" Nie Li seized Shen Yue's fist. Pressing the strength of his middle finger against the joint in Shen Yue's wrist, he sent force through it and slowly pried Shen Yue's fist open.
Shen Yue was startled to find that the moment Nie Li gripped his wrist, his entire arm went numb and weak. No matter how hard he tried, his hand was slowly forced open despite himself.
In an instant, Nie Li's hand clamped around his arm like an iron shackle. A searing pain made Shen Yue's face twist almost beyond recognition.
How had Nie Li done that? My strength is clearly greater than Nie Li's, so why can't I match him at all?
In Shen Yue's mind, Nie Li had always been that weakling at the bottom of the class, with terrible soul talent and a frail body. He, on the other hand, was the class genius, a heaven-blessed talent with a Green Soul Sea. He had grown up taking all kinds of medicinal herbs, and his physique was far stronger than that of ordinary peers.
Yet in this brief clash of strength, he had been completely unable to overcome Nie Li!
What kind of sorcery had Nie Li used?!
Nie Li gave a faint, mocking smile. His strength hadn't caught up yet, but his ability to control it was beyond anything Shen Yue could match. He sent force from his fingertip into the pressure points around Shen Yue's joints, instantly robbing Shen Yue's arm of its strength.
Before you continue