Paper Crane

The Liu Family was also a prominent household in Sheng County.

In its early years, the Liu Family dealt in cloth. The family head had a shrewd mind, and the business grew larger and larger. By now, they had become one of Sheng County's foremost wealthy merchants.

Liu Xu was of the Liu Family's direct line, the second daughter of the family head, Liu Yuanfeng. She had an older brother.

The Liu Family had thought that becoming a wealthy household was already the peak of their fortunes, but then Liu Xu emerged.

When Liu Xu was seventeen, the moon was full that night.

Liu Xu stood in the courtyard, staring at the round moon in the sky.

That night, every brush, inkstone, paper, and inkstick in the Liu Family rose into the air, circling Liu Xu as they whirled and bowed in submission.

That same night, Liu Xu comprehended Righteous Qi from the full moon and became a scholar.

From then on, Liu Xu underwent earth-shaking changes.

She no longer stepped beyond the front gate or the inner gate, spending every day buried in books. Yet the air of drifting elegance and detachment around her only grew stronger.

More than ten days later, people came from Azure Cloud Academy, the greatest academy in Nanhua Dao and one of the foremost in all Great Chu. They accepted Liu Xu as an academy disciple.

There were many academies in Nanhua Dao, but Azure Cloud Academy alone stood above the rest.

Upon hearing the news, the entire Liu Family rejoiced.

It was then that seventeen-year-old Liu Xu left for the academy. After two years, she had only returned home today.

After returning home, Liu Xu had not changed. As before, she was cultured and sensible.

Yet she still spent all day cooped up in her own chamber, coming out only to eat.

The Liu Family had long grown accustomed to it, treating it as Liu Xu's usual manner.

At this moment, Liu Xu set down the case file in her hand.

"Hmm... There have been more murder cases in Sheng County lately. The Extreme Life Sect, and those sharp blade marks at the scenes." Liu Xu held the case file in one hand and lightly tapped her other palm.

As she tapped, the white gauze at her sleeves gently fluttered, occasionally revealing her fair wrists.

She still wore a white veil over her face. Her features could vaguely be seen, yet never clearly.

Hazy and indistinct, she possessed a mysterious beauty.

"Sheng County's magistrate truly is dull. The moment he heard it involved people of the martial world, he began muddling things over. It's infuriating. And besides, how did a clerk end up dead?" Liu Xu began pacing back and forth, her curved willow-leaf brows drawn together.

Others might not have known her identity, at most taking her for a scholar.

In Nanhua Dao of Great Chu Kingdom, it was not uncommon for women to study.

But many people did not know that Liu Xu had another identity.

—Paper Figure Maker.

Ever since entering the academy two years ago, her strength had rapidly approached the eighth rank through devoted study.

Yet when she reached the peak of the ninth rank, she suddenly stopped progressing.

Azure Cloud Academy taught order and discipline, advancing step by step with steady footing.

Each time a scholar rose by one rank, their understanding of books deepened.

But Liu Xu had gone through every ninth-rank book in the academy without making the slightest progress.

From then on, she became taciturn and even began doubting herself.

She wanted to try eighth-rank books, but her realm was insufficient. Looking at them was like reading a heavenly tome.

When she had first entered the academy, the teacher who taught her had once said that she had been born for studying.

But being halted at the ninth rank left her vexed.

She read every day without gaining an inch, and it left her despondent.

Her teacher understood her feelings well. One day, he suddenly came to see Liu Xu, bringing with him an old man whose life was like a candle guttering in the wind.

The old man was advanced in years, his eyes clouded beyond measure. After seeing Liu Xu, he gave her a book and left behind a single sentence.

"I have repaid everything I owed the academy."

The book he gave her was yellowed with age, and four words were written upon it: "Paper Crafting Essentials."

Her teacher told her that the reason she had stopped advancing might perhaps be related to this.

In Nanhua Dao, no scholar would deeply study the books of martial artists. Most merely glanced through them to understand the general outline.

After all, there were countless books written specifically for scholars. Some people could not finish reading them in a lifetime, so where would they find the time to concern themselves with anything else?

Yet the books of scholars were useless to Liu Xu, or at least, they could not allow her to step into the eighth rank.

So her teacher decided to try another method and found this book.

Naturally, Liu Xu was overjoyed to receive a new book.

That night, she stayed awake until dawn and read Paper Crafting Essentials from cover to cover.

It was also that night that Liu Xu entered the eighth rank.

She was still a scholar and did not possess the vigor of martial artists, but her Divine Essence had changed.

Righteous Qi was still Righteous Qi, but when she used it, it carried a different flavor.

When ordinary scholars wrote an essay, their Righteous Qi surged forth, making people's spirits stir.

When she wrote an essay, her Righteous Qi likewise surged forth, but it carried a grim, eerie feeling.

After considering it from every angle, Liu Xu decided it was because of Paper Crafting Essentials.

After all, Paper Art was extremely sinister. Since she had comprehended the eighth rank through paper crafting, it was only natural that she would be different from others.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

Liu Xu believed it was a good thing.

Being able to enter the eighth rank and even understand many, many other branches of the martial world was naturally a good thing.

Thus, after entering the eighth rank, she no longer fixated solely on the academy's books.

Of course, the academy's books still had to be read, but she also needed to explore other books.

If anyone else did this, it would be an enormous waste of time. With the experience of predecessors to serve as a foundation, cultivating multiple paths was thankless toil.

But Liu Xu was different. She was not cultivating multiple paths; she was merely turning those books into something she could use.

Naturally, her changes could not be concealed from the academy, but the academy said nothing about them.

There were countless sinister paths in the martial world, and not every one of them was condemned by all.

Great Chu, where a hundred flowers bloomed together, had a decree: so long as it did not harm the people's livelihood, it was permissible.

Thus, Liu Xu's changes instead made the academy breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, she was a scholar born for study. The academy treasured her before it was even too late.

Not long ago, the academy went on break. Liu Xu thought of returning home for a visit and taking it as a rest.

Unexpectedly, not long after returning, she heard of all manner of recent events in Sheng County.

At the end of the day, Liu Xu was still a scholar. After hearing these matters, she developed the thought of resolving them.

In her view, studying was meant to use the principles one had learned to settle the injustices of the world.

The case files were easy to obtain. With the Liu Family's reputation in Sheng County, coupled with Liu Xu's identity, the magistrate did not utter a single word of refusal.

After spending one or two days, Liu Xu had also sorted out the whole sequence of events.

"The Extreme Life Sect... It's these people again. I never expected them to run into a tough opponent. And those chaotic blade marks—the one who dealt with the Extreme Life Sect should have been a martial artist." Liu Xu put down the case file in her hand and picked up another item from the table.

It was a report written by the coroner.

The report said that the deceased had been killed by some unknown concealed weapon, which should have been a blunt object about the size of a peanut.

"The size of a peanut... Perhaps I know how to investigate this." Liu Xu smiled.

She moved with lotus-light steps to the cabinet in the corner of her chamber and opened it.

Inside the cabinet lay a stack of white paper, spotless and free of dust.

Liu Xu drew out one sheet, her ten slender fingers moving slightly.

Before long, a paper crane appeared in her palm.

The paper crane looked lifelike, its head a patch of pure white.

Liu Xu picked up a writing brush, dipped it in ink, and dotted the paper crane's eyes.

The next moment, the paper crane came to life.