Xuan Shang Ancient Dynasty (Seeking Reads)

Five skill points!

Fang Shuwen's pupils constricted slightly, though his expression remained calm.

This book was definitely problematic; it was by no means an ordinary piece of leisure reading.

The fact that it could provide eerie energy meant this book was something akin to the Ghost Jade.

Yet, it was not entirely the same, as ordinary people could touch the Ghost Jade without danger.

But this book...

He hadn't even touched it; he had merely glanced at it and nearly met with disaster.

This was only because he had practiced martial arts and achieved two bone-cracking sounds.

His blood and qi were surging, which gave him the chance to save himself.

Had it been anyone else, they would likely have already perished.

Eerie energy.

These two words circled in his mind, aligning with the "Ghost Jade" mentioned by Old Master Zheng.

Ghost Jade, eerie.

A single character's difference, yet they shared the same origin.

It seemed that the wicked things in this world were far more numerous than he had imagined.

That the book could yield five skill points meant the eerie energy contained within was comparable to the high-quality Ghost Jade that Old Master Zheng had given him.

"Are you alright? Your face looks terrible."

Seeing him standing motionless, Shen Xinyi couldn't help but ask again.

This poor student had looked like he'd seen a ghost just a moment ago; he had calmed down now, but his face was still frighteningly pale.

He looked exactly like someone who had been completely drained.

He looked just like her cousin after a night out on the flower boats.

"I'm fine."

Fang Shuwen shook his head and bent down to pick up the fallen stool.

He placed his cloth satchel by his feet, but his gaze involuntarily drifted toward Shen Xinyi behind the counter.

At this moment, Shen Xinyi had lowered her head to read again, her slender white fingers turning a page, her expression focused and calm, showing no signs of anything unusual.

Fang Shuwen withdrew his gaze, his mind churning with thoughts.

Who exactly was this bookstore owner?

Why was she so indifferent while touching this book, when he had nearly fallen victim just by glancing at it?

Ordinary people could touch the Ghost Jade without danger, but he hadn't even touched this book; he had only looked at it and nearly been dragged into that gloomy, eerie castle.

Fang Shuwen's gaze landed once more on the woman in the cheongsam behind the counter, who was still reading with her head bowed.

She turned the pages so quietly, her long, slender fingers gliding across the paper, her expression focused and calm.

Fang Shuwen's mind churned with thoughts, but his face remained impassive.

"Proprietress, is this book of yours... really stocked from Shenghai Bookstore?" he asked casually.

"What else? Do you think I printed it myself?"

Shen Xinyi didn't even look up, her tone tinged with a hint of impatience; she clearly didn't want to be disturbed.

Fang Shuwen smiled and didn't press further.

The breathing, heartbeat, and even the blood flow of the bookstore owner, Shen Xinyi, showed no changes.

Therefore, she was likely truly unaware that there was anything abnormal about the book.

However, the eerie energy within the book had now been absorbed by him.

The book was no different from any other now.

Outside the window, the twilight deepened.

Fang Shuwen continued to review his lessons.

Tomorrow was the entrance assessment, and he had to pass all seven subjects to remain enrolled.

Subjects like Chinese and arithmetic were not difficult.

With the foundation from his past life, exams at the middle school level were as simple as drinking water to him.

What truly gave him a headache was the Outline of New Learning, which was filled with a vast amount of common knowledge regarding martial arts theory and the eerie.

The original owner of this body had never listened to a single lecture in this course, and the textbook was as pristine as if it had just been issued.

He opened the Outline of New Learning and began to chew through it page by page.

"Demonic and eerie entities are manifestations of strange energies between heaven and earth, formless and intangible, often attaching themselves to objects..."

Fang Shuwen's gaze stalled on this line.

He raised his head and glanced once more at the book with the blue-gray cover in Shen Xinyi's hands.

Formless and intangible, attaching to objects?

Could Tales of the Ancient Castle be a book possessed by an eerie entity?

That would explain why he had nearly fallen victim to it just by glancing at the title.

And Shen Xinyi.

Was it possible she wasn't unaffected, but rather, due to some other reason, she had managed to resist the influence?

Fang Shuwen shook his head, pushing these thoughts aside for the moment to continue his review.

Time slipped away unnoticed amidst the sound of turning pages.

By the time Fang Shuwen closed his textbook, the sky outside the window had turned completely dark.

Pedestrians on the street grew sparse, leaving only the dim, yellow moonlight to fall upon the ground.

He rubbed his aching eyes, stood up to pack his bag, and placed a few copper coins on the table.

"Proprietress, for the tea."

Shen Xinyi finally looked up, glanced at the coins on the table, and then at him.

Fang Shuwen nodded at her, turned, and pushed open the shop door.

The night wind rushed to meet him, carrying a hint of chill.

He stood on the steps outside the bookstore and took a deep breath.

He currently had five skill points; he was still halfway to the ten required to fuse the Soaring Snake Fist.

Once the school entrance assessment was over, he would have to find a way to visit the National Martial Arts Hall and buy a cheap Ghost Jade.

If that failed, he would just have to go find Old Master Zheng for a few more games of chess.

The old man might have a temper, but he was addicted to chess; perhaps he could win something else from him.

Thinking of this, Fang Shuwen's lips curled slightly. He slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped into the night.

Xikou County New Government Building.

The office belonging to the Folklore and Antiquities Investigation Division was still lit.

Lin Xiu sat behind his desk, clutching a thin file, his brow furrowed into a knot.

Spread across the desk were several photographs, depicting the two corpses fished out of the Clear Water River that afternoon.

One had a collapsed chest with several broken ribs, shattered by a raw, powerful punch.

The other had a neck twisted at an unnatural angle, snapped by someone's hands.

Clean, efficient, and lethal.

The money on both men had been looted, suggesting a crime of opportunity or a vendetta.

As a special department, a case like this shouldn't have fallen to him.

But one of these two men was linked to a case he was currently investigating.

Furthermore, he was a key target.

So, were Liu Mang and his companion killed because this person had truly come into contact with the Soaring Snake Counter-Scale?

The Soaring Snake Counter-Scale originated from an ancient tomb in the mountains of northern Jiangnan Province.

A group of grave robbers had discovered the tomb and stripped it of all its treasures.

This snake scale had subsequently flowed into the black market.

At first, the item hadn't received much attention.

After all, the land of China was vast with a profound history, and similar items were countless.

An eerie object whose strange energy had been almost entirely depleted would naturally be overlooked.

However, that changed not long ago.

The Shenghai Folklore and Antiquities Investigation Division had salvaged some bronze slips from an ancient shipwreck dating back to the Xuan Shang dynasty.

From the restored content, they learned that the last emperor of the Xuan Shang, Emperor Zhouyuan, had once ordered the construction of a Red Sky Divine Ship, intending to soar into the nine heavens in search of the essence of immortality.

According to the bronze slips, Emperor Zhouyuan did not find the essence of immortality on this journey.

Yet, it was not without gain; he discovered a divine treasury located above the Nine Heavens.

Unfortunately, the timing was not right, and the treasury could not be opened.

Emperor Zhouyuan returned in low spirits, recording the location of the treasury onto the scale of a Soaring Snake.

That was the very bronze fragment he was currently tracking down.

That piece of bronze was none other than the Soaring Snake Counter-Scale!