Ning Rongrong flipped the Seven Treasures Token over in her palm, the character Ning on its back facing Tang San.
"I'm sure."
"The person I vouch for isn't someone you get to question."
Tang San tugged down his sleeve and didn't press further.
Teacher Zhao carried the registration documents and hurried away from the Training Ground with the pile of Hidden Weapons. Gravel crunched beneath his feet.
Most of the students watching had dispersed, too.
Xiao Chenyu clutched an empty steamed-bun bag and crouched behind the wooden railing with Wang Sheng, muttering under his breath.
"Tang San suffered a loss so big it reached his maternal grandmother's house." "Today, Tang San took a real beating."
Wang Sheng turned the bag upside down and shook it.
"Not just a beating. He wanted to investigate Boss Su, but ended up having all his Hidden Weapons confiscated and registered. What do you call that? He lost both his wife and his army."
Su Hang returned to Xiao Chenyu's courtyard with Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong.
Once the courtyard gate shut, the chatter outside was walled off.
Ning Rongrong hung the Seven Treasures Token back at her waist and sat beside the stone table.
"Su Hang, I stood up for you, so you owe me a favor."
Xiao Wu immediately tugged on Su Hang's sleeve.
"She came here on her own. Why should you owe her anything?"
Ning Rongrong tilted her head.
"Can you let him speak for himself?"
Su Hang patted the back of Xiao Wu's hand.
"I'll remember the favor, but there's no rush to repay it."
Ning Rongrong pouted but didn't press the matter.
She carried her small bundle into the side room and closed the door. At last, the courtyard was quiet.
Xiao Wu leaned against the stone table, nudging a stool with her toe.
"Brother Su Hang, are you writing in your Diary tonight?"
Su Hang moved his teacup to the corner of the table.
"Yes."
Xiao Wu rested her chin on her arms.
"Then don't stay up too late."
Su Hang didn't answer. He waited until most of the courtyard lights had gone dark before pulling the gilt-edged Diary from beneath the table.
His pen touched the page. The ink hadn't even dried before the copy began to update.
[Douluo Calendar 2641, late at night.]
[The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect snuck off to Notting. Ning Fengzhi has probably crushed his teacup in a rage by now.]
[Tang San tried to turn the tables today, dragging Yu Xiaogang along to accuse me of using some evil technique. In the end, all his Hidden Weapons were registered: Poison Arrows, Fine Needles, Sleeve Crossbows—not a single one spared.]
[Yu Xiaogang kept trying to smooth things over, as consistently mediocre as ever. He talked about coordination, but the combination of a leaky Blue Silver Grass and off-target Hidden Weapons nearly stabbed his own teacher.]
His pen paused. Su Hang turned to the next page.
[The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's crisis runs deeper than Ning Rongrong can see.]
[Ning Fengzhi knows the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda is stuck at its current number of layers. Chen Xin and Gu Rong know, too. But the real danger is that when war breaks out, every faction will set its sights on the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect for its support.]
[Immortal Herbs can push Martial Soul Evolution, but for now, I can only write in fragments about where to find them and how to obtain them. If I write too much, the people who should be on guard may make their move early.]
Su Hang set down his pen, then added a few more lines.
[The system of Hidden Weapons in Tang San's hands is dangerous. For now, he only has Sleeve Arrows and Fine Needles. Once his Soul Power increases, he'll be able to use Blue Silver Grass to block off escape routes. Low-level Soul Masters won't stand a chance of defending themselves.]
[Worse, people like him are experts at using other people's resources. They'll use anyone's resources, then come up with a whole set of reasons to justify it.]
[If he manages to get in with some major sect and secure a steady supply of materials, his Hidden Weapons will advance several times faster.]
The Diary closed, and the copy had already been sent out.
In the side room, Ning Rongrong had pulled her quilt up to her chin and was just about to fall asleep.
The gilt cover suddenly glimmered beside her pillow, and a new page opened by itself.
She sat up and read through the pages one by one.
When she saw the words "snuck off," she gritted her teeth.
When she read "the system of Hidden Weapons is dangerous," she clutched the edge of her quilt a little tighter.
When she reached "Immortal Herbs" and "Martial Soul Evolution," her hand stopped at the edge of the page, her thumb rubbing back and forth twice.
Then she reached the final passage: "If he manages to get in with some major sect."
Ning Rongrong laid the Diary across her knees and stared at the wooden beams overhead.
Tang San had approached her today, saying it was a pleasure to meet her and asking for her guidance.
Yu Xiaogang had come over, too, analyzing how the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda might evolve.
Thinking back on it now, every line they'd said had been about ingratiating themselves with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
She tucked the Diary beneath her pillow and turned over, pulling the quilt tight around herself, but for a long time, she couldn't close her eyes.
Thousands of miles away, the inner compound of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was brightly lit.
Ning Fengzhi sat in his study, four urgent reports spread before him.
The first was a note left by Ning Rongrong. Its wording was arrogant, and its handwriting was messy.
The second was the guards' report on her route. Her carriage had already entered Notting City.
The third and fourth had come from the Heaven Dou trade route and a covert outpost on the southern line. Both pointed to the same name.
Su Hang.
Gu Rong pushed the door open, still holding half a bowl of cold soup.
"Fengzhi, you know what the little princess is like. If you bring her back, she'll throw a tantrum for half a month."
Ning Fengzhi folded the urgent reports.
"I won't bring her back."
Gu Rong nearly spilled the soup.
"You won't? She's so young, and she went to Notting City all by herself."
Ning Fengzhi stood and walked to the window.
"Send covert guards to protect Rongrong first. Then investigate Su Hang and Tang San. Both of them."
Chen Xin's voice came from outside the door.
"I've already told our people on the northern line to look into Su Hang. How deeply do you want us to investigate Tang San?"
Ning Fengzhi fell silent for a moment.
"Find out where his Hidden Weapons come from and whether he has a sect backing him."
At Pope Palace in Spirit City.
Bibi Dong sat on the high seat, with the confidential report Chrysanthemum Douluo had just delivered and a copy of the Diary beside her.
The candle flame flickered. Her fingers pressed against the lines in the copy.
A system of Hidden Weapons.
Leveraging resources to magnify its power.
She picked up the confidential report. It recorded Chrysanthemum Douluo's observations that day: Tang San had demonstrated his Hidden Weapons at the Training Ground, where they were registered; the Sleeve Crossbow Mechanism was finely made; the source of its poison had yet to be determined.
Bibi Dong placed the report beside the candlestick.
"Yue Guan."
Chrysanthemum Douluo emerged from the shadows, his golden hair immaculate.
"I'm here."
Bibi Dong pointed at the report.
"Keep investigating Tang San's Hidden Weapons. Where the materials come from, how the poison is extracted, who taught him to make the mechanisms—dig it all up."
Chrysanthemum Douluo took his leave, and his footsteps faded deep into the corridor.
At the Eastern Palace of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Qian Renxue sat by the window, holding the last page of the Diary copy.
The candlelight cast a faint glow across her profile, and a hint of a smile played at her lips.
Tang San hadn't even grown up yet, and he'd already made a mess of the academy.
A sneak attack with Hidden Weapons, an attempt to turn the tables—and then he'd been shut down on the spot by the Seven Treasures Token.
She closed the copy and rapped her knuckles against the window frame.
"Snake Lance."
A human figure emerged from the shadows.
"Your Highness."
Qian Renxue placed the copy at the corner of the table.
"The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has gone to Notting City. Keep an eye on the sect's covert agents in Heaven Dou. Report any developments immediately."
Snake Lance withdrew without a sound.
At the courtyard in Xiao Chenyu's estate, before Su Hang's desk.
The System Panel lit up with a pale gold border.
[Ning Rongrong's favorability: 15% → 22%.]
[Bibi Dong's emotional fluctuation: +18. Qian Renxue's emotional fluctuation: +12.]
[Mall points increased by 420.]
[Reward triggered: Level 2 Mall item preview permit ×1. Browsing only; purchases not yet available.]
Su Hang scrolled through the panel, and the Level 2 item list expanded.
Most of the entries were grayed out, but one lit up.
[Spirit Soul Evolution Clue Fragment, points required: 8400. Current points: 1630.]
Still a long way to go.
Su Hang dismissed the panel and leaned back in his chair.
Insects chirped fitfully in the courtyard.
The light in the side room had gone out long ago. Ning Rongrong had probably finished reading the Diary.
Soft footsteps came from behind him.
Xiao Wu stood in the doorway, draped in an outer garment, her hair loose and her fingers curled around the doorframe.
"You really are still awake."
Su Hang pushed the Diary to the corner of the table.
"Why did you wake up?"
Xiao Wu came over and glanced at the closed Diary on the table.
"Brother Su Hang, will you help Ning Rongrong change her fate, too?"
Su Hang turned his chair to face her.
"I can help, but first she has to prove which side she's on."
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