Floating Words

By the end of the lesson, the mouse clone felt as though it were lost in clouds and mist. It had not understood a thing.

Still, it was not discouraged.

After all, Liu Lanzhi had been teaching these students for two years.

It had only just arrived.

Watching Liu Lanzhi and the students leave, the mouse clone did not follow anyone this time. Instead, it headed straight for the rented room.

It had made up its mind.

At this rate, sitting through lessons would not do much good.

Rather than spend time listening to lessons it could not begin to understand, it would be better to use Cui Qianqian's notebook to catch up first.

The Royal Academy's summer vacation was almost here. There would be no classes during the break, making it the perfect time to catch up!

Catching up on two years of lessons in a single summer sounded difficult, didn't it?

But he was different from everyone else.

He was someone with two bodies.

If both bodies cultivated at once, his cultivation speed would be damn impressive.

With its decision made, the mouse clone rushed straight back to the rented room.

By the time it got back, it was already noon.

Wen Xiancheng was still cultivating on the bed.

This time, however, what floated before him was no longer the phantom image of a strand of yarn, but a whole array of words!

Yes, phantom images of many words.

The fourth page of Cui Qianqian's notebook explained how to construct a fine thread using illusion arts.

The fifth page explained how to form floating words out of those fine threads.

Characters were made up of individual fine lines, so the underlying principles were connected.

After spending the entire morning on it, Wen Xiancheng had learned how to do it too.

The mouse clone lay beside Wen Xiancheng, looking at the words with considerable excitement.

Cui Qianqian's notebook really was useful.

Wen Xiancheng emerged from his cultivation.

He went out and bought a little food.

The mouse clone lay on the table eating, while he turned on his computer and searched the browser for ways to train pets to cultivate.

The most basic requirement for both bodies to begin cultivating illusion arts at the same time was that they both be able to absorb spiritual energy from nature.

His human body had learned that long ago.

His aptitude had simply been too poor, so he had not continued.

The mouse clone, however, had not started cultivating yet.

Wen Xiancheng's memories contained nothing about how to get the mouse clone started, either.

To his delight, Wen Xiancheng quickly found a method for training pets to cultivate online.

Just like humans, pets first needed to be cleansed with Marrow-Cleansing Liquid before cultivating.

Once most of the impurities in their bodies had been expelled, they had to quiet their minds and sense the spiritual energy in nature.

Pets, however, were different from humans.

That was where the difficulty in pet cultivation lay.

Pets were not like people. The vast majority could not understand human speech, so naturally, they had no idea what sensing spiritual energy meant.

The various pets he usually saw in videos could perform all sorts of tasks at their owners' command, but that was not actually the result of thought. It was a conditioned response produced through training.

Thus, only certain exceptionally perceptive pets had any chance of doing it.

That made pet cultivation extraordinarily difficult.

The odds of a pet being able to cultivate were almost one in a hundred thousand.

In other words, out of a hundred thousand pets, perhaps only one or two could understand how to sense spiritual energy and thereby cultivate.

That was why every pet capable of cultivation currently on the market commanded an astronomical price!

His mouse clone was different, though.

The corners of Wen Xiancheng's mouth lifted slightly.

The mouse clone was only a mouse in body. Mentally, it was human.

Naturally, that obstacle did not exist for it.

But when Wen Xiancheng searched for the price of Marrow-Cleansing Liquid, his face immediately fell.

One portion of Marrow-Cleansing Liquid cost at least fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Xue Ruigao received only one high-grade spirit stone a month in benefits at the Royal Academy, equivalent to ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Even without spending anything on food or drink, it would take five months to save up enough.

That was clearly far too impractical.

Besides, now that he had moved next to the Royal Academy, he still needed to eat and drink.

It looked like he would have to start earning money.

Wen Xiancheng browsed the websites where he had submitted his résumé.

He had sent it out last night, but even by today, nobody had called him-not even for sales positions.

What was he supposed to do?

"Money!"

"Money!"

Wen Xiancheng muttered the word under his breath.

Suddenly, his gaze landed on an advertisement on his computer: Are you still worried about your child being unable to pay attention in class? Are you still frustrated by your child's lack of interest? Get a smart learning device! Vivid, engaging instruction can improve your child's grades right away!

Vivid, engaging instruction?

Wen Xiancheng's eyes lit up.

Something had occurred to him!

Illusion arts-floating words!

He could not yet create a unique illusion space like the one in Cui Qianqian's notebook, with a beautiful young girl explaining things inside.

But he could reproduce the three floating characters spelling "Cui Qianqian" on the notebook's first page!

That really was not difficult as illusion arts went.

Still, not many people studied illusion arts.

Ordinary people had no interest in learning a little illusion magic just to make words float, either!

I can do it!

Without another thought, Wen Xiancheng grabbed several dozen low-grade spirit stones and dashed out of the rented room, asking around.

Eventually, he found a Xinhua Library ten li from his rented room.

Inside the library, many people were buying books.

But even more were reading.

Wen Xiancheng found the children's section, where many children were browsing children's books with their parents.

Wen Xiancheng's gaze settled on a children's edition of One Thousand and One Nights.

It was a book of fairy tales.

Several adults were already nearby with their children, leafing through it and talking quietly.

Seeing the serious expressions on the children's faces, Wen Xiancheng smiled.

Here's my chance!

After buying three copies of One Thousand and One Nights, Wen Xiancheng immediately hurried back to his rented room.

Inside, he cast an illusion on every Chinese character.

He worked all the way until dusk. Only after spending three hours, exhausting his spiritual power three times, and using up one low-grade spirit stone did he finish casting illusions on every word in a complete copy of One Thousand and One Nights.

Now, as he flipped through the pages and watched the words float up, Wen Xiancheng grinned from ear to ear.

He could almost see low-grade spirit stones floating before him!

"Chengzi? Are you home?" A knock sounded outside. It was Xue Ruigao.

Wen Xiancheng jolted in alarm.

Oh no!

He had forgotten! When he took Xue Ruigao back to the Royal Academy yesterday, she had said she would have dinner with him today!

Wen Xiancheng hurriedly stood, closed the copy of One Thousand and One Nights, and carried it out with him. "I'm here!"

He opened the door, and sure enough, Xue Ruigao was standing outside.

Seeing Wen Xiancheng's exhausted face, Xue Ruigao knitted her delicate brows. "What have you been doing?"

Wen Xiancheng forced a smile and quickly said, "Nothing. I didn't cook today. Let's eat out!"

"Are you really all right?" Xue Ruigao asked worriedly.

Wen Xiancheng nodded earnestly. "I really am!"

After locking the door, Wen Xiancheng walked with Xue Ruigao toward the little restaurant where they had eaten yesterday.

Xue Ruigao turned her head to look at Wen Xiancheng's profile. After hesitating for a while, she finally said, "Chengzi."

"Hmm?" Wen Xiancheng turned and looked at Xue Ruigao in puzzlement.

Xue Ruigao said gravely, "I do want you to go out and work someday, to face society instead of staying shut away at home. But I don't want to see you wearing yourself out every day."

"What do you mean?" Wen Xiancheng asked.

Xue Ruigao said, "You don't need to do hard physical labor, like hauling bricks. It's not that I look down on that kind of work. It would just be too exhausting for you."

Giving Wen Xiancheng a bright smile, Xue Ruigao said, "Try to find an easy job you can manage. As for earning money, don't worry. I'll definitely work hard at cultivation and earn more money to support you in the future."

Wen Xiancheng felt a faint stirring in his heart.

Giving Xue Ruigao a mildly reproachful look, Wen Xiancheng said, "All right. I believe you."

An inexplicable ache welled up in his heart again.

But Wen Xiancheng no longer paid it any mind.

The two had only just reached the restaurant when they saw the owner's wife cursing away. "Goddammit, Old Huang, can you keep your son in line or not? All he does every day is stare at his phone! He won't do his homework or read the extracurricular books we bought him. If this keeps up, he'll grow up to be just like you-won't study and can't even write properly!"

(End of chapter)