After morning practice ended, Chu Xisheng hurried eagerly to the Library Tower.
Sure enough, the tower was deserted, with only Ye Zhiqiu and a few martial instructors standing guard.
There was also the Library Tower's master, Ye Jingyuan. He believed that his negligence and failure to supervise had left him inescapably responsible for yesterday's disaster involving the Bloodwind Bandits, so he had confined himself to the tower's top floor to await punishment from the Formless Divine Sect's main headquarters.
Ye Zhiqiu opened the door and let Chu Xisheng inside, explaining solemnly as she did, "Actually, the head of the academy discussed your rewards with us last night. One of them was six days of free study in the Library Tower, so letting you in doesn't break any rules.
"But you must remember: you can only study below the sixth floor. A small portion of the secret martial texts above the sixth floor involves the supernatural powers of Gods and Devils. Encountering them too early won't do you any good."
Chu Xisheng agreed solemnly. Once inside, he made a show of searching through the shelves, as though looking for a martial text that suited his tastes.
Only when he reached the eastern corner of the sixth floor did he see the Yazi Diagram Chu Yunyun had mentioned.
Although the Bloodwind Bandits and the Embroidery Guard had rummaged through the tower's chests and cabinets after entering, they had barely touched the pictures hanging on the walls, whose contents were visible at a glance.
This picture therefore still hung safely on the wall, without the slightest damage.
Pretending to be "drawn" to the painting, Chu Xisheng sat cross-legged before it to study.
At first, Chu Xisheng could make little sense of it. He simply tried his best to memorize all its structures and lines.
But just as he had memorized roughly ninety percent of the picture, his expression changed slightly.
Without realizing it, he had fallen into an illusion. Before him was no longer the Library Tower, but an immense glacier stretching as far as the eye could see.
Ahead, a middle-aged man in blue robes stood in midair. He cast a cold, unfeeling glance in Chu Xisheng's direction, then turned his gaze toward the northern horizon.
Only then did Chu Xisheng notice an incomparably brawny giant towering in the northern sky.
His feet trod the earth and his head touched the heavens. His skin was blue all over, densely covered in Pale Bone Spikes.
The giant had only one eye, right in the center of his face. He was pressing one hand down through the air toward the middle-aged man.
That hand covered a full fifty mu, bearing down as irresistibly as a small mountain.
At that moment, Chu Xisheng heard a ringing clang.
It came from behind the middle-aged man. A dazzling streak of saber light suddenly shot upward, transforming in midair into a divine beast some ten zhang long, with a jackal's body, a dragon's head, and a saber held in its mouth. It slammed into that sky-supporting palm with a thunderous crash.
The giant instantly flew into a rage. Roaring, he clenched his hand fiercely, trying to crush the divine beast.
But as he exerted his strength, not only did his five fingers fail to close, they all bent backward instead. With crisp cracking sounds, they snapped.
The giant then summoned countless bolts of crimson lightning with his lone eye to bombard the divine beast.
Yet the instant the lightning touched the beast, it surged back in the opposite direction, blasting an enormous wound into that lone eye.
The saber-bearing divine beast now turned back into a ribbon of saber light and cut straight through the giant's waist, cleaving him in two!
For a moment, boundless blood sprayed out, staining a vast expanse of the glacier red.
Chu Xisheng stared at the scene, utterly entranced. His Divine Sense and thoughts were seized by the middle-aged man's saber force and intent, leaving him unable to regain control for a long time.
And before his eyes, more giants appeared on the glacier.
They crowded together in numbers like mountains and seas, resembling a moving range of immense peaks.
The blue-robed middle-aged man paid them no mind, still standing in the air with his hands behind his back.
Facing the army of giants surging toward him like a tide, he remained composed and immovable as a mountain.
Behind the middle-aged man, the divine beast with a jackal's body, a dragon's head, and a saber in its mouth appeared once more, letting out a heaven-shaking roar at the distant giants.
The sound shook the clouds and heavens. Boundless saber Gang swept outward in every direction, splitting the entire glacier apart inch by inch.
Chu Xisheng's mind was lost in the illusion, unable to pull free.
He did not know how much time had passed before he suddenly woke.
To his astonishment, outside the nearby window lay darkness, with a pale moon and sparse stars. A luminous pearl set into the tower's wall was casting a dim yellow glow.
Ye Zhiqiu sat beside him, watching him with a trace of concern.
"You're awake?" Ye Zhiqiu's expression relaxed, but puzzlement then rose in her eyes. "How strange. This is just an ordinary Yazi Diagram, meant for studying the Divine Wind Bright Mirror Saber, an advanced branch of the Wind-Chasing Blade. How could you look at it for so long? You actually sat here for two and a half whole days."
Startled, Chu Xisheng blinked, then shook his head hard to gather his dazed awareness again. "I sat here for two and a half days? How is that possible?"
"Would I lie to you? You've been sitting here from the morning three days ago right up until tonight."
Ye Zhiqiu folded her arms and turned to look at the Yazi Diagram.
But she could find nothing unusual. It was simply an ordinary True-Meaning Diagram that allowed people to grasp the essentials of the Divine Wind Bright Mirror Saber.
She then shook her head. "Since you're awake, let's leave together. The Library Tower's guards change shifts tomorrow, and Shao Lingshan will be in charge here. You've thoroughly offended that fellow. Nothing good will come of being in his hands. If you want to come back to study martial arts, wait a few days until Old Qiu takes over."
Chu Xisheng rose along with Ye Zhiqiu, but staggered and nearly fell to the floor.
Perhaps because he had sat too long and his Qi and Blood had stagnated, both his legs felt completely numb, beyond his control.
Chu Xisheng steadied himself against a nearby bookshelf, baring his teeth in a grimace.
Besides the numbness, his legs felt as though ten thousand ants were crawling over them. The sensation defied description.
Just then, however, Chu Xisheng paused slightly and looked at the illusory screen before his eyes.
The text on the screen had changed again.
Character: Chu Xisheng Renown: lower ninth rank (extraordinary) Martial arts: Incomplete Form of the Wind-Chasing Saber Technique (first level) Martial intent: Yazi Remnant Intent (first level) Origin Power: Origin-Nourishing Art (first level / unranked) Martial Dao Points: 25 Talents: Eagle Eye, Wind-Chasing, Lightning-Pursuing Hands (first tier) Status: Six Yin Soul-Returning Incantation Lifespan: 24 days
The illusory screen now had an additional line: "Martial intent: Yazi Remnant Intent (first level)."
As Chu Xisheng pondered, a line of text appeared in his mind.
-Yazi saber intent could be upgraded with ten Martial Dao Points.
There was also the lifespan field. When Chu Xisheng entered the Library Tower, it had read nineteen days.
He had stayed here for two and a half days, neither practicing the Origin-Nourishing Art nor taking Yanghe Powder. Yet instead of decreasing, his lifespan had increased by five days.
His mind brimming with questions, Chu Xisheng struggled to move his legs and feet. Once the Qi and Blood in his legs returned to normal, he hurried out of the Library Tower toward the Storage Yard.
When he pushed open the courtyard gate, he found, just as expected, that a light was on in Chu Yunyun's room.
His sister in name had already returned from the Daoist Temple to the north.