Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

The vast Deep Archive fell into complete silence. Neither Xu Yuan nor the Sage’s remnant soul spoke again.

Before long, the young matron-like spirit puppet brought over the Nine Origin Calming Art that Xu Yuan had requested.

“Lady Saintess, here is the art.”

It was a handwritten manuscript of a dozen or so pages. The characters on it shimmered faintly, as if some soft glow flowed through the ink.

Xu Yuan took it, skimmed through a few pages, then placed it into his Sumeru Ring.

At that moment, the Sage’s remnant soul suddenly cut in with a word of praise. “This secret art is rather marvelous. It can keep someone who has just begun cultivating in a constant state of cultivation. Kid, you came here specifically for this, didn’t you?”

Xu Yuan ignored the old man’s probing and instead asked the spirit puppet matron directly, “May I choose a few more manuals?”

In Azure Point, if the player chose to force their way up here and kill this spirit puppet matron, she would randomly drop one cultivation art. The Nine Origin Calming Art was only one of the possible drops.

The spirit puppet matron bowed and shook her head. “According to the rules, Lady Saintess may only choose one art from the Deep Archive every ten years.”

Xu Yuan gave a slight nod at that and turned, ready to step into the teleportation array behind him. The goal of this trip had already been achieved. Although there were other treasures inside the Dome Palace, they were far too dangerous for the current him. There was no need to risk his life for them.

Once he used the teleportation array to find Ran Qingmo, he planned to run for it. After all, Tian Yan was still chasing right behind him.

But the instant he stepped onto the teleportation array, the spirit puppet matron abruptly appeared in front of him. Her voice was still respectful, still carrying that faint seductive lilt. “If you wish to leave, please return the secret art to me.”

Xu Yuan’s heart sank slightly. So the cultivation arts in the Deep Archive had this kind of restriction too?

The Sage’s remnant soul suddenly said, “I have more or less memorized this secret art. Once we get out, I can recite it to you.”

Xu Yuan glanced sideways at him.

The Sage’s remnant soul smiled amiably.

Xu Yuan gave a soft snort, then simply sat down cross-legged on the steps of the teleportation platform and began reading carefully by himself.

He did not trust Luo Daofan. A secret art was the kind of thing where the slightest error could send you a thousand miles off course. Even changing a single character could lead to consequences beyond imagination.

Seeing that he had failed to fool Xu Yuan, the Sage’s remnant soul said no more. He merely reminded him, “Xu boy, you had better hurry. Tian Yan could arrive at any moment.”

Xu Yuan frowned. While flipping through the secret art, he answered casually, Tian Yan should only be at second rank at most, right?

“About that.” After their earlier clash, the Sage’s remnant soul had roughly grasped the other party’s strength. He said in a low voice, “I estimate that she should only be a Saintess of the Heavenwatch Pavilion, not its Pavilion Master.”

Xu Yuan replied offhandedly, Since she’s only second rank, do you think she can fight her way through this many spirit puppets in the Deep Archive?

“This many?” the Sage’s remnant soul frowned and glanced at the spirit puppet matron standing beside Xu Yuan. The Deep Archive was also covered by a chaotic concealment array, so his soul sense could not probe very far.

Xu Yuan kept his eyes on the manual and casually pointed downward. There are four second rank puppets on the lower floors, and eight third rank ones.

The Sage’s remnant soul’s pupils shrank slightly. Not because he was shocked that there were so many spirit puppets below, but because Xu Yuan knew the numbers so clearly.

He was becoming increasingly confused about this fellow’s background. Sometimes Xu Yuan seemed like some old monster in disguise. Other times, he seemed like an ordinary man.

After a pause, the Sage’s remnant soul sighed and said in a low voice, “Not necessarily.”

Xu Yuan frowned and looked up at him. What do you mean? Are you saying Tian Yan can withstand a siege from that many second rank enemies?

The Sage’s remnant soul said quietly, “Spirit puppets are not real people. There is a great gap between them and true second rank cultivators. Besides, there are some secrets in the Heaven Deriving Art that even I do not know.”

Xu Yuan’s brow tightened. He stopped reading the manual and looked straight at him. Old Man Luo, didn’t you cultivate the Heaven Deriving Art? How could you not know?

The Sage’s remnant soul rolled his eyes. “Xu boy, do you think the Heaven Deriving Art is a cabbage in the market? That anyone can cultivate it whenever they please?”

Xu Yuan stared at the Sage’s remnant soul with clear suspicion in his eyes.

The Sage’s remnant soul put on the shameless look of a man with nothing left to lose.

“Actually, your earlier guess was right. I did secretly learn the Heaven Deriving Art, but I only managed to steal the Heaven Mantra chapter.

“Tsk, don’t look at me like that, boy. I have no reason to lie to you about this. Just stealing that one chapter nearly got me killed. Back then, there were more than a dozen Sage Venerables there.”

Xu Yuan sighed and did not dig any deeper into the matter. Instead, he asked, Fine. Then why is Tian Yan coming after me?

The Sage’s remnant soul chuckled and explained, “Simply put, although the Heaven Deriving Art can deduce all things, there are three situations it cannot calculate. First, certain special physiques. Second, old monsters powerful enough to conceal themselves. Third, when a great calamity is about to descend upon the world, the Heaven Deriving Art can only see darkness.”

Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment, then asked, So the Heaven Deriving Art cannot deduce my Innate Dao Physique?

“The Innate Dao Physique can be deduced by the Heaven Deriving Art.”

After saying that, the Sage’s remnant soul stared at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan’s expression did not change. His tone even carried a touch of admiration. Well now. So I, Xu Changtian, am actually the great calamity of the world.

The corner of the Sage’s remnant soul’s mouth twitched. This brat really had no shame.

Xu Yuan calmly skipped over the topic as if nothing had happened and asked in a low voice, Then what does that have to do with her wanting to follow me?

Because of the tacit understanding they had reached earlier, the Sage’s remnant soul did not keep digging into that previous topic. This time, however, his tone carried a trace of uncertainty.

“Nothing too special. Most likely, she wants to set an anchor point on you.”

An anchor point? Xu Yuan frowned.

The Sage’s remnant soul said in a low voice, “I don’t know the exact details either, but according to the records of the Heavenwatch Pavilion, whenever a variable appears, the Pavilion Master or the current Saint or Saintess will go to that person and stay by their side.”

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked, And what happened to the people they followed?

A playful smile curled at the corner of the Sage’s remnant soul’s mouth. “Generally, there were two outcomes. They either joined the Heavenwatch Pavilion, or they became corpses.”

Xu Yuan fell quiet for a few breaths. Then he suddenly let out a soft laugh. That overbearing?

The Sage’s remnant soul shrugged and answered quite simply, “In the Heavenwatch Pavilion’s eyes, variables are not allowed to exist. Back then, the sect had the strength to act that way. As for now, that is not necessarily the case.”

Heh. Xu Yuan smiled, temporarily pressed down the thoughts in his heart, and focused on studying the secret art in his hands.

Time passed quickly in the antique and elegant Deep Archive. In the blink of an eye, an hour had gone by.

By then, Xu Yuan had more or less understood the principle behind the Nine Origin Calming Art.

Once cultivators stepped into second rank, the meridians in their bodies could absorb source qi from the outside world in a continuous, tide-like flow. A truly brilliant expert had used that principle to create this secret art, allowing lower-ranked cultivators to achieve a similar state of constant breathing and circulation, cultivating every moment without pause.

Of course, its restrictions were just as severe.

The human body had 127 meridians, and this art required the use of 109 of them. If even one of those meridians was blocked, the art could not be mastered. It also had extremely high demands on the soul.

But for Xu Yuan’s Innate Dao Physique, none of that was a problem.

Once he understood the principle behind it, Xu Yuan began memorizing the circulation routes word by word. Tian Yan was still chasing him from behind. He had no time to practice here, so he could only memorize it first and cultivate it later.

Another hour passed.

Xu Yuan returned the art to the young matron, then prepared to head for the teleportation array and make his grand escape.

The array patterns on the platform suddenly flashed. Then, a graceful figure appeared atop the teleportation platform, and a familiar cool, quiet voice rang out.

“Xu Yuan, I just saw Tian Yan fighting some crazy woman outside.”