The next morning, a light drizzle suddenly began to fall, pattering against the Bamboo Forest, the chirping of insects and birds echoing throughout the small courtyard.
Shuning was woken up by the noise. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Turning her head, she saw that the window was half open; Eldest Senior Brother's cuckoo bird had already flown over and was waiting by her sill.
She got up and approached the window, skillfully untying the small slip of paper tied to the cuckoo's leg, then poured some dried meat into a small dish and placed it in front of the bird.
Shuning unfolded the paper, which read:
*Junior Sister, a two-month special training program begins tomorrow.*
*—Li Zhuoran*
*Summary: Nothing on the agenda today!*
After reading it, Shuning pulled open the drawer beside her and put the slip inside. In truth, one thing had always bothered her: although she and Eldest Senior Brother could communicate directly via jade slips, he still preferred sending her messages by cuckoo bird.
Oh well, it was probably just a personal quirk!
She then cast a sound-isolation barrier around herself, flopped back down, and went right back to sleep.
When the sun was high in the sky and the rain had cleared, Shuning woke up and stretched contentedly.
After a quick wash, she walked over to the large tree on the east side of the courtyard and plopped down onto a recliner. Lying there lazily, she picked up the manuscript by Master Chuan Ye that she had won at the auction.
The cover was blank, nothing more than a simple, plain-looking manuscript.
Shuning gently opened the cover.In the bottom right corner were the characters "Chuan Ye," but she found it strange: the character "Chuan" (river) only had two vertical strokes, and it was written in cursive connected with the character "Ye" (page), making it look much more like the character "Shi" (teacher).
Still, Shuning didn't dwell on it and turned to the next page.
The first page was a fireball talisman, a very basic low-grade talisman that cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above could use.
She turned to the second page: an improved version of the fireball talisman, usable across all cultivation stages.
???
Shuning flipped back and forth, discovering that this improved fireball talisman altered the paths of the original at a few turning points, yet ultimately looked nearly identical to the original. Without careful inspection, one couldn't tell the difference at all.
She gasped sharply: "??!"
Even the most basic talismans required Foundation Establishment cultivators to use them, and higher-tier talismans could only be wielded by those with even greater cultivation.
She flipped through several more pages, all of which featured upgraded improvements built upon basic talismans.
When Shuning tried to turn further, the pages wouldn't budge. There must have been a restriction placed upon them; with her current Foundation Establishment cultivation, she could only view this much.
She closed the manuscript, the shock in her heart lingering for a long time. This person was trying to research talismans usable across all realms, and they had already succeeded with several!
Shuning tucked the manuscript away into the very depths of her Qiankun Pouch. She was extremely curious to see whether the improved talismans in this manuscript actually worked.
However, since she didn't understand talismans right now, reading this manuscript was like an elementary school student looking at high school material—she could understand the words, but not the concepts. She decided to pay a visit to the Library Pavilion.
No sooner thought than done. Shuning opened the Baixuan Sect map in her system interface and selected the Library Pavilion on Qizhu Peak.
Before long, guided along the way, she arrived outside the Library Pavilion.
The Baixuan Sect had two libraries. One was located on Qizhu Peak and stood three stories tall. Its first and second floors were open to all members of the Baixuan Sect, while the third floor stored all the mental cultivation formulas accumulated since the founding of the sect, which core disciples could borrow using jade slips.
The other library, called the Scripture Pavilion, was located on Chongming Peak and was open only to Golden Core disciples and elders.
Stepping through the front doors of the Library Pavilion, Shuning saw only a single elder on duty. Instead of heading straight to the third floor, she wandered around the first level.
After strolling idly for a while, as if she had finally found her target, she walked straight to a bookshelf in the far corner.
*The Rise of the Baixuan Sect*
*Why Are Everyone Coming Out of the Ancient Sword Sect Such Old-School Sticks?*
*The Huanyan Sect's Secret to Eternal Youth*
*A Few Untold Affairs Between True Immortal Qingyu ①*
*...*
And so on.
Shuning: *As expected, I'm still much more interested in these than proper business!*
These books were covered in dust, clearly rarely read by any disciples. Shuning casually cast a cleansing spell, then picked up a book and sat down to read.
As night fell, Shuning rubbed her sore eyes, closed the final page with a sense of profound satisfaction, put the book back where she found it, and turned to leave.
On her way back to Qianze Peak via sword flight, she would pass by Baihua Peak. Word had it that the female cultivators of Baihua Peak were all deeply empathetic, and Shuning figured the chances of Zhaoyan choosing Baihua Peak were quite high. Therefore, she decided to make a detour to Baihua Peak to take in the local customs and scenery.
Finding an open patch of land in the air, she descended onto Baihua Peak.
Baihua Peak lived up to its name. All sorts of exotic flowers and rare herbs competed in beauty, resplendent and colorful, forming an endless sea of flowers.
In high spirits, Shuning released her Divine Sense, letting it roam across this sea of blossoms. Just as she was about to press further ahead, she caught sight of a familiar figure.
Who could this be??!
Second Senior Brother Xie Yun!
He was talking to a curvaceous female cultivator, and the two of them were even tugging at each other!
Something was clearly going on between these two. Could her Second Senior Brother actually be a heartbreaker?
Shuning pulled the Golden Feather Garment from her Qiankun Pouch, draped it over herself, and crept closer to the spot where she had just seen Xie Yun.
There was a large boulder five meters away from them. Shuning stopped, took cover beside the stone, and began eavesdropping on their conversation.
"...Senior Sister, I've already told you, don't look for me anymore, and definitely don't send any more letters."
Shuning slammed a fist against the nearby rock. Her Second Senior Brother really was a scoundrel!
"Junior Brother Xie, how can you be so heartless!"
"Hey, hey, hey, Senior Sister, don't you slander me!"
"..."
As the two of them continued to tug back and forth, Shuning could no longer bear to watch and readied herself to step in and purge the sect of scum.
"Fine, then give me a straight answer: when is the second volume coming out?"
??!
Hearing this line, Shuning's forward step faltered, and she almost lost her footing.
"Senior Sister, didn't I say? I'll definitely write it when I have time, and then I'll bring it to you myself. Stop writing letters to pressure me!"
"Then can you give me a spoiler? Are True Immortal Qingyu and her fate a HE or a BE?"
True Immortal Qingyu? Wasn't that the book she had just finished reading? The author seemed to be named Riyun.
*Gasp!* Second Senior Brother's other identity actually turned out to be...
The author of *A Few Untold Affairs Between True Immortal Qingyu ①*!
"I cannot say. Please be patient, Senior Sister." Xie Yun finally wrenched his hand free and fled as if his life depended on it.
Seeing Xie Yun run away, the Senior Sister of Baihua Peak swallowed her unshed tears and had no choice but to turn and leave.
Now, only Shuning was left standing alone in the wind, a chaotic mess. *So that's how you broke other female cultivators' hearts, Second Senior Brother.*
The virtual system interface suddenly popped up:
【Congratulations on fully fleshing out Xie Yun's identity!】
【Points Reward: 2 points】
【Please claim your reward】
*To think I had so many misunderstandings about Second Senior Brother!*
After claiming her reward, Shuning quietly headed back to Qianze Peak.
The biased portrayal of Xie Yun in the original book had done her a grave disservice!
She vowed silently to herself that from now on, she would treat her Second Senior Brother much better.