Nothing materialized. The scroll was empty.
Li Meirong tried again, "Can you bring me a computer or a phone…?"
I heard you the first time. Um, I do not know what a computer or a phone is. Can you eat it?
As if the dimension grew curious on its own, it began to question her instead.
No! You cannot!
She missed playing games, listening to music, and having information available for her a finger"s click away. It was those small things in life that made living more interesting for her.
Li Meirong sighed. This dimension thought it belonged to her, but it obviously did not. She is not from the Bai clan and if it was anything that was created from her, would it not be aware of technology?
She pitifully tried one last time, "Can you give me some headache pills?"
The dimension felt its dignity was in jeopardy! The owner clearly looked upset. It had not heard of headache pills, so it came up with the next best thing.
Poof!
A small, ancient looking, dark blue, and slightly rusty object suddenly appeared on the floor. It looked like a closed mini cauldron but its shape resembled the kettle she saw a little more than the standard round shape of a pot.
Placed on her lap was a package filled with different materials ranging from s.h.i.+ny crystals, small powder filled bags and pulsing electrical round b.a.l.l.s
Exasperated, she questioned the dimension, "What is all this nonsense?"
Nonsense?! It gave her one of the best pill furnaces in the whole universe, filled her bag with high level spirit beast cores, preserved energy crystals and dried precious herbs mashed into powder!
The dimension was extremely offended!
"I just wanted some headache pills, take all of this back." Li Meirong placed the bag on the side and jumped over the little rusty looking kettle pot.
The dimension wanted to cry.
Li Meirong"s curiosity only grew further with this place, despite her disappointment. She decided to copy Feng Huang and look around. It didn"t seem that way from the outside, but once she went inside the shrine, it was evident that there were several floors to the structure.
A row of st.u.r.dy marble stairs curled upwards to the second level, designed like a stairway in a fancy, european opera house. Li Meirong inquisitively checked the vicinity, finding herself in a gigantic library.
The shelves were so tall that she had to procure a ladder in order to reach the books stacked on top. Heaps of ancient looking books, scriptures and bamboo scrolls were listed in alphabetical order according to topic and origin.
Her wandering feet soon brought her to a stand, listed "Cultivation Practices And Manuals."
After the reputation she"s been left with in the sect, her vision immediately drifted to the familiar term of a scroll situated on the right side of the shelf. "Dual Cultivation: How To Practice Safely."
Embarra.s.sed, she hurriedly averted her gaze and randomly grabbed a book nearby.
It was a pleasant surprise to discover a scripture listing "Cultivation For Dummies: A Step By Step Guide."
This was exactly what she wanted! Little did she know, it was not by sheer luck that she found the scripture. The dimension purposefully placed it right there as she was aiming to grab it.
She sat down and engrossed herself in reading. She already knew some of the words so it made sense to her, and so she found it easy to follow the guidelines.
After what seemed like a few hours of reading...
Testing her newfound knowledge, Li Meirong sat in a lotus position, and cleared her mind of any possible obstructions. She guided her consciousness to focus on her lower dantian, the region which supposedly contained most of her internal energy. As if she was able to see into her own body, a vision of a barren pond surfaced in her mind. The pond was vast , but nearly empty of water.
She reached out with her mind, feeling the flow of qi coursing through her meridians as she tried to circulate her energy back into her dantian.
She was empty. There was so little energy flowing inside.
Where is she supposed to draw her energy from if her very dantian is empty?!
More than determination, it was her lack of knowledge and confusion which kept her going. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. Where did the blue flame s.h.i.+eld come from? Where did this dimension appear from? Why does she have a strange aura? Why did her grandmaster call her a thief? All these questions surfaced, causing her muddled mind to unfocus.
With her concentration gone, she sullenly surfaced her conscious self back to the present and blinked the salty tears away, only to notice a curious pair of blood red eyes staring directly at her. Feng Huang hovered her crystal filled body right in front of Li Meirong"s eyes, staring at her curiously.
"Took you awhile…" By the time Feng Huang had noticed Li Meirong, she managed to check all the possible floor levels. Meanwhile, she even found a whole room filled with priceless treasure! There was only one floor level she was unable to reach no matter how hard she tried, as if it was cloaked by an illusion spell, she was only able to see it from the bottom floor, but when she flew over towards the location, it vanished.
She was fine with that though, there was more than enough loot to plunder! Honestly, Feng Huang took pity on Li Meirong. The girl had the chopsticks, but didn"t know how to use it to grab the food. The girl brought her to this wonderland, so she might as well a.s.sist her.
"Let me help you. Close your eyes and I will lead my spiritual energy to guide your consciousness until we find yours." Feng Huang explained as she raised her thick, dark turtle legs and placed it on Li Meirong"s pale forehead.
Li Meirong followed her instructions and tried to focus her consciousness once again. A hot flaming trail appeared in her vision this time. She followed the path made by Feng Huang.
At first, she reached the same empty pond she saw before, but the flame trail marked its path forward. She crept onwards.
In the far distance, a blue flame could be seen glowing in the darkness, it seemed so far away, almost impossible to reach. No matter how far she walked, the flame didn"t get any closer. Li Meirong felt like she couldn"t go on, it was too difficult.
"Don"t give up now! You"re almost there!" Feng Huang"s girly voice echoed as she yelled.
She didn"t want to give up! But there was no way she could reach it. It was like staring at the Himalayan mountain peak when you"re stationed at the lowest point in the world.
"It"s right there, only if you have the willpower for it, then you can reach it." Feng Huang"s trail ceased. It was up to Li Meirong to make the next step. Only she could do it.
Distracted, Li Meirong thought of a western movie series she really enjoyed as a kid called Star Wars. Finding certain similarities in her situation with the characters in the movie, she regretted not naming the turtle "Mistress Yoda". It would suit her right now!
As her thoughts jumbled up, the blue flame dimmed significantly and went further away.
"Focus, stupid!" Feng Huang"s voice loudly scolded.
Li Meirong bit her lower lip in frustration, thinking of the time Chou lost his limb and s...o...b..ll was wounded and covered in blood. She had to strive harder to care of her little ones! What if Sheng Jing Wu was waiting outside to kill her, will she await her demise, defenseless?
Her obsidian eyes picked up a s.h.i.+ne of determination. She forced her legs forward, step by step. It felt as though she walked inside quicksand, with the current flowing against her. It became harder to breathe. She could hear her heartbeat ticking faster as her consciousness reached into the furthest reaches of her spirit. Her heart pounded so furiously, she wondered if she would die before reaching the flame.
As if the flame waited for her to embrace it, it glowed brighter.
Meanwhile, Feng Huang who supervised Li Meirong"s body noticed blood began dripping down the girl"s nose and from the corners of her mouth.
This stupid girl might really die! I told her to focus her willpower, not to fight herself, d.a.m.nit!
She was about to place her st.u.r.dy turtle leg back on her forehead, and tell her to stop before she kills herself, but a tantalizing smell halted her movement.
Oh, it smelled so sweet!
Feng Huang couldn"t help her greedy personality, so she stuck out her pink tongue and tasted the beautiful crimson liquid.
Instantly, she felt completely rejuvenated. As if she drank from the pool of life! With every drop of blood, her body"s strength increased by heaps and bounds!
Seeing the blood flowing faster, Feng Huang snapped out of her ecstasy.
Li Meirong was a living pool of energy! In this entire place, she is the ultimate treasure!
"Turns out, I"m the stupid one!" Feng Huang couldn"t believe her foolishness, she almost let go of the finest delicacy. In haste, she brought herself back inside Li Meirong"s inner life force.