Chapter 21 - Observation
Ling Fengxiao felt that something was off about the jade, and wanted to take a closer look.
Lin Shu sucked in a breath: “Ouch!”
Ling Fengxiao released her hand in a flash, and the jade fell back onto Lin Shu’s chest.
Now, there was a little problem.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, the following lines would be expected: “Your neck is in the way. Take off the jade and show it to me.”
Lin Shu silently tucked the jade back into his clothes.
“You …” Ling Fengxiao looked a little hesitant, and then asked, “Where did this come from?”
Lin Shu was amazed that this jade was able to attract the attention of the Big Miss, and wondered if the jade was of a good quality.
Previously, when Ling Fengxiao questioned him about what happened in the village, he did not mention that he had a master. Thus, currently, it was a little hard for him to reveal that it was left to him by his master.
“Ancestor.”
“Ancestor?” Ling Fengxiao frowned. “How many generations?”
Lin Shu pressed on with his lie: “It has always been pa.s.sed down.”
“When it was pa.s.sed to you, was anything said about this jade?”
Lin Shu stubbornly continued: “I was only told that it’s valuable.”
Ling Fengxiao’s expression is a perfect representation of “…”.
“What did your ancestors do?” Ling Fengxiao asked.
Lin Shu thought back to the small village, and replied, “Farming.”
Ling Fengxiao: “……”
The Big Miss was once again remarkably perceptive to Lin Shu’s intentions.
This jade which attracted Ling Fengxiao’s attention, was definitely not an ordinary jade. And to say that an extraordinary jade was found from that small village was preposterous.
He attempted to salvage himself: “My ancestors once struck a fortune.”
Ling Fengxiao’s jet-black eyes bore through Lin Shu, making his hair stand on the end.
“Really?”
Lin Shu: “… seriously.”
Ling Fengxiao did not bother hiding the harshness in her tone: “Aren’t you a fool? Why do you know so much?”
Lin Shu: “……”
As lies were made up to cover the initial small lie, inconsistencies were becoming more and more apparent.
He scratched his nose: “The villagers told me.”
Ling Fengxiao did not speak, and instead inspected him from head to toe, seemingly having seen through his act.
Lin Shu started to feel anxious: “What’sk2026; wrong?”
Ling Fengxiao replied lightly: “Nothing. That is a good quality jade.”
This woman may have said k2018;nothing’, but she was still looking at him.
Lin Shu wordlessly opened his book and withdrew into his sh.e.l.l, hoping to reduce his presence. Countless possibilities flashed through his mind.
The quality of this jade was so high that even the Big Miss of the Phoenix Villa was astonished.
Ling Fengxiao had already suspected that he had ulterior motives when he entered Shangling Academy, and this incident serves to prove her case.
It wasn’t until True Man Juding entered the hall to start the lesson, that Lin Fengxiao turned her attention to the lecture, allowing Lin Shu to release his breath.
Although the “Ju” in True Man Juding’s name meant “huge”, his actual figure is anything but. True Man Juding was a small wizened man. Extremely serious during lessons, none of the disciples dared to cause any mischief and they all listened intently.
The True Man was talking about the principle behind making Dan.
It was said that qi existed in everything. By using sacred fire in the furnace to smelt, qi could be gathered into Dan and refined. Consuming Dan would give its user certain magical properties.
Lin Shu had read through the book before. The first part of the Outer Dan Technique described the existence of qi in vessels, listing many examples such as “Langxuan copper ore” and “smelting cinnabar smelting into crystals”. Most content was centred around inorganic chemistry, and the chemical formulas could even be written out.
After this mundane part, came the mystical elements. Concepts such as “Qi”, “Sacred Fire”, and “Yin and Yang”, were of a completely different category, beyond scientific explanations.
In his past life, Lin Shu accepted the modern education of materialism, but was also instilled with the idea of cultivation by his master. It was confusing to him, but in the end, he vaguely understood that there were indeed two sets of practices in the world, and subsequently pushed the information to the back of his mind.
According to his master, Immortal Dao could not be practiced due to the absence of qi. Fortunately, their generation of swordsmanship did not have to rely on qi.
In this world where qi was abundant, as told from this book, both sets of practices were valid.
The heavens threw him into a prosperous world, but failed to give him any talent. It was a fitting punishment.
In the blink of an eye, two hours pa.s.sed. After a short break, True Man Juding began to explain the basic techniques.
No problems occurred, until it was time to light the furnace.
Lin Shu was fine.
Ling Fengxiao’s furnace almost exploded.
When True Man Juding saw the fire, he scowled: “Maintain a stable level of qi! More isn’t necessarily better!”
He stormed over, glaring at Ling Fengxiao.
Ling Fengxiao extinguished her fire and started once more.
She rubbed her fingertips together gently, releasing a string of qi – a faint red light appeared in the air.
True Man Juding nodded: “That’s more like it.”
The next moment, the flames three feet high jumped up again, almost singeing the beard of the True Man.
“…”
Ling Fengxiao blinked innocently.
True Man Juding was deep in thought for a long time, and finally said: “The affinity of Phoenix Villa is fire. Normally, it will influence the effects of smelting in a harmless and elegant way. However, your affinity with fire is too strong, unsuited for smelting Dan. If convenient, you should consider picking up a different cla.s.s.”
Ling Fengxiao asked: “Can I use the spiritual power in jade souls to ignite the fire?”
True Man Juding: “The spiritual power released will be affected by you, making it inadvisable.”
Lin Shu was very glad.
This would imply that he did not have to share a cla.s.s with Ling Fengxiao in the future.
Unexpectedly, Ling Feng Xiao asked: “Is it possible to ask someone to light the furnace for me?”
True Man Juding nodded: “That would be fine.”
Ling Fengxiao: “Thank you True Man.”
At that, she looked at Lin Shu.
Lin Shu had no choice but to use his jade soul to ignite the furnace for the Big Miss.
A cl.u.s.ter of small flames rose.
Although the spirit fire looked unimpressive, in actual fact it was a hundred times stronger than ordinary fire. This small cl.u.s.ter itself is able to sustain the furnace in smelting a Dan.
The True Man hummed, “The fire is very pure. Acceptable.”
Having said that, he walked away to check the flames of the other disciples.
Ling Fengxiao looked at Lin Shu again.
Lin Shu felt her eyes, and raised his guard.
As expected, Ling Fengxiao spoke: “From this cla.s.s onwards, you will sit here and help me light my furnace.”
Lin Shu: “…”
Alright.
He was reluctant, but succ.u.mbed.
Ling Fengxiao continued: “50 jade souls each time.”
Lin Shu: “Deal.”
It took one-fifth of a jade soul to start the fire, and for fifty jade souls, the Big Miss really was generous.
He succ.u.mbed willingly.
Following this storm, the rest of the time pa.s.sed peacefully.
Lin Shu extinguished the fire, packed his things, was about to leave, and was abruptly stopped by Ling Fengxiao: “What’s your next cla.s.s?”
Lin Shu: “Basics of Battle Tactics.”
“What else?”
“Introduction to Medicine.”
Lin Shu felt uneasy.
He was a little fearful, afraid that Ling Fengxiao would treat him like she did like Xiao Lingyang,
——Why did you choose those instead of focusing on cultivating?
Although he did not know what Ling Fengxiao’s personality was like, like a pufferfish her temperament changed unpredictably, so he had good cause to be worried.
Surprisingly, Ling Fengxiao said: “That’s fine.”
Did she really just acknowledge his choice of cla.s.ses? Lin Shu did not recognize the person in front of him anymore.
Maybe she took the wrong medicine this morning, he thought.
Or perhaps that piece of jade was indeed evil, and Ling Fengxiao wished to know the whereabouts of a potential criminal.
Seeing that Ling Fengxiao did not speak further, he quickly left. Before leaving, he saw that Ling Fengxiao had taken out a pen and paper, writing something unknown on it.
It did not matter to him, thus Lin Shu did not slow down his pace.
Without Ling Fengxiao around, he attended two cla.s.ses without running into any issues, had dinner without any disturbances, and proceeded to the tenth floor of the library to sort out the books.
As soon as he stepped into the tenth floor, a red figure appeared in his line of sight.
Ling Fengxiao was reading.
Lin Shu dashed in between two bookshelves.
However, to organize the books, one must weave through the shelves, and he inevitably pa.s.sed through the area where Ling Fengxiao was at.
Naturally, Ling Fengxiao was aware of his presence.
No. Not only was she aware, he felt that Ling Fengxiao’s eyes were not on the books, but on him.
Lin Shu tried to calm himself.
I have nothing to be observed about, and my only function is to ignite the furnace fire. After a few days, the Big Miss will realize that I am a normal salted fish, and there is no need for her interest.