He Xiuyuan carefully examined the travelogue in his hand, but there was no other content throughout the entire book.
After confirming that there was nothing noteworthy in the content, He Xiuyuan pondered for a moment and began to experiment.
There was a water pouch in the carriage, so He Xiuyuan took it, wet one of the pages, and wanted to see if there was any change.
However, as the page got wet, there was no change; no other text appeared.
He Xiuyuan frowned at this scene.
"Could it be that I was mistaken?"
He Xiuyuan felt puzzled as he looked at the book.
After some thought, He Xiuyuan was about to put away the water pouch, but at that moment, he suddenly froze.
Something was off.
Ancient book pages were relatively fragile, and no matter what, this was just paper.
The water had soaked it, and even if no other writing appeared, at the very least, the paper should have been damaged, right?
Thinking of this, He Xiuyuan reached out and gently touched it. With a slight force, the paper was surprisingly tough.
And as He Xiuyuan applied force, the ink characters originally on it were actually wiped away by him.
The page, originally full of characters, now became a blank book again.
He Xiuyuan was startled by this, then his face lit up with joy.
"Indeed, this book really is the Dao book given by that crazy Daoist!"
"This Immortal Seeker searched for Immortals for half a year, but when he encountered a True Immortal, he failed to recognize him... Truly..."
While He Xiuyuan used water to wipe away all the ink characters inside, he sighed to himself.
After all the characters were washed away, a yellowed ancient book appeared before He Xiuyuan, but there was not a single character on it.
With a slight flick, the water stains inside disappeared completely, making it seem waterproof.
He Xiuyuan thought for a moment, then tried to bake it with a fire starter.
However, this item seemed impervious to water and fire; even when roasted with fire, no characters appeared, nor could the book be burned.
This clearly showed that this item was truly extraordinary.
"It seems I can only try Spiritual Qi."
Seeing that neither water nor fire had any effect, He Xiuyuan circulated Spiritual Qi within his body, then gathered it at his fingertips and slowly infused it into the book before him.
And as the Spiritual Qi entered, characters truly began to appear on the Dao book before him, little by little.
He Xiuyuan's heart immediately filled with joy at this sight.
Indeed, there was something in this book!
As all the characters in the book appeared, He Xiuyuan concentrated and saw the content within the book.
"Water Control Art?"
Looking at the characters that emerged from the book before him, He Xiuyuan's face immediately lit up with joy after a glance.
This should be a Spell!
Thinking of this, He Xiuyuan immediately concentrated and examined it carefully.
What was written in the book was much as He Xiuyuan had guessed: a Water Control Art.
And within this Water Control Art, there was also a small Qi Refining Spell.
However, He Xiuyuan already had a Cultivation method, so he wouldn't need this Qi Refining Spell; he only needed to study the Water Control Art.
But looking at it this way, that Immortal Seeker truly missed an Opportunity.
If he had believed the old Daoist at that time, perhaps he would also have embarked on the path of Dao Cultivation by now.
He Xiuyuan pondered the Water Control Art while thinking about the Immortal Seeker.
According to what was written in the book, the other party had sought Immortals for decades, from a young man until he was half-buried in the yellow earth.
During this time, he had endured countless hardships.
What a pity.
He Xiuyuan shook his head at this thought, then continued to lower his head and comprehend the Spell in his hand.
According to what was written in the book, if water control could be achieved, one would be able to avoid water and also control water to fight enemies.
This Dao is profound and extensive. Generally speaking, some Cultivators can only Cultivate simple water control, forming a water shield to enter water or walk on water.
Achieving this step is already extremely remarkable; to go further is very difficult.
He Xiuyuan was completely engrossed in this Spell, and at the same time, he began to try it out as described in the book.
However, this Spell was indeed very difficult.
After many attempts, He Xiuyuan still couldn't control the water, as described in the book.
In the end, He Xiuyuan even exhausted all the Spiritual Qi in his body, yet still failed to achieve it.
As He Xiuyuan cultivated the Spell with such concentration, time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the carriage had passed through a county.
........
"Mr. He, the horses are tired. How about we rest here for a bit before continuing our journey?"
A few days later, the carriage slowly came to a halt.
Steward Song was quite old after all, and the continuous travel had made him somewhat exhausted. He wanted to rest for a moment now.
He Xiuyuan relaxed his shoulders upon hearing this.
He had been studying Spells inside the carriage for the past few days and felt as if his body had stiffened.
However, there had been no progress at all with the Spell.
Hearing Steward Song's words now, He Xiuyuan also nodded, preparing to get off the carriage and walk around.
"Then let's take a temporary rest."
He Xiuyuan said as he stepped down from the carriage, about to walk around, but at that moment, the sky suddenly brightened, followed by a dull clap of thunder.
Steward Song, who was about to rest, was startled by this. He looked up and saw that the sky was dark and gloomy, clearly a sign of impending rain.
Seeing this, Steward Song looked around and recognized the area. There was a roadside inn not far ahead where they could rest.
Looking at the situation, if the rain was heavy, they might not be able to leave for a while.
Moreover, at such times, inns could easily be fully booked, making it hard to find a room.
"Mr. He, let's go to the inn ahead first. The sky looks like it's about to rain soon. How about we go ahead and book a room to rest for the night?"
Steward Song thought for a moment and decided it would be better to secure a room first.
He Xiuyuan looked up upon hearing this and saw the inn not far ahead, with a wine banner fluttering outside.
"Then I'll trouble Steward Song to go ahead. I'll walk around here to clear my mind and will be back soon."
The Cultivation these past few days had truly frustrated He Xiuyuan; he still hadn't learned the Spell.
Therefore, He Xiuyuan wanted to take a walk outside to relax his mood.
Steward Song nodded in agreement, but to prevent sudden rain, he took an oil-paper umbrella from the carriage and handed it to He Xiuyuan.
"Mr. He, please take this umbrella first, so you don't catch a cold from the rain."
After saying that, Steward Song then drove the carriage towards the inn.
He Xiuyuan paid no mind as he watched Steward Song leave, turning instead to the small river flowing slowly nearby, and unconsciously strolled along its bank.
The sky was covered with dark clouds, and thick bolts of lightning darted through the clouds. It seemed that this rain would certainly not be light.
And He Xiuyuan, at this moment, was somewhat engrossed in the small river before him.