Chapter 31: Chapter 31 The Falling Leaves of the Bamboo
This worry hadn’t lasted long before Zhang Xuan sensed a faint current of energy flowing throughout the Book Collection Vault.
At first, it was like a gentle breeze by the riverbank, only strong enough to lift the hair by his temples. As time passed, the trees shook, the corners of clothes swayed, and one felt wholly refreshed.
“Is this… Heavenly Mandate Vitality? How could such a thing be in the Book Collection Vault?”
With widened eyes, Zhang Xuan doubted whether he had sensed it incorrectly for a moment.
Wasn’t this something the Academy had to obtain at great cost, by leveraging the Destiny Plate and the Nine Dragons Pillar to extract a portion? How could it appear here, and why did it seem to be growing more abundant?
“Never mind for now… It might also be possible that the Source World thinks I don’t have enough Heavenly Mandate Vitality and intentionally supplemented some for me, just so I can successfully create the Heaven’s Path Divine Art!”
Looking thoroughly pleased, Zhang Xuan stopped pondering over it. With a shift in his spirit, the Library of Heaven’s Path gently shook, and the spreading Heavenly Mandate Vitality around him was devoured, illuminating book after book, and stored away.
“It’s a bit slow…”
After absorbing for a while, Zhang Xuan frowned slightly.
The amount of Heavenly Mandate Vitality drifting in the Book Collection Vault was tiers below that of Baiyan Academy. With this speed, it was impossible to complete the absorption of tens of thousands of strands in just a few days.
And he had arranged with City Lord Yu to only read for Two hours, and now less than a Quarter of an hour remained.
With this rate of absorption, he feared he wouldn’t even be able to absorb 100 strands…
“No, I must speed up!”
After hesitating for a brief moment, Zhang Xuan stopped disguising his actions, opened all his pores at once, and voraciously devoured the Heavenly Mandate Vitality that roamed freely, leaking into the air.
If he had been somewhat hesitant before, now he urged himself to swallow faster! After all, with the Book Collection Vault being so vast, the disappearance of a few strands of Heavenly Mandate Vitality shouldn’t be noticeable.
Of course, he still had to disguise his actions, otherwise, if he just stood still in the same spot, even the most oblivious person might notice something was amiss.
He still didn’t want people to know that he could absorb Heavenly Mandate Vitality without having opened a Source Pool, so keeping a low profile was still the primary strategy…
Feeling content, Zhang Xuan pulled out the “Five Directions Source Seeking Art,” casually flipping through it and pretending to study and memorize, while his body continued to devour unceasingly. For a moment, the Library of Heaven’s Path inside him was flickering with light, and the books were boiling with activity.
…
In the silent chamber, Yu Longqing and Steward Liao looked at the Spiritual Origin Bamboo in front of them that was as green as jade.
To obtain this treasure, even as the city lord, he had paid an unknown cost and expended a great deal of effort. Such an item, placed in any of the Three Premier Clans, would be worthy of being called a clan-treasured artifact.
At this moment, it was brought out just to satisfy his daughter’s wish, to make her happy!
“City Lord, once the formation is activated, it cannot be stopped. Are you sure you want to use it?”
Steward Liao looked over once again.
Yu Longqing smiled, “Why do I feel that you’re nagging like a woman? Just keep it running for Two hours, so that Xiao Yu and my niece Yanxue can better sense the Heavenly Mandate Vitality… No matter how much they absorb, how much could it possibly consume?”
“Yes!”
Steward Liao nodded his head, stopped talking, and walked over to a crystal ball at the corner of the wall. He gently caressed it, and the next moment, the warm light immediately began to shine, and countless rampant Origin qi filled the room instantly.
Feeling the surge of power, Yu Longqing took out a jade token and casually swiped it above the Spiritual Origin Bamboo, causing the rampant Origin qi to converge upon the bamboo, flowing into the roots and releasing from the leaves.
After filtering through the celestial treasure and the formation, what was released was the exact Heavenly Mandate Vitality that Zhang Xuan was absorbing.
One strand, two strands, three strands…
Accompanying the purified Origin qi, the darkest green leaf at the very top gradually turned pale yellow, as if swept by the autumn wind, slowly withering away.
“A single leaf can purify about eight paths of Origin qi!”
Steward Liao calculated.
Yu Longqing nodded, “As long as these eight paths aren’t fully absorbed, the formation won’t continue to operate. For Xiaoyu and the others, it’s just tempering their bodies and perceiving the Heavenly Mandate Vitality. One leaf is enough…”
It was only then that Steward Liao understood, and he bowed with clasped hands, “City Lord is wise! Indeed, I was worrying over nothing…”
Before his complimentary words could end, the formation that had just stopped started operating again abruptly, and another leaf turned from dark green to withered yellow.
“Ah?”
Steward Liao was stunned.
Yu Longqing also showed a hint of surprise, “How did these two girls absorb the eight paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality so quickly? How did they manage it?”
How long had it been? Ten breaths? Twenty breaths?
Could it be that they couldn’t hold back and directly absorbed the Heavenly Mandate Vitality into the Source Pool? They shouldn’t be so foolish!
If they absorbed it in the academy, they could evaluate their tier, which would help them choose their instructors better. Absorbing it here would at most solidify the Source Pool, and they would lose other opportunities.
It’s like taking an exam at home; at best, you solidify your knowledge. No matter how well you do, it doesn’t mean much, but if you perform well in the national college entrance examination, you can truly change your life.
Whoosh!
While his doubts hadn’t yet cleared, another leaf turned yellow and slowly drifted down from the branch.
“Another eight paths?”
Becoming somewhat restless, Yu Longqing suddenly stood up.
In less than a minute, to have successively absorbed sixteen paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality, could it be that this somewhat silly-looking girl of his was actually a genius?
Frowning deeply, Yu Longqing couldn’t help but say, “Steward Liao, you watch here—I’ll go check what’s actually happening with the two of them.”
“Alright…”
Steward Liao nodded, just about to say something, when his eyes fell on the Spiritual Origin Bamboo, and his expression changed again, “City Lord…another leaf has turned yellow!”
“This…”
Yu Longqing couldn’t help but remark, “It seems these two girls are indeed quite remarkable at absorbing the Heavenly Mandate Vitality!”
“If… this continues, what should I do?” Steward Liao couldn’t help but ask.
Yu Longqing shook his head, “Their ability to absorb the Heavenly Mandate Vitality so quickly indeed exceeds my expectations, but… thirty-two paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality already reach the fourth level, which is almost the limit! The situation you’re talking about, it’s absolutely impossible!”
“Um…” Steward Liao finally nodded.
In Baiyan City, the highest talent seen in a hundred years was a city lord with a Fifth Grade Source Pool who absorbed sixteen paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality. These two young ladies, no matter how strong… could they really surpass him?
The city lord’s words are right; there’s no need to worry too much…
“You keep guard here; I’ll go take a look…”
Dismissing the unrealistic ideas of his subordinate, Yu Longqing had just thought to leave the room when he felt the entire room oscillate between light and dark rapidly, as if he had entered a dance floor with flickering neon lights.
He turned his head hurriedly.
He saw the Spiritual Origin Bamboo, which had just been dark green, now flickering non-stop under the enhancement of the formation. In just a dozen or so breaths, hundreds of leaves turned yellow, drifting with the wind and scattering all over the ground with a rustling sound.