Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Ever since he entered the academy, You XiaoMo stole her thunder and grinded her pride beneath his feet time and time again.
If this was not DaoXin Academy, she would have long used the influence of the Teng Family to ensure that You XiaoMo would not be able to continue to live in Yan City. Thus, her only course of action available now was to tolerate these things.
Now that You XiaoMo had once again appeared in front of her, and snatched away the skill training manual that she had been planning to acquire, she could endure it no longer. Thus, she came up with such conditions.
From Teng ZiXin’s perspective, there could be none who would not be tempted by five thousand points.
However, her wishful thinking would ultimately be fruitless, as the person standing in front of her was You XiaoMo.
You XiaoMo would just need to work a little harder, and in two to three months, he would be able to earn five thousand points. It could be estimated that within the entire academy, there was no one more awesome than him. This was because not everyone had a dimension which allowed them to cultivate plots of high-grade magic herbs. Thus to him, five thousand points were just like a tenderloin. It was appealing, but was still not enough to make him drool gluttonously.
You XiaoMo did not know how to react to Teng ZiXin’s tone of superiority contained in her words. Did he have ‘I am a greedy villain’ written on his face?
When he thought of this, You XiaoMo cocked his head and gave Teng ZiXin a once-over. Then with a serious face, he asked, “Who are you?”
Teng ZiXin’s face twisted further in anger.
When he saw this, Ling Xiao was delighted. To Teng ZiXin, those three words were the most retaliatory in nature than any other words.
Teng ZiXin wanted You XiaoMo to take this matter seriously. However, to get him to do that, she would have to admit that she knew them. But she would rather slap her own face before admitting this. When this approach came to Teng ZiXin, she was glaring so fiercely, her eyes seemed about to shoot flames.
“You XiaoMo, you better stop your jokes. Are you going to take up my offer or not?”
Teng ZiXin shed all pretense of cordiality and finally admitted that she knew You XiaoMo.
When the beauty beside her heard this name, she finally knew why Teng ZiXin pretended not to know them. As her close friend, You XiaoMo’s name was like thunder piercing the ear. She was quite curious about him, but she would not have expected that ZiXin would be at a disadvantage in front of them.
(t/n: thunder piercing the ear is an idiom that means a well-known reputation)
“Teng ZiXin, I intentionally earned four thousand points to get this high level skill training manual. Do you think I will still go through with your offer? To you tell the truth, even if you gave me ten thousand points, I would not take up your offer.” It wasn’t You XiaoMo’s objective to mock her, but Teng ZiXin’s attitude of looking down upon others rubbed him the wrong way.
The beauty knew that with Teng ZiXin’s arrogance, it was not easy for her to make such an offer. This You XiaoMo was still behaving so self-righteously she could no-longer bear to stand on the sidelines anymore.
“What will it take for you to give up the scroll?”
Hearing the beauty’s words, You XiaoMo shook his head, “I think that I’ve said it very clearly. I will not give up the scroll. You guys should stop wasting your efforts.”
“Very well. Since you don’t intend to relinquish it, I want to challenge you to a duel.” Teng ZiXin’s stunning face harbored a hint of a burgeoning glare.
You XiaoMo was momentarily astonished. This was the first time someone had challenged him to a duel.
The two’s levels were different. You XiaoMo was still a low-grade level five mage. Teng ZiXin was also still a mid-grade level five mage.
Seeing that he had not replied, Teng ZiXin held up the card in her hand and said, “If I lose, this Purple card and all the points inside will be yours. If I win, I want the high level skill training manual that you took. Now? Do you dare accept my challenge?”
You XiaoMo had planned to reject it, but when he heard the stakes, he suddenly became slightly tempted. Five thousand points in addition to a Purple card. If he won, he would not need to slave away for the next few months.
But after he thought it over, he shook his head, “I apologize, but I am not interested in your challenge.”
“You XiaoMo, are you a coward? You don’t even dare to accept a challenge from a woman.” Teng ZiXin’s gaze chilled. Who would have thought he would bluntly refuse her challenge?
“Whether I am a coward does not have any connection to this matter. The academy’s regulations state that the person who was challenged has the authority to reject any challenge. If I want to reject it, I am free to do so. If you are not happy, take your displeasure up with the academy.” You XiaoMo used a punk-like tone to say his words before dragging Ling Xiao away.
Although Teng ZiXin’s conditions did tempt him, he did not want to invite trouble onto himself. Teng ZiXin was undoubtedly a jinx. If he accepted her challenge, who knows what inconvenient things would befall him. However, he evidently forgot that the annoyances would not disappear even if he did not accept the challenge, and may even grow bigger.
After leaving the Skill Training Pavilion, You XiaoMo looked at the Soul Training Pavilion that was on the opposite side before shaking his head and leaving.
According to his original plan, after exchanging for a high-grade high level skill training manual, there should still be quite a lot of points left on his card. Therefore, after getting the skill training manual, he had intended to go to the Soul Training Pavilion to see if there were any soul training manuals that were better than the Heavenly Soul Scripture. But when he thought about the fact that his card was now only left with nine points, he decided that it was better not to enter the pavilion and antagonize himself by looking at things he could not afford.
Not long after, the two returned to their pavilion. Ling Xiao hung around for a while before leaving to earn some points.
You XiaoMo carried the scroll and ran up the stairs to cultivate while sighing in despair.
All his net worth was used to exchange for the scroll. If he did not practice it, he would be letting his four thousand points down.
You XiaoMo took the scroll out from his dimension and broke the seal. Then he put it on the ground and slowly opened it.
The length of the scroll was fifty centimeters. The words on it looked as if they had been carved onto the scroll. They were golden in color and had faint golden rays shining off them. At the edge of the scroll, You XiaoMo saw the name of the skill training manual – The Sumeru Seal!
The Sumeru Seal had six seal techniques. They were: the Golden Seal, the Black Seal, the Earth Seal, the Heaven Seal, the Xu Seal and the Mi Seal. The strength of the seals was ranked from low to high respectively, in progressive layers. Between each level of the seal, the gap in strength was ginormous.
(t/n: XuMi = Sumeru, a Sanskrit Buddhism word. It means greatness, wonderful, high, etc.)
The introduction of the scroll stated that when the Sumeru Seal was practiced to the level of the Xu and Mi Seals, even those practitioners who are of the Imperial Realm were no match and had to make a strategic withdrawal. From this statement, You XiaoMo could see the formidability of the Sumeru Seal. No wonder Teng ZiXin fervently wanted to get her hands on this scroll, and even went so far as to slap her own face.
You XiaoMo could not help but rejoice at his decision to reject Teng ZiXin’s challenge.
If he gave such an awesome skill training technique to Teng ZiXin, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Not on his life would he do something which was advantageous to someone he disliked but resulted in no benefit to himself.
However, since the Sumeru Seal was such an unbelievable skill training technique, it was extremely difficult to cultivate.
It was clearly written on the scroll that without great willpower and patience, even if a practitioner had gotten the scroll, they would not be able to cultivate the secret arts of the Sumeru Seal.
You XiaoMo restrained his excitement, and he released his soul power while following the instructions on the scroll. When his soul power touched the golden letters on the scroll, his body jolted for a moment. After that, all the golden letters seemed as if they had come to life, and like music notes, one after another, they leaped up and entered the space between his eyebrows. This continued until the last golden letter disappeared.
You XiaoMo opened his inner eye and discovered that there were additions to his mindscape. When his consciousness involuntarily manifested itself in his mindscape, he discovered that the surface of those luminous white fragments had a layer of some pale golden things. Although he did not know what the golden things were, he was certain they had some relation to him practicing the Sumeru Seal.
After his consciousness retreated from his mindscape, You XiaoMo did not immediately practice the Sumeru Seal.
Instead, he picked up the scroll, which was now blank, and walked downstairs. Discovering that Ling Xiao was not back yet, he went to BaiLi XiaoYu’s pavilion to borrow some magic herbs from him.
He knew that Ling Xiao was quite dependable most of the time. But as a precaution, You XiaoMo decided to refine some magic pills to ensure that tomorrow they would not need to move back to the free-of-charge rooms. That would just be too embarrassing.
BaiLi XiaoYu had long known that he was earning points for the aim of exchanging a skill training manual. Thus he was not surprised when he heard that You XiaoMo had no points left. Instead, he generously gave You XiaoMo twenty sets of magic pill materials, and told him that You XiaoMo did not need to repay him. This was because, the present him would not exist if not for You XiaoMo’s interference.
The current BaiLi XiaoYu had no need to rely on his brothers. With his own efforts, he could earn close to a thousand points within a month. It may be less than what You XiaoMo was earning, but he was very content with his progress. In addition, since he had persisted in refining pills, he broke through the low-grade stage and became a mid-grade level four mage.
“You really don’t want me to repay you?” You XiaoMo asked once more.
“You are so damn naggy! I’ve already said that you don’t need to return the herbs to me!” BaiLi XiaoYu, having gotten tired of this exchange, glared at him.
Young Master XiaoYu, your image ah, where has it gone to?!
You XiaoMo felt that he had probably led BaiLi XiaoYu astray. One month ago, the youngster who let off a thick and innocent air when smiling could not be found anymore, and was replaced with a person who had daggers hidden in his smiles.
(t/n: dagger hidden in smiles is an idiom which means a friendly manner that bely hypocritical intentions)
He would admit that in the past month, a lot of things had happened. They had set off the frenzy of pill refinements, and led to the decrease in the sales volume of the Five Great Powers. In the end, they were targeted as the masterminds of the events. All kinds of conspiracies and overt plots came out of the woodwork like breeding flies, and toughened the Young Master BaiLi XiaoYu into this current personality.
But since BaiLi XiaoYu was so insistent, it would be impolite to reject his goodwill. Thus You XiaoMo accepted the herbs given by BaiLi XiaoYu.
When he returned to his pavilion, You XiaoMo went upstairs to refine pills. But before he could finish refining the magic herbs, Ling Xiao returned with two hundred points as his spoils of war.
You XiaoMo could not help but fall silent after witnessing his speed.
