Chapter Eleven: The Prime Minister's Urgent Matter
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This nine-story glazed tower was a Mahayana-grade magical treasure personally refined by Nangong Lin.
Its purpose was not merely to store tens of thousands of cultivation manuals. It also possessed an indestructible defense, strong enough to withstand the full assault of a Mahayana cultivator.
The ground floor was spacious.
Row upon row of darkwood bookshelves, exuding a faint, pleasant fragrance, stood in perfect order. Above each section hung a clearly marked sign: “Artifact Refinement,” “Alchemy,” “Beast Taming,” “Puppetry,” “Formation Arts,” “Talisman Craft”... There was even one particularly conspicuous section labeled “Essentials of Dual Cultivation.”
The cultivation manuals here were all spoils Nangong Lin had acquired after sweeping through the major sects of western Shenzhou during the founding of the Great Qian Empire.
The three lower floors were filled entirely with neatly arranged thread-bound ancient books and silk manuscripts.
When the group reached the stairs to the fourth floor, the scenery changed.
There were no books to be found here.
In their place stood row upon row of specially crafted jade racks, on which translucent jade slips with a warm luster and faintly shimmering light were displayed in orderly fashion.
Lucia could no longer restrain her desire to speak. Pointing at the jade slips, she asked, “Miss Nangong, why aren’t there any books from this floor upward?”
Nangong Lin’s voice remained soft and melodious as she explained, “The cultivation techniques on this floor all require the Golden Core realm. At that stage, one’s spiritual sense has already awakened.
“Using spiritual sense to enter a jade slip and retrieve its information is far faster and more thorough than reading a book line by line with the naked eye.”
“Spiritual sense?”
Lucia blinked her clear, sapphire-blue eyes, looking like a curious child. “What exactly can spiritual sense do?”
Deep down, Nangong Lin looked down on those foolish and arrogant lowborns.
But when it came to someone seeking knowledge, no matter how foolish they were, she was willing to answer patiently.
“Spiritual sense can help you perceive through falsehood, shatter illusions, and even actively weave phantasms to confuse an enemy’s mind.
“It can also spread over a wide area like an invisible net, allowing you to sense and investigate your surroundings, comprehend the Great Dao, and accomplish countless other wondrous things.”
Lucia’s eyes lit up at once. Her thoughts leaped rapidly from one point to the next. “Then, Miss Nangong, how far can your spiritual sense reach?”
Nangong Lin gave a slight nod. “Covering the entire Blue Star would be effortless.”
“If it’s really that powerful...”
Lucia’s chain of logic clicked instantly into place. She immediately thought of the Empire’s greatest current problem. “Then why not use your spiritual sense to scan the entire Empire and pull out all the demons who might be hiding among us?”
This time, before Nangong Lin could answer, Bai Yujing explained on her behalf.
“Spiritual sense is an extension of the mind. If an enemy possessed only physical means, it would naturally be difficult for them to harm her.
“But the most terrifying aspect of the demonic seeds planted by the Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons is their ability to pollute, distort, and erode the spirit.
“If Nangong actively used her spiritual sense to scan them, she might well become a demon herself.”
Lucia suddenly understood. “Oh, so that’s how it is.”
“Commander Jin.” Gao Jinzhong, who had been standing behind them, stepped forward half a pace. His voice was not loud, but carried a faint note of admonishment. “In the presence of the Sage, please mind your bearing and your words.”
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He felt that Lucia was a little too “lively,” lacking the reverence that was properly owed.
Bai Yujing waved his hand casually and said mildly, “It’s nothing. I’m hardly some rampaging beast. There’s no need to be so terrified.”
“Yes, Your Holiness is right.”
Gao Jinzhong hurriedly bowed in acknowledgment, yet neither the respectful posture nor the lowered gaze beneath his brows changed in the slightest.
Damn tattletale.
Lucia cursed inwardly, displeased. Her gaze swept over Gao Jinzhong’s obsequious expression before shifting to Bai Yujing’s broad back before her. Once again, she could not help marveling at the Sage’s vast heart and magnificent bearing.
Bai Yujing did not continue upward.
With physical books, he could still flip through them at will and have Nangong Lin explain them on the spot.
But the upper floors contained nothing but jade slips that required spiritual sense to examine. Since he possessed no spiritual sense, he naturally had little interest in them.
The group turned and went back downstairs.
As they walked, Bai Yujing continued speaking with Nangong Lin about cultivating the Vermilion Fruit seeds.
“The Manifestation-type ability is truly remarkable. It can perfectly materialize the Earthfire Glazed Sand based on the properties I described.
“But whether it can truly make the Vermilion Fruit take root, sprout, and mature successfully remains unknown.”
“The Vermilion Fruit matures once every sixty years. That cycle is far too long. Is there any way to accelerate it?”
“A sixty-year maturation period is already extremely short among the heavenly treasures and earthly wonders of Shenzhou.”
Nangong Lin explained softly, then changed tack. “The Twelfth Legion Commander, Bentley, and I are currently experimenting to see whether certain extraordinary abilities can interfere with, or even distort, the laws governing the Vermilion Fruit’s own growth, thereby shortening its maturation period.”
As she spoke of this, a flicker of imperceptible excitement passed through Nangong Lin’s cool eyes.
She was becoming increasingly fascinated by Blue Star’s system of superpowers.
According to the common knowledge of Shenzhou, the power of laws could be touched only by cultivators who had reached the Tribulation Transcendence realm, while those in the Mahayana realm could begin to master it.
Her Celestial Star-Dominating Formation could form an independent world precisely because it incorporated her understanding of the laws of space, time, formations, and the stars.
Yet Blue Star had completely overturned this understanding.
A group of “superpowered individuals” whose strength reached no higher than the Soul Formation, Nascent Soul, or even Qi Refining realm had already begun touching and wielding the laws of the world. Their abilities were numerous and bizarre in the extreme, truly broadening her horizons.
Hearing this, Bai Yujing no longer urged her.
As a Sage, his manner of handling affairs was to clearly state his goals and requirements.
As for how those goals were to be achieved, he left that to the specialists to figure out.
He would not interfere.
“How is the experiment involving superpowered individuals attempting to cultivate Shenzhou techniques progressing?”
“The three low-level superpowered individuals we selected have yet to successfully draw qi into their bodies. Whether their source energy conflicts with spiritual power, and how the two might be reconciled, can only be observed after they successfully take that first step.”
The two continued their question-and-answer exchange as they descended the stairs.
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Just then, the Bluetooth earpiece in Gao Jinzhong’s left ear began to glow with a dim blue light, accompanied by a faint vibrating chime.
He raised a hand and lightly touched the earpiece to answer. After listening intently for a moment, he bowed and said in a low voice, “Your Holiness, the Prime Minister is waiting outside the Imperial Study. He says there is an urgent matter that must be reported to you in person.”
“Oh? What sort of urgent matter?”
“The Prime Minister did not elaborate.”
“Is that so?”
Bai Yujing turned toward Nangong Lin behind him, a smile in his eyes that seemed to say, There’s going to be trouble for you again. “Nangong~”
She understood at once. The index finger of her right hand moved almost imperceptibly.
A hum.
The air seemed to ripple with a layer of barely perceptible waves.
Lucia felt the scene before her blur and reassemble in an instant. There was no sensation of movement, no dizziness. It was as though she had merely blinked, and suddenly both feet were planted on the marble floor outside the Imperial Study.
The familiar figure of the Prime Minister was waiting anxiously outside.
Oh, no!
Lucia’s heart sank, and her face fell at once.
Why had she been teleported along with them?
Now there was no way she could make an excuse and slip away to slack off.
She mourned the loss of the gaming time she had dreamed of.
“This minister pays his respects to the Sage!”
When the Prime Minister saw Bai Yujing appear out of nowhere, he hurriedly bowed deeply in salute.
Bai Yujing waved a hand casually. “At ease. Come in.”
Gao Jinzhong immediately stepped forward and silently pushed open the heavy wooden door of the Imperial Study.
Bai Yujing and Nangong Lin entered first.
Lucia hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to remain obediently outside the door.
The Sage might be amiable, but he was still the Sage.
With her careless and lackadaisical personality, she had best avoid getting too close. Otherwise, she might violate proper etiquette and anger him.
Bai Yujing walked behind the crescent-shaped rosewood desk and sat down. Turning his gaze toward the Prime Minister, who had followed him inside, he got straight to the point.
“You came to see me because there has been progress in the search for demons, hasn’t there?”
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