Chapter 887: Little Qilin's Map

Liu Dao Shangren could harm him very easily. This was because he was one of the very few who knew Jiang Fan cultivated the Void Stream Thunder Force. If Liu Dao Shangren truly wanted to harm Jiang Fan, he would only need to spread this information. Naturally, powerful cultivators from Taicang Province would flock to him, seeking his life for the reward of a Lingtian Pill that could break through the Nascent Soul realm.

Writing "Jiang Fan was here" at the scene of his crime was merely a deliberate attempt to draw the attention of the Imperial Observatory to Jiang Fan, thereby providing him with some convenience. This was Liu Dao Shangren's true intention. It was true, and indeed, it unfolded exactly as he had planned. A chiliarch named Bai Xin sought him out, granted him temporary Imperial Observatory Guard status, and even gifted him an incredibly powerful Seven-Star Sword. If he had obtained this sword earlier, Evil Eye Shangren wouldn't have escaped today.

"I hope you're still alive, old man, when I reach Taicang Continent," Jiang Fan murmured to himself.

The Tianji Pavilion Master saw Jiang Fan was silent, thinking he was also worried. "Don't worry," he said, "the Imperial Observatory has countless masters. Catching Liu Dao Shangren is only a matter of time. Come on, let's head back to Tianji Pavilion first."

He summoned a cloud, carrying Jiang Fan towards Tianji Pavilion. With someone leading the way, Jiang Fan took advantage of the free time to pull out the bamboo slip gifted by the North Sea Prince before his departure. The bamboo slip was very damaged, with less than a palm-sized piece remaining. It contained about a hundred Hellish characters, with accompanying translations in demonic script. Although the quantity wasn't large, Jiang Fan began studying them as if he had found a treasure.

In just an hour, a hundred Hellish characters were imprinted in his mind. "Unfortunately, these are all the simplest Hellish characters, completely insufficient to decipher the inscriptions on the bronze artifacts," Jiang Fan sighed inwardly. He couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. "I've traveled the continent and the four seas. Where on earth can I learn these Hellish characters?"

***

Underground World.Ninth Floor.A new hidden space.

Huaxin pointed to a Hellish character on the small blackboard and asked, "What does this character mean?" A book of demonic script was placed in front of the little Qilin. Hearing this, the little Qilin flipped through the pages with its two small paws, then pressed its paw on the character for "pet."

Huaxin smiled and stroked its head, "What a clever spirit beast. Can you repeat the few inscriptions I just taught you?" The little Qilin raised its small paw and earnestly pointed them out one by one in the book: "I," "am," "Hua," "Xin," "spirit," "pet."

Huaxin grinned like a little fox who had stolen a fat hen, and dotingly rubbed its fluffy head: "So clever! You'll soon learn our Hellish characters and adapt to our Hellish culture. By then, you'll be my spirit beast."

Just then, the book fell to the ground, and a hidden piece of paper slipped out. Seeing this, the little Qilin quickly pounced on it and covered it with its chubby rear.

"What's that?" Huaxin asked. The little Qilin shook its head, implying it was nothing. Huaxin placed her hands on her hips, puffing out her rosy cheeks, "If you don't show me, I'll get angry!" The little Qilin, helpless, moved its rear and held down a corner of the paper with its paw.

Huaxin looked over. On it, in the east, west, and north sections, were twisted patterns. "Let me see what you've drawn? The one at the very top, is it a bone? A bone... Blood Bone Ghost King?" The little Qilin nodded.

"And the one drawn on the west, is it a mess of hair? Thousand-Strand Demonic Charm?""The one on the east, is it a spider web? Human-faced Ghost Spider?"

Huaxin recognized them and suddenly understood, "I get it! You're drawing the hidden spaces of the ninth floor for your master? Helping him earn merit for developing new spaces? These three spots are the only undeveloped hidden spaces left. Combined, they're worth over ten thousand merit points. You little thing, you're still thinking of that guy!" Huaxin said sourly. For the past month, she had been incredibly good to the little Qilin, going out of her way to make it happy. Yet, it was still thinking of that scoundrel Jiang Fan. How annoying!

At this moment, she noticed the little Qilin's paw was tightly pressing the bottom of the paper, refusing to let go. Suspicion arose in her heart. Considering the ninth floor's space, only she and the three formidable dark entities were considered the most powerful kings of the ninth floor. Her eyes lit up, "The one at the very bottom, that's me, isn't it? Come on, let me see, how did you draw me?"

She tidied her beautiful hair, and looked into a mirror, imagining the appearance of Concubine Yunxia she had glimpsed from Jiang Fan's mind. Her face was full of anticipation. After a month together, she should be a gentle, beautiful, and understanding big sister in the little Qilin's heart, right?

The little Qilin hesitated before releasing its paw. Huaxin smiled and looked over. An evil female ghost with hair like a spreading lion's mane, a gaping maw, and long-clawed hands sprang to life on the paper.

Her smile froze. Then, infuriated, she clawed the air, crying, "Ah! You ungrateful little ingrate! You drew me like this!" Looking up, the little Qilin, seeing trouble brewing, had already taken off. "Don't run! You're infuriating me!"

***

Tianji Pavilion.A white cloud approached from afar. Jiang Fan was surprised to find Tianji Pavilion unusually lively. Disciples were sparring in groups of three to five. Among them, he even spotted Xu Youran and Chen Siling.

"Everyone is truly diligent," he couldn't help but exclaim. The Tianji Pavilion Master chuckled, "Isn't it all thanks to you? The eight thousand merit points from last time truly motivated the disciples, stewards, and vice-pavilion masters. While you were away, they've been sparring every day. Lazy disciples would be whipped by the stewards and vice-pavilion masters, who would then use you as an example."

"I... I truly thank you all!" Jiang Fan thought. How much passive hatred had he accumulated during the month he was away?

"Huh?" Suddenly, the Tianji Pavilion Master slightly frowned, "We have guests!" He vaguely detected two Nascent Soul realm auras. "I'll go greet them."

Jiang Fan was more than willing, saying, "Then I'll go see Youran and Siling." He was about to descend on his sword when the Tianji Pavilion Master placed a hand on his shoulder. "Since you became a disciple of Steward Yun Yang," he reminded him, gesturing with his lips, "you should show her some respect."

Only then did Jiang Fan notice. Steward Yun Yang was sitting under a willow tree, overseeing Jian Linyuan and several of his senior siblings sparring. Jiang Fan immediately showed a hint of apology. He had claimed to be a disciple of Steward Yun Yang, but he hadn't even properly spoken to this nominal master. Now, she and Xu Youran were all in the plaza. He should indeed pay his respects to her first.

"Thank you for the reminder, Pavilion Master." He changed direction and landed near Steward Yun Yang.

At this moment, Steward Yun Yang was intently watching her disciples spar, a trace of worry on her face. "If things continue like this, their venture into the Underground World this time will likely be a futile effort. If only they could master this combined attack technique. With this technique, not only would their strength greatly increase, but they could also combine the perceptions of seven people to locate hidden spaces."

She lowered her head, looking at a yellowed bamboo slip spread across her lap. This was a powerful cultivation method, classified as high-grade Earth level. There was only this one copy in Tianji Pavilion. However, the cultivation requirements were extremely stringent: it required five or more people to cultivate it simultaneously, and it was incredibly difficult to comprehend. She had had it for half a year and still hadn't fully understood it, let alone teaching it to Jian Linyuan and the others.

"Sigh, should I swallow my pride and ask the Pavilion Master for guidance?" As she was muttering, a voice, tinged with a faint smile, reached her ears.

"Master, why don't I take a look for you?"