Chapter 46: How did you find me?
"Yes, Give me the advanced books now!"
"Huh?" The receptionist had his jaw drop at this response, baffled out of his mind.
"Y-Young M-Master, you must be joking, right?" He asked with a stammering voice, expecting this to be a joke.
He couldn't believe that reading all these books in less than 2 hours was possible. His mind just refused to accept this fact.
"Huh? Why do you think I'm joking? If I say that I've read them then I mean it!" Ashen answered in a threatening tone.
He was making it clear to the receptionist that there was no need for him to lie.
"B-But Young Master, I can't give you the advanced books before making sure that you've read the previous books and aren't just playing with the pavilion" The receptionist reported with a respectful bow, fear visible in his voice.
Ashen was annoyed to hear his reply as he thought internally: "Why is borrowing some books so tiresome? Can't he just give me the books if I ask for them?"
He just wanted to take the books and master them as fast as he could. After a long time, he found something that made him a little bit excited, however, now this receptionist was annoying him and talking about rules.
If he was some tactless fool, he would've just lashed out at the receptionist in anger, wasting his precious time uselessly.
Right now, he maintained a calm expression while instructing the receptionist:
"Alright, pick any three books from them and ask me anything. If I've read them, I would be able to answer you right?" He said while pointing at the books he had taken out of his space ring.
These were the books he had just mastered and found this method suitable to make the receptionist believe him. This would also serve as a perfect test for the system's function.
The receptionist nodded before adhering to his command.
He agreed with Ashen's method and had no reason to refuse. He picked the three thickest books that he believed would take the longest time to finish. Next, he opened a random page and asked: "What effect would the combination of Blood qi stone and Dark qi stone result in a formation?"
"It would make the formation attack the blood stream of anyone that was trapped in the formation, however, the attack would only succeed if there was a wound or cut for the qi to enter from.
If the qi entered from his seven orifices then a cultivator would be easily able to deal with it with his inner qi, thus making the attack unsuccessful.
Also, the dark qi would corrode the skin of anyone struck by this attack. "
Ashen answered before he could even think, it was as if the words came automatically out of his mouth.
Even he was surprised at how swiftly he could remember something specific from this thick book.
"W-What? How?" The receptionist had his eyes wide open, finding Ashen's answer the same as mentioned in the book.
It was as if he was reading it at the moment.
"Ask the next question!" Ashen's voice made the receptionist come out of his shock.
"Uh... Yes!"
He opened another book before asking another question and Ashen was able to answer it successfully even this time.
A similar event occurred when the receptionist asked the final question.
Though the receptionist was shocked, he gave Ashen more than 500 books this time to read.
These all contained intermediate-level knowledge about Formation arts.
He received the books with a smile before putting them into his space ring.
Afterwards, he left, leaving behind a receptionist with an open mouth and hazed expression.
While Ashen was busy learning the Formation Arts, The protagonist Mo Fan had his share of trouble and adventures.
After escaping from Ashen and the Mo Family, Mo Fan was teleported in the middle of nowhere.
He looked around but there was no sign of life in hindsight, only mountains surrounding him.
He had never left Xuin city and hence, was unaware of this unfamiliar place.
"Where is this place?"
He questioned in his mind with panic stricken face.
There was no way to decide the destination with a teleportation talisman. It would just randomly transport you to a place with the distance depending on the talisman used.
He was grateful to have his life saved but now that there was no one to ask for help from, he decided to explore this place further.
First, he decided to look for a source of water as it was the top priority for him.
He moved around, exploring the mountains while keeping his ears standing to hear any voice of water.
A stream or a river would surely make a noise, right?
*ripple*
After a while, a weak sound of running water reached his ears and his eyes widened in hope.
He attempted to find out the direction of the source of the sound before rushing towards it.
"Finally... I found It!" Mo Fan jumped in joy upon laying his gaze on the stream in front of him.
"Now I just need to find some food and collect some information regarding any dangerous beasts living nearby"
He contemplated before continuing to search for food.
Like this, the day went by and the next morning, Mo Fan was washing his face when a sound reached his ears.
*Crack*
It was the sound of someone stepping on a wooden stick.
As soon as this sound reached Mo Fan's ears, he became alert, getting his guard up before hiding on a tree.
He waited for the visitor to show himself while guessing in his mind.
"Is it a beast or a human? I don't sense any killing intent so maybe it doesn't know that I am here or it could also be that it is a human.
I should wait and see..."
The visitor didn't take long before revealing himself, however, there was something odd.
This visitor was a human who had his face hidden by the dark cloak he was wearing.
But this wasn't the thing that surprised Mo Fan, instead, it was the fact that this person seemed to know his location and was looking for him.
This black-cloaked man walked straight before suddenly changing his direction towards the tree where Mo Fan was hiding as if he knew his location.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
His steps resounded in Mo Fan's ears as his heartbeat increased.
Who was this man?
Why was he looking for him?
He had many questions, however, the biggest question was,
Should he attack him?
While Mo Fan was contemplating to himself, the black-cloaked man stopped some distance away from Mo Fan's tree, shouting:
"Mo Fan, I know you're on the tree, come down."
"Don't worry, I'm a friend of the men who helped you escape your family. I know you have questions you want to ask, right?"
Hearing his wordings, Mo Fan jumped down the tree.
He, giving the man a suspicious look, took cover behind the tree as he asked:
"How did you find me?"
The reason for him being this guarded was the possibility of this man being his enemy. He was feeling no ill will from him so he wanted to question him before giving him his trust.
"Hahaha, Looks like you don't trust me. Good, It's good to not trust someone easily!" The man laughed before answering:
"I found you through the location talisman placed on your body"
"What?" Mo Fan asked with wide eyes opened in shock.
He had no idea that a location talisman was placed on his body. He searched for it with his mind sense and sure enough, he found a location talisman placed on his back.
He removed it before thinking to himself with a contemplating expression: "It must've been placed by the man who teleported me here."
According to him, only the man who saved him had the time to place this talisman on his body.
This proof was enough for Mo Fan to trust this dark-cloaked man.
"Who are you people and why did you save me?" He asked.
The man, revealing his face, answered: "We are friends of your late father. We all owed him our lives and In return, we saved your life."
"Y-You, Aren't you the second elder of Vine Bull Sect?" Mo Fan asked, pointing at his face with wide eyes.
"Hmm," The elder nodded, affirming his identity.
"But, why are you alone? Where are the uncles who saved me yesterday?" Mo Fan questioned with a curious expression.
"They... They are all dead!" The elder hesitated before he informed.
"What? Why didn't they use a teleportation talisman like they did to save me?" Mo Fan asked with a saddened voice.
"Mo Fan, teleportation talismans are not easy to acquire. We only had two. One used on you and one with the senior who saved you. However, it seems that he didn't get the chance to use it to escape.
It was a mistake on our part. We didn't know that there would be an origin realm cultivator"
The Elder answered before shaking his hand, changing the topic.
"Let's leave the past and think about the future. Mo Fan, What do you plan to do?
You've been branded as a thief and a criminal by the Mo Family and soon this news will spread in all of the Xia Kingdom.
You have to act fast and join a power that can protect you from the Mo Family.
How about joining the Vine Bull Sect? I can easily get you in!"
Hearing the elder's proposal, Mo Fan readily agreed, after all, he didn't know that Ling Yun had been taken by Ashen to the Phoenix Feather Sect.
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)