Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 68: A Moment’s Worth of Impatience

Bleary-eyed, Anji woke up to the smell of food the next morning. She tried to read a little more before bedtime last night but fell asleep after ten minutes. Washing the dishes and clothes took up more energy than she originally thought. Lizi did them effortlessly every day. Now that she understood the difficulty, she appreciated the maid more.

Yan Ping left some steamed rice and dishes from last night on the table for breakfast, which she had heated. Anji appreciated her teacher’s kind gesture and headed to the backyard to wash up. Even after doing the laundry and dishes last night, there were still two more buckets full of water.

The morning was chilly, even though a little morning sun filtered through the thick forest. Anji noticed the water she used from the buckets and basin yesterday had already been refilled. Her teacher was nowhere to be seen indoors. She might have left to forage for food.

After washing up and eating quickly, Anji realised her shifu was still not back. Hence, the little girl decided to take her book to the garden, where there was more natural light, to finish the Chapter she had read last night.

Apart from elemental runes and logic gates, circuitry design was equally important. The right circuits could amplify an effect, making the spell more effective, or negate the effect, causing an explosion from qi deviation. Most importantly, drawing runes required some form of energy and intent. Many people could mimic the symbol, but few could create a functional rune. Without the right intent guided by qi, it was impossible to create runes.

Here, Anji wondered what symbols her shifu used to create her cores and valves. Yan Ping said the seal on her cultivator core had also been modified. Although it was not mentioned in the beginner spell guidebook, the young murim princess knew that more advanced spell users could disassemble spells and rewire them for a different purpose. Her teacher was someone who had deep insights into many profound subjects, including mathematics and philosophy. Her learning was second to none; even the seals she newly created after her breakthrough were beyond Anji’s understanding. Yet, Yan Ping wanted Anji to understand how her spells worked to unlock her meridians.

From birth, Anji knew that she could not cultivate even if she could someday master control over her explosively powerful golden core. According to her father, many of Anji’s critical merdian paths had been destroyed due to her core’s power at birth. Zhao Mingfeng sealed his daughter’s cultivation almost immediately. However, those few seconds were enough to cripple more than half of Anji’s meridians. If not for Doctor He and his medical expertise, Anji would not have lived as long as she had.

Browsing through the rest of the beginner spell guidebook, Anji did not find any other useful information that would give her a hint about the Shaoshang core seal. She contemplated meditating to have a closer look, using her inner world to recall the sensations her teacher told her to familiarise herself with yesterday. However, Anji refrained from doing so. The last thing she wanted to do was break her agreement with her shifu. She was, under no circumstances, allowed to practice cultivation without her teacher present. Many things could go wrong, and a moment’s worth of impatience was not worth a lifetime’s misery.

Instead, Anji flipped to the front of the beginner spell guidebook again and started re-reading. This time, she was determined to memorise the symbols of every seal in the book.

>>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

Yan Ping was running late. Although she made food for the child and left it on the table, she did not wake her student up. Ten minutes before she was meant to wake Anji up, the emergency token from Zhao Mingfeng vibrated. The Celestial Dragon sect leader was not somebody who would abuse her trust and his authority to summon her when she specifically told him not to disturb her during Anji’s training period. Hence, she left the hut after setting up more defensive spells around the area, so her student would be safe even in her absence.

Rushing down the mountain, Yan Ping descended from the air. Her staff hovered across the guest house where Zhao Mingfeng and his sect advisers were. The atmosphere was very tense and even Zhao Wanting greeted Yan Ping tersely.

"Good morning, Sect Leader Yan. I apologise on behalf of my clan for disturbing you during your isolated training," Zhao Wanting’s tone was grave. "However, we’ve bothered you for a very important reason. My second son, Zhao Mingshen, had just written to us. According to his information, after spending much time investigating the situation in the capital with Chen Tao, the demon cultivators have colluded with officials and several rogue cultivators."

...

Unimpressed by the news, Yan Ping waited. Surely, there had to be more important news for them to call her down the mountain.

"And?"

Swallowing hard, Zhao Wanting turned to look at her husband for help. She dared not offend the powerful prophet, but someone had to tell her the unfortunate news.

Biting the bullet on behalf of his wife, Zhao Mingfeng cleared his throat and went straight to the point.

"I’m so sorry, Sect Leader Yan. I told Old Chen to help me confirm the facts before I dared call you. He’s confirmed it personally, and there’s no easier way to say this."

With suspense and tension thick enough to suffocate someone, Yan Ping demanded that Zhao Mingfeng spill the news immediately. Nothing could be more important than getting back to Anji now!

"One of the people the demon cultivators are colluding with is a disciple of yours who had left the mountain almost thirty years ago. Old Chen said he was their adviser, working on a spell to resurrect the deceased. I’m afraid they have plans to bring back the founder of the demon cultivators."

Seemingly unfazed by the news, Yan Ping remained silent. However, the more observant people would have noticed the whitening of her knuckles as she tightened her grip on Break of Autumn Dawn.

"What’s the name of my unfilial disciple?" the blind prophet finally asked.

Nobody could read her expression behind the white veil. Her voice sounded heavy but even.

Uneasily, Zhao Mingfeng apologised.

"Chen Tao and Mingshen have yet to uncover that much. However, it’s said that he or she specialises in flag formations. The people the Black Tortoise Sect sent never returned. Their bodies were found stabbed through their golden core with a black flag that contains curse spells, draining the cultivator’s vitality and blood until they become dried-up corpses. Old Chen is not an expert at these spells, so the best they could do was shoot at the formation with qi-imbued fire arrows from afar to break the flags and recover the bodies. The matter is urgent, hence the summon. There’s nobody else more capable than the Mystical Qilin Sect when it comes to spells and arrays."

Inhaling deeply to compose herself, Yan Ping knew that she had to return to her sect immediately. If there was a traitor to her sect, it was her sect’s duty to hunt them down. However, Anji’s training was also a priority. If the girl did not master unlocking all her meridians soon, she would not live past the age of ten.

"Prepare to write a letter on my behalf and your fastest messenger pigeon," Yan Ping told Mingfeng. "I can’t leave Anji alone for too long. She must finish her training before I return to my sect and sort this out. In the meantime, tell Old Chen to collect the remnants of any spell materials and curses. Send them back to the Mystical Qilin Sect. I’ll have my head disciple take charge of the investigation first and devise a countermeasure so you can disarm the flag formations when retrieving corpses. Anything more will have to wait until I return."

Heeding her words, the Celestial Dragon Sect jumped into action to arrange for what Yan Ping needed. While waiting, Yan Ping learned how Mingfeng had secretly sent Gu Ying to guard Anji before he summoned her. After knowing that her disciple was still guarded, Yan Ping relaxed a little as Wanting helped her to write the letter.