Chapter 35: Urgency

"..."

The scene was, for a moment, incredibly awkward.

Qin Xi looked around and saw that Bu Weiwei and A-Ling were both completely absorbed in comprehending the spells provided by the Book of Three Thousand Worlds. He and Jiang Baiqiu, however, seemed to have reached a stalemate.

The Six Arts of the Gentleman were a highly revered educational system in Confucianism, representing the six fundamental skills students were expected to master. But his "Six Arts of the Gentleman"...

It seemed they had suffered a bit of a moral collapse. The Great Confucian Sage would probably climb out of his grave just to slap him twice if he knew about this.

"Hey, I've truly never seen a situation like yours," Jiang Baiqiu said, at a loss. "But this sub-scroll only has enough energy to find one spell; it’s impossible to search for another... Why would it turn out like this?"

"Wait, don't tell me you’ve activated the true power of the Book of Three Thousand Worlds!" Jiang Baiqiu looked up sharply. "Even though it's just a sub-scroll, it actually possesses some 'derivative' capabilities... Could it be that due to something about you, the Book of Three Thousand Worlds has derived a brand-new system from the Confucian textbook of the Six Arts?"

Qin Xi looked at the "Urgency" scroll in his hand, his mouth twitching. "This... can't be... If I practice this, can I even still be considered a Confucian cultivator?"

"But there's no way to search again. Why don't you just make do and practice it?"

"..."

Suddenly, the other five arts before Qin Xi vanished, leaving only the scroll of "Urgency" in his hand.

"It seems you've chosen this spell, so you might as well start practicing it."

Qin Xi had no other choice and silently opened the "Urgency" scroll. The opening section contained the spell's preface.

"Since ancient times, the Six Arts of the Gentleman have been the foundation of Confucian cultivation—a Great Dao cultivated through the honing of one's own skills. But is honing oneself enough? Have you not heard, 'When poor, one keeps one's integrity; when successful, one benefits the world'? As a Confucian cultivator, if one walks the immortal path, one must take the welfare of all people under heaven as one's own responsibility!"

"One must not only hone oneself but also hone others!"

It sounded surprisingly reasonable, yet it felt like something was fundamentally wrong.

"Therefore, we Confucian cultivators must not only train our own character but also the character of others. First, use various methods to provoke the inner fire within the other person. When they are seething with uncontrollable rage, we scholars must add a single phrase: 'You're flustered,' to remind them that their cultivation is still lacking and that they must continue to strive for improvement."

"And the initial purpose of this spell is to accomplish the most difficult step of this process: 'How to provoke the other person's temper'?"

"When this method is mastered, every glance and smile will be infuriating, and every movement or stillness will have the power to wound."

Seeing this, Qin Xi rolled up the bamboo slip and inspected it thoroughly, but he couldn't find the name of the author.

This spell was absolutely devious.

He loved it.

He continued reading.

"Of course, we Confucian cultivators are sometimes not adept at slaughter. When encountering vicious individuals, provoking them to anger might make it difficult to protect oneself. Therefore, the 'Urgency' mantra also provides a means for secret spellcasting, allowing the opponent to become so furious, so 'flustered' that they are fuming and attacking indiscriminately without recognizing even their own kin, yet they will be unable to find the source of their anger and will be unable to lock onto us."

A genius!

Qin Xi couldn't wait to learn this spell!

...

A-Ling opened her eyes slightly and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

She was the first to learn her new spell this time. Seeing the other three still in meditation, she stood up, shouldered the Taihang Stele, and crouched down into a horse stance nearby.

Time ticked by, and next, Bu Weiwei and Jiang Baiqiu opened their eyes simultaneously.

"Phew!" Bu Weiwei’s eyes sparkled like stars. "Hehehehe... As expected, I am a genius of the School of Arts!"

"Nayin Five Elements!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the five characters for the musical notes "Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, Yu" appeared behind her, followed by five segments of sounds of varying pitch.

The sounds rang out in complex patterns, and Bu Weiwei channeled her spiritual energy, gathering it in her palm.

"Ren-Wu Yang Willow Wood!"

The spiritual energy instantly took form, turning into a willow branch... but just as the transformation was about to complete, the branch suddenly shifted shape, turning into a long sword radiating invisible, murderous intent.

"...Eh?"

Bu Weiwei stared at the sword in her hand, utterly bewildered. She had wanted Ren-Wu Yang Willow Wood; how did it turn into a Ren-Shen Sword-Edge Gold?

Was she destined to never get anything right when it came to the School of Arts?

Thinking of this, Bu Weiwei swung the sword in her hand angrily, and as she slashed back and forth, the branches of the surrounding trees were severed one by one.

The School of Arts was not primarily focused on killing, yet for her to achieve power comparable to a sword cultivator using its spells, she was truly a genius. It just didn't align with what she had intended.

"Whew."

After finishing her practice, Bu Weiwei saw Qin Xi still quietly meditating.

"Still haven't finished?"

She tilted her head, and a sly grin appeared on her face.

"Heehee..."

...

Qin Xi opened his eyes, braced himself, and stood up.

When he looked around, he felt that the way the three little troublemakers were looking at him was not quite right. He hadn't even practiced the "Rigidity" mantra, so why were their faces pulled as taut as a strongman's?

Qin Xi’s agile mind quickly deduced the reason, and he placed his hand on his face and wiped it.

Looking at the colorful, dye-shop-like mess on his palm, Qin Xi clicked his tongue.

"Who painted this?"

No one answered.

Qin Xi quickly ruled out A-Ling, who was honestly holding her horse stance, and his gaze shifted between Bu Weiwei and Jiang Baiqiu.

It was simple to tell which of the two was lying. Jiang Baiqiu was the dimmest; if she did something wrong, she would be guilty, looking like a dog that had just torn up the house—you could tell at a glance.

Bu Weiwei, while not exactly a genius, could be considered a normal person in terms of intelligence if you set aside her pride in divination, and she would definitely have the skill to hide this.

"Qin Xi, let me show you how I can drink a whole gourd of spiritual nectar in one gulp, watch!"

Jiang Baiqiu pointed the mouth of the gourd at her throat, turned it, and the entire gourd's nectar went into her stomach.

Ruled out.

With the target locked, the rest was easy.

"Hey, Bu Weiwei, I just learned a new spell. How about we spar?" Qin Xi smiled with malicious intent.

When Bu Weiwei heard Qin Xi wanting to challenge her, she perked up. "Oh? You’re quite confident, little Confucian cultivator."

"Then let's begin." Qin Xi pointed at Bu Weiwei from a distance and softly uttered: "Urgency."

"Ha, I wondered what it was; it’s just a word-mantra. These basic skills have no power. Watch me take you down in a minute..."

Before she could finish, Bu Weiwei’s face flushed red, as if she had just stepped out of a sauna, and steam even began to rise from her head.

A young girl's blush surpasses all sweet talk.

"Ugh!"

She puffed out her cheeks, incredibly angry, but she didn't know what she was angry about.

"Xin-Si White Wax Gold!"

A piece of a brick appeared in Bu Weiwei’s hand—something that had absolutely nothing to do with White Wax Gold.

Furious, she began to attack everything around her indiscriminately.

"She’s truly 'flustered' now." Qin Xi watched Bu Weiwei, who was as red as a giant crab, and marveled at the remarkable effectiveness of his Urgency mantra.

"Waaahhhhh!!!"

As she began her indiscriminate rampage, Qin Xi had already silently retreated out of range, watching her performance.

But there was still one person within Bu Weiwei's attack range: A-Ling, who had been holding her horse stance the whole time, not saying a word.

Seeing the brick in Bu Weiwei’s hand about to swing down onto her, she made no move to dodge.

"Clang!"

The sound of an impact echoed. The brick formed from Bu Weiwei’s spiritual energy shattered instantly, turning into fragments that dissipated into the air.

A-Ling, however, was completely uninjured; she hadn't even moved an inch.