Nanli thought her fourth brother was already obsessed with martial arts, but Qi Mu was even more extre.
Initially, Nanli assud Qi Mu was rely expressing her interest. To her surprise, Qi Mu was determined to visit the Fla Sect herself.
Chu Yang advised her, "Deputy Commander Qi, please don’t act impulsively. Once you start, there’s no turning back. If you et your ideal husband one day, what will you do then?"
Qi Mu’s mind imdiately flashed to Chu Huan.
Thin fra, fair skin, refined deanor—utterly lacking in any heroic aura.
Soone like that... Forget about marrying him.
She might even end up protecting him instead.
Still, she didn’t want to be too full of herself. After all, her position in the palace exposed her to gossip, and she had learned just how popular Chu Huan was among the noble ladies in the capital. So were even willing to beco his concubines.
Chu Huan, a man who studied the classics, would naturally prefer elegant and well-mannered noblewon. How could he possibly take an interest in soone like her?
If she was destined to have no suitable match in this lifeti, wouldn’t becoming a man be even better?
"Then I’ll just be your brother!" Qi Mu declared.
At that mont, the whisper talisman in Nanli’s pouch began to tremble.
She pulled it out and saw that it was linked to Master Zhao.
With a swipe of her finger, the talisman glowed red, and Master Zhao’s anxious voice ca through:
"Ninth Princess! Sothing has happened! So disciples in our sect who practiced the Fire Cloud Spell are either unable to progress further or have gone mad with qi deviation!"
Nanli paused briefly before replying, "Actually, my main expertise lies in talisman crafting, ghost hunting, setting up formations, exorcising demons, fortune-telling, and feng shui."
"Then just consider my disciples as being possessed and co take a look!" Master Zhao pleaded. "They’ve turned into bloodthirsty maniacs who only want to kill."
He was truly at his wit’s end.
They were his own sect mbers, so he couldn’t bring himself to kill them.
"That serious?" Chu Yang grew nervous imdiately. "Sixth Sister, you can’t just ignore this!"
Qi Mu also nodded, her expression righteous. "He’s right. These are human lives at stake."
Nanli pouted and muttered, "I ca back to the State Duke Manor hoping to spar with my fourth brother."
She had barely managed to carve out so ti to relax.
Still, since Master Zhao had shared the Fire Cloud Spell for her sake, she didn’t complain further. Taking out a Transfer Talisman, she prepared to investigate the situation.
"Ninth Princess, if it’s convenient, please bring along. I might be able to help," Qi Mu offered.
Nanli nodded. Qi Mu, with her extensive experience roaming the martial world, might indeed have valuable insights.
---
When they arrived at the Fla Sect, the scene was chaotic. Master Zhao, exhausted and distressed, looked relieved when he saw Nanli appear in the blink of an eye. His eyes even reddened with emotion.
"Ninth Princess! Fourth Young Master!" His voice trembled as he greeted them. "And this is...?"
Qi Mu rested her large blade on her shoulder and introduced herself, "Qi Mu, not a high-ranking officer, just the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard."
Master Zhao, misunderstanding her humility, quickly responded, "Ah, Deputy Commander Qi, an honor to et you."
The Fla Sect was no longer as prosperous as it once was, with only a handful of disciples remaining.
Nanli asked, "How did they succumb to qi deviation in the first place?"
Master Zhao explained, "The Fire Cloud Spell is unique. Only those who can see the cultivation thod within it can practice it. Back then, the Fourth Young Master could see it, so he wasn’t affected. However, so disciples who couldn’t see it were unwilling to give up. They secretly learned it from those who could, leading to this disaster."
Qi Mu’s heart sank. "It’s that extraordinary? Master Zhao, may I take a look?"
Since the inner cultivation thod was no longer a secret and Qi Mu was a woman, Master Zhao didn’t hesitate and handed her the Fire Cloud Spell.
"Deputy Commander Qi, please."
Qi Mu’s hands trembled as she held it.
Overwheld with excitent, she took a deep breath before opening the Fire Cloud Spell.
However—
It was completely blank!
She leaned closer and flipped through it again, but there was nothing.
Where were the words?
Where was the thod?
Master Zhao, observing her reaction, sighed. "It seems Deputy Commander Qi is also unsuited for cultivating the Fire Cloud Spell."
Qi Mu, who had already resolved to beco a man, was devastated by the revelation that she didn’t even qualify to do so. Her face turned ashen.
"Oh heavens... Why are you doing this to ?" She suddenly felt the sky grow heavy and the wind turn icy.
She cast a resentful glance at Chu Yang. "Why can you see it, and I can’t?"
Chu Yang had no idea.
Master Zhao explained, "Perhaps it depends on fate?"
Nanli studied the group and remarked, "I think I understand. Master Zhao and Fourth Brother’s souls are aligned with the fire elent, while yours is aligned with water. Naturally, you’re incompatible with this cultivation thod. The creator of the Fire Cloud Spell must have been quite remarkable—what you can’t see is a warning. If you were to forcefully cultivate it, it would only lead to disaster."
Soul attributes were invisible to ordinary people.
Nanli admired the creator’s ingenuity, marveling at how they had embedded a safeguard within the thod.
Qi Mu pouted. "Does even practicing a cultivation thod require considering soul attributes?"
She was skeptical.
But Nanli elaborated, "Of course. This isn’t ordinary martial arts—it’s an immortal cultivation thod. If you break through the first level, you’ll enter the Base Building stage. With enough talent, you might even form a core in the future."
Nanli had read intelligence reports detailing how sects tested both aptitude and elental roots when recruiting disciples. This demonstrated how immortal cultivation was intricately tied to the five elents.
"Immortal cultivation? That’s just like Prince Ye! After forming a core, wouldn’t I be able to teleport?" Qi Mu’s excitent surged.
Ye Siheng’s teleportation skills had left her in awe and envy.
"That’s uncertain," Master Zhao said. "No one in my sect’s history has ever broken through to the Base Building stage."
Master Zhao, having not had the chance earlier, took this opportunity to speak with Chu Yang at length. He cautioned him to remain calm and steadfast, warning against losing himself to impatience, which could hinder his progress.
anwhile, Qi Mu gazed at Chu Yang with a mixture of envy, jealousy, and frustration.
Nanli consoled her, "Don’t be upset. I’m a woman too, and I can’t practice it either."
Suddenly, Nanli recalled an important matter and took out the Xuanyue Temple Command Token, handing it to Chu Yang.
"This is sothing the ancestral master of Xuanyue Temple asked to give you," Nanli said.
Chu Yang rembered paying his respects to the ancestral master in the past. As he accepted the token, Nanli added, "The ancestral master was actually a woodcutter from Limitless Palace. Later, he established Xuanyue Temple in Lian State but was betrayed and perished along with his junior sister. Before his death, he entrusted this token to for you. As for its purpose, I don’t know. You’ll have to discover it when the ti is right."
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