Chapter 353: Elder Zong Ye (Fifth Update)

In the blink of an eye, Chu Liuyue had already stayed at Taiyan Academy for five days.

Aside from her normal daily routine, the vast majority of her energy was invested within the Library Pavilion.

When the morning of the sixth day arrived, Chu Liuyue put down the book in her hands and let out a long sigh.

"As expected, there is still nothing..."

Over the past few days, she had read every single book on the second floor, yet she still had not discovered anything related to the God-Shocking Finger.

This was within her expectations, but she still felt a certain amount of disappointment in her heart.

She looked up.

The third floor was for Mysterious Arrays, and the fourth floor was for Medical Arts.

Although she did not particularly need books in these fields, there was no harm in going up to take a look.

With this thought, she finally headed upward.

When Cheng Han arrived at the Library Pavilion again, he saw that the two people in charge of guarding it each had two stacks of ledgers beside them.

One didn't even need to ask to know that those were the records of the books Chu Liuyue had read.

Cheng Han's eyelids twitched violently.

On the first day, he already knew Chu Liuyue was a formidable character, but he had still underestimated just how monstrous she was!

"Dean! You've arrived?"

The two had endured several days of hardship and had become quite haggard, but upon seeing Cheng Han's arrival, they managed to force themselves to perk up.

"How much has she read?"

Cheng Han asked, barely managing to control his expression.

He had been busy dealing with the matters of Yang Jianqing and Heng Jingchuo these past few days and had no time to come here.

He didn't want to open those ledgers to look at all!

The two exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat guilty.

"Just say it!"

"Reporting to the Dean, over these past few days, she has already finished reading all the books on the entire second floor..." one of them said, bracing themselves.

Cheng Han's vision went dark, and his heart seemed to go numb

"What about the Earth-rank martial arts?!"

"...She has not opened any new Earth-rank martial arts; she has only read that first one."

Only then did the darkness before Cheng Han's eyes gradually recede.

He swallowed hard.

That's good... that's good!

That was the most important thing!

As long as she hadn't continued... everything could still be salvaged!

"Is she on the third floor now?"

"Yes."

"She—"

"Master!"

Just as Cheng Han was about to say something, he suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned around in surprise

"Xingchen, why are you here?"

Situ Xingchen smiled slightly

"Your disciple has come today because I wish to ask for a temporary leave of absence to return to the Palace."

Cheng Han asked curiously, "Everything is fine, why the sudden need to return?"

Normally, Situ Xingchen spent most of her time at the Academy, and usually only returned to the Palace when there was business to attend to.

Situ Xingchen nodded slightly. "Elder Zong Ye arrived today."

"Elder Zong Ye?! So soon!?"

Cheng Han was somewhat shocked.

"Yes. This evening, Imperial Father intends to hold a welcome banquet for Elder Zong Ye, so your disciple must return as well."

Cheng Han was aware of this matter.

Elder Zong Ye was actually the elder brother of the current Empress of the Xingluo Kingdom, Zong Yuxi—in other words, Situ Xingchen's biological uncle.

He was an elder of the Bright Moon Heavenly Mountain and held a highly prestigious status.

The fact that Situ Xingchen could be sent there as a child was also thanks to this connection.

The Bright Moon Heavenly Mountain was extremely far from here, and the people there rarely descended the mountain, so Elder Zong Ye's appearance this time was actually quite rare.

The reason he was doing this was because of Situ Ziyue.

Previously at the Qingjiao Assembly, he had suffered a crushing defeat to Chu Liuyue, suffering great setbacks both physically and mentally.

He had been unable to recover, and his health had not improved, so Zong Yuxi, feeling distressed, had invited Elder Zong Ye.

On one hand, she wanted to see if there was an issue with his body; on the other, she wanted to see if he could provide some guidance to help him recover.

Of course, she also missed her brother dearly after many years of separation.

Now that Elder Zong Ye had arrived, they naturally had to treat him with great ceremony.

"It is only right. When you see Elder Zong Ye, give him my regards," Cheng Han said.

Situ Xingchen smiled in response, then her gaze inconspicuously swept over the ledgers beside the two guards, a trace of complexity flashing in her eyes.

"Are the things recorded in these ledgers... all books read by Chu Liuyue?"

Mentioning this, Cheng Han's expression turned sour.

"Don't pay her any mind! She has simply flipped through more books; she certainly hasn't truly memorized even one percent of them!"

The smile on Situ Xingchen's face became somewhat forced.

Hearing Cheng Han's words, one could guess just how terrifying the number of books Chu Liuyue had borrowed in the Library Pavilion was.

She had been at Taiyan Academy for so long, yet she feared she hadn't read as much as Chu Liuyue had in just these few days!

Furthermore, she had already inquired from Elder Mocang that Chu Liuyue had even found an Earth-rank martial arts manual!

This made her feel incredibly stifled.

Seeing that Cheng Han was also unwilling to discuss this, she tactfully did not ask further.

"Since your disciple is leaving, the Medicine Mountain will be left without care. Please forgive me, Master."

"Elder Zong Ye's matters are more important. Do not worry about the Medicine Mountain, just go!" Cheng Han waved his hand.

Only then did Situ Xingchen bow again and turn to leave.

Cheng Han looked back at the Library Pavilion once more.

There had never been a moment where he wished for time to pass faster than right now!

Chu Liuyue spent two days each on the third and fourth floors.

Although there was no shortage of high-level Mysterious Arrays and some rare, precious medicinal formulas here, they held little meaning for Chu Liuyue.

The things she remembered in her mind were several times more than what was here.

The reason she spent so much time on these two floors was simply because she had not given up on the God-Shocking Finger.

—She had a faint premonition in her heart that there might still be something here related to the God-Shocking Finger.

Thus, she patiently continued searching for several more days.

Unfortunately, there were still no results.

In her occasional moments of leisure, she would repeat all the contents of that volume of the God-Shocking Finger in her mind over and over again. She had done it at least several hundred times; it would not be an exaggeration to say she could recite it backward.

It was just a pity that it was incomplete.

Chu Liuyue put down the medical book in her hand.

She had thought ten days might not be enough, but looking at it now, it seemed there was no need to continue staying here on the final day.

After much deliberation, she finally decided to leave.

However, just as she was about to head downstairs, a strange fluctuation suddenly came from above her head!

She immediately looked up!

That fluctuation came from the fifth floor!

Alright!

(End of Chapter)