Chapter 357: God-Shocking Formula (Fourth Update)

Rong Xiu glanced at his fingertips, his gaze turning slightly cold.

In the next instant, that cluster of golden light dissipated instantly!

The entire process was extremely rapid; had Yan Qing and Yu Mo not been standing nearby, they might have thought what they just saw was merely an illusion!

Rong Xiu leaned back in his chair, one hand supporting his forehead, a faint trace of fatigue etched between his brows.

"You may leave."

After the initial shock, Yan Qing's expression became very solemn.

"Master, seeing you like this, I fear you must return home as soon as possible."

He had only been gone for a few days to retrieve this item, yet his Master had already progressed to this state!

Thinking carefully, ever since he began associating with Chu Liuyue, his Master had never gone back.

Rong Xiu closed his eyes and said nothing, but his meaning was very clear.

"Master—"

Yan Qing wanted to persuade him further, but Yu Mo, standing beside him, could not help but let out a cough, desperately signaling Yan Qing with his eyes.

Yan Qing looked back, and seeing him like that, he hesitated for a moment before finally bowing respectfully to take his leave.

"Rest assured, Master, your subordinate will go and handle it immediately."

Having said that, he left with the strange jade.

Yu Mo hurriedly said

"It is already very late, Master, please rest. This subordinate will also take his leave."

Rong Xiu waved his hand.

Yu Mo quickly followed Yan Qing out.

As soon as Yu Mo stepped out, he saw Yan Qing waiting for him outside.

The two exchanged a look, said nothing, and simply left together.

They walked side by side for quite a distance, and only after they were far from Rong Xiu's study did Yan Qing finally speak with a cold face.

"Today's situation was definitely not the first time this has happened. Did you know about this beforehand?"

Yu Mo could only nod with a bitter face.

"There was a similar situation a few days ago."

"Then why didn't you try to persuade him!? You can't possibly not know how serious this is! If I hadn't seen it today, when were you planning to tell me!?"

Yan Qing was usually very calm and indifferent, rarely showing any emotional fluctuations, let alone anger.

His reaction now showed just how much this matter had impacted him.

Yu Mo instinctively shrank back, feeling an inexplicable sense of guilt.

"I... I tried to persuade him then! But seeing the Master like that, could I have actually moved him!?"

Yan Qing's face remained cold.

"Even so, you should have told me sooner!"

"What would be the use of telling you?" Yu Mo rubbed his face vigorously. "Do you think the Master would actually listen to what you say!?"

Yan Qing fell silent.

They had followed their Master for many years and understood his personality better than anyone.

Since he refused to go back now, no one's words would matter.

"It seems the forced summoning from before... had a significant impact," Yan Qing murmured.

If not for that incident, Master should have been able to hold out for a much longer time.

But now...

"The fact that Master sent you to fetch this item means he has already made up his mind not to return for a while, doesn't it?" Yu Mo patted his shoulder. "Don't worry too much. Master certainly knows what he's doing."

Yan Qing was silent for a moment before asking

"Did Master say when he intends to return?"

Yu Mo looked conflicted.

"It seems he intends to wait until Mu Qinghe leaves."

This Mu Qinghe had been acting strange lately; he had been staying in the Imperial Capital doing nothing, simply refusing to leave.

No one knew what he was actually trying to achieve, but no one dared to ask.

Even Emperor Jiawen did not dare to disturb him if he had nothing important to say, let alone anyone else.

"I think you should just deliver this item back first, rather than delaying important business. If anything happens on Master's side, you have me. Don't worry, I will definitely notify you immediately of anything that happens."

Only after Yu Mo's repeated assurances did Yan Qing finally give in and leave with the jade.

Watching his retreating figure, a trace of guilt surfaced in Yu Mo's eyes.

If Yan Qing knew that the Master's condition was actually even more serious than what he had seen today, he wondered how he would feel.

For now, he could only hope that Mu Qinghe would leave as soon as possible!

And for that person to come back quickly as well!

***

The Library Pavilion.

Chu Liuyue looked at the empty fifth floor before her, her brows slightly furrowed.

There was actually nothing here!?

Forget books; there weren't even bookshelves.

At a glance, the four walls were completely bare.

The more Chu Liuyue looked, the stranger it felt.

Something was wrong.

In any academy, it was impossible for a place like the Library Pavilion to leave an entire floor completely devoid of content.

Unwilling to give up, she walked forward and began to carefully inspect everything.

However, no matter how she searched, she found nothing.

She even went as far as knocking on the surrounding walls, but it was still the same.

After searching in a circle, she finally stopped, resting her chin on her hand as she fell into deep thought.

Earlier, when she was preparing to leave from the fourth floor, she had indeed felt three fluctuations.

Although each subsequent fluctuation was smaller than the last, they were undoubtedly real.

Where exactly were they coming from?

Chu Liuyue had originally thought that even if there weren't as many books as the other floors, there should be some special items, but she hadn't expected there to be absolutely nothing.

Or perhaps, she simply hadn't found them yet.

After thinking for a long time without reaching an answer, Chu Liuyue simply sat on the floor with her legs crossed.

Since she still had one day left, she could wait here a bit longer to see if those fluctuations would occur again.

Time passed bit by bit.

But Chu Liuyue did not encounter any movement.

Bored, she decided to recite the God-Shocking Finger once more from memory.

Because when she entered, both sides had agreed that she could borrow books freely within the Library Pavilion, but every book had to be returned to its original position after reading.

Furthermore, books from one floor were not allowed to be taken to another.

Thus, Chu Liuyue could only rely on her memory to review the God-Shocking Finger.

Focusing her mind, the God-Shocking Finger clearly emerged in her consciousness.

Chu Liuyue began to recall from the first move and attempted to practice.

The Origin Power within her body surged toward her dantian. Once it condensed into a mass, she controlled a single thread of that power, attempting to channel it into her right index finger.

However, before that thread of power could reach her finger, it dissipated within her Origin Meridians.

Chu Liuyue readjusted, mobilizing an even smaller amount of power to try again.

Failure again.

But Chu Liuyue was not discouraged; she continued to attempt it incessantly.

The current first step was to control the Origin Power well enough so that it could spread from the dantian all the way to the right index finger along the Origin Meridians.

This single point was extremely difficult. It required the practitioner to have sufficiently resilient Origin Meridians and an incredibly delicate control over the Origin Power.

Initially, Chu Liuyue only intended to try, but the further she went, the more she realized it was much harder than she had imagined.

Her competitive spirit was ignited, and she ended up attempting it for over a thousand consecutive times!

When the morning sunlight of the second day shone down, a faint layer of silver finally enveloped Chu Liuyue's right index finger!

Before she could even cry out in surprise, she suddenly felt the surroundings brighten!

She instinctively squinted her eyes and looked around, only to suddenly widen them in shock!

Countless silver characters were floating upon the surrounding walls! They were shimmering brilliantly!