Chapter 10

Fortunately, Li Jiangying had a strong heart. After a moment, she abruptly sat up. The Little Madwoman, caught off guard, slid down and her head landed on Jiangying’s thigh.

She silently rolled over, turning her face inward.

Li Jiangying stroked the snake spirit’s head like she was petting a cat and asked Liang Yiman, “Since this is the Scripture Pavilion, are there history books, works on astronomy and geography, and cultivation methods here?”

Liang Yiman nodded and said, “Everything you could ask for. However, Miss Jiangying, you have yet to step onto the Dao path. Please do not recklessly attempt to practice any spells.”

“I know.” Li Jiangying only planned to supplement her theoretical knowledge before Cui Yu returned.

Liang Yiman glanced at the Devil Venerable lying on her lap and said, “This place has many Restrictions. Access requires permissions, especially the books on the third floor—no one can enter without Her Highness’s leave. In Her Highness’s current state, it will likely be difficult for her to leave a Moon Shadow Mark for you, Miss. So you should stay with Her Highness. Whatever book you wish to read, just have Her Highness retrieve it.”

“I understand. Many thanks.”

And so, Li Jiangying grabbed the Little Madwoman and began her campaign through a sea of books.

Don’t understand general knowledge? No matter, read a book. Don’t know where to run in the future? No matter, read a book first. Within books, there are houses of gold; within books, there are beauties like jade.

Li Jiangying started from the very beginning. Whether unofficial histories recording anecdotes and curiosities, travelogues of unknown figures, or miscellaneous books documenting all kinds of spirit plants and herbs, she didn’t let a single one go.

It was during this process that Li Jiangying discovered her true golden finger.

Heaven never bars one’s way! She knew the heavens wouldn’t be so cruel to her!

Li Jiangying discovered that not only did she recognize the characters of this world, but every book, after a single read, was etched into her memory as if she had read it a thousand times. Her mind even automatically synthesized and mastered the information. Sometimes, Li Jiangying would inexplicably feel like she had seen some of these contents somewhere before.

One read was worth thousands of readings. “So I’m not a warrior class; I’m a civil affairs player!” Li Jiangying suddenly understood.

Li Jiangying: “I shouldn’t have joined the army; I should have taken the imperial examinations! Wait, does this world even have imperial examinations?”

Flip, flip, flip through the books… “Hmm, mortal nations have them, cultivators do not, and the Devil Domain certainly doesn’t.”

The books in the Scripture Pavilion were countless; Li Jiangying couldn’t possibly read them all. She didn’t force herself to go through every single one, only selecting key books that interested her.

She scanned the first and second floors once. Besides the aforementioned popular science, common knowledge, and travelogue books, there were also quite a few texts related to cultivation.

Li Jiangying chose to read books related to the Fire Element and was dismayed to find that Liang Yiman hadn’t deceived her in the slightest—Fire Element cultivators truly had no future prospects in their cultivation.

When one becomes absorbed in something, time often flies. Three days passed swiftly. Aside from occasionally dealing with the troublesome Li Yueying, Li Jiangying was completely immersed in her studies.

Suddenly curious about what was on the third floor, she dragged Li Yueying up the stairs. As expected, the entrance was tightly shut. Li Jiangying reached out to press against the door and gestured to Li Yueying: “Yueying, open the door for me!”

Shhhhh—

The door, inadvertently pressed by Li Jiangying, slid smoothly backward and opened. Li Jiangying lurched sideways and tumbled down with a thud.

Li Yueying rushed ahead of her, throwing herself onto the ground and spreading her arms to catch the falling Li Jiangying. “Jiangying, Jiangying!”

Blushing deeply, she hugged Li Jiangying tightly. Her long snake tail wagged wildly, slapping the stairs with loud smacks. Squirming and excited, she cried, “I caught Jiangying! Jiangying is mine!”

Her head fell into a soft, fragrant place, but her teeth accidentally bit her tongue. This moment, both blissful and painful, made Li Jiangying’s face contort as tears streamed down.

She scrambled up, struggling free from the Little Madwoman’s embrace, and looked into the third-floor pavilion.

Still rows upon rows of bookshelves, but the spacing was wider than the lower floors. Li Jiangying stepped inside and found it exceptionally clean.

She browsed the shelves while Li Yueying wrapped her arms around her waist, pressing her face to her back as she slid along the floor. If it weren’t so clean here, that long tail would have become a floor-dragging rag.

“What’s that?” Suddenly, Li Jiangying saw a book that was distinctly different. The other book covers were blue, green, brown, or black—only this one was a gaudy red.

“Help me get it.”

Swoosh! Li Yueying’s tail straightened, shooting her height from level with Li Jiangying’s back to two meters eighty. She reached out and easily retrieved the gaudy red-covered book from the high shelf: The Flame Devil’s Handbook.

Li Jiangying stood before the bookshelf and began flipping through it earnestly.

It turned out the handbook’s owner was a Fire Element great power active four thousand years ago. Diagnosed with an extraordinarily pure Fire Element constitution from childhood, various accidents led Flame Devil to become a Fire Element Devil Cultivator. After breaking into the Transformation Realm, he realized his moments of lucidity were growing fewer and feared he couldn’t continue down this path. Thus, he wrote this handbook as a gift for future generations of Fire Element Devil Cultivators.

Inside were Flame Devil’s insights and realizations, some secret anecdotes, and even records of several pieces of information that seemed extraordinarily significant.

But the final recorded date was over three thousand eight hundred years ago. There was no telling if the information it contained was still reliable.

Just as Li Jiangying was about to read it through once more, Liang Yiman’s voice came from the first floor, calling out:

“Miss Jiangying, could you bring Her Highness out to see us?”

“Coming, coming.”

Li Jiangying was now quite practiced at handling Li Yueying. No need for pointless words—she simply turned and headed downstairs. The restless snake spirit automatically followed, and as she followed, she latched onto Li Jiangying’s waist.

“What’s the matter?”

“Cui Yu has returned.” Liang Yiman’s expression was somewhat grim. She led Li Jiangying to the side hall of the Scripture Pavilion. There, sitting cross-legged, was a person of delicate, refined features, dressed in men’s clothing with her hair styled like a scholar.

This was Cui Yu.

Cui Yu was pale-faced and in the middle of channeling energy. Hearing someone approach, she slowly stopped the circulation of Devil Qi and opened her eyes. “Your Highness? Highness.” She nodded in greeting, then looked at Li Jiangying. “This must be…?”

Liang Yiman nodded. “It is Miss Jiangying.”

“Miss Jiangying, a first meeting. Please forgive this subordinate for being unable to perform proper greetings due to injury.” Cui Yu greeted her in a refined, literary manner.

Li Jiangying gave an awkward laugh. “No need for formalities, it’s fine. Hello to you too, hello to you too.” This person was quite polite—and genuinely so, at that.

Cui Yu wasted no more words and came straight to the point. “This time, I failed to bring back medicine for Her Highness. Truly, a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths.” Guiltily, she continued, “The news of Miss Jiangying’s descent has already spread. Those outside are watching closely. I was discovered by them, and the medicine was stolen.”

This was also the reason she had returned injured.

Although the Little Madwoman seemed entirely out of sorts, only knowing how to cling to Li Jiangying, Cui Yu still faced her directly as she delivered her report. “Fortuitously, your subordinate managed to protect the Form-Shifting Pill. Her Highness can take this pill first, feigning complete recovery—this will at least buy us some time.”

Liang Yiman gritted her teeth. “This medicine is meant to force Demons into Human Form Transformation! If Her Highness takes it, won’t her injuries only worsen?!”

How could Cui Yu not understand this logic? It was just…

She presented the medicine, her voice hoarse. “These past days, Your Highness and the others have guarded the Moon Shadow Devil Palace day and night—the hardship needs no elaboration. Your Highness must also understand: if more external enemies come, how can just the few of us possibly hold them off?”

Somberly, she added, “When I returned, someone was tracking me. They stole the medicine. I fear the news of Her Highness’s severe injury can no longer be contained. Countless eyes are fixed on the Moon Shadow Devil Palace. If they join forces and break through by force, we will all die here.”

“Her Highness must appear. Only by showing the outside world that Her Highness is still powerful enough to make them come but never return can we intimidate them and buy time for Her Highness to heal her wounds!”

Li Jiangying, listening in from the sidelines: While I was lost in the sea of books, what on earth has been happening in the world?

She silently stroked Li Yueying’s head.

Liang Yiman and Cui Yu were deadlocked. In the end, it was Liang Yiman who gave way. Deep down, she knew: Cui Yu was right.