Chapter Fifty-One: Inciting Trouble

  He flipped through it a few more times before putting the "Tian Shu Qi Shu" back into his storage space.

  Suddenly, he had an epiphany and thought that most precious treasures would be sealed with a restrictive spell, which was why they couldn't see their true appearance. Although he didn't understand the spell, at least he could try using his inner energy to test it out; even if it didn't work, there wouldn't be any loss.

  Thinking of this, Xia Chen activated his true energy and slowly transmitted it into the entire ancient book.

  A moment later, the ancient book had no reaction.

  Xia Chen shook his head and was about to give up.

  Suddenly, the ancient book emitted a faint glow, then rapidly brightened, and in just a few breaths of time, it became dazzling, illuminating the pitch-black room to an extraordinary brightness.

  Xia Chen was taken aback and then overjoyed, never expecting that his casual attempt would actually succeed.

  He hastily opened the ancient book and found that its contents had completely changed. Every word was clear as a painting, shining brightly, even an ordinary person could see it clearly.

  "I have collected the extraordinary skills of heaven and earth, and merged them into this heavenly book. Originally, it was not a method for cultivating merit, but others regarded it as a heretical path. However, they did not know that the great Tao has countless methods, and even heretical paths can also comprehend the principles of heaven and earth. Practicing them can also reveal the gateway to enlightenment. Others are narrow-minded and unaware of their own biases, thinking that cultivation is the only correct way. In reality, this is a huge mistake! I have compiled my life's understanding, feelings, and skills into this book, hoping that future generations with affinity will obtain it and spread its glory."

  Xia Chen read the first paragraph word by word, and couldn't help but feel a deep sense of emotion. It seemed that this was what the anonymous author of this heavenly book's extraordinary skill had left behind, using the heavenly skill to explore the great way, this nameless senior also trod a different path.

  As he turned the pages one by one, his mind couldn't help but be violently shocked. The heavenly book's mysterious skills were indeed extraordinary, collecting all sorts of supernatural techniques that surpassed imagination.

  Among these strange skills, a large part is the refining of instruments, teaching how to refine magical treasures, collect materials, and identify the properties of heavenly treasures. It's written extremely detailed, almost exhaustive, leaving one dazzled and unable to look away.

  In addition, there are various ingenious skills, such as refining puppets, low-level puppets, mid-level puppets, including high-level puppets with spiritual intelligence, and even the all-puppet puppet-prohibition grand array, which is a complete system in itself.

  There is also the Spiritual Realm chapter, such as how to establish a separated soul, a second yuan god, and even the strange art of reincarnation, which makes Xia Chen stare in amazement.

  Closing the old book, Xia Chen's heart was racing with excitement, thinking that this time he had really stumbled upon a treasure.

  This heavenly book of mysterious skills, in terms of value, is far superior to the nameless ancient scroll of refining treasure pills by Han Dongyu. It's probably a priceless treasure even among high-level divine transcendence cultivators.

  Although most of the mysterious skills inside are far beyond Xia Chen's current realm, there are also many that can be used with postnatal cultivation.

  For example, using materials to refine simple defensive and offensive weapons, but in the Tian Shu Qi Shu, even the simplest refining equipment is extremely intricate and complex, and its difficulty is not at all inferior to that of refining elixirs.

  Behind these extraordinary skills, there are the unnamed predecessors' insights and enlightenment. If one cultivates and comprehends according to the above, it is not inferior to a chance encounter or sudden enlightenment.

  After a long time, Xia Chen's heart finally calmed down, thinking about where to start. Obviously, refining equipment was the best choice, and as a cultivator, refining equipment, refining pills, and cultivating were all part of the same process.

  If it were another post-heavenly disciple, even if they saw the heavenly book's strange techniques, they would only sigh in admiration. But for Xia Chen, there was no great worry, with the guidance of the聚宝盆 (聚宝盆 is a mythical object that can grant wishes), all bottlenecks did not exist.

  Apart from half a piece of Liche's pelt and sharp claws, Xia Chen currently doesn't have any decent materials in his hands. However, for Xia Chen, he doesn't need anything high-end for the time being. If he can refine the Liche's pelt into a defensive armor, that would be an excellent choice.

  After looking for half a day, Xia Chen finally chose the simplest defensive armor forging technique and put away the Heavenly Book of Odd Techniques, then began to meditate with his eyes closed.

  On the second day, as soon as she opened her eyes, Li Qiong shouted loudly outside the door: "Xiaochenz, are you up? I'm coming in. If you're not dressed, I'll peek at you."

  Xia Chen smiled and said: "I'm not wearing clothes, you come in, let's see if you're at a disadvantage or I have the upper hand."

  "You think I don't dare to look? Who's afraid of who?" Li Qitong hummed, pushed open the door and walked in, but covered her eyes with her hand, only peeking through her fingers.

  Xia Chen puffed out a laugh, this little girl was so naive and lovely, really likable.

  "You scared me, Xiaozhen!" Seeing Xiaozhen standing neatly in the house, Li Qiu Tong put down her hand and exclaimed, "I thought you really weren't wearing clothes!"

  "I'm not wearing clothes, how dare you come in, keep your voice down, miss? People will think I'm a hoodlum if they hear you." Xia Chen said.

  "Hehe, little dust, if you're not good to me, I'll tell Daddy that you're a hooligan and let him spank your butt with a board." Li Qitong said with a smile.

  Xia Chen gave her a cold glance: "I'm also a guest you invited, and this is how you treat me?"

  Li Qitong reached out and grabbed his arm: "I'm just joking with you, right? Little Dust, where are we going to play today? It's no fun by myself, come with me."

  "Didn't your dad and sister tell you not to go out? Just stay at home obediently." Xia Chen quietly pulled his arm back, Li Qiu Tong was close to him, but if someone saw them, it would be another trouble.

  He also felt a bit strange, having known Li Qiu Tong for only one day, how did this little girl treat him as if he were an old acquaintance? Could it be that after cultivating, his charm had also increased? It seems that cultivation is indeed good.

  Li Qitong suddenly looked like a deflated balloon: "You didn't mention it and I had already forgotten, but what's fun about being at home anyway? How about this, Little Dust, we sneak out quietly, okay? With your high cultivation level, you can protect me."

  Xia Chen was startled and shook his head repeatedly: "This can't be done, I want to take you out. Your father and sister must find me to settle the account, so I won't be able to stay in your house anymore."

  "This won't work, that won't work, then what do you suggest we do? Just staring at each other like this?" Li Qitong said in frustration.

  Xia Chen's heart moved, and he smiled: "Since nothing is wrong, why don't I accompany you in your cultivation? Your talent is not bad, and you will definitely become a great figure in the future. Didn't you say that you would roam the world with your sword later on? Then shouldn't you work harder?"

  "That's good, but Xiao Chenzi, you're much more capable than me, I need your guidance." Li Qitong said after some thought.

  "No problem." Xia Chen smiled slightly.

  Two people walked out of the door and had just arrived at the backyard yesterday, when they heard a noisy sound. They saw Zhou Lin facing Li Ya Tong, saying something, with more than a dozen gatekeepers standing behind him.

  Li Yatong's face looked unpleasant, but her emotions were still calm.

  "It's this guy again, I don't know what he wants from my sister this time. His character is not good, and he always thinks about improper things. He's the one I dislike the most!" Seeing Zhou Lin, Li Qiu Tong suddenly showed a look of impatience on her face.

  "It seems that Lin has a good impression of you this week. I made him lose face in front of you yesterday, and he must be very resentful towards me now." Xia Chen said with a smile.

  "That's what he deserves, every time I see him, he always follows me and talks to me tirelessly. Before, wherever I went, he almost followed me there too, it's so annoying. Little dust, you let him lose face, that's enough. Let's go take a look at what's going on." Li Qiu Tong said.

  Two people walked over while talking.

  "You've arrived just in time, Xia Chen! Since you're the one who stirred up this trouble, it's only fitting that you're the one to resolve these matters. You've been at our Li household for only a day and already so many things have happened." Li Ya Tong's expression turned cold as soon as she saw Xia Chen approaching, but she still managed to suppress her anger and spoke in a stern tone.

  Obviously, Xia Chen's icy demeanor yesterday left her with a lingering fear, and she didn't dare to be presumptuous again.

  Xia Chen looked at her for a moment, furrowed his brow, but didn't say anything.

  "Sister, what's going on? Why are you blaming Xiaochenzhi again? Didn't I already explain everything yesterday?" Li Qitong said.

  Li Yatong's face turned black: "What's going on? You'd better ask this good guest you've invited!"

  "Second Miss, you've arrived just in time. I was about to talk to you." Zhou Lin glared at Xia Chen with hatred, "This friend you've brought is arrogant and overbearing, and as soon as they arrived, they used despicable means to secretly attack me without receiving any punishment. Although I, Zhou Lin, am not talented, I have been in the Li household for over a year, always doing my best for the Li family. But now, I'm not even as good as this newly arrived guest, and can't even get basic safety guarantees. What's the point of me staying here? It's really disheartening. Why don't I just leave?"

  "If we don't severely punish the culprit who injured Zhou Lin, we'll collectively resign and leave the Li family!"

  "What we want is fairness, and it's absolutely impossible for someone who just arrived to be superior to us."

  "We must drive this Xia Chen out, otherwise we will never forgive."

  The guests behind him were indignant and said angrily.

  Li Qitong angrily said: "Zhou Lin, how dare you incite other guests to make trouble? What exactly happened yesterday, you know it in your heart. You want to provoke Xia Chen, why drag others into this! You're really despicable!"

  Zhou Lin's face changed, and he coldly said: "Second Miss, can I assume that your words are insulting our guests? Yesterday everyone saw clearly that Xia Chen intentionally used a hidden weapon to injure my hand, which still hasn't healed yet. As for saying I provoked him, did Xia Chen suffer even half the harm?"

  He raised his right hand high, the red swelling on his palm had faded, but it was scarred and covered with needle-like puncture wounds, which were the marks left by Xia Chen's air needles.

  "Zhou Lin, don't try to downplay this, I'm only talking about you, not anyone else." Li Qiu Tong said indignantly, and then turned to the crowd of guests, "You all were there yesterday, did Zhou Lin provoke Xia Chen on his own initiative? You all saw it clearly, why are you speaking up for him today?"

  When Li Qitong asked, all the guests present were dryly laughing.