Meanwhile, on the distant cliff, the black-robed sword cultivator was utterly stunned, almost turning to stone in disbelief. After a long moment, he stiffly turned his head to look at the white-haired medical cultivator, stared at him for a while, and finally asked in a hoarse voice, “Is it easy for you guys medical cultivators to learn arrays? Really?”
“…” The white-haired medical cultivator remained silent.
“Hahaha…!” Suddenly, the black-robed sword cultivator burst into a fit of hearty laughter. Since there was no one else around on the mountaintop, he laughed so hard he almost rolled on the ground, clutching his stomach. “That kid is probably questioning whether he’s an idiot now!” The sword cultivator finally managed to stop laughing, wiping his eyes in mock seriousness.
“Did you understand it?” Even the female cultivator in red couldn’t resist asking the white-haired medical cultivator, “Was her array… really that simple?”
“Hahaha.” The black-robed sword cultivator, struggling to suppress his laughter, broke out into another round of chuckles. “You should try it!” he teased.
The white-haired medical cultivator sighed lightly. He realized that since Meng Qi and Li Che had entered the Seven Emotions Array, he’d been sighing a lot more frequently.
He gently clenched his right hand, summoning a medical knife into his palm. The knife was short, only about the length of two palms, its slightly curved blade made it distinctly different from the swords used by sword cultivators. The knife itself was almost devoid of decoration, with only a simple, ancient-looking fish engraved on the handle. The fish was depicted in just a few strokes, but the eye was a dot of pale blue, inlaid with a transparent jade, making the little fish look vividly lifelike.
If any elders from the Feng Alliance or the Medical Society Alliance saw this plain-looking knife, they would likely exclaim in astonishment. This knife had not appeared in the Three Realms for thousands of years, yet nearly all medical sects with preserved ancient legacies would have recognized this knife from the ancient records they inherited. Those records didn’t elaborate much on the knife’s appearance but always accurately depicted the small fish on the handle and the piece of emerald jade in the fish’s eye.
That jade, only the size of a grain of rice, was crafted by the most talented array cultivator among the last generation of disciples from the strongest array sect in ancient times. According to the legend, the disciple refined the essence of an entire bay of carp into a single piece of malachite, which she then embedded in the knife’s handle.
With this knife in hand, the white-haired medical cultivator could sense any spiritual flowers, plants, and other spiritual materials of third grade or higher within a hundred-mile radius.
The white-haired medical cultivator hadn’t taken out this knife in a very long time. Now, as he held the knife horizontally, the black-robed sword cultivator’s laughter abruptly stopped.
Not only did his laughter cease, but all traces of amusement vanished from his face. His expression reverted to one of sadness and nostalgia as he gazed tenderly at the knife in the white-haired medical cultivator’s hand, as if caressing a beloved.
The white-haired medical cultivator crouched down, just like Meng Qi, and began drawing an array on the ground. After a moment, he frowned at the tangled, messy lines that refused to form a coherent array.
“Your spiritual sense is clearly stronger than that girl’s,” the black-robed sword cultivator muttered as he leaned over to look at the chaotic lines. He blinked and then turned back to glance in Meng Qi’s direction, “That girl is clearly a medical cultivator, so how does she have such a terrifying talent for arrays?”
The black-robed sword cultivator could, of course, hear every word of Meng Qi and Li Che’s conversation. Suddenly, he opened his right hand, and a black longsword landed steadily in his palm. “Could it really be that simple…?” He mumbled to himself as he quickly started drawing on the ground as well. Soon, a mess of lines appeared on the ground in front of him, looking even more disordered than his colleague’s attempt.
The black-robed sword cultivator cursed under his breath and swept his longsword across, erasing the chaotic lines in an instant. “No wonder Qingmei’s sect was always so strict in recruiting disciples,” he murmured, glancing in Meng Qi’s direction again.
The blue-robed girl was squatting diligently on the ground. Her figure was slender and delicate, accentuated by her long black hair casually tied at the back, exposing her long, fair neck. She held a silver knife in her slender hand, swiftly drawing another array on the ground. Her movements were smooth and unhesitating with no pauses.
Even in the Seven Emotions Array, the wind blew, lifting a few strands of her hair from her cheeks. Everything looked so beautiful and… familiar!
The black-robed sword cultivator blinked, slowly raising his hand toward Meng Qi.
“Qing…” He had barely uttered a single word before realizing his mistake. The black-robed sword cultivator blinked hard and quickly jumped back to the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, he burst into loud, exaggerated laughter, “That brat will probably cry out of sheer frustration, hahaha!”
…
Li Che was indeed on the verge of tears. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he had been staring hard at the chaotic lines before him, sometimes casting a doubtful glance at the knife in his hand. Why was it that, despite using similar tools, Meng Qi could draw so effortlessly while he just couldn’t manage it?
After a while, Li Che turned to look at Meng Qi.
“Uh…” Meng Qi was equally puzzled, “Maybe…” She thought for a moment, “You could try drawing along with me? Let’s give it another shot.”
She proceeded to explain, “First, use your spiritual sense to control your array. Shape it into continuous, fine lines. No need to use too much aura, but it mustn’t break.”
Li Che felt a bit disheartened, “Maybe I just don’t have the talent for this.” His chin nearly touched his chest, “I was never particularly gifted to begin with.”
“Let’s try again,” Meng Qi insisted firmly, “Follow along with me.”
“Alright.” Li Che took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus. He had a growing sense that this was more complicated than it seemed. “Meng Qiqi,” he asked offhandedly, “When you first learned arrays, was it this difficult for you, too?”
Meng Qi fell silent.
Li Che’s hand paused. He turned to look at the silent Meng Qi, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, “Did you just say… this array is something you came up with yourself?”
“Well… yes,” Meng Qi nodded.
Li Che blinked, looking at Meng Qi, then at the small array on the ground. His own attempt was a chaotic mess, hardly resembling an array at all. In contrast, Meng Qi’s neat and beautiful array looked particularly pleasing to the eye.
“Could it be…?” Li Che recalled the things Meng Qi had said earlier about the Hundred Ghosts And Hundred Phantoms Array and mumbled, “Could you just figure out an entire array by looking at it once?”
“…yes.” Meng Qi nodded slightly.
Li Che: “…”
Meng Qi: “…”
She took a deep breath and said, “Let’s try again.”
“…Alright.” Li Che nodded reluctantly. He now had a strong conviction that arrays were beyond his comprehension—was there any hope for him to use them? Perhaps this was the difference between a genius and an ordinary person!
For a moment, Li Che felt a bitter taste in his mouth, but he quickly pulled himself together. This wasn’t the first time he’d tasted this kind of bitterness. There was a time when he was twelve and his master took him to the Western Realm, where he met a young genius who had already made a name for himself—the eldest son of Feng Alliance’s Xue Clan, Xue Chengxuan.
Despite being just two years older, Xue Chengxuan had far surpassed Li Che in medical cultivation talent. While Li Che’s master and the Xue Clan elders discussed profound topics, the two boys sat and listened. After the discussion, Li Che had barely grasped anything, while Xue Chengxuan was already able to converse with the elders about the principles involved, even offering his own insights.
Xue Chengxuan, though just as young and inexperienced as Li Che, carried himself with such ease and confidence, leaving a deep impression. Li Che also remembered vividly how his master looked at the sky and sighed softly upon leaving the Xue Clan manor. He hadn’t asked why his master sighed, but he could sense the faint melancholy in it, perhaps a longing for a disciple as brilliant and gifted as Xue Chengxuan.
Li Che tightened his grip on the knife. He gathered his thoughts, knowing that he would never achieve the same heights as someone like Xue Chengxuan, or even…
He glanced quickly at Meng Qi. Her figure, enveloped in a blue robe, looked slender yet firm, and she maintained a focused expression, showing no signs of condescension or disdain.
Li Che took another deep breath, his gaze settling on the knife in Meng Qi’s hand. His achievements might be limited, and it was perhaps beyond him to reach extraordinary heights like those geniuses, but everyone had their own path and so did he. He would follow it, step by step, resolutely and without hesitation.
With this resolve, Li Che tightened his grip on his own knife.
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