Chapter 391

Chapter 391: Mystic Grade Formation Manual

“Have the rape cases been reported to the authorities?” she asked.

“They have.”

Yu Zhi Yi nodded and didn’t add more. Since they’d been reported, tomorrow she could go to the Ministry of Justice to read the case files.

Red Luan said: “Actually, there’s more good news.”

Seeing her fox-like eyes curve into a smile, Yu Zhi Yi asked with interest: “What else?”

Red Luan held up five fingers: “Five people can already earn money with their own skills! They’ve been working for more than half a month. I went to check on them; they’re doing great and getting along well with everyone around them.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s eyes brightened.

She had never founded Yiluan Charity to feed people forever. She wanted to help those in trouble find ways to overcome it, give new goals to those who’d lost the will to live, and train people without skills so they could support themselves. These five were the first batch, but definitely not the last. As Yiluan Charity helped more people, more would gain the drive and the means to live on. That was Yiluan Charity’s purpose.

Suddenly, five strands of merit golden light slipped into her body. Yu Zhi Yi paused, then smiled even wider. She hadn’t expected to receive another wave of merit golden light even after the people she helped left Yiluan Charity.

“Since you’re back, I should return these,” Red Luan said, taking out an Attack Talisman and an Invisibility Talisman.

Yu Zhi Yi shook her head: “Gifts don’t get taken back. Keep them.”

“But…” Red Luan frowned: “I think you need them more than I do.”

Yu Zhi Yi fell silent. Red Luan really was perceptive; just seeing her cultivate once, she had sensed that Yu Zhi Yi’s situation wasn’t good. Red Luan added: “You used to be calm and relaxed. Even when the Yu Clan treated you harshly, you always looked unbothered. But this time you came back craving strength. That means you’ve met a very strong opponent.”

She pushed the items forward: “I can’t help much. All I can do is give back these life-saving things.”

Yu Zhi Yi pressed her lips together.

“Take them,” Red Luan insisted, stuffing them into Yu’s palm: “You’re my backing. Only if you’re fine can I walk sideways in the Capital. Your sister still counts on you to shield her. You need to live a long, long life so you can always look after me.”

This silly girl-even talking nonsense just to make Yu accept the talismans. As for “looking after,” she had only ever protected her best friend within her ability. Red Luan didn’t know Mystic Arts, but she was loyal and generous and had given Yu a lot of help in her own field-especially the warmth the Yu Clan had never given her after she turned ten.

Yu Zhi Yi turned her hand and pressed the items back into Red Luan’s palm: “What’s given stays given; there’s no taking it back. But you can lend me the Invisibility Talisman so I can study it. I want to see if I can draw one.”

Red Luan quickly handed over the Invisibility Talisman.

Yu Zhi Yi headed her off: “One sheet is enough.”

The Invisibility Talisman only lasts for half a shichen-about one hour. Two together would only make one full shichen-about two hours. Two hours sounds long, but if real danger appears, it might still not be enough. With that in mind, she took out a few Heavenly Thunder Talismans.

Red Luan: “…”

She had meant to return talismans, yet somehow ended up with more. Worried that more arguing would add even more talismans to her pile, Red Luan hurriedly put everything away, leaving only the Invisibility Talisman Yu needed.

It was late, and the Peach Garden sat at the edge of the city, a fair distance from Red Luan’s home. Yu Zhi Yi invited Red Luan to stay the night. Of course, staying at her good sister’s house, Red Luan had no reason to refuse.

That night, before refining any merit golden light, Yu Zhi Yi studied the Invisibility Talisman. The Invisibility Talisman was different from Talismans that held heaven-and-earth elements. With elemental Talismans, similarity helped; even if she hadn’t learned a particular one, she could often grasp its structure at a glance. Like the Lightning Command Talisman and the Heavenly Thunder Talisman. She already knew the Heavenly Thunder Talisman, and she had taken the Lightning Command Talisman off Gao Yao Wen. Even though she’d never learned it, both used the thunder element, and Lightning Command was a lower grade than Heavenly Thunder, so she learned it after just one look.

But she’d never learned the Invisibility Talisman, and her Talisman Tome had no matching runes, so she hadn’t been able to learn it. She was ready to gain nothing, hoping only for a little insight. To her surprise, this time she understood the rune structure of the Invisibility Talisman quite easily. “So that’s how it is?”

Moved by sudden insight, Yu Zhi Yi laid out Talisman Paper and cinnabar, then steadied her breath. Before long, an Invisibility Talisman flowed from her brush in one go. “It worked!”

She watched a blue flash ripple across the Talisman and was amazed. [Is this because my strength has risen? If I get stronger, can I master things I didn’t know before-without a teacher?] Yu Zhi Yi was puzzled.

Sadly, she didn’t have many spare items for more experiments. [Wait, I took quite a lot from Gao Wen Feng…] In the next instant, she set that thought aside. Right now, the most important thing was to raise her strength quickly. No matter how many skills she had, without power she would still be second-rate.

She sat cross-legged and refined ten more strands of merit golden light. Twenty strands a day, and the Golden Core Realm was still far away. Yu Zhi Yi felt a bit helpless, and the urgency in her heart grew stronger. She had a hunch the mysterious expert would see the truth behind Prince Xiao Yao’s injury. When that happened, the Empress Dowager would surely make a move.

She opened her eyes; outside, it was still dark. Yu Zhi Yi paused. Yesterday it had taken her four shichen-about eight hours-to refine ten strands. Last night she started at the Hai hour and, by the end of the Chou hour, she had finished refining ten-about four hours. Her speed had increased. That was great news.

After a brief pause, she stopped meditating and took out the storage ring taken from Gao Wen Feng. Inside were forty-seven Spirit Stones, many Alchemy Pills, high-quality jade, and several Formation Manuals. Gao Wen Feng’s personal strength wasn’t impressive, but the Formation Manuals he carried were excellent-all of them Mystic Grade.

Artifacts, techniques, and the like are ranked in four tiers: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow. Her Master had said the Mystic Sect had withered; Earth Grade and Heaven Grade techniques and natural treasures were long lost, and the ones that remained were almost entirely monopolized by great clans and sects. Not to mention rogue cultivators-even clan children and major sect disciples couldn’t see them without the right talent and contribution. With her sect being almost nothing, getting Mystic Grade Formation Manuals was unbelievably lucky for Yu Zhi Yi.