Knocking?

Morning?

But?

Unload?

…

Or some other character?

In Jian Chou’s mind, many matching characters flashed by, but ultimately she reached no conclusion.

Even if she knew not half a character but the whole one, it probably wouldn’t be of much use.

Getting one scale and half a claw, how could she piece together the complete picture?

She tried to use the traces remaining on the window paper as a foundation to restore the writing on it, but the window paper showed no reaction at all. It seemed that doing such a thing in the Extreme Realm wasn’t so simple.

Besides this, the only way to see this writing would be to reverse time.

But that was far beyond Jian Chou’s capabilities.

She stood quietly before this blank carved window paper, her expression somewhat complex.

However…

She felt no regret.

Between this person and Xie Buchen, between them and the house’s original owner, even between them and herself, there existed some mysterious connection. But despite searching all her memories, Jian Chou couldn’t guess who this person leaving the writing was.

Was the house’s original owner deceiving, or was this person deceiving?

Equally difficult to distinguish.

One was a direct threat from outside the door—danger about to break in, concerning her life;

The other was mysterious writing from inside the door, causing her no immediate harm.

Jian Chou had long been half-believing and half-doubting about this house’s affairs. Even if given another chance, she wouldn’t choose to push the door open and look at that moment.

Sighing softly, Jian Chou reopened the two carved windows that no longer showed any abnormality, only murmuring: “Fish and bear’s paw…”

The fragrance of a red plum blossom had already become faint.

As soon as she approached, she smelled it, though mixed with another scent.

After opening the door, Jian Chou frowned slightly, turned around, and looked toward the ground.

The three broken purple incense sticks lay on the floor.

She bent down to pick them up piece by piece, placing them in her palm, and that fragrant scent became more intense.

“This fragrance…”

Doubt arose in her eyes as Jian Chou carefully placed them back in the narrow box, then directly stuffed it into her Qiankun Bag.

The affairs of this house were bizarrely abnormal.

If the account on the window paper wasn’t false, this house’s former owner should be an extraordinary capable person, naturally beyond what the current Jian Chou could reach.

What she should think about now was only one thing—

The cauldron competition!

The battle at Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm had already passed nearly a hundred days.

She had been trapped in this Extreme Realm for nearly a hundred days as well.

The Ghost Axe connected to her mind and spirit had been accidentally lost when she was severely injured and exhausted. It was probably already presented to Lord Qin Guang by Cui Jue.

Jian Chou still had no idea how to get it back.

Retrieving her own magical artifact from the hands of Lord Qin Guang of the First Palace was far more thrilling and dangerous than pulling teeth from a tiger’s mouth.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but begin weighing her options.

Leave the Extreme Realm, or reclaim the Ghost Axe?

It seemed like a difficult choice, but in reality, she only had one option—

Leave the Extreme Realm.

Without sufficient cultivation, reclaiming the Ghost Axe would be seeking death.

The mind-spirit connection between her and the Ghost Axe hadn’t been severed, so she wasn’t worried about the Extreme Realm using the Ghost Axe to cause trouble.

As long as she lived for one day, she would be the Ghost Axe’s master for one day!

No matter how great Lord Qin Guang’s abilities were, he couldn’t change the Ghost Axe’s recognition of its master.

As long as she could leave the Extreme Realm, she could have the most stable environment for cultivation. Planning to return to the Extreme Realm and reclaim the Ghost Axe in the future was also part of her plan.

As for her original thought of spying on reincarnation, her child who died before birth…

Struggle appeared again in Jian Chou’s eyes.

Only ten days remained until the cauldron competition began.

If she wanted to leave, she had to abandon all other curious matters, all obsessions.

Of course, that included the child.

Moreover, she discovered that her thoughts seemed to have been influenced somehow.

People rely on memory to survive in this world—did that stillborn child know she should have been his mother?

Even if he knew, they only had that brief connection.

If he hadn’t become a ghost cultivator and had entered reincarnation, washing away past events, he would already be a blank slate.

Whether she was his mother, whether he was her child—what difference did it make?

Thinking this way seemed to bring a sense of melancholy.

But Jian Chou couldn’t control her thoughts.

She could only slowly pace in this study, and suddenly felt the confusion that belonged to this study’s former owner: person, reincarnation, self.

For a moment, she fell into a trance.

It wasn’t until outside fell into darkness that she firmly stepped away from the window and returned directly to the desk.

Thinking more was useless.

What needed to be done would ultimately be done. Rather than empty speculation, it was better to consider how to hold this good hand and win herself a beautiful victory.

She had been in seclusion too long. Her strength seemed to have improved somewhat, but her soul orb looked even smaller than before, reaching an almost exaggerated degree.

Though her soul hadn’t been completely repaired, it was much better than before.

Under these circumstances, cultivation speed should be faster than before.

However, no matter how fast, there were only ten days left.

What method could rapidly improve her strength within these ten days?

Jian Chou’s mind raced rapidly.

Use these ten days for desperate cultivation?

Forget it.

Even if Jian Chou was extraordinarily talented, what could ten days accomplish?

Ten-day Foundation Establishment like Xie Buchen?

That was still only Foundation Establishment realm, and even someone as formidable as him hadn’t achieved ten-day Core Formation.

Moreover, Jian Chou still remembered what Cui Jue had said when leaving.

The lower her cultivation, the smaller her soul orb, the better the effect after entering the cauldron competition would be—and this was key to getting a good hand.

So cultivation wasn’t reliable.

Jian Chou quickly crossed out this idea in her mind. Then a complete plan rapidly surfaced.

If internal cultivation wouldn’t work, there was still external cultivation.

A cultivator’s strength depended most on their own cultivation, but beyond cultivation, there were many other influencing factors.

Under heaven, there was a type of cultivator that was very annoying.

This type of cultivator was called Gu Qingmei, also called Chen Tingyan.

Ordinary cultivators with average backgrounds, upon seeing them, should hold them high in reverence and not provoke them;

Cultivators with sufficient cultivation but shallow pockets, upon seeing them, should also take detours to avoid being infuriated to the point of vomiting blood by their wealth.

Their cultivation wasn’t necessarily deep, their combat power wasn’t necessarily high, but their magical artifacts were numerous as mountains. A casual throw would be priceless.

If they wanted to fight desperately, throwing out their trump card might allow them to kill above their level.

Previously, though Jian Chou didn’t consider them inferior, she didn’t particularly approve of such methods of abandoning the root for the branch.

But now…

She was determined to become outstanding among them!

Magical artifacts?

Pills?

Talismans?

Formations?

…

None were problems!

Now Jian Chou had nothing except being incredibly wealthy!

Those participating in the Extreme Realm’s cauldron competition were mostly outstanding individuals from various clans, but a decent magical artifact worth several thousand to ten thousand dark jade was already the limit.

How abundant could their resources be?

You should know that when Jian Chou previously sold off that pile of Little Marten’s items, she had accumulated quite a bit of money.

Moreover, during her recent seclusion, the short shopkeeper had sent a message hoping to meet with her. He would specifically come from Shanhai Market to Wangsi City to trade with her.

At that time, Jian Chou was busy with pill refinement and didn’t dare be distracted, so she ignored it.

But now…

It was exactly when she lacked things!

Thinking of this, Jian Chou simply first organized the useful items in her Qiankun Bag.

One category was low-level items that wouldn’t arouse suspicion when used in the Extreme Realm; another was higher-level items that might surprise people; and the third was items that absolutely couldn’t appear in the Extreme Realm but might kill enemies and save lives.

These mainly consisted of offensive and defensive magical artifacts and talismans, while pills were stored separately.

What remained were formations.

Jian Chou still had over ten formation discs in her Qiankun Bag. Placing spirit stones on them could form new formations. But spirit stones were rare treasures in the Extreme Realm. If she revealed them too early, she might be torn to pieces before reaching the eighteenth level.

So she pondered for a moment, then glanced at the bookshelf and had an idea.

Previous generations plant trees, later generations enjoy the shade.

Experienced ancients truly don’t deceive me.

Jian Chou’s eyes immediately brightened.

With such a terrifying treasury here, why worry about not creating formations with shocking power?

Even just copying, she could use formation discs to kill a whole bunch of opponents!

Moreover…

She seemed not to have finished reading these books.

She had only read one category of formations—how wasteful!

Perhaps there were even more powerful things.

Having properly categorized the items in her Qiankun Bag, what remained was using formation knowledge to create formation discs. Jian Chou didn’t hesitate and once again approached that pile of books.

With only ten days until the cauldron competition, she still didn’t know if the former house owner’s scheme had succeeded.

If it hadn’t, the other party was probably still wandering around in some corner of Shijiu Zhou or the mortal islands.

This entire room of books represented four hundred years of someone else’s research, and after thorough study, they could even create a grand deception plan.

Jian Chou couldn’t care less about who had schemed against her.

Anyway, the books were placed here—could she still be polite to this cunning former owner?

Thinking this, Jian Chou directly took out a communication jade slip and first sent a message to the short shopkeeper.

She informed him that she had finished seclusion, but would soon participate in the cauldron competition, so their meeting must be within these ten days. Additionally, she asked him to bring high-quality good items from Pinzi Tower—she needed them to save her life in the cauldron competition.

After replying, Jian Chou tossed the jade slip back into her sleeve.

Now, while waiting for him to arrange a trading time, what she needed to do was simple—

Read books!

Only read books!

On this cauldron competition journey, she might very well never return to this residence. Heaven knows if there would be another chance to read these books in the future?

So before leaving, she wanted to stuff the entire contents of this study into her head!

Recording information with jade slips would certainly not be forgotten.

But jade slips were external objects that could have problems at any time.

Jian Chou trusted jade slips, but at this moment she trusted her own head more.

Having chosen a direction, following the sequence, she directly pulled out a book and rapidly perused it.

“Rustle rustle…”

Paper pages flew under her fingertips like dancing black and white butterflies.

Light flickered in Jian Chou’s eyes. Every character that passed through her sight left deep impressions in her mind.

One book, two books, three books…

Ten books, twenty books, thirty books…

One hundred books, two hundred books, three hundred books…

…

Day and night alternated, light and shadow changed.

Jian Chou’s reading position gradually moved from the bookshelf near the carved window to the bookshelf near the door. After an unknown amount of time, she finally finished reading the last of the books filling the room.

“Click.”

Another book was taken down by Jian Chou.

This was the two thousand one hundred and sixty-third book, discussing the creation of a malicious talisman called “Soul Refining Strike.” As usual in this former house owner’s style, everything from effects to techniques to underlying principles, even weakened and advanced versions, were recorded.

Jian Chou was memorizing for memory’s sake, not pursuing whether they actually suited her.

So her flipping speed remained very fast.

“Rustle rustle…”

Thirty to fifty pages passed in the blink of an eye, and soon she reached the last page.

Her fingers, which had been turning pages for so long, finally stopped, already showing a stiff, tired feeling.

Jian Chou could barely sense their existence.

Holding this volume, she raised her eyes. All the books on the left side of the bookshelf had been read and memorized by her. The one in her hands was the very last.

Looking back around the entire study, dim daylight shone through the windows, enveloping countless books in unclear shadows.

Finished reading.

These three words clearly appeared in Jian Chou’s mind.

Five days and nights had passed.

Reading ten lines at a glance, photographic memory.

Two thousand one hundred and sixty-three books had been memorized completely without missing a single word.

This treasury belonging to the study’s former owner had been “stolen” into her mind.

No one knew.

But she firmly believed that for a very long time to come, these two thousand one hundred and sixty-three books would provide her endless assistance.

Her stiff fingers stroked across the rough cover of this final book.

Jian Chou took one last look at it. Without disdaining the overly malicious talisman it recorded, she carefully and respectfully placed it back in its original position.

Perhaps, long, long in the future, this house’s former owner would welcome the “successor” he truly anticipated.

As for the “incense burning” matter…

This incense didn’t seem like an ordinary thing.

The writing only said “burn one stick of incense on the desk” but didn’t specify what kind of incense.

If those three purple incense sticks were strange, then this was the former owner being sinister and cunning. Jian Chou taking them away, causing his carefully designed “scheme” to fail, was his own comeuppance, his calculations falling through;

If those three purple incense sticks weren’t strange, burning ordinary incense could achieve the same effect, so whether Jian Chou took them or not made no difference.

After all, ordinary incense sticks could be found anywhere, right?

So Jian Chou felt no guilt about taking those broken incense pieces.

She just wondered what expression the former owner would have if he learned of her actions someday.

A sense of mischievous anticipation arose in Jian Chou’s heart, though she didn’t waste too much time considering this.

Having finished reading the books, she had also decided which formations to set up.

Fortunately, the ten formation discs would have the same effect whether dark jade or spirit stones were placed on them.

Jian Chou didn’t study the principles within the formations at this moment, only following the memory of those books, using several high-grade dark jade to set up formations.

All took the most extreme paths.

Either extremely strong attack power or heaven-defying defensive power.

Jian Chou prepared seven of the former and three of the latter. After all, often attack was defense, advance was retreat.

In a state of not seeking deep understanding, the ten formation discs were properly arranged within a day.

During this period, the short shopkeeper also came directly to Jian Chou’s residence for a secret trade, purchasing the materials previously remaining in Jian Chou’s hands, and selling several more expensive “good items” that were jaw-droppingly costly.

When the short shopkeeper left, Jian Chou had little dark jade remaining, but possessed three full trump cards capable of instantly annihilating early Jade Nirvana cultivators!

The next day, Zhang Tang visited.

He handed her a brocade pouch, informing her he would come to escort her in four days. Unusually, he helped Chen Tingyan convey a message about participating in the second round together, and gave her the second round’s questions in advance before leaving.

Jian Chou guessed that Cui Jue and others had already released news of her cauldron competition participation, and Chen Tingyan, hearing this, had Zhang Tang bring her a message.

As for why it was a “conveyance”…

Wasn’t that simple?

This Fourth Master Chen was an outstanding example of “cultivation through pill consumption, protection through magical artifacts.” Even a half-amateur like Jian Chou had frantically prepared for herself—he probably wasn’t much different.

Two more items meant two more bargaining chips.

At least at this time, Jian Chou felt she could understand Chen Tingyan and empathize with him.

The brocade pouch Zhang Tang gave had a black background with gold embroidery—the same type of item as Jian Chou’s Qiankun Bag.

Everything from the Eight Yama Palaces was inside: diverse categories including pills, talismans, and even many luxurious one-time strong attack magical artifacts—truly everything imaginable.

There was even one item at the “trump card” level!

Jian Chou’s eyes lit up seeing this. She felt Lord Qin Guang was truly sincere, decisive in action, not stingy, and particularly understood her needs.

Since this was the case, before approaching the Yin-Yang Realm, she would perform enthusiastically.

A satisfied smile curved her lips as Jian Chou reached in again.

This time, she pulled out a thin sheet of paper.

She immediately knew this should be her first request.

The list of ghost cultivators arranged by the Eight Yama Palaces to “take care” of her.

With anticipation and barely detectable anxiety, Jian Chou slowly unfolded this sheet of paper.

Standard script handwriting, exceptionally concise—clearly from Cui Jue’s hand.

First Palace Lord Qin Guang, late Jade Nirvana, Zhang Tang;

Wangsi City Ghost King Clan, middle Jade Nirvana, Lihan;

Fengdu City Bull Head Clan, middle Jade Nirvana, Niu Dongliang;

Eighth Palace Wheel-Turning King, peak Jade Nirvana, Pan Hexun!

Four people total!

And without exception, all were middle Jade Nirvana realm or above!

Jian Chou truly gasped.

Zhang Tang’s close relationship with Jian Chou made his inclusion reasonable.

Pan Hexun, the strongest, was from the Wheel-Turning King Palace that suggested adding Jian Chou to the cauldron competition—also logical.

Niu Dongliang, Jian Chou didn’t know.

But Lihan…

This was somewhat hard for her to believe.

Though his strength was only middle Jade Nirvana, his bizarre movement technique when appearing at the Eighteen Floors Above Ground, that stunning yet cruel strike, and Chen Tingyan’s subsequent mention of the “Immovable Wisdom King Dharma Body” all shrouded this person in an aura of cold, powerful strength.

Jian Chou had watched from afar at that time.

This person was no kind soul.

The Eight Yama Palaces had actually secured him?

Unimaginable…

An inevitably strange feeling arose in her heart. Jian Chou pondered this sheet of paper for a long time before finally setting it down.

She would pay attention to these people but wouldn’t completely trust them.

Life, of course, was safest when held in her own hands.

In the remaining time, Jian Chou familiarized herself with various newly acquired magical artifacts, including a brand new grade of black sword, while also taking time to thoroughly inspect the entire residence.

The ruler-shaped “hidden weapon” that had previously ambushed her was what interested her most.

Unfortunately, following that deep mark downward, she couldn’t detect any trace for a long time. It seemed either buried too deep or had vanished into thin air.

Jian Chou was completely puzzled. Finally knowing this was beyond her capabilities, she simply gave up.

The remaining three days passed swiftly.

On the morning of the final day, daylight tore through the darkness covering the Extreme Realm, also igniting the restless atmosphere of the underworld’s seventy-two cities.

The entire Extreme Realm seemed to emit a thunderous roar, boiling with excitement.

Jian Chou, who had spent the night meditating under the eaves, opened her eyes in this clamor that almost seemed capable of overturning the entire city, looking toward the still dim and unclear sky.

Outside, people celebrated wildly for the about-to-begin feast of slaughter;

Her heart surged only because of the homeward journey to Yashan she was about to embark upon!

Rising, arranging her clothes, stepping forward, opening the door.

All of Jian Chou’s actions carried a flowing, natural feeling.

“Creak.”

Zhang Tang and Chen Tingyan, who had been waiting at the door for quite some time—one in deep purple magnificent robes, the other in solemn black garments—both turned to look at her upon hearing the sound.

Jian Chou saw them too.

But the moment their gazes met, another scene actually surfaced in her mind, gradually overlapping with this current scene.

Unfortunately, those waiting for her were no longer the companions she had met on the One-Person Platform.

Jian Chou stepped out the door, a bright smile blooming on her lips: “You two, sorry to have kept you waiting.”