Chapter 20: The Old Turtle
That night, the moon was bright and the stars were scattered.
Jinshu Street, Yu Mountain Demon Academy.
After classes ended tonight, Zhu Yun trotted on her four short legs, carrying Fu Shaoguang toward the Dharma Transmission Pool. This Little Pig Demon didn't want to go home early and listen to her parents nag, so she became Fu Shaoguang's Shadow Pig.
Gongyang Yang also followed closely.
The Dharma Transmission Pool was a pond about ten meters in circumference, with clear, jade-green water. Even though there had just been a heavy snowfall, there was no sign of ice here; instead, threads of white mist rose from it.
Besides the basic Demonic Techniques openly taught by the Demon Academy, students who wished to cultivate other Spells had to seek them at the Dharma Transmission Pool.
Beside the Dharma Transmission Pool, Gongyang Yang squatted on the ground, took out a Bamboo Slip, and read it carefully.
Zhu Yun stood on a piece of Bluestone.
Fu Shaoguang stood on Zhu Yun's head: “A student of the Demon Academy seeks a Demonic Technique, hoping the Dharma Transmission Instructor will appear to meet.”
After three consecutive calls, there was no response.
Was it because he was a small insect with a small voice, and couldn't be heard?
Or was the Instructor temporarily absent?
Fu Shaoguang asked Zhu Yun to help shout.
The Little Pig Demon hadn't eaten good food for nothing; her voice was exceptionally loud, causing ripples in the pond water.
After three more calls, seeing that there was still no response.
Just as she was about to continue shouting, a voice entered her ear: “Stop shouting!”
The Bluestone beneath her suddenly trembled.
Zhu Yun, losing her balance, immediately jumped down. Then she saw the Bluestone lift up, revealing four legs, a tail, and a head underneath.
This turned out to be an Old Turtle the size of a Millstone.
That uneven Bluestone was its shell.
Large patches of Moss grew on it.
The Old Turtle drooped its eyelids, glared at Zhu Yun, and said in an ancient voice: “Stop shouting. So young, yet so heavy, and your voice is even louder, disturbing the turtle's Sweet Dreams.”
As it spoke, the Old Turtle curled its lip, its face full of disdain.
Zhu Yun: (lll￢ω￢)
A pig's aesthetics, a turtle wouldn't understand!
Fu Shaoguang flapped his wings and bowed, apologizing: “Disturbing Senior's Rest is our fault. They merely accompanied me here because I want to...”
Before he finished speaking, the Old Turtle interrupted him.
“Alright, Young One, which Demonic Technique do you want to learn? Finish it quickly so this Old Turtle can go back to sleep.”
It yawned, its eyelids drooped even lower, its eyes narrowed into slits, looking drowsy.
It looked as if it might fall asleep at any moment.
Fu Shaoguang: “Junior seeks the Mirage Technique left behind by the former Dream-Guiding Insect Demon.”
Hearing this, the Old Turtle's eye slits opened slightly wider, it glanced at Fu Shaoguang, then its eyelids drooped again, looking hazy, and its voice became sluggish:
“You are Fu Shaoguang? The Mayfly Demon who produced Superior Poems for two consecutive months?”
Fu Shaoguang: “That is Junior.”
The Old Turtle nodded and continued: “Your taste is quite good, but this technique is difficult to cultivate; you might end up Drawing Water with a Bamboo Basket. Have you thought it through?”
Fu Shaoguang: “Junior has made up his mind.”
The Old Turtle nodded, its voice even more languid: “Techniques are not lightly imparted. Cultivating the Mirage Technique requires ten Taels of Silver and ten Contribution Points. Do you have them ready?”
“That expensive!”
In a moment of excitement, Fu Shaoguang blurted it out.
There are rules for learning techniques at the Dharma Transmission Pool; different Spells require different amounts of Silver and Contribution Points.
He had worked hard all autumn, plus the effort he put into tutoring Zhu Yun's schoolwork, and only managed to save seven Taels of Silver.
Gongyang Yang put down the Bamboo Slip, his eyes wide. Ten Taels of Silver could buy so many books!
Zhu Yun also opened her mouth wide. Her family's Restaurant could only net ten Taels of Silver after half a year of operation.
The nearly closed eye slits opened, and the Old Turtle said grumpily: “If you think it's expensive, come back when you've gathered the Silver and Contribution Points.”
Fu Shaoguang was not annoyed by this.
Well, turtles having Morning Grumps is normal!
“Senior, can I exchange twenty Contribution Points for it?”
The Old Turtle's eye slits widened again, and its tone softened by three points: “The rules don't say Contribution Points cannot substitute for Silver.”
Hearing this, Zhu Yun, as if possessed, glanced at the Old Turtle's tail, wondering if the rules were written on the Turtle's Butt, causing the Old Turtle's backside to chill. It glared at the little piglet in front of it.
Young demons shouldn't be too curious!
Its gaze returned to Fu Shaoguang, and the Old Turtle asked: “Young One, do you have twenty Contribution Points?”
Fu Shaoguang nodded: “Junior received the favor of the Empress, experienced a burst of inspiration, and luckily wrote two poems that caught the Headmaster's eye. Not only was my tuition waived, but I was also rewarded twenty Contribution Points.”
Old Turtle: ’(°ー°〃)
One Contribution Point is one tael of Silver.
The Headmaster is truly generous.
Its annual Salary is only ten taels and ten Contribution Points, plus ten catties of spirit grain. This is also why the Old Turtle harbors such resentment; it would take a year of not eating or drinking to exchange for one Mirage Technique.
The Old Turtle didn't want to say more, so it opened its mouth and spat out a Transparent Water Bubble. Fu Shaoguang flapped his wings and rushed toward the bubble.
Pop~!
The water bubble burst, and a ray of light flew into his mind, adding some information about the Mirage Technique.
Under the Old Turtle's resentful gaze, Fu Shaoguang left.
Thinking that his year of hard work was less than two poems written by a Junior, and realizing his own talent was inferior, the Old Turtle felt complicated.
After a moment of silence, it muttered to itself:
“Sleep! Once asleep, there are no worries! Maybe I can even have a Beautiful Dream.”
Everything is available in dreams!
Time flew by (Crow Flying, Rabbit Running), half a month later.
In Ankang Alley, on an Ancient Pine Tree with a bald patch, a three-inch Mayfly was clinging to the trunk. Its body surface gradually changed from translucent to transparent, reflecting the brown branches and wrinkled bark texture.
Fu Shaoguang disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his presence was outwardly hard to detect.
He became one with the environment.
A moment later, Fu Shaoguang reappeared, having moved onto the Rime Frost. His figure similarly reflected the rime and snow.
After several tests, until his Magical Power was exhausted, he flew back to the courtyard, entered the house. The firelight was blazing, and a melting warmth gradually enveloped his insect body.
Slumped on the bed, Fu Shaoguang used his two front legs to hold a cup, savoring the Spirit Honey Water while his thoughts surged, reviewing the details of cultivating the Mirage Technique for the fourteenth time.
After half a month of cultivation, his understanding of the Mirage Technique deepened. He realized that the key to mastering this technique lay in two points:
The first is appearance.
It must be able to Reflect Light.
The Dream-Guiding Insect's Glazed Appearance and Fu Shaoguang's translucent insect body both met this requirement.
The second is Spiritual Sense.
The Mirage Technique is a type of Illusion Technique, and Illusion Techniques are closely related to Spiritual Sense, or Mental Energy.
The stronger the Spiritual Sense, the lower the threshold for cultivating the Mirage Technique.
It was precisely because of this that Fu Shaoguang was able to master this technique after half a month of dedicated study.
However, the Mirage Technique was slightly different from what he had imagined.
He thought it was merely a mimicry-type shapeshifting technique, allowing him to adapt to the environment like a chameleon.
But the more he cultivated it, the more he felt the potential of the Mirage Technique was not limited to this. For example, the Mirage Technique uses the principle of light reflection to deceive the eyes of living beings and conceal the user. Could it also Deceive the Five Senses? After all, besides reflection, light has many other principles.
Perhaps in the future, he could study it further and develop other uses for the Mirage Technique.
Twenty Contribution Points couldn't be spent in vain; their effect had to be maximized.
Setting down the empty water cup, Fu Shaoguang continued to ponder. Although this Mimicry Shapeshifting Technique based on the Mirage Technique was useful, its flaw was obvious: once activated, he couldn't move his body.
Otherwise, the deception would be exposed.
For the past half month, he had been deep in thought, trying to find a Breakthrough point from the concept of Time Slow.
Time Like Water.
It flows silently, formlessly, and shadowlessly.
If he could achieve Fusion with the Mirage Technique, the problem could be solved. In the future, when encountering danger, he could advance to attack or retreat to escape.
But achieving Fusion would be far from easy.
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