Chapter 17
Gu Qian's group departed with great fanfare, drawing much attention as they headed toward the dining hall.
Zhongli Shan and the others looked at Gu Qian outside, then at Mei Liangyu, exchanging puzzled glances.
Mei Liangyu lifted his eyelids with an attitude of "why are you looking at me?"
"He's coming in," Zhongli Shan reminded.
Mei Liangyu let out a light, cold laugh.
"Didn't you say the person was locked outside and couldn't get in?" Xing Chun asked while eating.
Mei Liangyu replied without changing expression: "Obviously she figured out a way to get in."
Cang Shu spoke slowly: "The Ghost Way Saint Hall's door and window curse protections are Class A level or above, right?"
Zhongli Shan also asked him: "Could it be that Master Chang opened the door?"
Mei Liangyu looked down while eating: "Master can't open the door."
Xing Chun scoffed: "Then she opened it herself. You said she was an Ordinary Practitioner, but you can be wrong too sometimes."
Mei Liangyu smiled without warmth: "Would this Ordinary Practitioner be my Junior Sister if she didn't have some skills?"
"You really know how to spin things so you never lose face," Xing Chun expressed disdain for his shamelessness, then craned his neck to look outside. "Which one down there is your Junior Sister?"
Mei Liangyu said casually: "The prettiest one."
Xing Chun scanned the floor below: "Which one's the prettiest?"
Mei Liangyu: "Whichever one you think is prettiest."
Xing Chun: "That one!"
Mei Liangyu: "Which one?"
Xing Chun: "That one!"
Mei Liangyu: "No."
Zhongli Shan and Cang Shu quietly pulled their rice bowls closer to their chests, turned sideways to shield their faces while eating, unwilling to accept the embarrassing reality that they knew these two people.
They couldn't help thinking that when Gu Qian came upstairs and slammed his fist on Mei Liangyu's table, he'd probably still be playing this childish game of "guess who's the Junior Sister" with Xing Chun.
Fortunately, Gu Qian didn't come to the second floor. He just bought some things on the dining hall's first floor and returned to the Student Residence.
According to Gu Qian, he'd been locked up for several days and stank all over. No matter how urgent anything was, he had to go back, take a bath, and change into clean clothes first.
He just stopped by the dining hall to buy some food for Yu Sui.
Yu Sui didn't mention that she'd seen Mei Liangyu right upstairs. If Gu Qian had known, he definitely would have gone up to the second floor to "exchange pleasantries" with him.
……
The Student Residence was the accommodation Taiyi Academy arranged for students.
Because Taiyi Academy advocated ignoring class distinctions, not discriminating by status, and treating everyone equally, the Student Residence didn't separate students by Class A, B, C, or D grades—all four levels of students could live together.
When Blackbeard helped Yu Sui with enrollment procedures, he asked whether she wanted to stay at the Student Residence or live in the outer city.
Yu Sui didn't hesitate before answering the Student Residence.
Living within the academy would definitely let her learn more things.
Blackbeard then helped her obtain keys to the Student Residence.
The Student Residence was surrounded entirely by peach blossom forests, pink and white colors covering the mountains and plains. The circular building sat within a hundred-li peach forest, and looking up at its hundred-plus floors stretching into the clouds was truly shocking.
All four of the remaining great mechanism families on Xuangu Continent were at Taiyi Academy.
In Taiyi Academy, which rivaled a nation in size, one-third of the buildings were constructed by these four great mechanism families. Each structure was ingeniously crafted and exquisitely designed.
Looking at its land area and actual capabilities, Yu Sui felt it shouldn't be called an academy but rather "Taiyi Nation."
The black circular building before her served as Taiyi's Student Residence, accommodating all students within the academy.
Though all students lived here, they wouldn't be insane enough to make men and women share the same room.
Four people per room, with four individual small chambers inside, plus common areas where residents could eat, sleep, and bathe.
The rooms were numbered starting from 001, going up to 3600 at the very top. Though there were many numbers, not every room was occupied.
Transportation within the residence relied entirely on students learning Wind-Riding Techniques themselves. Those who couldn't learn Wind-Riding Techniques used the Dragon Stairs.
The Dragon Stairs were like dragon carriages—golden dragons moving up and down within the residence. The black stair doors were covered with ink-colored runes for activation. To ride the Dragon Stairs, one also had to learn how to draw their activation runes.
Occasionally, students who didn't want to use Wind-Riding Techniques for travel would also ride the Dragon Stairs.
Gu Qian let the others go ahead while he took Yu Sui up via Dragon Stairs.
Inside, intricate wooden rack mechanisms filled the left, right, top, and bottom, with glowing moon pearls embedded in the walls, their warm light illuminating the not-very-spacious interior.
Yu Sui curiously examined her surroundings while Gu Qian drew runes after the car door closed, writing the number sixty-six.
Gu Qian leaned against the wall, seeming to finally relax completely. When he looked at Yu Sui, his eyes smiled, and that wild beast-like aura also subsided, becoming gentle.
"The residence is so tall—what if this thing suddenly falls?" Yu Sui asked, carrying her food box and tapping the wall with her knuckles, producing dull echoing sounds.
"There are many solutions," Gu Qian said. "The simplest is to use Wind-Riding Techniques to stay airborne."
Yu Sui tilted her head to look at him.
Gu Qian smiled: "I'm very happy to see you."
Yu Sui also smiled: "Who told Third Brother not to save you? Father had no choice but to send me."
Gu Qian stroked his chin, teasing: "Sui Sui, you always appear when I most need someone to give me a hand. I really don't know what I'd do without you."
Yu Sui said sincerely: "You still have my father and mother."
Neither would stand by and watch Gu Qian get into trouble without helping.
Gu Qian: "......"
"But, Brother Gu, I came this time because Father said I should help you find the Pagoda Tower." Yu Sui looked at him with bright, curious eyes. "This time you went to Inverted Moon Cave and got into trouble with the Trial, is it related to the Pagoda Tower?"
Gu Qian's expression paused slightly: "You can't say it's completely unrelated, because fragments of the Pagoda Tower are in Inverted Moon Cave."
Yu Sui's eyes widened slightly.
Gu Qian suddenly looked at her: "Do you know what the Pagoda Tower is?"
Yu Sui: "......"
That old man Nangong Ming didn't say anything about it.
Gu Qian was amused by her confused expression and almost reached out to ruffle her hair like when they were children, but consciously restrained himself.
He said: "The Prince didn't tell you anything before sending you here?"
Yu Sui nodded: "That's right."
Gu Qian criticized: "He's really irresponsible, letting you come for such a dangerous matter."
"How could it be considered dangerous? I also haven't seen Brother Gu for a long time," Yu Sui said with an upturned face and smile.
The ascending Dragon Stairs stopped at that moment. Gu Qian walked outside: "Let's go in and talk."
Yu Sui followed behind.
The corridors within the residence were winding. Every so often, there were numbered room doors on both sides, but the numbering sequence was scrambled—some were 367, others 1009.
Gu Qian lived in room 807.
He opened the door and went in. The room was lit and tidy, with paper, brushes, and ink on the table, and a flower rack by the window displaying various flowers in full bloom.
Ji Meng and Huo Xiao were both there.
"Wenyang hasn't come back yet," Ji Meng said. "Go wash up first—you really do smell bad."
Gu Qian looked back at Yu Sui, who smiled without speaking and elegantly covered her nose.
Gu Qian immediately said nothing more, took his clothes, and went to wash.
Yu Sui stood by the window, opened her food box, and began eating. She hadn't eaten much on the Cloud Carriage Flying Dragon and was somewhat hungry now.
Gu Qian had ordered all meat dishes for her—all things she liked to eat.
Huo Xiao returned to his own room, closing the door, unknown what he was doing. Ji Meng looked at Yu Sui by the window, momentarily unsure what to say.
He and Yu Sui weren't actually very familiar.
Before, they naturally had conversation topics because of Gu Qian's situation, but now that Gu Qian was rescued, what else was there to say?
The window wasn't open, but she could vaguely see the large expanse of pink outside through the lattice. Yu Sui ate meatballs while lowering her head to smell the flowers by the window—they had many large petals and a faint fragrance.
Yu Sui asked: "What kind of flower is this? I've never seen it before, it's very beautiful."
Ji Meng, who was sitting at the table pretending to read, was startled and looked up. Seeing Yu Sui pointing at the double-petaled blue flowers, he explained: "It's called Five-Fragrance Ling. It's a medicinal flower I cultivated."
"Are all of these the same?" Yu Sui looked at the other flowers on the long flower rack, which were almost all identical to Five-Fragrance Ling, just different colors.
"All of them. I'm trying to advance this year, hoping to make it to Class A Student. The Medical School's major exam requires cultivating at least five different types of medicinal flowers with different effects." Ji Meng stood up and walked over, reaching out to support the slender leaves of the double-petaled blue flower. "This is the first type I cultivated."
"So beautiful," Yu Sui said, reaching out to touch the petals. A Five Elements Light Core quietly fell among the double petals.
Ji Meng was pleased to hear the compliment and took the initiative to ask: "Are you planning to stay in the outer city or the residence?"
"The residence. I already have the keys," Yu Sui said.
Ji Meng asked: "Where?"
Yu Sui took out her keys to check: "Sixtieth floor, room 607."
Ji Meng was stunned: "Isn't that Xun Zhiya's......"
Yu Sui looked up at him, and Ji Meng coughed lightly, rephrasing: "Xun Zhiya also lives there. Room 607 only has two people—her and Shu Chujun."
"That's great, they're all people I know," Yu Sui smiled innocently and harmlessly.
Ji Meng thought what Yu Sui said made sense. If Gu Qian wasn't worried, why should he worry? Besides, Xun Zhiya wasn't the type with a bad temper who would cause trouble for no reason.
Yu Sui listened to Ji Meng talk about his cultivated medicinal flowers, seemingly paying close attention, but her peripheral vision was surveying the surroundings.
After a while, Gu Qian finished washing and came out, wearing clean, fresh clothes. Only his forehead bangs were still damp, clinging to his skin. He came to sit at the table, casually brushing aside his bangs.
"Why are you standing there eating? Come sit here," Gu Qian said to Yu Sui.
Yu Sui came over with her food box: "I was looking at Ji Meng's cultivated medicinal flowers."
Gu Qian said dismissively: "Don't listen to his bragging. As long as they don't poison people to death, they count as good flowers."
Ji Meng watered his precious medicinal flowers and snorted without rebutting.
Gu Qian watched Yu Sui eat while taking paper and brush to draw something. His opening words were: "Do you know about the Six Kingdoms Non-War Pact?"
"Mm!" Yu Sui nodded.
Gu Qian drew a small, delicate tower shape on paper with seven layers stacked on top of each other.
"Thousands of years ago, when the Six Kingdoms divided Xuangu Continent, they established the Non-War Pact. The Six Kingdoms wouldn't plunder or invade each other. Even the strongest Nine Schools Arts and the most powerful Nine Schools Saints would die if they used their power for war to plunder other nations' territories."
"Even the Six Kingdoms' most powerful armies couldn't cross borders to attack other nations, because invisible forces would always intervene, crushing any power that tried to break the Non-War Pact."
In the early days of prosperity and comfort, each of the Six Kingdoms grew strong—there were no weak nations. But later, as people's ambitions grew and desires became insatiable, they greedily yearned for all the land on this continent.
The "Non-War Pact" became the stumbling block preventing the Six Kingdoms from unifying the world, their greatest obstacle.
"Legend says the Pagoda Tower is the key to breaking the Six Kingdoms' Non-War Pact. If all fragments of the Pagoda Tower are found and reassembled, the pact within the tower can be dissolved." Gu Qian's brow furrowed slightly at this point, his expression becoming somewhat serious. "For hundreds of years, the Six Kingdoms have been searching for the Pagoda Tower. It's said to have seven fragments, three of which are at Taiyi."
Yu Sui supported her face with one hand, listening attentively, though she didn't care much in her heart.
What did the Six Kingdoms' conflicts have to do with a small person like her? Never mind the Six Kingdoms wanting to wage war and dominate the world—once her World Destroyer identity was exposed, the Six Kingdoms would unite like family, chasing her to the ends of the earth.
Yu Sui only wanted to know where the Heavenly Character Script was in Taiyi, what it looked like, and how to use it to remove the Strange Fire seal in her body.
And how to separate the Breath Soil without dying.
After eliminating these two threats, she could live more easily.
As for this "Non-War Pact," it seemed to be what Nangong Ming threatened Lady Su to work on.
Lady Su served Nangong Ming by searching for ways to break the Non-War Pact.
Who did Qingyang want to attack? Or maybe they wanted to attack everyone.
Gu Qian said: "We're searching for the Pagoda Tower to seal it again, not giving the other three nations a chance to destroy the pact."
Huh?
Yu Sui's expression didn't change, but she was shocked inside.
"Which three nations?" Yu Sui asked in confusion.
"Zhou, Dan, and Yan." Gu Qian put down his brush and tapped the drawing on the table. "The four known Pagoda Tower fragments are in Taiyuan, Qingyang, and Nanjing. Qingyang has two."
Yu Sui said in surprise: "Are these three families cooperating to seal the Pagoda Tower together?"
Gu Qian nodded: "That's right."
Yu Sui glanced at Ji Meng, who had finished watering his flowers, and Huo Xiao, who came out to listen briefly, then looked back at Gu Qian. Unless these three were idiots, they were treating her like an idiot.
"I see," Yu Sui nodded seriously. "Don't worry, Brother Gu, I'll do everything I can to help you."