Nothing materialised. The scroll remained blank.
Li Meirong tried again.
"Can you bring me a computer or a phone?"
~I heard you the first time. I do not know what a computer or a phone is, though. Can you eat it? ~
"No. You cannot." Li Meirong sighed.
She missed playing games, listening to music, and having information available to her at the click of a finger. It was those small things in life that had made living more interesting.
The dimension thought it belonged to her, but it obviously did not. She was not from the Bai Clan, and if it was something that had been created from her, wouldn't it be aware of technology?
She tried one last time.
"Can you give me some headache pills?" she asked pitifully.
The dimension felt its reputation and pride was in jeopardy. The owner was clearly upset. It had no knowledge of "headache pills", so it produced the next best thing.
Poof!
A small, ancient-looking, slightly rusted object suddenly appeared on the floor. It looked like a lidded, miniature cauldron, but its shape resembled a kettle more than a standard pot.
On her lap, a package appeared. It was filled with different materials, ranging from shiny crystals to small powder-filled bags, to pulsing electric balls.
"What is this nonsense?" she questioned, exasperated.
~Nonsense?! ~ The dimension fumed. It had given her one of the best pill furnaces in the entire universe, and had filled her bag with high-level spirit beast cores, preserved energy crystals, and precious herbs that had been dried and ground into powder!
The dimension felt extremely offended.
"I just wanted some headache pills." Li Meirong placed the bag aside and stood. "Please take all this back." She jumped over the little kettle-pot and left.
The dimension wanted to cry.
As Li Meirong continued her exploration, her curiosity about the place only grew further, despite her disappointment. She decided to copy Feng Huang, and began to look around. It didn't appear so from the outside, but the shrine had multiple floors. It was apparent once inside that there were several levels to the structure.
A sturdy marble staircase curled up to the second level, looking more like it belonged in a fancy European opera house than in a traditional shrine. Li Meirong checked each of the rooms on the second level inquisitively, and soon found herself in an enormous library.
The shelves were so tall she had to find a ladder in order to reach the books at the top. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of ancient-looking books, scriptures and bamboo scrolls were organised in alphabetical order by topic and origin.
Her wandering feet soon carried her to a section of the shelves marked "Cultivation Practices and Manuals."
After the reputation she'd been left with in the sect, her vision immediately went to the familiar title of a scroll on the right-hand side of the shelf: "Dual Cultivation: How to Practice Safely."
Embarrassed at the memories it evoked, she hurriedly averted her gaze and randomly grabbed for a book nearby.
It was a pleasant surprise to discover the title: "Cultivation for Dummies: A Step by Step Guide."
This book was exactly what she needed!
Little did she know it wasn't luck that had led her to find the book. The dimension had purposefully shifted it into place, right as she was reaching blindly.
She sat down and soon became engrossed. She already knew some of the words, so it made sense to her, and she found it easy enough to follow the guidelines.
After what seemed like a few hours of reading, she decided to test her newfound knowledge.
Li Meirong sat in lotus position, and cleared her mind of any possible distractions. She guided her consciousness to focus on her lower dantian, the region which was supposed to contain most of her internal energy. As if able to see within her own body, a vision of a barren pond surfaced in her mind.
The pond was vast, but nearly empty of water.
She reached out with her mind, feeling the flow of qi coursing through her meridians as she tried to circulate her energy back into her dantian.
She was empty. There was so little energy flowing inside.
Where was she supposed to draw her energy from if her dantian was empty?
It was her lack of knowledge and her confusion which kept her going more than any level of determination. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes.
Where had the blue flame shield come from? Where did the dimension appear from? Why did she have a strange aura? Why did the Bestiary Division's Grandmaster call her a thief?
All these questions tumbled through her mind, and she lost her focus.
Her concentration gone, she sullenly brought her consciousness back outside to her physical present, and blinked salty tears away. It was only then she noticed a curious pair of blood-red eyes, staring directly at her.
Feng Huang hovered right in front of Li Meirong, staring at her curiously.
"Took you a while…"
By the time Feng Huang had found Li Meirong, she had managed to snoop around every other possible location within the shrine. She had even found an entire room filled with priceless treasure!
There was only one floor she was unable to reach no matter what, as if it was cloaked by an illusion spell. She was able to see it from the bottom floor, but when she flew over towards it, it vanished.
She was fine with that, though – there was more than enough loot to plunder elsewhere. Honestly, Feng Huang just pitied Li Meirong. The human girl had the chopsticks, but didn't know how to use them to grab the food. Since the girl had brought her to this wonderland, Feng Huang decided to assist her.
"Let me help you. Close your eyes, and I will use my spiritual energy to guide your consciousness to find yours." Feng Huang lifted her stubby legs and placed them on Li Meirong's pale forehead.
Li Meirong followed the turtle's instructions and tried to focus once again, shutting her eyes. A hot, flaming trail appeared in her vision this time. She followed the path created by Feng Huang.
At first, she only reached the same empty pond she had seen before, but the flame trail marked a path forward, beyond the pond, and so she crept onwards.
In the far distance, a dim blue flame was glowing in the darkness. It seemed so far away, almost impossible to reach. No matter how far she walked, the flame didn't get any closer.
Li Meirong felt like she couldn't go on; it was just too difficult.
"Don't give up now. You're almost there!" Feng Huang's girlish voice echoed through Li Meirong as she yelled.
Li Meirong snorted, She didn't want to give up, but there was no way she could reach it! It was like staring at the Himalayan mountain peak while stationed at the lowest point in the world.
"It's right there! if you have the willpower for it, then you can reach it." Feng Huang's trail ceased to be. It was up to Li Meirong to make the next step. Only she could do it.
Distracted by the loss of the trail, the blue flame dimmed significantly and drew further away from Li Meirong.
"Focus, stupid!" Feng Huang scolded loudly.
Li Meirong bit her lower lip in frustration. She thought of the time Chou lost a limb, and when Snowball was wounded and covered in blood. She had to strive harder to take care of her little ones.
What if Sheng Jing Wu was waiting outside the mountain to kill her? Would she just await her demise defenselessly?
'No!'
Li Meirong's obsidian eyes gained a gleam of determination. She forced her legs forward, step by step. It felt like she was walking through quicksand. Like she was caught in a gale, all attempted movement forward hindered by the force pressing against her.
It became harder to breathe. She could hear her heart beating faster as her consciousness reached into the farthest recesses of her spirit. Her heart pounded so furiously, she wondered if she would die before reaching the flame.
As if it waited for her to embrace it, the flame glowed brighter, beckoning her.
Feng Huang, supervising Li Meirong's meditating form, noticed blood beginning to drip down from the human girl's nose. It seeped from the corners of her mouth, rolling down her chin.
"This stupid girl might die! I told her to focus her willpower, not to fight against herself, damn it!"
The Turtle Demoness was about to place her leg back on the girl's forehead, and tell her to stop before she killed herself with her efforts, but a tantalizing scent halted her movement.
Oh, it smelled so sweet!
Feng Huang was, at heart, a greedy creature, and she couldn't help herself. She stuck out her tongue, and tasted the beautiful crimson liquid.
Instantly, she was completely rejuvenated. She felt as if she had just sipped from the pool of life itself! With every drop of blood gained, her body's strength increased in leaps and bounds.
Feng Huang snapped out of her ecstasy at the sight of the blood flowing faster from the human girl.
There was no doubt about it, Feng Huang thought. The girl was a living pool of energy!
No matter the material wealth in this dimension – Li Meirong turned out to be the ultimate treasure!
'Apparently I'm the stupid one!' Feng Huang couldn't believe her foolishness. She had almost lost the finest delicacy.
In haste, she brought her consciousness back into Li Meirong's inner life force.