Hua and Luo got ready the next morning , donning the robes that Master Fu Rah had sent over to their rooms earlier, the day before. Hua was wearing a white robe with a bright red inner shirt and also donned his red headband, with his sword sheathed to his back. 3 spherical bells were attached to his sword's scabbard.
Luo wore white robes with a black shirt underneath. He had his 2 ft long zither in its bag slung across his shoulder, resting behind his back.
Cai, Xun, Hao Qi and the Zhong twins were waiting for them at the esplanade.
"Both of you, make sure to get something great from the Royal library." Xun'er said.
Luo grinned and let them all in on what he was thinking. "You know guys, I have gone through what master Fu Lin said yesterday and I am sure that I can again pull the same thing as with the 36 walls of soul again in the Royal library. She said that we are allowed to peruse the library for a whole day.
That means that if I find what I want early on, I will have time to look into other cultivation manuals and try to memorize them. That means we can at least get a couple more techniques that I can draw for you again. They may lack the intent and martial comprehension, but I'm sure they will still have some value right?"
Luo thought that he was really smart and was grinning, pleased with himself, just when Master Fu Rah arrived.
"You are wrong Luo. Did you think that no one else tried this? It's the second most popular idea among the winners right after trying to fool the arrays and stealing the manuals. It won't work, because techniques without traces of martial intent in them have very less efficacy compared to the actual scroll. It worked in the case of 36 walls of soul, because you had all comprehended it and understood the traces of intent in the technique.
It won't work if you just copy the contents without the hidden intent behind them as well. And secondly, there are arrays that are activated, that only let you remember the one manual that you have selected. The rest of the experiences and details that you will see in the Royal library will be made inaccessible. The level of the array placed on your mind will be even higher than the Core formation realm.
Now, the journey to the Royal Library will take at least a week and we want to be there early as well. We will be passing through the Xu province to the south and then we will head west to the place where the Imperial army is stationed a few dozen miles from the Langya city where the throne is. Langya city is present at the intersection of the Yan, Yu and Xu provinces. Including our Qing province, we constitute the Yellow sea confederation.
Well, the journey there can be treated as training too, Hua and Luo. Don't think that just because I look elegant I will be taking you there in carriages and what not."
'We don't have that kind of money to waste on luxuries like carriages', thought Fu Rah all the while sporting a fiery expression.
She was dressed in flexible robes that were not flowy. It was a dark blue robe with an attached jade pin to the shoulder , the symbol of the sect , a zither.
The party of the three set out after having said their goodbyes.
The journey was mostly uneventful and even journeys through patches of forests as the landscape changed did not provoke any monster attacks. Luo surmised that it was probably due to the presence of the sect master Fu Rah accompanying them.
While it was uneventful, it was definitely arduous for Hua and Luo. Master Fu Rah had set the pace, a pace which was as natural as breathing for her, but was taking all that Lu oand Hua had to follow her. On top of this she had adorned spherical bells similar to what Hua Geming had on his sword to her shoes.
As she was gliding through, her pace and rhythm of steps were making the bells ring in a melodious fashion, but sometimes for extended periods of time, the bells would not ring even though she made crazy turns and twists as they moved through the landscape.
Hua had an insight into what his mastery of bells should look like after looking at this. But as he started to focus on the sounds that the bells made, slowly he was brought into a trance and suddenly ran face first into a tree.
Luo laughed at this and said "What, even running is hard for you Hua. You can't keep up if you're going to be like that." As soon as he finished speaking, he fell into a ditch, one that he thought he had avoided.
It took them a few moments but they realized that their perception and their souls were under attack from the rhythm and the music of the bells that master Fu Rah was producing.
Luo spoke up "Master Fu Rah, what…". Before he could finish his statement Fu Rah said " Took you blockheads long enough to notice. Yes, this is one of my simple techniques. To put it simply, it is an attack on your soul which disorients you ever so slightly that your movement and other abilities are affected, just enough that you can't perform as you want to. You better use your 36 walls of Soul if you don't want to run into trees or drop into ditches. Hahahahahaha"
They both looked each other in the face and whispered at the time "She's crazy. Beautiful...but crazy." And then they activated their soul walls technique to resist the attack on their souls. Maintaining the speed that master Fu Rah had set and maintaining concentration to keep using the technique was not easy for them.
They continued like this for 7 days with a break of only a few hours per day and they reached the town which was more of a military encampment. Even the people, normally walking around in the street, were in the True Foundation realm. Luo and Hua were heaving, out of breath and dead tired but even in that state, almost by instinct they found out where the nearest inn was and barged in there without a second thought, leaving a flabbergasted Fu Rah in their dust.
She sighed, dusted her clothes, which managed to be impeccable even after 7 days of journey, unlike Luo and Hua whose robes were covered in all kinds of stains. Before they managed to get the words out to check into the inn, Fu Rah coolly entered and asked for a room with 3 beds.
The receptionist looked at her questioningly as if wanting to ask the question 'Don't you mean separate rooms, one for you and one for these two smelly brats?' , but she did not ask.
Fu Rah caught that expression and remained unflinching thinking 'You maintain a sect and you will know how precious money is. Why waste it on 2 rooms?'
As soon as they checked in, they were down in the common hall to order anything that they laid eyes on, but Fu Rah reined them in and ordered a simple meal for herself, and stew for them, in huge proportions and other nourishing foods. 'Well, money is meant to be spent on food. If I wasn't watching my waist line, I would eat like you boys too.' While lost in thoughts of pigging it out, she sighed and said "Don't just stuff everything in boys. Maintain some dignity, you two.'
Meanwhile, as the night creeped in, slowly some of the other winners of the Summer Competition held in the Yan and Yu provinces were escorted by masters from different sects.
Luo was wondering where the ass Xiao Wu was, but he figured he would be seeing him soon enough.
"There are 2 more days to the appointed date for entry into the Royal Library, so why don't you both get your clothes laundered by then. I want them pristine on the day we head for the Library." Luo and Hua nodded and then proceeded to stuff their faces once more.