"So have you figured out how to use the Phantasmal spirit crystal yet? I don't think your Qi will be enough to actually use it now, will it? And what do you think the training in store for us will be?" Hua asked Luo.
"I haven't figured that out Hua. And as for training, I suppose we'll see in a couple of days. For now, I just want to eat like a pig and sleep."
"How about this, how about we spar tomorrow? Huh? Huhh?"
"What brought this on? And I don't want to fight you until I have a proper melee weapon. My long range attacks won't work on you and my other techniques are too lethal to be used in sparring." Luo responded.
"Ehhhhh~~~. Well alright. We should go on an adventure to get you a named weapon after our training ends. Short scythes huh. Well, we can go ask master Ren Cho about it. He might know more." Hua said.
Luo raised his eyebrow and said "Well, who knows how long the training will be for? To master your technique and my artifact, it might take months, you know. But yeah, after we are done we can go look for a weapon. Thanks for the offer Hua."
Hua slapped his shoulder and said "Anytime."
They made their way through the esplanade where some of the fellow disciples greeted them warmly. They then went to see Pan Hua and to collect their allocated pills.
"I heard that you two went to the highest level of the Royal library? Good for you. Keep it up. Here are the pills you two are allocated. Now if that's it, let me sleep for a little." Pan Hua said this when Luo and Hua came to him. He said it in a sleepy and apathetic way as if their accomplishments did not impress him a lot and he just wanted to sleep more.
"Hua, I wonder when does brother Pan even train? I have never seen him do it. Does he just spend his time sleepily like this everyday?" Luo whispered to Hua.
"Why are you asking me this? Is it because my name also contains Hua? I am not so easy to bully Luo LianHao." Hua responded to Luo's inquiry as if he was a bit offended.
'What..what are you talking about?" "Nothing. Leave it." "Ri-right."
They reached the dormitories and Cai Mingzhu, Zhong twins, Hao Qi and Xun'er were waiting for them near the entrance.
Cai MingZhu and Hao Qi had broken through to the 2nd layer of Qi condensation already and the Xonhong twins and Xun'er were still in the 1st layer of Qi condensation.
Xun'er had now changed her hair to have two small buns instead of one. Luo noticed this and complimented her on this. Hua stared at her a bit but then coughed in an empty way and said his greetings.
Cai MingZhu was the first to ask about how the trip went. Before Luo could open his mouth, Hua started to explain from the start of their journey, till even the battles that took place while returning, in extraordinary detail. When Xun'er was listening in , he even went on to explain how he felt or what he thought during these events for some reason. She however only perked up when Luo's exploits were mentioned.
After Hua was done with his explanation, Luo pulled out the crystal from his space ring and showed it to them. Some runes were activated now on it and he could feel that he could try to use the crystal to some effect rather than it sucking in his Qi.
Hao Qi took the crystal and examined it , then so did the others. Hao Qi asked Luo "What made you pick this artifact out of the other ones?"
"Just instinct I guess. It felt like this would be very beneficial to me. Soo.." "Hmmm…"
They called it a night after spending some more time with everyone. Luo and Hua knew that training was coming in a couple of days so with those thoughts in mind, they slept restfully, the first time since they had left the sect to attend the Royal Library.
Luo's mind was still going towards memories of Min Yunqi. He slept while thinking of the overflowing memories his brain was flooded with a few days ago.
They took the next day to explore the sect a little bit more. They went to have some peach tea and dumplings near a restaurant beside the esplanade. The seniors who were also eating in the restaurant approached Hua and Luo and praised them for doing the sect proud. They offered help if Luo or Hua wanted it anytime. The restaurant owner even waived off the bill for Luo and Hua's dumplings. He still took money from Xun'er and others though, because business was business.
They next went into local theaters that were inside the sect. There were thirty such theaters and they visited quite a few of them. They could see other disciples present their skills in their chosen instrument. If the audience liked it they could provide their cultivation pill quotas as a fee. This was a way to earn pills, showcase one's abilities and at the same time to impart their knowledge of musical Qi techniques to the listeners through experiencing it in the flesh. All in all it was a good experience.
Hao Qi was also inspired by this and she teamed up with Cai MinZhu and she performed the Hymn of the bangers technique while assisted by Cai on the Zither. Cai Minzhu had picked up bits of intent that were shown in the Blossom and Mount Tai technique that Master Fu Lin had used.
Luo looked to Xun and Hua and said "Damn, we didn't practice our musical instruments at all." Xun then smirked and said "Speak for yourself, I have been practicing the ZIther daily. Master Fu Lin is teaching me some other techniques too."
Luo was surprised and he felt as if he was falling behind the others. He looked to Hua with hope that even he flet the same but Hua smugly nodded and said "I know how you must be feeling Luo, but I have seen how master Fu Rah uses the bells and I don't know if you have noticed it but I was practicing on the way back from the Royal Library. With a bit more practice I will even succeed in imitating it a bit. You are left in the dust my rival. HAHAHAHAHA."
Luo felt a bit restless so he went back to the dumpling place and took a few more to drown his worries in steaming dumplings.
They then went to master Ren Cho at the library and greeted him. "Well what brings you whippersnappers here? Here to borrow some books?"
Hao Qi simply nodded and walked in. Cai Minzhu , Xun'er and Zhong twins just excused themselves and were just loitering around. They had only come when Hua had insisted to go.
Hua was the one who spoke up and said "Master Ren Cho. It is my wish to have intense battles with my Rival Luo. But he says that all he has are lethal blows and that he cannot spar without having a proper melee weapon."
"Well, that's fine. Why don't you go to the armory Luo. You should be able to find some swords, spears, staffs and such."
Luo nodded and said " I know, master but I had something different in mind. I wonder, could you help me out with this? " Luo then proceeded to explain with a few simple sketches the kind of dual short scythes he wanted to use and a simple diagram of the flow of steps he would use those weapons in. He just drew the movements of Iron and wave steps, but when wielding dual short scythes.
It was written based on his comprehension of the memory that Master Yin had shown him about his fight with Yama, wielding short scythes.
Master Ren Cho kept staring at the drawings that Luo was making and a flash of inspiration hit him. He thanked Luo and told him that he could get some starter scythes made for the time being from a blacksmith he knew and that he would look into some history books to find out some of the named scythes and their probable locations.
He excused himself and went into secluded cultivation.