Using the Cosmos Ink as a thread, the needle was able to embroider a storage seal on Lin Jin’s sleeve. After activating it with a specific formula, Lin Jin came to realize that this storage space was as large as an entire room, just as Appraiser Shu had promised.
With a sweep of his arm, the stone bench beside him vanished. Another sweep and the bench reappeared.
The Cosmos Ink now seemed a little smaller than before, but this much was enough for one painting.
Lin Jin kept to his side of the deal. He told Appraiser Shu to wait while he retrieved his writing material to note down the pulse-seeking technique’s cultivation methods. The manual was several thousand characters long, and it took Lin Jin two hours to transcribe.
Right after he was done writing, he passed it to Shu Xiaolou.
As if he had just obtained a valuable treasure, the latter started reading the manual immediately. It was now getting late outside. Lin Jin pondered before asking, “Appraiser Shu, is your full name Shu Xiaolou?”
Without looking up, Shu Xiaolou replied, “You saw?”
Lin Jin nodded. He had come to know of his name when they were transported to the fourth floor of the Beast Appraisal Pavilion just now. The plaque which hung above the painting he saw read ‘Shu Xiaolou’.
So Lin Jin figured that must be his painting.
“There’s a girl in green robes inside the painting. Who is she?” Lin Jin asked again.
The query was out of pure curiosity because Lin Jin was positive that she was the female student who had attended his lectures two days in a row. Her tendency to disappear and reappear did resemble Shu Xiaolou’s character.
“That’s me!” Shu Xiaolou admitted generously.
Lin Jin’s smile grew stiff
He hadn’t expected this answer.
Not one bit.
“You don’t believe me?” Shu Xiaolou looked up from the manual at Lin Jin. Then, his figure turned blurry before vanishing into thin air. Moments later, a young girl in green robes materialized out of thin air, holding in her hands the pulse-seeking technique manual Lin Jin had passed to Shu Xiaolou just now.
“Do you believe me now?” The green maiden smiled. Her appearance was indeed, divine. However, Lin Jin didn’t have the capacity to admire her beauty. Cold sweat began to cover his forehead as he mused, ‘What is this?’
That definitely wasn’t human.
Humans didn’t possess the ability to alter their gender and age at will. But he was no monster either. If he was, the museum should have been triggered when they came into contact earlier.
Lin Jin was intrigued by this new discovery, but he had no idea how he would articulate his question. Shu Xiaolou on the other hand wasn’t at all restraining herself. When she was still in that old man’s form, she had had to put on a relevant act. Now that she took on another form, she seemed much more relaxed. Perhaps this was the real Shu Xiaolou.
After much consideration, Lin Jin figured he would just ask her openly.
Surprisingly, Shu Xiaolou didn’t try to hide anything. As she was currently focused on the pulse-seeking technique, she answered without looking up, “Appraiser Lin, your instincts are correct. I’m not human nor a monster. Five hundred years ago, when the academy built the Beast Appraisal Pavilion, an expert stayed overnight inside the tower to paint a painting and left it there. I am the spirit in that painting.”
Shu Xiaolou had spoken in such a carefree manner but her words struck like lightning in Lin Jin’s ears.
A spirit in a painting.
She should be classified as a fairy of some sort, right? Anyway, Lin Jin had never met one before.
“So long as the painting has a portrait, I can borrow that body. However, because my spirit first emerged in this female portrait in green clothes, my personality is shaped by what the painter was attempting to portray.”
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Shu Xiaolou then raised three of her fingers.
“The painting has a total of three portraits. You’ve met one, the old man. This is the second one, and then there’s the young man. I can take on all three forms. For the past five hundred years, I’ve been too bored so I started researching the study of beast appraising. The Beast Appraisal Pavilion has tons of books on the topic after all and I’ve read them all.”
No wonder Shu Xiaolou’s beast appraising skills were so profound. After researching the subject for five hundred years, it made sense for her to have such deep-rooted knowledge.
Lin Jin later found out that Shu Xiaolou had bestowed upon herself the qualifications of a Rank 5 beast appraiser. However, judging by her actual strength, she did in fact qualify for the rank.
Also, the name ‘Shu Xiaolou’ was something she gave herself. She was the one who wrote her name on the plaque above the painting.
It was Lin Jin’s first time associating with the spirit of a painting and he found it astonishing. To think a painting could actually gain spiritual intelligence.
Lin Jin was immediately reminded of the Unending Nature Landscape.
That painting had been filled with spiritual intelligence and psyche, ultimately forming another world, but it was a refuge for the immortal, Du Li. Back then, Lin Jin didn’t examine the Unending Nature Landscape thoroughly, so a painting spirit could likely have been born inside.
For the next few days, Lin Jin gave classes as usual in the academy. His days were surprisingly regular. Besides teaching, Shu Xiaolou would also visit him every day to chat. They would either compete in beast appraising knowledge or they would exchange their opinions on cultivation.
Based on Shu Xiaolou and Lin Jin’s understanding, both of them were now considered friends.
Shu Xiaolou told Lin Jin that he was her first actual friend. Hearing this, he asked her if anyone else in the academy knew of her existence.
Shu Xiaolou shook her head.
She mentioned being acquainted with all preceding pavilion masters who guarded the Beast Appraisal Pavilion in the past five hundred years. Though, they would always treat her with reverence and respect. Compared to them, she felt much more at ease interacting with Lin Jin.
Her friendless experience was mainly because Shu Xiaolou thought nothing of their knowledge and skills. Many of the pavilion masters were considered her students and the result of their excessive esteem was the reason for this sense of distance.
It went without saying that almost everyone in the academy was unaware of Shu Xiaolou’s existence. It was no wonder no one knew Lecturer Shu after Lin Jin tried asking around.
From Lin Jin’s observation, Shu Xiaolou’s personality was pretty easy to understand, even though she had lived for five centuries. Previously, she was slightly intimidating when she took on the appearance of an old man. Still, Shu Xiaolou was quite a straightforward character. She would never beat around the bush or try to hide anything from her counterpart. Of course, that didn’t mean she had the naivety of a child, nor was she oblivious to the primal nature of some men.
Today, after Lin Jin sent his students away, he went on to debate with Shu Xiaolou.
Their argument this time was about monster cultivation methods.
Both individuals had differing opinions on certain concepts so what started as a normal debate spiraled into an argument.
All of a sudden, something unusual happened.
Sensing the oddity, Shu Xiaolou went silent and her expression grew stern.
Before they knew it, the stars in the skies were gone. What entered her vision was pitch black darkness as if the sky was clouded with black clouds, shrouding the bright moonlight.
Even the candlelights in Peach Blossom House dimmed considerably.
“The universe is showing signs of change. Someone has just cast a spell around us,” Shu Xiaolou concluded with her keen observation. Lin Jin sensed something was off too.
‘This may be a different skill, but has the same effect with the Nebula Barrier,’ he mused.
However, since they were within the Heavenly Spiral Academy, this sudden change definitely made him cautious. Lin Jin stood up as well to get ready for battle, but when he turned back around, Shu Xiaolou was nowhere to be seen.
Not only was she gone from his sight, but his surroundings also fell into absolute darkness.
For a moment there, Lin Jin had entered a void. He couldn’t even hear the gentle night breeze blowing against his ear. Instead, he was met with deafening silence. Lin Jin realized something was definitely wrong.