Stealing Luck from the Heavenly Dao's Favorite

Wei Yunxi was currently holding a book titled Analysis of Mountain Formations and Vein Patterns in the Weiyu Realm. It mainly covered well-known mountain ranges in the Weiyu Realm, their geological origins, flow of spiritual veins, and even touched upon the art of geomancy. She found it fascinating and quietly memorized the parts she found useful.

Ever since she reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, she had clearly felt her spiritual sense grow stronger. It could now rival that of a beginner Foundation Establishment cultivator. That boost had been a great help during the entry examination, allowing her to avoid Wei Yunqing.

Back at the family academy, she had already learned that while spiritual sense could be used to detect one's surroundings, it should never be carelessly used to scan cultivators stronger than oneself. Doing so would be seen as a provocation. As for those weaker than oneself, they likely wouldn't even notice.

Using her spiritual sense to read and memorize made her much faster than before. In just a day, she had finished reading two books.

Today, she focused solely on the book in her hands. Aside from genuine interest, she also remembered that in the original novel, not long after the Wei clan disciples joined the sect, Wei Yunqing happened to acquire a cultivation technique from the library. On the surface, it had nothing to do with Wei Yunxi.

But she was certain that Wei Yunqing had used her as a tool to obtain it. As for how it was done, she glanced at Wei Yunqing, who was reading a book nearby, and already had a plan forming in her mind.

No wonder Wei Yunqing had insisted on following her to the library for the past few days. She had clearly been plotting something. She even made sure to reread every book Wei Yunxi had picked up. Wei Yunxi didn't need to guess too hard to understand what she was after.

For now, she had found nothing, so there was no need to rush. As for the idea of handing over such an opportunity, that was out of the question.

The next five days passed much the same. Wei Yunxi kept going to the library, and Wei Yunqing continued tagging along. However, she gained nothing during that time.

On the fifth evening, Wei Yunying stopped Wei Yunxi as she returned from the library.

"Yunxi, you've been holed up in the library for days. Found anything useful?"

Wei Yunxi smiled and replied, "Quite a bit, actually. Lots of interesting stories and even some anecdotal records. Today I read A Few Things I Must Say About the Haoran Sect's Founding Ancestor. It talks about some of his secrets."

Wei Yunying's curiosity was piqued. "Really? I'll go check it out next time. Sounds like good leisure reading."

"Yeah! The books on the first floor are open to everyone, so it's a bit of a mess, but still fun to browse."

They chatted casually without avoiding Wei Yunqing, but the latter had clearly reached her limit. She didn't want to waste any more time babysitting Wei Yunxi. She had her own cultivation to focus on. As for verifying the truth of the illusion, that would have to wait.

Wei Yunxi had no idea what Wei Yunqing was thinking. The next day, she went to the library as usual, but noticed her unwanted shadow was gone.

She asked in mild surprise, "Sister, you're not coming to the library with me today?"

Wei Yunqing was inwardly irritated, but her face wore a smile. "I've followed you for days and confirmed there's no danger around you. I can finally go train at the cultivation hall with peace of mind. You'll be fine on your own."

"Alright, thank you for the reminder, Sister."

Wei Yunxi smiled sweetly, her apricot eyes shining, then turned and headed for the library once again. This time, she not only read but also began reorganizing the books on the first floor for easier browsing.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed at the entrance noticed her efforts and was quite pleased. This task usually fell to him, so he chuckled and said, "You're a helpful little one. Go check under the shelf in the southwest corner. There's a rather entertaining storybook there."

Wei Yunxi beamed, bowed politely, and replied, "Thank you for the suggestion, Shishu."

She went where he directed and retrieved a book bound in beast hide. The title read, The Romantic Chronicles of Xuan Qingzi. Just the name alone suggested some tale of amorous adventures.

Wei Yunxi clicked her tongue. Was the cultivation world this open-minded? Was this sort of thing really appropriate for a five-year-old child?

Curious, she opened the book and, with a quick glance, realized she had misunderstood. It was more of a travelogue written like a diary by a cultivator named Xuan Qingzi. Sure, it contained a few personal escapades, but mostly, it was a record of his travels.

She immediately understood. The flashy title was meant to draw attention and encourage circulation. And clearly, she had fallen for it.

It took her a whole day to finish the journal. Afterward, she returned the book to its original place—not on the shelf, but hidden away—realizing it was likely a personal favorite of the librarian.

Later, she went to the dining hall and ran into Wei Yunying and Wei Yunqing. The three of them sat at different ends of a long table, quietly eating without speaking.

Wei Yunxi ignored their silent standoff, grabbed her meal, and after finishing it, bought an extra pouch of spirit grain buns.

Wei Yunying asked, curious, "Yunxi, why did you buy so many buns?"

"They're for eating, of course. I've missed a few meals while reading in the library. If I keep some buns on hand, I won't go hungry. I still want to grow taller, after all."

"You're right. You can't always rely on bigu dan. They're tasteless."

Wei Yunying also spent a few spirit beads to buy ten buns and stored them away. Seeing this, Wei Yunqing's eyes flickered and she followed suit, buying ten for herself. These days, she was trying to be frugal where she could.

When they returned to their courtyard, they saw that their eldest sister, Wei Yunting, was already meditating inside. The others didn't disturb her and quietly went to their own rooms.

Wei Yunxi sat down cross-legged and began sorting through what she had read that day. She was sifting for anything useful, mentally refining her thoughts, when she suddenly opened her eyes.

"This can't be right..."

She stood up and took out pen and paper from her storage space, writing down everything she remembered from the travelogue. After copying the entire thing from memory, she went through it again, extracting what she believed to be suspicious lines and transcribing them onto a separate sheet.

By the time she finished, the moon was already high in the sky. Using the pale moonlight streaming through the window, she reviewed the characters she had picked out. As she read them strung together, her face lit up with joy.

It was a movement technique. Its name was Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind. It was practically tailor-made for her Wind Spiritual Root.

The technique's incantations were hidden within the travel journal. It was the legacy of a cultivator who had chosen to bury a chance encounter within a seemingly chaotic narrative.

What allowed Wei Yunxi to discover it was the strange writing style of the journal. It was disorganized, often jumbled, with some sentences that barely made sense. It felt like the author had jotted down thoughts as they came, with no intention of editing.

While organizing those jumbled lines in her mind, she had instinctively pulled out the awkward phrases. Then, by taking the first character of each sentence and linking them together, she discovered the technique's incantation. The second characters formed another line, and so on.

That was how she unearthed the full chant for Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind.