Chapter Thirty-Seven: Should Believe

The instant his spiritual sense was locked onto, Liu Pan’s expression changed dramatically. Yet the Waterforce Palm Seal had already left his hand—it was impossible to recall it now; even if he could, it would be too late. He had already been exposed.

With a crash, the second-layer Waterforce Seal landed squarely on the wooden table. The table shattered and was flung against the wall with a bang, before finally crashing to the floor, its legs snapping and a cloud of dust rising.

Such was the power of the second-layer Waterforce Seal. Although it was only one layer more than the first, its might was certainly not a matter of simple addition.

However, despite witnessing its formidable strength, Liu Pan’s face showed no trace of delight. He was disturbed. He had never imagined that someone would scan the area with spiritual sense at this moment and lock onto him directly.

Run? Liu Pan would not run. As the author, he was keenly aware of the vast gulf between the various cultivation stages. Facing a cultivator with spiritual sense, unless he had already mastered the use of spiritual power, he stood absolutely no chance!

Now, what puzzled Liu Pan most was: who had locked onto him with spiritual sense?

Moments later, the spiritual sense lock vanished, and at that very moment, a knock sounded at the door.

Liu Pan’s gaze flickered. He understood that the person knocking was very likely the same one who had locked onto him with spiritual sense earlier. Yet he did not hesitate; he rose and opened the door. He knew that, regardless of who stood outside, he had to face them.

The door opened to reveal an elderly man, simply dressed, appearing to be well into his sixties.

Liu Pan was slightly taken aback before bowing respectfully, “Master.”

“Mm.” Elder Lin nodded, his gaze passing Liu Pan to settle instantly on the shattered table behind him. After a moment, Elder Lin’s eyes glinted as if recalling something. He looked at Liu Pan and asked, “Tell me honestly, did you really become my apprentice because you wished to study the art of alchemy?”

Liu Pan was startled by the question, but after a brief pause, he bowed again and answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

Hearing Liu Pan’s response, Elder Lin’s face showed a faint, inexplicable satisfaction. After some thought, he said, “Once you’ve memorized the books I gave you yesterday, come find me in the main hall. I’ll teach you how to refine pills directly.”

Liu Pan was again taken aback, but bowed respectfully and replied, “Yes!”

Elder Lin nodded and said nothing more, turning to leave the small courtyard. When he reached the gate, as if remembering something, he turned back to Liu Pan and said, “By the way, I just visited Skydome Peak. The Elder there said that if you have time, you should go see him again. He has something to give you.”

With those words, Elder Lin departed without waiting for further reply, leaving the courtyard without looking back.

Liu Pan stood still for a long time, confusion clouding his eyes.

For Elder Lin to come to his courtyard at all was an anomaly. When choosing his residence, Liu Pan had deliberately selected this courtyard, more than three hundred meters from the main path, precisely because of the cultivation levels of Elder Lin and the other elders. He knew that, if an elder wished to see a disciple, they would simply send someone to inform them, never coming in person. That was why he felt at ease practicing the seven-layer Waterforce Seal in his room.

When Elder Lin knocked, Liu Pan had been nervous—he was even prepared to put up a desperate struggle if need be. He didn’t know why Elder Lin had come, but he knew he had already exposed too much.

Yet Elder Lin’s reaction had taken him by surprise. Not only did he not mention anything about what Liu Pan had revealed, he even told him to come study alchemy directly once he’d memorized those books.

If Elder Lin’s spiritual sense had not detected anything, Liu Pan would never have believed it. Furthermore, when Elder Lin mentioned that the Elder at Skydome Peak wanted to see him, Liu Pan realized that the elder must have already known something before coming.

But if he already knew, then why—

Liu Pan was perplexed. After a long while, he suddenly understood, shaking his head with a touch of self-mockery. A light, relieved smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

He was now certain: even though he had exposed his spiritual power in the cultivation manual tower, and revealed much under Elder Lin’s spiritual sense, he was still safe.

Since arriving in this world, it had been nearly a month and a half. From the initial novelty, to the later sense of strangeness, and now to a gradual integration. Outwardly, it appeared as if things had changed, but in reality, nothing had changed at all.

For in Liu Pan’s heart, there had always been a deeply rooted conviction: “I am the author. I do not belong to this world.”

Because of this, he had always kept himself at a distance from everything and everyone in this world. To put it plainly, he always considered himself an outsider; whatever he did, he centered upon himself, never fully trusting anyone—from the bottom of his heart—not even Yan, the spirit of the Wildblade.

He had always carefully concealed himself, observing everything and everyone with a detached eye. Precisely because he saw himself as an outsider, he naturally kept himself free of entanglements, refusing to get involved in any disputes.

Because of this mentality, he was unwilling to expose himself or to stand out. Subconsciously, he believed that once he exposed himself, endless trouble would follow.

Therefore, he guarded himself against everyone, unwilling to let anyone learn anything about him, no matter how trivial.

In his eyes, everyone was an “other,” everyone a “villain.”

Elder Lin’s visit, having clearly noticed his deliberate concealment yet not confronting him, instead telling him to come study alchemy after memorizing the books, made Liu Pan finally realize that there were good people in this world.

Ultimately, the main reason Liu Pan considered everyone in this world to be “other” and “villain” was that, when writing his novels, he had tormented his protagonists too harshly. In his plots, the protagonist rarely met any good people along the way.

Because of this, Liu Pan himself had developed a stubborn mindset, believing there were no good people in this world.

Yet Elder Lin’s actions had taught him an important lesson.

After a moment of self-mockery, Liu Pan pondered briefly, then set off toward Medicine Peak’s base. He decided to go to Skydome Peak right now, realizing it was high time to change his overly defensive attitude.

He truly hadn’t expected to find himself on Skydome Peak again so soon—this made it the third time in two days.

The Cultivation Manual Tower was unchanged: a windowless pavilion, with only a single door on the first floor.

Approaching within a hundred meters, Liu Pan sensed another spiritual probe. But unlike last time, he did not pause to straighten his robes, striding straight into the tower.

The furnishings were the same as ever. This time, however, the elderly man behind the counter was not reading; as soon as Liu Pan entered, his gaze fell upon him.

“You’re here?” The elder smiled. In truth, he hadn’t expected Liu Pan to return so soon—he had even thought Liu Pan might never come back at all.

“I’m here.” Liu Pan nodded, giving a polite but casual bow. Although respectful, he was far less formal than on his previous visits.

“I wonder what the Elder has summoned me for?” Liu Pan asked, curious.

The elder was momentarily surprised by Liu Pan’s casual manner, before an odd smile tugged at his lips. “You’re quite an interesting fellow.”

Liu Pan rolled his eyes in exasperation. He knew this old man well—in his novel, this was one of the few genuinely good people Liu Kuang had encountered.

After the lesson from Elder Lin, Liu Pan realized he should trust some people—at least, those he himself had written as good. In a sense, this was also trusting himself.

The elder smiled again at Liu Pan’s eye roll. Though he didn’t know exactly what kind of person Liu Pan was, judging by his conversations with Liu Kuang, he was certain Liu Pan was not a bad sort.

Without further delay, the elder fetched a white jade slip from behind the counter and made several hand gestures over it. As in the previous two instances, the jade slip glowed briefly before returning to his hand.

“Take it,” the elder said, tossing the jade slip to Liu Pan. “I know you can cultivate the Profound Ice Art. This is the second and third layer’s cultivation method—my gift to you.”

Liu Pan caught the jade slip in astonishment. Watching the elder’s gestures, he had assumed the man was recording the method for condensing the seventh layer of the Waterforce Seal. He had not expected it to be the next two layers of the Profound Ice Art.

Though Liu Pan was indeed curious about the subsequent cultivation methods for the Profound Ice Art, what he most wanted now was the method to condense the seventh layer of the Waterforce Seal.

“That’s it?” Liu Pan stared at the elder in bewilderment.

That’s it?

Seeing Liu Pan’s dazed expression, the elder was briefly taken aback before frowning slightly. “The Profound Ice Art may be a common technique, but my knowledge is limited. Three layers is already quite something. For the rest, you’ll have to look in other sects.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m asking about the method for condensing the seventh Waterforce Seal!”