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23.5% Serial Transmigrator / Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Chapter 47

As Jingfei was reading the information Hei had given her, she was amazed by how easy it was to understand.

Where the books she has read before would say:

'One must be sure to maintain the structural integrity of the circulation paths and the harmony with the earth nodes if one wishes to achieve maximum effect. One must also take into account the lay of the land and the relative positioning of the earth pulses, minimising signal corrosion while being mindful of attenuation.'

The Shao Clan technique would say:

'There are several ways to arrange your circulation paths. The best for each situation differs, but generally speaking, you want to reduce the amount distance the Qi travels. Also, the earth nodes are your friends, so include as many of them in your circulation path as possible without increasing the distance.'

These were very different methods of information delivery.

One assumed that theory was important to the individual, whereas the other hid the theory and only spoke of the practical uses.

If one wanted to study independently and come up with new formations, the first approach would win hands down. But if one simply wanted to make powerful formations, then the second approach was better.

Hei had done this on purpose.

It was clear that Jingfei's theory was lacking, and that her ability to translate the theory into practice was even worse. So, he decided to feed her the exact information she needed without any of the extras.

There were both positive and negative points to this approach.

The advantage was obvious. She would be able to make formations without much difficulty now. As long as she knew the purpose of the formation, and it was within her skill set, then she would be able to come up with the paths on her own.

The disadvantage was that she would have to learn from the Shao Clan's method if she wanted to increase her repertoire.

Hei would overcome this disadvantage by creating manuals for all of the formations he had seen or thought of himself. He would then have Jingfei learn from the manuals and practice the formations.

Sooner or later, she would develop a natural sense for what worked and what didn't. At which point, the theory would have naturally been absorbed by her.

The best part was, he could use the same manuals to teach his future subordinates about formations.

While Jingfei was reading the manual, Hei decided to take a look around the formation hall.

He would have enjoyed exploring the place, but unfortunately for him, it seemed that everywhere except the lobby area required merit points to access.

That was the case for Hei. But of course, the female disciples were able to enter any area free of charge.

Qiuyue watched as Hei bumbled around being rejected at every turn.

She quite enjoyed seeing Hei realise the situation he was in.

Like Jingfei, Qiuyue had been born in the sect and had never come into contact with a man before.

The only things she knew about men were the things she had learned from the sect, and those things were all horrible.

They had even mentioned that at young ages, boys were very similar to girls, but once they reached around the age of 13, they would become violent oppressors of women.

Needless to say, she had no good intentions towards Hei and was disappointed at Jingfei who had agreed to something as foolish as being the maid of a man.

He was just a ticking time bomb.

In truth, Qiuyue admired Jingfei's hard work and determination.

Even though the theory eluded her, her carving skill was second to none among the juniors. Evidence of her countless hours of practice.

Seeing her submit herself to a man, was like seeing her rival crippled.

Hei had tried to join the hall as an apprentice, but of course, that cost merit points too.

'You really can't eat out here if you're a man.'

Hei was curious as to why the situation was like this, so he asked Qiuyue.

"Senior Sister, why is it like this?"

Qiuyue had a disgusted face after hearing Hei's words.

"Whose senior sister am I?"

Hei was surprised by the response.

"… Young Lady?"

"That will do."

"Then, Young Lady, why is it so hard for male disciples? Doesn't it seem a little unfair?"

"Unfair? It's because no one wants you here. Do you not know what happened?"

"No. What happened?"

"Ignorant as well as a man. Tsk-tsk."

Qiuyue had a disdainful tone as she insulted Hei.

"Many years ago, there was no Radiant Jade Sect. It was part of another sect where men and women learned in harmony."

"Then-"

"You also interrupt people. Why don't you let me tell you what you want to know before you speak again?"

'But you also interrupted me just now…'

Hei decided not to speak these words. It was possible Qiuyue would just walk away and tell him nothing.

"You want to know what caused the change? At some point, when a man was the sect leader, he found a demonic inheritance and used the female elders as cultivation furnaces, leaving them with nothing."

"…"

Hei was starting to understand the situation. There was a deep-seated hatred of men within those elders.

Qiuyue continued her explanation.

"After that, he spread a simplified version of the technique among the male disciples, causing a tragedy for the female disciples. The men then went off and used their new-found power to join the second-grade sects."

Seeing that Qiuyue seemed to have stopped her explanation, Hei asked for more information.

"So, how was the Radiant Jade Sect formed?"

"The female elders and disciples decided to start afresh. They used their knowledge to teach the children that were born as a result of the actions of the male disciples. Those children grew up to be strong cultivators, and over the generations have built the Radiant Jade Sect into what it is today."

"But what happened to the male children?"

"The initial group of male children were given to the other sects to be servants or whatever else. The male children born after that were sent to live with their fathers. And that continues until this day."

After this explanation, Hei had a question.

"Then why does the Man Peak still-"

Hei realised he was speaking of the Man Peak as if it still existed.

"Cough. How did the Man Peak come to be?"

"The Man Peak? That was put up as a monument to the men who died trying to protect their female relatives."

'Ugh.'

Hei realised that he had been too rash in his renovation.

'I guess I'll have to make the formation extra good.'

He decided to make a formation that was even better than the real thing.

It would also be good training for Jingfei.

"If the Man Peak has such a background, then why are male disciples treated so… differently?"

"Hm? The Man Peak was never meant to have actual disciples. The founders of the sect made the obscure rule that the peak leader of the Man Peak could invite male disciples, but there has never actually been one until now."

"So, Peak Leader Jingfei is the first peak leader of the Man Peak, and I'm the one she invited? This…"

'It can't be a side quest can it?'

Hei felt that this situation was slightly strange. It almost sounded like divination.

Add some rule that no one sees the need for, but then one day, that very rule is what allows the sect to overcome catastrophe, and in turn, rise to the heavens.

'No… No way, right?'

If the founders of the Radiant Jade Sect were able to predict such a thing, how could they be caught off guard by the male disciples?

'Nah.'

Hei decided that he was probably just over-thinking things, but he began his preparations just in case.

Even though it wasn't a side quest. Yup! Definitely not.

"I wonder why you are able to say all of this so calmly."

Hei was curious as to how Qiuyue was able to describe these terrible events so matter-of-factly.

They were both indifferent about the information, but to Hei, it simply had nothing to do with him. Qiuyue, on the other hand, was much more involved.

Qiuyue turned to Hei with a questioning look.

"You expected me to be indignant?"

"Slightly, yes."

"What is the point in being angry at people who no longer exist?"

Hearing this, Hei smiled.

'I was wrong about her. She is actually a level-headed young lady. A little arrogant, but a good fit for Little Bai.'

Hei was thinking of how he would rope Qiuyue in as Bai's friend when he thanked her and turned to leave.

"Thank you for sharing this information with me, Young Lady."

"… You're welcome."

Qiuyue watched as Hei turned to return to Jingfei.

This was her first ever interaction with a man, and it wasn't anything special.

She didn't have a negative impression of him and she didn't feel the 'lascivious eyes' that the elders had described, nor did she feel like he was trying to con her.

She attributed it to his young age.

"… Senior Sister is also okay."

For the time being, he wasn't a 'violent oppressor of women', so letting him call her his senior sister wasn't a problem.

She would wait until the transformation occurred before she made her final judgement on him.

Hearing this, Hei turned back to her and gave her a smile.

"Senior Sister Qiuyue it is then."

"Hmph."

Qiuyue was slightly bothered by Hei's quick adoption. This was very similar to what was described by the elders.

He may not be a 'violent oppressor of women' yet, but he did take every opportunity to lower their guards. This must have been how he got Jingfei to accept the maid position.

She turned around and went to a bench, where she waited for Jingfei to finish reading.

"…"

Hei was wondering what he did wrong as he went back to Jingfei.

When he neared Jingfei, she turned to him with a confused look.

"Is this really all there is?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Isn't there more? This can't be all of it, right?"

"This covers the contents of the books you gave me. Every formation mentioned in those books is present."

"I know that, but shouldn't there be more… more…"

Jingfei seemed to be having trouble finding the word she was looking for.

"More complexity?"

"That's it! It's too easy. Even a small child could understand this. How can it be at the level of a one-star array master?"

"Ah!"

Hei hadn't considered this point. He didn't know what was required to become a one-star array master. All he did was dump all of the information in an easily digested form.

"What are the requirements for becoming a one-star array master?"

"One must be able to identify and produce all of the standard one-star formations. This is both in their theoretical forms and in any modified forms for specific environments."

Hearing this, Hei let out a sigh of relief.

He used his Qi to draw a formation on the ground and spoke.

"What is this?"

Jingfei answered without delay.

"That is an acceleration formation."

"Will it work?"

"Yes."

Hei drew another formation.

"How about this?"

"A friction reduction formation."

"Will it work?"

"Yes."

"How about this?"

"A dome defence formation. And it will work."

Jingfei had caught on to Hei's cycle.

"Then what about this one?"

"This is a sphere defence formation and it will work."

"This one?"

"It is also a sphere defence formation, but it won't work."

"Why not?"

"Because it's lonely."

"… In other words?"

"It doesn't pass through enough earth nodes."

"Make it work."

Jingfei activated the technique Hei had included in the manual, which allowed one to sense the flow of the earth nodes.

She then adjusted a few of the paths of the formation and supplied it some Qi.

As she did, she saw the formation work as expected.

She then turned to Hei with a questioning look.

"Why are we doing all of these simple things? They will hardly help me to understand the theory, which is where I am lacking."

It wasn't Hei, but Qiuyue who answered.

"What lacking theory? You just displayed the ability of a one-star array master. Sure, your reasoning for why the sphere defence formation didn't work was weird, but you were able to adjust it to suit the current environment. How is this possible?"

She had been watching as Hei and Jingfei were going through the exercises and she was amazed at how fast Jingfei was able to recognise the very weirdly set up arrays that Hei had shown her.

The way Hei had drawn those arrays was so far from their theoretical forms, she was surprised that they were even functioning formations.

Hearing Qiuyue's words, Jingfei also realised what she had just done.

To her, it was as easy as putting shapes into their appropriate holes. How could she believe that it was the same incomprehensible formation theory that had baffled her for years?

"The Shao Clan's formation foundations really are deep. To think you could also learn it like this."

Jingfei had no choice but to admire the Shao Clan's mastery.

Hearing Jingfei's words, Qiuyue became intrigued.

"Shao Clan?"

Hei answered.

"It's my family clan. You can also practice the techniques if you want, Senior Sister Qiuyue."

"Hmph."

Hearing that the source of the information was Hei's family clan, Qiuyue lost interest.

Inviting her to practice it was obviously an attempt to lure her into some kind of trap. The same thing had clearly happened to Jingfei, and she didn't even realise it.

She was thinking that the Dark-Skinned Con Man was very subtle. It was easy to fall into his illusions.

"…"

Hei wondered why Qiuyue turned away every time he spoke her name.

'Is it because of my irresistible charm?'

Hei knew he would only be fooling himself if he believed this, so he decided to move on.

He turned to Jingfei.

"I believe you should be able to pass the advancement exam now."

"Mm."

Jingfei was also confident in passing. Who would have known that asking Hei for help would give her unexpected gains?

So far, being his maid wasn't bad at all.

After a while, the doors behind the reception desk opened, and from them came an elder.

She spoke.

"Those of you who have come for your advancement should come to be registered."

After a short while, the only examinees were Jingfei and Qiuyue.

The elder looked to Jingfei and spoke in a surprised voice.

"I didn't expect you to be here, Jingfei. Have you finally overcome your limitations?"

It really was unexpected for Jingfei to show up.

Everyone knew that she still had a ways to go before she was ready for the advancement exam.

Qiuyue spoke up.

"Teacher, she received some help from our junior brother over there."

"Junior brother?"

The elder was confused for a moment.

Qiuyue pointed at Hei, and all three turned to look at him.

Hei smiled and waved his hand, but the elder did not return the gesture.

She turned to Jingfei and with a stern expression spoke.

"What is the meaning of this? The advancement assessment isn't for fun and games."

The elder was hard pressed to believe that a small child had enough knowledge about formations to help another and especially not Jingfei, who had come to her for help on several occasions.

"I'm not messing around, Teacher. I really feel that I am ready for the advancement assessment."

Jingfei tried to clear up the bad air and Qiuyue was also about to speak up, when the elder spoke.

"Enough! If you insist on this foolishness, then you will need to pay a deposit of 10 merit points if you wish to participate."

"What? But the advancement exam is meant to be free."

"It is free for those who have a good chance of success. For you, who is insisting on wasting resources, I will charge a deposit."

10 merit points were quite a lot. Even the most difficult of missions only paid a maximum of 100 merit points.

Jingfei was about to complain when she heard Hei's voice.

"Peak Leader Jingfei. Do you lack confidence?"

Hei then spoke to her in private using his Qi.

Hearing his words, Jingfei was intrigued.

She handed over a jade token to the elder, who was surprised that Jingfei was actually paying the deposit.

If before, she thought that Jingfei was messing around, she was now having second thoughts.

Jingfei was known to lack understanding of theory, but she was no fool.

"Very well. Follow me."

The three walked to the sight of the assessment.

When Hei tried to follow, a young lady blocked his way.

"You will need to pay 100 merit points in order to spectate the assessment."

"… Never mind then."


Chapter 48: Chapter 48

After being told that he would have to pay merit points, even just to observe the assessment, Hei decided to wait instead.

He had to wait for quite a while. It wasn't until he had seen many young ladies enter and exit the hall, that the three exited the assessment venue.

They came through the same double doors that they had entered through.

As they came out, Hei noticed that the young ladies both had shiny stars pinned to their robes and smiles on their faces. Which brought his attention to the rest of their appearances.

Jingfei, in particular, had hair that was so hair-like, one had no choice but to believe it was hair.

It seemed to be a collection of hundreds, if not thousands, of individual strands coming together to create a cohesive unit.

Her eyes were mysteriously placed one to the left and one to the right, her nose acting as a middle point creating symmetry.

Her nostrils were aligned horizontally and even her ears were one to the left and one to the right.

The only difference lay in her mouth, where her lips were placed one above the other, breaking the common pattern that had been seen thus far.

However, if one were to draw a line right in the middle of her face and perpendicular to the ground, one would see that both sides had similar features. Quite spectacular.

And as if icing on the cake, her skin covered her internal structures, leaving everything to the imagination.

It was almost like an epidermis, an outer layer of sorts, which covered her vascular system as well as her musculature and her skeletal structure. Eye-catching indeed.

If one didn't know any better, one would think that this was how most human beings looked, but one would be sorely mistaken.

Upon closer inspection, one would find that her eyes would occasionally be revealed, then hidden, then revealed once more, playfully teasing all those who wanted to gaze into their depths.

Surprisingly, her height was greater than some and less than others. There were even those who had similar heights to her, such as Qiuyue who was next to her.

If one were to look at her clothes, one would notice she was wearing a purple robe. And above that robe was another, thinner robe.

The latter was covered in floral patterns leaving gaps for the purple robe to appear behind, creating an interesting layered look.

This seemed to be the standard uniform of the Radiant Jade Sect.

Upon witnessing her clad in such a robe, one had no choice but to admire Jingfei's ability to put on clothes. That everyone else was also able to do so did not decrease its impressiveness at all.

Everything about her screamed country toppling beauty, and for obvious reasons.

Qiuyue, on the other hand, couldn't be described in the same way as Jingfei.

She similarly had hair and was wearing a similar robe, but from there, things were very different.

Some would say she had crystal clear eyes, as calm as the night sky.

But to Hei, they were just eyes. Everybody had them.

Her eyebrows didn't look like swords or anything, but Hei couldn't find fault with them.

Her facial features were quite delicate and well proportioned. Nice and symmetrical.

But then again, everyone had facial features.

Some would describe her skin as jade-like and flawless.

Hei just saw skin that was pale enough to not be considered dark, but dark enough to not be considered pale.

It looked fairly uniform and soft though.

At the very least, she wouldn't have to wear makeup to hide inconsistencies in her skin tone.

She was a generally attractive young lady. A country toppling beauty even. Who now had a star on her robe.

Indeed, they were both human females and were quite pleasing to the eye.

Having taken a moment to admire the stunning beauty of these two young ladies, Hei focused on Jingfei who was approaching him.

He could see that she was very excited.

She had just achieved something that had eluded her for many years and it was all thanks to the help of this young master, who had turned her into a maid.

Seeing the happiness on her face, and the shiny star pinned to her robe, Hei could tell that she had passed her assessment.

"I take it you were successful."

Jingfei walked over to Hei with a bright smile on her face.

"It is all thanks to you, Young Master Hei."

'Didn't she get used to that a little too quickly?'

Hei was surprised that Jingfei was so relaxed in calling him, Young Master. Even in public like this.

It was one thing when they were alone, but right now, they were in the formation hall, where people would come and go frequently.

Both Qiuyue and the elder heard the words Jingfei had spoken.

In Qiuyue's case, she had already witnessed the effectiveness of Hei's family clan's technique, but the elder was unaware of what had happened before the assessment.

All she knew was that Jingfei had made a remarkable, almost miraculous improvement, in a very short amount of time.

She looked at Hei with a disdainful attitude as she spoke.

"You were the one who taught Jingfei those skills?"

Hei answered casually.

"I am."

He hadn't even turned away from Jingfei as he responded. He was more interested in moving on and seeing what else was in the sect.

This was only their first stop after all.

The elder responded.

"Then it would be your honour to hand over your techniques to the formation hall. We may even reward you with merit points if we deem them useful."

The elder was sure that this boy would know what was good for him. He would hand over whatever inheritance he had found over to the sect and keep his head down.

She didn't believe for a second that this young boy was capable of teaching Jingfei in such a short amount of time and to the extent that she was able to pass the assessment.

Contrary to her expectations, Hei turned over to her with an annoyed face.

"Is that how you ask for help? Your mother must have taught you poorly. Listen. When you are the one seeking assistance, you must be humble."

He was trying to help this elder improve her negotiation abilities. This kind of approach was completely useless against him.

Who would happily hand over their possession when approached in such a way?

"You should take lessons from Peak Leader Jingfei, who humbles herself as she asks for help. It's far more effective."

Needless to say, the elder was not pleased to hear his words.

"Presumptuous little brat. It is your honour to assist the formation hall."

Hei wasn't moved in the slightest and instead came up with an idea.

Knowing that this situation would likely lead to more trouble later, he decided to at least take some benefit for himself while he was here.

He privately spoke to Jingfei using his Qi. Then he turned to the elder and spoke.

"How about we do it like this? Since your rude old self seeks my techniques, why don't we have a little competition?"

He paused for a moment as if in deep thought. At which point, Jingfei hurriedly tried to stop him.

She had an extremely worried face as she tried to get him to reconsider.

"Young Master Hei! This is Elder Ping. One of the most accomplished array masters of the sect. Please reconsider."

Hei ignored her words and waved her away.

"In this puny little sect? How could any of these inexperienced array masters match me?"

These words only served to anger Elder Ping.

The old lady had already told her of how Hei had no respect for his elders, and how he spouted whatever nonsense came to his mind.

When Hei saw that Elder Ping had lost her composure, he continued.

"Since we are both teachers, and I'm using the term loosely, why don't you bring your best one-star array master student and I will instruct Peak Leader Jingfei. Whoever's student performs better will take the spoils."

Before Elder Ping could respond, Hei continued.

"If you win I'll give you the techniques. However, if I win, you'll give me 10 times the amount of merit points Peak Leader Jingfei has at the time of the end of the competition. Are you in or no?"

Hearing Hei's words, Jingfei jumped in fright.

"Only 10 times my merit points? But that's-"

Hei cut her off.

"Say no more! Do you really think I would lose? Me? Hmph."

He then spoke to Elder Ping.

"Are you in or no?"

Jingfei could only fidget in anxiousness.

Elder Ping noticed this and was tempted. She was quite confident in her students, so she accepted the wager.

"Agreed. When I win you'll give me the techniques."

Hei didn't pay the elder any mind. She had already decided that her defeat wasn't a possibility, which was what he wanted.

He turned around and spoke as he walked towards the exit.

"The competition will be held in 7 days. We might as well make it an event. Invite the new disciples to come and watch. As for the arrangements and the format of the competition, you can handle those. But of course, keep it within the bounds of one-star array masters."

He wrapped Jingfei in his Qi and vanished from sight, leaving his final words echoing throughout the lobby area.

"Have my merit points ready."

Qiuyue was somewhat curious about this first man she had met.

At times he behaved like a normal person, but at others, he was just like the men that the sect described.

At times, he was Jingfei's kind teacher, but at others, he was a domineering and overconfident narcissist.

She wanted to see what was true and what was false with her own eyes.

Knowing that Elder Ping was underestimating him, she debated whether she would warn her, but she decided not to ruin the fun.

Things like this rarely happened in the sect and she was interested to see how it would go.

After the two had left the formation hall, Jingfei led Hei to the Alchemy hall.

On the way, she raised her doubts.

"Do you really think it will work?"

Hei smiled in response.

"Of course, it will work. I have taken into consideration many factors. We are going to rob that elder blind."

Before he had proposed the competition, Hei had instructed Jingfei to act like she was concerned about her rash young master.

He mentioned how he would be saying some crazy things and acting all arrogant, and she was to try to persuade him against his foolishness.

The whole scene was an act, meant to lure the elder into accepting.

"She won't know what happened when she realises that her merit points have disappeared."

Jingfei had told Hei that even the Elders had to earn their own merit points, so Elder Ping would be paying out of pocket when she lost the wager.

Hei continued.

"You should pay attention to events like this in the future. There is often a chance to obtain benefits when trouble occurs."

"Mm."

"Note the fact that we didn't start anything. It was Elder Ping who sought after my possession but wasn't amicable about it, trying to force me into an unfavourable situation."

"Right."

"We don't seek trouble but when it comes, we will turn it into opportunity."

Jingfei was interested in Hei's plan as he had said it would multiply her merit points. And it would be much more than just a tenfold increase.

However, she had two points to make.

"But I don't have all that many merit points. Most of them were used to purchase materials to practice formations."

Hei chuckled.

"That is no issue. We will raise your merit points rapidly over the next week."

"But how will we do that? They aren't so easy to acquire."

"Beseech the heavens."

"What?"

"We will find a way."

"Even so, how will we defeat the one-star array master? You should know that there are only a handful of juniors who have become official array masters."

"Simple. Since you are a one-star array master now, you should be able to bring the appropriate books, right? I will study them for you and teach you the contents."

"But… Books also require merit points…"

"Eh?"

Hei didn't expect this hitch in the road and in retrospect, he should have guessed it.

He was influenced by his harsh treatment and assumed that everything was sunshine and roses for the young ladies.

He placed his hand on his chin as he thought.

After a moment, he came up with a plan.

"Then we will use the go-to moneymaking method in situations like these."

"Oh? What would that be?"

Jingfei was intrigued. It seemed Hei had found a solution to this problem that every junior in the sect faced.

"Hehe. Alchemy, of course."


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