53 A Touch With Arrogance, A Step Into Cultivation 3 (1/2)

”…why?”

An Fei quietly murmured, the pair of scarlet irises half-lidded in confusion. Though she turned around to face the Youngest Miss of the Sword Marquis' manor, the girl refused to retract her hand from the thick book with the silver and leather cover.

”Why do you ask why?” the Youngest Miss of the Sword Marquis raised an eyebrow in slight contempt, her voice cold and flat without the slightest inflection.

”The elder that opened the Pagoda of Sun and Moon dictated that nobody possesses the right to forcefully obtain a cultivation technique selected by another. Since I laid claims upon the set of cultivation and martial arts techniques prior to you, it belongs to me. Why adopt such a fussy tone?”

”…because not a single soul heard your claim?” An Fei helplessly stated, her forehead beginning to crease as an ominous premonition filled her mind.

Her fingers tightening their grip on the spine of the book, the girl gently tugged, pulling the book a centimeter out of the bookshelf.

”...stop!”

A loud outburst erupted from the girl in the pure white dress, startling a great number of people nearby. The scholars, young and old, adorned with the embroidered three-lotus pattern gathered to inspect the scene with great interest instead of tending to their tasks, their gazes flickering between the two beautiful and veiled women.

”Didn't I tell you to stop? Daring to continue to act insolently upon another person's property, do you truly have so much courage?”

The young girl in the white dress scoffed with a glacial tone, a volatile rage swirling within her exposed eyes as she pointed towards An Fei's fingers. An Fei paused for to look at the book for a brief moment, before her soft voice wormed into everyone's ears.

”…But you don't own this book; the technique belongs to the Pagoda of Sun and Moon,” the girl quietly spoke, the fingers of her right hand drumming on the closed pages of the book.

”Furthermore, all we receive after claiming a technique is an authentic, transcribed copy, hence this book… doesn't belong to you? Since the ownership of a technique is determined only at the final stages, how could it ever belong to you when you haven't even raised the notion of registering the cultivation technique?”

”Well said!”

One of the spectating scholars gently clapped his hands, his voice offering praise. As the others quickly joined in of their approval, the Youngest Miss of the Sword Marquis twisted the hem of her dress in agitation, grinding her teeth.

However, the fury soon calmed and ebbed to reveal a tranquil ocean, and the girl reached out to tap the surface of a nearby table.

”I won't refute that,” she hissed in a provocative manner, the venom concealed within the pair of glaring eyes. Stroking the ashwood table with her fingers, the girl stared deeply at An Fei with narrowed eyes.

”However, will you be capable of taking the book from the Pagoda of Sun and Moon whilst retaining your life? Since you haven't touched the slightest layers of cultivation, can you truly survive with such a heavy treasure?”

”Why not seek a different technique?”

An Fei's eyebrows creased into a deep frown, returning a similar gaze.

”There are hundreds of thousands of cultivation techniques as well as martial arts techniques, must you fight over a single book with me, an inconsequent passerby?”

Although it was impossible for the onlookers to determine what expression the girl in the linen coat was displaying, the scholars still felt considerably stifled in their chests. The soft, irresistible voice tugged at the heart, perfectly embedding the girl's discontent directly into the minds of the scholars.

Ting!

However, none of them could have imagined the girl in the white dress to suddenly withdraw a steel dagger from a well concealed pocket alongside the exterior of her sash. A cold, silver flash of light arced around the girl's figure before stabbing deeply into the ashwood table, the pommel of the dagger supported by a dainty, fair-skinned hand.

”Because I have the strength!” the young maiden scowled behind the partial veil.

”Since this is your first step into the long-winding path of cultivation, then let me teach you a lesson.”