67 To Cultivate, One Should... 1 (1/2)

Once her emotions had sufficiently calmed, An Fei released a hearty sigh, expelling the vestiges of her frustration and anger with the breath of air. Shaking her head several times, the girl looked back at the book with the black cover cruelly discarded onto the ground, the .

Once the mindless fury had receded, cold reasoning splashed heavily onto her shoulders, a sinking feeling churning within her stomach.

Unlike the previous instances of which she had not a single inkling of a plausible answer, the girl was clearly cognizant of the problem glaring at her.

If, as it most probably was as usual, the statement written in the book was true, then An Fei was facing a massive, immediate crisis.

For there were innumerable objects possessing the spiritual essence of a mortal world in the Shattered Star Continent. Even in the study of the Flowing Wind Residence, the artefacts and items now deemed toxic, the girl could name several from a single thought.

Thirty-four cultivation and martial arts techniques that she and the maidservants had obtained from the Pagoda of Sun and Moon.

One technique forced into her possession by the Elder Luo of the Three Lotus Sect, the .

…and the countless, plethora of items and artefacts Wei Xuan was probably going to pass into her possession into the future if she cultivated.

”This is really difficult, ah…” An Fei sighed, lightly smacking the fabric cover with her left hand, a sense of helplessness rolling off of her body.

Was she supposed to cease cultivation before she had even taken the first step? Furthermore, there wasn't an actual objective, a conclusive reason for her to engage in cultivation.

Would dusting her hands after failing to succeed in a cultivation or martial arts technique, adopting a weak-minded personality, pass by the watchful eyes of Wei Xuan? Although he still doted and pampered the little girl just as he had done before, his gaze at times would often become cautious, especially if she woke after a long period of slumber.

However…

An Fei couldn't forget that on the first encounter of this mysterious crystal realm, she had taken a bite or two from a stalk of celery growing in one of the medicinal gardens. The plant was indeed emanating a vibrant light akin to those she observed in the either the library of the Pagoda of Sun and Moon or the Archive of Time, which was a clear indicator that she had already crossed that taboo.

[Consumption of spiritual qi or residue within the Sanctum of Time and Eternal Peace].

Given how the light radiated from a stalk of celery far surpassed that of the books she had received from the elders of the Three Lotus Sect, even of the technique, the girl was mostly certain that she was now quartered in the direct midst of the condition mentioned within the .

Locked in place within the accursed restrictions that could decide her life or death regardless of her choice.

In that case, then she could only bite her teeth and do her utmost to avoid interacting with any item releasing a colored, abnormal light within the Shattered Star Continent. Furthermore, discover a method of dissuading Wei Xuan before he forced pills down her throat…

Sighing for the umpteenth time, An Fei grit her teeth and opened the on her lap, scouring the book for as much information as she could obtain. Much to her delight and bitterness, not a single page within the book was empty, instead containing an amount of information that she would not be able to absorb without a significantly long period of time.

…the book was much thicker than her arm, after all.

Furthermore, its overall size wasn't that far from comparing with her torso…

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”Cultivation is defined as the enhancement of the body and soul, forcing consecutive breakthroughs onto the self to achieve a higher echelon within the Realm's natural order. There are many methodologies that attain similar results, including forced absorption of the Realm's subsidiary worlds' cores and essence reserves to assimilate into the body of the self, establishing a gradual increase in the faith of a subsidiary entity, or…”

Within the seventeenth Archive of the Sanctum of Eternity, a soft voice could be heard reciting a long string of information. The melodious voice belonged to the figure of a young, beautiful girl who was lazily reclining in a comfortable chair, a heavily disproportionate book propped up by the armrests.