The Formless Art

As soon as Xue Mingzhao stepped onto the second floor, she froze in front of the empty bookshelves. "..."

Where were the books?

Where were the manuals?

Where were the cultivation techniques?

Why was more than half of it empty?

“These bookshelves look highly breathable,” she muttered after a long pause.

Chen Huaizhi snorted coldly. “Back when the sect split, that old bastard Xie Huairen relied on his sheer numbers to sweep away more than half of our collection. If I hadn't risked my life to stop him, we wouldn't even have this much left.”

Xue Mingzhao nodded in agreement, sighing, “I knew Martial Uncle Xie didn't look as kind-hearted as he seemed on the surface.”

This statement seemed to flip a switch.

Chen Huaizhi's perpetually stern face softened considerably, and his tone grew slightly excited. “You think so too?”

Xue Mingzhao: "..."

My goodness, it seems there's a history between these two.

With a sincere look, she said, “The first time I saw Martial Uncle Xie, I felt he wasn't as simple as he appeared.”

Chen Huaizhi's eyes shone with excitement, and his entire demeanor became much livelier. “You new juniors don't know, but over ten years ago...”

Su Ye stood to the side, watching the old man and the young girl chatter away. They talked for a full four hours.

He was so bored he almost fell asleep standing up.

Yet his little junior sister listened with utmost seriousness, showing complete empathy and chiming in from time to time:

“How could he do that?”

“Heavens, that is way too much!”

“What happened next? What happened next?”

The more Chen Huaizhi spoke, the more enthusiastic he became, digging up ancient history to complain about with great relish.

It was almost like a master musician finding a soulmate who truly understood his music.

After chatting for an entire afternoon, the two found themselves highly compatible, unconsciously developing a mutual understanding that transcended their age gap.

Recalling the changes in Xue Mingzhao since she joined the sect, Chen Huaizhi pondered for a moment before retrieving a manual and handing it to her.

“This 《Formless Art》 was personally written by the founding patriarch. Because it has extremely high requirements for aptitude and lacks any offensive capabilities, very few people have ever learned it.”

Xue Mingzhao took it. After skimming just a few lines, she knew this technique was practically tailor-made for her.

The Formless Art had five layers in total.

In the early stages of cultivation, she could change her appearance and aura at will, leaving even experts of the Tribulation Transcendence realm unable to spot the slightest flaw.

Once her cultivation reached the late stages, she could completely conceal her physical form, deceive the laws of the Heavenly Dao, and even erase all traces of her existence from the world.

Though she had acquired many concealing items before, they were ultimately useless when facing true powerhouses.

This was simply too perfect for her!

She quickly bid farewell to Chen Huaizhi, planning to return and study this 《Formless Art》 thoroughly.

Chen Huaizhi was in the middle of a lively discussion and couldn't easily stop her when she wanted to leave.

Even when she was far away, he still shouted after her, “Come back once you've mastered this! I'll tell you the rest of the story then!”

Xue Mingzhao turned around and waved. “Wait for me!”

Returning to Mingzhao Residence, she eagerly flipped to the first page of the 《Formless Art》.

First Layer: Appearance Alteration.

Sitting cross-legged, she closed her eyes and guided her spiritual energy down from between her brows, deducing the rearrangement of her facial bones inch by inch.

An excruciating pain instantly swept through her body, as if someone were violently kneading and reshaping her skull.

According to the technique's records, she had to constantly circulate her spiritual energy to adapt, practicing until she could smoothly change her face within ten breaths. Only then would she be able to switch her appearance at will during life-and-death combat.

The piercing ache assaulted her continuously. Xue Mingzhao gritted her teeth, patiently reshaping her bone structure over and over again.

The Chaos Spiritual Root grimaced at the sight. “Isn't this just self-torture?”

Beside her, Cang Jue remained silent. His quiet gaze fell upon Xue Mingzhao as she gritted her teeth in bitter cultivation, silently watching her endure the agonizing pain of bone restructuring again and again.

By the time the sky began to brighten with the first light of dawn, she had finally successfully mastered the first layer.

Xue Mingzhao held up a mirror to look at her newly reshaped face. Her eyes and brows carried a hint of aloof coldness, the corners of her eyes tilted upward slightly, her nose bridge was high and straight, and her lip line was sharp.

Her jawline was clean and sharp, and when she smiled, faint lines appeared at the corners of eyes, adding a touch of mature laziness to her face.

It was, without a doubt, the face of a cool, mature beauty.

She absolutely loved it.

Xue Mingzhao excitedly touched her face, then raised her hand to knock on Su Ye's courtyard door.

Su Ye pushed the door open. Looking at the unfamiliar woman before him, he asked with a bewildered expression, “Excuse me, who are you looking for?”

Xue Mingzhao curled her lips. “Senior Brother, guess who I am.”

Su Ye scrutinized her appearance, then carefully sensed her aura before hesitantly speaking, “Little Junior Sister?”

Xue Mingzhao sighed inwardly. As expected, the first layer could only alter one's physical appearance.

A close acquaintance who spent day and night with her could still see right through it based on her aura alone.

She took out the 《Formless Art》 and handed it over. “Senior Brother, this is the technique Elder Chen gave me yesterday. Let's cultivate it together. Once we break through to the second layer, we'll go out and pull off something big!”

Su Ye took the manual, feeling a surge of excitement in his heart. Are we going to stir up trouble again?

He said with full confidence, “Rest assured, Junior Sister. Tomorrow, I will definitely show you a completely new me.”

With that, Su Ye carried the manual back to his room to immerse himself in cultivation.

Meanwhile, Xue Mingzhao went to find Ji Anzhi to freeload a meal. Just as she stepped into her Fifth Senior Brother's cave dwelling, she saw Li Buqi grabbing Ji Anzhi, forcing him to copy books for him.

Upon seeing Xue Mingzhao enter, Li Buqi froze for a moment. He hurriedly let go of Ji Anzhi, stammering and acting completely self-conscious. “Fellow... Fellow Daoist, who are you looking for?”

Xue Mingzhao: "..."

Good heavens, she actually detected a hint of shyness in his voice. Combined with Li Buqi's reaction, she concluded: Third Senior Brother likes cool, mature women!

Xue Mingzhao's eyes darted around, and she deliberately lowered her voice. “I am a close friend of your Seventh Junior Sister. I heard her say that Fifth Senior Brother's culinary skills are exceptional, so I came specifically to freeload a meal.”

Ji Anzhi stared blankly and replied honestly, “But I have to help Third Senior Brother copy books right now, so I don't have time—”

Before he could finish, Li Buqi clamped a hand over his mouth. Li Buqi glared at him, then turned back to smile obsequiously at Xue Mingzhao. “Don't listen to his nonsense! I am merely supervising his handwriting practice! Fairy, please feel free to order whatever you would like to eat.”

Xue Mingzhao thought for a moment and said, “I heard Fifth Senior Brother's Stewed Jade Marrow Fish and Seven-Colored Glazed Vegetables are absolute masterpieces. I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to taste them today.”

Ji Anzhi shook his head. “I'm afraid that won't do. I don't have the ingredients—”

“Leave the ingredients to me! Fairy, please wait here peacefully for an hour, and it will be done.”

After saying that, Li Buqi ran out in a hurry, repeatedly urging Xue Mingzhao not to leave before he departed.

Ji Anzhi said helplessly, “I'm afraid you won't be able to eat them, Fellow Daoist. This jade marrow fish and Seven-Colored Glazed Vegetables are only found in my master's pond and Martial Uncle Mu's spirit fields, and they are extremely strictly guarded.”

Once the surroundings were completely quiet and no one else was around, Xue Mingzhao reverted to her original appearance.

“Senior Brother, don't worry about him. Let's just eat in peace.”

She had deliberately named those two ingredients just to tease her Third Senior Brother. Who would have thought he would actually run off to cause a ruckus for them?

The two shared a laugh. Ji Anzhi nimbly prepared two light side dishes and brewed a bowl of spiritual porridge.

Xue Mingzhao ate to her heart's content, then stood up to take her leave.

She couldn't help but sigh in admiration; her Fifth Senior Brother was indeed exceptionally gifted when it came to culinary arts.

On the other side, Li Buqi stealthily snuck into the spiritual pond to catch a jade marrow fish, only to be caught red-handed by Su Mingyuan on the spot.

Despite taking a beating, Li Buqi stubbornly refused to hand over the fish, swearing up and down that he had already eaten it. Enraged, Su Mingyuan had no choice but to let him go.

Immediately after, he slipped into Mu Tianqing's spirit fields, planning to harvest some Seven-Colored Glazed Vegetables.

But he was spotted by the cloud-patterned white deer, which chased him down and thrashed him.

Only after taking several hooves to his body did he manage to pluck a few leaves.

By the time he rushed back to the cave dwelling black and blue, only to hear that the fairy had already departed, he instantly slumped in dejection.

Looking at his gloomy expression, Ji Anzhi's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no. Big Brother isn't here. Third Senior Brother isn't going to take his anger out on me, is he?

He carefully offered words of comfort. “Third Senior Brother, please don't be angry...”

To his surprise, Li Buqi raised his head without a single trace of anger. Instead, he was filled with deep regret. “This is all my fault. I was too slow, which caused the fairy to miss out on her meal. If only I had been a bit faster, she wouldn't have left.”

Ji Anzhi: ?

In the next second, a spark lit up in Li Buqi's eyes. With a serious face and a hint of a budding crush, he asked, “Junior Brother, do you believe in love?”

Ji Anzhi: ...