Seeking Truth with a Sword

"This?"

Abe Takano hesitated for a moment, then quickly removed the prayer beads from his hand and gently placed them on the table.

The prayer beads were crystal clear and pure, without a single flaw, as if they were stones turned into ice.

According to Li Ang's experience in purchasing luxury goods over the past year, the material should be what the people of Yu Country call a decorative gemstone known as Water Crystal.

The Yu people are particularly fond of Water Crystal; the purer the Water Crystal gemstone, the more expensive it is.

As the saying goes, "Well-crafted and polished, the beads look clear and empty. Unsurpassed by starlight or moonshine, extraordinary are they when reflected in a chicken's gaze."

Even the cheapest Water Spirit Bead would cost around a thousand strings of coins.

And one with perfect quality like this would be hard to find in the East and West Markets even once in ten years.

"This was left to me by my father, who said it was a token of friendship bestowed upon our ancestor by the Poet Immortal."

A hint of reluctance flashed in Abe Takano's eyes, but it quickly vanished. He spoke with sincere respect, "However, the Zen school has always taught the principle of karma and cycles. Over a hundred years have passed, so these prayer beads should rightly be returned to Yu Country. Please kindly accept them, Mr. Li."

"How can I accept this?"

"Mr. Li, your kindness is as deep as mountains and oceans; it cannot be repaid with mere prayer beads. If you refuse to accept them, I would be considered unrighteous and ungrateful. Please, I implore you to take them no matter what."

Abe Takano, who hailed from a Japanese noble family and had mastered the Mandarin and etiquette of Chang'an, persisted in offering the gift.

After several polite refusals and requests, Li Ang accepted the Water Spirit Beads and the gift money from Chao Gai. He handed over vitamin B1 suspension enough for thirty people to both men and sent them on their way.

Both men expressed utmost gratitude, promising that in a few days, they would contact the Japanese merchant houses in Yu Country and gather more gift money for another visit.

Later on, Li Ang planned to produce more vitamin B1 tablets using a method similar to that used for Crystal Penicillin.

What Abe Takano planned to do next was beyond Li Ang's consideration. Whether he would use these vitamin B1 tablets to return to his homeland and save his family, or use them to coerce the nobles of his country and incite civil unrest in Japan, was not Li Ang's concern. He couldn't manage that much; his only responsibility was producing the medicine.

But speaking of which, the purity of gold in this batch of gift money was indeed very high.

It was rumored that extensive Fine Gold mines lay deep in the mountains of Japan. These had never been exploited because they were scattered, difficult to mine, and challenging to refine, not to mention the presence of wars and demons.

Perhaps once the Ink Silk Clone evolved again, it could travel across the Endless Sea and collect resources from various islands.

Li Ang shook his head, casting chaotic thoughts aside, and looked back at the Water Spirit Beads.

He infused them with Spiritual Power, but there was no reaction.

So...

Li Ang pondered, took out the Bitter Realm Lotus to predict and ensure that there were no impending dangers, then released the Ink Silk from his arm, slightly loosened its restrictions, and let it move freely.

SWISH—

The Ink Silk gathered and twined in the air by itself, hovering above the Crystal Rosary, and suddenly thrust downward.

CLANG!

A Water Spirit Bead instantly shattered, bursting apart into glittering fragments scattered across the table.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The Ink Silk stabbed repeatedly until all the prayer beads were destroyed before finally coming to a rest.

Li Ang frowned, extended his hand, and picked out some transparent, salt-like crystalline granules from the pile of debris on the table.

What is this...?

Li Ang examined them for a while; these granules had originally been inside the Water Spirit Bead, indistinguishable due to the same refraction of light.

But in his hands, he could feel that these granules were slightly denser than the Water Essence Fragments.

The last Sword Immortal relic was the Spirit Summoning Paper from Du Gongbu's poetry collection. This time it's prayer beads given to Chao Heng. Seems the Sword Immortal also had a habit of gifting Mutated Objects to close friends? Considering that he hadn't gone mad at the time, these salt-like granules probably wouldn't be too harmful. As to which specific Alien species... it might require a further search and confirmation in the Book Collection Pavilion.

Time flies, the weather turns cold, and winter is coming.

Li Ang sat alone in a corner of the cafeteria, eating cold noodles while looking at a book from the Book Collection Pavilion floating above the table, titled "Treasures of Western Regions Jade."

Light Jade Marrow,

Ses Stone,

Rashamon Fire Pearl...

Li Ang flipped through the pages one by one, silently sighing in his heart.

He had searched the Book Collection Pavilion for a long time but still couldn't find any entry on Mutated Objects similar to the salt-like substance inside the Water Spirit Bead. He didn't know if the Academic Palace simply didn't have a record of it, or if it was too rare and only explained in higher-level Forbidden Books.

"Risheng."

Yang Yu and Li Wei walked over with their trays and, upon seeing Li Ang alone, asked curiously, "Where's your Chai Chai?"

"She went to soothe Princess Guanghua."

Li Ang put away his book and moved slightly to the side to make room for them. "Li Leqing hasn't been in good spirits lately."

Yang Yu asked, "Oh? What happened?"

"I don't understand the palace affairs very well," Li Ang said. "It seems to be about Prince Yue's marriage."

The news that Prince Yue, Li Hui, would marry next year, with the daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Industry as his bride, was no longer a secret among Chang'an's nobles.

Emperor Yu always doted excessively on this fourth son of his, granting him houses, allowing him to recruit guests beyond the regulated number, and not yet sending him to his Domain even as he was approaching adulthood.

Many ministers had submitted memorials admonishing this behavior, but Emperor Yu still did as he pleased.

Especially with Li Hui's imminent marriage, Emperor Yu rewarded him with a huge mansion within the Furong Garden in Southern Chang'an.

After Li Hui's wedding, according to tradition, he was to leave Chang'an and go to his own Domain.

Emperor Yu's action once again stirred up waves in the court—some ministers saw this as a sign that Emperor Yu didn't want Prince Yue to leave Chang'an, thinking that the Prince still had a certain chance to compete for the position of Crown Prince.

The struggle for the Crown Prince's position in the court became increasingly distinct and intense, marked by endless scheming, manipulation, and opportunism. Rumors in the palace never ceased. No wonder Li Leqing had been feeling down lately.

"I see..."

Yang Yu and Li Wei exchanged glances and decisively chose not to comment.

Yang Yu put down his tray and pulled out a piece of paper from his robe, placing it on the table in front of Li Ang. "This is the schedule for the specific events of the academic exchange, Risheng, take a look."

"It's been decided already?"

Li Ang took the paper and scanned it briefly. Late November was the poetry competition.

Students needed to select one or two pieces from the poetry they had accumulated over time to submit. A portion of them would then be selected to participate in re-examinations at the Qujiang Pool, which involved strolling through the garden and composing poetry on the spot.

Li Ang's talent for poetry was quite ordinary; participating in such high-level competitions was simply out of the question, so he ignored it.

In early December, there were painting and music competitions.

Li Ang also had no confidence in those, so he let them pass.

In late January, Mathematics, Agricultural Science, debate...

Li Ang skimmed down the list, looking at the events he could participate in. When he saw one line, he paused slightly. "Cuju is included, too?"

"Yes."

Yang Yu nodded. "Our Academic Palace's unrestricted football event has always been strong; of course, it has to be included."

Li Ang had heard long ago from Crown Prince Li Si that the Academic Palace's football was different from the outside world.

The field was extraordinarily expansive.

The football material was special, indestructible, and unaffected by Spiritual Energy.

Students participating in Cuju could only use their feet and other body parts to dribble, pass, and score goals. However, they could also use talismanic magic, Flying Swords, and other such abilities during play to directly interfere with and attack opponents.

It was far more violent than the rugby or ice hockey Li Ang remembered from the Otherworld.

Li Ang was not particularly interested in sports activities, but this kind of unrestricted Cuju was quite common and popular in colleges of other countries.

This time, it was included in the scoring system for the academic exchange.

"Do you want to participate, Risheng?"

Li Wei asked enthusiastically, "If you perform well, you can earn a lot of academic credits. Yang Yu and I are already preparing to form a team, but we're short one more member. If you join, we can do it together. Even if we don't rank too highly, it's fun to participate."

"I don't know how to play football."

Li Ang shook his head. "At most, I could bring a folding stool to guard the goal."

"Folding stool?"

"It's like a Hu bed. You can normally sit on it as a chair, hiding its lethality. Once an enemy comes close, you can lift it, and it becomes a weapon to use in an attack while surprising the enemy."