26 A Small Change of Autumn
The precious week of break from university disappeared in a flash; even more quickly for Li Mo Shang, as he was forced to realize that cultivation indeed consumed massive quantities of time for very little improvement. Except for the several hours dedicated to the family clan meeting, he had spent the rest within the desolated region of Withered Springs, training endlessly with little result.
Although he had received massive gifts from this outing, including the qi circulation unit inscribed with the blessing of the Ancient Ming Tribe, as well as crafting his initial spiritual sword, Li Mo Shang felt that he still was extremely lacking and had very little improvement in his ability. It was indeed reasonable, for very little to no progress had been made in his attempt of swapping between martial arts techniques with ease.
Understanding that maturity required copious amounts of time, Li Mo Shang could tamper down the unsettling feeling of incompleteness just barely. Clinging on to the hope that this nagging issue would be resolved after considerable amounts of time, Li Mo Shang concealed his worries and maintained his calm mask before waving goodbye to his parents.
Sitting near the window in a bullet train accessible by the public, Li Mo Shang operated his terminal as he joyfully immersed himself into a recently published historical novel, easily losing track of time. Sometime during the trip, a young man in his twenties sat next to Li Mo Shang, giving him a curt nod. Responding with a simple greeting of his own, Li Mo Shang was about to return to his interesting novel of a historical general's failures, when his attention was instantly aroused.
The young man appeared to be no more in his twenties, but a quick examination assisted by the spiritual core revealed to Li Mo Shang a powerful strength hidden within the lean body structure. Near each limb was a dense cluster of a diluted but intense raw strength, which caused Li Mo Shang to take a second look, keeping his expression indifferent and relaxed. Inwardly, Li Mo Shang began to prime his spiritual core for action, for he had a faint feeling that this seemingly underwhelming man was dangerous.
The young man was dressed in plain, grey suit while sporting large circular glasses. With his appearance extremely nondescript and commonplace, it seemed as if he would blend in any environment. Even his demeanor was excessively humble and withdrawn. Combined with Li Mo Shang's subtle usage of spiritual qi to blur his appearance, their aisle was hardly noticed by anybody.
After several minutes, the peaceful quiet enjoyed by Li Mo Shang was brutally shattered by the grey-suited man. Coughing lightly, he turned to face Li Mo Shang, plastering a slight smile onto his face.
"This young master, may I inquire your name?"
Li Mo Shang frowned, raising his eyes towards the man. Hesitating for a small moment, Li Mo Shang pondered on how to chase this annoying man away, to regain the peace and quiet. After a few seconds, he relaxed his expression before adopting the same speech manner as the grey-suited male.
"May I ask why this sir requires my identity?"
The smile on the man's countenance did not fade a single bit from this question; on the contrary, it became even thicker. His voice was quite effeminate, causing Li Mo Shang to be slightly surprised.
"Ah, I was just wondering, since young master had such a noble and distinctive aura. May I ask a slight favor from you?"
Opening his mouth, Li Mo Shang was about to reply that he was of low social birth, when the bullet train's announcement system came to life to indicate that they had arrived at Blue Rose City. Not sparing the grey-suited man another glance and quickly striding out of the train doors, Li Mo Shang failed to notice a cold light effused within the man's eyes, and his slight amiable smile had been exchanged for a sinister one.
When Li Mo Shang had returned to Blue Rose University, it was already in the evening, quietly approaching nighttime. Presenting his terminal to the gatekeeper and entering the campus, Li Mo Shang headed towards Magnolia dormitory, when he noticed unusual activity near the central building of the dormitory complex.
Surrounding the entrance of the central building were several female youths angrily shouting at someone within. Drawing near and asking what was going on, Li Mo Shang quickly discovered that a robbery had occurred in several adjacent dormitories, including Magnolia dormitory. Upon hearing that nothing extremely valuable was stolen, Li Mo Shang turned around intending to leave, but a girl's shrill cry caused him to stop in curiosity.
"Damn lecher! Demanding to view our luggage and possessions for some antique book or tome, don't think I will report you for misconduct!?"
"Do you think we have some ancient Yin object or whatever you cultists think of a shoddy scam, to dare order us for an inspection with a threat of expulsion!?"
Stopping in place and staring towards the central building, Li Mo Shang couldn't help but scrutinize the entire building, quickly discovering a presence on the third floor. There, a silhouette of a person could be seen roaming around aimlessly, causing Li Mo Shang to sweep over the third floor with his spiritual qi.
What he saw within truly horrified him, and he inadvertently trembled slightly, causing a nearby girl to hiddenly gaze at him in confusion. Ignoring everyone else, Li Mo Shang continued to gaze at the third floor with increasing intensity, while directing spiritual qi towards his mind to stabilize his emotions due to the scene projected.
Within the third floor were large puddles of blood, and an indistinct shadow roaming each puddle. These shadows would merge with the puddle, forming a writhing silhouette of a human, before heading towards the next. Each puddle of blood gradually became smaller, while the shadows manifested more clearly with each round of assimilation.
Eventually, the puddles of blood had disappeared, and the shadows quickly vanished into the blurred darkness. The girls shouting towards the central building's entrance suddenly departed simultaneously without any further dispute or disapproval, leaving a completely mystified and terrified Li Mo Shang standing dumbly facing the doors. Shaking his head twice, he assured himself that it was a visual illusion, before heading towards Magnolia dormitory.
Within moments, he was sitting on his bed at Room 303, attempting to remove the nagging premonition through cultivation.
Recalling the events of merely half an hour ago, Li Mo Shang quickly duplicated these thoughts in the lower layer of the <Hourglass of Eternity>, intending to review the comprehension deduced by the spiritual core. For some reason, Li Mo Shang could not help but give rise to several thoughts about the security of Blue Rose University's dormitories, and whether there was something ominous occurring. What unsettled himself even further, was that the initiation of the deduction process refused to happen, with not a single granule of information heading towards the upper layer of the <Hourglass of Eternity>.
Helpless, Li Mo Shang could do nothing but fall into a light sleep. Perhaps some crucial information was still required, and there was no way of obtaining that within a short amount of time. It was best to forget about it, then deal with it later if he himself was implicated.
The next day brought forth a usual university course of events, which caused Li Mo Shang to furrow his brows in contemplation. The peaceful and pleasant atmosphere in the university campus in the morning caused him to think back towards the atrocity he had witnessed in the night. It seemed that something abnormal was occurring near the dormitories, but he couldn't think of why. This peaceful atmosphere continued for a week, and Li Mo Shang gradually forgot about the paranormal phenomenon in the night, and was only occasionally reminded of the nightly matter when he checked the <Hourglass of Eternity>'s progress.
A week after the students had returned from break, Wan Xue suddenly sprung onto the class a surprise general examination, causing groans to ring throughout the auditorium. Grudgingly, these students prepared themselves for a test on knowledge they had already forgotten more than half of, hoping to ameliorate their sorrows by sneaking furtive looks at Wan Xue's beautiful countenances. Some students became so absorbed at staring at her figure that all thoughts of examination were thrown to the back of their minds.
Tapping the examination paper with his pen, Li Mo Shang ignored the pleading gazes sent by Li Zhen Yue before methodically answering the questions one by one. Thankfully, all of the knowledge necessary to answer the questions were accessible in the general studies library with great detail, hence Li Mo Shang breezed through the entire test within an hour without even properly reading the questions.
As usual, he reviewed his answers and scratched out a few details for a couple questions, to maintain an image of an average performing student. After successfully doctoring his examination paper, he secretly passed a note to Li Zhen Yue outlining the general tested topic, earning him a glance of gratitude. To his surprise and slight panic, Li Mo Shang noticed that his lips had risen in a nearly unnoticeable curve.
Quickly returning to his deadpan expression, Li Mo Shang turned his glance towards the center of the auditorium, where Wan Xue was fiddling with her terminal while standing at her podium. The moment his gaze turned towards Wan Xue's attractive figure, he nearly jumped in surprise when he noticed that her eyes were directly focused on his face, and her terminal was aimed towards his paper. Li Mo Shang could not help but raise his eyebrows when he noticed a light smirk emerge on her face before she mouthed, 'see me after class'.
Frowning slightly, Li Mo Shang tore his gaze back onto his paper, before changing his answer for one of the questions on General History. After finishing his editing of the answer, he quickly forced himself into a light daydream, revealing nothing but a ironclad deadpan expression.
While gliding through a mental haze, Li Mo Shang attempted to visualize his <Cold Wind's Trace>. Recreating the visual environment of the monochrome world he had once experience with the assistance of the spiritual core, Li Mo Shang nimbly stepped forth in multiple martial arts technique poses, his limbs striking an imaginary target at unpredictable angles as his figure danced in the monochromatic world. Each movement would be accompanied by a slight chilly wind, yet for some inexplicable reason, Li Mo Shang had the premonition that his comprehension of the <Cold Wind's Trace> was completely wrong.
A wind, if described from a scientific perspective, was the large-scale movement of molecules in gaseous states. A breeze could be initiated anywhere and could permeate and penetrate anything – it was nothing more than a moveable current of particles. A literary perspective described the wind as a pursuit of freedom, flexibility, and a malleable endurance. Historically, a wind was described as a initiator for some political transition or event.
Yet why did his <Cold Wind's Trace> reveal nothing more than a cold wind and emphasis on speed? Li Mo Shang understood that this technique was intended to be harsh and unyielding like the winter wind, biting and cold to the touch, as well as annoyingly persistent. While the speed and chilly attributes were indeed present in Li Mo Shang's exhibition of the technique, he could not help but experience the odd sensation of loss.
It seemed as if the <Cold Wind's Trace> was missing a core component that restricted it to a mere auxiliary technique, or the <Cold Wind's Trace> was nothing more than a derivative of a major martial arts technique unbeknownst to Li Mo Shang.
As Li Mo Shang's figure danced in the imaginary monochrome world, countless indistinct swords complemented his movements. Soon, the entire imaginary world was filled to the brim with a tempest of swords, gradually increasing in intensity and radius. Before it seemed that the tempest would devour the imaginary world, the announcement system rang indicating the end of the morning lectures, and Li Mo Shang's daydream was interrupted rudely.
Shaking his head slightly, Li Mo Shang joined the groaning students in capitulating their hopefully decent examination papers, before he was stopped by a smiling Wan Xue who pointed towards him, then bent her index finger back with a small smirk.
