Paper Crane

The Liu family was also a big family in Sheng County.

In the early years, the Liu family was in the cloth business. The head of the Liu family was smart and his business grew bigger and bigger. Now, he had already become one of the top rich businessmen in Sheng County.

Liu Xu was a direct descendant of the Liu family. She was the second daughter of the Liu family's head, Liu Yuanfeng. She had an older brother.

Initially, the Liu family had thought that being wealthy was already the peak of achievement. However, there was a Liu Xu in the Liu family.

The night Liu Xu turned seventeen, the moon was full.

Liu Xu stood in the courtyard, staring at the full moon in the sky.

That night, all the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones of the Liu family flew up and surrounded Liu Xu, submitting to her.

It was also that night that Liu Xu comprehended the Great Qi from the full moon and became a scholar.

From then on, Liu Xu underwent a tremendous change.

Every day, she would not leave the house and would only read books all day. Her elegant and otherworldly aura became stronger and stronger.

Ten days later, the Qingyun Academy, the largest academy in the Nanhua Dao - which was also the best in the entire Great Chu Country - accepted Liu Xu as a disciple of the academy.

There were many academies in Nanhua Dao, but the Qingyun Academy was the only outstanding one.

Everyone in the Liu family was elated when they heard the news.

At that time, the seventeen-year-old Liu Xu went to the Academy and only returned home after two years.

After returning home, Liu Xu was still the same. As usual, she was well-educated and reasonable.

However, she still stayed in her room all day and did not come out except to eat.

The Liu family was already used to it. They only treated it as Liu Xu's normal behavior.

At this moment, Liu Xu put down the scroll in her hand.

"Hmm… The number of murders in Sheng County has increased recently. Is it the Jisheng Cult? There are also sharp saber marks at the scene." Liu Xu held the scroll in one hand and gently tapped the other.

As she tapped her fingers, the white veil on her sleeve fluttered gently, revealing her fair wrist from time to time.

She was still wearing a white veil on her face. One could vaguely see her face, but not so clearly.

It was hazy and had a mysterious beauty.

"The county magistrate of Sheng County is really boring. As soon as he heard that it was related to the people of the martial world, he started to smooth things over. He's really annoying. Also, how could a magistrate die?" Liu Xu began to walk back and forth, her curved willowy eyebrows furrowed together.

Others might not know her identity. They would at most treat her as a scholar.

In the Nanhua Dao of the Great Chu, there were many women who studied.

However, many people did not know that Liu Xu had another identity.

— Paper Puppeteer.

Ever since she entered the academy two years ago and studied hard, her strength had rapidly approached grade eight.

However, when she reached the peak of grade nine, she suddenly stopped.

What the Qingyun Academy taught was to follow the rules and advance step by step.

Every time a scholar leveled up, his comprehension of books would deepen.

However, Liu Xu still did not make any progress after reading all the grade nine books in the entire academy.

From then on, she became reticent and even began to doubt herself.

She wanted to try reading grade eight books, but her realm was not high enough. It looked like a heavenly book to her.

When she first entered the Academy, the teacher who taught her once said that she was born to study.

However, stopping at grade nine irritated her.

She read books every day, but she did not make any progress. This made her feel dejected.

Liu Xu's teacher knew her feelings very well. One day, the teacher suddenly looked for Liu Xu and brought an old man with her.

The old man was old and his eyes were extremely cloudy. When he saw Liu Xu, he gave her a book and said this.

"I've paid back everything I owe the Academy."

The book that was given to her had a yellow hue. On it were the words <The Essentials of Paper-Stripping>.

Her teacher told her that the reason why she stopped advancing might have something to do with this.

In Nanhua Dao, all scholars did not study the books of the martial world. Most of them only read them and understood the general outline.

After all, there were many books exclusive to scholars. Some people could not finish reading them in their entire lives, so how could they be in the mood to pay attention to other things?

However, the books of scholars had no effect on Liu Xu. At the very least, they could not let her enter the grade eight.

Her teacher wanted to try another method, and thus found this book.

After obtaining a new book, Liu Xu was naturally elated.

That night, she didn't sleep at all and read the <Essentials of Paper-Stripping>.

That night, Liu Xu entered grade eight.

She was still a scholar and did not have the spirit like those from the martial world, but her godly essence had already changed.

The Great Qi was still the Great Qi, but when it was used, it carried a different flavor.

When ordinary scholars wrote an essay, it was filled with a Great Qi that made people feel refreshed.

She wrote an essay that was similarly righteous and vigorous, but it carried a sinister feeling.

After thinking about it, Liu Xu felt that it was because of the <Essentials of Paper-Stripping>.

After all, the paper-stripping technique was very evil. She had reached the grade eight from the paper-stripping technique, so it was naturally different.

Was it good or bad?

Liu Xu thought it was a good thing.

It was certainly a good thing to be able to enter grade eight and even understand a lot of other categories in the martial world.

Hence, ever since she entered the grade eight, she no longer bothered about the Academy's books.

Of course, she had to read the books of the Academy, but she also had to dabble in other books.

If it were anyone else, doing this would be a waste of time. This was because they had the experience of their predecessors as a foundation. It would be tiring and unrewarding to cultivate more.

However, Liu Xu was different. She was not cultivating more. She just turned those books into things that she could use.

Naturally, her change could not be hidden from the Academy. However, the Academy did not say anything about it.

There were many evil people in the martial world. Not everyone was hated.

It was reasonable not to harm the lives of the common people.

Liu Xu's change made the Academy heave a sigh of relief.

After all, she was born to be a scholar. The Academy certainly treasured her.

Not long ago, the academy was on holiday. Liu Xu wanted to go home and rest.

Unexpectedly, not long after she returned, she heard about all kinds of things that had happened recently.

At the end of the day, Liu Xu was still a scholar. After hearing these things, she had the thought of resolving them.

In her opinion, studying was a way to solve injustices in the world.

It was easy to get the dossier. With the Liu family's reputation in Sheng County and Liu Xu's status, the county magistrate did not say no.

After spending a day or two, Liu Xu figured out what had happened.

"The Jisheng Cult… It's this group of people again. I didn't expect them to encounter a tough opponent. There are also messy saber marks. The person who dealt with the Jisheng Cult should be a martial artist." Liu Xu put down the dossier in her hand and picked up an item from the table.

It was a report written by a coroner.

The report said that the victim had been killed by an unknown hidden weapon, which should be a blunt weapon the size of a peanut.

"It's the size of a peanut. Perhaps I know how to investigate." Liu Xu smiled.

She walked lightly to the cabinet in the corner of her room and opened it.

There was a pile of white paper in the cabinet. The white paper was spotless.

Liu Xu took out one of them and moved her fingers slightly.

Not long after, a paper crane appeared in her palm.

The paper crane looked vivid and its head was pure white.

Liu Xu picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and drew at the eyes of the paper crane.

In the next moment, the paper crane came to life.