When I Lay Flat, the Female Lead Panicked - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Genius
Completely unaware that her act of just petting dogs had earned her the title of genius, Luo Xiaoxiao lazily yawned as she comfortably rested on the wolf king’s soft, warm belly.
Hmm… The monster-fighting stage seems to be without any danger for now.
But she didn’t know when she would be able to pass.
She idly played with her hands. Thinking that she was idle anyway, her eyes lit up as if she had remembered something. She suddenly pulled a small square table out of her storage space and set it up in front of her.
Then, with great enthusiasm, she took out a brush, ink, inkstone, and several stacks of thick rectangular yellow paper.
She remembered the way Qiutong and Ningyu drew talismans at the inn in An Family Village. She had unintentionally caught a glimpse of how to draw a detonation talisman.
Perhaps she thought the pattern was not difficult to draw and that she could draw it herself. Her storage space was like a treasure trove, containing everything she needed, and she wasn’t lacking these talisman-making materials.
So, on a whim, Luo Xiaoxiao decided to try her hand at drawing talismans.
Of course, besides being bored, Luo Xiaoxiao was also thinking long-term.
Because she didn’t know if the rest of the trial would be this easy, she decided to take advantage of the loophole in the rules.
She thought that since the artifacts brought in from the outside couldn’t be used, that didn’t mean the ones made here couldn’t.
So, based on her memory of how Qiutong drew the detonation talisman, Luo Xiaoxiao copied it perfectly. She lifted her brush and drew it in one smooth stroke.
Because she had a certain artistic foundation, Luo Xiaoxiao’s drawing went smoothly.
While the girl was peacefully and enthusiastically drawing talismans, Elder Fu Yun, who was one of the best talisman makers among the elders and in the entire cultivation world, noticed the scene.
When his eyes fell upon the only tranquil person drawing talismans amid a chaotic battle, he was stunned.
Perhaps he had never seen a candidate who had the time to calmly draw talismans during the Immortal Gate trial. He was intrigued and quietly began to pay attention to Luo Xiaoxiao.
When Luo Xiaoxiao drew her tenth talisman, Fu Yun nodded, thinking that the girl’s strokes were quite professional.
When Luo Xiaoxiao skillfully drew her fiftieth talisman, Fu Yun’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
He silently watched as Luo Xiaoxiao drew a hundred talismans without a hint of fatigue.
Fu Yun: “…???”
Was she toying with him?
She drew a hundred talismans in one go and was still drawing!
And! Almost all of them were correct!
You have to know that when he was Luo Xiaoxiao’s age, drawing thirty talismans a day was considered excellent.
So, wasn’t a hundred talismans a day defying the heavens?
Talisman drawing might seem simple, but to form a talisman, it must consume a lot of mental power and spiritual energy.
But… logically, a person who doesn’t have spiritual energy, no matter how much they memorize the talisman patterns, cannot draw a talisman.
But this girl could!
And every single talisman was of a near-top quality. This was the result without any formal training!
Unbelievable. At such a young age, she had such power…
This child was a genius, but it was a pity that she didn’t have spiritual energy yet, so the talismans she drew couldn’t be used for now.
He couldn’t even imagine how outstanding this child would be if she joined his peak and learned his talisman-making skills.
Just as he was thinking this, Fu Yun suddenly noticed that the brush in Luo Xiaoxiao’s hand stopped. She had finished drawing. She casually picked up one of the detonation talismans she had drawn and discarded to the side.
Then, Fu Yun watched as Luo Xiaoxiao crumpled the talisman paper into a ball and, like it was trash, threw it toward the forest not far away.
With that casual toss, there was a loud boom!
Several trees fell with a crash…
“How… How is this possible?!”
Fu Yun was dumbfounded by this bizarre scene. Just as he felt it was impossible, he saw the girl on the screen, who seemed to be dissatisfied with the power of the talisman. She pouted and muttered.
“Sigh… The power is so weak. Whatever, it’s barely usable.”
Unintentional showing off is the most lethal.
Luo Xiaoxiao felt that the effect of her talisman, which could only blow up a few trees, was weak.
This wasn’t because she thought she was so powerful. It was mainly because when she read The Prideful World, the powerful talismans that appeared in it could easily blow up an entire city.
So she subconsciously thought that even the weakest talisman she drew could blow up a whole area. Who would have known that it could only topple a few small trees?
If Luo Xiaoxiao knew at this moment that the powerful talisman she had seen could only be made by a talisman master of Fu Yun’s caliber, who had to spend several years, drawing it stroke by stroke while spitting up bl00d, she probably wouldn’t have said that.
“…” Fu Yun was so shocked that he couldn’t say anything.
To be able to casually make so many detonation talismans and use them perfectly without having cultivated or having any spiritual energy!
A genius! An unparalleled genius!!
An unparalleled genius who was being chased by the heavens to feed her!
A genius he didn’t even dare to dream about had suddenly appeared.
Ahh! Ten seconds! He wanted all of this child’s information!
This genius must be brought to the Floating Cloud Peak!
To become his core disciple!
His hands, holding the teacup, trembled uncontrollably in excitement. Just as Fu Yun was secretly getting excited, the other elders noticed his movements and looked over. Elder Yao, in particular, narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Elder Fu, are you… going to get a few needles at my Spiritual Medicine Peak too?”
“Um, I… I, um, no… nothing. I’m just, um, the weather, the weather is cold, and my… my old legs are acting up. I, I was just looking around, it’s nothing.”
Startled back to his senses, Fu Yun feigned calmness. He looked away from Luo Xiaoxiao, obviously feeling guilty.
Noticing that Fu Yun’s gaze was strange, Mu Ze was curious and followed his line of sight.
Coincidentally, his eyes also landed on Luo Xiaoxiao.
However, the scene was different this time.
Perhaps she was bored with drawing only detonation talismans. Luo Xiaoxiao casually tossed her brush aside, picked up a branch, and started to study something else on the muddy ground.
She began to study the structure of spell formations.
The branch moved on the ground, stopping and going. Luo Xiaoxiao was focused, and her eyes were serious.
She wanted to learn the teleportation formation that had opened when she first entered the Immortal Gate!
So, to lay the foundation for her future study of formations (and because she was simply too bored), Luo Xiaoxiao rummaged through her storage space, which was comparable to a treasure vault. She finally selected a random, broken, and low-end scroll that looked like it was from a street vendor’s stall, which was suitable for her to learn from.
She focused on it for a while, memorized the pattern, and then began to draw it by feel.
The geometric shapes were arranged in a complex but intrinsically connected structure.
As she drew, it seemed as if she had figured out some unique experience of drawing formations.
Luo Xiaoxiao’s movements quickened. In a short while, the outline of a formation appeared on the ground.
This is it!
His normally calm eyes instantly widened. With just a glance, the familiarity of the formation’s structure made Mu Ze leap to his feet.
Wasn’t this the incomplete ancient formation, the Yin-Yang Chaos Formation, that he had been studying for many years?
This child can draw it?! Does she know the complete structure of this formation?
That’s impossible…
For all these years, he hadn’t had a single clue about the incomplete second half of the Yin-Yang Chaos Formation and couldn’t complete it.
How could this ordinary-looking little girl know?
Could she be the descendant of some powerful being?
But from the looks of it, it seemed like the little girl was just drawing it on a whim…
Drawing an ancient great formation on a whim?!
He was shocked by this thought. He wished his eyes could stick to the screen so he could clearly see every stroke of Luo Xiaoxiao’s hand and analyze each step.
However, Mu Ze could still keep up with the formations Luo Xiaoxiao drew in the beginning. They were all within his expectations.
But then, a Heavenly Demon Wolf whined and rubbed against Luo Xiaoxiao, blocking his view.
When Mu Ze could see the formation again a second later, the steps of the formation had become so profound and mysterious that he couldn’t comprehend them and couldn’t keep up…
He swallowed hard. Mu Ze, who prided himself on being a master of formations, never thought he would see a new structure of the Yin-Yang Chaos Formation in his lifetime.
And judging by Luo Xiaoxiao’s focused posture, she seemed to know the original, more complete version of the formation.
And she was still drawing!
A genius!
No, she who can draw this formation structure is a grandmaster!
He was trembling with excitement. If not for the Immortal Gate barrier, which wouldn’t open until all the candidates had finished, Mu Ze would have wanted to go there now! Immediately! To guard Luo Xiaoxiao and watch her every move!
And, compared to the other elders’ desperate desire to take in a disciple, Mu Ze, who was like a research fanatic who cared little about seniority, actually wanted to become her disciple at this moment!
Because he had been studying this formation for two hundred years. It had become an obsession.
He really wanted to learn it. He wanted to learn it so badly he was going crazy!
No one knew about the ridiculous thoughts in his mind. The other elders looked at Mu Ze, who had suddenly stood up, staring intently at one of the thousands of screens, shaking as if he had been electrocuted.
Shui Linglong was the first to burst out laughing.
“Pfft, what’s wrong with you old men? Why are all of you getting sick today? One minute your legs are shaking, then your hands are shaking, then your whole body is shaking. If you’re sick, go get treated.”
Even Elder Yao stroked his white beard and frowned, staring at Mu Ze’s symptoms in confusion. After a long time, he turned to Xiong Li and Fu Yun and said meaningfully.
“Elder Xiong, Elder Fu. Your needle treatments might have to be postponed. It looks like Elder Mu is much more serious. It’s best to give him a few needles right now.”
“Um… Elder Yao, I… my leg just, um, had a cramp. It’s too numb. I’m fine…”
The same lame excuse was used again, but strangely, no one tried to expose him.
Because at this moment, the situation inside the Immortal Gate had changed again.
It was the final stretch!
At this time, there were fewer than a hundred people left in the Immortal Gate.
They didn’t have time to care about others. The attention of the three great elders—Xiong Li, Fu Yun, and Mu Ze—seemed to be on other candidates, but in reality, it was all focused on Luo Xiaoxiao. In their hearts, they all thought with a silent understanding, He must be brought to my peak!
But they were afraid of being found out and having their precious potential disciple targeted by others.
So, the elders tacitly agreed not to say anything. When someone looked over, they would immediately look away.
At the same time, Luo Xiaoxiao, who was completely unaware that her actions were being watched and that several elders had secretly laid claim to her, felt the ground under her feet suddenly shake. The obedient wolves around her also became alert, raising their heads and baring their teeth.
Luo Xiaoxiao looked at the entrance staircase that had suddenly appeared next to the forest. A look of understanding appeared in her eyes.
She knew that the name “Immortal Gate” had something to do with climbing a mountain.
Look, it’s a mountain to climb.
Sigh… Conserving my strength was the right choice. But I don’t know how much I can climb. I’m a total slacker when it comes to physical activities. I can only hope this mountain isn’t too high.
Thinking this, she stood up and tidied her clothes. She then took out a lot of dried meat from her storage bag and placed it on the ground.
Luo Xiaoxiao touched the big heads of the Heavenly Demon Wolves one by one and hugged each of them. Her eyes were a little reluctant to part.
She smiled and said goodbye. “My good boys, Big Sister is leaving. Bye-bye.”
“Awoo…”
Whimpering softly with her tail lowered, the wolf king looked at Luo Xiaoxiao’s departing figure with reluctance. He rubbed his head against her slender waist like a spoiled child.
Then, he obediently led his pack to stay where they were, looking longingly at Luo Xiaoxiao’s back as she walked toward the stairs.