Chapter 709: Meeting The Derivation Jade Again

He looked around. Once more, it was a sealed space.

But it was far more spacious than the one he remembered from his past life, when he'd used a Nascent Soul-level Audience Jade Token.

Alongside the works he'd seen before, like Derivation Jade Usage Instructions and Ten Discourses on Derivation, the bookshelves also held some short, anonymous essays.

A Discussion on the Relationship Between the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council in the Next Hundred Years.

The Secret of Immortal Maiden Kong You's Special Constitution.

A Tentative Essay on the Most Beautiful Women in the Immortal Alliance...

To avoid seeming out of place, Xu Bai first went through the motions, flipping through the relevant books like Derivation Jade Usage Instructions.

Then he read the anonymous essays one by one.

There are quite a few intriguing people in the Immortal Alliance. Then again, anyone who can enter a Dao Unity-level waiting room like this is no ordinary person either.

After finishing several volumes, Xu Bai still wanted more. He sighed and pulled out another to read.

It turned out these anonymous essays had all been left by cultivators who'd passed through this place before.

Without their names attached, they could express themselves freely, unburdened by any fear of being traced.

The topics ranged widely—miscellaneous, all-encompassing, and utterly uninhibited. Though they were personal opinions and unlikely to be true, they were more than sufficient for a moment's diversion.

Better still, later visitors could append their own comments to these essays, creating a sort of conversation across time. It carried the flavor of a hundred schools of thought in lively contention.

Xu Bai grew so engrossed that thirteen hours slipped by in an instant.

"Cultivator Xu Bai, your turn is approaching. Please get ready."

The voice startled him awake.

Xu Bai glanced at the countdown timer on the wall, then returned the books to their places.

He didn't forget to leave a note on A Tentative Essay on the Most Beautiful Women in the Immortal Alliance: "Fellow Daoist, you possess great talent. Why not evaluate the most beautiful women in the Five Elders Council as well? Combined, the two could form a Ranking of Beauties in Xuanhuang!"

He smiled slightly and watched the countdown hit zero.

The room dissolved in an instant, breaking apart into motes of light that drifted away in a long, glittering band, brilliant against the surrounding darkness.

Following the light, Xu Bai arrived before the Derivation Jade.

Beneath a massive sphere of countless ever-shifting characters floated a desk.

Behind it sat a little girl, the Derivation Jade herself. Her chin was propped in both hands, her eyes half-lidded, on the very edge of sleep. A thin thread of saliva trailed from the corner of her mouth.

Even as Xu Bai drew closer, she stayed drowsy, oblivious to him.

"Ahem." He coughed softly.

The little girl's body jerked upright, and displeasure flashed across her face.

She furrowed her brow, pushed her lips into a pout, and turned to see who had disturbed her.

The moment she saw Xu Bai's face clearly, her eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open.

She wiped the saliva from her mouth and sat up straight.

"You... hello!" A faint blush of shyness crept across her face.

Xu Bai recalled how she had greeted him in his past life, and inwardly fell silent.

But he didn't hesitate. He bowed politely. "May I ask if you are the Derivation Jade—"

"It's me, it's me. What do you need?" The little girl nodded repeatedly, her big eyes fixed on Xu Bai.

"Just tell me, I'll help you!" she said in a childish voice, patting the table. A blank sheet of paper flew up in front of him.

No matter how he looked at it, this paper seemed considerably larger than the one his true self had received in his past life.

Xu Bai stayed silent a moment, then began writing on it with a thought.

Line after line of script materialized.

"Using the Golden Core technique Mountain-Sitting Art as a blueprint, referencing the Oneiric Seasons Array, and incorporating the Heaven Watches and Earth Listens Art, derive a Dao Unity version of the Mountain-Sitting Art.

"While preserving the reward-reaping nature of the Mountain-Sitting Art, I also want a degree of monitoring over the cultivators from whom I derive cultivation feedback. Ideally, I'd like to create a connection and shared awareness among all cultivators encompassed in the Mountain-Sitting Art..."

Xu Bai wrote out his requirements in as much detail as he could.

Even before the paper reached her hands, the Derivation Jade seemed to have already read its contents.

Surprise crossed her face, then vexation.

When the white paper was covered edge to edge in dense text, Xu Bai handed it over.

The little girl took it and pretended to scrutinize it carefully.

For a moment, the space fell silent.

"What's the matter? Any difficulties?" Xu Bai asked, his tone pleasant and solicitous.

"If it's too much trouble, I can lower my requirements a little," he added softly.

The little girl slammed her chubby palm onto the table. "Hey! Don't underestimate me! Something this simple couldn't possibly stump me!

"Hmph!"

Her brow furrowed tightly, as if she'd gotten serious.

She read the paper once more, then tossed it upward.

Instantly, the characters on the paper seemed to come alive, racing each other toward the enormous sphere above their heads.

Creak...

The rate at which the sphere's characters shifted multiplied at once. A strained, creaking groan rose from it, as if the effort were pushing it well past its limits.

Plop.

Xu Bai looked over and saw the little girl's head had dropped onto the table. She was sound asleep.

He smiled faintly, then tilted his head back to observe the great sphere of light above.

Having advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, his perception was now several times sharper than it had been at Golden Core. He could just barely make out some of the changes happening within.

As the characters shifted, some gradually faded and vanished—invalid permutations being eliminated.

At other times, a brilliant white light burst forth, enveloping countless characters and erasing them all at once. But soon new characters would emerge in the blank space just cleared, and the derivation would begin again.

That must be a successful derivation of a new technique.

He studied the great sphere of characters carefully.

Nearly a tenth of its area was still engaged in standard technique derivation.

The other nine-tenths, the vast majority, flashed and shifted at a far faster pace.

It must be working on the next level of the Mountain-Sitting Art for me.

Compared to my past life, she's pouring everything into this. That's not something a pretty face or a bit of goading can explain anymore.

Beloved of heaven and earth, an incarnation of the wonders of heaven...

So that's it.

From the corner of his eye, Xu Bai glanced again at the sleeping Derivation Jade, and understanding dawned on him.

For a Dao Unity-level Audience Jade Token, the time allotted for derivation was two days.

Xu Bai stood silently beneath the sphere, waiting for the final result.

But the demands he'd made were simply too exacting. The difficulty of deriving this technique seemed to exceed the Derivation Jade's capabilities.

When a countdown appeared before Xu Bai's eyes, the little girl still hadn't finished deriving the technique.

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