mijobooks Chapter 32 Su Qing
Chapter 32 Su Qing
Photos show the bridge surface completely enclosed by a fence disguised as "cultural relic protection construction," but inside the fence lies a complex array of instruments. Videos show at least fifteen modified entities patrolling beneath the bridge, their energy readings indicating they are more powerful than those encountered before. Most disturbingly, in the center of the bridge, a makeshift altar has been erected, upon which rests a metal box covered in glowing runes.
"That's a relic container," Jiang Han concluded after watching the video. "They've already prepared to receive the Tianquan relics. The altar's runes are a variant of the 'Star-Guiding Array,' but with added sacrificial elements. If I'm not mistaken... those runes require a living sacrifice to be fully activated."
"Using a modified body as a sacrifice?" Liu Wei guessed.
"Or use the Guardians we captured." Jiang Han's words sent a chill down everyone's spine.
At 10 p.m., everyone made their final preparations. Li Shancheng checked his equipment: a specially made dark night suit, energy suppression patches (to temporarily reduce his own energy fluctuations), a portable rune inscription pen, several emergency explosive runes, and the silver badge left by Editor-in-Chief Qin—although its energy was low, it could still provide strong protection once.
Xu Qingqing and Liu Wei were also ready. Their task was relatively simple: infiltrate the ancient book area, use Liu Wei's access card (brought from Hanshan Technology) to access the system, download all experimental data, and install the physical jammers provided by Cheng Xu on the key equipment.
"Remember, safety first," Jiang Han emphasized one last time before the operation. "If things don't look good, retreat immediately. Data can be retrieved later, but if we lose our lives, we lose everything."
At 1:30 a.m., the three left the apartment and headed separately to the library. Li Shancheng chose to walk, using invisibility to move in the shadows. Kyoto City was still bustling with traffic in the night, but the educational district where the library was located had quieted down.
He proceeded along a planned route: passing through two parks, walking along the riverbank for a while, and then climbing over the back wall of the library. This route avoided surveillance on the main road, and the trees along the riverbank provided ample cover.
At 1:55 a.m., Li Shancheng arrived at the back wall of the library. The wall was three meters high, with barbed wire and infrared sensors at the top. But he didn't need to climb over it—Jiang Han had taught him a little trick: partial earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of escape technique).
Place your palm on the wall and activate the water element energy in the Kan position to partially "liquefy" the wall. Although it's not a real liquid, it temporarily alters the material's structure, allowing you to pass through. This process requires continuous energy output and can only be maintained for a few seconds.
Take a deep breath, focus your mind, and activate the runes.
The wall softened, and Li Shancheng slipped through sideways. Once inside the courtyard, he immediately crouched down, activated his invisibility spell, and adjusted his energy frequency to match the environment.
The main building of the library resembled a sleeping behemoth in the night. Most of the windows were dark, with only a few rooms lit up—the duty room and the ancient book section, which was under construction.
Following the map in his memory, Li Shancheng circled around to the west side of the building, where there was a maintenance passage leading to the basement. The passage door was locked, but the lock was an old-fashioned mechanical lock that could be opened with an energy shock. He carefully controlled the force to avoid making too much noise.
The door opened, and a blast of cold, damp air rushed out. The passageway extended downwards, dimly lit, but Li Shancheng's energy vision allowed him to clearly see the flow of energy—a dark red "river" gushed out from below, spreading upwards along the wall and connecting to the building's surveillance network.
He descended the passage, his footsteps ringing out clearly in the silence. He stopped every few steps to listen to his surroundings. Apart from the faint hum of distant machinery, there was no other sound.
When he arrived at the basement, the sight before him made him gasp.
The basement had been converted into a makeshift laboratory. In the very center was a huge cylindrical container, similar to the petri dishes seen at Cold Mountain Technology, but on a larger scale. The container was filled with a dark red liquid, and floating in the liquid were human-shaped silhouettes—no, not one, but three, connected together like conjoined twins.
The container is surrounded by a complex array of instruments, with screens displaying a vast amount of data. Most striking is the ceiling—where an energy-gathering device concentrates the energy drawn from the Wen Shu array eye and injects it into the container.
"The final stage of carrier cultivation..." Li Shancheng murmured to himself. Chen Ya's notes mentioned that a complete carrier requires the fusion of three "prototypes" to form a perfect container capable of withstanding the power of the relic. It seems that Hanshan Technology is nearing completion.
He took out a miniature camera and began taking pictures while searching for the main control device. According to his energy vision, the core of the entire system was a metal cabinet located deep inside the room, with intricate runic locks on its doors.
Just as they were about to get close, suddenly, the alarm went off.
It wasn't triggered by Li Shancheng; the alarm came from upstairs—in the direction of the ancient books section.
Xu Qingqing and Liu Wei have been discovered!
Almost simultaneously, the basement door was pushed open, and two men in security uniforms rushed in. They were armed with specially made energy weapons, the muzzles of which were already glowing red.
There was no time to hesitate. Li Shancheng abandoned his invisibility and charged straight at the metal cabinet. The security personnel spotted him; the energy beam grazed his shoulder, struck the wall, and left a charred crater.
Li Shancheng neither dodged nor evaded, but simultaneously drew two runes with both hands—one was Wen Shu's "Knowledge Analysis," and the other was Kan Wei's "Water Flow Impact." The two runes merged in mid-air and struck the rune lock on the metal cabinet.
The lock began to crumble, but slowly. The security personnel's second attack had begun. Li Shancheng activated his badge, and a silver shield unfolded behind him, blocking the energy beam. The shield vibrated violently, and cracks appeared on its surface—it wouldn't hold for long.
Faster, faster!
He concentrated all his energy, mobilizing all the power within his body. The energies of Wen Shu and Kan Wei converged at his heart, creating a peculiar resonance. This resonance was transmitted to the rune lock, accelerating the disintegration process.
Three seconds later, the lock opened.
Li Shancheng opened the cabinet door, revealing a complex main control panel and three parallel cylindrical containers, each containing a glowing fragment—a fragment of the Tianquan Relic!
He didn't have time to examine it closely. He took out the physical jammer Cheng Xu had given him from his backpack—a palm-sized black box—pressed the start button, and stuck it to the main control panel. The box began to vibrate at a high frequency; the small explosive inside would detonate in three minutes, destroying the entire system.
But just then, a calm voice rang out: "I've been waiting for you for a long time, Li Shancheng."
Li Shancheng turned around and saw a woman standing at the entrance. She wore a white robe, had a golden left eye, a normal right eye, and held a Seven-Star Measuring Ruler in her hand.
Su Yan's aunt, Su Qing.
Or rather, it was once Su Qing's existence.
In her golden left eye, the star map slowly rotated, reflecting Li Shancheng's astonished face.
"You know me?" Li Shancheng retreated warily, calculating his escape route at the same time.
"The last inheritor of the Wen Shu bloodline, the new master of the Book of Light." Su Qing—let's call her that for now—said in a flat, mechanical voice, "We've been watching you closely. From the moment you stepped into Qingyun Lane, all your growth, all your struggles, have been calculated."
"Calculations? I'm part of your plan?"
"All Guardians are." Su Qing took a few steps closer, the jade ruler in her hand beginning to glow. "The Seven Stars need seven qualified vessels to return to their positions, but natural Guardian bloodlines are too rare. So President Lin devised a new plan: to make the Guardians grow rapidly under pressure, and then, at the right time... to harvest them."
Harvesting. This word sent a chill down Li Shancheng's spine.
"You treat the Guardians like crops?"
"More precious than crops." Su Qing stopped, only five meters away from Li Shancheng. "You are the special one, Shancheng. The Wen Shu bloodline has awakened again after a hundred years of dormancy, and has also merged with the Book of Light and the power of the Kan position. You will become the most perfect 'main vessel,' carrying the core fragments of the Tianquan relic."
"I will not let you succeed." Li Shancheng formed hand seals, preparing for battle.
"You will," Su Qing said, holding up the jade ruler, "because you have no choice."
The seven stars on the jade ruler lit up simultaneously, and the space in the basement began to distort. Li Shancheng felt a powerful suction force coming from Su Qing's direction, trying to pull him towards her. He resisted desperately, but the power within his body suddenly became chaotic—the energies of Wen Shu and Kan Wei began to clash with each other.
"Your power is not fully integrated yet," Su Qing said calmly. "In the face of the Seven Star Measuring Ruler, this instability is a fatal weakness."
Li Shancheng knelt on the ground, his clothes soaked with sweat. He could feel the power spiraling out of control, as if it were tearing his body apart. But just then, a fragment of memory suddenly surfaced—not from the Book of Light, but from a deeper place, from the source of his bloodline.
It was a scene from three thousand years ago: the guardians of the cultural center, faced with the rampage of the Seven Star Relics, created a special technique for reconciliation. It wasn't about forcibly controlling, but guiding, allowing the different forces to find a new balance point amidst the conflict.
Li Shancheng closed his eyes, giving up resistance and letting the power surge within him. But this time, he didn't passively endure it; instead, like a surfer riding a wave, he sought the rhythm of the conflict and then... went with it.
A miracle occurred. The conflicting forces began to spontaneously reorganize, forming a new cyclical structure. Wen Shu, Kan Wei, and his own weak but tenacious will merged into a stable triangular energy core.
The suction disappeared.
Li Shancheng stood up, his eyes sparkling with a new light—his left eye was the silver of Wen Shu, and his right eye was the blue of Kan Wei, but he quickly returned to normal.
"Impossible..." Su Qing showed a surprised expression for the first time. "The Seven Star Measuring Ruler's 'Energy Disorder Field' is effective against any incompletely fused power, how could you..."
"Because I found a third way," Li Shancheng said calmly, "not suppression, not submission, but... reconciliation."
He stretched out his hand, and the spiritual mark on his palm emitted an unprecedentedly bright light. Within the light, the wisdom of Wen Shu and the resilience of Kan Wei merged perfectly, transforming into a brand new power—possessing both the precision of knowledge and the suppleness of water.
Su Qing's expression turned solemn, and the seven stars on the jade ruler shone even brighter: "Then we'll have to resort to force."
She waved her jade ruler, and seven beams of starlight shot out, weaving into a net of light in the air that enveloped Li Shancheng. This was a simplified version of the Seven Star Trapping Array; once trapped, one could not escape unless possessing a relic corresponding to the star position.
But Li Shancheng did not dodge. He quickly drew a complex rune in the air with both hands—a new technique he had just mastered during the fusion of powers, which had no name yet, but its effects were obvious.
The instant the rune came into contact with the light net, it wasn't a collision, but rather... absorption. The light net was "devoured" by the rune, transformed into pure energy, and then flowed into Li Shancheng's body along his arm, where it was absorbed, transformed, and stored by the triangular energy core.
"You're absorbing the power of the Seven Stars?" Su Qing was truly shocked. "How is that possible..."
"The seven stars are one, and their array eyes are interconnected," Li Shancheng said, his voice carrying an ancient rhythm. "The measuring ruler in your hand comes from the Li position array eye, while I have the power of the Wen Shu and Kan positions within me. Powers of the same origin can naturally transform into each other."
Su Qing took a step back, the star map in her golden left eye spinning wildly, as if calculating something. Then, she made a decision.
"Let it go this time." She put away the jade ruler. "But on the night of the full moon, you will have nowhere to escape. The Wen Shu Formation's core, the Twin Dragon Bridge, and those you care about... we will be waiting for you there."
She turned around, her body dissipating into starlight. At the same time, the countdown of the physical jammer reached zero.
The explosion occurred, but it was much smaller than expected—Cheng Xu had designed a directional blast to destroy only the core equipment without causing widespread damage. The main control panel was destroyed, and three containers containing artifact fragments shattered, but the fragments themselves remained undamaged, hovering in mid-air and emitting an unsettling glow.
Li Shancheng quickly collected the fragments using a specially made container, then rushed towards the exit. The fighting upstairs had stopped; he wondered how Xu Qingqing and Liu Wei were doing.
He retraced his steps and encountered Xu Qingqing at the exit of the maintenance access road. She was supporting the injured Liu Wei; both were in a sorry state, but appeared to be out of danger.
"Hurry up, the security personnel will be here soon," Xu Qingqing said urgently.
The three quickly scaled the wall and left. Behind them, the library's alarm blared through the night, but it was no longer of any use.
When he returned to the apartment, it was already dawn. Cheng Xu sent a message through an encrypted channel: the information network had been established, and data regarding Hanshan Technology's unusual activities was being anonymously sent to multiple departments and research institutions. Although it wouldn't have an immediate effect, it had at least created public pressure.
Su Yan also sent back the latest intelligence: the altar at Shuanglong Bridge has been completed, and Hanshan Technology is mobilizing a large number of personnel and resources there. The ceremony on the night of the full moon may far exceed expectations in scale.
Li Shancheng sat by the window, looking at the container in his hand containing fragments of relics. The fragments emitted a faint blue light in the darkness, as if breathing, or perhaps whispering.
Jiang Han walked to his side, looked at him, and after a long while said, "Does the technique you just learned in the battle have a name?"
"No," Li Shancheng shook his head, "It was just an instinctive reaction."
"Instinct is often the highest form of wisdom," Jiang Han said. "That technique of fusing different powers is called the 'Seven Star Harmony Technique' in ancient texts, and it is one of the most profound guardian secrets. You have already stepped into the true threshold of a guardian, Shancheng."