Chapter 51 – Haven't Even Found the Towel Yet

“How did you get this?”

Su Ming held the Spell Formula book for the Spirit Art of the Non-Standard Sequence, looking at An Zijin with considerable surprise.

After all, this wasn’t something that could be obtained casually.

It wasn’t because this item was particularly precious, but because Spirit Arts of the Non-Standard Sequence were simply too rare.

Just think about it—how difficult must it be to create a Spirit Art that breaks away from the world’s spiritual order, a Spell Formula not permitted by the established spiritual laws?

In ancient Greek theory, the world’s four basic elements were only wind, water, fire, and earth. Could someone easily create a fifth element out of thin air?

The Five Elements in the Yin and Yang theory were only metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. How could someone possibly create a sixth element without great difficulty?

Therefore, although there had been some exceptionally talented individuals throughout history who created Spirit Arts of the Non-Standard Sequence, the number was understandably minimal.

At the very least, Su Ming had never heard of anyone using Spirit Arts from the Non-Standard Sequence. Even after scouring through all the history books in the Academy library, among the great Sorcerers mentioned one after another, almost none were recorded as using Non-Standard Sequence Spirit Arts.

Under such circumstances, for An Zijin to suddenly produce a Spell Formula book for such a Non-Standard Sequence Spirit Art—how could Su Ming not be astonished?

What surprised Su Ming even more was An Zijin’s answer.

“This was a gift from someone,” An Zijin replied.

“Someone gave it to you?” Su Ming was taken aback and asked, “Who?”

This question seemed to stump An Zijin.

“How should I put it?” An Zijin hesitated before saying, “A kind person…?”

…Why was that a question?

Moreover, what kind of person would give a Spell Formula book for a Non-Standard Sequence Spirit Art as a gift to a young girl?

Perhaps sensing the doubt in Su Ming’s eyes, An Zijin began to explain.

“Actually, I don’t know who that person is either. I just occasionally encountered them,” An Zijin explained. “Back when I followed my parents away from Longyao City and moved to Yinze City, since you weren’t by my side anymore and no one would play with me, I often left that house by myself and wandered around outside.”

To An Zijin, that place wasn’t really a home—just a temporary residence.

She had always felt that the place she lived in while in Longyao City was her true home.

Because that was where her brother Su Ming was.

In Yinze City, An Zijin had always been alone.

Thinking of this, An Zijin rested her head on Su Ming’s shoulder, feeling the familiar warmth, and a sense of peace settled in her heart.

This was the warmth she had missed for ten years.

This was the warmth that made her resolutely choose to return to Longyao City.

Now, she had finally found this warmth again.

A reassured smile appeared at the corner of An Zijin’s lips.

As for Su Ming, feeling An Zijin’s attachment sent a tingling sensation through his heart.

Because from his angle, if he just glanced slightly downward, he could see the beautiful scenery revealed by the loose collar of her pajamas.

This made Su Ming increasingly restless.(Goodness, this girl isn’t wearing any protection?)

Well, she was already preparing to sleep, so it wasn’t particularly strange.

It’s just that Su Ming found it somewhat difficult to endure, feeling a bit restless.

(Looking closely, this girl next door has really grown up…)

While lost in these random thoughts, Su Ming cleared his throat and asked a question.

“And then? You encountered that… kind person you mentioned?”

Su Ming tried hard to shift his attention to this matter.

“Yes.” An Zijin nodded and said, “I don’t know who that person is either. She always wears black clothes and a veil, and when I ask her name she won’t say, so I just call her Black-Clad Sister.”

Over the following ten years, An Zijin would occasionally encounter this so-called Black-Clad Sister when she went out alone.

This Black-Clad Sister was very mysterious, but she would always appear when An Zijin was feeling down, keeping her company, talking with her, and listening to her troubles, preventing An Zijin from feeling too lonely.

For a period of time, An Zijin even specifically looked for her to relieve her loneliness, but could never find her.

As time passed, An Zijin came to realize that they were merely strangers with some intersection in their lives, and wouldn’t truly enter each other’s worlds.

Thus, An Zijin purely regarded her as a kind person with whom she could occasionally chat and share her worries.

Because of this, An Zijin had very limited understanding of the other person, which was why she looked so troubled and hesitant when Su Ming asked about her.

Mainly because An Zijin herself couldn’t really explain what kind of person the other was.

“There are people like that?”

Su Ming frowned.

He didn’t believe there could be such mysterious kind people in this world.

Not only did he not believe it, Su Ming also felt that this so-called Black-Clad Sister might not be a simple character.

If this were a novel’s world, then this person would definitely be a big shot with significant background.

And for such a big shot to approach a young girl like An Zijin, there were only three possible reasons:

First: The other party was the type of character specifically sent to deliver Opportunities.

Second: The other party had ulterior motives, coveting something on An Zijin.

Third: The other party was extremely busy but happened to see a pitiful, cute little girl and simply spent some time with her to pass the time.

All three possibilities couldn’t be ruled out.

This made Su Ming vaguely worried.

If the other party was here to deliver Opportunities or was just a big shot killing time, that would be fine.

What he feared was that the other party truly had ulterior motives.

After all, An Zijin wasn’t without qualities that might attract attention from those with ill intentions.

This girl’s talent was extremely strong, even stronger than Su Ming had anticipated. If he couldn’t open packages and didn’t have his Golden Finger to assist him, allowing his Spirit Power to rapidly increase, he might not even come close to matching An Zijin’s future achievements.

The possibility of such an An Zijin attracting attention from those with ill intentions wasn’t small—it was even quite large!

(It seems I’ll need to pay more attention to this girl’s surroundings from now on.)

Such vigilance rose in Su Ming’s heart.

Carrying this vigilance, Su Ming continued conversing with An Zijin as if nothing was wrong.

“So this supplementary sequence Spirit Art’s Spell Formula book was given to you by that kind Black-Clad Sister?”

Su Ming asked this question.”Mhm, mhm.” An Zijin nodded repeatedly, adorably sniffling her little nose as she said, “I ran into that Black-Clad Sister once before coming to Longyao City, and she gave this to me.”

“So you just passed it on to me?” Su Ming waved the spell formula book in his hand, saying with mild annoyance, “Isn’t this just borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha?”

“It’s the only thing I have that’s worth giving,” An Zijin replied, her pretty face slightly flushed. “Besides, I can’t learn the spells in this book anyway. Maybe you can give it a try, Brother Su Ming.”

This was actually a type of spell that even a genius like An Zijin couldn’t master.

Su Ming was somewhat surprised, but upon reflection, it made sense.

Spirit Arts from the unlisted sequences might appear impressive at first glance, but compared to those within the standard sequences, most were rather impractical.

The reason was simple.

If Spirit Arts were compared to mathematics, then the spells within the standard sequences were like formulas that could easily derive answers—as long as one possessed the corresponding aptitude and sufficient Spirit Power, they could be used smoothly.

This was because the spiritual rules of the Hundred Spirit Arts were inherent to the world itself, pre-prepared forces that formed the foundation for constructing spells.

If you light oil on fire, it will inevitably burn.

If you pour water on fire, it will generally extinguish it.

The Hundred Spirit Arts operated similarly, with each spell existing almost like physical laws—as long as the conditions and requirements were met, they could be successfully executed.

But what about Spirit Arts from the unlisted sequences?

They were like unproven conjectures, anomalies outside the world’s spiritual rules.

The four basic elements—wind, fire, water, and earth—had already formed the world. Even if a fifth element were added, could it truly alter the world’s composition?

The Five Elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—interacted in cycles of generation and restriction. Even if a sixth substance were introduced, it wouldn’t integrate into this cycle.

Similarly, even if an unlisted sequence Spirit Art were created, being outside the world’s spiritual rules meant using it would be far more troublesome and highly unstable.

It was entirely possible to painstakingly develop an unlisted sequence Spirit Art only to find that no one could use it.

It was also possible that the power of such a Spirit Art wouldn’t even match that of a single 【Flying Arrow】 spell, or worse, it might backfire and harm the user.

Even if someone had the talent to use such a spell and the spell itself wasn’t weak, employing it outside the bounds of spiritual rules would still be slow and cumbersome.

Given this, who would go through the trouble of researching such spells without any tangible reward?

Why bother calculating from scratch when you already have formulas to apply?

Why seek out hard-to-use power when you have easily accessible strength at your disposal?

Not to mention, the effectiveness of such power couldn’t even be guaranteed.

Therefore, no matter how much of a genius one might be, it was entirely possible they couldn’t learn unlisted sequence Spirit Arts. Even if they did learn them, they wouldn’t use them or research them further. So it was completely normal that An Zijin couldn’t master it.

“Alright then,” Su Ming said after some thought, finally nodding in agreement. “I’ll take this spell formula book back with me. Maybe I can figure something out.””Alright!” An Zijin responded cheerfully, then added, “But if you can’t learn it, don’t force yourself. Black-Clad Sister also told me that whether one can master the Spirit Art of the external sequence depends entirely on fate. Forcing yourself to study it would only hold you back!”

“I know.” Su Ming naturally understood this principle well.

After exchanging a few more words, Su Ming finally rose to leave.

“This… are you leaving already?”

An Zijin seemed somewhat reluctant, even a little regretful.

“We haven’t even found the towel yet.”

The girl was saying things that were hard to understand.

(End of Chapter)