Female lead: No, it's me again??

"Mom! I want this!!"

"Wow! Young master, you have a good eye!"

"This is our store's prized possession! When it reaches its peak, it can draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth directly outside the body and convert it into its own power without needing to circulate spiritual energy!"

"Think about it, wouldn't a cultivation technique that doesn't consume your own spiritual energy allow you to gain the upper hand more quickly in battles?"

In a corner of the bookstore, a young shopkeeper was enthusiastically introducing the book.

Standing before him were a child of about seven or eight years old and a woman dressed in rich clothes.

"real or fake?"

The woman was somewhat skeptical.

"Sure!"

"This is..."

The young shopkeeper glanced around and whispered, "This is a Saint-level cultivation technique that I risked my life to bring back from Zhongzhou! If I had a water elemental root, I would never sell it!"

As he spoke, a hint of heartache appeared on the shopkeeper's face. "I didn't expect that even though it was hidden so well, you still found out..."

His expression stunned the woman, who thought to herself, "Goodness, how reluctant is this man to part?"

"However, since you've discovered me... it means you're destined to meet. I'll sell it to you for 300,000 top-grade spirit stones!"

The young man, seemingly wanting to avoid seeing it, turned around and shoved the bamboo slip in his hand in front of the woman, saying with heartache.

"Three hundred thousand..."

The woman was somewhat tempted.

Three hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones aren't too expensive; she could probably buy about that much with her storage ring...

"But, shopkeeper, are you sure this is a Saint-level cultivation technique?"

"I've never even heard of the Water Dragon Technique."

This name is too plain and unadorned.

The shopkeeper's eyes widened as he turned to look at her arguing, his voice becoming increasingly urgent, "My little shop has a century-old reputation! If I'm lying, may I be struck by lightning! I'll never make any money in my life!"

Seemingly startled by his curse, the woman quickly and awkwardly accepted the bamboo slip, "Um... I believe you, shopkeeper, please don't be angry..."

Upon receiving the bamboo slip, the shopkeeper's face instantly brightened, as if he weren't the same person who had acted so casually before. He grinned and said, "Young lady, what are you saying? Do you think I'm the kind of person who gets angry?!"

"Don't worry, it's genuine!"

"Children are innocent!"

"If it's fake, I'll return double the spirit stones to you!"

Hey!

Another one sold!

The woman nodded. "Okay, I understand."

After they paid, the young shopkeeper smiled and waved them off, saying, "If you like it, please come again next time!"

After he finished shouting, Feng Siyue couldn't help but feel a little suspicious, "Senior brother, what are we doing here?"

The young man calmly replied, "Buy books."

"Buying books?"

Feng Siyue hesitated.

This man doesn't look like a respectable businessman.

She didn't dare say those words.

Young Master Qi had already entered the shop. "Shopkeeper, do you have the Autumn River Painting?"

Hearing the voice, the young shopkeeper turned around and glanced at the two. His eyes lit up when he saw the expensive fabric of the young man's clothes.

"Of course! Our shop sells all kinds of books! From cultivation techniques and alchemy formulas to elegant poems by scholars!"

"Not all of it, but about 70-80% is secured!!"

He walked to a bookshelf on the right-hand side, randomly pulled out a picture book from the third shelf, and walked over.

"Although the Autumn River Painting cannot be considered a cultivation technique, it is a famous work by a water-elemental cultivator, which contains a trace of his life insights."

"The painting is profound, comparable to a divine miracle!"

Gongzi Qi seemed to have taken it to heart, and a hint of curiosity appeared on his face. "The shopkeeper is very eloquent. I came here because of his reputation, and now I am even more curious."

The shopkeeper's eyes crinkled with a smile.

"The Autumn River Painting in this shop is a copy, and it only costs ten thousand top-grade spirit stones. Could this young master be a cultivator with a water elemental root?"

Gongzi Qi took out a bag of spirit stones and handed it to him, then shook his head, "No, I heard about it from my elders."

"That's it~"

"Then you should really think about it carefully, young master. If you can't gain any insight from it, it would be a good idea to give it away."

The young man nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

Feng Siyue fell slightly speechless.

Ten thousand?

A picture?

It's still a fake.

Spirit stones are really easy to earn.

After completing the transaction, Gongzi Qi led his men back to his residence.

On the way, Feng Siyue asked tactfully, "Senior brother, the palace gates... shouldn't lack paintings like this, right?"

"Isn't it a loss?"

Young Master Qi smiled and said, "It's definitely worth it. A truly excellent work is worth any price."

Feng Siyue: "..."

Speechless.

Back at the inn, Zhu Liu and the others were no longer on the first floor.

"Junior sister, come with me."

"it is good."

Inside Gongzi Qi's room, the Autumn River Painting was laid out on the table.

The yellow scroll depicts mountains, rivers, and seas in ink strokes, with crows hiding atop the peaks on either side. Along the riverbank, rows of withered yellow reeds stand.

Feng Siyue stared at the picture, but no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't see anything unique about it.

With just a few strokes, it reads more like a casual essay.

She could only say, "Senior brother, I am not knowledgeable enough to understand the mysteries within."

Gongzi Qi smiled and said, "You watch."

The young man took off the jade pendant from his waist, and placed the side with the sun and moon on the flat surface. Suddenly, the river water surged and seemed to come alive, parting to both sides to reveal a white, incomplete skeleton.

Feng Siyue was slightly taken aback, "This....."

Spatial magic?

Gongzi Qi reached out and grasped her left wrist. The next second, the two disappeared from the room, and on that ordinary painting, there were two figures, one in black and one in white.

In the blink of an eye, Feng Siyue noticed that her surroundings had changed.

In the transparent, pure white space, a mutilated skeleton of a child floats, with a wisp of demonic energy swirling around its heart.

Feng Siyue looked out of the space in surprise.

"This is... a living space?"

Outside, the water was clear, yellow reeds swayed by the water's edge, fish and shrimp swam by, and the low cawing of crows could be heard.

She seemed to have entered a vivid world within a painting.

Isn't it said that living spaces are extremely rare?

Gongzi Qi explained, "This doesn't count as a life space; those outside are just illusions."

"phantom?"

"If it's not a living space, how can we get in?"

The young man released her hand.

"You can think of the world in this painting as a separate spatial node in the real world, but it is maintained in a special way."

A separately established spatial node?

It is said that once you reach the Spirit Saint stage or above, you can tear through space and go wherever you want.

Could it be that at the moment the space was torn apart, a passage was left inside?

But with such a spatial and temporal restriction, how are they able to breathe in such a space?

Seeing her quietly deep in thought, and noticing the growing confusion in her eyes as time went on, Gongzi Qi couldn't help but interrupt her.

"This method involves some secret techniques, which may be difficult to understand if explained in isolation. You can learn them systematically when you return to the palace in the future."