Chapter 164: [All Hail Brother Goose]

"This..."
Liang Yiqing was stunned.
"Right, what does the map recording the Qin King's Mausoleum look like?" Han Zong raised an eyebrow and grinned. "That's a question I want to know, too."
"Isn't *Introduction to True Qi* still with old Liang? What the map looks like, old Liang would know best," a vice president chimed in.
"Cough, cough~" Ma Shifeng gave a light cough and slowed his pace. "Old Liang, take the map out and let everyone have a look. Although we haven't harbored any expectations of entering the Qin King's Mausoleum, it wouldn't hurt to look at the map first, even if it's only a quarter of it."
The others remained silent, their gazes fixed solely on Liang Yiqing.
"I want to see it too."
Liang Yiqing, however, was speechless. He spread his hands and said, "What map? Who knows how many people have touched and read that ancient text *Introduction to True Qi*, but has anyone ever found a map hidden inside? No! Not a single person! If you don't believe me, you can take it and look for yourself."
With that, he retrieved an ancient book from his chest and tossed it onto the office desk.
Such ancient texts were made of special materials to ensure that the pages and covers could be preserved for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Therefore, even though the contents were copied from the original editions, they had become antiques by now.
In the past, if it fell on the floor or was tossed on a desk, no one would bat an eye.
But right now, with the Qin King's Mausoleum involved, the group was inevitably a bit nervous, terrified that it might be damaged.
The moment Liang Yiqing tossed it on the desk, Liu JuFen picked it up immediately, cupping it in his hands with extreme care as he gently flipped through it.
The gazes of the others shifted slowly with his movements.
For a moment, the office fell silent, and no one spoke.
Liang Yiqing had already read it and couldn't be bothered to mention it again, while the others held expectations of discovering a hidden map.
However, Liu Jufen flipped from beginning to end, carefully feeling every single page, but by the time he reached the end, he found nothing at all.
Forget about double layers; not even a slightly raised irregularity or deliberately marked lettering existed.
Refusing to give up, Liu Jufen released his true Qi to envelop the book, yet still no hidden map revealed itself.
"Is this definitely the real one?" Liu Jufen asked, unwilling to let it go.
Liang Yiqing spread his hands. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Liu Jufen frowned.
"Because there is only this one copy of *Introduction to True Qi* in the library," Liang Yiqing leaned back in his chair. "If the *Introduction to True Qi* passed down from four hundred years ago is this one, then it's real. Otherwise, it's fake."
"It should be real," Ma Shifeng mused. "There are many ways to hide secrets in ancient books, and if you want to crack them, you have to find the right direction. If the direction is wrong, your true Qi will be completely exhausted and it still won't appear."
"This..." The Dean of the School of Literature frowned. "Does anyone know the direction?"
"I don't know," Liang Yiqing shook his head. "Anyway, I don't."
"This kind of encryption method cannot be messed with blindly. If the direction is wrong by any chance, the entire book will be destroyed," Gu Shiyang said in a deep voice.
"Then what should we do?" Han Zong glared. "If we can't crack the secret, won't it just give those people outside an even better excuse to run into the school and cause chaos?"
"That problem is simple."
Ma Shifeng smiled. "Since we don't know the direction and don't dare to crack it rashly, we'll just gather everyone who wants the map and let them decide together!"
"What?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was startled.
But soon, someone nodded in agreement and chuckled softly, "Not bad, the principal's idea is wonderful. Regardless of whether the secret can be successfully cracked in the end, it will have nothing to do with Xuantian anymore!"
"It seems, indeed, feasible."
Gu Shiyang pondered. "Not only that, we must also bring out the borrowing records of these four ancient books over the past few centuries!"
"Agreed."
"I support it!"
Upon hearing this, the others nodded one after another.
Did Ma Shifeng and the others not want to enter the Qin King's Mausoleum?
No, everyone did!
The problem was that the matter had already spread, and major factions throughout the city were now eyeing Xuantian.
Any move made by Ma Shifeng and his group would attract the attention of those watching from the shadows.
It was unrealistic for them to monopolize the treasures of the Qin King's Mausoleum.
Coupled with the fact that among the four ancient books, only *Introduction to True Qi* remained, Ma Shifeng and the others couldn't monopolize it even if they wanted to.
Rather than letting a few ancient books turn Xuantian into a muddy quagmire, reduce its buildings to ruins, and cause countless casualties among teachers and students, it would be better to make it public directly.
Bringing out the borrowing records would serve the exact same purpose.
It would plainly tell everyone that they only had a single copy of *Introduction to True Qi* in their possession.
By making the decryption public, regardless of the outcome, Xuantian could successfully extricate itself from the quagmire.
At the very least, it could shift the battlefield elsewhere.
As for the other two ancient books, *Foundational Elixir Knowledge* and *Initial Insights into Spirit Weapons*, there were clear records that they were no longer at Xuantian University.
Those who wanted to enter the Qin King's Mausoleum should first find those two ancient books before attempting to go in.
The only difficult thing to explain was *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations*, which had just been taken away.
It was too much of a coincidence.
However, since the matter had already occurred, Ma Shifeng and the others had no choice but to go with the flow.
...
Qingyun Mountain Range.
In the valley where the large white goose resided.
"Whoosh~"
A burst of silvery-white fluorescent light was released from the large white goose's body.
Su Jingxing, standing beside it with *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations* in hand, sensed the changes happening to this ancient book.
At first, there was no reaction.
Gradually, however, Su Jingxing noticed that the *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations* in his hand was growing heavier.
Its weight was increasing!

At the same time, the ambient energy of heaven and earth gathered rapidly, forming a small vortex around *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations*.
The more abundant the energy of heaven and earth, the faster the vortex spun, and the heavier *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations* became.
That's right. Bathed in the light of the large white goose, this ancient book could actually absorb the energy of heaven and earth to increase its own weight.
Su Jingxing could clearly sense that as the weight increased, an aura emanating from the ancient book of *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations* continued to intensify.
As that aura grew larger and heavier—
"Swish~!"
A stream of golden light suddenly burst forth from the ancient text.
*Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations* broke free from his hands and hovered mid-air.
"Rustle, rustle!"
The pages of the ancient book turned automatically without any wind.
With every page turned, a beam of light shot out, projecting into the empty space three meters above the book.
Swish~ Swish~ Swish~
The beams of light grew more numerous and increasingly brilliant.
When all the pages had finished turning automatically, the beams of light projected into the void combined to form a map.
It was an image of the ancient geography of Qinghe City.
However, it was incomplete; large chunks were missing from both the upper and right sides.
Simply put, it was only a quarter of the map.
Even so, Su Jingxing was pleasantly surprised.
It was real!
The map hidden within *Preliminary Interpretation of Array Formations* was real.
The map recording the detailed location of the Qin King's Mausoleum really had been divided into four parts.
Thanks to the blessing of the large white goose, Su Jingxing had successfully cracked the first part.
A quarter of the map was projected into the void.
I wonder if it can be photographed?
While his brain raced with the thought, Su Jingxing's hands were equally swift. He immediately took out his phone and aimed the camera at the light-and-shadow map in the void, snapping a photo.
"Click~"
A crisp sound rang out.
Su Jingxing flipped to his gallery and tapped on the image.
The result...
There was nothing at all!