Nie Li watched the furious Shen Xiu with a faint smile and said, "Instructor Shen Xiu is truly knowledgeable, dismissing books she hasn't even read as nonexistent. Could it be that Instructor Shen Xiu has read every book in the world?" In his previous life, Shen Xiu was just as unreasonable.
"Thunderfire Scripture? I remember now, I think I borrowed that book from the academy library!" a commoner student suddenly exclaimed.
He had borrowed three books, one of which was the Thunderfire Scripture, but the contents were too profound for him to understand, and he had simply forgotten to return it.
The words of this commoner student made Shen Xiu's face darken immediately.
The commoner student opened the Thunderfire Scripture.
This version was a copied text, not the original, and was written in the ancient language of the Snowstorm Empire era.
The first volume had a translation, but nothing beyond that.
The language of that era was very obscure, and ordinary people couldn't understand it.
Unexpectedly, the book did exist.
Both Vice Principal Ye Sheng and Professor Lv Ye exchanged surprised looks.
Even though they were high-ranking members of Saint Orchid Academy, the library contained hundreds of thousands of books, with over ninety percent being ancient texts.
Not even they could claim to know every book by name, and many of them couldn't even translate some of these texts.
In his past life, Nie Li traveled across the continent, mastering seven languages.
After reaching the legendary realm, he could read through various books swiftly and remember them effortlessly.
In a frozen time within the Temporal Demon Spirit Book, he had read over a million texts.
The language of the Snowstorm Empire posed no challenge for Nie Li.
Even the gray-robed elder beside Ye Sheng and Lv Ye showed a look of astonishment, for even he had not thoroughly read the Thunderfire Scripture.
"Ye Sheng, send someone to the library to get a copy of the Thunderfire Scripture!" the gray-robed elder ordered.
"Yes!" Ye Sheng glanced at Lv Ye standing next to him, and Lv Ye hurriedly dashed out.
The students' eyes were all focused on the Thunderfire Scripture in the commoner student's hands.
Even Ye Ziyun and Shen Yue were surprised.
As members of the Three Peaks Families, they had read many books, but none had heard of the Thunderfire Scripture because it was too obscure for most to study.
Glory City had three most complete rune systems: Snowstorm, Holy Fire, and Battle Edge.
Almost everyone studied these three.
Thunderfire Runes, however, were mostly lost during the Dark Era, and the remaining texts, like the Thunderfire Scripture, weren't translated, so they collected dust.
Occasionally a student might borrow one, only to return it upon realizing they couldn't understand it.
"Let me see, the seventh volume of the Thunderfire Scripture."
The commoner student quickly flipped through the book.
This Thunderfire Scripture was hundreds of pages thick, filled with intricate illustrations and text, densely packed with various Thunderfire Runes.
After the first volume, there were no translations, and the ancient, dense script was a headache to read.
Reaching the seventh volume, it alone contained over a hundred runes.
The commoner student compared them one by one, searching for a rune similar to the Blaze Flame Burst.
Everyone was growing impatient.
How long would it take to find it?
Shen Xiu's face grew colder.
"You probably just stumbled upon the book somewhere in the library and had no idea what it contained, yet claimed Blaze Flame Burst came from this book! Arrogant fool, my Divine Sacred Family's ancestors cannot be defiled by you! If you cannot find the rune, I'll report you to the Holy Judgement Hall for slandering our ancestors!"
Nie Li, with a hint of a smile, chuckled at Shen Xiu.
"Instructor Shen Xiu, aren't you speaking a bit prematurely? This book is an ancient text from the Snowstorm Empire, thousands of years older than the era of the first head of the Divine Sacred Family, isn't it?"
"Indeed!" Shen Xiu nodded.
That was an undeniable fact.
"Then it's simple."
Nie Li glanced at the commoner student and said, "Turn to about thirty pages after the seventh volume in the Thunderfire Scripture. On the thirtieth page, compare the sixth illustration with the Blaze Flame Burst rune."
Seeing the confidence in Nie Li's expression made Shen Xiu's heart sink.
If Nie Li really found the source of the Blaze Flame Burst rune, that would be a stain on the Divine Sacred Family.
The family had always claimed that the Blaze Flame Burst and sixteen other runes were creations of their ancestors, bringing them much fame.
If the truth got out that these runes were copied from ancient texts, it would surely harm their reputation.
Noticing Shen Xiu's hint of anxiety, Nie Li sneered inwardly.
The Divine Sacred Family was known for their vanity, always branding themselves as the inheritance of Holy Fire Runes, beautifying their ancestors' deeds.
Claims of self-created runes and saving Glory City from danger were nothing but a facade.
In truth, the Divine Sacred Family was just a pretentious group!
In his past life, before Glory City fell, all the families fought to defend it, with the Divine Sacred Family guarding the western gate.
When war broke out, the Divine Sacred Family withdrew their elites into the Saint Ancestor Mountain Range to preserve their strength, causing the western gate's fall and the Snowstorm Demonic Beasts' invasion.
Nie Li still vividly remembered the tragic massacre of Glory City's residents by Snowstorm Demonic Beasts.
Nie Li and others had to flee, leaving their homes behind!
Having been reborn, Nie Li had no goodwill towards the Divine Sacred Family.
In this life, he aimed to erase this hypocritical family from Glory City!
To have the whole city turn against the Divine Sacred Family, he had to first reveal their true nature!
"The sixth illustration on the thirtieth page?" muttered the commoner student.
With such clear guidance, he quickly found the Thunderfire Rune.
"What!" the surrounding students gasped in surprise.
The Thunderfire Rune consisted of two parts, one part being identical to the Blaze Flame Burst.
The Blaze Flame Burst rune was indeed much simpler than the Thunderfire Rune, essentially cut in half.
Nie Li had not been wrong!
Shen Xiu clenched her fists so tightly that her fingertips turned white.
Among the students, Shen Yue glared at Nie Li, full of resentment, because Nie Li was tarnishing the name of their Divine Sacred Family!
Naturally, Nie Li noticed Shen Xiu and Shen Yue's hostile gazes.
Internally, he sneered, for the people of the Divine Sacred Family truly shared the same nature.
They never sought fault within themselves; whenever displeased, they blamed others.
If they hadn't fabricated it, why fear exposure?
"Even if my family's first head did use some ideas from this Thunderfire Rune, so what?" Shen Xiu huffed.
Nie Li laughed heartily.
"Instructor Shen Xiu, it seems you're not well-versed with the demon spirit master's code of ethics. Need me to explain? The demon spirit master's code has existed for three thousand years, respected by almost all demon spirit masters. The one hundred sixty-first rule clearly states: If you take or copy a rune from another demon spirit master, you must credit the source and not claim it as original. This is the moral principle of demon spirit masters!"
"You... you..."
Shen Xiu trembled with anger.
Nie Li's words were like a dagger piercing her heart, accusing the Divine Sacred Family of disregarding the moral code of demon spirit masters.
Yet infuriatingly, she couldn't easily refute it.
"Borrowing ideas from the Thunderfire Rune to create new runes is one thing, but for the first head of the Divine Sacred Family to directly cut a half and claim it as original is rather... speaking ill of those long gone, shameful indeed. Unless, of course, there were some unavoidable reasons?" Nie Li blinked innocently as he spoke.
Nie Li's sharp tongue struck right at the Divine Sacred Family's sore spot, while he maintained a look of innocence, intensifying Shen Xiu and Shen Yue's murderous wrath.
The students whispered among themselves:
"So the first head of the Divine Sacred Family was such a person."
"I heard the first head was only a Gold-ranked demon spirit master but was supposedly a grandmaster in rune studies, claiming to have created several fire runes. The Divine Sacred Family always bragged about being the inheritors of Holy Fire Runes."
"I didn't expect the Blaze Flame Burst rune to have been copied from ancient texts."
"I've looked over the Snowstorm Rune Record, and it contains many runes copied or derived from ancient texts, but those rune masters always credited the source, never claimed as their original work."
"This is the ethical guideline of demon spirit masters, and every noble demon spirit master should follow it!" The students were confused, wondering if the great master who allegedly created these runes was nothing but a fame-seeking fraud.
Listening to their discussions only fueled Shen Yue's dissatisfaction.
He now considered Nie Li his enemy, with his face turning steely blue.
Standing up abruptly, he demanded, "Nie Li, my Divine Sacred Family has a three-hundred-year legacy and is one of Glory City's Three Peaks Families. How dare you, a child from an ordinary family, speak so flippantly! That Blaze Flame Burst rune was found in the first head's notes and never published. When we organized the notes, we assumed it was his creation, which is perfectly normal."
Nie Li glanced at Shen Yue.
True to his Divine Sacred Family upbringing, his words carried veiled threats and cleverly shifted all blame away from himself!
Shen Yue emphasized "Three Peaks Family" heavily and pointed out that Nie Li was from an ordinary family, making his implicit threat quite obvious.
If Nie Li continued, the Three Peaks Family would not let him off easily.
Nie Li had nothing but disdain for Shen Yue.
In his previous life, Shen Yue was about to marry Ye Ziyun, but when disaster struck, Shen Yue was the first to flee.
Hearing Shen Yue speak only deepened Nie Li’s annoyance.
"Classmate Shen Yue, you seem rather overbearing. Fortunately, Glory City has strict laws, or I might truly worry that the Divine Sacred Family would..."
Nie Li wore a carefree smile, ignoring the implied threats and continued, "Surely, a great family like the Divine Sacred Family will ensure my safety. If anything happens to me, it will become an indelible stain on them."
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