"An affinity with the sun? I see. The sun shines upon and nourishes all things, which is why it possesses such a powerful life-giving property." A gray-robed elder came to a sudden realization.
The other gray-robed elder immediately followed. "But nourishing all things is by no means the sun's only property. The sun also possesses unparalleled might."
"Even sunlight falling upon the earth can make people feel warm. If one were to approach the sun, its terrifying heat would be enough to destroy all things."
When the two finished speaking, they both looked at Xiao Yao in astonishment. They had never imagined that someone in the world could possess an attribute with an affinity for the sun.
The others who had come with Xiao Yao also looked surprised.
This was the first time they had learned how unusual Xiao Yao's attribute was. Before, they had thought it was merely a somewhat special Fire Attribute.
The Dou Qi Continent was home to countless treasures of heaven and earth, and there was no shortage of wondrous things that could change one's attribute.
The most famous among those associated with the Fire Attribute were naturally the Heavenly Flames.
Besides those, refining the Beast Flame of a high-tier magical beast could achieve the same effect.
That was why they had all assumed Xiao Yao merely had a special Fire Attribute.
Vice Dean Hu Gan, however, had already learned about it from the information on Xiao Yao's upbringing, so he was not particularly surprised.
When Hu Gan saw the astonishment on the two gray-robed men's faces, he could not help but smile.
It seemed that even the mysterious and powerful pavilion guardians knew little about Xiao Yao's unusual physique.
After their brief surprise, the two gray-robed elders seemed to recall something, and their gazes turned probing as they looked at Xiao Yao.
"Since your attribute is so unusual, could it be that you can cultivate techniques of other attributes as well?"
"No. That is precisely why, after becoming a Dou Zhe, I was delayed for many years before I was fortunate enough to create a cultivation technique."
Hearing Xiao Yao's words, the two gray-robed elders could not help widening their eyes.
If Xiao Yao's Yang Attribute was innate, the two of them could simply remark on his good fortune and leave it at that. After all, one was born with one's attribute.
But Xiao Yao had created a new cultivation technique from nothing based on the characteristics of his own attribute. That meant something entirely different.
One could say that ever since the cultivation system on the Dou Qi Continent had gradually taken shape, no technique had truly been created from nothing.
Even Dou Sheng Experts could not avoid consulting other techniques when creating their own.
Yet Xiao Yao had truly created one from nothing. The two gray-robed elders had broader knowledge and understood better what this meant.
For a moment, even with their strength, they could not help but think more highly of Xiao Yao.
"Very well. Thank you for clearing that up for us, young friend. We won't keep you any longer." The gray-robed elder's tone grew a little friendlier.
Hu Gan hurriedly said, "In that case, sorry to trouble you two to open the Space Lock."
Hearing the unfamiliar name, the four people apart from Xiao Yao all looked bewildered.
Seeing the puzzled expressions on the students' faces, Hu Gan smiled and explained, "Look carefully at the space in front of me."
Han Yue and the others hurriedly focused their gazes.
Xiao Yao knew about the Space Lock, so after the gray-robed men appeared, he had used his soul perception to sense it. He had long since noticed a faint wrinkle in the space before the Library Pavilion.
Only after Han Yue and the others focused did they finally see the faint wrinkle.
To their shock, they discovered that the faint wrinkle formed a transparent wall that enclosed the entire Library Pavilion.
Han Yue's cherry lips parted slightly, and her beautiful eyes filled with shock. "Is this the Space Lock?"
"That's right. A Space Lock is an immensely powerful barrier that only a Dou Zun expert can set up. Without these two elders opening it with a secret method, not even a Dou Zong could hope to break in."
As Hu Gan explained, the two gray-robed elders had already stretched out their withered hands and formed unusual hand seals.
Xiao Yao could clearly sense that, with their seemingly simple movements, waves of incomparably powerful fluctuations spread from their hands toward the transparent wall.
When the fluctuations touched the transparent wall, it seemed to turn into water, rippling.
As the ripples finally settled, the shape of a doorway emerged.
"All right, go in. You only have one hour."
"Everything inside the Library Pavilion has been sealed. You may try to obtain what you can, but don't force it."
After this final reminder, Hu Gan waved the group onward.
Xiao Yao took the lead. When he saw the ancient plaque, he lost himself for a moment as a feeling of desolation and solitude spread from it.
Xiao Yao was briefly immersed in it, but a magnificent and vast will immediately dispersed the feeling of desolation and solitude.
Sun Power did not affect only Xiao Yao's body, of course. It also influenced his soul.
Hu Gan and the two elders were just about to help the students recover from the plaque's influence when they saw that Xiao Yao had already begun moving again. All three were taken aback.
The power in that plaque had accumulated over countless years. Among the students of past generations, hardly any had managed to free themselves from its influence on their own.
Once again, they were surprised by Xiao Yao.
"Ahem, go in. Don't waste time."
Hu Gan's cough roused the other four. Once they came to their senses, they were all shocked and hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look at the plaque again.
Led by Xiao Yao, the group finally entered the mysterious Library Pavilion. After they went inside, its doors suddenly closed.
They walked through a pitch-black passage and soon came to an enormous room.
The walls of the room were covered with energy barriers. White light pulsed within them, illuminating the room.
The group exchanged glances, unsure what to do.
Even so, they instinctively turned to Xiao Yao.
"Wait. Something should happen soon," Xiao Yao said calmly.
The moment he finished speaking, several energy barriers stirred. Under everyone's gazes, they shot out several streaks of light that hurtled toward the group.
The sudden change made the others' expressions change dramatically, and they hurriedly dodged.
Xiao Yao, however, remained unhurried and reached out to grab the streak of white light heading straight for him.
The light faded, revealing a set of white soft armor.
Seeing the white soft armor, the others finally understood. This was the opportunity waiting in the Library Pavilion!
They hurried after the other streaks of light.
For some time afterward, clusters of light in various colors continued to shoot out of the energy barriers.
The others also chased frantically after the various clusters of light.
Han Yue caught a cluster of light that radiated white light. When she looked closely, she could not help showing surprise and delight.
"A High Xuan Tier cultivation technique! The Profound Ice Secret Canon."
This was the most valuable item she had obtained on this trip. Unless she found a more powerful cultivation technique later, she would probably choose the Profound Ice Secret Canon.
After obtaining the Profound Ice Secret Canon, Han Yue could not help looking at Xiao Yao, only to see that he had remained where he was, without competing for any of the clusters of light.
In fact, ever since he had caught that first white cluster of light, Xiao Yao had not made another move.
Just as Han Yue was wondering why, the energy barrier directly opposite Xiao Yao shook violently, then shot out a cluster of light as brilliant as the blazing sun.
Xiao Yao's figure flashed. He lunged at the cluster of light and gripped it tightly in his hand.
The radiance faded a little, and Xiao Yao's breathing quickened as he looked at the cluster of light.
Within it, flickering words could faintly be seen—High Earth Tier cultivation technique, Blazing Sun Body Refining Technique!