20. Chapter 20: Is There Really Divine Skill? The Four Directions Stir

Chapter 20 – A Divine Skill Really Exists? Stirring the Four Directions

Before anyone realized it, more and more disciples had gathered on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

Someone had leaked the news that a "dust-laden divine skill" existed and that the Saintess herself had come to the first floor to search for it...

In less than half a day, the entire first floor was nearly packed to bursting!

"Ouch, who stepped on my foot?!"

"Push, push—what are you pushing for?!"

"Who the hell farted?!"

"Make way, the Eldest Senior Sister is here..."

It was a chaotic, jostling mess, noisier and livelier than a vegetable market.

Only the area within a few feet of Lin Fan remained clear—no disciple dared approach him casually. As he moved, the crowd parted around him.

Watching the disciples busily flipping through nearly every book, with some even checking the gaps between shelves, Lin Fan almost rolled his eyes.

"..."

Just then, a woman in a snow-white dress walked over. She appeared to be around twenty years old, with a face that could shame the moon and rival flowers.

Unlike the other disciples, who dared not get too close to the "Saintess," she came directly to Lin Fan's side, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with him as she browsed the same shelf of manuals.

"So this is the so-called Eldest Senior Sister?"

Lin Fan glanced at her sidelong.

To be the Eldest Senior Sister of a holy land, she was naturally extraordinary.

Her looks, figure, and temperament were all quite impressive.

But...

Lin Fan thought for a moment and decided that compared to "his current self," she still fell short, so he paid her no further mind.

Just then, a sudden cry rang out from the crowd.

"A divine skill!!!"

A female disciple exclaimed: "The Cloud Mist Swordplay!"

Lin Fan looked over.

A girl in a red robe was holding a manual, her face brimming with excitement.

Murmurs of discussion reached his ears.

"There really is a dust-laden divine skill?!"

"The Cloud Mist Swordplay is one of the top hundred sword techniques in the Eastern Wasteland. It should be on the fifth floor or so—how is it on the first?!"

"That junior sister is just an Outer Sect Disciple, yet she can obtain such a sword art..."

"Even we Inner Sect Disciples need enough contributions to reach the fourth floor, but even the techniques there can't compare to the Cloud Mist Swordplay!"

Amid the waves of astonishment, the disciples grew even more fervent, frantically rifling through every kind of book...

Outside the Scripture Pavilion, many disciples who had arrived late couldn't squeeze in at all and could only pace anxiously by the entrance.

At this moment, Lin Fan just wanted to curse.

What the hell!!!

"There really is a divine skill?!"

"But the problem is... where's my martial art? Don't tell me there isn't one?!"

He had already been searching for half a day!

He had read some history books and roughly understood the layout of this world.

The world was vast—no one knew how many tens of thousands of miles it spanned—and it was roughly divided into five regions.

The Four Desolations—East, South, West, and North—and the Purple Mansion Holy Land was located in the Eastern Wasteland.

Beyond that, there was the Central Province.

The Central Province was the largest and most developed region, and also the most powerful.

Of the eight great cultivation holy lands, the Central Province alone claimed four!

The other four Desolations each housed only one holy land.

The Purple Mansion Holy Land was founded by the Purple Mansion True Person and had developed over hundreds of thousands of years...

There were also some detailed records about the Purple Mansion Holy Land.

For example, the successive Holy Masters of the Purple Mansion Holy Land, and so on.

This information wasn't useless to Lin Fan, but the martial art he wanted was still nowhere to be found.

The number of low-level techniques and Foundation Establishment methods, on the other hand, was countless.

But the problem was, even if these techniques were here, he couldn't use them!

"My time is running out..."

Lin Fan's mood grew increasingly heavy.

"I'll search for at most another hour. If I still can't find anything, I'll have to leave as soon as possible..."

It wasn't that he was about to cross over again.

Rather, more and more people were gathering here, and sooner or later, it might draw the attention of some big shot in the sect. If he was still here by then, there was a risk of exposure, so he couldn't drag it out too long.

He calmed himself and continued searching within the Scripture Pavilion.

The other disciples, having found the 'Dust-laden Divine Skill,' were naturally even more excited than before, searching with greater dedication...

Meanwhile, an Old Taoist emerged from his Secluded Cultivation Place...

"In the blink of an eye, a hundred years of seclusion have passed. Truly, the scenery outside still captivates me more."

"But... why is the Holy Land so deserted now?"

In his memory, every corner of the Holy Land should have been bustling with noise—disciples flying on swords or piloting Flying Boats, coming and going in a flurry of activity.

Yet now, there were only a scattered few, all rushing in the same direction...

He raised an eyebrow: "Could it be that during my hundred years of seclusion, the Holy Land met with some misfortune and withered away?!"

In an instant, he conjured up an elaborate scenario.

For instance, the Purple Mansion Holy Land being besieged by multiple Holy Lands or demonic sects, with disciples fighting bloodily but still suffering heavy losses, leaving barely one in a hundred alive—hence the desolation...

In his anxiety.

The Old Taoist casually reached out, forming a sky-covering giant hand, and snatched down a Little Cultivator who was hurrying along.

The Little Cultivator was utterly bewildered, never expecting that as a Holy Land Disciple, he would be attacked by such a powerful figure within the Holy Land itself!

"Young man, this Old Taoist asks you—which peak's disciple are you? Has the Holy Land suffered a calamity? Why is it so deserted now? And where are you all rushing off to in such haste?"

Though confused, the Little Cultivator wasn't stupid. He knew this was someone he couldn't afford to provoke, and quickly replied: "Senior, this young one is a disciple of Bitter Bamboo Peak."

"May I ask why Senior thinks the Holy Land has suffered a calamity?"

"As for the desertion... it's probably because many fellow disciples, brothers and sisters, have gone to the Scripture Pavilion to search for the Dust-laden Divine Skill."

"This young one is also hurrying over now."

The Old Taoist paused, then his face lit up with delight.

"I see! Excellent, excellent—go on, then!"

He casually tossed the Little Cultivator aside, and in the next moment, the Little Cultivator found himself, utterly baffled, standing outside the Scripture Pavilion, struck by an uncontrollable surge of force.

Little Cultivator: "..."

The Old Taoist, however, laughed heartily, rubbing his hands together: "I knew someone would find it, hehehe... I just wonder whose luck is good enough."

Just then, a voice transmission arrived.

"Fifth Brother, stop fooling around. Come to the Purple Mansion Palace at once."

"On my way."

The Old Taoist, called Fifth Brother, laughed, and without any visible movement, auspicious clouds formed beneath his feet, carrying him toward the floating Purple Mansion Palace...

On the other side, at the Holy Son's Secluded Cultivation Place, a Protector Disciple rushed over in a panic.

"Something huge has happened!"

"What is it?"

The two Protector Disciples on guard duty looked over in confusion.

"Qi Zixiao somehow got word that there's a Dust-laden Divine Skill on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, and she's searching for it right now!"

"Even worse, an Outer Sect Disciple has already found the Cloud Mist Swordplay. We need to inform the Holy Son immediately!"

"Is that so?!"

The two were stunned.

Creak...

Just then, the door opened.