The Scripture Repository's Vision

The Scripture Repository of the Class A Room was worlds apart from the one in the Class C Room, which only had a broken bookshelf in the corner.

It was an independent two-story building with upturned eaves and ornate brackets. At the entrance stood a Grey Clothed Old Servant with drooping eyelids, looking as if he could never wake up. Li Yuan presented his Class A Room identification token. The old servant raised his eyelids slightly, his turbid gaze lingering on him for a moment. Without a word, he waved his hand, signaling Li Yuan to go in himself.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a scent of aged paper and ink assailed his nostrils. The first floor was spacious, lined with rows of tall bookshelves filled with various books, scrolls, and even many animal skins and jade slips, all categorized. Several Class A Disciples were scattered about, some engrossed in reading, others conversing in low voices, creating a solemn atmosphere.

Li Yuan did not head straight for the areas marked "Core" or "Secret Transmission" like the others. Instead, his gaze fell upon the corners, where the bookshelves were covered in a thin layer of dust, and the labels read "Basic Body Refinement," "Miscellaneous External Techniques," and "Incomplete Supplements."

While Copper Skin Technique was good, he always felt something was missing. The scorching Crimson Sun Qi and Blood, which could rampage within Iron Body Technique, felt constrained in the more refined Copper Skin Technique, like a wild horse fitted with an exquisite saddle – it could run, but it was stifled.

He pulled out a copy of Iron Cloth Shirt. The pages were yellowed, and the edges were severely worn, clearly indicating it had been flipped through countless times and then discarded. It didn't discuss profound Qi and Blood circulation but rather various crude methods for resisting blows, combined with rudimentary breathing techniques, focusing primarily on "toughness."

He picked up another book, Stone Armor Technique. This technique was even more absurd, practically teaching one how to hold their breath, stiffen their muscles like stone, and pursue extreme "hardness," resulting in movements as slow as a turtle's.

Nearby was Savage Ox Strength, which focused on surging Qi and Blood for instant bursts of brute force; a fragment of Golden Bell Shield, which emphasized circulating Qi and Blood to the body's surface to create a rebound effect...

Individually, these techniques would likely be considered trash by the Class A Disciples, a waste of time to practice, and could even leave hidden dangers due to their unconventional paths.

But as Li Yuan looked at them, his eyes gradually lit up.

He extended his right hand, fingers spread, and with a slight shift of his mind, a wisp of Crimson Sun Qi and Blood seeped out, swirling at his fingertips, warm and agile.

"Iron Body Technique makes the dermis firm, Iron Cloth Shirt seeks toughness, Stone Armor Technique requires hardness..." he murmured to himself. The wisp of Qi and Blood at his fingertips, following his thoughts, became alternately supple and long, then solidified like a needle. "What if... I could gain the benefits of all of them?"

The moment this thought arose, it was like a fire ignited in his heart.

He no longer hesitated and began to flip through these techniques, considered dross, quickly and meticulously. His memory was excellent, almost photographic, and his comprehension far surpassed ordinary people. With "Crimson Sun" within him, his perception of Qi and Blood and his physical body was terrifyingly acute. Soon, the core essence of these techniques and the subtle characteristics of their Qi and Blood circulation were all recorded by him, dissected, and analyzed in his mind.

He discovered that although these low-level techniques were crude, they often achieved an extreme degree in one particular aspect. They were like pieces of scrap iron of various shapes; inherently useless, but if there was a sufficiently high temperature and a hard enough hammer...

Wasn't the "Crimson Sun" within his body the best furnace and hammer?

In the span of an afternoon, he had gone through almost all the low-level hard external techniques in this section. His mind was filled with various methods of Qi and Blood utilization, some clumsy, some bizarre, some extreme.

When he left the Scripture Repository, the sky outside was nearing dusk. The old servant at the gate still had his eyelids drooping, as if Li Yuan had never entered.

Li Yuan walked on the road back to Class A Courtyard Number One, his steps unhurried, but his mind racing. Various Qi and Blood circulation routes and muscle activation techniques collided and intertwined.

He raised his hand, looking at his fingers, which were no different from an ordinary person's, even appearing more symmetrical and slender due to his recent cultivation.

Copper Skin Technique? He would still practice it, but not as his main focus. What he intended to do was to absorb it, along with Iron Cloth Shirt, Stone Armor Technique, Savage Ox Strength... To break down all the useful parts, and then use the fire of "Crimson Sun" to forge them into one furnace, refining a technique that belonged solely to him!

Returning to the small courtyard, the moment he closed the door, a scorching light, like that of discovering a treasure, flashed in his eyes.

This path, perhaps no one before him had walked.

But he, Li Yuan, was determined to try.