Scripture Pavilion

"Phew, Dou Qi Stage Six." Lin Ming finished cultivating and spoke. By now, it had been over nine years since Lin Ming arrived on the Dou Qi Continent.

Now more than nine years old, Lin Ming had just broken through to Dou Qi Stage Six.

Judging by the timeline, Xiao Yan should have been a little over four years old and had probably already begun cultivating.

Yes, three years had passed since Lin Ming broke through to Two Star Dou Zhi Qi.

Over those three years, Lin Ming had basically slept only two hours a day. Aside from occasionally accompanying Ya Fei to eat, drink, and have fun, he spent all his remaining time cultivating. At last, he had risen from Two Star Dou Zhi Qi to Dou Qi Stage Six.

The days of cultivation were exceptionally dull. If not for the visible Cultivation Speed and Ya Fei's companionship, Lin Ming did not think he could have persisted.

"Brother Lin Ming! Brother Lin Ming!"

Sometimes, thoughts really were that strange. Lin Ming had just thought of Ya Fei when she started calling for Brother Lin Ming outside.

There was a saying from his Previous Life: "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives." Lin Ming did not know who had coined it, but he only wanted to say that it was spot-on.

"I'm coming!" Lin Ming called out. He then opened the door, and Ya Fei came into view.

Looking at Ya Fei before him, Lin Ming smiled. "What is it? Is my Little Princess craving food again? Do you want Brother Lin Ming to take you out for something tasty?"

Lin Ming finished speaking, then reached out and pinched Ya Fei's tender little cheek.

"Eek! You bad Brother Lin Ming, pinching Ya Fei again! And you said I only know how to eat. Hmph!" Ya Fei stomped her feet angrily. "I came to tell Brother Lin Ming that I broke through to Two Star Dou Zhi Qi, but you said I only know how to eat and even pinched me..."

"My Little Princess is amazing. Breaking through to Two Star Dou Zhi Qi is a piece of cake for you." Looking at Ya Fei, who was still chattering away, Lin Ming praised her.

Hearing Brother Lin Ming's praise, Ya Fei put on a proud expression. However, she soon became modest. "Not really. Brother Lin Ming, you only needed two years to break through to Two Star Dou Zhi Qi back then."

Lin Ming reached out and rubbed Ya Fei's lovely hair. "You little girl, what? Are you trying to surpass Brother Lin Ming?"

"Hehe, Ya Fei was just thinking about it!" Ya Fei said coquettishly.

"You." Lin Ming replied helplessly, then added, "It's rare for two good things to happen at once. Ya Fei, let's go. Brother Lin Ming will take you to eat something delicious. You can eat your fill, and I'll play with you to your heart's content."

"Yay! Then hurry up, Ya Fei can't wait anymore." After hearing Brother Lin Ming's words, Ya Fei happily jumped up and cried out.

"You, honestly. And you said you didn't come looking for Brother Lin Ming just for delicious food."

"Hehe, eating delicious food is only incidental. Don't fuss over such things! Let's go." Ya Fei acted coquettishly again.

"Wait, two good things? Besides my breakthrough, what other good thing is there? Hmm... Could it be that Brother Lin Ming broke through to Dou Qi Stage Six?" Ya Fei suddenly realized and asked.

"Hehe, that's right." Lin Ming nodded with a smile.

"Ahhh! Brother Lin Ming, you're amazing!" Ya Fei's shriek was loud enough to carry far into the distance.

"Haha, let's go eat something delicious." Lin Ming said with a laugh.

"Mhm! Mhm! Mhm! Let's go eat delicious food. On such a festive day, I want to eat Candied Hawthorn Skewers, Oil-Braised Prawns, Honey Chicken Wings, Charcoal-Grilled Salmon, Braised Beef Horns... and most importantly, Lion's Head Meatballs. I want to eat them all!" Ya Fei counted the dishes on her fingers.

"Fine, we'll eat them all. Then I'll buy beautiful clothes for my Little Princess."

"Yay!" The delighted Ya Fei jumped up again.

The day passed amid eating, strolling, and playful antics. After returning to his room that night and washing up, Lin Ming fell straight into bed.

On the night he made a breakthrough in cultivation, Lin Ming always went straight to sleep instead of cultivating.

The blazing sun shone over the earth, and Lin Ming did not get up until the sun was nearly overhead.

"Yawn..." Lin Ming groaned as he stretched.

Then Lin Ming said, "Sleeping until I wake naturally really is wonderful, but it's fine only once in a while. Living like this all the time doesn't suit me."

Up to this point, aside from cultivating Dou Qi, Lin Ming did not know how to do anything else. That would not do.

If he encountered an opponent while traveling in the future, it would be fine if their cultivation was lower than his. But if he met someone about as strong as himself, and they had Dou Techniques while he had none, wouldn't that be asking to get beaten to death?

Before, his cultivation had been too low. Learning Dou Techniques would have wasted time and held little power.

It was like a two- or three-year-old child. Even if you gave one a weapon, they would not be able to lift it at first. Even if they could lift it, they could easily hurt themselves, so there was no need to learn.

But things were different now. With Lin Ming's current cultivation, he was at least like a seven- or eight-year-old child. An ordinary weapon would no longer hurt him, and if used properly, it could still be quite powerful.

So Lin Ming hastily dealt with lunch, then headed toward the Lin Family's Scripture Pavilion.

Although Lin Ming had never been to the Scripture Pavilion, as an internal member of the Mite'er Family, he roughly knew where it was located.

After walking for half an hour, a massive hexagonal tower came into Lin Ming's view.

The hexagonal tower had five floors. Each floor was over thirty feet high, while its width was likely more than a thousand feet.

A plaque hung above the hexagonal tower, bearing the three large characters: "Scripture Pavilion."

The enormous hexagonal tower left Lin Ming shocked. So this is a top-tier family whose wealth ranks among the best in the Jia Ma Empire.

Within the Jia Ma Empire, the Mite'er Family was the foremost force aside from the Misty Cloud Sect and the Royal Family.

Although the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong was currently missing, until his death was confirmed, no one dared make a move against the Mite'er Family, which still had a Dou Emperor and Mittel Tengshan, one of the Jia Ma Empire's Ten Great Experts, holding the fort.

Collecting himself, Lin Ming recovered from his shock and walked toward the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion.

"Stop. This is the Scripture Pavilion. Unauthorized people are forbidden from entering." The guards at the entrance blocked Lin Ming's path.

Lin Ming was not surprised to see guards blocking his way.

As the place that held a family's most important inheritance, even an ordinary family would not let people enter casually. The Mite'er Family was one of the Jia Ma Empire's top families, so its security was naturally even stricter.

Therefore, before coming to the Scripture Pavilion, Lin Ming had specifically asked about the matters requiring attention when entering. He knew how to deal with the guards blocking his path.

At that moment, Lin Ming took out his internal Mite'er Family identity token from his Storage Ring.

Every internal member of the Mite'er Family had their own exclusive identity token.

The Mite'er Family was a merchant family with an enormous number of members, and many of them did not know one another.

When encountering someone unfamiliar while conducting business or delivering goods, what could they do? That was when the internal member identity token came in handy.

"Let him pass!" After verifying Lin Ming's identity, the guard called out and no longer blocked his way.

After taking back his identity token, Lin Ming headed toward the hexagonal tower.

Along the way, Lin Ming looked at the bustling crowd. Most of them were at least twelve or thirteen years old.

The only child he saw who was about his age had an adult accompanying him, who was probably the child's father.

Lin Ming paid no attention to the others. When he arrived beneath the hexagonal tower, a voice from the side called out to him.

"Little Fellow, whose child are you? Why did you come without an adult?"

Anyone who passed the guards and reached the Scripture Pavilion had been checked and was qualified to enter. Seeing Lin Ming, a child, arrive alone, the owner of the voice asked him about it.

Lin Ming looked toward the source of the voice. The person who had spoken was an elderly man with graying hair.

Lin Ming had some impression of the old man, so he directly said, "Old Liu, I'm Lin Ming. My father, Lin Long, died for the family in that accident four years ago."

Yes, Lin Long was the name of Lin Ming's father on the Dou Qi Continent. And four years ago, that accident involving Lin Ming's parents had been the only one with internal member casualties.

"Ah, Lin Long. I watched him grow up too. What a pity!" Old Liu sighed, then began telling Lin Ming about the past.

"Back then, your Grandfather and I followed the Ice Emperor as we traveled the world. We ventured through countless places in those days."

"Who would have thought that your Grandfather would later meet with an accident as well?"

"When the Ice Emperor learned this terrible news, he Ice-Sealed the entire city where the perpetrators were located to avenge your Grandfather."

"The incident became too big at the time. The Royal Family came to question us, and we nearly fought..."

"I'm getting old, and I like rambling about these things. Little Fellow, you don't find me annoying, do you?" Old Liu asked with a smile.

"Old Liu, you must be joking. If you're willing to tell Lin Ming about your days traveling with the Ice Emperor and my Grandfather, Lin Ming would not find it annoying even if I listened for three days and three nights." Lin Ming quickly replied.

"Hahaha, you kid. You've grown so much in the blink of an eye. Your father wasn't nearly as good with words as you. In front of this old man, he always acted stiff, as if this old man would do something to him." Old Liu said with a laugh.

He got beaten up by you when he was young. Of course he behaved himself in front of you.

But outwardly, Lin Ming still smiled and replied, "Old Liu, you and my Grandfather were close friends. Seeing you feels as warm as seeing my Grandfather. That's why Lin Ming doesn't feel restrained around you."

"Haha! That's how it should be. Given my relationship with your Grandfather, Lin Ming, call this old man Grandpa Liu." Old Liu said to Lin Ming warmly.

Faced with his Grandfather's close friend, Lin Ming did not refuse. "Grandpa Liu."

"Haha, good! Lin Ming, what kind of Dou Technique did you come to the Scripture Pavilion to look for today?" Grandpa Liu asked. With Lin Ming's current cultivation, he could only be here to look for Dou Techniques. Even if he were given a Cultivation Method, he would not be able to cultivate it.

"Grandpa Liu, it's like this. Xiao Ming broke through to Dou Qi Stage Six yesterday, so I came to the Scripture Pavilion today to learn Fist Skills and Blade Skills." Lin Ming said.

"Broken through to Dou Qi Stage Six? Haha! As expected of the Lin Family's bloodline. You're even stronger than your father." Grandpa Liu laughed.

After laughing heartily, Grandpa Liu continued, "Lin Ming, Grandfather supports your desire to cultivate Blade Skills and Fist Skills. After all, from your Grandfather to your father, everyone in your Lin Family used blades. Now that you can inherit it, it can be considered the Lin Family's legacy. As for Fist Skills, they are also extremely useful in real combat."

Seeing Grandpa Liu nod in satisfaction, Lin Ming smiled as well.

"Lin Ming, how about this? This area is full of Dou Techniques, so go have a look around the first floor. The first floor contains Yellow Tier Dou Techniques, which are just right for your current Dou Zhi Qi. You can broaden your horizons while you're at it. Come find Grandpa Liu if you run into any difficulties," Grandpa Liu explained.

After explaining, Grandpa Liu seemed to remember something and added, "Lin Ming, don't go to the second floor yet. You can only go up there after advancing to a Dou Zhe."

"Alright, Grandpa Liu. Then Xiao Ming will go choose some Dou Techniques and broaden my horizons." Lin Ming nodded, then walked toward the Dou Techniques inside.

Upon entering, Lin Ming was dumbfounded as he looked at the rows upon rows of bookshelves stretching beyond sight, all filled with books.

How many Dou Techniques did these endless shelves contain? There had to be at least several million books, right?

Although there were probably several copies of the same Dou Technique, even so, there had to be at least hundreds of thousands of Yellow Tier Dou Techniques.

Sure enough, a Great Family was different.

But when Lin Ming thought of how Xun Er could casually produce a High-Grade Xuan Tier Cultivation Method in the original story, he hurriedly muttered to himself that he was too easily impressed, then went to search for the Dou Techniques he needed.