Deep in the Night, Master's Wife Knocked on My Door

Outside the Secret Origin Pavilion.

Grand Hua Daoist suddenly remembered something.

He looked at Su Changyu and said.

"Changyu, your Second Junior Brother and Third Junior Brother—are they taking the Alchemist and Array Master assessments at the end of the year?"

Grand Hua Daoist had just recalled.

"Seems so. The Fourth Junior Brother is also taking the Talisman Examination."

Su Changyu answered like this.

"That settles it. Let's buy them some more secret manuals."

Grand Hua Daoist spoke, then thought of his other disciples.

"Then let's go back inside."

Su Changyu said nonchalantly.

"Go back where?"

Grand Hua Daoist was a bit curious.

"Into the Secret Origin Pavilion."

Su Changyu was also slightly confused—wasn't he buying secret manuals? Go buy them at the Secret Origin Pavilion.

"Buy for them here? Even with all the money in the world, you can't spend it like that."

Grand Hua Daoist shook his head, then led Su Changyu out.

One incense stick later.

At the Baiguo City Cultivator Market.

Besides the rows of shops, stalls lined up outside like a long dragon, displaying all sorts of bizarre and curious items—a dazzling array.

And in front of one stall, Grand Hua Daoist looked at the scattered secret manuals laid out.

"How are these things sold?"

Grand Hua Daoist pointed at the messy pile of manuals on the ground. They looked old and worn, clearly the cheap kind.

"Sold by weight, Esteemed Immortals. Ten taels of gold per catty."

The stall owner, a middle-aged man, saw customers arriving and put on an eager, fawning smile.

"Ten taels of gold a catty? Are you robbing me?"

Hearing the price, Grand Hua Daoist's expression shifted. It wasn't like he'd never bought this kind of manual before.

The manuals on this stall were half-real, half-fake, and most were copied works. In other words, they weren't secret manuals or cultivation methods at all—just theoretical knowledge.

To put it bluntly, they were writings by some theorists.

Not very useful, but still a little useful.

After all, a strong cultivator's personal notes—which one wasn't A Word Worth a Thousand Gold?

Would something like that show up in a place like this?

"Esteemed Immortals, these are all genuine ancient texts. Just a casual glance and you could have an epiphany. Look at this one—how to condense the True Dragon Divine Body. And this one—how to open the Three Thousand Six Hundred Spirit Acupoints. Top-tier goods, every one of them."

The stall owner quickly spoke, grabbing Grand Hua Daoist's attention.

Then, gritting his teeth, he continued, "Alright, I'll give you a discount. Ten taels of gold for two catties, how about that?"

The stall owner said this.

"Ten taels of gold for ten catties. Take it or leave it. Condense the True Dragon Divine Body? Who are you trying to fool?"

Grand Hua Daoist couldn't be bothered to deal with him. This stuff was pure nonsense—it looked impressive, but it didn't even qualify as proper theory.

If anyone could have an epiphany from reading these manuals, he, Grand Hua Daoist, would eat every single one of them, down to the last scrap.

"One piece for ten catties? Esteemed Immortal, don't joke around. At most, one piece for five catties."

The stall owner's face fell into a grimace.

"Changyu, let's go."

Grand Hua Daoist ignored the stall owner and made to leave.

"Fine, fine, fine. Let's call it making a friend. Esteemed Immortal, will you pick them yourself, or should I?"

The stall owner had nothing left to say.

"Pack them all up."

Grand Hua Daoist spoke. He wanted the whole lot.

Buying so many manuals wasn't really for the disciples to read—it was mainly for decoration.

The Qingyun Dao Sect had a Book Pavilion, but there wasn't a single secret manual inside it. So Grand Hua Daoist planned to buy a few hundred manuals to spruce it up.

Otherwise, why would he be bored enough to buy this junk?

"Alright! Esteemed Immortal, wait a moment."

The stall owner didn't waste words and started packing directly. His stall had four to five hundred such books—alchemy, formations, talismans, and a pile of extremely bizarre ones.

Things like "Perfect Development of Supreme Phenomenon,"

"Ten Dragons Ten Elephants Primordial Spirit Art,"

"Method to Open the Immortal Dao Twin Pupils,"

and "Late Night, My Master's Wife Knocked on My Door."

In short, all kinds of strange books were available, but they were all fabricated works—borrowing a concept to spin out methods that seemed reasonable on the surface but were actually impossible to succeed with, precisely targeting those new to cultivation.

Most people who bought this kind of manual did so to fill up their Scripture Repository. A major sect's repository might have several hundred real manuals, but how could a small sect have that many? So they had to buy this sort of thing to make a show of it.

Several hundred manuals filled one chest, weighing about a hundred jin, costing a hundred taels of gold.

Meanwhile, Grand Hua Daoist also visited a few shops and bought some legitimate auxiliary books on alchemy, formations, artifact forging, talismans, and the like.

He also had quite a few sets of clothing made, intending to outfit the entire sect top to bottom, and purchased a good amount of high-grade spirit rice and demon beast meat, arranging for them to be delivered to the sect later.

As for himself, he bought nothing—all of it was spent on these disciples.

And so, of the six hundred taels of gold, only about two hundred remained.

It made Grand Hua Daoist feel an inexplicable pang in his heart.

But there was no helping it. If he wanted the sect to develop, he had to pour money into it. The paintings were Ye Ping's, and his talent was excellent, so the bulk of the spending went on Ye Ping, while the other disciples got a share of the benefits—that was Grand Hua Daoist's thinking.

Once everything was settled, Grand Hua Daoist didn't linger in Baiguo City. He took Su Changyu and headed straight back to Qingyun Dao Sect.

The manuals, high-grade spirit rice, and custom-made clothing were all arranged for a designated cook to deliver to the sect together.

On the way back to the sect.

Grand Hua Daoist handed the River Sword Technique to Su Changyu.

"Changyu, this sword technique can only be viewed once. Comprehend it well, and after you've learned it, pass it on to Ye Ping."

Grand Hua Daoist spoke, leaving Su Changyu somewhat stunned.

"To me?"

Su Changyu was indeed a bit surprised.

He knew his own measure well enough. Wasn't this bought for Ye Ping? Why was it being given to him?

Su Changyu was curious.

Sensing Su Changyu's confusion, Grand Hua Daoist explained on the spot.

"You fool, if I directly gave the manual to your little junior brother, then what would we need to do? Teaching sword techniques is something that has to be done personally. This manual has a secret technique imbued in it—you only need to read it once to partially comprehend the sword art. Then you can teach it to your little junior brother."

"With his talent, the student will surpass the master, but he'll think you taught him. If I just handed him a manual, who couldn't do that?"

Grand Hua Daoist's thinking was extremely meticulous. He didn't give the manual directly to Ye Ping; instead, he had Su Changyu learn it first. Once Su Changyu had mastered it, he would then teach Ye Ping.

Hearing this, Su Changyu suddenly understood.

"Sect Leader, you're really clever."

Su Changyu said with a smile.

"Otherwise, why do you think I went to the Secret Origin Pavilion to buy the manual? If I weren't afraid you'd take a whole year to grasp the sword technique, why would I bother with this kind of manual? Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a simplified version?"

Grand Hua Daoist said, somewhat exasperated.

He had specifically gone to the Secret Origin Pavilion for the sword manual, mainly because the manuals there were imbued with Daoist magic—just flipping through and reading would grant sudden enlightenment, allowing one to quickly master the basic sword moves.

Otherwise, if he let Su Changyu practice slowly on his own, it would take ages before he could comprehend the River Sword Technique.

"But even with sudden enlightenment, I'll still need some time. What do we do in the meantime?"

Su Changyu pressed on.

"Here, didn't I buy all these manuals? Let him read through them in rotation. Before you teach him the next sword art, have him look at those."

Grand Hua Daoist pointed at the chest behind them as he spoke.

"These books?"

Su Changyu's expression turned a bit odd. He knew what those books were—a bunch of nonsense, not real manuals at all. They were barely good enough to be read as novels.

But after a moment's thought, Su Changyu still nodded.

However, just then, Grand Hua Daoist's voice rang out.

"Changyu, there's one more thing I need you to do."

Grand Hua Daoist lowered his voice.

"What is it?"

Curiosity flickered in Su Changyu's eyes.

"Work on the paintings."