Great Bamboo Peak.
The next morning.
The back mountain of Great Bamboo Peak, Black Bamboo Forest.
Morning mist hung in the air, carrying the distinctive fresh scent of bamboo leaves.
Crack!
A sharp snap broke the quiet of the bamboo forest.
Ye Xuan gripped the woodcutter's cleaver in his hand. It was a little too big for a ten-year-old.
Black Bamboo, a specialty of Great Bamboo Peak.
Its grain was as hard as iron, and ordinary blades could barely scratch it.
New disciples often had to spend an entire day chopping, wearing blisters into their palms before they could just barely cut through a single stalk.
This was Great Bamboo Peak's unique form of cultivation. It trained both strength and resolve.
But now.
The incredibly hard Black Bamboo had fallen with a smooth, mirror-like cut.
Ye Xuan hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Too weak."
He weighed the cleaver in his hand and shook his head.
The strength boost from his Innate Dao Body was practically cheating.
Combined with his cultivation at the peak of the second layer of Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao, this so-called chore wasn't even a warm-up.
Normally, there should have been someone else chopping bamboo here.
But today, the place was unusually quiet.
That little tagalong, Tian Ling'er, had gone to Small Bamboo Peak with Mistress.
That left Ye Xuan alone on the entire back mountain.
"One stalk... Done." Ye Xuan tossed aside the Black Bamboo he had cut down and dusted off his hands.
He'd finished today's task.
What should he do next?
Go back to sleep?
That would be such a waste of time.
Since he'd promised Old Tian he would reach the fourth layer, he had to take some concrete action.
Simply meditating and cultivating his qi was too inefficient.
Ye Xuan rubbed his chin and looked toward an ancient building, half-hidden in the mist in the distance.
Behind Shou Jing Hall.
The Scripture Depository.
It housed generations of texts belonging to the Great Bamboo Peak lineage of the Qingyun Sect.
Though its collection wasn't as extensive as Heaven-Piercing Peak's.
For Ye Xuan, it was an enormous treasure trove.
"Since I can't leave, I might as well look for a golden house in these books."
Ye Xuan slung the cleaver over his shoulder and strode toward the Scripture Depository.
In the original story, Zhang Xiaofan was so thickheaded that all he did was stubbornly practice Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao or cook.
What a waste!
He had access to the resources of such a huge cultivation sect and didn't know how to make use of them.
But Ye Xuan was different.
He would squeeze every last bit of value out of Great Bamboo Peak!
He pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the Scripture Depository.
The musty scent of old books washed over him.
Sunlight streamed through the lattice windows, illuminating the dust motes in shafts of light.
There was no one stationed here.
Great Bamboo Peak had few people, and most of the books kept here were basic texts. There wasn't much worth stealing.
The truly secret techniques were all kept in the hands of the Peak Master.
Ye Xuan didn't hesitate. He went straight to the first bookshelf.
The shelves were lined with thread-bound books.
He pulled one out at random.
Complete Qingyun Sect Rules.
He tossed it aside.
Then he pulled out another.
Great Bamboo Peak Spiritual Plant Cultivation Manual.
Useless. He tossed it aside.
Ye Xuan was a little disappointed.
Was this place full of nothing but odds and ends?
Unwilling to give up, he continued farther inside.
It wasn't until he reached the third bookshelf that a yellowed booklet finally caught his eye.
Qingyun Sword Technique: Basic Chapter.
Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow.
The Qingyun Sword Technique?
Wasn't this one of the four great sword arts?
He searched his memory of Zhu Xian.
The book mentioned the Divine Sword Thunder Control True Art and Slay Ghosts and Gods.
Those were ultimate moves, deadly techniques.
But what was this "Basic Chapter" supposed to be?
He opened the booklet and read through it page by page.
The more he read, the brighter Ye Xuan's eyes grew.
So that was it!
The Qingyun Sword Technique focused on sword-wielding stances, the principles of applying force, and how to channel spiritual energy along the blade.
Even without a magical weapon, a person who mastered the technique could cut through iron with an ordinary blade and greatly increase its power!
This was the foundation!
The first brick in a tower that reached to the heavens!
The original story hadn't mentioned it much.
That was because every protagonist and side character had cultivated for decades, if not centuries.
These basics had long since become second nature to them, so there was no need to bring them up.
But for Ye Xuan right now.
This was a treasure!
Like an explorer discovering a new continent, he eagerly searched through the bookshelves.
Introduction to Five Elements Sorcery.
Detailed Explanation of Wind Riding Technique.
Construction and Application of Spiritual Energy Shield.
Illustrated Atlas of the Human Body's Meridians and Acupoints (Revised Edition).
Looking at the manuals that had never appeared in the novel but were right there before his eyes.
Ye Xuan understood.
A novel was, in the end, just a novel.
To keep the plot moving and deliver thrills, the author had skipped over too many dull details of cultivation.
But this was a real world!
How could a great cultivation sect with thousands of years of history have only one or two earth-shattering techniques?
Over the long years.
Countless predecessors had developed countless little tricks, minor spells, and support techniques throughout their long cultivation journeys.
They might not be overwhelmingly powerful or flashy.
But they formed the foundation of the Qingyun Sect's vast cultivation system!
Ye Xuan held the Introduction to Five Elements Sorcery, his fingertips trembling slightly.
The book detailed how to use specific hand seals and incantations to draw upon the Tai Chi Vital Energy within the body and transform it into low-level spells of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
For example, the Fireball Technique, the Entangling Technique, and the Quicksand Technique.
These spells weren't very powerful, and they consumed little energy.
He could even use them before reaching the fourth layer, the Object Moving Realm!
As long as he had spiritual energy in his body and knew how to transform it, he could cast them!
"Holy crap..."
"Now this is cultivation!"
Ye Xuan couldn't help blurting out a curse.
He'd always thought that before reaching the fourth layer, he could only be an ordinary person with a stronger body.
All he could do was grab a cleaver and go after people.
But now.
It seemed he'd been sitting on a mountain of treasures without knowing it!
With these spells and martial techniques, even before reaching the Object Moving Realm, his combat strength could increase exponentially!
Just imagine.
If he ran into an enemy.
First, he'd throw out a Quicksand Technique to trap their ankles.
Then he'd use an Entangling Technique to bind their hands.
Finally, he'd charge in and combine his freakish physical strength with the Qingyun Sword Technique, smashing the enemy over the head with his cleaver...
The image.
It was almost too beautiful to imagine!
Ye Xuan closed the book, shut his eyes, and breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the scent of books.
That meaningful smile appeared on his face once more.
Old Tian, Old Tian.
You thought that just because you'd confined me to the mountain, I wouldn't be able to cause trouble?
You thought that before reaching the fourth layer, I'd have to be a good little boy?
Wrong!
Completely wrong!
You've opened the door to a whole new world for me!
Since I can't leave.
I'll master every last one of these "basics" right here on Great Bamboo Peak!
When the day comes for me to leave the mountain...
I'll show everyone.
What it means to have an outrageously solid foundation!
What it means to be a max-level boss in the Novice Village!
Ye Xuan swore to himself.
Although he couldn't complete the sign-in task for now.
His God-tier Comprehension wasn't just for show.
He opened his eyes. A glint seemed to flash in them.
"Then I'll start with this Introduction to Five Elements Sorcery!"
That day.
The sound of turning pages rose and fell in the Great Bamboo Peak Scripture Depository, continuing until late at night.
Back in Shou Jing Hall.
Tian Buyi held his teacup and gazed at the moon outside the window, an inexplicable sense of unease stirring in his heart.
"Strange..."
"Why does my right eyelid keep twitching?"
"Did that brat run off again?"
"That can't be. I set up a restriction at the path..."
Before you continue