Sect Allocation

After expressing his gratitude, he bid farewell to the two senior brothers.

Walking toward the tower gate, Cheng Buzheng sighed inwardly.

In the world of cultivation, one is often not the master of one's own fate... but this Spirit Stone was truly well spent!

Stepping into the tower, Cheng Buzheng saw that the space inside was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

The interior of this first floor of the iron tower was constructed from dark, pitch-black metal, resembling the black iron found in the mortal world.

However, only upon closer inspection would one notice something else.

The textures on those dark metal walls were like runic lines, appearing as if they had grown naturally within the metal itself, emitting a faint, eerie glow. Without careful observation, this unique feature would go unnoticed.

Rows of bookshelves were arranged in an orderly fashion. On them sat various items containing records: Jade Slips, animal skins, jade tablets, books, bamboo slips, metal plates, and more—a vast and diverse collection of every imaginable format.

In the southeast corner, there was a staircase leading to the second floor. That was the entrance to the sect's heritage, which housed a massive collection of spell techniques, alchemical formulas, artifact refining restrictions, formation diagrams, and the like.

The higher one went in the Sutra Repository Tower, the more precious the cultivation methods and spell techniques became. The top floor held the sect's foundational spell techniques. As a mere Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator, he had no way of knowing exactly what they were; he had only learned of this from the Cultivation Encyclopedia.

Entering each floor required a corresponding status. For instance, Outer Sect Disciples could only enter the first and second floors; the third floor was off-limits to them.

At this moment, with his status as an Outer Sect Disciple, Cheng Buzheng could enter, at most, the second floor of the Sutra Repository Tower.

As for the first floor of the Sutra Repository Tower, where he currently stood, the books here could be read in their entirety for free. This floor was essentially a detailed version of the Cultivation Encyclopedia.

If one were hoping to find a spell technique or a spell here, the odds were even lower than finding a water source in a desert. Yet, there was no shortage of newcomers with heaven-defying luck who had found opportunities on this floor, leading to a smooth path in their immortal journey.

The books on the first floor mostly consisted of local customs and traditions, the appearances and habits of various demonic beasts, illustrations of different spirit herbs and their growth environments, and the values and uses of various spirit ores.

This was exactly what he lacked at the moment; his understanding of the cultivation world was far too shallow.

Cheng Buzheng took a glance but did not start reading immediately. Instead, he walked along the corridor between the bookshelves toward the staircase in the southeast corner.

His heavy footsteps fell upon the wooden stairs, echoing through the quiet space between the first and second floors of the Sutra Repository Tower.

"Tap. Tap."

A short while later, Cheng Buzheng arrived at the second floor. The first thing that caught his eye was an old man with a full head of gray hair, dressed in the sect's standard black robe. He was sitting in a rocking chair behind a counter, eyes closed in rest, swaying back and forth in a leisurely and carefree manner.

Cheng Buzheng could not sense a shred of Spirit Pressure from him, making him seem like an ordinary mortal elder, but he knew this was certainly no simple old man.

Judging solely by his sect attire, he knew this person was a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator of his uncle-master's generation. It was highly likely his cultivation was even higher than that of Uncle Ding, who had presided over the recruitment of new disciples.

He did not dare to show the slightest bit of negligence. Although the uncle-master appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, in reality, his every move was likely under the surveillance of the uncle-master's Divine Sense.

Cheng Buzheng hurriedly stepped forward, his expression solemn, and bowed respectfully.

"New disciple Cheng Buzheng pays his respects to you, Uncle-Master!"

At these words, the rocking chair suddenly stopped its swaying. The Uncle-Master lying on the chair opened his cloudy eyes, glanced at Cheng Buzheng, and said expressionlessly.

"New disciples may only select two First-order Low-grade Spells for free. Go on then!"

Cheng Buzheng suddenly felt as if he were being stared at by a ferocious beast; the hairs on his body stood on end, as if he were about to face a great disaster.

After speaking, the Uncle-Master closed his eyes once more, and the rocking chair began to sway back and forth again.

Cheng Buzheng bowed respectfully once more before slowly backing away.

Low profile, low profile, and even lower profile.

This was his basic principle, the method and approach he would adopt at the start of his immortal path. Everything was done in service of his grand ambition to rise toward eternal life.

After Cheng Buzheng had walked far away, the old man on the rocking chair opened his cloudy eyes again, glanced in Cheng Buzheng's direction, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. He then closed his eyes to rest, as if all of this had been a mere hallucination.

Cheng Buzheng discovered that all the texts within the second floor of the Scripture Tower were recorded neatly on Jade Slips, which was quite pleasing to the eye.

Looking at the rows of bookshelves, Cheng Buzheng walked through the corridor between them and arrived at the spell section.

He picked up a Jade Slip at random. It recorded a First-order High-grade Spell called the Fire Flood Dragon Technique. Unfortunately, he could not view the entirety of it; he could only see the introductory portion, which contained a general description of the spell.

To see the complete version, one would need to have the Uncle-Master remove the restriction.

Walking through the spell section, Cheng Buzheng continuously picked up Jade Slips to examine them, such as the Fireball Technique, Water Arrow Technique, Golden Needle Technique, Sword Qi Technique, Earth Escape Technique, Purple Crystal Bracelet, and Desolate Palace Sword.

Cheng Buzheng saw many powerful spells, but he could not afford a single one. Even the cheapest First-order Low-grade Spell cost ten Spirit Stones, while First-order Mid-grade Spells required fifty, and First-order High-grade Spells were even more expensive, costing a full one hundred Spirit Stones.

The spells grew stronger in power one after another, and their prices grew steeper as well, giving him the urge to turn around and leave in his poverty.

If the sect hadn't allowed him to select two spells for free, he wouldn't have been able to afford even one.

Cheng Buzheng abandoned his unrealistic thoughts and carefully screened for two spells that would be suitable for him.

Among the Desolate Palace Sword and the Purple Crystal Bracelet, the Desolate Palace Sword was not only powerful, but there were also very few spells of the same rank that could contend with it; it could be called a sharp weapon for killing enemies.

As for the Purple Crystal Bracelet, this spell could refine the essence of spiritual objects to nourish oneself. As more spiritual essence was consumed, its power would rise accordingly until it reached its limit.

Both spells were very much to Cheng Buzheng's liking. After careful comparison, Cheng Buzheng still chose the Purple Crystal Bracelet, as it was a powerful spell that integrated attack, defense, and control into one.

With his limited number of Spirit Stones, this was the best choice; it would not have any glaring weaknesses. Although it was not as specialized as a single-purpose spell, he still had the Small Plate as his golden finger.

The other spell was, of course, the Earth Escape Technique. For the sake of his grand ambition of eternal life, he had to preserve his own life; among low-grade spells, this was absolutely a premier life-saving tool.

Although the Earth Escape Technique is simple to learn, very few people manage to reach the Minor Completion stage, let alone the Major Completion or Perfection stages. The further one progresses in cultivation, the more difficult it becomes.

Having selected his spell, he wandered around the second floor. Even though he couldn't afford anything else, he still wanted to broaden his horizons; he was currently severely lacking in all sorts of knowledge.

Half a day later.

He had flipped through every single Jade Slip. There were tens of thousands of them, but since he could only read the beginning of each, he went through them quite quickly. He didn't have to worry about forgetting what he had read; cultivators are not comparable to mortals.

Even now, Cheng Buzheng could transcribe the novels he had read in his past life from memory. This alone was enough to demonstrate the monstrous memory of a cultivator.