Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art!

Li Qingshan felt a turbulent storm rising within his heart, yet he nodded repeatedly on the surface: "So it has such a history; many thanks for informing me, Junior Brother."

After completing the registration and leaving the Scripture Depository, Li Qingshan gripped the black jade slip, his palm growing slightly warm.

He knew he had struck gold this time!

Cultivation is difficult? He had plenty of time and patience! Incomplete? With the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd, it might not be impossible to restore!

Not long after walking out of the Scripture Depository, two inner sect disciples approached from the opposite direction, conversing in low voices.

"Have you heard? Elder Zhang Yuzhen's precious granddaughter, Senior Sister Zhang Hongxiu, failed her attempt at Foundation Establishment a few days ago!"

"Ah? Failed? How could that be? She was so well-prepared..."

"Shh... keep your voice down! It is said that she suffered a backlash from her inner demons at the final moment, nearly damaging her Dao foundation! She is currently recuperating in her cave dwelling. Elder Yuzhen was furious and bestowed many spiritual medicines upon her; it seems she intends to wait for her to recover before attempting Foundation Establishment again!"

"A second Foundation Establishment? The cost will be immense... but with Senior Uncle Zhang's resources, it certainly won't be a problem..."

The sound of their conversation gradually faded into the distance.

Li Qingshan stood where he was, his expression calm, but he let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.

Zhang Hongxiu failed her Foundation Establishment!

This undoubtedly bought him precious time!

However, it also made him more vigilant. Elder Zhang Yuzhen would surely spare no cost to assist her in a second attempt. Once successful, the Zhang Hongxiu who emerged from seclusion would likely be even more troublesome.

"I must reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible!"

Li Qingshan's gaze was firm as he turned and headed toward the sect's marketplace.

The marketplace remained bustling.

Li Qingshan had a clear goal; he first used spirit stones to purchase a large quantity of high-quality Bigu Pills and Water-Cleansing Talismans, enough to sustain several years of seclusion.

Next, he began to wander in front of various stalls, paying special attention to those selling magical artifacts, particularly those for defense and concealment.

He took a fancy to a gray, dusty cloak that even had some damage along the edges.

The stall owner boasted incessantly, claiming it was an ancient relic that was merely slightly damaged and still fully functional.

Li Qingshan examined it carefully and discovered that the cloak did indeed possess some mystery; its material was unique and could faintly interfere with divine sense detection, but the effect was only slightly better than ordinary clothing. Moreover, its spiritual light was dim, making it at best a low-grade magical artifact of inferior quality. The stall owner was clearly trying to swindle him.

"Boss, how much for this cloak?" Li Qingshan asked, feigning interest.

"Fellow Daoist has a sharp eye! This is an ancient treasure..." The stall owner immediately perked up.

Li Qingshan interrupted him directly, pointing to the damage on the edge and the dim spiritual light: "Boss, let's speak plainly. This is just an old artifact that has seen better days. Its defense is poor, its concealment effect is limited, and the spiritual energy flow at the damaged parts is obstructed. Five low-grade spirit stones, and I'll take it back to study the ancient runes on it."

The smile on the stall owner's face stiffened. He hadn't expected this old man to be so knowledgeable, so he said sheepishly: "Five is too little... Ten! Ten spirit stones and you can take it!"

In the end, the deal was struck for seven low-grade spirit stones.

Li Qingshan held the cloak, secretly delighted.

Poor effect? Damaged? It didn't matter!

Once he went back and had the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd "repair" it, it might just emerge brand new!

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard two cultivators at a nearby stall haggling over a pitch-black, unremarkable piece of iron.

"Fifty spirit stones? Why don't you just rob me? Aside from being hard, this piece of scrap iron has no spiritual energy fluctuations at all!"

"Fellow Daoist, this came from an ancient battlefield; who knows what great secrets might be hidden within! Fifty spirit stones, no bargaining!"

Li Qingshan's divine sense subconsciously swept over the iron piece, and his heart gave a sudden jolt!

The material and patterns of the iron piece gave him an extremely faint yet exceptionally ancient and obscure feeling, as if it had some distant connection to the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Technique jade slip he had just obtained.

He walked over nonchalantly, pretending to look at other items on the stall. Only after the cultivator who complained about the price had left did he pick up the iron piece as if casually weighing it: "This thing is quite heavy, how much?"

Seeing someone else ask, the stall owner quickly said: "Forty! Forty spirit stones and you can take it!"

Li Qingshan put the iron piece down and shook his head: "Ten spirit stones, I'll buy it to weigh down my pickle jar." It was the same familiar excuse.

The stall owner felt a vein throb on his forehead and said with a dark face: "...Twenty! Twenty spirit stones at the lowest!"

In the end, Li Qingshan used twenty low-grade spirit stones to tuck the mysterious iron piece into his pocket.

Although he didn't know its use, that inexplicable intuition made him feel it was worth the gamble.

After finishing his purchases, Li Qingshan immediately returned to his small hut.

He first placed the tattered cloak into the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd.

When he took it out the next day, the cloak had undergone a massive transformation! The color had turned into a deeper, more profound dark gray, the damage was as good as new, and a faint luster like flowing water rippled across its surface. When divine sense swept over it, it was as if it had passed through empty space, making it impossible to detect! It had become a top-tier concealment artifact!

"Good! From now on, I shall call you the Shadow-Hiding Cloak!"

Li Qingshan was overjoyed.

Afterward, he couldn't wait to place the three newly obtained spell jade slips—the Entanglement Technique, the Earth Escape Technique, and the most important incomplete fragment of the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Technique—along with the mysterious iron piece, carefully into the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd.

His heart was filled with anticipation, especially for the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Technique.

The words of the Scripture Depository deacon still echoed in his ears: "a tiny fragment of the true Heaven-Veiling Secret Technique," "a supreme method capable of deceiving the perception of the Heavenly Dao"... If he could truly complete it, even just a part of it, it would be a tremendous boon for him!

The night passed in silence, with only anticipation flowing through his heart.

The next morning, Li Qingshan took a deep breath and slowly pulled the stopper from the gourd.

"Hum—"

The three jade slips flew out on their own, hovering in mid-air and radiating a spiritual light several times more brilliant than the day before!

In particular, the black jade slip containing the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Technique had shed its thick layer of dust; it was now as warm and lustrous as jade, with a deep, inner obsidian glow. Incomparably profound silver runes flowed across its surface, exuding an indescribable, obscure, and ancient aura—a mysterious Dao charm that seemed capable of blocking all scrutiny!

Suppressing his excitement, Li Qingshan first sank his divine sense into that black jade slip.

Boom!

A massive, surging, and profound stream of information flooded into his sea of consciousness!

Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art!

It was no longer the incomplete Lesser Heaven-Veiling Technique, but the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art!

This secret art had been completely restored.

The content had become incredibly comprehensive, systematic, and profound!

The opening stated clearly: This art is the first volume of a supreme secret method for peering into heavenly secrets and defying the yin and yang. When cultivated to the extreme, one can veil all of one's own heavenly secrets and karma, deceive the perception of the Heavenly Dao, avoid calamities, hide one's cultivation, and alter one's destiny, effectively "disappearing" from the rules of the Heavenly Dao to a certain extent! It cannot be practiced by those whose divine sense is not as vast as the sea and who lack a deep understanding of the laws of heaven and earth!

Below this, it recorded in detail how to circulate divine sense and mana to construct a "Heaven-Veiling Spirit Domain" to shroud oneself, a supreme method for perfectly concealing one's cultivation, aura, and even one's very existence.

If one could cultivate it to perfection, one could even interfere with heavenly calculations to a certain degree and evade the lock-on of lightning tribulations!