Too Extravagant! (12) Please Bookmark, Please Vote!

Black-White Academy, North District.

Whoosh~~~

Ripples spread through space.

Xia Manggan appeared before a magnificent three-story palace.

"Void Transference?"

A burly middle-aged man clad in ornate armor sat beside a stone table, holding a wine cup and savoring fine wine.

Sensing the spatial fluctuations, he turned to look.

"Greetings, Martial Uncle." Xia Manggan cupped his hands.

"You must be Mysterious Yellow, right?" The middle-aged man hurriedly rose to his feet and said politely, "My Daoist title is Gufang. I'm merely a few years older than you and entered the sect several centuries before you. From now on, we can simply address each other by our Daoist titles."

"..." Xia Manggan was slightly stunned. "Martial Uncle is a second-generation disciple, while I am a third-generation disciple—"

"No matter, no matter." Daoist Gufang quickly explained, "I only broke through to become a Primordial Spirit Daoist in recent years and became a second-generation disciple. Among the third-generation disciples, those strongest and longest in the sect still address me by Daoist title as peers. You needn't stand on ceremony."

Thinking of how Xia Manggan's divine soul secret art had left his soul aching as though scorched by flames for two or three days, only recovering today...

How could Daoist Gufang dare put on the airs of a second-generation martial uncle before Xia Manggan?

Moreover, among Immortal cultivators, aside from master-disciple relationships and blood relatives, forms of address generally depended on strength. Everyone dealt with one another as they saw fit.

Thus, Daoist Gufang's behavior was not overly presumptuous.

At this moment.

Another azure wooden boat flew over from the distance, and a youth dressed in beast-hide garments leaped down from it.

Ji Ning had arrived.

Before he could salute Daoist Gufang, Xia Manggan said with a laugh, "In that case, Gufang, I've come to collect my Black-White Pills and Essence Liquid."

This burly middle-aged man was not a second-generation disciple, but a third-generation disciple?

Ji Ning was puzzled.

According to what he had learned from the disciple manual, important palaces such as the Dao Treasury Hall were generally guarded by Primordial Spirit Daoists from the Academy.

Why was Senior Brother Xia Mang directly addressing a second-generation martial uncle by Daoist title?

"These are seventeen thousand Black-White Pills and one hundred jin of Essence Liquid."

With a flip of his hand, Daoist Gufang produced one black jade bottle and one white jade bottle.

"The quota for third-generation disciples is one hundred jin of Essence Liquid every ten years. You need only come collect it once every decade. If you have no time, sending a servant to collect it is fine as well."

"I only recently became a Primordial Spirit Daoist and accepted this hundred-year task of guarding the hall. My days are unbearably dull. If you have nothing to do, come drink with me."

"Alright."

After accepting the two jade bottles, Xia Manggan nodded to Ji Ning and entered the Dao Treasury Hall first.

"You are Ji Ning, the newly inducted disciple?"

Daoist Gufang turned toward Ji Ning.

"..." Ji Ning was still shocked by the number of Black-White Pills Xia Manggan had received.

Only after Daoist Gufang asked again did he come back to his senses. He hurriedly saluted. "This disciple is Ji Ning. Greetings, Martial Uncle."

"These are six thousand Black-White Pills and one hundred jin of Essence Liquid. After entering the Dao Treasury Hall and choosing your cultivation arts, bring the copies out and exchange them with me for the originals."

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Two jade bottles were tossed directly toward him.

Ji Ning hurriedly reached out and caught them.

Then he saw Daoist Gufang wave a hand before returning to the stone table and continuing to savor his wine with appreciative clicks of his tongue.

"..." Ji Ning was speechless.

The difference in treatment was far too obvious.

Did everything really still depend on strength and status?

With strength and status, even within the Academy, even when facing second-generation disciples, one could address them directly by Daoist title, and they would still have to be polite...

Huff.

Ji Ning let out a breath and stepped into the Dao Treasury Hall as well.

My strength is still somewhat lacking right now.

I've only just entered the Academy. Even my Black-White Pills don't amount to a fraction of what Senior Brother Xia Mang has.

But I have Senior Beixing's Three-Foot Sword inheritance, as well as the Three Realms' supreme divine ability, the Star-Plucking Hand...

Very soon.

It would not take long.

I too will become like Senior Brother Xia Mang. No, I'll become even stronger than Senior Brother Xia Mang!

The Dao Treasury Hall had three floors.

The first floor was for methods—in other words, cultivation arts, the methods of cultivation.

For example, the cultivation methods of Qi Refining and Fiendgod Body Refining both fell under methods.

The second floor was for techniques—in other words, Immortal and Fiendgod secret arts.

Fiendgod divine abilities, sword Immortals' sword arts, desperate forbidden arts, escape arts... all techniques employed by Immortals and Fiendgods fell under this category.

The third floor was for miscellaneous arts.

Puppets, formations, insect cultivation, artifact refinement, pill refinement, poison usage, and so on.

All comprehensive manuals that did not belong to the first two categories fell under miscellaneous arts.

After entering, Ji Ning swept his gaze around but did not see Xia Manggan. He knew Xia Manggan had gone up to the second floor.

[Senior Brother Xia Mang comes from the imperial clan. His own tribe possesses Immortal Rank cultivation arts, so I cannot compare myself to him.]

Remembering the instructions of his master, Immortal Diancai, Ji Ning hurriedly cast aside his distracting thoughts and began searching through the first floor of the Dao Treasury Hall.

The Black-White Academy's Qi Refining cultivation arts were divided from lowest to highest into four ranks: Human Rank, Earth Rank, Heaven Rank, and Immortal Rank.

Immortal Rank Qi Refining cultivation arts represented methods that could be cultivated all the way to the Heavenly Immortal level.

There were only twenty-eight such manuals in the entire Dao Treasury Hall.

Three had been left behind by the Academy's Heavenly Immortal patriarchs, while the other twenty-five had been acquired by the Black-White Academy's senior Immortals during their adventures over countless years.

Very soon.

Ji Ning selected an Immortal Rank Qi Refining cultivation art called the Water Source Commentary.

"An Immortal Rank cultivation art... The finest Qi Refining art in my Ji Clan is only Human Rank." Ji Ning sighed softly as he picked up the golden book. Then, on this floor, he found the second volume of the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map.

The second volume of the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map likewise had nine levels.

They were the tenth level, the eleventh level... all the way to the eighteenth level, corresponding to the Myriad Manifestations, Primordial Spirit, and Return to Void stages.

Because the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map was so widespread and easy to obtain.

Its exchange price in the Dao Treasury Hall was not high. It required only one hundred Black-White Pills, which made Ji Ning breathe a sigh of relief.

He had only six thousand Black-White Pills in total.

To conceal the fact that he had received the intergenerational inheritance of the Three-Foot Sword and prevent outsiders from learning of it,

Immortal Diancai had specifically instructed him that even though he possessed the complete Three-Foot Sword in his mind, he still had to spend two thousand Black-White Pills to exchange for the upper volume of the Three-Foot Sword sword-art manual.

In addition, he had selected the upper volume of the Immortal Rank Qi Refining art, the Water Source Commentary. He wanted White Water Marsh to cultivate it too, which meant exchanging for two copies, costing three thousand Black-White Pills in total.

After calculating it all, he had already spent five thousand one hundred Black-White Pills, leaving only nine hundred.

"It's simply not enough." Ji Ning shook his head and decided to first go to the second floor to see what divine abilities and secret arts were available and how many Black-White Pills they required before making his final choices.

Second floor of the Dao Treasury Hall.

Ji Ning gazed longingly at the tables displaying divine abilities for quite some time before finally taking a copy of the upper volume of Law of Heaven and Earth and leaving.

Law of Heaven and Earth was the most common divine ability, and also the most basic one for Fiendgod Body Refining experts. Nearly everyone knew it.

After mastering it, as one's Body Refining realm rose, activating the Law of Heaven and Earth divine ability could enlarge one's Divine Body to dozens or hundreds of zhang, even thousands or tens of thousands of zhang.

Though basic, it was also a mighty divine ability whose power became increasingly astonishing in the later stages.

However, just like the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map, it was too common, so its exchange price was not high. The upper volume could be exchanged for merely five hundred Black-White Pills.

As for the other divine abilities, the Black-White Academy had four more.

Ji Ning was incredibly tempted by every one of them.

But unfortunately, his purse was empty...

At this moment.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a figure.

Walking over to take a look.

He saw Xia Manggan standing before a table, leafing through a golden book in his hand.

There were four more golden books laid out on the table before him.

Curious about what secret arts and divine abilities Xia Manggan would choose, Ji Ning walked over.

"Senior Brother Xia Mang, have you not finished choosing?" Ji Ning glanced sideways.

The four golden books on the table were, astonishingly, Law of Heaven and Earth, Three Heads and Six Arms, Soul Shaking Technique, and Soul Bewilderment Technique.

The golden book in Xia Manggan's hand was called the Soul Extinguishing Technique.

"Junior Brother Ji Ning, have you finished choosing already?" Xia Manggan smiled as he closed the book. "I happened to see these techniques for attacking with Divine Sense and had some thoughts, so I became absorbed in them."

"Divine Sense attacks?" Ji Ning's eyes lit up. "Divine Sense actually has attack methods?"

When he reincarnated, Lord Cui had guided him in the Underworld and given him the Visualization Method of the Nuwa Map.

His divine soul had now reached the Heaven-Opening Eye Manifestation of Divine Sense level of a Primordial Spirit Daoist.

The strength of his divine soul even surpassed his Qi Refining and Body Refining strength.

Upon hearing that these were methods for attacking with Divine Sense, he was immediately tempted.

"Junior Brother Ji Ning's divine soul has reached the Divine Sense level as well, right? These three are all quite good. You can choose one and learn it."

Xia Manggan smiled faintly. "Take your time looking. I'll head down first."

With that, Xia Manggan picked up the four golden books—Law of Heaven and Earth, Three Heads and Six Arms, Soul Bewilderment Technique, and Soul Extinguishing Technique—then turned and walked toward the stairs.

"Are methods for attacking with Divine Sense very cheap?"

Only after Xia Manggan disappeared from sight did Ji Ning reach out and pick up another copy of the Soul Extinguishing Technique that had reappeared on the table.

This was an effect of the formations within the Dao Treasury Hall. Whenever someone took a book away, another immediately appeared. It was both miraculous and convenient.

"The Soul Extinguishing Technique can compress Divine Sense to an extreme degree, forming a Soul Extinguishing Awl that can directly destroy an enemy's soul like controlling a magic treasure. One must reach the Divine Sense level to use it..." The more Ji Ning read, the brighter his eyes became.

This was a trump-card method tailor-made for someone like him, whose divine soul was exceptionally powerful!

He had never even heard of such a Divine Sense attack method.

No wonder there were only three of them, even fewer than divine abilities.

But when he flipped to the end and saw—

"Ten thousand Black-White Pills!?" Ji Ning was dumbfounded.

Of the several divine abilities that had tempted him for so long, the most expensive cost only five thousand Black-White Pills.

This single Soul Extinguishing Technique required ten thousand Black-White Pills.

That was enough to exchange for three divine abilities.

"I can only stare at it and drool." Ji Ning smiled bitterly.

Now, he truly envied Xia Manggan somewhat.

Having plenty of Essence Liquid was one thing, but he also had so many Black-White Pills.

Too extravagant!

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