The next update probably wouldn't make it before midnight. I could only shamelessly ask all my fellow readers to put in some effort over the next two hours!
A Record Book was the common name for the mystic registers and treasure registers of the Daoist schools, the credential by which one entered the Dao. Among reclusive Daoist sects such as the Shangqing Sect, it was especially valued. Once one entered the Dao, "receiving the registers after taking the precepts" was an indispensable key ritual.
Since Dharma Registers were largely formed from the names of ghosts, immortals, and gods, along with talismanic script and spiritual diagrams, those who wielded them could summon and command immortals and ghosts, dispatch and employ deities. Compared with mystic talisman arts and implements such as spirit talismans, Dharma Seals, and banners, they carried an additional wonder of inheritance and were a crucial link in the transmission of a sect's Daoist arts.
Though Yu Ci cultivated Shangqing methods, he had never received a Shangqing register. Back then, that undoubtedly made him a fake Daoist. In truth, the only Dharma Register he had ever seen in his life was the Eight Edicts of Shangqing for Summoning Dragons. This treasure register had been left behind by Daoist Huifeng's master's lineage. It was now practically the treasure that guarded Siding Institute, and even Sword Discussion Pavilion seemed quite tempted by it.
Of course, the Eight Edicts of Shangqing for Summoning Dragons was one of the Shangqing Sect's twenty-four treasure registers. Its status was utterly unlike that of ordinary Dharma Registers, and Yu Ci had not expected the Dharma Register at this trade fair to reach that level.
At this moment, Shen Wan had already taken out the Dharma Register. It was a square, substantial book, roughly three-tenths of a foot