Outer Sect Technique Pavilion

Kong Jiao's thoughts immediately began to race.

The Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture really was no simple technique. There was another opportunity waiting to be uncovered.

At the same time, Kong Jiao's impression of Dan Baifeng improved.

The fact that she had come specifically to tell him this showed that she truly remembered his kindness.

Now he could ask what method he could use to take the fragmentary scripture out of the Technique Pavilion.

Stealing or robbing it was obviously out of the question.

That was the Technique Pavilion, not the Miscellaneous Books Pavilion. Anyone who even entertained crooked thoughts would be killed a hundred times over.

"Senior Sister Baifeng, I understand." Kong Jiao bowed deeply, then put on a look of reluctance and asked, "But I've been cultivating the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture for more than two and a half years. I really don't want to switch to another technique."

"Is there any way to redeem that fragmentary scripture from the Technique Pavilion? I want to study it carefully. Maybe there's still a chance."

Kong Jiao's reaction was entirely understandable.

Switching cultivation techniques was time-consuming and arduous. For someone with poor aptitude like Kong Jiao, it was only natural to feel reluctant.

Dan Baifeng didn't suspect a thing. She shook her head and advised him, "I understand your predicament, but Cangwu Sect has had wave after wave of disciples cultivating the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture. Quite a few have borrowed the original scripture from the Technique Pavilion, and none of them figured anything out. You should give up."

"Senior Sister Baifeng, where there's a will, there's a way!" Kong Jiao pursed his lips stubbornly.

Dan Baifeng sighed. Seeing that her advice was getting nowhere, she finally told him how to redeem the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture.

"Many disciples have redeemed the original scriptures of the techniques they cultivate. There are countless Wheel-Nourishing Realm techniques in our Cangwu Sect, and there are ways to redeem them."

"The simplest and most direct way is to pay with Spirit Crystals!"

"Otherwise, the sect has rules for rewards and punishments. Disciples who contribute to the sect can redeem them with contribution points."

After thanking her sincerely, Kong Jiao saw Dan Baifeng off.

He didn't go into his hut. Instead, he stood at the entrance, lost in deep thought.

He even failed to notice how the extra two points of fortune had thickened the white mist above his head.

His mind was entirely occupied with how to get his hands on the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture.

And claim the opportunity waiting beyond it.

Redeeming it with contribution points was out of the question. Kong Jiao had never accepted a Bounty Order, nor had he gone to the Commission Office to take on an assigned task.

Those were the only two ways to earn contribution points.

That left Kong Jiao with only one option: buy it with Spirit Crystals!

Three months ago, he would have been at a loss.

But now, he was loaded, with more than five hundred Spirit Crystals to his name.

"I'll buy it! I'm going to the Technique Pavilion right now to see how many Spirit Crystals that Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture costs. Cangwu Sect has plenty of Wheel-Nourishing Realm techniques. It can't possibly be outrageously expensive."

Kong Jiao gritted his teeth. He didn't even shut the door before heading straight for the Outer Sect Technique Pavilion.

The Outer Sect Technique Pavilion was one of Cangwu Sect's foundations. Nearly all the techniques cultivated by the sect's outer disciples came from there.

This showed just how important the Outer Sect Technique Pavilion was. It was nothing like the Miscellaneous Books Pavilion where Kong Jiao had worked before.

Besides cultivation techniques, one could also find all kinds of Wheel-Nourishing Realm arts, alchemical texts, artifact-refining methods, and formations in the Outer Sect Technique Pavilion.

It was therefore a vital hub of Cangwu Sect, and the sect always assigned an elder to guard it.

Anyone who wanted to borrow a book there had to pay with contribution points or Spirit Crystals.

No one dared cause trouble there.

Kong Jiao had borrowed the Water-Drawing Formula from the Technique Pavilion for twenty Spirit Crystals.

So he was no stranger to the place, and arrived in less than half an incense stick's time.

Outer Sect disciples streamed through the Technique Pavilion. Some frowned over books of cultivation techniques, while others quietly discussed their experience with alchemy.

Still others were completely absorbed in searching for an art suited to their cultivation.

There were many disciples, but the place remained quiet.

That was largely because they were cowed by the elder in the center of the Technique Pavilion, whose aura was as deep as the sea.

But a startled cry suddenly shattered the Pavilion's calm.

"Three hundred Spirit Crystals! Are you sure that's right?" Kong Jiao rarely lost his composure, but when he heard the redemption price for the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture fragment, he couldn't help raising his voice.

He stared in disbelief at the old man before him, who was casually teasing a little bird in its cage.

This was Zhao Wei, the sect elder assigned to guard the Technique Pavilion, known as Steward Zhao.

Kong Jiao's outburst naturally drew the attention of the disciples inside the Pavilion, but they soon looked away, not lingering.

"Steward Zhao, it's only a Wheel-Nourishing Realm technique. How could it possibly cost so much? Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?" Kong Jiao noticed his outburst and quickly lowered his voice, looking at Zhao Wei earnestly.

He wasn't a newly initiated disciple. He had a general idea of how much a Wheel-Nourishing Realm technique was worth.

Even an ordinary technique would cost no more than two hundred Spirit Crystals.

Zhao Wei was plainly asking an exorbitant price.

"No mistake." Zhao Wei glanced sideways at Kong Jiao, then reached up and smoothed his thinning white hair before explaining, "Wheel-Nourishing Realm techniques aren't particularly expensive. What's expensive is the material the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture is recorded on."

"That thing is a valuable material for refining artifacts. An old fellow from the Artifact Refining Pavilion has had his eye on it for ages. If the Technique Pavilion didn't have rules against damaging its scriptures, he'd have taken it to refine an artifact long ago."

"So I'm only charging you for the material the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture is recorded on."

"If you weren't already cultivating the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture, the sect's rules would never allow me to sell you this fragment."

Zhao Wei's explanation made Kong Jiao's lips droop. He felt thoroughly aggrieved.

But Zhao Wei kept invoking the sect's rules, and Kong Jiao couldn't find a reason to argue.

"Are you buying it or not?" Zhao Wei's tone grew impatient. He'd probably assumed that a disciple at only the third level of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm could never have that many Spirit Crystals.

"I'm buying!" Kong Jiao steeled himself and practically ground the word out through clenched teeth.

"Who would've thought you were so rich, kid?" Zhao Wei chuckled teasingly and, without delay, swept his arm toward the interior of the Technique Pavilion.

A jade slip flew out from one of the many shelves and landed in his weathered hand.

Only when he saw the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture itself did Kong Jiao truly understand that Zhao Wei hadn't been exaggerating.

It was a jade slip about half the size of his palm.

It was crescent-shaped, smooth and pale, with a faint shimmer. At a glance, it was clearly extraordinary.

Evidently, Zhao Wei was telling the truth when he said the fragment could be used as a material for refining artifacts.

Kong Jiao didn't hesitate. He poured the Spirit Crystals he'd prepared onto the table in one heap.

Only then did he take the fragment from Zhao Wei.

Before handing it over, Zhao Wei kindly reminded him, "Think it over, kid. Once you redeem it, there are no returns."

"Countless people have borrowed and studied the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture, and none of them figured it out. Unless you find the other half of the scripture, it'll remain incomplete."

"The Technique Pavilion has plenty of incomplete techniques like this."

"Plenty of young people like you, unwilling to give up, have tried to find clues. In the end, they all failed."

"This junior understands." Kong Jiao nodded slightly as he took the jade slip.

The fragment was light and smooth in his hand, as if coated in a layer of moisture.

But when his fingers slid across it, there wasn't a trace of water.

As soon as he took the fragment, the Frostfall Spiritual Power within him seemed to sense it and began circulating on its own.

That confirmed for Kong Jiao that the fragment was genuine.

The matter was settled, and Kong Jiao had no reason to stay.

He bowed to Steward Zhao, then left on his own.

"Such youthful arrogance." Zhao Wei watched Kong Jiao's departing figure and shook his head slightly.

He hadn't lied. Cangwu Sect's collection of scriptures and arts was countless, and there were plenty of incomplete techniques and arts like the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture.

Some of them were even wondrous.

Over the past hundred years, plenty of disciples who refused to believe the truth had chased after those elusive things, trying to piece them back together.

In the end, nine out of ten met with a bad outcome.

Zhao Wei had been around long enough to understand how young people thought.

Too many thought themselves exceptional, but very few truly stood out.