Myriad Poison Ridge

Cheng Yang arrived before the Five Elements Sect's martial arts repository.

A massive stone hall rose before him. Its doors stood a full three zhang high, the two heavy stone gates thrown open. Above the entrance hung a huge plaque with a black background and gold lettering; the strokes of the words "Martial Arts Repository" were bold and vigorous. Two repository-guarding disciples stood at the doorway.

Cheng Yang handed over his chief disciple jade token. The disciple on the left accepted it, glanced at it, then looked Cheng Yang over before giving a slight nod. As he returned the token and stepped aside, he said, "The chief disciple may enter the third floor. You may browse the first and second floors freely, but you must leave your name in the registry to enter the third."

Cheng Yang nodded in thanks and stepped through the doors.

The interior of the martial arts repository was even more spacious than it appeared from outside. The ceiling arched high overhead, set with rows of fist-sized luminous pearls that cast a soft, even light across the entire space.

The first-floor hall was filled with wooden shelves, packed tightly with bamboo slips and thread-bound books. They were divided by category—fist arts, palm arts, leg techniques, weapon techniques—and each category was arranged from low to high grade.

Cheng Yang swept his gaze over them without stopping, then headed up the stairs at the end of the hall.

The second floor was somewhat darker than the first, and there were far fewer books on its shelves. Yet every volume was tied with ribbons of different colors, and their grades were clearly a whole level higher than those below.

Several disciples were browsing the shelves. Hearing footsteps, they looked up at Cheng Yang, then lowered their heads and continued