The Main Storyline, Part Two: The Demi-Immortal's Book

Jiang Chen carefully weighed the words: Main Storyline, Part Two, "The Demi-Immortal's Book," was now available. Did he wish to watch it immediately and take part in the story simulation?

In other words, once he watched it, he would have to simulate participating in the story three times, then choose one outcome to merge with reality.

Once he started, there would be no turning back.

Even if he chose an ending where he did nothing, knowing part of the future would, to some extent, change it.

Perhaps that was the true meaning of the [Butterfly Effect].

Of course, to Jiang Chen, every main storyline was an opportunity. Whether he could seize it was another matter.

For now, he would see what this storyline held.

"Watch the story!"

Time and space froze in an instant. Only Jiang Chen's divine sense could move.

The scene opened in a dim archive.

There were no windows in its four walls, yet it was not entirely dark. A broom stood in the corner, and dust and cobwebs covered the shelves.

In the cultivation world, techniques were generally preserved in jade slips.

Books were mostly incomplete or sealed ancient texts.

No one had mastered these texts, or their contents could no longer be reproduced. They were difficult to inscribe in jade slips, and the books could not be spiritually bound and stored in a Storage Ring, so the Scripture Pavilion kept them.

There were plenty of old books and forbidden arts like these. Most were dross, but now and then, someone could sift out gold.

An old man in his eighties or nineties sat cross-legged in a hole in the wall, a book on his knees. He had caught a firefly for light.

He turned the pages by hand, one after another, trying to recreate the techniques within.

But failure after failure drove him nearly mad. His features twisted into an indescribable mass of writhing flesh as he screamed in fury through his divine sense:

"Where in the world is the Demi-Immortal's Book?!"

Jiang Chen had not expected to hear a character's divine sense while watching the original story, though he still could not hear their thoughts.

From the old man's features, twisted into writhing flesh, Jiang Chen was certain he was a member of the Devil Race hiding here.

As for this so-called demi-immortal technique... could it be a way to attain immortality?

Could Tian Mingye and the Thousand-Faced Fox be trying to have the Heavenly Demon Sect seize the Azure Mist Sect for this very technique?

Where was this place?

Jiang Chen controlled the scene and pulled his viewpoint back.

Only then did he discover that this was the basement of the Scripture Pavilion on Myriad Laws Peak... not especially well known, but still a forbidden area of the peak.

He checked the temperature and the sun's position. Both were essentially the same as at Tranquil Heart Peak, where he stood.

Jiang Chen was certain this story was about to unfold.

He even swung his viewpoint across a wide area, all the way to Tranquil Heart Peak.

There he saw himself and Senior Sister Liu...

This god's-eye view was incredible!

The story of the next twelve hours showed that if he did not get involved, he and Liu Ruyan would chat for a while, then each go home, find their own mothers, and get on with their cultivation.

Neither would take part in the main storyline, nor would any sparks beyond friendship fly between them.

Am I really that dull?

Jiang Chen laughed at himself, then wound the story back. His view returned to the basement of the Scripture Pavilion on Myriad Laws Peak.

After a bout of helpless rage, the ancient man in the wall cavity could only emerge from the deep recess, return the book, and choose another.

Suddenly, another hand came down on the book beside his: a sharp-clawed one.

Just as the claws were about to pierce it, the old man looked up at a Jiao Serpent with a human head and said quietly:

"Old Jiao, don't stand in my way. The Demon Race can never attain immortality!"

Looking closely, the Jiao Serpent was less than a zhang long, yet its presence was formidable.

Though it was a demon, only its head seemed to remain human. The rest had reverted to a jiao's body.

"I carry the blood of the Elder Dragon Clan. How could I compare to a lowly devil like you? From the moment you became a devil, human blood stained your hands. How could you ever attain immortality? I, for one, have never eaten a human!"

Jiang Chen stared, dumbfounded. A demon and a devil had actually come to the Azure Mist Sect's Scripture Pavilion to seek a path to immortality.

And why had no one discovered them on Myriad Laws Peak, deep in the inner sect?

Now the demon and devil were locked in a dispute. Neither dared release demonic energy or Demonic Flame, so they could only keep putting more brute force into it.

Soon, with a rrrip, the book tore apart.

Only then did they discover that it was a wordless book, its writing and inner spiritual patterns erased.

That only made it seem all the more extraordinary!

"The Demi-Immortal's Book!"

Both lunged for it. They fought fiercely over the wordless heavenly book, knocking the shelves askew.

Suddenly.

The torn pages caught fire on their own and crumbled to ash in glowing flecks.

By the firelight, the two finally noticed a young book attendant standing at the entrance with a broom in hand.

"Your first fight in six months. Demons and devils as well-behaved as you are rare these days."

As he spoke, the young attendant waved a hand, and the crooked shelves returned to their places.

The stray demonic energy and Demonic Flame were sealed within the basement as well. Not a trace escaped.

The air underground suddenly grew heavy.

Looking again, the attendant appeared eleven or twelve, with gray at both temples. His calm gaze carried the weight of years.

Jiang Chen was particularly astonished. He had heard of sweeping monks, but never a sweeping book attendant.

"Who are you?"

They asked together.

The attendant had, in fact, come to sweep away dust and cobwebs every month. Clearly, though, there was more to him than that.

The attendant asked in return:

"How did you two learn that my Azure Mist Sect possessed a so-called Demi-Immortal's Book?"

"None of your business!"

"If you tell me the truth, I'll tell you what's in the Demi-Immortal's Book."

"How would a mere book attendant know?"

"Because this old man was this sect's first elder of Myriad Laws Peak, and the creator of the so-called Demi-Immortal's Book."

As he spoke, the attendant's spiritual pressure surged. His back hunched, and his refined features slowly became an aged face, furrowed like a landscape of ravines and dry as firewood.

"Nascent Soul Peak!"

The two cried out in surprise.

The aged attendant shook his head, hands clasped behind his back.

"Six months ago, you two were at the Nascent Soul level yourselves. Unfortunately, there is no spiritual energy here, and you cultivated the wrong forbidden art. Your cultivation has fallen to Peak Golden Core."

Knowing they could not escape, the two came clean:

"No harm in telling you. My information came from Gray Castle's Xihe Prefecture branch, from an informant named Guiqi."

"Yours came from Guiqi too? To think Gray Castle, famous for its trustworthiness, sold the same intelligence twice!"

Jiang Chen had heard of Gray Castle.

It was a merchant association that traded rare goods, posted bounty missions, and gathered intelligence. Renowned for its trustworthiness, it operated beyond the Dagan Dynasty's rule.

The old attendant suddenly relaxed and sighed.

"I'm afraid Gray Castle's intelligence was false. The Azure Mist Sect has no so-called Demi-Immortal's Book. What it has is the technique I created, the Form-Returning Book.

"As its name suggests, when demons cultivate it, they gradually lose their human form and return to being awakened spirit beasts.

"When devils cultivate it, they gradually shed their demonic features and return to human form.

"When humans cultivate it, even an exceptionally gifted Single Spiritual Root degenerates into a Five-Element Endowment. That, too, is a kind of return to form."

The demon and devil did not believe a word of it.

"Then why did you create it?"

The old attendant gave a dry laugh.

"There is another kind of cultivator: one whose Root Bone is abysmal, with something close to a Five-Element Endowment. If such a person cultivates this technique, a sunken abyssal sea of qi forms within their dantian.

"Their rate of absorbing spiritual energy doesn't change at all. It couldn't get any lower anyway.

"But with that abyssal sea of qi, they can gently absorb demonic energy and Demonic Flame and convert them into their own spiritual power.

"In other words, their talent remains the same, but their diet for absorbing energy expands.

"Compared with their previous talent, their cultivation speeds up, and they can master all sorts of forbidden arts more easily."

Jiang Chen was a little lost. He replayed that passage several times.

The Star-Absorbing Technique? But not quite so extreme.

More like the Nine Yin Manual: the way of heaven takes from what has excess and makes up what is lacking...

If someone of mediocre talent cultivates this technique, their talent gets even worse, but they can absorb demonic energy. Could they even dual cultivate with demons and devils?

Take one step back to advance two. A solution when there's no good solution.

The old attendant continued:

"Back then, I too had only middling talent. I created and cultivated this technique, retreating in order to advance. Only then could I merge the spiritual power of demons, devils, and humans, study myriad arts, and finally form a Nascent Soul. That was how I lived to this day.

"For someone with talent like mine, the Form-Returning Book was naturally an enormous breakthrough.

"But for you two, with your extraordinary gifts, the Form-Returning Book is little more than a chicken rib.

"Now... do you still want it?"

Whether the demon and devil still wanted it or not, Jiang Chen certainly did.

The demon and devil suddenly froze. The more they heard, the more wrong it sounded.

"In these six months, not only has our cultivation fallen, but our bodies have been reverting too..."

"Wait. The informant who gave Gray Castle that intelligence—Guiqi—that wasn't you, was it?"

At that, a chill crawled down Jiang Chen's spine.