Genius Always Has Privileges!

Jiang Xuan had even built a Scripture Repository in Yellow Mud Village.

He had willingly abandoned the ready-made houses in the center of Yellow Mud Village and insisted on making his residence beside Winter Lake for this very reason—the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword was the most arduous and perilous cultivation path in all of Four Seasons Valley. Few were willing to set foot upon it.

This area was remote and deserted, with few visitors. Even if he radically remodeled the courtyard and expanded his grounds, he would not disturb anyone.

Jiang Xuan had gone to such lengths to move both Profound Heart Abbey and the Scripture Repository here for more than a passing whim. He had three reasons for doing so:

First, a spiritual land. The first requirement for a Daoist Acolyte taking up the post was to find a spiritual land and settle within it.

Scripture Mystic Daoist was the advanced profession of a Daoist Acolyte.

Jiang Xuan had also learned from the Gourmet employment event that completing hidden conditions well enough could raise a profession's grade.

Under such circumstances, if given the chance, he would naturally choose a better spiritual land in which to settle.

Second, safety.

In Green Bamboo Town, even after building the Scripture Repository, Jiang Xuan would have had to constantly worry about someone stealing its scriptures.

Yellow Mud Village was different. Sect elders guarded the place, and his residence was not far from Granny Blue's. He had no need for such concerns at all.

Third, copying texts.

A sect's Scripture Repository was the foundation of its lineage. The core secret arts ranked among the Twenty-Four Solar Terms required blood oaths and restrictive seals before one could cultivate them.

The lesser arts were not subject to such harsh requirements, but they were still strictly forbidden from leaving the repository. Even the most ordinary texts—cultivation notes left by predecessors and travel miscellanies—could not be taken away without permission according to the rules.

If Jiang Xuan had built his Scripture Repository in Green Bamboo Town, then even with Xia He's help, he would not have been able to take away ordinary texts or cultivation notes from the repository, nor copy them—these were the foundations of Four Seasons Valley.

But Jiang Xuan had established his own Scripture Repository inside Yellow Mud Village, right beneath the watchful eyes of the elders!

In that case, even if he took some ordinary texts and copied a few cultivation notes into his own repository, anyone with objections would merely shake their heads and sigh, "That child has a strange temperament."

Gifted prodigies of extraordinary brilliance often stepped outside ordinary conventions as well, carrying intense personal traits and peculiarities.

Some slept as if their lives depended on it, some were so obsessed with swords that they became mad, and some were taciturn. Jiang Xuan had even learned from Xia He that in Zi Dao Academy, someone was obsessed with the portraits he painted. That person had already held three weddings with his own portrait within the academy.

Compared to such people, Jiang Xuan being fanatically fond of books and wanting to build a Scripture Repository of his own was practically normal.

Besides, his reasoning was flawless.

Over the past few days, Jiang Xuan had spent more than half of every day in the Scripture Repository. Thanks to the Purifying Heart Incantation and Heart: Sincerity (Sword), he read with exceptional focus there—calling him free of distractions would not have been an exaggeration.

For someone like Jiang Xuan to say that he loved books, preferred quiet, and wanted to build a Scripture Repository exclusively his own, no one would find anything improper about it.

Even the elder overseeing Four Seasons Valley's Scripture Repository had found nothing unusual in Jiang Xuan's actions. Instead, he had personally selected more than a dozen books suitable for Jiang Xuan's current stage of cultivation and sent them over.

Thus, Jiang Xuan's Scripture Repository was built, and it now held more than eight hundred volumes.

Yes, eight hundred.

There were so many for two reasons. First, the Scripture Repository elder had turned a blind eye to Jiang Xuan copying ordinary texts out of consideration for Xia He. Second, Spirit Stones.

During the previous assessment, Jiang Xuan had made a wager with Guo Shaoshang and Zeng Jun from the academy, ultimately winning a sweeping victory. Later, when he was rated outstanding, the academy awarded him more than a hundred Spirit Stones. He handed all of them to Dong Hao and asked him to scour the area for texts. Only then did the collection in his Scripture Repository gradually grow richer. Yet:

"Still not enough. To advance into a Scripture Mystic Daoist, the more books there are here, the better. Even if I have to make do, I must gather three thousand."

In Daoism, many numbers carried special meanings. Three thousand was one of them.

"Three represents the beginning of all things, while thousand represents multitude and the utmost limit. Multiplying the two creates completeness, infinity, and all-encompassing vastness."

"Three thousand Daoist scriptures may very well be the minimum threshold for a Scripture Mystic Daoist to transform into a Purple Precious Grade profession."

The gap from eight hundred to three thousand was undoubtedly enormous, especially since Jiang Xuan had no intention of cutting corners.

"If I accumulate them myself, it will take as long as a year, or at least three months." Having considered this, Jiang Xuan immediately shook his head.

That was too long. He could not afford to wait, nor did he wish to delay becoming a Scripture Mystic Daoist any longer.

"So I still have to set my sights on Four Seasons Valley's Scripture Repository?"

Turning his gaze toward the repository, Jiang Xuan had no thoughts of theft or concealment.

He did not even brood over the matter alone. Instead, he summoned Xia He and bluntly asked how he could copy more texts, preferably cultivation methods and Daoist scriptures of higher grades.

"..." Jiang Xuan's idea left Xia He speechless. She covered her face and rubbed her forehead for a long while before sighing. "Junior Brother Jiang, if there are any cultivation methods you wish to learn or Daoist scriptures you wish to read, you can study them directly in Four Seasons Valley's Scripture Repository."

"In the repository, even if you want to go to the second, third, or even fourth floor, I can help you find a way."

"But taking cultivation methods out of there does not conform to the valley's rules, and there truly is no need for it."

Xia He's words made perfect sense. No matter how one looked at it, reading in Four Seasons Valley's Scripture Repository was the best choice for Jiang Xuan.

However, he wanted to become a Scripture Mystic Daoist and raise that profession to Purple Precious Grade. That meant he had to build a Scripture Repository that belonged solely to him.

And because the profession system was a secret he had to hide at all costs, Jiang Xuan could not tell Xia He the truth.

In the end, he could only cup his hands, his face full of apology. "Sorry for the trouble, Senior Sister. But I truly love books, and I dream of having a Scripture Repository that belongs to me alone."

"Besides, I feel that within my own Scripture Repository, I will comprehend Daoist arts more quickly."

"..." Jiang Xuan's persistence only made Xia He more helpless.

Still, when she considered that Jiang Xuan's increased strength and better ranking at the grand event that was the Hundred-Day Grand Examination would also benefit Four Seasons Valley, she began racking her brains to devise a workable solution for him.

After a long while, she barely came up with a method that could hardly be called a method.

"Even I cannot keep breaking Four Seasons Valley's rules. This is not a place where my father's word alone decides everything. Many elders and senior elders cannot be commanded even by my father."

"And Junior Brother Jiang, ever since you came to Four Seasons Valley..." Xia He felt somewhat embarrassed to say the rest.

Jiang Xuan was embarrassed as well, but he answered openly, "Senior Sister, you can say it directly... Since coming to Four Seasons Valley, I have indeed only received care and have not contributed the slightest bit. So, do you want me to do something for the valley?"

"Not do something." Xia He shook her head, her tone solemn. "Display your talent. Four Seasons Valley has rules, but genius always has privileges! As long as you show enough potential, the valley can make an exception for you."

She had even thought of the right time for Jiang Xuan to display it. "The second round of academy assessments! If you can make a stunning debut in this assessment, the valley will most likely agree to your request. But... if you want those elders to truly look at you in a new light, merely placing in the top ten will be far from enough."

Her final words did not trouble Jiang Xuan. Instead, he laughed.

"Haha, in Four Seasons Valley, I have eaten so many spiritual fruits and vegetables, and received the finest instruction. Under such circumstances, if I merely entered the top ten, then even without you saying so, Senior Sister, I would be too ashamed to bring this up again."

"Make a stunning debut and take first place? I will strive to do it!"