The sheer change in Elder Sun's attitude was enough to leave anyone speechless.
What was wrong with a False Spirit Embryo?
Chen Yu knew that cultivation was very slow with a False Spirit Embryo, but it wasn't impossible. Did it really warrant such a reaction?
When he had chatted with Xu Yunnian and the not-yet-mad Wang He last night, their attitudes had also taken a sharp turn for the worse upon learning that he had a False Spirit Embryo-exactly like Elder Sun now!
"A False Spirit Embryo... Haha."
"The second Dao Sect disciple in nearly a century to rise from a registered disciple to the Outer Sect, and he has a False Spirit Embryo too..."
"Interesting..."
"Very interesting indeed!"
The old man sitting beside the entrance to the Scripture Repository burst out laughing.
At those words, Chen Yu looked at him in surprise. "I'm the second disciple in a century to rise from a registered disciple to the Outer Sect?"
"That's right."
The old man at the entrance to the Scripture Repository spoke mildly.
Everyone knew that an old man guarding a vital sect location like the Scripture Repository usually wasn't an ordinary old man. At the very least, he would be an old man with a story.
Now Elder Sun had left without so much as looking back.
The Dao Sect only allowed him to choose one cultivation art for free. Although he had a system and could gain experience points simply by simulating the cultivation process, he still had to choose his art with the utmost care.
If he could get some information out of this man...
Chen Yu withdrew the right leg he had been about to step into the Scripture Repository with and asked the old man before him, "Then who was the first?"
"Me."
Sure enough, he wasn't an ordinary old man!
Chen Yu immediately asked, "You have a False Spirit Embryo too?"
"Mm." Reclining in his rocking chair, the old man glanced at Chen Yu. "I know what you're thinking. There's a supreme art on shelf number five in the seventh row on the first floor. If you have the guts, choose it."
With that, the old man closed his eyes and laid a book over his face, cutting off their bridge of communication.
Shelf number five, seventh row, first floor.
Chen Yu committed the location to memory and cupped his hands toward the old man. "Thank you, Senior."
With that, he stepped into the Scripture Repository.
There were many wooden bookshelves inside the Scripture Repository, with cultivation manuals neatly arranged like books in a library.
Chen Yu went straight to shelf number five in the seventh row and saw a cultivation manual titled "True Essence Profound Canon" sitting there all alone.
He reached out and picked up the "True Essence Profound Canon."
He opened it,
only to find that what was written inside wasn't a method of cultivation.
Instead, it was-
[Supreme art. (Left after 7 days of cultivation)] [An unparalleled supreme art! (Left after 30 days of cultivation)] [This art accords with the Dao of the Five Elements. Master it, and you can be invincible among those at your level! (Left after 45 days of cultivation)] [Junior, if you're reading this, it means you've made the right choice! The "True Essence Profound Canon" is indisputably the strongest art on this first floor. I, Zhang Jiuge, reached the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining in just two years thanks to it. Now I've reached the Qi Refining Sixth-Layer Peak, just one step away from breaking through to the seventh and becoming an Inner Sect disciple! Trust me. Choose it, and you absolutely can't go wrong! (Left after 3 years of cultivation)] [Holy shit, Zhang Jiuge?! A god!] [God Zhang is fucking awesome!]
It looked like a review section for this cultivation art.
Chen Yu flipped a few more pages.
Without exception,
every single review was positive.
He flipped all the way to the back of the manual, where a jade slip appeared before him. A line of explanatory text beside it read: [Inject Spiritual Power into this jade slip to obtain the complete contents of the cultivation art "True Essence Profound Canon."]
"Not a single bad review. Is this art really that good?"
If there were a few negative or mixed reviews among a large number of positive ones, it was probably pretty good.
But if every review was positive without exception... then Chen Yu had to wonder whether someone had deliberately flooded it with fake praise.
"No rush. There's no time limit anyway. I'll look at the other arts first."
To be safe, Chen Yu put the "True Essence Profound Canon" back for the time being.
He wandered around the other shelves.
He had to admit that the Dao Sect deserved its place among the four great sects of the Eastern Continent. The Scripture Repository contained an enormous number of cultivation arts, covering a comprehensive range.
"Iceheart Art," "Golden Meng Art," "Mountain-Shaking Art," "Flame-Transforming Art"...
The dazzling array left his eyes swimming.
By comparison, the "review sections" of these arts were much more normal. But judging by the comments left by his "predecessors," their strength fell far short of the "True Essence Profound Canon."
So, after making a full circuit, Chen Yu ultimately returned to the "True Essence Profound Canon."
"If I'm going to cultivate, I'll cultivate the strongest!"
"With the system at my side, it doesn't matter how difficult this art is to cultivate. After all, I only need to simulate its cultivation process."
With that thought, Chen Yu injected a thread of spiritual energy into the jade slip.
A passage appeared in his mind.
"True Essence Profound Canon: Qi Refining Section."
"The Great Dao numbers fifty; heaven unfolds forty-nine, and man escapes as the remaining one. The five elements-metal, wood, water, fire, and earth-are the foundation of heaven and earth, the root of all things. Chaos divides and the five elements take their places; yin and yang unite and give birth to all things. Thus, the path of cultivation seeks to build the foundation of the supreme Dao..."
Chen Yu closed his eyes to digest the art. Nearly an hour later, he opened them.
"I've been had!"
"This art is so damned difficult to cultivate!"
It wasn't difficult to cultivate-it was expensive to cultivate.
"The art itself only lets you cultivate to the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining. After that, every breakthrough requires you to cultivate an additional art corresponding to one of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, or earth. Only upon reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining and completing all five elements can you establish your foundation..."
"It really is powerful, but every breakthrough means spending spirit resonance to buy another cultivation art!"
At that point, Chen Yu suddenly understood why the "True Essence Profound Canon" had nothing but glowing reviews.
They had been caught in the rain themselves and couldn't bear to see anyone else holding an umbrella!
A bunch of animals!
Fuming, Chen Yu opened the "True Essence Profound Canon" to its review section.
Reading those comments, he felt as though he could see those wretched little gutter rats lying through their teeth, brimming with malice as they dragged newcomers into the fiery pit.
Naturally, Chen Yu would never stoop to joining their ranks.
[I strongly advise against it! First, although it is unquestionably the strongest art on the first floor, and mastering it really can make you invincible among those at your level and get you into the Inner Sect with room to spare, it is genuinely very difficult to cultivate, unless you have considerable confidence in yourself and can endure hardship! Second, because I'm going to cultivate this art myself. (Left after 0 days of cultivation)]
Having written down his fair-minded opinion, every word of it true, he put the manual back.
Chen Yu left the Scripture Repository.
"What did you choose?"
The old man reclining in the rocking chair by the entrance asked.
Chen Yu answered, "The 'True Essence Profound Canon.'"
"You actually chose it?" The old man was surprised.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I?" Chen Yu said through gritted teeth. "If I'm going to cultivate, I'll cultivate the strongest!"
"All right."
The old man nodded and pointed Chen Yu toward a road to ruin.
"Elder Sun's 'Sun Zheng Loans' offers pretty good value compared with the lending services of other organizations. You won't be able to borrow much with a False Spirit Embryo, but a little is better than nothing. It should be enough to help you reach the sixth level of Qi Refining."
"..."