Saint-tier Bone Slips

The Book Repository lay within the heart of Wendao Mountain.

Led by a white-haired elder, Xia Yu passed through an array formation and entered the Book Repository.

At the sight of the densely packed books filling the entire mountain interior, Xia Yu stood gaping in astonishment.

There must be tens of thousands of books here. How long would it take to finish them all?

Indeed, Xia Yu had originally intended to read every book in the Book Repository.

But now, he felt he had been far too naive!

"These are collections our predecessors gathered over thousands of years. Remember, treasure them. Do not damage the books."

With that, the elder turned and walked out.

Xia Yu stood dazed for a moment, then looked toward the stone wall beside him.

On the wall was a map showing where the books were stored throughout the mountain interior.

After firmly committing the entire map to memory, Xia Yu walked to one side and picked up a book: Eastern Polar Wasteland Miscellany.

Xia Yu opened it to the main text and began reading slowly.

Xia Yu knew very well that he had many shortcomings.

Since his master had pointed out a path for him, and he, too, thought it was a good one, he would press ahead courageously and strive to follow it.

It was just like when he had fought the young people from other Lineages in Huai City. Once he had decided to fight, he would fight on bravely.

Keep fighting, all the way!

Never admit defeat!

At that moment, Xia Yu entered that same state of mind.

Whether it was for Xia Yao or for himself.

Suddenly, Xia Yu began flipping rapidly through the book he was reading.

He turned to a page, glanced at it once, then swiftly turned to the next, glanced again, and kept going.

He turned the pages faster and faster.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he had flipped through the entire book.

Closing the book, Xia Yu shut his eyes.

Sure enough, everything in the book was stored in his mind.

An identical book appeared in his mind, every word perfectly clear.

It was as though he had copied the whole book.

Wild joy surged through Xia Yu. With such a heaven-defying ability, no amount of books would be enough for him.

At that moment, he brimmed with confidence.

What he did not know was that, in a concealed spot nearby, the elder from earlier was watching him in puzzlement.

He was flipping through the book rather than reading it. It simply felt strange.

Forget it. He's only reading miscellaneous notes anyway.

The elder shook his head and slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, the corners of Xia Yu's mouth lifted. He opened his eyes, his gaze shining with delight, and picked up a second book.

It was another miscellany, and once again, he flipped through it.

This time, he flipped even faster.

After finishing each book, he closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them, picked up the next book, and continued flipping.

And so Xia Yu began flipping through books without stopping.

Three days later, he had finished all the miscellanies on the bottom row.

He moved on to the second row, which held books on the fundamentals of cultivation.

He kept flipping!

Outside, the white-haired elder observing Xia Yu frowned. What exactly was this fellow doing?

Other people read books. He just flipped through them?

Still, he did not disturb Xia Yu.

Ten days later, Xia Yu had flipped through every book in the mountain interior.

He walked toward the entrance, and the white-haired elder appeared before him.

"Finished flipping?" The old man gave him a strange look.

Xia Yu nodded and said, "Yes, I've read them all."

"Read them all? And remembered everything?"

The old man gave a faint snort. You clearly just flipped through them. Do you think I don't know?

Remembered them, my ass! You think this old man is easy to fool, huh?

"Yes, sir. I've committed them all to memory."

Xia Yu was a little puzzled, too. The old man's expression was nowhere near as gentle as when he had first arrived.

He even seemed somewhat displeased with him.

Xia Yu was baffled. He had not offended the elder. In fact, he had been courteous the whole time.

But he soon let it go. Perhaps the old man simply had an eccentric temper.

"You really remembered everything?"

Yet the white-haired elder clearly had no intention of letting him off.

"Yes, sir."

The white-haired elder glared at Xia Yu, so angry that his beard bristled.

Young people never learn anything good. They only play these flashy tricks, deceiving themselves and others.

"Fine, then let me ask you. What does the third page of Cultivation Fundamentals discuss?"

Xia Yu thought for a moment and said, "The third page explains that cultivation must be approached gradually, with a solid foundation. The greatest taboo is an unstable foundation and focusing only on raising one's cultivation realm..."

Hearing Xia Yu recite the third page without missing a single word, the white-haired elder froze briefly.

But he still did not believe it.

"In Great Evolution Sword Art, what is the name of the final move, and how is it cultivated?"

"The Great Evolution Sword Art has fifty moves in total. The final move is The One That Escaped, derived from the saying that the Great Dao numbers fifty, heaven unfolds forty-nine, and one escapes..."

"The general principles on the first page of Eight Wastes Boundless Fist..."

"The general principles state..."

"In Array Formation Compendium, what is the foundation of an array formation?"

"The foundation of an array formation is primarily its array base..."

"In Miscellaneous Notes on Artifact Refining, what are the mandatory requirements for refining weapons above a king weapon?"

"First, the materials. Second, the fire..."

The white-haired elder asked, and Xia Yu answered.

Back and forth they went, the questioning lasting a full six hours.

The white-haired elder was utterly speechless. No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand how merely flipping through books could count as reading them all.

It was simply absurd!

Yet Xia Yu truly answered every question fluently.

He had spent his entire life, hundreds of years, in the Book Repository before he had finally read and memorized every book.

After a long silence, he said in a low, rumbling voice, "Come with me."

The white-haired old man pushed open a small door leading to his living quarters.

Once inside the room, he formed a hand seal and cast it onto a stone wall.

The wall slowly receded, revealing a small array formation within.

"Do you know what formation this is?" the white-haired elder asked.

Xia Yu glanced at it and said, "A Teleportation Array. This is a single-person Teleportation Array, powered by mid-grade spirit stones."

The white-haired elder took out a mid-grade spirit stone and fitted it into place.

"Go in."

"Me?" Xia Yu paused in surprise.

"Do you think I need to go in?" The white-haired elder rolled his eyes.

"Where does this lead?"

"Just go in when I tell you to. Why all the pointless questions?" the white-haired elder snapped.

Xia Yu said no more and stepped inside.

Although he did not know what lay on the other side, he trusted that there would be no danger.

Most likely, there were more precious books inside.

Xia Yu had guessed correctly. Stepping into the Teleportation Array, he appeared in another, unknown space.

The space was small, only the size of an ordinary room.

A row of shelves lined the room's walls, with jade boxes sitting upon them.

There were not many jade boxes, only twenty or so.

He opened one jade box. Inside was not a book, but a bone that radiated a faint golden glow.

Xia Yu froze. It was actually a Bone Slip.

He had only seen Bone Slips described in an ancient book in the Book Repository.

In ancient times, certain great powers of the saint tier had inscribed a strand of their consciousness onto bones to record their legacies. These were known as Bone Slips.

The bones used to make Bone Slips had to come from at least a Saint-tier Cultivator or a Saint-tier Demon Beast.

Such Saint Bones were treasures in their own right. Nourished and nurtured by origin force over long periods, their bones contained saint-tier origin force and could automatically absorb heaven and earth spiritual energy to preserve their vitality.

This method of passing on a legacy was both secure and secret. It could even reject someone it did not wish to accept, preventing the legacy from falling into the wrong hands.

Moreover, such a legacy was not limited to a single use. It could be passed on many times.

Thus, these Bone Slips were also called Sacred Bone Slips or Saint Slips.

Every Bone Slip was of immeasurable value.

And here, there were more than twenty of them.