The Scripture Pavilion

The next day, Xiao Yu arose in high spirits. After straightening his robes slightly, he left the herb garden and flew his magical tool off in a certain direction.

The place Xiao Yu wanted to go was the sect's Scripture Pavilion. He had asked around previously and heard that all sect disciples were granted one free opportunity to enter the Scripture Pavilion to consult various materials, cultivation techniques, secret arts, and more.

It was just that consulting these materials required payment, and Xiao Yu wanted to try his luck there to see if he could find the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Scripture Pavilion was located on the mountainside of Morning Glow Peak within the sect. It was the dedicated repository for Giant Sword Sect magical tools, alchemy recipes, books, and cultivation techniques and secret arts, making it arguably one of the most important places in the entire mountain gate.

Consequently, not only were restrictions numerous here and formations layered one upon another, but many disciples constantly patrolled the vicinity to guard against foreign invasion. Rumors even held that a Core Formation Stage grand-uncle recluse lived in seclusion here year-round to prevent other formidable experts from infiltrating the place.

As soon as Xiao Yu landed, he already felt several watchful gazes probing him multiple times from the shadows. However, sensing that Xiao Yu's cultivation was ordinary, they quickly withdrew. Even so, it still gave Xiao Yu a secret shock.

Because in his sense, these people's cultivation levels were clearly all above his, making him even more cautious.

After taking a few steps forward, he stopped before a hall door. Hung above the hall door was a plaque carved with the three sweeping, dragon-flying-phoenix-dancing characters for "Scripture Pavilion". Most of the vast main hall was embedded directly into the cliff face, leaving only a channel a zhang long exposed, plus a bronze gate with a pale blue light barrier before it.

Xiao Yu walked forward a few steps, then chanted a spell in a low voice and flicked his hand, sending a beam of red light flying from his hand to strike the pale blue light barrier.

Before long, through the light barrier, the bronze gate inside could be seen being opened from within as a disciple wearing black emerged.

After this person cast a few hand seals, the pale blue light barrier rippled before abruptly revealing a light-portal just wide enough for a single person to pass through.

"Were you the one who sent the Sound Transmission Talisman?" the black-robed disciple said coldly.

"Greetings, Master Uncle! Disciple Xiao Yu is-" As soon as the light-portal appeared, Xiao Yu sensed the Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual pressure emanating from this person and moved to bow, only to be cut off before he could finish.

"I don't care who you are! Hand over your identity token!" the Foundation Establishment cultivator said impatiently to Xiao Yu.

Hearing this unceremonious speech, Xiao Yu dared not dally, hurriedly groping an ink-colored token from his bosom before tossing it toward the person.

The master uncle gave a light beckoning gesture, and as a result, Xiao Yu's identity token flew accurately into his hand as though it had grown wings.

He glanced over it briefly and spoke:

"Not bad, you're a sect disciple and only entered during the previous recruitment wave. You may enter the Scripture Pavilion for free this time, but you'll have to pay the next time. Put this away and follow me!" With that, he tossed Xiao Yu's identity token back and turned to walk inside the bronze gate.

Xiao Yu hurriedly quickened his pace to keep up. Entering the gate, the only thing that met his gaze was a hall several zhang wide, with a few zafu meditation mats placed in one corner.

Without even glancing at the hall, the black-robed disciple led Xiao Yu through a side door within it. After walking down a short passageway, the two arrived at a room several zhang in size, in the center of which stood three magic arrays carved with complex patterns.

This black-robed disciple walked to the array in the middle, stepped onto it, and then said to Xiao Yu, "Hurry over here!"

Xiao Yu took a few quick steps to stand beside him, then watched as the black-robed disciple cast several hand seals toward various positions of the magic array.

Instantly, the magic array gradually lit up with a white light that grew increasingly intense. After the span of several breaths, the white light flashed and vanished, and both Xiao Yu and the black-robed disciple disappeared from the spot.

Within a gigantic space inside the belly of the mountain,

there were likewise three magic arrays identical to the one Xiao Yu had previously stood upon. At that moment, the white light on the middle magic array flashed, revealing two figures who were precisely Xiao Yu and the black-robed disciple.

Shaking his slightly dizzy head, so this is a teleportation array-truly wondrous! Xiao Yu thought with emotion as he looked at the array beneath his feet.

"Alright, the pavilion ahead is the true Scripture Pavilion. Go on over by yourself!" Stepping off the array, the disciple spoke to Xiao Yu, then departed the place through a neighboring array without waiting for Xiao Yu to reply.

Xiao Yu gave a wry smile. This master uncle was truly prompt and decisive, not wasting even a single moment.

Xiao Yu briefly appraised the space inside the mountain belly. It was a massive karst cave twenty to thirty zhang wide and over ten zhang high. In the center of the space stood a five-story pavilion, its lower three levels glowing with a faint light while the fourth and fifth levels were pitch-black.

Xiao Yu strode up to the pavilion doors and pushed open the first-floor entrance with a gentle shove.

The visible space inside was not large, for a massive screen wall stood directly facing the entrance. Before the screen was a square long table, and behind the table, a person with a full head of gray hair was slumped over asleep.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the person raised their head. It proved to be an old man of about seventy who seemed not yet fully awake; groggy and muzzy, he was practically drooling.

Rubbing the corner of his mouth, he asked Xiao Yu, "Brat, what business do you have disturbing this old man?"

Sensing no cultivation whatsoever from him, Xiao Yu nonetheless dared not be remiss as he said, "Reporting to Senior, this junior Xiao Yu is deeply interested in the path of alchemy and has come here to search for some texts regarding alchemy."

"Hmph, the Scripture Pavilion is indeed a place for sect disciples to consult texts, but it's not somewhere you can browse casually-one spirit stone per hour!" the old man said, his eyes lighting up when he heard Xiao Yu's words.

"What? One spirit stone for a single hour!" Xiao Yu was no small amount shocked upon hearing the old man's words.

Seeing Xiao Yu find it expensive, the old man immediately straightened his face and said expressionlessly, "This price is stipulated by the sect. If you don't have spirit stones, then scram right this second and don't delay this old man's sleep!"

Seeing the old man's expression change so quickly, Xiao Yu rolled his eyes before hurriedly saying, "Senior, this disciple is coming here for the first time and didn't know that consulting texts was so outrageously expensive. Please do not anger yourself, Senior; these three spirit stones are this junior's filial tribute to Master Uncle-please buy yourself some spiritual tea to drink!" With that, he drew three spirit stones from his storage pouch and handed them to the old man.

Upon seeing the spirit stones, a gleam involuntarily flashed in the old man's eyes before he immediately replaced it with a smiling expression. "You brat are quite thoughtful, so this old man won't hold it against you. Go on up through that side to the second floor and consult the texts! Remember, you may only consult texts on the second floor; if you need to duplicate jade slips, come find this old man again!"

With that, the old man pointed a hand toward the stairs on the right before sitting back down in his chair to close his eyes and rest his mind!

Seeing that the old man was ignoring him, Xiao Yu felt slightly more at ease. Bowing to the old man, he walked toward the stairs.

Ascending to the second floor, he swept his gaze inward!

He saw that bookshelves were neatly arranged throughout the pavilion, holding numerous bamboo slips and books.

Stepping closer to look closer, he saw that every bookshelf was labeled with distinct classifications: cultivation techniques, magical tools, talismans, formations, and pills were all present in abundance.

Xiao Yu randomly flipped through a few technique books and found that they were all foundational Qi Refining techniques of various attributes, after which he stopped reading them.

He walked straight to the bookshelf labeled "Pills", picked up a volume of books, and began flipping through. Inner Splendor Classic-this was a secular medical book. He picked up another bundle of bamboo slips: Golden Needle Acupoint Puncture-this was another secular medical text.

Next, the books and bamboo slips Xiao Yu perused turned out to be purely secular medical texts; those concerning immortal cultivators' alchemy numbered only a handful of alchemy insights, leaving Xiao Yu profoundly depressed.

It was not until he reached the very end of the bookshelf that he discovered three jade slips lying quietly on the top tier. Pressing one jade slip to his forehead, he swept it with his divine sense to investigate!

"Hm? The recipe for the Spirit-Restoring Pill, which restores magic power." His heart stirred immediately, and he concentrated his mind to study it earnestly.

The time of a cup of tea later, Xiao Yu put down the jade slip. As it turned out, what this jade slip recorded was a recipe for a pill that restored magic power. This pill recipe was suited for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, allowing one to rapidly recover one's own magic power after consumption. Even in the midst of combat, it was just the same, enabling the recovery of a massive amount of magic power without requiring deliberate meditation and refinement!

The spiritual herbs mentioned in the pill recipe were not rare, and collecting them in the current cultivation world remained relatively easy; they merely all needed to be several centuries old. Of course, for Xiao Yu, who possessed the mysterious Purple Gourd, this posed no problem at all-he only needed to hunt down the required spiritual herbs!

Xiao Yu instantly decided to duplicate this jade slip, take it back to study thoroughly, and strive to refine the Spirit-Restoring Pill.

Immediately afterward, he picked up the second jade slip.

"Haha, the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill!" Xiao Yu's heart surged with great joy. Such a pill recipe genuinely existed here-heaven truly aided him!

"Purple Monkey Flower, Jade Marrow Fungus, Heavenly Spirit Fruit, Poria Fungus..." The three primary ingredients and thirty-one supplementary ingredients required to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill were all contained within. In addition, every single step of alchemy was recorded, from how to select and remove impurities to fire-control and the timing of opening the cauldron, all recorded in meticulous detail. Even a beginner could easily understand it and operate according to the steps above.

However, the thirty-one supplementary ingredients within the pill recipe were easy enough to discuss; they were relatively simple to find, and he could just take them back and force-ripen them. Those three primary ingredients grew only inside the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land within the Yue Kingdom.

Yet this had no impact whatsoever, for he had originally intended to participate in the upcoming Blood Trial. When the time came, whether mature or immature, he would simply harvest the whole lot in one sweep.

Confirming there was no error, Xiao Yu excitedly held it alongside the Spirit-Restoring Pill recipe jade slip in his hand. Then, he checked the final jade slip.

"Beauty-Nourishing Pill!" It turned out to be the recipe for this kind of pill. The primary function of this pill was to preserve appearance and delay aging. The spiritual herbs within were not particularly unusual, and wanting to buy them shouldn't prove too difficult; it was just that the spiritual herbs required for the Beauty-Nourishing Pill unexpectedly also needed to be several centuries old.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment. Although he did not place great importance on appearance, neither did he wish to eventually become a white-haired, aged cultivator. Thinking thus, he took the Beauty-Nourishing Pill jade slip into his hand as well.