After a moment, he made some sense of it. This array master was probably taught by that mysterious talisman master from Chen Village. He was able to win first place in the ranking competition of the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion, so he should not be underestimated.
However, Mingye dared to defect, which his Lineage absolutely could not allow. No matter the cost, he had to bring Mingye back.
"Young Master, should we report this to the Lord?"
"Don't worry yet!"
Tuoba Ziying snorted coldly, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes.
" Mingye is too naive. Does he think I can't catch her once I get to the Central Land? I happen to have a friend who passed the exam for the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion a few years ago, and he must be holding an important position there now. I can have him take care of it!"
He took out an iron box full of chains from his ring and tossed it to the man below.
"This is Spirit-Locking Clasp. As long as it gets close to Mingye, it can seal off all the Spiritual Power in her body. You must set off for the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion immediately and give it to my friend. I will contact him through the communication array in the next couple of days to explain the situation."
"Yes!"
The man picked up the sign, turned around, and left.
" Mingye, oh Mingye, you have truly disappointed me..."
Tuoba Ziying closed his eyes, muttering to himself, his expression a mixture of anger and a hint of sadness.
Heaven-Questioning Pavilion, Treasure Arrival Peak.
On the third day after moving into Treasure Arrival Peak, Chen Mu finally decided to go out.
The freshman handbook contains a map of the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion. Chen Mu's first task was to go to the library to exchange the jade token in his hand for a Xuan-level secret manual.
The library was a six-story tower, extremely tall and magnificent, more than ten times larger than the cultivation tower Chen Mu had built in Chen Village. Standing at the foot of the tower, Chen Mu looked as small as an ant.
At this moment, many disciples were going in and out of the library. Occasionally, someone would glance at Chen Mu, but since everyone was wearing the academy's uniform, no one paid any special attention to him.
After Chen Mu entered the library, a female disciple at the entrance reached out her hand to him.
He immediately understood and handed her his identification badge.
The female disciple channeled Spiritual Power into the identity plaque, and Chen Mu's information immediately appeared in her mind. After a while, she returned the identity plaque to Chen Mu.
"With such a high contribution value as a new disciple, it seems you're destined to be number one in this year's ranking competition?"
"That is indeed me!"
The female disciple was quite beautiful, with an oval face, a small upturned nose, and red lips and white teeth, like a young lady from a wealthy family who lived a life of luxury.
"My name is Qingying, and I'm the librarian. Are you here to read or borrow books? You should still have a Xuan-level manual exchange jade token, right? Do you want to exchange it?"
"Let's wait a bit! Can I go in and take a look first?"
"Of course, one contribution point is awarded for each hour on the first floor. Any period less than one hour is counted as one hour."
The second floor costs ten points, and so on, with the contribution points costing ten times more for each additional floor. Go in!
After Qingying finished speaking, she stepped aside, and Chen Mu went inside.
Chen Mu had already learned about the contribution point consumption that Qingying mentioned from the freshman handbook, so he wasn't too surprised.
According to the freshman handbook, contribution points are more useful than Spirit Stone stones in the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion. Here, contribution points can be exchanged for almost everything a cultivator needs.
Whether it's elixirs, magical treasures, or cultivation techniques, as long as you have enough contribution points, you can exchange them for books, which can then be used to access the library.
The books collected in the library are the accumulation of the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion over tens of thousands of years. The higher the level, the more precious they are, so it is normal for the contribution points charged to be so large.
On the first floor, there are mostly cultivation common sense, strange stories, astronomy and geography. Although the knowledge is broad, there is nothing of great value, so the contribution points consumed are not high.
However, even these ordinary books contain many secrets that are not passed down to outsiders. The accumulation of tens of thousands of years by the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion is not just empty talk.
Chen Mu wandered around the first floor for a while, finally stopping at the cultivation common sense section. He took out a book from the bookshelf and began to read it carefully, page by page.
After discussing the realm of the Divine Soul with An Ruhai, Chen Mu realized that there were still many unclear aspects of his cultivation, so he was eager to improve his knowledge in this area.
He came from Wilderness background, and the villagers had little knowledge of the world from a young age. It wasn't until he invented the rune printer and his economic conditions improved that they gradually came into contact with some of the world's advanced knowledge.
Even so, he had only studied for three or four years, and the books available in the Wilderness had very limited depth of knowledge. He was even unfamiliar with many common-sense facts about the cultivation world.
Chen Mu spent most of the day looking at the library, until the sun outside began to set and the light inside the library became dim, at which point he finally realized what was happening.
He found Qingying and decided to use the jade token he had exchanged for the Xuan-level secret manual.
" Qingying, can I exchange this jade token for a Divine Soul- binding technique?"
Qingying looked at Chen Mu with some surprise after hearing what he said.
"It's possible... but the Divine Soul Secret Technique is extremely difficult to learn. Many people have exchanged for it but still haven't been able to master it. Are you sure?"
"Sure!"
Chen Mu's martial arts cultivation technique is already strong enough, and it also comes with its own martial skills, which he has not yet fully mastered. There is no need for him to learn any other martial skills.
"Alright then! Give me the jade token!"
Qingying helplessly shrugged, took the jade token from Chen Mu, and led him upstairs.
"Follow me!"
Chen Mu followed Qingying upwards, to the second, third, and fourth floors...
Qingying stopped when she reached the fourth floor.
At the entrance to the fourth floor, there is a small platform on the right, and on the platform is a compass covered with runes.
Qingying placed Chen Mu's exchange jade token above the compass and sensed it briefly. A white light screen appeared at the entrance, but it quickly disappeared.
Chen Mu nodded to himself. The library was indeed full of traps and mechanisms; even on the fourth floor alone, there was such a powerful defensive array.
"Disciple Qingying has brought this year's freshman ranking tournament champions to select a secret manual. Please grant Elder Yun's permission!"
Qingying bowed slightly and cupped her hands in a gesture of respect towards the front.
Chen Mu was still wondering where the person was when an old voice came from the air.
Come in!
The voice was like an echo in a secluded valley, surging in from all directions, making it impossible to guess the speaker's location. It seemed to be another peerless master.
Qingying then led Chen Mu into the fourth floor, which was empty; there wasn't a single person inside.
Above the third level, very few people come in, since there are very few people who can afford to pay this contribution value; sometimes, no one comes up for several months.
"These rows over here are all Xuan-level Divine Soul Secret Techniques; you can choose one to take with you."
Qingying pointed to a bookshelf and patiently explained.