Upon arriving at the second floor, Lin Yu did not flip through the pages by hand as he had done on the first floor.
"Time is short, so I can't read it all in detail."
The longer you stay here, the easier it is to be discovered.
So Lin Yu stood directly in front of the bookshelf, and his Primordial Spirit spread out like a tide, instantly covering all the books on the shelf.
"The Rank Two Gu Worm Handbook", "Introduction to Rank Two", "Record of a Hundred Poisons"...
A deluge of information flooded into his mind like a torrent.
In no time, with the help of his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, it was absorbed and digested by Lin Yu, becoming the cornerstone of his Gu Dao knowledge system.
After finishing the second floor, Lin Yu didn't linger and quickly went up to the third floor, repeating the same method to finish reading it.
Until he stepped onto the stairs leading to the fourth floor, an invisible barrier blocked Lin Yu from reaching the third floor.
He pressed his hand against the barrier, applying slight pressure, and a recoil instantly bounced his palm away.
"Entry is only permitted with permission..." Upon hearing this, Lin Yu understood.
But this didn't stump him.
The next moment, Lin Yu's mind stirred slightly, and the phantom image of the Kunpeng behind him flashed by, causing subtle ripples to appear in the surrounding space.
His figure seemed to vanish into thin air; without exerting any effort, he effortlessly passed through the barrier that kept people out, as if passing through a curtain of water, and silently entered the fourth floor.
The fourth floor is even smaller, with only a dozen or so bookshelves.
Furthermore, the ancient texts were no longer primarily made of paper; instead, jade slips and bone fragments that emitted a fluorescent glow, and animal hides that exuded an ancient aura began to appear.
There was also a faint but powerful pressure in the air, as if these ancient texts themselves contained extraordinary power.
Just as Lin Yu was preparing to unleash his Primordial Spirit once more and devour the treasures of the fourth level.
On the top floor of the Sutra Repository, the deep, silent aura stirred without warning.
A cold, scrutinizing spiritual force slowly swept across the entire Sutra Repository from top to bottom!
"He's been alerted!" Alarm bells rang in Lin Yu's mind.
"Could it be that he sensed it when I touched that restriction? Or is it my Primordial Spirit..."
But he didn't have time to think about it. This sweeping monk on the ninth floor was very strong. The purity and power of his spiritual energy were among the best Lin Yu had ever seen.
Although his spatial concealment ability is ingenious, the risk of being exposed is extremely high if the opponent is consciously and meticulously probing him.
Lin Yu acted decisively, instantly severing all energy connections with the outside world. He suppressed his aura, heartbeat, and even thoughts to the extreme, transforming himself into a lifeless stone and merging into the shadow cast by the bookshelf.
It blends completely into the darkness and the environment.
The powerful spiritual force began from the first floor and slowly swept up each floor, finally pausing for a moment at the fourth floor where Lin Yu was located.
Lin Yu could even feel that mental energy, like a tangible gaze, sweep past the shadows where he was hiding, carrying a hint of barely perceptible doubt.
A moment later, the spiritual energy receded like the tide and moved elsewhere.
But Lin Yu remained completely still.
These old monsters become more and more monstrous with age, and the wary Lin Yu didn't believe he would just leave like that.
Therefore, Lin Yu remained absolutely still, and at this moment, even the passage of time seemed to slow down in his perception.
Sure enough, after several hours, the spiritual energy returned and descended directly onto the fourth level without warning.
After repeatedly checking the fourth floor several times and confirming that there were no abnormalities, they slowly retreated.
However, Lin Yu still didn't move. If he did it twice, he might do it three times. Who knows, he might launch another surprise attack.
Lin Yu patiently endured for even longer than before, until he was certain that the guardian had truly relaxed his vigilance and would not conduct a third probe. Only then did he slowly separate his figure from the shadow of the bookshelf. Even so, Lin Yu did not release himself from his current state.
It remained as still as water.
"I must leave immediately!" A strong sense of crisis lingered in Lin Yu's mind.
His intuition, typical of a cultivator, made him feel vaguely uneasy.
The guardian of the ninth floor has investigated twice in a row, so he must have become suspicious. Next time, he will most likely descend in person.
But Lin Yu's determination to make sure he didn't leave empty-handed was equally strong.
He figured he might as well take the risk and see this floor first since he was already there.
Lin Yu dared not Wuji unleash his Primordial Spirit any longer. Instead, like a true thief, he carefully and rapidly flipped through the jade slips and bone fragments with his fingertips, relying on his Heaven-Defying Comprehension to read and understand them at an ultra-fast speed.
As he quickly browsed through the pages, he suddenly noticed an inconspicuous corner deep within the fourth floor. His gaze was drawn to a book covered in a thick layer of dust, but made of paper.
All the scriptures here are made of unusual materials, but there is one paper book mixed in, which is very unusual.
He Instant Transmission, brushed away the dust, and gently turned the pages of the book.
At first, Lin Yu didn't feel that this book was any different, and it was even somewhat inferior to the scriptures on the lower levels.
But as he looked closely, the accumulated knowledge in the lower layers quietly emerged, and the profound wisdom hidden within this scripture suddenly appeared in his eyes.
It was a kind of knowledge that was completely different from other classic texts, a knowledge that was much deeper and more ancient.
Those seemingly meaningless words, under the influence of his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, seemed to come alive, rapidly dismantling, recombining, and arranging, ultimately transforming into a brand-new scripture containing the ultimate principles of Gu Dao.
The book's cover, its disguise fading away under his gaze, revealed its true name.
"The True Understanding of the Gu Dao"
This is definitely not part of the existing inheritance system of the Nine Palaces; otherwise, the Gu Masters would not have placed such a precious treasure on the fourth level, but rather on the ninth level.
"This is the real treasure!" Lin Yu was overjoyed.
"It's a pity this is just an incomplete copy; otherwise, I could have established my own school of thought based on it," Lin Yu thought with a sigh, looking at the missing parts.
This is some kind of knowledge that is older and closer to the origin.
Lin Yu didn't even have time to examine the contents closely; he only knew that its value was immeasurable.
Without hesitation, he put the book "The True Understanding of the Gu Dao" into his pocket.
"Walk!"
With the extraordinary treasure in hand, Lin Yu no longer risked exploring the upper levels. Without any hesitation, he grabbed the food and books and prepared to leave.
Just as he was about to leave, a brilliant idea flashed into Lin Yu's mind, and he came up with a plan to divert trouble elsewhere.
His gaze swept over the several bookshelves on the fourth floor, and he quietly flicked out a wisp of extremely faint energy, different from his own, from his fingertips, attaching it to one of the restrictions.
He imitated this aura just like those Gu Masters outside, making people wonder which Gu Master had come by.
Ordinary people would hardly notice this faint aura, but if the guardian were to investigate carefully, they would surely discover it, thus drawing their attention to the restriction.
This way, the Gu masters won't immediately check on him, and by the time they come knocking, he will have already mastered the secret manual.
After doing all this, the phantom image of the Kunpeng behind Lin Yu solidified to the extreme, and spatial power enveloped his entire body.
His figure blurred among the bookshelves, blending into the breeze, instantly passing through the walls and outer barriers of the library, disappearing into the vast Nightscape.
"Who dares to steal my Nine Palaces' secret treasures!"
Every scripture and jade slip here is protected by a restriction he set up, so the moment the books leave the scripture pavilion, they are discovered by the guardian of the ninth floor.
A moment later, an aged figure shrouded in a gray robe silently appeared on the fourth floor.