After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he silently set down the Soul Forging Technique Volume 1 worth 2.3 million Spirit Stones and picked up the adjacent Soul Forging Technique Volume 2 worth 2.8 million.
An hour later, Lian Yunzhi had finished Soul Forging Technique Volume 4, and he had no more capacity left to buy Volume 5.
“How does it feel?”
After Lian Yunzhi used Divine Soul Technique once more to inspect inwardly with closed eyes, Fu Qing asked cautiously from the side.
It felt great—it was indeed a high-tier manual from a major sect.
After practicing according to the manual, his Divine Soul Technique immediately advanced a level. He even vaguely spotted traces of Black Mist in his Knowledge Sea, but upon closer inspection, it vanished again.
But why had the Black Mist appeared in his Knowledge Sea? And exactly where in the Knowledge Sea was it?
Lian Yunzhi silently gazed at Soul Forging Technique Volume 5 on the shelf.
He wanted it so badly.
Fu Qing: “…”
Fu Qing stood up, his steps heavy. “I’ll go borrow some Spirit Stones.”
Lian Yunzhi looked at him. “Thank you.”
Fu Qing turned his head and smiled mildly. “You’re welcome. It’s what I should do.”
He paused, then hesitantly looked at Lian Yunzhi. “Since our relationship has gotten so good now, that… can I have the antidote…?”
Lian Yunzhi looked puzzled. “What antidote?”
Fu Qing: “…”
Lian Yunzhi remembered. He let out an enlightened “oh” and said, “I didn’t feed you a Poison Pill. I was just teasing you.”
Lian Yunzhi blinked. “You’ll still help me borrow Spirit Stones, right?”
Fu Qing: “…………Of course.”
Fu Qing ground his teeth and walked away silently.
.
After Fu Qing left, Lian Yunzhi practiced Divine Soul Technique for a while longer, then stared intently at Soul Forging Technique Volume 5 and the Volumes 6, 7, and 8 behind it.
…He really wanted to read them all.
“Soul Forging Technique Volumes 6, 7, and 8 are all Heaven Tier manuals. You’re not a true Lin Xian Sect member, so even with Spirit Stones, you can’t borrow them.”
A voice suddenly rang out from the staircase beside him. Lian Yunzhi narrowed his eyes and looked over.
It was the Chief Disciple with the Myriad Absorption Spiritual Root—Ling Tian.
This time, however, Lian Yunzhi did not focus on him but stared fixedly at the book in his hand.
It was a very familiar Thin Book.
Noticing Lian Yunzhi’s gaze, Ling Tian’s hand unconsciously tightened and then relaxed. He said naturally, “It’s a casual book about Xiaoze State. I heard you also escaped from the Xiaoze Central Illusion Realm? What a coincidence.”
Lian Yunzhi extended his hand toward him.
His action was so matter-of-course that Ling Tian momentarily forgot passing books around in the Scripture Pavilion was against the rules and subconsciously handed it over.
Lian Yunzhi flipped it open and saw it was indeed the same Thin Book Fu Qing had once given him—the expanded version of the golden inscription on the Pure Bottle that had made Mu Cheng’s soul scatter in terror.
【Cruel disposition… patricide and matricide… devoured grandfather’s soul…】
As his gaze touched those familiar large characters, flames erupted from Lian Yunzhi’s fingertips, burning the book to ashes.
Ling Tian was stunned.
Lian Yunzhi looked at him and asked, “How many Spirit Stones for this book?”
Ling Tian: “…Ten Spirit Stones.”
Books in the Scripture Pavilion could only be borrowed, not bought. Damage required tenfold compensation. Lian Yunzhi tossed him a hundred Spirit Stones and asked again, “Where did you get this book?”
Ling Tian: “…Upstairs.”
Lian Yunzhi went up and indeed found a whole row of identical books. He burned them all one by one and compensated accordingly.
Ling Tian could not help saying, “You can’t burn them all. This book is sold everywhere outside—every bookstore has it.”
Lian Yunzhi asked, “Who compiled this book?”
Ling Tian: “No one compiled it. After the ascended Immortals imprisoned the Evil Demon, they left behind a stone stele engraved with this text. These books are just copies of the stele’s inscriptions.”
Lian Yunzhi asked again, “Where’s the stele?”
Ling Tian: “At the border of Xiaoze State.”
Lian Yunzhi immediately drew his long sword and strode out of the Scripture Pavilion, apparently intending to head to Xiaoze State right then to smash that stele to pieces.
Ling Tian blocked him. “The stele was left by Immortals—no one can move or alter it. Unless you’re an Immortal yourself.”
Lian Yunzhi did not even glance at him. He roughly swung his sword to shove him aside, then leaped onto his flying sword and departed on the wind.
Ling Tian hesitated, then also performed Imperial Sword Flight to follow.
.
A Soul Transformation Cultivator’s Imperial Sword Flight speed was faster than a Spirit Boat. In less than half a day, Lian Yunzhi arrived at Xiaoze State and quickly spotted the stele on the sheer cliff by the sea.
Even after ten thousand years, every character on the Immortal Stone Stele remained crystal clear without any wear, as if the Immortal had descended from the heavens just yesterday to leave this “miracle.”
Lian Yunzhi slashed with his sword—
But as Ling Tian had said, the stele was left by an Immortal—no one could move or alter it. Whether he chopped, hacked, scratched, or engraved, Lian Yunzhi could not change it in the slightest.
After his final strike, Lian Yunzhi’s long sword snapped, his palm bled, and he staggered back several steps, collapsing onto the rocks of the seaside cliff.
He propped himself up with the broken sword and staggered to his feet.
Ling Tian walked over to support him.
“Don’t continue—the Immortal Stone Stele cannot be moved—”
Before he finished speaking, Lian Yunzhi shoved him away and returned to the stele.
This time, he did not use his sword. Instead, he extended his hand, his palm slowly sweeping over the upper part of the stele.
