"This Fiery Cloud Technique is indeed abstruse and difficult to comprehend. I'll have to ask His Majesty for guidance when I have the time."
The young emperor Liu Tianming came back to his senses with a start and looked at the jade slip in his hand, sighing deeply.
He shook his head, put away the jade slip, and quickened his pace. Soon, he arrived at a majestic white jade hall at the peak, with the words "Sea of Books" inscribed on the golden plaque above.
There were no guards at the entrance of the hall, but on each side stood a towering bronze beast statue, each seven to thirty metres tall—one a cyan giant lion, the other a beast resembling a horse with an extremely long neck.
Just as Liu Tianming was about to step inside, a voice came from the side: "The Sea of Books is a sacred place of Changchun Temple. Which disciple are you from, and don't you know that you need to show a permit token before entering?"
Liu Tianming was startled, then realized that the speaker was the long-necked beast statue on his right. The statue suddenly came to life, stretching its neck in front of him, its eyes as big as copper bells staring intently at him, exuding an imposing aura.
"Are you the esteemed Hakutaku of the Sea of Books? I, Liu Tianming, have only recently joined Changchun Temple and have not yet taken a master, so I'm unfamiliar with the rules here. Please forgive me. Here is my permit token."
Liu Tianming bowed deeply, respectfully taking out a white jade token.
"Seeing that you are respectful, I'll let this transgression slide. Go on in," the long-necked beast said, retracting its neck slowly.
Liu Tianming thanked the creature and then walked into the hall.
The Sea of Books Hall looked magnificent from the outside, but upon entering, one could only see rows upon rows of towering bookshelves, each seven to thirty metres tall, with some even floating in mid-air, requiring one to look up to see them.
There were also two side doors on the left and right sides of the hall, which seemed to lead to two side halls, also filled with tall bookshelves stacked with countless books and jade slips, giving one the impression of a mountain of books, vast as the sea of smoke, truly living up to the name "Sea of Books."
Yuan Ming admired the scene before him, filled with nothing but praise.
The collection of books in Bi Luo Cave's Repository was also considerable, but compared to this place, it was like comparing clouds to mud, not even worthy of mention in the same breath.
Liu Tianming was also stunned by the sight before him, and it took him a moment to recover before he began to search among the bookshelves.
Yuan Ming took the opportunity to observe. The arrangement of the books in the Sea of Books was very systematic, divided into multiple areas according to categories such as techniques, spells, geography, history, sect anecdotes, spiritual materials, elixirs, and formations. Despite the vast number of books, it wasn't overwhelming or confusing to search.
Yuan Ming looked towards the spell area, where the bookshelves were enveloped in a layer of white light, with jade slips placed inside and the names of the spells recorded on the plaques beside them, including spells for the Qi refining stage, Foundation Establishment stage, and even the Nascent Soul stage.
Yuan Ming was quite envious, but Liu Tianming headed straight for the area with books on spiritual materials.
He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to overtly hint to Liu Tianming to go there.
Liu Tianming had come to the Sea of Books to consult the books for something important, and Yuan Ming had already delayed him quite a bit. There would be plenty of time in the future to manipulate Liu Tianming to borrow those spell jade slips.
Liu Tianming stopped in front of a bookshelf, which was also enveloped in a white prohibition. Just as he was about to search, a white fog surged on the light screen in front of the bookshelf, condensing into a figure about a foot tall, which astonishingly spoke human language: "What kind of books do you seek?"
"Who are you?" Liu Tianming was taken aback.
"I am the Array Spirit formed by the prohibition of the Sea of Books. With so many books, it is too time-consuming to search alone. Tell me the name or category of the book you wish to read, and I will guide you to its location," the white fog figure said.
"So, you are the esteemed Array Spirit of the Sea of Books. I wish to consult information related to the Silver Chalice Flower," Liu Tianming said.
"The Silver Chalice Flower is a herbaceous spiritual plant of the Asteraceae family. The relevant books are on the second shelf of the third row in the spiritual materials area," the white fog Array Spirit said, raising its hand to point to a bookshelf not far away.
"Thank you for your guidance, esteemed Array Spirit," Liu Tianming thanked, quickly walking over and soon found the relevant books.
He took out a cyan token, which was the identity plaque of a disciple of Changchun Temple, with the number five hundred appearing on it.
Liu Tianming activated the token, pointing it towards a book within the light screen.
The number on the cyan token decreased slightly, and the book within the light screen flew out automatically, landing in his hands.
Liu Tianming flipped through the book, scanning it quickly.
Changchun Temple was the leading cultivation sect of Great Jin, and the information it collected had its unique insights. Yuan Ming followed Liu Tianming and read a few pages, feeling that it was quite rewarding. He was about to take the opportunity to study it further when his possession ended, and his consciousness returned to his own body.
***
Yuan Ming immediately checked the nearby hourglass, his eyes lighting up with joy.
The fire pine wood was indeed a high-grade spiritual material. After replacing the previous spirit pine, the duration of possession had increased significantly, almost reaching a quarter of an hour.
Moreover, from the information obtained from Liu Tianming, it seemed that he had only a superficial understanding of the Fiery Cloud Technique, while the old emperor appeared to have a deep understanding of it.
It looked like Yuan Ming needed to change his approach.
Yuan Ming closed his eyes to recuperate, took out a blank jade slip, and copied down the Fiery Cloud Technique he had learned by stealth, lest he forget it.
He didn't overestimate his abilities to comprehend the secret technique on his own. After putting away the jade slip and the hourglass, he continued with the cultivation of the Nine Elements Formula.
***
Seven days later.
Yuan Ming sat cross-legged, burning incense and closing his eyes.
His target this time was to possess the old emperor and explore his insights into the Fiery Cloud Technique.
At that moment, the old emperor was sitting cross-legged in a dark room, meditating with his eyes closed, his aura circulating at an extremely slow pace, seemingly cultivating some technique.
After confirming the surrounding environment and situation, Yuan Ming immediately tried to influence his cultivation of the Fiery Cloud Technique through suggestion.
Perhaps because the old emperor's cultivation had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, far surpassing Yuan Ming, his will was extremely firm. Despite Yuan Ming's great effort, he was unsuccessful until the end of the possession time, not even causing a ripple in the old emperor's state of mind.
He was not discouraged and continued to attempt to influence through possession after seven days, still ending in failure.
It wasn't until the third attempt, whether by the effect of the suggestion or not, that the old emperor performed the Fiery Cloud Technique once, and Yuan Ming hurriedly took the opportunity to comprehend it.
However, the technique was inherently complex, and a single comprehension was naturally not enough to master it.
But with this beginning, the old emperor seemed to have less resistance to performing the Fiery Cloud Technique in the future. However, since the technique was quite conspicuous when performed, the old emperor, probably out of caution, always controlled its power to the minimum.
This did not affect Yuan Ming's comprehension of the technique's execution process. After several more insights, his hard work paid off, and he finally mastered this high-level spell.
Of course, this was only a preliminary mastery. To truly unleash its power, he would need to practice it himself repeatedly.
***
More than a month later, one day.
Deep in the Ruins Swamp, a thick red light suddenly rose beside a black pool, forming a dense fiery cloud seven to thirty metres in size in mid-air, with flames rolling within.
Although it was raining in the sky, it had no effect on the fiery cloud.
Yuan Ming stood on a white jade flying shuttle, hovering in mid-air, and pointed towards the black pool.
"Go!"
Seven or eight large fireballs shot out from the fiery cloud, plunging into the pool.
These explosive fireballs, formed by the Fiery Cloud Technique, could not be extinguished by ordinary water.
After a few breaths, violent explosions roared from within the pool, lifting huge waves several meters high, turning the originally clear water murky.
Hua Zhi was also nearby, and seeing this scene, her face showed delight.
"Roar!" A deep roar came from the pool, carrying a soul-piercing intimidation.
"Master, be careful, it's coming out!" Hua Zhi's voice echoed in Yuan Ming's mind.
Before the voice fell, the murky water churned, and a thick shadow shot out, darting towards Yuan Ming in mid-air like lightning.
Yuan Ming was prepared, controlling the jade shuttle to shoot backward rapidly, retreating more than thirty metres in an instant.
The shadow missed its target and revealed its true form—a giant beast with a head resembling a snake or lizard, over fifteen metres long, covered in thick black scales that seemed impervious.
A dense black cloud hovered beneath it, supporting the beast's body.
"So, it's a Mo Lizard." Yuan Ming uttered softly.
According to the records, the Mo Lizard was the offspring of a union between an ink dragon and a swamp giant lizard, possessing both the sturdy scales and water attribute spell abilities of the ink dragon, as well as the tough body and brute strength of the swamp giant lizard.
His appearance in the swamp today was partly to test the power of the newly learned Fiery Cloud Technique and also at Hua Zhi's request to help her repel this Mo Lizard.
Yuan Ming gestured, and the fiery cloud in mid-air shot out seven or eight fireballs again, targeting the Mo Lizard.
The Mo Lizard, enraged and desperate, had just soared into mid-air when it sensed the power of the explosive fireballs. It quickly spat out a black water column to block them and then shot downwards.
The black water column was clearly not ordinary liquid. With a few "sizzling" muffled sounds, most of the fireballs were extinguished, but two fireballs still hit the Mo Lizard.
With two loud "booms," the Mo Lizard was blasted away but remained unharmed, righting itself with a flip.
Yuan Ming secretly praised the toughness of the Mo Lizard's scales and gestured with both hands.
Fireballs plummeted from mid-air, hitting the Mo Lizard in succession, causing a series of explosions. The space above the pool became a raging sea of fire, surging violently.
Although the Mo Lizard's scales were tough, they could not withstand such continuous bombardment. Soon, its defenses were breached, and its body was engulfed in the ferocious flames, emitting a piercing scream.
Yuan Ming nodded slightly, quite satisfied with the power of the Fiery Cloud Technique.
Hua Zhi also let out a triumphant cry, spreading her hands wide as more than a dozen demon vines shot out, piercing into the rolling flames like lightning.
The Mo Lizard's large body fell from mid-air, crashing into the mud near the pool.
Its scales were shattered, its flesh a bloody mess, severely injured by the Fiery Cloud Technique. Hua Zhi's demon vines also penetrated its body, rapidly absorbing blood and demonic power.
The Mo Lizard's body quickly shrank, turning into a withered corpse within a few breaths.
Hua Zhi's aura fluctuated slightly, and purple-black vines grew within her body, more and more, denser and denser, soon forming a large purple-black cocoon that enveloped her body. The cocoon sprouted purple-black flowers, emitting a strange fragrance.
Yuan Ming saw this and smiled with joy.
Hua Zhi's strength was already close to the mid-tier of the second level, and after killing and absorbing countless demonic beasts in the Ruins Swamp, she was finally about to break through.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan