Chapter 851: Chapter 851: Another Immortal Technique In The Arsenal
"This is the accumulated knowledge of the Heavenly Demon Cult. Techniques gathered over ten thousand years. Martial arts stolen from every sect in the empire. Secret methods purchased with blood and betrayal. Forbidden arts that no orthodox cultivator would dare to practice."
Supervisor Gui stepped into the library, his footsteps echoing in the vast space.
"You will have three years," he continued, turning to face them. "Three years to study whatever you wish from this collection. Learn anything you want, be it martial arts, cultivation techniques, or secret methods."
Yuan Ming’s eyes widened. It felt unreal that the cult would allow anyone to just enter this grand library and learn anything they wanted.
But as he calmed down, he realized that three years was very little time to learn anything.
Basically, they were given a trove of treasure and asked to take as much as they could carry within a certain time.
"However," Supervisor Gui’s voice cut through his thoughts, "there are rules."
He pointed to the shelves around them.
"You may read anything. Study anything. Practice anything. But you cannot remove anything from this library. The texts are warded—attempting to take them beyond the gates will result in death."
His finger moved to point at small alcoves scattered throughout the library, each one containing what looked like simple clay jars.
"Food pills," he explained. "There are thousands of them stored throughout the library. One pill will sustain you for a week. They will provide all necessary nutrition and a small amount of qi replenishment."
He walked to the nearest alcove and picked up one of the jars, opening it to reveal small brown pills inside.
"You will need them, because once I close these gates, you will not be allowed to leave for the next three years." His eyes locked onto Noah’s, then Yuan Ming’s. "During that time, you will not be able to communicate with anyone on the outside."
Yuan Ming felt a chill run down his spine. He was fine with isolation, but living alone with another dude for three years was not something he hoped to see.
Seeing the dark look on his face, Supervisor Gui laughed loudly. "HAHA! Are you thinking you don’t want to live with a guy for so long? Don’t worry, the others will be coming down here soon too. There should be others here already; you can meet them too."
Since the library was big, there were many shelves that were big enough to isolate sounds and block visions.
Which was why even though they were others who were present, they were still nowhere to be seen.
Yuan Ming turned his head away, trying to hide the embarrassment of being exposed.
"I look forward to seeing what you become after three years of study. Very few participants have been offered this opportunity, and even fewer have survived it with their minds intact." Supervisor Gui started walking back to the gates.
He paused at the threshold, looking back one final time.
"Good luck, disciples. Learn well. Become strong." His grin widened. "And try not to go insane."
With that, he stepped through the gates and pressed his hands against them from the outside.
The massive doors began to swing closed.
Yuan Ming watched as the gap narrowed, as Supervisor Gui’s scarred face disappeared from view, and as the outside world was cut off entirely.
BOOM.
The gates slammed shut with a sound like thunder, leaving the two of them on their own.
"What shall we do now?" After staring at the back of the closed gate for a second, Yuan Ming turned to look at Noah.
"Looks like we are in the section of movement techniques. Find one that suits you and learn it. No need to try and learn everything, just focus on one and perfect it."
Saying this, Noah walked ahead, looking for a method that suited him. ’Now that I am here, I might as well learn some techniques.
Instead of looking through the books one by one, Noah went through the techniques in his memories.
From the knowledge he received from Elysia, all the techniques from the demonic library were also present.
’Among all the movement techniques, there is a technique that stands out the most.’ Noah thought to himself as he picked a very simple-looking jade hanging on one of the hooks separated from the rest.
’Unlike the other techniques, this jade only has the information on the circulation method of the movement technique but not any actual steps required to take.’
After confirming the knowledge inside the technique, Noah stepped forward to look around further when he felt slight unevenness in the floor under his feet.
With a frown, he lowered his head, thinking, ’This is weird. Until now, even in the ragged caves, the floor was as flat as it could be. How come there are imperfections here all of a sudden?’
When he looked down, he noticed the shape of a foot impressed on the ground. It was as if someone used so much force that the ground caved in.
Looking around, Noah happened to see other such imprints.
They weren’t random. They formed a pattern of footprints pressed into the stone floor, each one slightly different in depth and angle.
Some were deep impressions, as if the person had put tremendous force into that particular step. Others were shallow, barely visible unless you looked closely.
Noah’s eyes traced the path of footprints, following them as they wove between the shelves in an intricate pattern.
They turned sharply and doubled back on themselves; sometimes the two footprints were placed side by side, and other times they were spread wide apart.
’This is...’ Soon Noah realized what it was. The jade slip he had just read was still fresh in his mind. Combining it with these steps, he realized that it was the missing part of the movement technique he was looking for.
’The cultivator who created this technique must have practiced it here,’ Noah thought, examining the impressions more closely. ’And their cultivation was so profound that even their practice steps left permanent marks in the stone.’
He looked down at the jade slip in his hand, then back at the footprints.
Most people would have dismissed this as just wear and tear on an ancient floor. But Noah understood what he was looking at.
Pocketing the jade slip, he moved back to the first step and aligned his foot on the impression and began to move.
