His Divine Sense entered the Jade Tube.
A flood of complex memories poured into his mind.
[Nine-Turns Blazing Heart Scripture: A Mystic-tier Top Grade Cultivation Technique. Use the body as a furnace, draw upon the Earth Vein Fire, and temper Spiritual Power to cultivate the purest and most ferocious Primordial Yang True Essence.]
[First-Turn Fire Control, Third-Turn Condensing Fury, Sixth-Realm Refining Gang, Nine Transformations Lotus!]
"This is actually the Blazing Fire Sect's core Sect's Secret Technique!"
Qin Xuan looked quite astonished. He never expected that the Qi Cultivation Eighth-Layer Cultivator he had ambushed and killed was actually a True Disciple of the Blazing Fire Sect.
The grade of this Cultivation Technique was the same as the Taotie's Greedy Yuan Skill; both could be cultivated to the Purple Mansion Realm!
Alongside the scripture in the Jade Scroll Daoist Scripture were annotations and cultivation insights from the Qi Cultivation Eighth-Layer Cultivator named Shen Ye.
'So that's what the 'Bridge Connecting the Profound' for late-stage Qi Cultivation means,' Qin Xuan mused.
The Qi Cultivation Stage is divided into three phases: Introducing Qi into the Body, Fog-Locked Mystic Gate, and Bridge Connecting the Profound.
Qin Xuan had already passed through the initial and middle phases smoothly. He had only been stuck at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer for so long because he had yet to build the Heaven and Earth Spirit Bridge.
'Introducing Qi into the Body requires absorbing the Dawn Purple Qi, transforming it into a Spiritual Mist that settles in the Lower Dantian. Fog-Locked Mystic Gate requires using that mist-transformed Spiritual Qi to wash out the twelve Mystic Gate stars throughout the body, making them hang high in the Upper Dantian.'
'And this 'Bridge Connecting the Profound' is about using Spiritual Qi to construct three 'Rainbow Bridges' to connect heaven and earth!'
One sentence of true transmission is worth ten thousand volumes of false teachings.
Qin Xuan had an epiphany.
He closed his eyes and looked inward. The Spiritual Mist in his Lower Dantian was thick and pervasive. In his Upper Dantian, the twelve Mystic Gate stars shone brilliantly. But between the upper and lower Dantian, a connecting bridge was missing.
He tried to channel the vast Demonic Essence within his body, forming it into a solid Rainbow Bridge.
The moment the bridge was complete.
BOOM!
In that instant, it was as if a Yin Wind howled in his ears and evil spirits were pouring into his body. Qin Xuan paid it no mind, only feeling the Demonic Essence surging within him as his Cultivation steadily climbed.
'Fellow Daoist Shen Ye, my thanks.'
An unknown amount of time passed.
Qin Xuan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp light glinting in their depths. The aura around him had grown even more powerful.
Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, achieved!
Shen Ye had cultivated the Nine-Turns Blazing Heart Scripture to the second turn, successfully building two Heaven and Earth Rainbow Bridges.
If he hadn't been severely injured, Qin Xuan truly would have been no match for him.
After absorbing the insights, Qin Xuan studied the Jade Scroll Daoist Scripture carefully one more time before putting it away, planning to exchange it with the Holy Sect for Contribution Points when he had the chance.
'I still have to practice the Blazing Heart Scripture. Otherwise, I won't be able to activate my Fire Crow Banner.'
Some of the Dharma Gates within it were quite interesting. Since his Golden Finger hadn't given him a warning, it meant there was no problem with this Cultivation Technique.
'Perhaps I can learn by analogy.'
Pleased, Qin Xuan stood up and prepared to look for another Demonic Cultivation Technique in the Scripture Pavilion that might suit him.
The Blood Demon Sword Sect's Scripture Pavilion had nine floors, and the collection of scriptures within was as vast as a sea of smoke.
The first two floors were designated for Qi Cultivation Cultivators.
Qin Xuan, on the second floor, had originally intended to look for books on the topic of cultivation. However, when he opened a Cultivation Technique manual, he was dumbfounded.
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Qin Xuan was completely baffled. "What the hell is this supposed to be?"
He tried to force himself to read the text, and his Sea of Consciousness trembled violently.
His Divine Sense roiled, and a metallic, sweet taste surged up his throat.
"Pfft!"
Qin Xuan was shocked. "This is a Qi Cultivation Technique, but you need to be a Foundation Establishment Cultivator just to read it?"
"Damn it! This fucking Demon Sect! They really don't treat Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators like people! It sounds nice to say the first two floors are open to Qi Cultivation Cultivators, but then you should at least put something readable here!"
Qin Xuan flared up in anger... for a moment.
He finally understood. The Cultivation Techniques in the Scripture Pavilion were all recorded in a different kind of script, one that was impossible to decipher without the help of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
This was also why someone like Zheng Qi had been stationed here before.
But now Zheng Qi had been promoted, and the guard on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion had been replaced by a man named Lv Hong.
'No wonder that guy was so happy when he took the Contribution Points. He probably pocketed them for himself.'
Qin Xuan gritted his teeth in frustration.
'Whatever. I'm already here, I can't just go back empty-handed.'
The most crucial part was that he had already paid the Contribution Points, and there were no refunds.
It cost 10 Contribution Points a day.
Qin Xuan secretly added Lv Hong's name to his mental blacklist, planning to get revenge when he had the chance.
Fortunately, some of the books on miscellaneous tales and anecdotes were written in plain text.
He had been in this world for over half a month, but besides the Blood Demon Sword Sect, he knew very little about the customs and conditions of the outside world.
He really needed to catch up.
...
「Half a day later.」
Qin Xuan sat cross-legged in a corner of the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, engrossed in a classic text titled Daqian Historical and Geographical Atlas.
'So, the Blood Demon Sword Sect is located in the Daqian Dynasty, and the highest Cultivation Realm for cultivators here is only Returning Void?'
He had read in the Blood Demon Sword Scripture before that this world used the same timeless, classic system of Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation, Returning Void, Integration, Crossing the Tribulation, and Mahayana.
But now, through the Daqian Historical and Geographical Atlas in his hands, Qin Xuan learned more about this world's division of Realms.
'Incorporating Five Elements, 360 years, the Thirty Fruit Positions...'
In this world, the one with the highest Cultivation was the Returning Void Dao Venerable. Below them were thirty Venerable Divinity Transformations.
For any Nascent Soul Daoist Monarch to become a Venerable Divinity Transformation, they first needed to attain a Divinity Transformation Fruit Position.
And each Divinity Transformation Fruit Position, in turn, required the pull of four Positions in total: two Celestial Spirits and two Earthly Branches.
Positions were so powerful that starting from Foundation Establishment, one could only bear a single Position per major Realm.
As for how to obtain Positional Divine Techniques, this classic text was vague on the details.
However, Qin Xuan had more or less figured it out.
'I see now! Zheng Qi actually had a Foundation Establishment Cultivation all along. The reason he guarded the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion for over a decade without breaking through was to attain an Yin Fire Positional Divine Technique, the Netherworld Flame!'
Understanding all this, Qin Xuan was stunned for a long time.
He suddenly thought of something terrifying.
'Since the Fruit Positions are so difficult to attain, if someone were to deliberately monopolize the Positions, wouldn't they be able to directly control the Dao Paths of others?'
At this thought, Qin Xuan felt a chill run down his spine.
RUMBLE!
A clap of thunder echoed from the horizon, as if some indescribable existence had cast its gaze upon this place.
Qin Xuan immediately suppressed his thoughts, not daring to dwell on it, and skipped the page.
He continued to lower his head and flip through the geographical atlas.
...
'The Daqian Dynasty is vast, with the Righteous and Demon Paths standing in opposition... and there are also the Southern Border Witchcraft and Gu, and the East Sea Demon Race?'
One dynasty, two sects, three mountains, four pavilions, five courts, and eighteen schools!
The one dynasty was the Daqian Dynasty, which was rumored to be overseen by a Returning Void Dao Venerable. The two sects were the Blood Demon Sword Sect and the Cyan Cloud Sect. Although both had the heritage of a Dao Venerable, for the past ten thousand years, the strongest cultivators in either sect had only reached the Divinity Transformation Realm.
As for the three mountains, four pavilions, five courts, and eighteen schools, they were a messy assortment of various Nascent Soul and Golden Core sects.
...The Fiery Sect was one of those messy ones.
It was worth noting that the Blood Demon Sword Sect's lineage was even older than the Daqian Dynasty's.
Tracing back ten thousand years, the Daqian Dynasty was originally co-founded by a Female Demon Venerable from the Blood Demon Sword Sect, who had attained the Sword Edge Gold Fruit Position, and Grand Emperor Qian, who had attained the Celestial Fire Fruit Position.
Grand Emperor Qian had even promised that Female Demon Venerable they would rule the world together.
However, after the Daqian Dynasty was established, Emperor Qian immediately went back on his word. He secretly established the lineage of the Cyan Cloud Sect and used the dynastic fortune of the entire Daqian to forcefully suppress the Female Demon Venerable.
Since then, the Sword Edge Gold Fruit Position has remained vacant in the Blood Demon Sword Sect for ten thousand years, with no one able to attain it.
The Daqian Dynasty, on the other hand, grew more and more prosperous.
In recent years, after Emperor Jing of Daqian ascended the throne, he valued the Righteous Dao and suppressed the Demon Sects. Life for the Blood Demon Sword Sect became more difficult by the day.
If not for the fact that there were always Venerable Divinity Transformations within the Sect attaining Fruit Positions, the Blood Demon Sword Sect would have likely vanished into the river of history by now.
'I remember before that Black-robed Demon Cultivator died, he said the Cyan Cloud Sect was joining forces with the Thirteen Righteous Sects to attack my Blood Demon Sword Sect…'
'Looking at it now, it's likely Emperor Jing's will is behind this.'
Qin Xuan was lost in thought.
Immersed in the vast sea of books on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, Qin Xuan read many miscellaneous tales and interesting anecdotes, but he couldn't find any entries regarding the Li Fire Golden Dates.
Just as he was feeling tired and was about to return the book and leave, the giant sphere of light in his mind suddenly began to flash.
Two bamboo slips flew out from the sphere of light.
[Top-Top Lottery: Take book number 3650, enter the hidden bookshelf, and you can obtain a Fourth Grade opportunity. Your comprehension will increase. Great Fortune.]
[Middle-Middle Draw: The sea of books is boundless. You return when your interest wanes. Nothing lost, nothing gained. Neutral.]
[The Worst Draw: Sneak into the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion, be discovered by a Nascent Soul Demon Monarch, and be thrown into the Soul-Devouring Demon Abyss. Great Misfortune!]
Qin Xuan's heart skipped a beat, but then he shot to his feet, his face lit with joy.
...It was actually a Fourth Grade opportunity!
He'd been here for so long.
This was the best opportunity yet!
'As for sneaking into the third floor? Only a fool would do that.'