Chapter 9: Ten Years

Dequan looked at the entrance to the library, which had returned to its original form. After a moment of silence, he spoke to Qu Yi. “Liu Qingfeng is the grandson of Elder Zongwu Huaijin. He possesses only a Wood Spirit Root, which allows him to progress in cultivation at an extraordinary rate. In less than ten years, he has reached the later stage of the Foundation Establishment phase. It is estimated that it will take him no more than five years to reach the Golden Core phase. With his strength, he has now become the top cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage among the Thirty-Six Peaks. Disciples from various peaks regard him with caution—not only because of his own strength but also due to his grandfather’s status as an elder.”

After hearing this, Qu Yi was deeply shaken and began to understand Liu Qingfeng’s arrogance earlier. “Fourth Senior Brother, there’s no need to worry. Who can guarantee that we won’t get a special opportunity in the future to surpass Liu Qingfeng all at once? Come on, let’s enter the library,” Qu Yi said calmly, without much tension.

Dequan nodded slightly, giving Qu Yi an encouraging look, before leading the way into the library.

When the two arrived at the entrance, the protective formation reacted again, creating a vortex-shaped opening. Once it sensed their identification badges, the vortex dissipated, removing the obstructive energy, allowing them to enter easily.

The library was divided into three areas: the Beginner’s Area, the Intermediate Area, and the Advanced Area. In the Beginner’s Area, records and important cultivation techniques were stored in jade slips within various rooms. The Intermediate Area housed techniques from the Golden Core phase, while the Advanced Area contained techniques from the Yuan Ying phase.

Dequan led Qu Yi to the Beginner’s Area, which had five pavilions: the Golden Cloud Pavilion, the Wood Cloud Pavilion, the Water Cloud Pavilion, the Fire Cloud Pavilion, and the Earth Cloud Pavilion. Naturally, Qu Yi and Dequan entered the Golden Cloud Pavilion.

The Golden Cloud Pavilion had three floors. The first floor contained Golden-element cultivation techniques and spells from the Qi Attraction phase. There were no rooms with jade slips, indicating that these Golden-element spells were ordinary and did not require special storage. Qu Yi entered the first floor and immediately scanned the surroundings. There was only one bookshelf made of flower-cloud rock, divided into three layers, each holding several books—these were the Golden-element cultivation techniques and spells.

Next to the bookshelf stood eight stone tables arranged in a Bagua pattern. At that moment, three people were reading cultivation books by those tables.

Although the techniques on this first layer were merely ordinary, every cultivation sect placed great importance on its own techniques and would not allow disciples to take them out of the sect. Naturally, the Xianyun Sect was no exception. The technique books in the Cuiyun Peak Library could only be consulted by disciples themselves, who would then return to practice.

Dequan looked at Qu Yi and smiled, “Fifth junior brother, I’ve already shown you all the areas of the library. You know the way to the Jinyun Tower now. I’ll take you here. As for which technique you choose next, it depends on you. I can’t help you with that. So, I’m going to leave and check out the Muyun Tower.”

Qu Yi knew that Dequan practiced wood-related techniques, so naturally, his coming to this library was to read materials from the Muyun Tower.

“Thank you, Fourth Senior Brother. Go ahead. I’ll take care of it myself,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

Dequan nodded and left right away.

Qu Yi went to the bookshelf and looked at the three books on the first layer, each with a title: *Guxing Gong*, *Zhenjin Xing*, and *Pijin Lan*.

As a newcomer to cultivation, Qu Yi knew nothing about techniques. Seeing these three books on the lowest layer, he naturally didn’t know which one to choose for practice. With no other choice, he decided to read all three before deciding which one to practice.

Qu Yi took out *Guxing Gong* and went to the Bagua table, then began to read it carefully.

At the same time, in Qu Yi’s spiritual world, a deep green sphere suddenly appeared. As his eyes scanned the text, the information transmitted was quickly captured by the sphere and immediately injected into his soul.

Qu Yi immediately became immersed, fully entering the pages of *Guxing Gong*. His hands flipped through the pages rapidly—fifty pages were gone in just a few breaths.

After a while, Qu Yi came back to his senses, filled with surprise.

“How could my memory be so extraordinary?” he wondered.

Back in Linshan Village, Qu Yi already had an excellent memory, but not to the point of remembering everything at a glance. Yet now, not only could he remember everything instantly, but it seemed that after reading *Guxing Gong* once, its contents were completely etched in his memory, and he had fully understood them.

What surprised and amazed him even more was that the contents of *Guxing Gong* were now operating within his body. The surrounding spiritual energy was flowing into his body and following the techniques described in the book, transforming into true energy that entered various meridians.

It was operating on its own!

This is a special ability unique to the Yuan Ying stage, when having a Yuan Ying within the body can automatically attract surrounding spiritual energy. Yet Qu Yi already possessed this state now, which was utterly astonishing.
Overjoyed, Qu Yi gradually recalled various strange phenomena in his body over the past period. All of this was related to that suddenly disappeared sphere. Judging from the current automatic absorption of spiritual energy, it was clear that the sphere was hiding everywhere in his body, helping him cultivate.
Ecstatic, Qu Yi immediately covered his mouth before calming down. He possessed a very peculiar treasure, and judging by its behavior, it was likely beyond the level of a precious artifact. Such an important item naturally needed to be kept secret, especially for a novice cultivator like him who had to be extremely cautious.
Qu Yi already knew the hierarchy of treasures in the cultivation world, from lowest to highest: magic tools, precious artifacts, and spiritual artifacts. He considered that sphere a spiritual artifact because it could actively attract spiritual energy, showing certain telepathic abilities.
But the sphere was not just a spiritual artifact; its true level was beyond Qu Yi’s current understanding.
Recalling his special ability of having an eidetic memory, he immediately put “Lonely Star Skill” back in its place, then fetched “True Gold Movement” and “Golden Veil Overview,” returning to the Eight Trigrams table to flip through them quickly.
In less than fifteen minutes, he finished reading both books again and memorized everything. He put “True Gold Movement” and “Golden Veil Overview” back away.
By now, Qu Yi knew of three gold-element cultivation techniques. His body no longer actively attracted spiritual energy, as if the sphere was waiting for him to decide which technique to practice.
“Lonely Star Skill,” after absorbing the gold-element energy from the natural spiritual energy, allowed one to emit a strong gold-element aura at any time, giving an air of aloofness and seriousness.
“True Gold Movement,” upon cultivation, enabled rapid control and release of gold-element energy, making attacks extremely fast; combined with certain attack skills, it would yield great power.
“Golden Veil Overview,” after absorbing gold-element energy, allowed one to conceal their energy, making it a good technique for hiding strength.
These three techniques each had their own characteristics and, as foundational skills, suited the needs of different people.
After thinking for a while, Qu Yi decided to postpone choosing which technique to practice. Since he had already memorized them, he would compare them again after returning to Tingfeng Residence before starting cultivation.
Having discovered his special memory ability, Qu Yi’s attention now turned to the other four library towers.

Jin Yun Lou – Qu Yi had not yet reached the initial stage of Qi cultivation and could not enter the second floor. Therefore, he could only go to the first floors of the four other book towers: Mu Yun Lou, Shui Yun Lou, Huo Yun Lou, and Tu Yun Lou, which he could still enter.

Although Qu Yi had decided to practice metal-element cultivation techniques, that was just an idea after reading three introductory books. But now that he discovered his ability to remember everything instantly, his mind became active, and he wanted to read through all five types of cultivation techniques before carefully considering his future path.

With that thought, Qu Yi set about it right away.

Soon, he arrived at Shui Yun Lou. On the first floor, he read three water-element cultivation techniques: “Spring Water Art,” “Rapid Wave Sutra,” and “True Meaning of Waves.”

Next, he went to Huo Yun Lou and noted down two fire-element techniques: “Sunlight Art” and “True Canon of Flames.”

Then, he rushed to Tu Yun Lou and quickly went through three earth-element techniques: “Earth Splitting Art,” “Earth Emperor Technique,” and “Peak Concealing Art.”

Finally, he arrived at Mu Yun Lou.

The most powerful faction in the Xian Yun Sect practiced wood-element cultivation techniques. The most renowned technique within the sect was the “Pure Wood Sutra.” It was said that this technique could be practiced all the way to the Tribulation stage, and it was very famous throughout the cultivation world.

Naturally, the most people in the Xian Yun Sect practiced wood-element techniques, and there were also the most records of cultivation experiences related to these techniques. The Mu Yun Lou contained far more basic wood-element techniques than the other four towers.

Qu Yi read through ten wood-element techniques. As he noted them down, he also understood them immediately. After carefully comparing them, he found that three of these ten basic techniques were the best: “Clear Breeze Art,” “Extreme Wood Strength,” and “Spring Encounter Sutra.”

After sitting in meditation on the first floor of Mu Yun Lou for a long time, Qu Yi realized he must have spent a whole day there. Having stayed for so long, it was time to return to Ting Feng Ju.

As he stood up, suddenly, a laugh came from the second floor of Mu Yun Lou.

“Senior De Quan, don’t be in such a hurry. Read more books so you can catch up with my cultivation progress!”

It was Liu Qing Feng’s voice.

Qu Yi immediately froze, staring at the wooden stairs leading from the first floor to the second, his eyes filled with coldness.

There was no doubt that Liu Qing Feng was progressing much faster in wood-element cultivation than De Quan. Seeing De Quan reading on the second floor, Liu Qing Feng taunted him arrogantly.

De Quan came down from the second floor, his expression cold. He stared straight at the exit of Mu Yun Lou, ready to leave.

Liu Qingfeng descended gently, staring at De Quan’s back with a cold smirk and disdainful gaze. Seeing Liu Qingfeng’s expression, Qu Yi’s blood boiled with anger; he suddenly stepped in front of Liu Qingfeng and shouted, “Liu Qingfeng, I make a ten-year pact with you—we’ll duel then!”