Chapter 6

Before Hong Shen even entered the door, a sharp light flashed in Hong Shengri's eyes, and he pounced to the door from behind the desk, staring with tiger-like eyes and joyfully exclaiming, "Hong Yin, have you advanced in your realm?!"

Reaching the third rank of Manifested Saint, each step of advancement was extremely difficult. Not only did it require a large amount of resources, but personal effort was also indispensable. Even if all these were done perfectly, those who could not advance still outnumbered those who could break through by dozens of times.

Therefore, when Hong Shen advanced to the middle stage of the third rank of Manifested Saint, even Hong Shengri was very pleased.

Hong Shen felt the concern from the old man and a warm feeling welled up in his heart. He bowed and replied, "Yes, General, this time it was really thanks to Young Master Yu."

Hong Shengri was taken aback: "What does he have to do with it?"

Hong Shen recounted the process of his breakthrough, and Hong Shengri's brows furrowed.

"Definitely, Young Master Yu secretly helped me..."

"Nonsense!" Hong Shengri laughed and scolded: "Don't you know what that little brat is capable of? How could he help a third-rank Manifested Saint?"

Hong Shen also felt that what he had said was a bit off. After thinking for a moment, he added, "General, I believe that either Young Master Yu has been hiding his strength all along, or he has recently had some kind of encounter."

Hong Shengri shook his head: "Hiding his strength? Think about what he has done over the years. That's not hiding his strength; it's clearly trying to drive me, this old man, to my grave."

Hong Shen remained silent.

Hong Shengri continued, "It's likely that he has had some kind of extraordinary encounter recently, probably related to his previous injury. This kind of encounter is very powerful and might have helped you without you even knowing it."

Hong Shengri, with his extensive experience and broad knowledge, analyzed the situation, and his conclusion was mostly accurate.

Hong Shen, somewhat excited, said, "General, the Hong family has a successor!"

Hong Shengri's face lit up, but then he became calm again and shook his head: "Even if he has had an encounter, it still depends on whether that boy can make something of himself. If he continues to be like before... the more power he has, the more trouble he will cause. Sigh."

Hong Shen vaguely felt that Young Master Yu's change over the past two days would not be the same as before. However, the General had been disappointed by Young Master Yu for many years and now dared not have too much hope.

After some thought, Hong Shengri said, "Keep this matter strictly confidential and don't publicize it."

Hong Shen nodded: "General, rest assured, I understand."

The decline of the Hong family was good news for many people in the Great Xia Dynasty. If Hong Yu suddenly transformed from a useless second-generation heir into a genius with extraordinary encounters, it would strongly curb the decline of the Hong family, which many people did not want to see.

If this news leaked, it would soon attract a large number of enemies targeting Hong Yu.

...

In the library, time passed swiftly. Every book Hong Yu read would have a thread of golden light融入 his mind. Unconsciously, he had finished reading all ten thousand volumes on the fourth floor of the building.

He closed the last book and looked up, suddenly realizing he had read through the entire building!

At that moment, the ancient magic elephant totem in the Heavenly Spring acupoint roared to the sky, and a powerful dark golden energy burst forth, rapidly coursing through the meridians in his left arm.

The Shami Dharma Image remained still, allowing the ancient magic elephant totem to roar like thunder.

However, Hong Yu had a clear understanding: in his meridians, the Shami Dharma Image still held the highest authority!

No matter how powerful the ancient magic elephant totem was, it remained confined to a corner, not daring to let the dark golden martial qi surge out of his left arm.

However, Hong Yu was pleasantly surprised to find that his left arm was becoming increasingly powerful. After the dark golden martial qi completed nine cycles, his arm began to emit a faint glow.

Looking at it, he saw a fierce ancient magic elephant head emerging from the faint glow, with blood-red eyes that seemed to burn with the hellish flames of the soul.

A pair of huge ears, like invincible divine armor, covered his shoulders.

A thick and powerful elephant trunk and saber-like tusks coiled around his arm, like a massive tattoo.

A thought arose in Hong Yu's mind: if he continued to cultivate in this way, perhaps one day his left arm would possess the power of an ancient magic elephant!

After nine cycles, the ancient magic elephant totem gradually calmed down, letting out a low roar as if dissatisfied, and then shrank, falling into a deep sleep.

The power in Hong Yu's left arm began to retreat from his muscles and blood vessels, hiding in his bone marrow.

Before the power completely disappeared, Hong Yu looked up and saw a wooden pillar supporting the entire building. It was as thick as a person and made of iron-rock wood from the northern cold forest, as hard as wrought iron.

Hong Yu extended his left hand and pressed it against the pillar, leaving a deep palm print in the hard iron-rock wood!

Even Hong Yu himself was startled. He knew his left arm had gained incredible strength, but he never expected it to be so incredible! It was truly astonishing!

The ancient magic elephant totem, in its deep sleep, turned over and let out a low roar, seemingly dissatisfied with Hong Yu underestimating the power of the ancient divine beast.

The Shami Dharma Image remained unmoved, but Hong Yu could sense that it had changed somewhat, though he had not yet discovered the specifics. The vast amount of martial arts knowledge had caused some transformation in the Shami Dharma Image.

The power in his left arm was rapidly retreating into his bone marrow. After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, his left arm appeared ordinary. However, with a thought, Hong Yu could feel a terrifying power, with a destructive impulse, ready to burst forth from deep within his bone marrow!

He smiled in satisfaction, moved a bookshelf to cover the part of the iron-rock wood where he had left a handprint, to avoid causing a sensation, and then went downstairs.

On the first floor, he looked back at the vast collection of books, and a thought suddenly came to him: these books are of too low a level, and hitting them with a wooden fish or a brick won't do much. But higher-level books might. He remembered some parts of the *Nine Yin Manual* and the *Nine Yang Manual*. Could they do something?

This thought grew like wild grass, uncontrollable, and he couldn't wait to try it out.

In his previous life, the internet brought endless possibilities. The legendary *Nine Yin Manual* and *Nine Yang Manual* could even be found online in electronic versions! As a martial arts enthusiast, Hong Yu had carefully read these two classics and could remember some parts.

However, the authenticity of these two books was questionable.

Thinking about the uncertainty of these two books, Hong Yu had another thought: these two books might be fake, but there were several books that were undoubtedly genuine, such as the *Tao Te Ching*, the *Diamond Sutra*, the *Lengyan Sutra*, and the *I Ching*...

Thinking about these things, his heart raced, and he walked out, somewhat absent-minded.

"Master Yu!" Hong Shen was already waiting at the door, and Hong Yu absent-mindedly nodded. Hong Yin went in to check and came out, saying, "No problem."

Hong Yu bowed slightly to the two third-rank Manifested Saints and turned to leave. Hong Shen followed silently.

Unlike the *Nine Yin Manual* and *Nine Yang Manual*, the *Tao Te Ching* and others were genuine classics. Moreover, Hong Yu had really memorized them in his previous life.

This was thanks to his good grandfather, who had strictly made him recite ancient texts from a young age. For this, Hong Yu had suffered a lot.

In the new era, what was the use of reciting these ancient texts and having a good classical education? In a society driven by material desires, one could compete based on family, background, education, and appearance, but no one would compete based on classical knowledge.

Until his death in his previous life, Hong Yu had never used his classical education, but he never expected that in this rebirth, these things he thought would never be useful might completely change his life!

As for the Buddhist scriptures, he had not read them in detail, but after the new era's openness, Buddhism and Taoism became increasingly prosperous, and Buddhist scriptures were often recorded as music online. When Hong Yu was tired, he would play some of these, and they were very effective in relaxing his mind and body.

Listening to them often, he could remember most of them.

Now, with the Shami Dharma Image, he could easily recall the complete content of these scriptures.

While thinking and walking, he almost bumped into someone.

"Big Brother?"

Hong Lie's expression was somewhat gloomy, and he looked preoccupied, almost colliding with Hong Yu. He forced a smile: "Little Brother, go back and rest well."

He said this simply and then walked away, head down and preoccupied.

Hong Yu asked, "Big Brother, is something wrong?"

Hong Lie waved his hand without turning back and quickly left.

Hong Yu was puzzled: What's wrong with Big Brother?

Hong Shen, following behind, almost laughed. The two brothers, both preoccupied, had almost bumped heads at the intersection.

Hong Yu, looking at Hong Lie's back, keenly sensed that something was wrong with his brother.

Back in his courtyard, Hong Yu pondered for a moment and called out, "Someone!"

He was prepared to take action if no one came today, to give those people a warning.

Indeed, the previous master was not a good person and treated the servants poorly, but he had indulged them for two days. During these two days, especially the first day, he was severely injured and had no one to attend to him. If the servants still did not know their place, he would have to enforce the family rules.

"Master." A timid voice sounded. A young girl of about thirteen or fourteen, dressed in simple blue clothes, stood outside the door, head down, hands clasped in front of her, and bowed respectfully.

Hong Yu remembered that this was his personal maid, Xiaoling, who had been the most oppressed by the previous master.

He thought for a moment and decided that such a young girl probably wouldn't know what was wrong with his brother. He waved his hand, "Go and call Hong Xi."

"Yes."

Hong Xi was the steward in charge of Hong Yu's affairs. According to the current situation of the Hong family, Hong Xi should have been ranked fourth among the stewards. However, because Hong Yu had no status in the family, even Hong Xi could not hold his head high.

Stuck with such a useless and temperamental master, Hong Xi dared not say anything out loud, but his dissatisfaction and frustration extended from his throat to his anus.

Today, Grandfather Hong had specifically sent someone to pass on a message, so all the servants around Hong Yu were on duty and dared not be negligent. After a short while, Hong Xi arrived, "Master, you called me."