Chapter 41

The fat old man's white beard trembled with anger, and his ruddy, plump face seemed about to burst with blood. After Qin Feng let him down, he quickly tidied up his disheveled imperial robe, clearly a peculiar old man who cared much about his dignity. However, after taking a look at the token Qin Feng handed over, he was stunned for a moment and surprisingly calmed down.

He glanced at Qin Feng with a strange look, then immediately put on a kind and benevolent demeanor, and asked in a gentle tone, "How did the elder token of Tian Shu end up in your hands?"

"Damn, what a thick-skinned guy!" Qin Feng cursed inwardly.

One doesn't hit a smiling face, and since Qin Feng needed to borrow books, he felt a bit awkward but still replied, "My uncle gave it to me, to come here and read books for a while!"

Qin Feng didn't waste words, and with just a few sentences, he made it clear that Qin Tian Shu had sent him to read books, and it was up to the old man to decide what to do.

Fortunately, the fat old man was quite sensible and, after asking just one question, threw the token back to Qin Feng.

The token was genuine, and with Qin Feng's cultivation, it was impossible for him to steal Qin Tian Shu's elder token. It was most likely that Qin Tian Shu had given it to Qin Feng voluntarily. This wasn't hard to deduce with a bit of reasoning.

However, Qin Tian Shu, who was always focused on cultivation, when did he suddenly have a "nephew"? The old man was still quite curious about this.

But he didn't ask. After sitting up straight, he explained to Qin Feng, "Cough, cough, in the Divine Dragon Pavilion, the first three floors are under my jurisdiction. On this first floor, about half of the ancient books are about various cultivation techniques and personal insights, totaling tens of thousands of volumes, and these are the books that the disciples of Tian Feng City like to read the most. There are also about ten thousand books that mainly introduce various skills, such as refining equipment, making talismans, and alchemy. However, these skill-related books are not our Qin family's strong point, so we only collect some representative books, and they are not too profound."

At this point, the old man took a sip of tea and continued, "The most numerous books on this floor, however, are miscellaneous books, numbering hundreds of thousands. They mostly introduce the geography and customs of the Qingxuan cultivation world, ancient cultivation sects, rare flowers and strange plants, precious birds and exotic beasts, and cultivation secrets. These books are very diverse, and some cannot be categorized, so they are placed in a rather messy manner. Although these books are quite interesting, it's best to just browse them casually and not spend too much time on them. I have categorized all the books and placed them on various bookshelves, and I have numbered them. You can see the classification labels at the top of each bookshelf, which makes it easier for you to search. As for the second and third floors, they are mainly about cultivation techniques, but only those with Human Gang cultivation can go there. It's a place where Qin family disciples choose cultivation techniques after breaking through to the Human Gang realm. You have the elder token, so you can go there, but given your current situation, you won't need to. The borrowing method is that you can read the books here, or you can copy the content of the books onto jade slips and take them away, but the fees are different. For ordinary disciples, reading the books here is free, but copying the content of the books onto jade slips costs ten low-grade mystic stones per book."

After finishing his explanation in one breath, the fat-faced old man picked up his teapot and drank from it, not paying any more attention to Qin Feng.

"Strange old man!"

Qin Feng shrugged, turned, and walked towards the bookshelves.

There were many bookshelves, and although they were categorized, there were simply too many. Therefore, Qin Feng started wandering around the first floor of the Divine Dragon Pavilion.

After walking around, Qin Feng found that there were still a few people scattered around reading books, with most of them concentrated in the areas about cultivation techniques and personal insights. Everyone was focused on the content of the books and had no time to bother with others, making the place seem unusually quiet.

It made sense. The Qin family disciples at the Human Gang stage had daily routines focused on cultivation, and they had no extra time to read books. Unless they were exceptionally talented, most of their time was spent on the tedious process of cultivation. After all, strength was everything, and advancing to the Human Gang realm as soon as possible was more important than anything else.

Qin Feng walked through the cultivation technique area and stopped at the bookshelves about rare flowers and strange plants, precious birds and exotic beasts, cultivation secrets, and peculiar realms.

Looking up, the entire bookshelf was covered in dust, and from this, it was clear that these were some of the more obscure books. Even the fat old man was probably too lazy to clean them. These ancient books were the most numerous, with hundreds of bookshelves, each densely packed with about a thousand books.

These books, in essence, were all about the strange and unusual events in the cultivation world. They not only contained legends but also explained the geography and customs of the cultivation world, as well as various rare flowers and strange plants, precious birds and exotic beasts, ancient wild realms, and ancient sects. However, cultivators were always busy improving their cultivation, hoping to advance to higher realms as soon as possible to gain greater power and longer lifespans. How many would truly care about these miscellaneous pieces of knowledge in the cultivation world?

But Qin Feng didn't think so!

Because from a young age, he had traveled with his father and seen many things, broadening his horizons. He naturally knew how important the content of these books was, especially the necessary knowledge of the cultivation world, which was incredibly useful.

Compared to the Dragon Martial Pavilion in Luoyang Town, this place was simply a treasure trove!

Qin Feng would definitely read these books, but he couldn't devour them all at once. Everything had to be done step by step.

Qin Feng had two real purposes for coming to the Divine Dragon Pavilion. The first was to look up information related to the mutation of his bloodline soul, and if possible, find some information about the strange illness. The Dragon Martial Pavilion in Luoyang Town didn't have it, but that didn't mean this place wouldn't have some clues. Qin Feng knew very well that the strange illness was the root of all his troubles, and it was because of it that his bloodline soul had mutated into its current state.

The second purpose was to choose a main cultivation technique.

Although he had awakened a dead soul, he still had a soul, and although it was slow, there was still hope. Qin Feng had never backed down in the face of difficulties, both in his past and present life!

Qin Feng had tried and found that he could still absorb mystic energy!

Although the low quality of the dead snake soul had reduced the speed of absorbing mystic energy to an extremely slow pace, as long as he could still cultivate, Qin Feng wouldn't give up.

No matter how difficult it was, Qin Feng had never given up on himself!

However, a critical issue was now before him: the *Qinglong Gang Cultivation Technique* was only suitable for the Human Gang stage. After reaching the Human Gang realm, it was no longer appropriate as a main cultivation technique. Therefore, he needed to choose a new main cultivation technique for lifelong cultivation.

The choice of this cultivation technique was very important, often determining a person's future achievements.

Although the Qin family in Luoyang Town had many main cultivation techniques, there were almost no Earth or Heaven-grade main cultivation techniques. Even if there were, they were incomplete, and one would eventually have to come to Tian Feng City to obtain a complete main cultivation technique. This was a wise move by the Qin family's upper management to manage such a large family. Qin Feng didn't want to beg for help or accept others' pity, so he decided to use the Great Wasteland Blood Leech to exchange for this opportunity. Some things needed to be planned in advance.

As for the cultivation technique, if he was going to choose, he would choose the best!

Qin Tian Shu wasn't stupid and could see Qin Feng's true intentions. From his final attitude towards Qin Feng, it was clear that he appreciated Qin Feng's approach.

Young people can lose everything, but they must never lose their integrity!

Using the Great Wasteland Blood Leech to exchange for a top-notch cultivation technique, in Qin Tian Shu's view, was a show of courage! In Qin Feng's view, it was simply worth it!

The cultivation techniques were on the second and third floors, so there was no rush.

Everything would start here...

With this decision, Qin Feng returned to the area about cultivation insights and searched for a long time before finding a few dozen books about mutated bloodline souls in a corner.

Qin Feng was a bit surprised because there were so few books on this topic.

He pulled out the thickest one and cleaned off the thick layer of dust. It was an ancient book called *Dragon Soul Blood Mutation*. After a quick glance, Qin Feng understood why there were so few books on this topic.

Throughout history, in the Qin family, the mutation of bloodline souls was extremely rare. Not only was it rare, but most of the mutated bloodline souls were dead souls, unable to cultivate. Therefore, there were very few records about this.

But even these few dozen books, Qin Feng treated them like treasures, reading them very carefully, almost word by word, searching for any key information, and thinking about any details that might be related to his body.

He became so engrossed that he lost track of time and forgot about his fatigue.

Days passed as he lost himself in the words of the books...

Three days later, in a corner of the Divine Dragon Pavilion, Qin Feng straightened his body, stretched, and finally pulled his eyes away from the last book.

Qin Feng had read all the dozens of books, word by word, without missing a single one.

Although the books were few, Qin Feng gained a lot, especially from the ancient book *Dragon Soul Blood Mutation*, written by a Qin family ancestor named Qin Ao Tian, which contained the most detailed information.

Although the problem wasn't solved, Qin Feng was no longer blind.

First, Qin Feng could confirm that his bloodline soul had indeed mutated!

Although the book recorded several types of mutations, Qin Feng's case had never occurred before. Most mutated bloodline souls were dead souls, but there were also some good ones. For example, 1,200 years ago, a Qin family disciple awakened a dual-headed yellow-grade dragon soul, which had the overall strength of a mystic-grade dragon soul. This showed that mutations could be good or bad, with a low chance of being good and a high chance of being bad, all depending on luck.

However—

Qin Feng had reviewed all the records, and in the descriptions of his mutated dragon soul, there was a common feature: throughout the long history of the Qin family, those with the Azure Dragon bloodline, whether their bloodline souls had mutated or not, had one common feature: their bloodline souls were always green, whether they were high-grade dragon souls, low-grade python souls, or snake souls. Other colors occasionally appeared, but never a black bloodline soul like Qin Feng's.

The first and only one in history!

It seemed he was indeed a unique case!

What a one-of-a-kind individual!

Sighing, Qin Feng shook his head, feeling a vague sense of unease.

Black represented malevolence!

From the current situation, his mutated bloodline soul was indeed developing in a negative direction, but this couldn't be entirely concluded. Normal bloodline souls had well-known innate abilities, but the abilities of mutated bloodline souls needed to be discovered over a long period of time.

It was just that the chances of this were relatively low.

After closing the books and returning them to their original places, Qin Feng looked around, feeling a bit melancholic.

In three days, he had read only a few dozen books, and looking at the endless rows of bookshelves in the Divine Dragon Pavilion, he wondered when he would finish reading them all.

The most critical issue was that Qin Feng was hungry...

Although he could go without eating for a few days due to his cultivation of mystic energy, constantly reading on an empty stomach would affect his efficiency.

Therefore, Qin Feng had to leave the bookshelves and head towards the entrance of the Divine Dragon Pavilion.

As he passed the borrowing counter, the fat old man looked up at Qin Feng, then glanced at the area where Qin Feng had been, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

Qin Feng didn't notice and left the Divine Dragon Pavilion.

The old man, however, suddenly stood up, walked to where Qin Feng had been, and after searching for a while, his gaze finally settled on the *Dragon Soul Blood Mutation* that Qin Feng had cleaned. His eyes flickered, and a tear slowly rolled down his weathered face...