Chapter 24

Only by stepping into the Scripture Hall can one truly understand how terrifying the thousand-year legacy of the Qiyun Sect is, and why even the most powerful families across the land would send their children to serve as laborers and servants in the Qiyun Sect.

Nearly ten thousand single volumes, each containing a brief introduction to a cultivation technique, were neatly arranged on over a hundred bookshelves. Each bookshelf was made of expensive sandalwood, filling the entire Scripture Hall with a rich sandalwood fragrance.

After casually walking around the first floor of the Scripture Hall, Ye Zhen began to understand why the sect had a rule that each disciple could not stay in the Scripture Hall for more than half an hour.

Because there were too many cultivation techniques, so many that they could dazzle the eyes.

Each cultivation technique had its own benefits and strengths. If there were no time limits, many disciples would enter the Scripture Hall and be overwhelmed, possibly taking one or two days to come out.

The cultivation techniques stored in the Scripture Hall were categorized by bookshelf and divided by rank, making it convenient for disciples to quickly make their choices.

There were cultivation techniques, sword techniques, fist techniques, saber techniques, combined attack and defense techniques, speed techniques, and movement techniques, among others.

In no time, Ye Zhen had selected several cultivation techniques as options.

"White Crane Divine Claw, a high-grade ordinary technique, primarily for attack!"

"Heavenly Thunder Palm, a high-grade ordinary technique, primarily for attack."

"Five Mountains Divine Fist, a high-grade ordinary technique, primarily for attack."

"Turtle Crane Roaming Body Fist, a mid-grade ordinary technique, primarily for defense."

"Grass Flying, a high-grade ordinary movement technique."

"Snake Roaming Step, a high-grade ordinary movement technique."

"Seven Stars Sword Finger, a high-grade ordinary technique, primarily for attack!"

...

Soon, Ye Zhen selected seven techniques that he thought would suit him. In Ye Zhen's understanding, there were no absolute best techniques, only the most suitable ones.

For example, if you asked Wang Qi, an outer sect disciple with innate strength but a clumsy body, to practice the Snake Roaming Step, it would be a bad move. On the contrary, someone like Wang Qi, who has innate strength, would be more suitable for practicing powerful techniques like the Mighty Tiger King Fist.

Ye Zhen chose techniques that suited his own characteristics.

Ye Zhen had a well-proportioned body, strong explosive power, and was a very ordinary type of person. Therefore, many techniques here were suitable for Ye Zhen. However, the Blood Essence Body Technique that Ye Zhen practiced had distinct characteristics.

The battle with Li Xuelong today made Ye Zhen realize the dominance of the Blood Essence Body Technique. Once the qi gang (a powerful aura) was formed, it could cut through metal and stone.

According to Ye Zhen's knowledge, only after a martial artist condensed true essence could they possibly cultivate the qi gang. However, the Blood Essence Body Technique allowed Ye Zhen to cultivate the qi gang much earlier. Ye Zhen estimated that the Blood Essence Body Technique was at least a low-grade human technique, and it might even be higher.

Even low-grade or mid-grade ordinary techniques were the standard for inner sect disciples. Ye Zhen was somewhat curious about the identity of the instructor Liao, who seemed to have a violent tendency.

Since Ye Zhen had the qi gang as a powerful tool, his choice of cultivation techniques should focus on those that could maximize the power of the qi gang.

Based on this principle, Ye Zhen selected these seven techniques.

The White Crane Divine Claw emphasized flexibility and versatility, known for its unpredictable changes. If mastered, it would make the opponent unable to guard against it. The Heavenly Thunder Palm, on the other hand, was a powerful technique, also suitable for Ye Zhen.

However, Ye Zhen ultimately chose the Five Mountains Divine Fist. The Five Mountains Divine Fist was also a powerful technique, slightly inferior to the Heavenly Thunder Palm, but if mastered, the fist force could extend up to three feet from the body!

The ability of the fist force to extend up to three feet was the reason Ye Zhen ultimately chose the Five Mountains Divine Fist.

As for the movement techniques, Ye Zhen ultimately chose the Snake Roaming Step.

The Grass Flying movement technique was more outstanding, faster than the Snake Roaming Step, but lacked versatility. In comparison, the Snake Roaming Step was more complex and unpredictable, more suitable for Ye Zhen to use the qi gang.

Under the Snake Roaming Step, if Ye Zhen suddenly unleashed a punch with the qi gang, it might have a miraculous effect in defeating the enemy. More importantly, the Snake Roaming Step had explosive power in short distances.

One of the movements in the Snake Roaming Step, called Snake Spring Grass, could instantly cover a distance of ten to dozens of meters, which might have a surprising effect in critical moments, making it more suitable than the Grass Flying technique, which was known for its speed.

As for cultivation techniques, Ye Zhen also looked through them, but even after flipping through hundreds of high-grade ordinary cultivation techniques, none of them could cultivate the qi gang in the Blood Essence Stage.

This made Ye Zhen even more eager to know the rank of the Blood Essence Body Technique.

What Ye Zhen selected on the first floor of the Scripture Hall were merely brief introductions to the techniques. The actual techniques had to be exchanged from the Scripture Hall steward.

It was said that this rule was set by the Qiyun Sect to prevent disciples from memorizing the techniques, ultimately to prevent them from learning too many techniques without limit and failing to master any.

Since there were too many outer sect disciples, many came to the Scripture Hall to select techniques every day. There was only one steward here, so while selecting the brief introductions was quick, leaving to exchange the techniques formed a long queue.

Moreover, the old steward here sometimes gave advice to the outer sect disciples about whether the selected techniques were suitable, making the process even slower.

Ye Zhen also waited in line obediently. After about half an hour, there was only one outer sect disciple in front of him.

The old steward gave a few pointers to the black-clothed outer sect disciple in front of Ye Zhen and then went inside to fetch the techniques. At this moment, a loud and arrogant voice suddenly rang out behind Ye Zhen.

"Move, move, let me go first!" A black-clothed outer sect disciple with a black mole on his eyebrow barged through the queue, causing the other black-clothed outer sect disciples to stumble and fall.

"You're all blind, move quickly, I have something to do!" He cursed as he walked, his triangular eyes twitching with the black mole, looking particularly fierce.

"Damn, Hong Bao is here, move quickly!" The black-clothed outer sect disciples behind Ye Zhen, seeing his behavior, all showed fear and moved aside, leaving only Ye Zhen.

Hearing this name, Ye Zhen's eyebrows slightly furrowed. The name seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

"Hey, the guy in front, are you deaf? Move quickly!" Seeing that Ye Zhen didn't move, Hong Bao shouted.

Ye Zhen acted as if he hadn't heard, standing there without moving.

Seeing that his shouting was ineffective, Hong Bao's eyebrows furrowed, making his face look even more fierce. "Damn, are you deaf? Move quickly!"

With a roar, the wind suddenly rose, and Hong Bao slapped at Ye Zhen, trying to push him away.

"Get lost, what are you? Why should I?"

At the moment Hong Bao's hand landed on Ye Zhen's shoulder, Ye Zhen's shoulder suddenly trembled, and a burst of qi energy emerged.

Bang!

Hong Bao's hand was pushed up high, and his body was even pushed back a step.

Sigh!

The sound of gasps filled the air. The many outer sect disciples who had moved aside were surprised. Someone actually dared to confront Hong Bao?

Being pushed back, Hong Bao's face first turned red, then he became even more fierce. "Good, you dare to challenge me! Why should I? Just because I'm the second on the Earth Rank! Kid, get out!"

"Second on the Earth Rank?" Ye Zhen instantly understood where his familiarity came from. He had seen this name on the Earth Rank.

With a roar, Hong Bao's hands suddenly created countless palm shadows, ready to strike Ye Zhen.

"Hong Bao, if you violate the sect rules again, you will be expelled!" The old steward, holding the techniques, coldly said, making Hong Bao freeze in place.

"Heh, I wouldn't dare!" Hong Bao forced a smile, standing behind Ye Zhen, but his eyes were filled with hatred.

Ye Zhen did not back down, his eyes coldly staring at Hong Bao, not giving an inch.

These days, Ye Zhen gradually understood that as a martial artist, one must never tolerate humiliation or show weakness.

Before beating Wu Jian, Ye Zhen endured humiliation every day, and although he practiced, his qi and blood circulation were not smooth.

But after his strength increased, beating Wu Jian and defeating Ma Yuanwu, Ye Zhen clearly felt that his qi and blood circulation during practice became much smoother, and the practice effect was even better.

Comparing the two, Ye Zhen realized a principle, though he couldn't articulate it clearly.

After sending away the outer sect disciple in front of Ye Zhen, the steward took the brief introductions Ye Zhen had chosen and said, "Bring your identity jade token. The Five Mountains Divine Fist costs 100 sect contribution points, and the Snake Roaming Step costs 150 sect contribution points."

"Do I need sect contribution points? Sir, isn't it that new outer sect disciples can choose one cultivation technique, one martial technique, and one movement technique for free?" Ye Zhen asked in confusion.

"The batch from a few days ago? You haven't chosen yet? Bring your identity jade token." The old steward was quite surprised.

Not only that, but the outer sect disciples behind were even more surprised. They couldn't believe that someone who dared to challenge the second on the Earth Rank was a new outer sect disciple who hadn't even chosen a technique.

Hong Bao's eyes widened, and he pointed at Ye Zhen, cursing, "Damn, a new outer sect disciple dares to challenge me, the second on the Earth Rank, and doesn't want to live, wait until I play with you..."

The old steward glared, and Hong Bao's cursing stopped abruptly. "That's right, you didn't use your free choice. You can take these two techniques directly, but I advise you to choose a different one for the Snake Roaming Step."

"Why?" Ye Zhen asked in confusion.

"It's very difficult to practice. I've been here for over ten years, and I've never seen any disciple fully master the Snake Roaming Step."

Ye Zhen was not convinced. "I want to try."

The old steward looked as if he had expected this response, and he handed the two techniques to Ye Zhen. "Every disciple who chose the Snake Roaming Step and was advised by me reacted the same way. The 150 sect contribution points for the Snake Roaming Step are not given for nothing."

"Thank you for the advice, sir, but I still want to try." Ye Zhen insisted.

"Next!" Seeing that the advice was ineffective, the steward said no more, and Ye Zhen turned to leave.

As Ye Zhen passed by Hong Bao, Hong Bao's fierce voice rang in his ear. "Kid, you wait, I'll play with you..."

"Anytime!"

Ye Zhen's words almost made Hong Bao's triangular eyes explode. A new disciple was so arrogant. Just as he was about to shout more, Ye Zhen had already walked away.

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