Chapter 94

"Seniors, I am very pleased that you wish to take on disciples. However, regarding the matter of taking Ye Zhen as a disciple, I truly cannot make this decision."

Upon hearing the words of Sect Leader Guo Qijing, the six elders who had been arguing incessantly over who would take Ye Zhen as a disciple all fell silent. If no one could take him in, there was no point in arguing; they needed to understand the situation first.

"Sect Leader, why do you say this?"

"Half a year ago, Feibai gave me a heads-up," Guo Qijing said.

"Liao Luocha?"

The expressions of the six sect elders froze simultaneously, and they were at a loss for words.

However, the elders were still somewhat reluctant. "Sect Leader, according to the sect rules, Liao Feibai is currently just an outer sect instructor and has no qualifications to take on disciples. Moreover, even if he had the qualifications to take on disciples, he hasn't taken Ye Zhen in yet..."

"Regarding this, if any of you really want to take Ye Zhen as a disciple, you can try to reason with Feibai and see if she will give up on Ye Zhen..."

The six sect elders were immediately speechless. Reasoning with Liao Feibai would be like asking for trouble; it would be a stroke of luck if they didn't end up with a few transparent holes in them.

"This... This... Sect Leader, Liao Feibai can't be so unreasonable and disregard the rules!" Elder Zhongli Jing, who had come with high hopes, was now thoroughly depressed.

"If Feibai were reasonable and followed the rules, would she be known as the Demon-faced Luocha?" Sect Leader Guo Qijing smiled bitterly.

Ye Zhen was unaware of what was happening in the Sect Leader's private chamber.

At this moment, Ye Zhen was heading to the Scripture Hall with great joy.

Since he had made it into the Heaven Rank, he needed to quickly enjoy the benefits of the Heaven Rank, such as entering the third floor of the Scripture Hall to select a few secret manuals for cultivation.

Without mentioning other things, just in terms of protective aura, if Ye Zhen had chosen a defensive aura with outstanding protection, he wouldn't have been so terrified during the sixth trial, to the point where his heart almost leaped out of his throat.

In front of the medium-grade Earth Rank Illusory Four-Armed Bear, Ye Zhen's most primitive protective aura was as fragile as paper, collapsing at the slightest touch. At that time, Ye Zhen was genuinely worried that the amulet wouldn't react in time and would cost him his life.

Today, the Scripture Hall did not have the usual long line of elders waiting; only three or four people were there, mainly because most people had gone to watch the Heaven and Earth Rank excitement.

The old steward, who guarded the Scripture Hall, was as usual half-asleep, with his eyes half-closed.

"Ye Zhen, you want to enter the third floor of the Scripture Hall? I remember you became an inner sect disciple not long ago, right?" the old steward said.

"Old Steward, take a look at this!" Ye Zhen proactively handed over his identity jade token.

"Heaven Rank... tenth place?"

The old steward, who had been half-asleep, was stunned, and his cloudy eyes suddenly became bright. "I didn't expect that the person who made the disciples scream and rush to the Heaven and Earth Rank was you."

"Right, only the third floor? Don't you want to go to the fourth floor of the Scripture Hall? Upper-grade Human Rank martial techniques are much stronger than medium-grade Human Rank martial techniques."

Ye Zhen's expression froze. "The fourth floor of the Scripture Hall, I can go?"

The old steward was also surprised. "Ye Zhen, you don't even know this?"

"Inner sect disciples who make it into the Heaven Rank can gain the qualification to enter the third floor of the Scripture Hall. However, if you can make it into the top ten of the Heaven Rank, you can gain the qualification to enter and exit the fourth floor of the Scripture Hall at will!"

"Making it into the top ten of the Heaven Rank has such benefits?"

"Many, many more!"

"Besides the well-known benefits, there's unconditional apprenticeship, and the spirit vein cultivation room. If your cultivation breaks through to the Spirit Induction Realm, you can go to the sect's spirit vein cultivation room for free."

At this point, the old steward's long eyebrows suddenly raised. "By the way, the disciples who make it into the top ten of the Heaven Rank are at least in the early stage of the Spirit Induction Realm. How did you, at the fourth level of True Essence, manage to do this?"

This question was difficult for Ye Zhen to answer. Just as Ye Zhen was feeling troubled, a strange sound suddenly came from not far from the Scripture Hall.

"I hit, I punch, ha ha, Ye Zhen, you lost! I am the first in the outer sect, ha ha, first!"

"Liyun Chong, I'm here, do you dare to fight me, Hong Bao!"

"No... no... I'm not lying, I am really the first in the outer sect..."

On one side, Hong Bao, with disheveled hair and a dirty face, was gesturing wildly at a tree, crying and laughing, feeling both proud and terrified. When he was proud, he was wildly arrogant, and when he was terrified, he was in tears, treating the tree as his enemy.

Seeing this, Ye Zhen was utterly astonished.

"Old Steward, what's wrong with Hong Bao?"

"Mad, mad for half a year! It was just a few days after the two-sect competition where you brought glory to the sect that Hong Bao, who had disgraced himself, couldn't bear the pointing and whispering of his fellow disciples and went mad."

"Pity, Hong Bao had some talent, but his will was too weak..."

"Does the sect not take care of him?"

Looking at the disheveled and mad Hong Bao, Ye Zhen frowned. Although he had some conflicts with Hong Bao, seeing him in this state, he felt some sympathy.

"How could they not take care of him? The Sect Leader personally examined him and said that Hong Bao was too stimulated, his mind was confused, and there was no medicine to cure him. For this, Elder Hong, who didn't believe in evil, specially sought a few calming pills from the Black Water Medicine King, but they were useless."

"Elder Hong sought medicine for him?" Ye Zhen was very surprised.

"Hong Bao is Elder Hong's cousin, everyone in the sect knows this," the old steward said.

The surprise flashed across Ye Zhen's face, and he bid farewell to the old steward, heading straight to the fourth floor of the Scripture Hall.

At this moment, Ye Zhen finally understood that when Ye Chao and Ye Sheng mentioned that Hong Bao had a powerful figure behind him, they were referring to Elder Hong Banjiang.

It was also Ye Zhen's fault for being so engrossed in cultivation over the past year that he had no time to pay attention to these trivial matters, and such important news had escaped him.

"It seems I need to be more cautious about Elder Hong..."

Ye Zhen immediately became alert.

From Ye Zhen's observations, this Elder Hong Banjiang was definitely not a magnanimous person. By chance, Ye Zhen had killed his disciple Yue Chengzu and made him lose face.

Now that his cousin Hong Bao had gone mad, although Hong Bao's madness had little to do with Ye Zhen and was due to his own cowardice, Ye Zhen was certain that Elder Hong would likely blame him for it.

Thinking about it, Ye Zhen immediately felt that today, Zhou Zhian's mocking and provocation, trying to incite Ye Zhen to the martial arena, might not be without Elder Hong's influence.

In an instant, Ye Zhen, holding his identity jade token, passed through the protective light barrier of the fourth floor of the Scripture Hall.

Compared to the bustling first and second floors, the fourth floor of the Scripture Hall was almost silent, as if no one was there.

Not only was it very quiet, but the number of bookshelves on the fourth floor of the Scripture Hall was also several times fewer than on the second floor, with less than a thousand secret manuals in sight.

The higher the rank of the cultivation technique, the fewer and more precious the secret manuals.

Just as he turned a bookshelf, a figure suddenly appeared, startling Ye Zhen.

"Senior Brother Changsun?"

"Ye Zhen? You... why are you here?" Seeing Ye Zhen here, Changsun Ran was very surprised, frowned, and then exclaimed in shock, "Could it be that the dark horse who suddenly emerged and made it into the top ten of the Heaven Rank is you, Ye Zhen?"

"Uh... I guess so!"

Ye Zhen's response made Changsun Ran even more surprised. "I remember your cultivation was only at the third level of True Essence, right?"

"Fourth level of True Essence!" Ye Zhen added.

Changsun Ran's surprise grew even more. "If I didn't know that the Nine Transformations of Fish and Dragon never make mistakes and cannot be cheated, I would have suspected you of cheating. To pass the fifth trial at the fourth level of True Essence is simply unimaginable!"

"Work hard in your cultivation, I'm waiting for the day you challenge me!"

In his surprise, Changsun Ran patted Ye Zhen on the shoulder and left.

"This Senior Brother Changsun has a remarkable demeanor..."

Subsequently, Ye Zhen immersed himself in the thousands of secret manuals, searching for one suitable for his cultivation.

Among the cultivation technique manuals, Ye Zhen found the One Qi Mixed Essence Technique he was cultivating. After a brief search, he gave up on looking for cultivation techniques. Liao Feibai's choice for Ye Zhen was correct; the One Qi Mixed Essence Technique was indeed the most suitable for him.

Ye Zhen directly ignored the movement technique manuals!

Ye Zhen was confident that among the upper-grade Human Rank movement technique manuals, none could surpass his self-created Star Chasing Step.

Ye Zhen's gaze fell on the protective aura technique manuals.

There were not many upper-grade Human Rank protective aura technique manuals, only twenty-one in total.

At least three protective aura technique manuals caught Ye Zhen's interest.

The Soft Water Aura, which, when cultivated, was highly resilient. If cultivated to perfection, it could be loose or tight, even repelling the enemy's attack.

The Jade-Shattering Golden Aura, a defensive aura that was extremely strong and rigid. When cultivated to the extreme, it could turn defense into offense, directly injuring the enemy.

The Hundred-Fold True Aura, which did not have many distinctive features, but one sentence in the introduction caught Ye Zhen's attention: if cultivated to perfection, it could withstand a full-strength attack from a Spirit Induction Realm existence, but it was extremely difficult to cultivate.

Faced with these three protective aura technique manuals, Ye Zhen was somewhat hesitant. Each had its strengths and weaknesses, so which one should he choose to cultivate?

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PS: Brothers, I want to let you know that there will be one more public chapter around 11 PM tonight. After tonight, the book will be released, and it will be a big test for the book.

At midnight tonight, there will be two VIP chapters released consecutively. I hope the brothers will support Pig Three!