Chapter 122: Choosing Skills

"You ignorant bunch!"

Seeing the contemptuous gazes of fellow cultivators around him, Youyun Lao Dao felt a hint of disdain.

He built a temple and founded a sect here, seeking the glory of magnifying his name.

How can he achieve that!

Traffic!

Of course, Youyun Lao Dao didn't know what "traffic" meant, but after decades of wandering the mortal world, he knew that for a temple to thrive, it needed a flood of visitors!

And it was foreseeable that as the masked senior's deeds—"slaying demons and rescuing the world"—spread, Huanglong Jun City would be filled with incense offerings from countless households, and the people might even spontaneously craft a clay statue of him in gold.

Inviting him to be enshrined in the temple would divert a portion of those offerings, so there would be no worry about failing to bring fame.

"Give me a permanent seat for round‑the‑clock worship?"

Chen Shicheng blinked, then jolted with a sudden shiver.

I'm going!

I'm not dead yet, and someone wants to make me offer incense every day? Is this a curse on myself?

Moreover, as someone thoroughly educated in the modern world, what he values is never lofty ideals but concrete benefits.

Is incense offering a good thing? Yes, and the Immortal Family covets it.

But he has no means to exploit incense, so even if the whole Great Yu offered incense to him, it would be useless.

And the hidden fact that incense can be poisonous, he already learned clearly from Hui Siye.

His uselessness doesn't mean Hui Siye is useless.

Seeing Hui Siye appear before him, looking helpless and embarrassed, Chen Shicheng cleared his throat twice and said, "Since Youyun Daoist friend has spoken up, I can't refuse; we'll discuss the enshrinement later."

After speaking, he ignored the overly grateful and unabashed Youyun Lao Dao, and tossed the tiger demon corpse, as big as a house, into the Storage Bag.

A corpse of a great demon with a Golden Core is, for La Tiao and Tai Sui, no less than a miraculous elixir.

The moment it entered the Storage Bag, it caught the attention of the two small ones, who immediately pounced joyfully.

La Tiao opened his mouth and began gnawing, while Tai Sui turned into a pool of sludge that instantly enveloped the tiger demon's head.

But unlike before, when nothing could satisfy his hunger, the tiger demon corpse was like a fasting pill; La Tiao took two bites, looked content, and couldn't fit any more.

Tai Sui swelled like a balloon, its outer skin turning semi‑transparent, and the snarling tiger head inside resembled a piece of black amber.

"Thank you all for stepping in to save Huanglong Jun City from peril!"

The governor, who had vanished moments earlier, suddenly appeared before everyone; without caring about the cultivators' embarrassment, he tipped his tall hat, then walked up to Chen Shicheng, clasped his hands, and bowed, saying.

"Thank you for your rescue; otherwise Huanglong Jun City would have been drenched in blood."

"No big deal. No big deal."

Chen Shicheng felt a bit embarrassed by the governor's thanks.

After all, his initial thought was to run away; he never intended to act.

"Please wait a moment, sir; after I handle the casualties among the people, I will fulfill my promise and open the Governor's Residence's Secret Library," the governor said, looking at the severely wounded civilians outside with a sorrowful face. "Well, Governor, go ahead; we will also do what little we can," Chen Shicheng said, glancing at the still‑shaken cultivators behind him.

"Indeed, indeed, we are willing to offer our modest assistance to the governor."

With Chen Shicheng's lingering authority, no cultivator dared refuse; everyone present promptly lent their strength, spreading throughout the entire county town to rescue the afflicted civilians.

Chen Shicheng didn't idle either; he invoked Universal Rainfall, instantly healing injured civilians wherever he went, drawing a chorus of gratitude and further stoking Hui Siye's future prospects of joining the temple.

Soon night fell, and the matters of comforting and rescuing the people began to wrap up, no longer requiring Chen Shicheng or the governor's attention.

Thus the group reconvened and walked together back to the main hall of the Governor's Residence, which had been tidied by the servants, with no trace of the chaos from the tiger demon's attack.

After briefly thanking the assisting cultivators, the governor led Youyun Lao Dao and Chen Shicheng alone to a desolate courtyard behind the Governor's Residence's rear office.

What surprised Chen Shicheng was that there were no buildings, only overgrown weeds, far from the book‑scented attic he had imagined.

The governor, oblivious to Chen Shicheng's expression, walked to the center of the courtyard, gave the two a brief pat on the back, and the ground suddenly gave way, revealing a dark opening.

"The Secret Library is of utmost importance; the court mandates that only one person may enter at a time, so we ask for your understanding," the governor said with a smile.

Since it was a rule, Chen Shicheng and Youyun Lao Dao had no objections; after a brief exchange of excuses, Youyun Lao Dao cheerfully entered the earth tunnel.

After more than a dozen minutes, he finally floated out, clutching tightly in his arms a hand‑copied book.

"Uh, are the skills below all hand‑copied versions? No jade slips or anything?" Chen Shicheng asked, frowning.

After repeatedly using Merit Points to raise skill levels, he no longer held any expectations for his own comprehension.

Therefore, hand‑copied skills that require personal cultivation and insight to master are, to him, completely useless; given the time needed for comprehension, he'd rather go out and grind monsters to level up.

"Of course there are, but Youyun Daoist's merits aren't enough to obtain jade slips," the governor explained with a smile. "However, since you saved the entire city's people, the Secret Library is fully open to you; you may go to the second floor and pick freely."

That's reasonable.

Chen Shicheng nodded in satisfaction, made a perfunctory few words with Youyun Lao Dao, then entered the earth tunnel alone.

The tunnel was deep; after descending dozens of steps, light finally appeared before Chen Shicheng, revealing rows upon rows of wooden shelves on the lower level, densely filled with books.

He flipped through a few books at random and pursed his lips.

The skills here were not only hand‑copied but also of very low level; the vast majority were Body Refining skills, with Qi Refining skills being rare, and he couldn't fathom how Youyun Lao Dao had found the skills he coveted.

Following the governor's hint, Chen Shicheng stepped over the shelves to the deepest part of the lower level, then descended the stairs to the second floor.

Compared to the floor above, this area was much smaller, with only a few shelves.

However, all the items displayed were jade slip beast bones—skills that could be applied anywhere—making Chen Shicheng's eyes light up as he began to search intently for skills that would maximize his power.

While selecting, he didn't forget to communicate with Hui Siye.

"Siye, your mouse clan excels at deftly emptying, can we slip in here? If we empty all the skills, we'll be set!"

"There are formation protections; any translocation-type skills cannot enter."

Hui Siye rolled his eyes wordlessly, rejecting Chen Shicheng's plan to take the skills outright.

(End of Chapter)