Chapter 229: then translation of title

Until the last trace of earthly spiritual power within his body was refined, Chen Shicheng opened his eyes and moved his limbs a little.

And the body that had undergone one bloodline tempering showed no change at all.

Before the essence Attribute changes, even if the cultivation method is maxed out, tempering the bloodline requires continuous effort year after year, day after day, for over twenty years to succeed.

At that rate, even tempering just one percent of the bloodline would take over two months, at least seventy-three days! "Ah, those streetlamp hangers still get paid monthly, but this broken cultivation method will drag you out for two months—what bad luck!"

Since entering the game, this was still the first time he had encountered a Skill that required time to hone, and merely two months made it hard for him to accept; he could not imagine how players who could only slowly comprehend Skills on their own managed to persevere.

He touched the Stealing Heaven Pendant hanging from his neck, Chen Shicheng silently thanked the unknown ancestor's grave that was still emitting green smoke, then activated the Lian Xi Technique, merging his breath with the earth's aura, and walked step by step toward the Zixiao Palace Scripture Pavilion.

The courtyard was utterly silent, only the chirping of insects rising and falling.

The time was still the same as yesterday's scouting, but the Scripture Pavilion was different from yesterday.

The ground-floor gate stood wide open, light from an unknown magical artifact lamp leaking out and brightly illuminating the small courtyard; the presumed Void Appearance realm entity was not guarding the first floor at this moment, its silhouette appearing on the fourth floor.

A blurry shadow was reflected on the window paper, appearing as if it were organizing books.

"When luck comes, nothing can stop it!"

Chen Shicheng looked at the shadow on the window paper, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

If it remained the same as yesterday, he would have to take a certain risk by entering through the upstairs window; although there were ways to conceal his aura, the window and the Scripture Pavilion were a single entity, and no one knew whether doing so would alert those below.

But now the main gate was directly flung open, practically inviting himself to come in for a tour.

Taking advantage of the person upstairs still wandering on the fourth floor, Chen Shicheng hastily maintained the Lian Xi Technique and tiptoed into the first-floor gate of the Scripture Pavilion.

This place seemed to have been set up with some formation; from the outside, the Scripture Pavilion's footprint didn't look large, but upon entering one discovered that its interior space was actually dozens of times larger than it appeared.

The lanterns hanging in the corners of the rooms emitted a soft light, illuminating the space filled with bookshelves; the fragrance emanating from the pages and ink gave one the illusion that their soul was being cleansed.

After taking a deep breath, Chen Shicheng, while that person had not yet come down, strolled around the first floor and roughly inspected the books placed on the shelves.

Unfortunately, the first floor was probably a public area; the books were quite ordinary, roughly equivalent to the Four Books and Five Classics, containing no ancient secrets.

He could only boldly go up the stairs and arrive at the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

The collection here was not much different from downstairs; only a few bookshelves near the stairs in the corners held travelogues written by seniors of the Zixiao Palace.

Upon seeing these books, Chen Shicheng's eyes lit up immediately, and he hurriedly began flipping through them.

It was regrettable that these travelogues recorded many secrets, yet they did not involve any accounts of ancient blessed lands and caverns.

Nevertheless, he was not disappointed; the presence of such valuable books on the second floor meant that the precious volumes upstairs would surely yield a satisfying gain.

"Creak"

Just as Chen Shicheng was preparing to make a wire run up to the third floor, one level below the presumed Void Appearance entity, a sudden sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs came from above.

In the second-floor space where even a dropped pin could be heard, this sound was unusually loud, startling him so much that he nearly dropped the book in his hand.

"What the hell, he came down so fast?"

Chen Shicheng's eyelid twitched; he hastily put the book back on the shelf, exerted the Lian Xi Technique to the fullest, ran to the corner bookshelf and held his breath. Moreover, to avoid drawing attention with his gaze, he dared not even look toward the stairway, only able to pray that this Skill, which he had upgraded to the Ascended level, could conceal him from the other's perception.

Yet heaven thwarted human wishes; the Scripture Pavilion administrator, presumed to be of the Void Appearance realm, after descending the stairs, happened to walk straight toward the very spot where he was hiding.

As the footsteps drew nearer, Chen Holy's heart rose to his throat.

"What should we do?"

"If discovered, should we fight or flee?"

"Damn, does it have to be this unlucky?!"

Just as Chen Shicheng was about to dispel the Lian Xi Technique and act, Hui Siye also readied himself to contribute strength, when suddenly a voice came from the stairway between the first and second floors.

"Elder, disciple has a request."

"Why didn't you come earlier? At this time the Scripture Pavilion has already closed; as a direct disciple, you surely know that, don't you?" The footsteps stopped not far away, and an aged voice sounded.

Chen Shicheng, already prepared to act, was jolted, nearly straining his waist, the corners of his mouth twitching nonstop—'Are you guys putting on a show for me, huh?'

There was no way; with a blockade ahead and pursuers behind, Chen Shicheng, caught in the middle of a pincer attack, could only lower his banner and silence his drums, doing his utmost to maintain the Lian Xi Technique and using True Essence to slow his heartbeat.

"I hope the elder will forgive me, disciple merely wishes to look up some records concerning ancient blessed lands and caverns."

"Ancient blessed lands and caverns? What are you looking those up for?"

"Just out of curiosity, I earnestly beg the elder to provide some assistance."

"Huh? Ancient blessed lands and caverns?"

Is this aligned with his own goal? Yet why would a native's direct disciple be interested in this, and coincidentally run into him? Hearing the familiar content, Chen Shicheng didn't have time to ponder these things; he quickly pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

"Ancient blessed lands and caverns. Let me think... Hmm, the Scripture Pavilion has few records on this; I recall only that, upon obtaining the book, one should promptly register and leave."

"Thank you, Elder!"

Having said that, the footsteps sounded again, but they grew fainter and farther, soon disappearing together with another set of footsteps on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

After a moment, Chen Shicheng rose from behind the bookshelf with a strange complexion, staring silently at the stairs leading from the second to the third floor.

What is called 'having searched high and low to no avail, yet obtaining it effortlessly'—this is exactly that.

Never did he expect that, having prepared to act, the very thing he sought would drop down from the heavens into his lap.

Moreover, what was most surprising was that this so-called direct disciple could actually take the book out of the Scripture Pavilion—what's the difference between that and heaven itself feeding him?

If he had known earlier that such a thing would happen, he would have chosen a different Skill back then.

Um. Not quite right either.

If he had not learned the Lian Xi Technique, that Territory Blood Refining Technique which gave him a great surprise could not have been successfully comprehended. (End of chapter)