Chapter 185: This Younger Brother is Truly Amazing

The tenth of May.

Chen Shu had been staying at the Spirit Sect the whole time and had not returned to school...

Even Teacher Shi Qian, who had accompanied him, had already returned, though before leaving, Teacher Shi Qian promised to ask for leave on his behalf so he could stay in the sect for a few more days.

Life on Yuding Mountain was actually quite good.

Not only was the Spirit Power abundant, but every night was also very quiet; the sounds from the few bars in the ancient town outside could not reach here, and the quiet environment combined with the abundant natural Spirit Power made for exceptionally good sleep quality.

The temperature in Lingzhou was also pleasant, cooler than Yujing, and with the ancient town outside, it was tranquil without being desolate.

The food was good too.

The signal was good, and there was wireless internet coverage.

Most importantly, Phoenix Tower was truly an ocean of knowledge.

Chen Shu usually woke up early in the morning, first taking a stroll around the mountains surrounding Yuding Mountain to climb high and look into the distance, taking some photos, and then he would go to Phoenix Tower to be bombarded by the astonishing information contained within the books on the eighth floor; aside from coming out to eat a meal in the middle of the day, he would stay until nightfall.

Then he would go to the ancient town to wander around, eat some snacks, drink a cup of milk tea, watch the street performances, and then return to his small courtyard to take a shower, reflect, and perform his Daily Cultivation.

The day would pass just like that.

And so he had stayed until today.

The eighth floor of Phoenix Tower was very quiet.

For the past few days, Chen Shu had been reading the same set of books, a special set of historical records.

This set of books was divided into many volumes, categorized by dynasty, and recorded most of the gods in the world throughout the various dynasties since the birth of the Spirit Sect.

Chen Shu even found "Yeshen Pingcang".

However, the life stories of every god were not recorded very clearly; he browsed through them roughly and discovered that the older the god, the less clear the records, and the further the god was from the geographical location of Yiguo, the less clearly they were remembered. Pushing the time back three or four thousand years, some "gods" recorded as being born on other continents were not even verified as to whether they were true "gods"; the compilers at the time simply felt they likely were, so they wrote them down.

At the same time, the books also briefly recorded the process of becoming a god; those gods with detailed records had almost all entered a Forbidden Land at the Ninth Tier Peak and immediately became gods.

Combining this with another book about Forbidden Lands, one could discover—

Forbidden Lands are related to the Plane Origin.

Then the result was very clear.

As for the gods still in existence, because of the era, this book recorded them exceptionally clearly, some even having portraits. Among them, the records of the gods native to Yiguo were the clearest, while records of other countries were fewer. The one with the fewest records was still that Reed God; the book did not even mention his nationality, only saying that at the time, the Reed God headed to the Eastern Continent Demon Kingdom Forbidden Land, displayed a world-shaking brilliance that swept away everything, and finally stepped into the Forbidden Land alone to attain the Dao and become a god.

That Forbidden Land was subsequently covered in reeds, and it has continued to this day, remaining an ocean of reeds.

"Truly miraculous."

Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth; besides novelty, he also faintly felt something was amiss.

The gods of this world seemed to transcend the concepts of nationality, race, and sect.

This could be seen through many things; for example, on the sixth of May, having just joined the Spirit Sect, he had paid respects to all the gods, which showed that once one became a god, one would transcend the limitations of nationality, race, and sect, and be revered by all of humanity.

This was very unusual.

People have prejudices; normally, whether it be religion or sects, such a situation is unlikely to occur.

Just like a Daoist bowing to a Buddha.

Even if the gods of this world truly possessed Divine Power and the strength to look down upon everything in the world, people had their own gods, so it should not be like this.

Chen Shu shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it for now, and reached out to turn another page.

"Rustle..."

I really want to move Phoenix Tower away!

The sky outside was gradually growing dark.

Inside Phoenix Tower, it was still brightly lit, the light as bright as day.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard.

Chen Shu had been holed up on the eighth floor for the past few days and had basically heard no movement, so he couldn't help but feel a bit curious and turned his head to look.

A figure was slowly walking toward him.

Chen Shu blinked his eyes:

"Vice Sect Master..."

"What are you reading?"

"Reading some content I was curious about in the past but wasn't easy to find." Chen Shu was not reserved, "Verifying my guesses."

"These things are restricted outside," the Vice Sect Master said.

"Yes, it's a pity there are too many books, and I have to go back to school, so I can't read much in a few days," Chen Shu said with regret.

"At your age, you should focus on cultivation. Spells and knowledge can be set aside; when your cultivation rank increases later, your cultivation progress will inevitably slow down, and you will have plenty of time to slowly come into contact with these things." The Vice Sect Master paused, "However, if you are interested, you can also come back to the sect to read on weekends or holidays. Anyway, it only takes two or three hours for a flying car to get here from Yujing, and it can even come to pick you up and send you directly to Yuding Mountain. I hear that many people spend more time than that commuting to work in the morning nowadays."

"That sounds good..."

"Then come more often; don't be afraid of troubling people. The Spirit Power used by the flying cars is worthless in our Spirit Sect, and the drivers are paid monthly wages."

"I'll come when I have time," Chen Shu promised, "What brings you here..."

"To see you."

"Emmm..."

"Don't be nervous..." The Vice Sect Master smiled and said again, "Before I came, I thought you would be reading books about spells."

"I've been more interested in these lately; if I don't understand them, it itches in my heart, but after reading them, it itches even more." Chen Shu sighed, then said, "I plan to pick a spell book to take with me when I leave."

"There are many things I don't understand either."

"Does it itch in your heart?"

"It itches," the Vice Sect Master replied, "but if you can't scratch it, you get used to the itch after a while."

"The books here aren't very complete."

"When the sect collects books, it's too utilitarian."

"You've noticed that too."

"Indeed, this place contains many books not found in the outside world, but it also misses many books; one must combine them with certain books from the outside to read them properly."

"Yes..."

Chen Shu seemed to have suddenly found a common topic with him.

Phoenix Tower did indeed contain many books that were hard to find in the outside world, had been lost, or had never even existed outside, but it only collected books that clearly recorded certain professional knowledge; it did not collect miscellaneous books.

For example, novels, miscellaneous notes, essays, and so on.

Yet such books often recorded some useful content, especially some history that had been deliberately buried during certain periods.

The two chatted for a while, from the book collection of Phoenix Tower to gods, Forbidden Lands, and history, and then to spells, until it was truly too late, and the Vice Sect Master asked:

"When are you returning to Yujing?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"When will you be able to reach the Fifth Stage?"

"I'll strive for it before the next semester."

"The next semester is..."

"Late July." Chen Shu forgot that the person in front of him was actually an old man over two hundred years old; he just looked young and had a good mindset, but he might not understand when students of the new era went to school.

"With your talent, you can cultivate a Spirit Body at the late Fifth Stage, so there is no need to rush that," the Vice Sect Master said. "You can practice the Small Blazing Sun Art around the early to mid-Fifth Stage; you can learn about it in advance. I will get a copy for you. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me, but do not neglect your cultivation because of learning spells."

"I have been instructed."

Chen Shu quietly sized him up.

He had a feeling that this old man who looked to be in his twenties wanted to take him as a disciple...

"Let's go."

The Vice Sect Master rose first, walked down seven floors, took down a thick copy of "Small Blazing Sun Art," and handed it to Chen Shu.

This was a simplified version of a simplified version of the Spirit Sect's top-tier ancient ultimate technique, the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art. Once learned, one could seamlessly upgrade to the Great Blazing Sun Art in the future, and upon reaching the Eighth or Ninth Stage, one could attempt to practice the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art.

The Spirit Body was a Secret Technique of the Spirit Sect.

Similar to the Buddhist Sect's Three-Headed Six-Armed Subduing Demon Golden Body and the Ming Sect's Undefeated True Body, it required long-term practice; one could manifest the Spirit Body and cast spells through it.

These were things only Inner Sect Disciples could practice.

At the entrance of Phoenix Tower.

Chen Shu watched the Vice Sect Master's figure fly away and disappear into the night sky, remained silent for a moment, and then checked the time.

He had come out exceptionally late today.

He wouldn't go to the ancient town.

The bunny girl at the bar only danced on odd-numbered days, and today was an even-numbered day.

May 12th, early morning.

Chen Shu went to Phoenix Tower once more.

This time he borrowed that copy of "Great Yi Divine History," and together with the "Small Blazing Sun Art" provided by the Vice Sect Master, he arrived at the neighboring Yangping Mountain and boarded a flying car.

The flying car slowly rose into the air and gradually accelerated.

Chen Shu leaned his head against the window, staring downward, watching the ancient town and the tourists shuttling through it, as well as tourists holding up their Mobile Phones to take pictures of him, his expression very calm.

The Spirit Sect's station was the only area where the mountains were relatively rounded; after leaving Yuding Qunshan, the area below was a vast stretch of karst landscape.

Some mountains looked like stone pillars, some like sharp bamboo shoots, their shapes unfathomable.

Yet the ground was very flat.

Clumps and individual mountain peaks sat on the flat ground, ten thousand peaks forming a forest, densely packed, as if there were endless mountain tops.

It had rained yesterday, and mist permeated the peak forest, adding a mysterious flavor to the scene below.

Unlike common mountain mist, where high mountains shrouded in mist looked like the dwelling of immortals, the mist gathered in the middle of such flat-land peak forests looked as if demons lived inside, or as if countless unknown snakes, insects, rats, and ants were gathered within.

Chen Shu watched for a while, then withdrew his gaze.

He had received too much information at the Spirit Sect these past few days, but it was very scattered and complex, not clear or explicit enough, and needed to be organized; some information even had connections to things he knew before. For example, the Yeshen Pingcang Stone Tablet unearthed with the Saint Ancestor Cube—he now knew that he was likely a god of the Night People, because among the seventeen gods of the modern era, there was also a Night God; this was very likely a title passed down through generations, like "Spirit Saint" or "Sword God."

However, he still did not know why those four characters were written on that stone tablet, and there was nothing related to the Night People in the Square Body.

"..."

Chen Shu fell into deep thought.

Before noon, he arrived in Yujing.

Chen Shu came down from the top of the Ancient Cultivation Building, facing the scorching sun of Yujing, feeling the heat of the sunlight hitting his face, and could not help but squint his eyes.

On the road, many young students were coming and going, talking and laughing, which was a completely different style from Yuding Mountain.

"Hoo..."

Chen Shu set off.

Having walked only ten-plus meters, he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps behind him, a *patta-patta* sound, which was quite distinct even among the many pedestrians. He subconsciously wanted to turn his head to see who it was, when a palm slapped onto his head.

"Slap..."

Chen Shu was stunned by the slap.

Did they mistake him for someone else?

Chen Shu turned his head to look, then his face fell: "Are you sick?"

"What?"

"You're sick!"

"You're the one who's sick!"

"..." Chen Shu was silent for a moment. "You broke my brain, pay up!"

"Your sister is just saying hello to you!! This is a sign of closeness! And you're snapping at me!" Chen Banxia furrowed her brows, her fair, tender, yet heavily baby-fat face puffed up, looking at this younger brother with dissatisfaction, feeling that he was not as good as other people's younger brothers.

"..."

"Hehe... what a coincidence!" Chen Banxia smiled again, "I spotted you at a single glance!"

"Why did you come to school?"

"I'm about to graduate, so I have to come to school to take care of graduation matters," Chen Banxia said, blinking her eyes.

"Oh~~" Chen Shu drawled with a long tail note.

"Look at you!" Chen Banxia accused him again, "You don't care about your sister at all!"

"Are you finished with your work?"

"Not by a long shot, I just have nothing to do today."

"Then let's go—" Chen Shu ruffled her hair, messing up her hairstyle, "I'll make you river snails and Big Plate Chicken!"

"You promise?"

"Mm."

"Where will you make it?"

"Let's go to Xiaoxiao's place? Xiaoxiao is at home, otherwise she'd have to make another trip."

"Fine! Let's go, let's go..."

Chen Banxia quickened her pace, grabbed his arm, and pulled him forward, her flip-flops making a patter-patter sound. At this moment, she felt once again that this younger brother was truly wonderful.