Chapter 17: Sect Allocation

After expressing his gratitude, he bid farewell to the two senior brothers.

As Cheng Buzheng walked toward the tower entrance, he sighed inwardly.

"In the world of cultivation, one is often not their own master... but this spirit stone was truly worth it!"

Stepping inside the tower.

Cheng Buzheng noticed that the space inside was much larger than what he had seen from the outside.

Within the space of the first floor of this iron tower, the surrounding walls were crafted from a pitch-black metal, resembling common black iron from the mortal realm.

However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that the textures on those pitch-black metal walls resembled runic lines, as if they had grown naturally within the metal itself, emitting a faint, eerie glow. Without careful observation, this peculiarity would go unnoticed.

Rows of bookshelves were arranged in an orderly, staggered fashion. The shelves held all manner of recorded items: jade slips, animal skins, jade plates, books, bamboo slips, metal plates, and so on—a vast variety of all shapes and sizes.

In the southeast corner, there was a staircase serving as the entrance and exit to the second floor. That area led to the sect's heritage, housing a massive collection of spells, incantations, pill recipes, weapon-refining restrictions, formation diagrams, and more.

The higher one ascended in the Scripture Repository Tower, the more precious the cultivation methods and spells stored within became. The highest floor contained the sect's foundation techniques; as a mere first-layer Qi Refinement cultivator, it was not for him to know exactly what they were—he had only learned of them through the "Encyclopedia of Cultivation."

Entering each floor required a corresponding status. For instance, outer disciples could only access the first and second floors; the third floor was beyond their reach.

At this moment, with his status as an outer disciple, Cheng Buzheng could enter, at most, the second floor of the Scripture Repository Tower.

The first floor, where he currently stood, allowed for the free reading of entire books. However, this floor was essentially a detailed version of the "Encyclopedia of Cultivation."

If one hoped to find a specific incantation or spell here, the chances were slimmer than finding water in a desert. Yet, there was no shortage of newcomers with heaven-defying luck who stumbled upon opportunities on this floor, allowing their path to immortality to become smooth.

The books on the first floor mostly consisted of local customs and traditions from various regions, the appearances and habits of different demon beasts, illustrations and growth environments of various spiritual herbs, and the value and uses of different spiritual ores.

This was exactly what he currently lacked; his understanding of the cultivation world was far too shallow.

Cheng Buzheng took a glance but did not begin reading immediately. Instead, he followed the corridors between the bookshelves toward the southeast corner, toward the staircase.

His heavy footsteps echoed through the silent first and second floors of the Scripture Repository Tower.

*Tap, tap...*

A short while later.

Cheng Buzheng arrived on the second floor. The first thing he saw was an old man with a head of white hair, wearing the sect's standard black robes. The man sat in a rocking chair behind a counter with his eyes closed, swaying gently in a state of leisurely repose.

Cheng Buzheng could not sense even a hint of spiritual pressure from him; he seemed like an ordinary mortal old man, but Cheng Buzheng knew he was definitely not simple.

Judging solely by the sect uniform, he knew this person was a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Martial Uncle generation, and quite possibly possessed a higher cultivation than Martial Uncle Ding, who was presiding over the disciple recruitment.

He did not dare to be disrespectful. Though the Martial Uncle appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, in reality, every move Cheng Buzheng made was within the scope of the man's divine sense.

Cheng Buzheng quickly stepped forward, adopted a solemn expression, and bowed respectfully. "New disciple Cheng Buzheng greets Martial Uncle!"

Upon hearing this, the rocking chair stopped abruptly. The Martial Uncle, lying in the chair, opened his cloudy eyes, glanced at Cheng Buzheng, and said expressionlessly

"New disciples are only allowed to select two first-grade low-rank spells for free. Go on."

Cheng Buzheng suddenly felt as if he were being stared down by a predatory beast. His hair stood on end, as if he were about to encounter a great calamity.

Having spoken, the Martial Uncle closed his eyes again, and the rocking chair began to sway once more.

After bowing respectfully once more, Cheng Buzheng slowly retreated.

*Low profile, low profile, even lower profile.*

This was his fundamental principle and his way of conducting himself at the start of his immortal journey. Everything was done to strive for the great cause of longevity.

Once Cheng Buzheng had walked far away, the old man on the rocking chair opened his cloudy eyes again. He glanced in Cheng Buzheng's direction, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, before closing his eyes once more as if it had all been an illusion.

Cheng Buzheng noticed that on the second floor of the Scripture Repository Tower, all the texts were neatly recorded within jade slips, which was quite pleasing to the eye.

Looking at the rows of bookshelves, Cheng Buzheng walked through the corridors and arrived at the spell area.

He casually picked up a jade slip. It recorded a first-grade high-rank spell, "Fire Dragon Technique." Unfortunately, he could not read the whole thing; he could only see the beginning, which contained the general information about the spell.

To see the complete version, he would need to have the restriction lifted by the Martial Uncle.

Walking through the spell area, Cheng Buzheng continuously picked up and examined various spell jade slips, such as "Fireball Technique," "Water Arrow Technique," "Golden Needle Technique," "Sword Qi Technique," "Earth Escape Technique," "Amethyst Refinement," "Desolate Palace Sword"...

Cheng Buzheng saw many powerful spells, but he could not afford a single one. The cheapest first-grade low-rank spells cost ten spirit stones, while first-grade mid-rank spells required fifty, and first-grade high-rank spells were even more expensive, costing a full hundred spirit stones.

The more powerful the spell, the more expensive it was, giving the impoverished him an impulse to turn around and leave.

If the sect had not allowed him to select two for free, he wouldn't have been able to afford even one.

Cheng Buzheng abandoned his unrealistic thoughts and carefully screened for two spells that were relatively suitable for him.

"Desolate Palace Sword" and "Amethyst Refinement." Among them, the "Desolate Palace Sword" was not only powerful, but there were very few spells of the same rank that could contend with it; it could be called a lethal weapon for killing enemies.

"Amethyst Refinement" was a spell that could refine the essence of spiritual objects to nourish the user. The more spiritual essence consumed, the greater its power would grow, until it reached its limit.

Both spells suited Cheng Buzheng's preferences well. After careful comparison, he chose "Amethyst Refinement" because it was a powerful spell that integrated attack, defense, and control.

Given his limited spirit stones, this was the best choice, as it had no obvious weaknesses. Although it wasn't as specialized as a single-focus spell, he still had his "cheat" code, Xiao Die.

His other choice was, of course, "Earth Escape Technique." For the sake of his long-term survival, he had to preserve his life; this spell was undoubtedly a life-saving tool among low-level spells.

Although "Earth Escape Technique" was simple to learn, few people ever reached the stage of minor mastery, let alone great mastery or perfection. The further one progressed in its cultivation, the more difficult it became.

Having chosen his spells, he continued to wander the second floor. Even though he couldn't afford to buy anything, he still wanted to broaden his horizons; he was currently in dire need of supplementary knowledge.

Half a day later.

He had flipped through all the jade slips—a total of tens of thousands. Because he could only read the introductory portions, he went through them very quickly, and he didn't have to worry about forgetting what he read; a cultivator's capabilities were incomparable to those of mortals.

Even now, Cheng Buzheng could transcribe a novel he had read in his previous life from memory. This was sufficient to demonstrate the monstrous memory of a cultivator.

(End of Chapter)