Chapter 22: The Next Ten-Year Plan

The horizon, tinged with the white of a fish's belly, looked drowsy.

The proud sun rose lazily from the east.

The morning sky was as clean as if it had been washed by spring rain.

"Ah..."

Yawning and stretching, Zheng Tuo emerged from his safe house.

After ten years of preparation, his wish was fulfilled today.

It had made this sleep exceptionally sweet.

After first checking the surrounding security measures and confirming everything was in order, he went to the toilet, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and ate breakfast.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Zheng Tuo sat at a stone table.

He had already set up ten first-order formations around him.

As for why there were ten first-order formations, it was, of course, because he did not possess any higher-level formation plates.

He took out his entire life savings from his spatial backpack.

The Bronze Mirror.

A Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure, currently in a damaged state.

Its primary function was to peer into all things, and it could reflect non-physical divine ability attacks... among other things.

Furthermore, it possessed a Mirror Realm.

A private backyard where one could raise livestock, plant vegetables, spiritual herbs... and so on.

The Seven-Colored Strange Stone.

Grade unknown, function unknown; its only characteristic was its hardness.

Moreover, once thrown, it would automatically return to one's hand.

The Bronze Ring.

A custom-made Dharma Treasure.

Its primary function was for storage, serving secondarily as an emergency distress button.

Additionally, upon inputting spiritual energy, it would match a corresponding defensive shield based on the user's level.

Master was indeed very reliable.

Twenty second-grade demon cores.

Ninety first-grade demon cores.

A fragmented ancient jade.

Grade unknown, function unknown.

No reaction occurred even after probing it with spiritual energy.

It could basically be concluded to be a defective product.

Aside from these.

The spatial backpack also contained various spiritual talismans, formation plates, poisons, pots, pans, and other items he had prepared over the last ten years—totaling over thirty thousand items.

Now that he had joined the Falling Immortal Sect, these things needed to be upgraded or discarded.

It took him half a day to finish organizing everything.

Zheng Tuo picked up the Bronze Ring.

Even though it was a gift from his Master, for the sake of caution, Zheng Tuo took out a specialized talisman used for testing Dharma Treasures.

If a treasure had been tampered with, the testing talisman would trigger an alarm.

Perhaps his Master possessed heaven-defying methods that could bypass the detection of a testing talisman, but for the current stage, it was better to be cautious and test it.

Not just the Bronze Ring; he tested the Bronze Mirror, the fragmented ancient jade, and the Seven-Colored Strange Stone ten times each, using up all his testing talismans.

Only after confirming there were no issues did he feel at ease.

He performed the blood-recognition ritual to claim ownership.

He bound the Bronze Mirror and the Bronze Ring as his own treasures.

Once finished, he tidied up and prepared for his next plan.

Suddenly!

During his tidying process, the Seven-Colored Strange Stone flew up uncontrollably.

With a *whoosh*, it embedded itself into the top of the Bronze Mirror.

Immediately after, the entire Bronze Mirror emitted a dazzling seven-colored light.

The cracks upon its surface slowly repaired themselves until it was perfectly intact.

"It merged!"

Zheng Tuo was astonished!

With a thought, the Bronze Mirror shrank to palm-size in his hand.

Upon repeated inspection, there was nothing special about it other than the Seven-Colored Strange Stone embedded on top.

He decided to head back to the Library to look up information regarding the Seven-Colored Strange Stone and the Bronze Mirror; if he didn't understand it, he wouldn't be able to rest easy.

If all else failed, he would ask his Master.

He disliked using things that were mysterious and lacked a clear origin.

By the time he finished everything, it was already sunset.

After dinner, Zheng Tuo leaned lazily under a parasol tree.

Watching the distant setting sun, feeling warm all over, he realized—unbeknownst to him—that he had broken through.

Damn it!

Zheng Tuo cursed his own incompetence.

Why couldn't he suppress it and raise his realm to the second stage of the Qi Refinement stage?

Why did this happen?

Zheng Tuo felt an indescribable frustration.

*Is my path to immortality really this lacking in challenge? Why?* Zheng Tuo whispered.

He cursed the injustice of the Heavenly Dao.

Others could work hard to cultivate, so why did he break through the moment he let his guard down? Who was the heavens looking down upon?

Extremely dissatisfied with his current situation, Zheng Tuo shook his head.

Forget it.

Time to go back to sleep.

The night passed in silence.

The next day.

Zheng Tuo woke up early, finished his preparations, and headed to the Library.

The Library was essentially a massive repository of knowledge.

One of the reasons he chose the Falling Immortal Sect as his sect was because of its Library.

The Sect Master of the Falling Immortal Sect, Yun Wanli, had a quirk: he loved collecting all kinds of books.

Furthermore, this Sect Master loved traveling to various kingdoms.

Whenever he encountered interesting books, he would use a specially made teleportation array to send them back to the Falling Immortal Sect.

Over the course of several hundred years, the Falling Immortal Sect's Library had grown into a significant scale.

With tens of millions of volumes, it ranked first in the Eastern Region.

Its contents were vast and varied: cultivation methods, divine combat techniques, spiritual talismans and pills, imperial unofficial histories... it had everything.

Because of the Library, Zheng Tuo had customized his plan for the next ten years.

First.

In the next decade, Formations, Alchemy, and Spiritual Talismans would be his three compulsory subjects.

All three were things he would use frequently.

When using things frequently, he didn't feel safe relying on others.

What if they cut corners or added something suspicious inside?

Therefore, he intended to learn them himself.

At the same time, studying these three was preparation for raising his realm.

Cultivation required safe secret rooms, which required the protection of formations.

When encountering bottlenecks during cultivation, he would need pills to assist his advancement.

As for the use of spiritual talismans, they would primarily serve as defensive measures, supplemented by escape methods, ensuring he had a way to counterattack if danger arose during cultivation.

He needed to prepare everything: the "Natural Death Package," the "Shattered Body Package," the "Three Thousand Death Package"... he had to be ready, otherwise, he felt he might be ambushed while cultivating.

Second.

In the next ten years, he intended to raise his cultivation to the peak of the Qi Refinement stage—the seventh stage.

Simultaneously, he would refine the spiritual energy in his body into the purest seventh-stage spiritual energy in the world.

Spiritual energy itself has no inherent strength or weakness, but there is a distinction between "coarse" and "pure."

The purer the spiritual energy, the stronger the combat power.

Furthermore, using seventh-stage spiritual energy to refine pills, engrave talismans, or set up formations would often be hundreds of times more powerful than using first-stage spiritual energy.

In addition to these two items, there were several smaller plans that needed to be gradually perfected and implemented.

While reviewing his ten-year plan in his mind, Zheng Tuo arrived at the Library with the heart of a student.

The magnificent Library occupied an entire mountain peak.

Looking up, the ninety-nine-story tower pierced the clouds, inspiring awe in all who saw it.

The crowds in front of the Library were endless.

One could distinguish the different peaks by their attire.

The Ethereal Peak used red as its primary color, paired with light gauze; combined with the soft figures of the senior and junior sisters, they fluttered before Zheng Tuo like little phoenixes.

For a moment, Zheng Tuo felt a pang of regret for declining the matchmaker's invitation.

But on second thought, it was just a fleeting feeling; nothing was as fun as cultivation.

Aside from the sisters of Ethereal Peak, the numbers were split between Cloud Cauldron Peak and Thousand Blades Peak.

Cloud Cauldron Peak used blue and white robes as its primary color, giving off a very celestial aura.

Thousand Blades Peak used black and gold; after all, the Peak Master, Yun Qianli, was a ruthless character who had made a name for himself on the Golden Battlefield.

As for the remaining Falling Immortal Peak and his own Enlightenment Peak—one was because they belonged to a mysterious organization, and the other because there were too few people.

Consequently, members of those two peaks were rarely seen.

His appearance today did not attract any attention.

Why?

Because he was wearing the clothes of Cloud Cauldron Peak.

It was to avoid suspicion.

With tens of thousands of disciples in Cloud Cauldron Peak, who would notice one more?

But it had to be said: appearance matters.

He wasn't ugly, but he wasn't handsome enough to move heaven and earth.

He just gave off a very comfortable feeling.

Especially when he smiled, it made people feel warm inside.

He was the definition of "harmless."

He arrived smoothly at the entrance of the Library.

The Library operated on a fully automated management system.

As long as one carried the waist token of their respective peak, they could enter the Library to study and "recharge."

With the heart of a student, Zheng Tuo entered the Library.

He figured the Bronze Ring was likely his Enlightenment Peak waist token.

The Library had ninety-nine floors.

Each floor was sealed by a formation.

One could only enter the next floor for deeper study once they reached the corresponding level of strength.

This was also a method used by the Falling Immortal Sect to motivate disciples to cultivate.

All divine combat techniques were free.

But you had to have the strength to practice them.

Standing on the first floor of the Library, looking at the vast sea of books before him, Zheng Tuo was filled with confidence.

Work hard!!!

Strive!!!

He found the section regarding formations and dove straight in.

(End of Chapter)