Chapter 48: Scripture Depository

The disturbance in the heaven and earth qi was evident. Even though there were places with denser heaven and earth qi, it wasn’t something that could be affected by ordinary winds!

Shang Quan pointed into the distance and said, “You didn’t notice a thing because you were asleep. However, a giant tornado of qi appeared in the distance and it resembled a giant pillar that extended into the skies. It looked like a sign when Martial Intent Realm cultivators fell.”

Shang Xia asked, “Will the deaths of Martial Intent Realm cultivators cause something so big to happen?”

“No… They will only affect the area around them after going all out.” Shang Quan explained. “I heard from Uncle Ke that Martial Intent Realm cultivators have already consolidated their divine sense intent. Their divine sense can interfere with reality. When they die, the energy in their body would scatter and affect the surroundings around them.”

“Since it’s able to affect the main Tongyou Peak, the person that died has to be a true expert! Unless… Unless they died around the area?”

Shang Quan smiled. “Did you remember where Ji Sheng and the others went while we returned to the Tongyou Peak?”

“They went to the hidden valley to retrieve the six Embroidered Cloud Carriages!” Shang Xia paused for a second.

“Didn’t you realize what they were truly doing? Since the members of the Wind Swallow Race hid the carriages and captives there, they would definitely return. Our patrol squads wouldn’t miss this opportunity to give them a heavy blow.”

“But… There are only five of them!” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in shock.

Shang Quan burst into laughter. “Do you really think that we only sent out three patrol squads? If I’m not mistaken, there were more than five other squads that were sent out. They probably received Ji Sheng and the others’ report and hid around the area in order to ambush the members of the Wind Swallow Race! Master Tang Yuan might have even rushed over to join the battle!”

Shang Quan continued his explanation when he saw the look of confusion on Shang Xia’s face. “After the convoy was attacked, the Protection Division was placed under a lot of pressure. It was especially so for the patrol squads under them. As the person in charge of the patrol squads, Master Tang Yuan had to take responsibility! They were looking for a chance to redeem themselves, and you conveniently gave them the opportunity.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that the Protection Division would owe me big time? At least, the patrol squads will have to repay the favor…” Shang Xia gasped.

“No… You’re thinking too small! Think bigger!” Shang Quan smiled. “Don’t forget, you brought the outer disciples back…”

The heaven and earth qi started to return to its original calm bearing and it signified that the battle had truly come to an end.

After their short conversation, Shang Xia decided to return to his bed to continue napping. However, Shang Quan seemed to have thought of something else. “Right… Your fellow disciples came over to look for you, but they left when they realized you were sleeping.”

Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Did the Contribution Division release them already? Did they say anything about me?”

“Haha! They were only captured for a few days! They were kept together, and none of them were brought away by the enemy… There’s no way they could have betrayed us! The Contribution Division probably kept them there for some time for formality’s sake. Oh right, they didn’t say anything… Everyone’s waiting for you to wake up now.”

…

The battlefield between the two worlds didn’t have a set day and night. Cultivators who remained there for a long time would rest whenever they were tired and there wasn’t a proper sleep schedule.

After Shang Xia felt better, he headed towards the Scripture Depository under Shang Quan’s arrangement.

The Tongyou Institution left behind a portion of secret arts in the Tongyou Peak, but most of it was uncompleted. After all, they couldn’t leave behind too many treasures in such a dangerous place.

Regardless, the Scripture Depository was a sacred land in the Tongyou Peak. It wasn’t just open to the students at the Tongyou Institution. Any cultivator from the Azure Origin World could apply to enter!

Naturally, the requirements for cultivators not of the institution to enter were much higher… Even so, it was extremely attractive for wandering cultivators who had no affiliations!

When Shang Xia arrived, he took out his identity plaque and handed it over to the guardian.

As the plaque contained Shang Xia’s personal information, the guardian managed to quickly obtain his record.

Handing the plaque back to Shang Xia, the guardian raised an eyebrow and reminded Shang Xia, “You should return to the Scripture Depository in the institution. The secret arts there are of much higher quality.”

Shang Xia laughed in response, “I’ll be using it for the time being. These should be enough.”

Not saying anything else, the guardian opened the restrictions around the Scripture Depository.

The Scripture Depository was located in a natural cave formed in the Tongyou Peak and it was pretty wide within. There were various crystals lighting up the place to give it a homelier feel.

The Scripture Depository contained several natural platforms that cultivators used to differentiate the different qualities of secret arts.

Every single stone platform had its individual restriction, and without enough authority, they couldn’t open it.

Anyone who tried to break through forcefully would be attacked by the restrictions. They might even alert the protective formation surrounding the Tongyou Peak.

Because of the institution’s promise, Shang Xia managed to obtain the highest permission level to open any restriction he wished.

He looked through the vague descriptions of every secret art, but he couldn’t see any detailed information unless he chose the specific art. He would have to obtain the recognition of the guardian in order to release the restriction around the secret manual.

Before that could happen, he would also have to swear an oath never to hand over the details of the secret manual without the approval of the institution. That included anyone who was related to him by blood.

Of course, there were many cultivators who would lie. However, they wouldn’t dare to make an oath easily.

In the cultivation world, one would experience a terrifying backlash if they went against their oath.

The Tongyou Institution also had another goal behind their actions. They didn’t want the contents of the secret manuals to spread as they wanted cultivators to gather at the Tongyou Peak.

When Shang Xia entered the Scripture Depository, he headed straight for the two tallest platforms.

Those were the ones that contained the secret manuals for cultivators at his level.

Shang Xia headed towards the platform on the left and drew a line in mid air with his plaque. A gap formed in the restriction, and a wave of heaven and earth qi emerged.

Understanding that it was a sign that the restrictions around the platform had opened up, Shang Xia stepped onto it confidently.

The number of books on the platform could barely be compared to the others. There was a single bookshelf that was the height of a human and it had five shelves in total. The two on top contained proper books while the three at the bottom contained books made from bunches of bamboo strips.

Due to the fact that most of the books were copied by hand, many of them were in poor condition.

From what Shang Xia knew, the original copies were kept in the Tongyou Institution. They were written on stuff like turtle shells, stone tablets, wooden plates, bones, or even caved in bronze!

That wasn’t the most extraordinary part. There were even more exaggerated ones that used formations to demonstrate the skill once! Not only did they take up a lot of space, they had limited amount of uses!

Naturally, the most effective ways to record a secret manual weren't any of those. Instead, it was to record them on jade strips. Cultivators referred to them as Jade Books.

However, those would only be used when one broke through to the Martial Intent Realm since reading one could only be used when one gathered their divine sense. As such, cultivators under the Martial Intent Realm would probably use ordinary methods to record their manuals.

Shang Xia grabbed one of the paper books and read the words on its cover. “Fire and Ice Art”

That was one of the more common techniques practiced by most people in the Azure Origin World. The requirements for one to start training in the Fire and Ice Art wasn’t too high, and it was pretty safe. Most people would choose to learn it, but the drawbacks were apparent. It was difficult to advance, and the heaven and earth qi they could produce in their dantian wouldn’t be of high quality. When using martial arts, the second rate inner qi they had would cause attacks to possess much weaker power.

The introduction of the book alone described the more important parts of the secret art in order for cultivators to make their choice.

Shang Xia tried reading more, but he only managed to read three hundred words before the rest started to turn blurry. He knew that the amount of information he read was more than enough for most cultivators to make a choice.

The moment he chose the Fire and Ice Art, he could look for the guardian of the Scripture Depository. After making his oath, he would be able to read the rest.

Putting the book back, he looked at another book, the ‘Water and Fire Mysterious Manual’.

The similarities between the book in his hand and the one he placed away was obvious. The only difference was that it followed the path of water instead of ice.

Next came the Icy Flame Dao…

Then came the Blazing Ice Code…

There was a secret art called the Earth Fire Tide, and it was definitely a manual only crazy people would choose. If they didn’t lose themselves in the process of cultivation, they would be stuck at the Martial Extremity Realm for the rest of their lives.

“Mysterious Ice Heart Fire Skill” That was somewhat interesting. One could transform ice into fire! However, a large proportion of the people who practiced the art would probably turn themselves into an ice sculpture before they could master the art.

“Mountain Collection”... Finally, there was a book that didn’t contain either fire or ice… After reading the introduction, Shang Xia was extremely confused. That was definitely a book written by beginners… Training in it would lead nowhere!

“Spring and Autumn Manual” The name sounded pretty impressive, but most of the content within came from guesses. The writer of the book probably didn’t dare to train in the way he described…

“Sun and Moon Divine Art” That was a bold name. According to the contents, the cultivator had to take the night and day as the two extremities and train in them accordingly. The idea was there, but the naming convention was somewhat off…

Shang Xia flipped through the rest of the book and even though he didn’t choose anything, he managed to expand his horizons.

There were a couple of secret arts that suited him, but after looking through it, there seemed to be something lacking about them!

Was he supposed to return to the institution before looking for a suitable secret art?!

Shang Xia looked at the last few books lying on the ground and the fire in his heart was extinguished. He decided to flip through them to increase his knowledge, and he casually grabbed one of them.

“Triple Mystery Polarity Art”...

This…