Library of Heaven’s Path

Each library in the Master Teacher Academy had its own genre. For example, the library in the Beast Tamer School would have books regarding beast taming, and the books in the Physician School’s library would be on the Way of Medicine.

Stored in the Cultivation Compendium were the cultivation and battle technique manuals, as well as the history, geography, culture, and other common knowledge regarding Hongyuan Empire and its surrounding nations.

Even though the books on the first floor were open for students to browse through, its collection was still extremely impressive. Millions of cultivation technique manuals spanning from Consonant Spirit realm to Chrysalis realm filled the many tall shelves within the room.

It had been ten thousand years since the Master Teacher Academy was established, and many outstanding master teachers had risen throughout the generations. These men had recorded their insights and experiences regarding cultivation so that later generations would be able to analyze them and perhaps surpass them. Some had even created their own techniques and spread them far and wide in the world.

This had given rise to a huge assortment of books for each cultivation realm.

With just a casual look, Zhang Xuan could already find nearly ten thousand different ways one could cultivate the Consonant Spirit realm from the books. Each of them formed its own complete system and heritage.

For any other student, faced with so many choices, they would have to narrow down their choices to a specific classification so as to not overload themself with information. Otherwise, they could dull their judgement over what was right and wrong, and this could lead to their cultivation going berserk.

However, Zhang Xuan had no such worry. If there was one demand he had of his cultivation technique manuals, it would be quantity. The more of them there were, the better it would be for him.

It took Zhang Xuan around two hours to collect all of the Consonant Spirit realm cultivation technique manuals into the Library of Heaven’s Path.

Compile! Zhang Xuan willed.

A new book materialized before his eyes, and he casually flipped it open. It was another Consonant Spirit realm Heaven’s Path Divine Art. While the cultivation technique detailed in it did differ slightly from the other one he had compiled earlier, both cultivation techniques eventually converged into the same outcome.

After which, Zhang Xuan proceeded on to the Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation technique manuals, and it also took him two hours to collect all of them.

With those, he formed a new Cosmos Bridge realm Heaven’s Path Divine Art. It was much more detailed than the one he had compiled earlier, making it significantly simpler and easier to cultivate. Overall, however, both cultivation techniques were essentially the same.

It seems there isn’t much of a difference between Heaven’s Path Divine Arts of the same cultivation realm! Zhang Xuan noted as he continued collecting the other books.

Since he wasn’t in a rush, it would be good for him to collect all of the books so as to enhance his knowledge.

Ten hours later, Zhang Xuan had finally finished collecting all of the cultivation and battle technique manuals on the first floor.

While these books hadn’t raised his cultivation, they allowed him to expand his base of knowledge, granting him some understanding regarding the various schools of cultivation.

With this, he was probably more knowledgeable than all of the master teachers in the academy combined.

Not only so, he had also managed to form a new Heaven’s Path Sword Art, Heaven’s Path Spear Art, Heaven’s Path Saber Art, and such. As long as he practiced them, he would be able to advance his Weapon Intent to even higher levels.

However, Zhang Xuan was in no hurry to cultivate. He chose to head to the second floor instead.

Access to the second floor was limited to only teachers and above, and the battle techniques and cultivation techniques stored on the second floor were significantly more profound than those on the first floor. There were also a few Half-Saint cultivation technique manuals on some of the shelves too.

After collecting the books, Zhang Xuan proceeded up.

The third floor was restricted to only the elders of the Master Teacher Academy. There were Nascent Saint and Saint realm cultivation technique manuals on the shelves, but the overall quantity of books was much less than the first and second floor.

After collecting those books and compiling a Heaven’s Path technique out of them, Zhang Xuan had finally successfully compiled the Heaven’s Path Divine Art from Chrysalis realm to Nascent Saint.

In other words, he could advance his cultivation from Chrysalis realm primary stage to Saint realm primary stage within six hours as long as he wished to.

Chuckling in satisfaction, Zhang Xuan immersed his consciousness into the Library of Heaven’s Path, took the Half-Saint Heaven’s Path Divine Art, and flipped it open.

A moment later, a frown was etched on his face.

There was no mistake with the cultivation technique, and if he were to cultivate according to it, he would be able to advance through Half-Saint, Nascent Saint, and reach Saint realm easily.

However, if he were to do so, he would only be able to cultivate a Third Grade Origin Core, and even the weakest Primary Second Grade Origin Core of the Saint Ascension Decipher was immensely stronger than that.

Initially, he had still been a little perplexed about why there was such a huge disparity between the Saint Ascension Decipher and the other Chrysalis realm, Half-Saint, and Nascent Saint Heaven’s Path Divine Arts when such a situation hadn’t occurred for the previous realms. However, after a moment of pondering, an answer surfaced in his mind.

Within the cultivation technique manuals in the library, there was not a single one regarding the cultivation of a higher-grade Origin Core. No matter how many normal cultivation technique manuals he gathered, the eventual cultivation technique manual he compiled would only be normal.

A fitting analogy would be: no matter how many straw hut construction manuals one studied, one would still be unable to build a royal palace.

Even if the contents of both covered the same grounds—advancing one’s cultivation to a higher realm—they were still essentially two completely different paths leading to different destinations.

Even though the cultivation of the Saint Ascension Decipher is much more difficult, there is a chance that I will be able to cultivate a First Grade Origin Core and become a Celestial Saint. If I were to cultivate these normal cultivation techniques instead, I would stand no chance at all, Zhang Xuan thought.

Cultivating the Saint Ascension Decipher would require artifacts and more spirit stones, so it would be a difficult path to venture into. However, if he were to succeed, he would gain immense power incomparable to if he had chosen otherwise.

Since he could only cultivate his Origin Core once, it was natural he would have to aim for the best!

Having made up his mind, Zhang Xuan didn’t rush into cultivating but instead headed up to the next floor.

The fourth floor was an area restricted to only the incumbent principal of the Master Teacher Academy. There were no cultivation or battle technique manuals there, but there were books containing the insights of the preceding principals, as well as information concerning the deepest secrets of the academy.

Collecting these books into the Library of Heaven’s Path, Zhang Xuan headed up to the final floor.

The fifth floor consisted of mainly items left behind by Founder Mu Kai. Zhang Xuan took a quick look around the room, and it seemed like the Saint Ascension Decipher manual wasn’t among the items. Nevertheless, there were still many valuable cultivation technique manuals in there. Most of the cultivation technique manuals were regarding Saint realm 1-dan, but there was still a very small handful of them regarding Saint realm 2-dan or even 3-dan.

There were also a couple of them regarding soul and physical body cultivation.

It didn’t take too long for Zhang Xuan to collect everything into the Library of Heaven’s Path.

Alright, I should start cultivating.

After everything was compiled, Zhang Xuan noticed that he had more than a dozen Heaven’s Path cultivation techniques and battle techniques in the Library of Heaven’s Path. Taking in a deep breath, he searched for a slightly more spacious location in the room and sat down.

Since he had already prepared his Chrysalis realm cultivation technique and the Scarlet Firefly Fruit required for him to make a breakthrough to Half-Saint, it was about time for him to raise his cultivation!

Taking out a couple of formation flags from his storage ring, he swiftly set up a grade-6 Spirit Gathering Formation in the area before taking out a couple of high-tier spirit stones and placing them in the area.

Hong long!

As the Spirit Gathering Formation came to life, spiritual energy was swiftly drawn out from the high-tier spirit stones to form a thick layer of mist in the area. Even without cultivating, the spiritual energy would automatically seep through his skin, nourishing his body.

Zhang Xuan sat down on the floor before opening all of his pores to start absorbing the spiritual energy in the air at a frenzied pace.

The spiritual energy contained within high-tier spirit stones was significantly purer and more condensed than the energy contained within the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, thus making it ideal for him to use in advancing his cultivation.

Closing his eyes, Zhang Xuan began driving his zhenqi according to the circulation pathway of the Saint Ascension Decipher, gathering surge after surge of zhenqi in his dantian and condensing them into strands.

The revised Saint Ascension Decipher was completely different from before.

In the previous version, seven strands of zhenqi formed a knot, seven knots formed a bundle, and seven bundles formed a decipher.

However, in the revised version, nine strands of zhenqi formed a knot, nine knots formed a bundle, and nine bundles formed a decipher.

Based on his deductions, the form that was most aligned with nature and the heavens was in sets of nine.

Gugugugu.

Spiritual energy swiftly gushed into Zhang Xuan’s body, and he quickly converted it into zhenqi before condensing it and gathering it into knots, bundles, and deciphers…

As a technique to cultivate a higher-grade Origin Core, the Saint Ascension Decipher was far more complex than a normal Heaven’s Path Divine Art, and thus, it was significantly more difficult and laborious to cultivate.

If Zhang Xuan had chosen to cultivate the normal Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he should have been able to raise his cultivation by a realm within two hours at most. On the other hand, cultivating the Saint Ascension Decipher, despite having cultivated for two hours, he still hadn’t even advanced a single stage.

It was at this moment that he finally understood why Mu shi had ended up spending several hundred years just to cultivate a Second Grade Advanced Origin Core. While the Saint Ascension Decipher had the mystical effect of raising the grade of one’s Origin Core, granting one strength far beyond their peers, its demand was simply so huge that it was nearly an endless abyss.

Putting everything aside, even with Zhang Xuan’s cultivation speed and the aid of a grade-6 Spirit Gathering Formation, it would still take him at least an entire day before he could reach Chrysalis realm pinnacle.

For what should have taken two hours to stretch out to an entire day… from this, the enhanced difficulty in the cultivation of the Saint Ascension Decipher was apparent.

In any case, Zhang Xuan was in no rush anyway. If a day was what it took, so be it.

According to the notes Mu shi had left behind on the Saint Ascension Decipher, it had taken him more than 200 years to come to this point.

Seated motionlessly on the ground, Zhang Xuan patiently drove his zhenqi, and his cultivation gradually rose.

Chrysalis realm primary stage!

Chrysalis realm intermediate stage!

Chrysalis realm advanced stage!

…

A day later, Zhang Xuan finally reached Chrysalis realm pinnacle. In his current state, he was only a step away from making a breakthrough to Half-Saint.

My strength has grown tremendously…

Halting his cultivation, Zhang Xuan took an inward look at his physical state, and he couldn’t help but remark in awe.

For an ordinary Chrysalis realm cultivator, the rise in strength at each cultivation stage was 3,000,000 ding. However, having cultivated the Saint Ascension Decipher, Zhang Xuan’s rise in strength per stage was 6,000,000 ding!

(Ordinary Chrysalis realm: primary stage 25,000,000 ding, intermediate stage 28,000,000 ding; advanced stage 31,000,000 ding; pinnacle 34,000,000 ding.)

The strength derived from his zhenqi cultivation had been 29,000,000 ding initially, but after reaching Chrysalis realm pinnacle, it had increased by 18,000,000 ding to 47,000,000 ding!

If the 20,000,000 ding and 32,000,000 ding from his soul cultivation and physical body cultivation were taken into account as well, his strength would be 99,000,000 ding, just a bit short of matching the 100,000,000 ding strength that Saint realm cultivators wielded!

In other words, in terms of strength, he was nearly on par with Saint realm experts.

Scary!

For a Chrysalis realm pinnacle cultivator to be comparable to a Saint realm cultivator in terms of pure strength, would anyone in the Master Teacher Continent believe his words if he were to tell them about this?

But while Zhang Xuan did wield strength comparable to a Saint realm cultivator, he would still be in a disadvantageous position in a fight against a real Saint realm cultivator.

The superior strength of Saints wasn’t derived merely from the boost in their strength but their enhanced comprehension of the laws of the world as well. For one, Saint realm cultivators were capable of dealing long-range attacks with minimal dissipation in might. On the other hand, if Zhang Xuan wanted to utilize the strength of his physical body and soul cultivation as well, he needed to be in close quarters with his opponent… Without those two to augment his attacks, his might would only be at 47,000,000 ding, comparable to only a Half-Saint advanced stage cultivator.

Nevertheless, his current fighting prowess was still extremely frightening. Even Principal Mo Liuzhen wouldn’t have been a match for him at all.

After relishing in his newfound power, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but look at the dust remnants on the ground with a bitter smile. My fighting prowess did grow by a lot, but the consumption of high-tier spirit stones is truly…

The Saint Ascension Decipher could indeed further reinforce the foundation of his cultivation and enhance the richness of his zhenqi, granting him superior might. However, this came at a heavy price. For one, just the consumption of high-tier spirit stones was sufficient to leave him frenzied.

He had received a few hundred high-tier spirit stones from Wu Xu and Lu Cheng back then, and adding in the ones he had procured from the Golden Beartiger Beast’s storage ring and the congratulatory gifts from the Cloudmist Ridge for his inauguration ceremony, he had possessed a total of around eight hundred spirit stones, making him richer than any of the Ten Great Master Teachers in the academy.

Yet, just to advance from Chrysalis realm primary stage to pinnacle, he had consumed five hundred of them. That was more than half of his wealth!

He could almost see a life of poverty waiting right ahead of him.