The Gold Rush of the Daoist Scripture Hall

“Given how much Young Master Shaoyin is hurting right now, he must be going mad with fury,” Mu Northson transmitted, his voice dripping with schadenfreude. As an observer, it was impossible not to feel a pang of helplessness when a noble of this caliber could casually produce one powerful treasure after another, forcing Ji Ning, Mu Northson, and even Xue Hongyi to acknowledge their own limitations. They were mere geniuses of the Anchan Commandery.

But their opponent could very well be the next Feathergod! In status, he was even more exalted than the Marquis of Anchan.

Even as just a successor, the sheer wealth of treasures he commanded was enough to make Ji Ning and the others sigh with helpless resignation.

“I won’t let a single demon of this Immortal estate get away,” Young Master Shaoyin growled through gritted teeth. Breaking into this fourth branch hall had consumed three treasures: a Heaven-ranked construct warship, a Wasteland Heart, and a Binding Scroll. This had far exceeded his mental preparation. And this was only the fourth branch hall. With the Oceanwave Soldier-demons and Yaksha Soldier-demons surely gathered outside the fifth branch hall, the price to burst through there would be even more astonishing. The more he thought about it, the more his heart ached.

“I’ll enslave every single one of them,” Shaoyin vowed through clenched teeth. “I’ll sell them to the tribes. They’ll be slaves for generation after generation.”

“Young Master Shaoyin,” Xue Hongyi said softly.

“Hm?” Shaoyin turned to look at him. “What is it?”

Xue Hongyi quickly flashed a smile. “Are you worried about entering the fifth branch hall, Young Master? In my opinion, there’s no need to fight them head-on. These demons just want to leave this Immortal estate, don’t they? You can simply promise to let them go. I’m sure they’d be thrilled. Then the two sides can swear a Heavenly Dao oath, and they won’t dare to break it. This way, you can enter the fifth branch hall without wasting a single treasure. What do you think, Young Master?”

Xue Hongyi thought he had devised a brilliant plan.

Young Master Shaoyin gave him a cold look and spat out two words:“Idiot!”

“Young Master!” Xue Hongyi’s face turned bright red.

As a cultivation genius, Xue Hongyi was not necessarily skilled in worldly wisdom, though he did consider himself reasonably clever. Being called an ‘idiot’ by Shaoyin Nong was a humiliation, but he quickly understood the reasoning behind the rebuke.

Beside Ji Ning, Nine Lotos transmitted a laugh. “That Xue Hongyi is such a fool. Since Shaoyin Nong came to assault this Immortal estate, he must have already planned for every scenario. In his mind, once he refines this entire Immortal estate, all the demons inside will be at his mercy with nowhere to run. That’s tens of thousands of demon slaves! And not just ordinary ones—they’re demon Dao-soldiers! Among them are the extremely rare Yaksha Dao-soldiers. Only a Celestial Immortal could possess such luxury. If he dedicates all these soldiers to his clan, he’ll not only make up for the cost of the treasures he lost but also turn a massive profit! Negotiating to let the demons go free? That would be throwing away a mountain of fortune.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Just the massive quantity of ‘Oceanwave Soldier-demon armor’ and ‘Yaksha Soldier-demon armor’ alone was worth an incalculable fortune.

“This branch hall didn’t have a single construct or formation attack us,” Shaoyin Nong said, dismissing the thought and examining the hall carefully.

“Hmph!”

Shaoyin Nong waved his hand, sending a surge of black elemental energy arcing in every direction, slamming into the walls of the hall. Boom! Boom! Boom! The walls were incredibly durable, but as the energy crashed against them, three large characters appeared on the front wall:

Daoist Scripture Hall!

“Daoist Scripture Hall?” Ji Ning and the others’ eyes all lit up.

Every major power established a Daoist Scripture Hall.

Even the Ji Clan’s Western Prefecture had built a scripture tower for its younger generations to choose from. The Black-White College also had its own specialized Daoist Scripture Hall. Celestial Immortal Wu Jiang, though he lacked the depth and history of the Black-White College, had built a power far beyond sects like Snowdragon Mountain.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Without waiting for Shaoyin Nong’s permission, Ji Ning and the others transformed into streaks of light, charging towards the corridor beside the ‘Daoist Scripture Hall’ characters. The reason was simple—it was the only corridor available.

“These bastards!” Shaoyin Nong cursed and followed with a whoosh.

As soon as they rushed into the corridor, they were greeted by a massive hall filled with densely packed books. It was a sea of knowledge, almost comparable in scale to the Daoist Scripture Hall of the Black-White College.

“Grab them!”

“Go!”

Everyone went berserk.

Any major power placed immense importance on techniques and secret arts. If they could find even one technique or secret art that the Black-White College didn’t possess, they could trade it for a huge sum of Black-White Pearls.

“Whoosh.” Ji Ning waved his hand, sweeping a massive pile of books into his storage treasure.

The Skygreen Serpent flickered to a distant corner, shouting joyfully, “Come to me, all of you!” The books beneath her instantly vanished.

“Come,” Whitewater Hound said, also collecting book after book.

“Snatch them!”

“They’re mine!”

Xue Hongyi went mad as well. Everyone, including the last-arriving Shaoyin Nong, began frantically gathering the books.

Even though the hall was filled with an astonishing number of books, it only took a few moments for the place to be completely cleared. In the end, even the bookshelves themselves were taken away.

“Look at all of you, scrambling like wild dogs,” Shaoyin Nong shook his head. “I hope they’re just abridged versions, or else you’ll all be in for a nasty surprise.”

Ji Ning and the others were well aware that the books in this hall were very likely abridged copies. But no one dared to gamble—it would take time to determine if a technique was abridged, and in that time, someone else might scoop up the entire hall.

“Let’s check,” Ji Ning and the others each pulled out a book and began to examine it.

A moment later—

“Abridged.”

“This one is abridged, with only the first part of the technique.”

“Abridged.”

“This one too.”

“This one is actually a complete edition! Just a common formation technique.” One by one, they grew disappointed. More than ninety percent of the books were abridged. The few complete editions were all common techniques that the Black-White College offered for free, requiring no Black-White Pearls at all—they were the kind found in almost any decent sect.

The truly valuable techniques, arts, and divine abilities were all in abridged form.

“Most of these are abridged,” Ji Ning thought. “But there must be a place where the complete editions are stored. That would be safer and more secretive. There’s no way Celestial Immortal Wu Jiang carried every complete edition on his person. If he was always wandering the outside world, how would his clan ever train new disciples?”

Swish!

Ji Ning immediately dashed into one of the four corridors branching off from the main hall.

He wasn’t the only one to think of this—the others had as well. There had to be a hidden repository for the complete editions.

“Swish.” Shaoyin Nong, guided by the resonance of his Immortal Estate Key, followed a corridor and quickly discovered a secret chamber.

“Here it is.”

As Shaoyin Nong entered the chamber, a corpse immediately caught his eye.

This corpse was the guardian of the Daoist Scripture Hall.

“Take it.” Shaoyin Nong collected the corpse directly, then shifted his gaze to a stone book resting against the wall. His Immortal Estate Key told him—this stone book was the central nexus of the entire Daoist Scripture Hall.

“Refine!” Shaoyin Nong began to refine it, but stopped after barely a moment.

Once a small part of the nexus was refined, all the formation restrictions within the Daoist Scripture Hall would become inert.

Shaoyin Nong quickly left the chamber and continued his search. If he could find even one powerful divine ability or secret art that the Shaoyin clan didn’t possess, it would be a tremendous achievement. But given the ancient power and vast collection of the Shaoyin clan, finding anything they lacked was extraordinarily difficult.

Ji Ning had already spread his divine sense, scanning the corridors as far as he could. Unfortunately, the walls of the Immortal estate were impervious to divine sense, blocking all attempts to see inside.

“Ning, hurry! Quick!” Uncle White’s voice rang out through their spiritual link.

Ji Ning, who had been trying to push open a stone door, immediately stopped and transformed into a streak of light, racing towards Uncle White’s location. In mere seconds, he burst into a secret chamber.

Inside the chamber were row upon row of books, each originally protected by formation restrictions. But now, those restrictions were completely inert. Already, Whitewater Hound, Cangjiang Trueperson, and Xue Hongyi were frantically grabbing them.

“Hurry!”

Without a second thought, Ji Ning joined the frenzy.

He began madly collecting the books. The moment he saw this secret chamber and the way the books were arranged, he was certain—these were the complete editions. A full technique often filled a dozen or more thick volumes; an abridged version would only need a thin pamphlet.

“Collect, collect,” Ji Ning chanted mentally as he gathered.

In just a few moments, the entire secret chamber was cleared. Young Master Shaoyin, who passed by later than the rest, only managed to claim a few scraps.

“Complete editions,” Ji Ning and the others confirmed, one by one, as they began examining the techniques they had seized.

“Hmph. Earth-ranked techniques?”

“These are Human-ranked techniques?”

“This secret art is way too ordinary.” Ji Ning and the others frowned. Having been selected by the Black-White College, they cultivated Immortal-ranked Ki Refining techniques. But the manuals they had just grabbed from this secret chamber were only Human-ranked or Earth-ranked techniques and secret arts. Despite the staggering quantity, not a single Heaven-ranked technique was among them.

“I have mountains of this trash in my own clan. Not a single one is useful,” Shaoyin Nong said, frowning and shaking his head.

Ji Ning, however, broke into a smile.

These might be worthless to him—but they were a goldmine for the Ji Clan. The Ji Clan’s store of techniques and secret arts was pitifully small. He had purchased a few at the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, but how many could you acquire through mere purchase? To build up a large collection quickly, you usually had to wipe out an enemy sect and plunder their hoard.

“Over a million techniques and secret arts. Even if they’re all mediocre, they’re more than enough for Xiantian lifeforms and Zifu Disciples,” Ji Ning mused. “Once I find a few top-tier Ki Refining techniques later on, my Ji Clan will finally have a proper Daoist Scripture Hall to pass down the generations.”

A Daoist Scripture Hall was the beating heart of any tribe or sect’s heritage.

Each generation grew strong by inheriting these scriptures.

“Celestial Immortal Wu Jiang was a Celestial Immortal. He must have possessed great techniques and divine abilities. Where did he hide them?” Shaoyin Nong frowned.

“The best techniques and divine abilities must be hidden in a very secretive location. They might not even be in this treasure hall at all,” Ji Ning thought.

The group contemplated briefly, then with a whoosh! whoosh! whoosh! they scattered once more, resuming their search. Though there was no guarantee that the best techniques were hidden in the treasure hall, there was always a chance.

Swish.

Shaoyin Nong slipped back into that same secret chamber and sat down cross-legged before the stone book—the central nexus of the Daoist Scripture Hall. He began to refine it.

“Once I refine this nexus, the entire Daoist Scripture Hall will be under my complete control. No matter how well the treasures are hidden, I’ll know their location,” Shaoyin Nong thought. “It’ll take about an hour to refine it completely. The truly top-tier techniques and divine abilities will be hidden extremely well. An hour… they probably won’t be able to find them.”