The Hidden Vault of the Daoist Scripture Hall

"The supreme techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts… all of mine, all of mine!" Xue Hongyi frantically inspected each secret chamber, his eyes blazing with unbridled avarice. He hailed from Snowdragon Mountain, a sect that had never produced even a single Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal; in its entire history, it had at most birthed one occasionally. The legacy of a Celestial Immortal like 'Wujiang the Celestial' was utterly beyond comparison.

The divine abilities and secret arts left behind by a Celestial Immortal were by no means ordinary.

When geniuses of comparable strength clashed, victory often depended on who possessed the superior divine ability, the more profound secret art.

"An opportunity, a grand opportunity. I must find it. With a powerful secret art, perhaps I can survive the Heavenly Tribulation in this lifetime." Cangjiang the Realperson was consumed by the same burning desire.

Everyone was searching. Ji Ning, the Whitewater Hound, and Qingqing had also split up to look.

"Where is it? Where could it be?" A small azure serpent would transform into a streak of light, darting about. Sometimes she would vanish in one spot and reappear far away in the blink of an eye. At other times, she would flicker directly into a secret chamber, bypassing the need to push open the stone door.

"I'm someone for whom lucky encounters are as common as eating meals, yet in this immortal estate, I've gotten less treasure than Uncle White!" Skygreen Serpent repeatedly teleported through the void, sometimes jumping from one corridor to another, sometimes directly into a secret chamber, roaming freely.

She teleported again and again, searching again and again.

Whoosh.

Another void shift, and Skygreen Serpent appeared in yet another secret chamber.

"Nothing here either…" Suddenly, she froze.

"Oh?"

Skygreen Serpent stared in astonishment at this secret chamber. It was ordinary and cramped, containing only two bookshelves and a long table. The shelves were lined with books, but the number resting on the table was pitifully small.

The total number of books in the entire chamber was minuscule.

"So few?"

One must understand that a complete set of immortal cultivation technique manuals was usually extremely voluminous, often comprising dozens of books. When Ji Ning had received the divine ability 'Starseizing Hand,' the knowledge had been transmitted directly into his soul, yet it had taken months to fully impart. This showed just how massive the amount of information contained within them was.

Skygreen Serpent involuntarily transformed into her azure-robed maiden form. She lowered her head to look, and as she did, her pupils contracted.

"Master, master! Quick, come here!!!" Qingqing sent out a telepathic cry.

"What? I'm on my way!"

Ji Ning, who was in another part of the estate, sent his divine sense spreading out through the corridors. Combined with his mental link to Qingqing, he quickly located her position and confirmed the route. He couldn't help but feel surprised. "This little Qing actually managed to get all the way over there. This place is really inconspicuous; searching through the chambers one by one, it would take a long time to reach."

Swoosh!

Ji Ning transformed into a streak of azure smoke, rushing over at top speed. He soon arrived at the secret chamber and pushed open the door.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ning asked as he entered, finding the entire chamber empty except for Qingqing standing there.

"I've already put it all away," Qingqing said excitedly, her voice low. "I didn't dare leave it here, afraid someone might snatch it."

"What techniques did you find that made you so cautious?" Ji Ning asked, his anticipation rising.

Qingqing lowered her voice further and said, "Six sets of Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques, over three hundred books in total. Three divine abilities, over a hundred books. And one divine sense secret art, six books. All complete versions!"

Ji Ning's eyes went wide.

Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques?

Divine abilities?

A divine sense secret art?

These were the most precious things of all, the absolute cream of the crop even within the Black-White College.

"This chamber was storing Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and divine sense secret arts," Ji Ning quickly realized. "The ones we found earlier were all Mortal and Earth-ranked techniques. There are probably other chambers for Heaven-ranked techniques."

Mortal, Earth, Heaven, Celestial.

The higher the rank, the more valuable.

Now that he had obtained this haul of Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and a divine sense secret art, Ji Ning no longer felt a desperate need for the Heaven-ranked ones. It would be nice to find them, but it didn't matter if he didn't.

"Master, it's all right here." Qingqing waved her hand, and a pile of books appeared before her.

Startled, Ji Ning quickly swept them all into his storage treasure, a cold sweat breaking out. "How can you take them out here!"

"Keep them with you, Master. I'm not a Fiendgod Body Refiner, so those divine abilities are useless to me. I also already have a top-tier Ki Refining technique. Oh, but let me practice that divine sense secret art later," Qingqing instructed.

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

He immediately began to examine the books within his storage treasure with his divine sense.

Altogether, there were only a few hundred books. When counted as complete sets, there were only ten sets! Six sets of Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques! Three sets of divine abilities! One set of divine sense secret arts!

"Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques are useless to me. Divine abilities?" Ji Ning's divine sense swept over them. "They are the 'Heavenly Transformation,' 'Three Heads, Six Arms,' and 'Five Thunder Adamantine Body.'"

Ji Ning felt a surge of joy.

'Heavenly Transformation' was a relatively common divine ability; almost any slightly powerful sect would have it.

The Black-White College also had 'Three Heads, Six Arms,' but it was considered a very precious divine ability. Ji Ning hadn't learned it yet, mainly because he hadn't accumulated enough Black-White Pearls. Now, he had obtained the complete set!

"Once I master the 'Three Heads, Six Arms' divine ability, I can grow four additional arms, each as real and functional as my original ones." Ji Ning was ecstatic. For a Fiendgod Body Refiner, at the Void stage, they could pluck a hair and transform it into a clone, and change their body into any shape. Growing eighteen arms was easy. But those were merely transformations, not real arms.

The reason 'Three Heads, Six Arms' was so powerful was because it created genuine heads and arms, causing a true, explosive surge in combat power. Since Ji Ning could use the 'Starseizing Hand' divine ability with his hands, once he used 'Three Heads, Six Arms,' all six of his arms could employ the 'Starseizing Hand'… This was why Ji Ning had always yearned for the 'Three Heads, Six Arms' technique.

"I couldn't get it at the academy, but I got it here." Ji Ning was overjoyed. "Combining 'Three Heads, Six Arms' with my 'Starseizing Hand' will definitely boost my strength immensely."

"'Five Thunder Adamantine Body'?"

Ji Ning's heart stirred, and a book appeared in his hand. It was the first volume of 'Five Thunder Adamantine Body.'

He flipped it open and began to read…

'Five Thunder Adamantine Body' was a divine ability that could only be cultivated by true Fiendgods, or Fiendgod Body Refiners who could match them.

"Fortunately, I've been training in the 'Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens'," Ji Ning thought with a sigh of relief. Back at the Yinglong Guard branch, he had discovered that some extremely powerful divine abilities had very stringent requirements for Fiendgod Body Refining, often demanding that the practitioner be a true Fiendgod or a cultivator of the 'Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens.'

The Yinglong Guard Immortal had once told Ji Ning… that after he survived the Mount Yujue Wasteland trial, he would soon understand the true power of the 'Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens.'

The power of the Crimsonbright Diagram lay in the fact that those who cultivated it could learn some truly top-tier divine abilities, techniques that were normally only usable by Fiendgods.

"'Five Thunder Adamantine Body' bathes the practitioner in lightning to forge an indestructible body. It requires five separate baptisms of five different types of lightning to reach perfection. This fifth level can only be trained by an Empyrean God?" Ji Ning was secretly amazed.

Just like 'Starseizing Hand' had six levels, the 'Five Thunder Adamantine Body' had five levels. The highest level could only be cultivated by an Empyrean God, at which point the divine ability would reach its perfect peak.

"It's a simplified version of the legendary divine ability, 'Eight-Foot Adamantine Body'?" Ji Ning nodded as he understood. The first volume of the technique explicitly stated that the creator of this divine ability had simplified the legendary 'Eight-Foot Adamantine Body' technique for the sake of future generations.

'Eight-Foot Adamantine Body'…

It was a legendary divine ability, one of the most supreme in the entire Three Realms. Based on what this book recorded, the 'Eight-Foot Adamantine Body' was on the same level as his own 'Starseizing Hand.'

"I wonder which great power simplified this 'Five Thunder Adamantine Body' from the 'Eight-Foot Adamantine Body'," Ji Ning marveled. "To be able to simplify such a technique, that power was truly extraordinary."

Ji Ning put away the divine ability manual with a flick of his hand, then took out the divine sense secret art.

There was only one type of divine sense secret art, called 'One Thought, An Army.'

"One Thought, An Army?" Just as Ji Ning was about to flip through it, his brow furrowed. He immediately sent a mental message. "Qingqing, you need to leave. Now."

Swoosh.

Qingqing vanished in an instant.

Ji Ning turned and rushed out.

Boom. The stone door to the chamber was pushed open, and Xue Hongyi was charging in.

"You?" Xue Hongyi stared at Ji Ning in shock.

"Quite a coincidence," Ji Ning said, glancing at Xue Hongyi. Then, ignoring him, he rushed out through the already-open stone door.

Xue Hongyi frowned and looked into the empty chamber. There was absolutely nothing inside.

"It can't be that coincidental," he muttered before turning around and continuing his own search.

Each secret chamber in the Daoist Scripture Hall was very hidden. Ji Ning continued to search with a look of desperate eagerness, acting as if he hadn't found anything special. He didn't want anyone to know that he had obtained the most supreme techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts. The Yuchi clan had been massacred for the 'Windwing Evasion' technique. He had to be careful not to reveal his gains.

"Hmph."

Shao Yanong glanced at the stone book before him. He had completely refined the central nexus of the Daoist Scripture Hall, and everything within it was under his control.

"Oh?" Shao Yanong closed his eyes and carefully sensed. "Nothing? There's nothing?"

According to his perception, there wasn't a single book left in any of the secret chambers of the entire Daoist Scripture Hall. They were all completely empty.

Another half-hour passed.

Ji Ning, the others, and Shao Yanong had all gathered in the outermost main hall.

"Everyone's here. Did you find any divine abilities or secret arts?" Shao Yanong asked, smiling at the group.

"No."

"None." One by one, everyone shook their heads.

Ji Ning also shook his head bluntly. "No."

"Fire Rainbow Immortal and Cangjiang the Realperson had some luck, finding some Heaven-ranked techniques and secret arts," Xue Hongyi said, speaking up. "But… the Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts that should have been here… I didn't see them."

"Perhaps, because Celestial-ranked Ki Refining techniques, divine abilities, and secret arts are so precious, they weren't stored in the Daoist Scripture Hall. Maybe they're hidden somewhere else," Mu Northson suggested.

"Mm, that's possible," Ji Ning agreed.