Novel Full Chapter 46: Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill
Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill
Hidden Skills Pavilion.
The entrance of the stone building looked the same as always. On the first floor, the guardian Cultivator was resting with his eyes closed.
Li Yuan handed over his waist token and the document stamped with the Wang family’s seal.
The guard took the document, scanned it twice, then looked up at Li Yuan.
"The third floor?"
"Yes."
The guard flipped the document to its back. After confirming there were no issues, he pulled a dark silver Token from his waist.
"You can only stay on the third floor for two hours. Once you’ve made your selection, come back here to register it with me."
The Token felt slightly heavy in his hand, much thicker than a normal waist token. A small character for "three" was carved on its surface.
Li Yuan took the Token, went up the wooden stairs to the second floor, passed through the familiar bookshelves, and walked to the end of the floor where it met the wall.
A narrow door was embedded in the wall. It had no handle, only a recess in the very center, shaped to match the Token.
Li Yuan fitted the Token into the recess, and the narrow door slid inward without a sound.
Behind the door was an even narrower wooden staircase, wide enough for only one person to pass.
Li Yuan climbed the stairs. After a dozen or so steps, his view suddenly opened up.
The third floor was nearly half the size of the second. There were only two rows of bookshelves, one against the east wall and one against the north. The shelves held few booklets and Scrolls, but they were arranged with extreme neatness, with half a foot of space between each one.
Just like on the second floor, a small wooden plaque was placed in front of each booklet, indicating its name and grade.
The first: Azure Nether Sword Art, a Cultivation Technique. It only included the first three levels, corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages of Qi Refining.
Li Yuan placed his finger on it, but the panel didn’t react.
The second: Fierce Sun Palm, a Magic. He touched it with his finger, and the panel remained just as quiet.
The third: True Green Water Skill, a Cultivation Technique, incomplete. The panel didn’t react.
The fourth: Cloud-Splitting Finger, a Magic, complete.
[Detectable equippable item... Entry level: Gray...]
’Gray, but at least it reacted.’
Li Yuan didn’t linger and continued on.
As he went along, touching each one, a pattern became increasingly clear.
The booklets labeled as fragments, incomplete, or only the first few levels didn’t trigger any reaction when he touched them. Only those labeled as complete had a chance of triggering a notification from the panel.
Moreover, not all of the complete ones triggered a response; some booklets labeled as complete also yielded no reaction.
Li Yuan turned to the north wall’s bookshelf.
There were fewer booklets on the north wall than the east, only eight in total.
He touched them one by one, from left to right.
The first... the second... the third...
The fourth—Profound Light Slash, a Magic, complete.
The moment his finger touched it, a notification popped up on the panel.
[Detectable equippable item]
[Item Entry Level: Blue]
[Note: Item does not belong to user. Cannot be equipped. Cannot view details.]
’Blue.’
Li Yuan’s finger lingered on the booklet for a moment before he continued checking the rest.
The last one: Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, a Cultivation Technique, complete.
The instant his finger made contact—
[Detectable equippable item]
[Item Entry Level: Blue]
[Note: Item does not belong to user. Cannot be equipped. Cannot view details.]
’Another blue one. Two blues, one Magic and one Cultivation Technique.’
The wooden plaque for Profound Light Slash read: "Magic, Offensive. Condenses Spiritual Power into a blade of light. Power increases with the purity of Spiritual Power. Can be used for both ranged and close-quarters attacks."
The wooden plaque for the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill read: "Cultivation Technique, Foundational Support. Can be cultivated to the Qi Refining Ninth Level. Harmonizes and clears the hundred meridians. Can be practiced in parallel with most other Cultivation Techniques to improve the efficiency of Spiritual Power circulation."
After a moment of thought, Li Yuan chose the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill.
For one, his Spirit-Introducing Skill only covered the first to seventh levels of Qi Refining. Once he reached Late-stage Qi Refining, he would have to ask the Wang family for a follow-up Cultivation Technique anyway.
For another, compared to Magic, Li Yuan preferred a Cultivation Technique that could enhance his own foundation.
When the first-floor guard saw Li Yuan come down, his gaze fell on the booklet in his hand, and he opened the registration log.
"The Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill?" The first-floor guard commented as he saw the booklet Li Yuan handed him.
"Is there a problem with it?"
"No problem at all. It’s just that few people choose this one. This Cultivation Technique is rather basic, so most people prefer to pick more advanced Cultivation Techniques or Magic."
"Of course, basic doesn’t mean low-grade."
The guard explained, then had Li Yuan sign his name and leave a handprint before having him return the Token.
Li Yuan tucked the booklet into his sleeve and left the Hidden Skills Pavilion.
He walked east along West Street. The market district was even more crowded than a few days ago. However, most of the new faces were not Loose Cultivators but traveling merchants—groups of traders with large bundles on their backs and storage pouches at their waists, moving through the streets in clusters of three to five.
When he reached the middle of East Street, a group of traveling merchants was resting under a crooked-neck tree by the roadside. There were seven or eight of them, all dressed differently; some wore leather armor, others were wrapped in hemp robes. Each person had a water flask, and they were a mix of sitting and squatting.
One of them, a brawny, bald man, had the loudest voice. He was chugging from his water flask but didn’t let it stop him from talking.
"...You guys hear about that demon-hunting team that came from the southern section?"
"Which one?" a skinny, tall man next to him asked.
"The one led by Boss Ma. A dozen or so people, made a trip to the middle of the mountain range." The bald man lowered his flask and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
The bald man corked his flask. "They found the remains of a Tier Two Demon Beast in a valley."
"Remains? It was dead?"
"Dead as a doornail. Its whole chest cavity was ripped open, the Inner Core was gone, and there were bite marks and claw marks all over its body."
The bald man gestured to illustrate.
"Boss Ma said that from the wounds, it looked like it was torn to death by one of its own kind, but something was off."
"What was off about it?"
The bald man lowered his voice, but his booming tone was natural, so the few people around him could still hear him clearly.