Chapter 124 - 63: Promotion, Scripture Profound Daoist - Pavilion Master

Chapter 124: Chapter 63: Promotion, Scripture Profound Daoist - Pavilion Master

The Magical Power of Cultivators was highly versatile, and their Techniques were even more diverse.

Apart from Attack Magic like Fireballs and Ice Blades, the Cultivation Realm possessed numerous Supporting Techniques with endless wondrous uses.

These could summon clones or shadows to handle complex tasks on one’s behalf, or utilize the Spiritualization Technique to infuse ordinary brooms, paper, and pens with Spirituality, allowing them to work autonomously. Alternatively, one could fold paper into human figures and channel Spiritual Qi into them to bring them to life.

Thanks to the convenience of these Techniques, the book-copying order Yan Shouzhuo had issued earlier was swiftly and flawlessly executed by his disciples. In just one afternoon, the Valley of Flame had copied over nine thousand books.

Of course, although Yan Shouzhuo highly valued Jiang Xuan, he wouldn’t give away his entire foundation. What he ordered his disciples to copy were ordinary Dao Scriptures, predecessors’ Cultivation insights, and some inconsequential low-level Techniques.

As for the Valley of Summer’s true core secret texts, exclusive Techniques, and Swordsmanship, he only made three copies. He also specifically laid down Restrictions—they were restricted to Jiang Xuan’s eyes only and absolutely could not be taken out of the Four Seasons Valley.

After doing all this, Yan Shouzhuo packed all the books into his Storage Pouch and, together with Wu Shan, hurried toward Jiang Xuan’s residence.

"Master, Senior Brother, what brings you here?"

Their visit somewhat exceeded Jiang Xuan’s expectations, but having just acquired something good yesterday, he naturally wouldn’t turn them away. Instead, he respectfully welcomed them in.

"We’re here to deliver some good things to you." As he spoke, Yan Shouzhuo suggested going to the Scripture Pavilion to take a look. Jiang Xuan naturally had no objections.

A moment later, the three stepped into the Scripture Pavilion that Jiang Xuan had built with his own hands.

Looking at the neatly arranged books and exquisitely carved bookshelves inside the pavilion, and contrasting them with Jiang Xuan’s somewhat simple residence in the courtyard, Yan Shouzhuo was already certain in his heart—Jiang Xuan truly loved books as much as his own life.

This also made him stroke his beard in satisfaction as he said warmly, "Reading can enlighten the mind and cultivate wisdom. Jiang Xuan, I am very gratified that you possess such a refined hobby."

Saying so, he raised his hand and waved. Thousands of books appeared out of thin air and, guided by Magical Power, fell neatly and orderly onto the surrounding bookshelves.

"Since you truly love books, as your master, I should naturally support you. These books are my gift to you. I hope you can persevere and stay true to your original intention."

As he spoke, an endless stream of books continued to pour out from his Storage Pouch. In the end, the Scripture Pavilion Jiang Xuan had built faintly showed signs of being filled, or even overflowing.

Those over ten thousand volumes left Jiang Xuan’s mind blank, unable to react for a moment. He hadn’t expected the surprise to come so suddenly.

It took three full breaths for him to completely snap back to his senses. When he looked up at Yan Shouzhuo again, his eyes were filled with unconcealed excitement and gratitude.

"Phew..." After taking several deep breaths in a row, he barely suppressed the excitement in his heart. He bowed deeply and said solemnly, "Thank you for the gift, Master! This disciple will definitely do his utmost to cultivate his heart and read, never disappointing your expectations!"

Jiang Xuan’s sincere words and grateful emotions made Yan Shouzhuo even more satisfied. The current situation was exactly what he wanted to see.

In the Scripture Pavilion, Yan Shouzhuo chatted with Jiang Xuan for a bit longer. Noticing that Jiang Xuan’s gaze toward the books was full of eagerness, as if he couldn’t wait to flip through them, he didn’t stay long. After a few casual words, he and Wu Shan stood up and took their leave.

After he left, the urgency in Jiang Xuan’s heart could no longer be contained. Locking the doors and windows to isolate all outside interference, Jiang Xuan turned and quickly walked back to the Scripture Pavilion.

Standing in the center of the pavilion, looking at the mountains of books piled up around him, an indescribable sense of satisfaction and pride quietly welled up from the bottom of his heart.

"This is my Scripture Pavilion, my territory!"

After closing his eyes to enjoy this feeling of controlling everything, Jiang Xuan’s eyes snapped open. At the same time, he issued a command in his mind: "Profession System, advance the Daoist Acolyte profession!"

BUZZ!

Following the command, the Profession System was instantly activated. At the same time, a series of cold system prompt sounds rang out in Jiang Xuan’s mind:

[Scripture Profound Daoist advancement conditions:

Prerequisite profession Daoist Acolyte Cultivation reaches Perfection 3/3;

Three Great Spells enhanced to Mastery;

Read and recite three hundred volumes of Dao Scriptures and the Daoist Collection;

Deeply comprehend a Taoist Skill...;

Inside the Scripture Pavilion...;]

[You have completed all conditions. You may proceed with the profession advancement.]

BUZZ!

As the prompt sound faded, a bizarre fluctuation suddenly erupted from Jiang Xuan’s body. Unlike before, this fluctuation didn’t spread along his meridians into his limbs and bones. Instead, it expanded outside Jiang Xuan’s body and surged directly into the tens of thousands of surrounding books.

SWISH!

Stimulated by this power, the pages of the books scattered all around the Scripture Pavilion suddenly fluttered wildly, the crisp sounds echoing throughout the entire pavilion.

At the same time, countless illusory blue and white Runes suddenly burst from between the pages. Like a swarm of bees returning to their hive, they continuously converged toward Jiang Xuan’s body.

Because the collection of books in the Scripture Pavilion was vast, the emerging Runes grew increasingly dense. In just a moment, these Runes enveloped Jiang Xuan layer by layer, shrouding his entire body in a faint blue-and-white halo. Even his hair was tinted with a trace of blue-and-white glimmer.

And his advancement, under the baptism of these sky-filling Runes, officially began.

[Ding, system prompt: Your Scripture Profound Daoist advancement is successful.]

[Your Soul Spirit Power has undergone the baptism of Rune Power and received a massive boost. Your current Soul Strength has reached the Spirit Core Late Stage.]

Rune baptism and basic Attribute enhancements were the foundational gifts received with every profession advancement. Immediately afterward, a second prompt chimed in, concerning the inheritance of Curse Techniques:

[You have acquired the Cultivation methods for the remaining five of the Eight Great Spells.]

[Earth God Spell, Purifying Heaven and Earth Divine Spell, Incense Prayer Spell, Golden Light Divine Spell, Opening Scripture Profound Essence Spell.]

The acquisition of five Divine Spells, especially the Opening Scripture Profound Essence Spell, made a sharp gleam flash across Jiang Xuan’s eyes. The last Divine Spell was capable of increasing Comprehension during Cultivation. And the preciousness of Comprehension went without saying.

WHOOSH!

While Jiang Xuan focused his attention on the Opening Scripture Profound Essence Spell, the system’s advancement process continued.

Sky-filling Spells and Talismans fluttered and merged around his body. The original thousands of fine blue-and-white Runes gradually condensed into around a hundred pieces, their color growing increasingly profound, approaching Deep Blue.

But this was not the end. The hundred-odd Deep Blue Runes continued to blend, and a faint wisp of Purple quietly condensed and spread at the tips of the Runes.

The moment all the Runes completely turned Purple, the system prompt sounded once again, carrying a faintly imperceptible anomaly:

[Ding, detected that you are the Pavilion Master managing the Scripture Pavilion, and the pavilion contains 10,800 volumes of books. Your profession has been modified. You are now a Mystic Daoist Master.]

Following this prompt, what changed for Jiang Xuan’s profession was not just its name, but also its color and Grade. When the Profession System displayed Scripture Profound Daoist, the color above was still blue, representing Blue Rare. But when the title Mystic Daoist Master appeared, its color had already turned into a noble Purple (Purple Treasures Grade), with the title itself radiating brilliance.

At the same time, Jiang Xuan clearly perceived a wondrous connection forming between himself and the Scripture Pavilion beneath his feet, as if the pavilion itself had become a part of his body.

However, before Jiang Xuan could savor this connection, the Purple Runes circling him suddenly condensed and shrank, ultimately transforming into three crystalline, deep purple Runes that hovered in his Sea of Consciousness.

BOOM!

The instant they condensed, one of the Purple Runes explosively detonated within Jiang Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness. But its explosion wasn’t a dissipation; rather, it spread through Jiang Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness like the creation of the world. A new Skill’s information quietly emerged alongside the shattering of the Purple Rune:

[You have acquired the Professional Passive Skill: Memory Palace - Scripture Pavilion.]

[Memory Palace - Scripture Pavilion: You have comprehended the method of constructing a Memory Palace. You can categorize learned knowledge, past experiences, and witnessed scenes into your Sea of Consciousness to build a Memory Palace exclusive to you.]

An ability like the Memory Palace that could improve memory was very powerful, but this alone did not warrant the Purple Treasures Grade. Below the Skill Introduction was a special annotation that revealed its true might:

[Note: Because you are the Pavilion Master managing the Scripture Pavilion, the books stored in your Sea of Consciousness will provide an enhancement to your Spirituality (Comprehension). The strength of the enhancement is positively correlated with the number of books in your Sea of Consciousness and the strength of the Dao Rhyme contained within them.]

[Currently, your Sea of Consciousness has recorded 483 volumes of books and Daoist Collections. Among them are Purple Treasures: 1, Blue Rare: 33, Green Good Products: 50, White Ordinary: 399. Spirituality enhancement: 5.199%.]

"Permanently increasing Spirituality and Comprehension! Hiss..."

The Scripture Profound Daoist’s first Professional Skill left Jiang Xuan utterly astounded.

Although its current enhancement was limited—and it required Jiang Xuan to find books containing Dao Rhyme and memorize them to stack the Effect—one had to realize that the existence of the Memory Palace meant that as long as Jiang Xuan memorized something, it was very hard for him to forget it.

This also meant that as long as he persistently collected books and memorized the Daoist Collection, his Comprehension and Spirituality would continuously improve.

"I wonder if this Skill has a limit... If not, reading ten thousand volumes would double my Spirituality and Comprehension; one hundred thousand volumes would increase it tenfold; a million volumes would mean a hundredfold!"

Endless potential—this was Jiang Xuan’s most intuitive Evaluation of the Memory Palace. Of course, for now, potential was all it had.

"I happen to possess exactly ten thousand volumes, but memorizing them all is no easy feat..."

Looking around his Scripture Pavilion at the tens of thousands of books piled like mountains, for the first time, a sense of dread toward the difficulty swelled in Jiang Xuan’s heart.

BANG!

Before Jiang Xuan could figure everything out, the second Purple Rune once again exploded in his Sea of Consciousness. And this time, its explosion was still intimately tied to the Scripture Pavilion.

At this very moment, Jiang Xuan clearly perceived a wondrous resonance between the Memory Palace (Scripture Pavilion) in his Sea of Consciousness and the physical Scripture Pavilion in reality—as if Yin Yang were complementing and nourishing each other.

Soon, the message from the Profession System let Jiang Xuan know that what he felt was no illusion.

[You have acquired the Professional Passive Skill: Dialectical Paradox: Scripture Pavilion.]

[Dialectical Paradox: Scripture Pavilion: The world has Yin Yang and the Two Instruments. The Scripture Pavilion in your Sea of Consciousness is Yin, and the Scripture Pavilion anchored in reality is Yang. As the Pavilion Master, you can also receive enhancements while physically inside the real-world Scripture Pavilion. The enhancement Effect is positively correlated with the book collection in the Scripture Pavilion and the Dao Rhyme within the books.]

[Note 1: Currently, your physical Scripture Pavilion contains 10,813 volumes of books. Among them are Purple Treasures: 3, Blue Rare: 107, Green Boutique: 805, White Ordinary: 9,898. Acquired Spirituality enhancement: 109.31%.]

[Note 2: The books in your Scripture Pavilion are mostly related to the summer’s heat. If you cultivate Cultivation Techniques of the summer’s heat lineage, you receive an additional 100% enhancement.]

[Note 3: The physical Scripture Pavilion’s enhancement is only effective inside the pavilion. Upon leaving the pavilion, all enhancements will instantly vanish.]

Learning that he could gain such a powerful enhancement without needing to memorize anything, Jiang Xuan first breathed a sigh of relief. But in the next second, a tinge of bitterness colored his expression. "The more books, the stronger the enhancement... Doesn’t this mean that my pace of collecting books in the future not only can’t slow down but must be even faster?!"

"..."

At the thought of having to spend massive amounts of Spirit Stones to collect books from now on, Jiang Xuan couldn’t help but get a headache. "It seems my poverty will last for a very long time."

The good news was that the more books he had, the higher his Spirituality would be. This also gave Jiang Xuan a newfound sense of confidence. "Previously, being misunderstood by Valley Master Xia as a heaven-defying genius comparable to the Celestial Grade gave me some pressure. But now, while standing inside the Scripture Pavilion, who would dare say I’m not a genius!"

BANG!

Before Jiang Xuan’s musings could fully settle, the third Purple Rune located in his Sea of Consciousness also explosively detonated.