Chapter 347 - 219: An Ulterior Motive?

Chapter 347: Chapter 219: An Ulterior Motive?

The Scripture Pavilion. The moment he stepped inside, a scene that matched Su Xing’s impression of a Cultivation Sect greeted him.

Row after row of secret manuals, written on aged pages, lined the shelves. A special energy emanated from them, giving the impression that one could master their contents with a single touch.

"Tsk..."

Su Xing couldn’t help but click his tongue in admiration. The Cyan Cloud Sect wasn’t considered a major power. Although they had a Tier 9 founder, that was in the distant past. By this generation, their decline was almost unbelievable.

However,

they were still a respectable, mid-tier sect.

’If even a sect like this has such a rich heritage, I can’t even imagine the collections of those ancient sects with Tier 9 Sect Leaders, had they survived to the present day.’

’It was likely beyond the imagination of a young man like him, born in the Dharma Destruction Era and just happening to catch the tide of the Spiritual Qi revival.’

After all,

aside from his experience with the Human Race in the Secret Realm,

this was only the second time Su Xing had visited a place like the Scripture Pavilion.

Just as Su Xing was lost in thought, a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. It was clear and steady, obviously belonging to an older woman.

"I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. Are you a new disciple? Where is your token for the Scripture Pavilion?"

Upon hearing her, Su Xing came to his senses. ’Of course the Scripture Pavilion would be guarded.’ He turned and was met with the sight of a rather ugly woman. Her hair was stark white, her body was stooped, and she wasn’t much to look at.

Extraordinary Beings could usually remedy their physical flaws, so Su Xing had rarely seen someone so unattractive. He only glanced at her, however, showing no trace of disgust.

"My apologies. I’m not a disciple of your sect, but I have this key, given to me by Elder Lu himself."

Su Xing said, cupping his fist.

At first, he thought Elder Lu had given him the key to open the main door, but the entrance to the Scripture Pavilion was wide open. Instead, a Tower Guardian was stationed here.

In that case, the key’s true purpose...

suddenly became much more intriguing.

"Oh?"

She merely glanced at it and let out a small, surprised sound. "Very well," she said. "The technique for Immortal-Martial Integration is on the first floor."

"Finding the technique shouldn’t be difficult; you should spot it easily. You’re free to look around elsewhere, too, as long as you don’t go to the top floor."

"What is this key for?"

Su Xing asked curiously.

’Judging from her reaction, this stone in my hand must be something special. But Elder Lu said that although Immortal-Martial Integration is precious, the Cyan Cloud Sect has never been possessive of it. So this key must have another purpose.’

"He didn’t tell you?"

"Immortal-Martial Integration is just a general name for a Grand Path. In truth, its complexity can’t be explained in a single manual."

"That’s why the Cyan Cloud Sword Immortal left an inheritance behind in a specific location. This key opens the gate to that Land of Inheritance."

"Where is this place?"

Su Xing’s heart skipped a beat. An inheritance from a Tier 9 Extraordinary Being... and the Cyan Cloud Sect was willing to let *him* attempt to claim it. This was clearly a gesture of goodwill from Elder Lu.

’Perhaps,’

’this also has Sect Leader Gu’s blessing.’

’Even though Elder Lu is a sect Elder, something this important probably isn’t a decision he could make alone.’

’It’s just that...’

’this is a huge favor to owe.’

"It’s at the end of the first floor. There’s a hidden door there. You just need to press this stone to the door, and you’ll be able to get in."

She added faintly, "But, I must give you a sincere warning: you had better think very carefully about whether you want to walk this path."

"What do you mean?"

Just as Su Xing was about to leave, the homely woman picked up a nearby broom and said:

"Because it’s difficult. In the thousand years since its creation, no one besides the Cyan Cloud Sword Immortal has ever mastered Immortal-Martial Integration. Nobody knows what the problem is."

"I can tell your strength is not insignificant. To possess such power at your age truly makes you a prodigy of this generation. I fear that if you choose this path, you may never be able to take another step forward."

Indeed, both the path of the Qi Cultivator and the path of the Martial Artist were supreme paths for Extraordinary Beings. As long as one could follow either to its end, they could achieve eternal life.

But...

that didn’t mean practicing both at once would make one invincible.

The path of the Extraordinary grew more difficult the further one progressed. Take Su Xing’s current level, Tier 6, for example. In the entire Cyan Cloud Sect, only five people had ever managed to break through from Tier 6 to Tier 7 on a single path.

Across all of Luocheng, that number only increased to six.

And that was just for a single system. The two Extraordinary systems had fundamentally different cultivation methods. The difficulty of simply adding one path to another—a 1+1=2 scenario—was enough to make anyone flinch. But the difficulty of Immortal-Martial Integration was far beyond a simple two; it might be three, or even four.

+ 1 = 4.

It was absurd arithmetic, but in this case, it was true.

Therefore, seeing Elder Lu recommend a young man to attempt this technique, she could guess his intentions: he wanted to both befriend Su Xing and use him for a bold experiment.

However,

she still chose to offer a warning.

"..."

"I will consider it seriously."

Su Xing said with a serious nod.

’She was clearly worried about me, but she doesn’t know I have the system. No matter how hard this technique is, as long as it appears on my system panel or can be integrated with my other skills, it’s not a problem at all.’