A DEEP ABYSS LAY between Woqing Sanctum and the arched bridge; to get across, he’d have to fly. But he didn’t have enough spiritual energy for it as he hadn’t established his foundation, so he couldn’t ride his sword over. Usually, he depended on his master or the second-generation disciples to help him get across, but that was rather inconvenient.
Recently, Mo Tianliao had crafted a small flying ship—hardly large enough to be called a ship, really—that could fly if equipped with a spiritual stone. It was simply made, only the size of a plate, and could only travel a few yards, but it would be enough to cross this natural chasm.
He took out the oddly shaped plate, stepped onto it, and inserted a low-grade spiritual stone. The plate slowly rose.
The ability to control a flying sword or flying ship depended on having sufficient spiritual energy and a divine soul. Flying swords relied purely on the cultivators’ spiritual energy, and without an established foundation, one’s spiritual power wouldn’t be enough to sustain flight. Flying ships, on the other hand, consumed spiritual stones instead—and since Mo Tianliao still had his divine soul, he could control it.
Crossing the arched bridge, he made a beeline for the Blessed Sanctuary of Ten Thousand Scrolls.
The blessed sanctuary featured a myriad of rocky mountains stacked like row after row of bamboo slips. A nine-story pagoda towered among them, with black gold for walls and crystal for roofs—it was a magnificent sight. With a disciple’s jade token and several spiritual stones for the admission fee, one could enter and consult the texts.
The gatekeeper accepted Mo Tianliao’s spiritual stones and made sure he was aware of the rules. “Disciples at the qi-refining stage may only view materials on the first floor. Do not go upstairs. Remember that.”
Mo Tianliao nodded and went in with his cat.
The first floor was mostly a depository of paper books, many of which contained basic knowledge on cultivation. Many of the inner disciples were browsing through them; after all, they had to study on their own without the guidance of a master, and the seniors who taught techniques didn’t have the patience to run through everything with them.
Mo Tianliao glanced around. These books were too basic to be of much help to him, so he made his way to the second floor, a book repository meant for cultivators at the foundation establishment stage.
No one was standing guard, as the books here were of little use to qi-refining cultivators. Mo Tianliao ignored these as well and continued upward.
Between the second and third floors was a protective barrier designed to detect divine souls. Those without divine souls couldn’t get through—a measure intended to protect the low-level disciples. Jade slips recorded using divine sense couldn’t be viewed by cultivators without a divine soul, either. Anyone trying to force their way into one of those documents would damage their soul.
Mo Tianliao walked through it unimpeded. He pressed his forehead against the long piece of jade at the stairway and instantly got an overview of the location of every book at a glance. It didn’t take long at all for him to find the record on divine trees. Picking up the aged jade slip, he pressed it against the center of his forehead.
Divine trees were different from spiritual trees. They were trees that had survived since ancient times, and it was possible each was the only one of its kind in existence. Spiritual trees, on the other hand, were trees of varying ages that were useful to cultivators and could be cultivated. Currently, fewer than twenty types of divine tree still existed on Taixuan.
The cat wiggled out of Mo Tianliao’s arms and climbed up a rack that held rows of neatly arranged jade slips. Then, he swiped all the jade slips off with a paw and swished his tail in amusement.
By the time Mo Tianliao finished reading and opened his eyes, the rack in front of him was a complete mess, and His Feline Lordship was perched smugly on the highest shelf, licking his paw.
For a long moment, Mo Tianliao stared at him, too stunned to speak.
“What happened here?” A slightly rotund core formation cultivator walked over. Even though his eyes were wide in surprise and he looked a little angry, he was still speaking slowly. “These jade slips each have a designated spot. How could you mess them up like this?”
Mo Tianliao stood up, quickly trying to think of a way to talk his way out of this.
“Meow!” The furball bounded down and shoved off another row of jade slips right in the cultivator’s face. Both Mo Tianliao and the cultivator gaped at the cat in wordless silence. Once he’d had his fun, he sprang onto Mo Tianliao’s shoulder and swished his tail.
The rotund cultivator collected himself and smiled. “I’m Yuanhai, the chief disciple under the tutelage of Xuanji-zhenren. You must be Qingtong-shishu’s youngest disciple.”
“Greetings, Yuanhai-shixiong.” Mo Tianliao quickly bowed. “I apologize for my cat’s misbehavior.”
“Oh…no worries.” Yuanhai waved away his apology and ambled over to the rack to organize the jade slips. “Leave this to me. You should go down now. You might get in trouble if someone were to see you on the third floor.”
“Thank you, Shixiong.” Mo Tianliao didn’t know why Yuanhai was being so nice to him, but he was glad not to have to stay and clean up. Without any further formalities, he picked up the cat and prepared to leave. “By the way, which of the disciples are skilled in elixir concocting? There’s something I’d like to get their advice on.”
At the last banquet, Yanlie had told him he could ask his fellow seniors if he was too embarrassed to ask his master. Having different masters didn’t mean they couldn’t freely communicate and exchange knowledge.
Yuanhai glanced at the cat in Mo Tianliao’s arms. Slowly tucking his hands together in his sleeves, he smiled. “You can look for Huaqing. He’s an elixirist.”
Huaqing… Mo Tianliao recalled the flamboyantly dressed senior he’d met at the birthday celebration. The corner of his mouth twitched, though he still cupped his hands in thanks before he left.
The records on the undying tree were limited. They only stated that this divine tree possessed regenerative powers. As for how to use this power…no one knew. After all, no one had ever been a divine tree before. To test this regenerative power, Mo Tianliao would have to find some spiritual herbs to experiment on, and if he wanted to find someone with a good supply of spiritual herbs, of course he should turn to an elixirist.
Huaqing, who was over at his apothecary grinding powder, sneezed. He rubbed his nose, feeling as if someone was plotting against him. Nothing would befall him today…would it?
✦ ✦ ✦
MINI EXTRA
Pawpaw: You’re acting like it’s a bad thing for me to pay you a visit.
Huaqing: Nothing could be worse!
Pawpaw: *flashes claws* Say that again.
Huaqing: It’s truly an honor to have you grace me with your presence. I’m so happy I’m gonna faint. QAQ