Mo Tiange's attitude was far too nonchalant, which everyone found strange. For these Late-Nascent Soul cultivators, it was one thing, but she was only at the Core Formation stage. Though she was just a hair's breadth away from Nascent Soul, that hair's breadth was a world of difference. Could she truly not care about the cultivation methods here?
Yet, as she made this proposal, everyone felt they couldn't find fault with it, so no one objected.
Drawing lots was somewhat beneath the dignity of great Late-Nascent Soul cultivators. In the end, each party simply chose a teleportation array at random.
Repairing the teleportation arrays wasn't too difficult for these Nascent Soul cultivators who had lived for centuries. It only took a short while to repair these relatively intact arrays, insert Spirit Stones, and teleport inside one by one.
After everyone else had eagerly teleported away, Mo Tiange finally, slowly, placed the last Spirit Stone. She pulled Qin Xi along and stepped onto the teleportation array.
A flash of white light, and in an instant, the two appeared within a room.
It was a spacious hall, slightly smaller than the outer hall. Suspended in mid-air at the ceiling was a massive pearl, emitting a bright yet gentle light, illuminating the windowless, doorless hall as if it were daytime. Inside, neat rows of purplish-red bookshelves exuded the fragrance unique to spirit wood, filled with all sorts of books and jade slips. A faint glow of a restriction shimmered on the surface of the shelves, blocking spiritual sense.
Mo Tiange looked up and remarked casually, "This pearl is nice. After all these years, it's still shining. If we could take it back, it would be much better than Moonlight Stones or the like."
"Forget about that," Fuyaozi said. "This pearl is directly connected to the spiritual vein here, which is why it hasn't extinguished for over a hundred thousand years. Taking it would be pointless."
"..." Mo Tiange wiped imaginary sweat from her brow. She was just thinking out loud.
Qin Xi sensed his surroundings, finding no offensive restrictions, before turning to ask with relief, "Tian Ge, what exactly are you planning? And which library is this?"
Only then did Mo Tiange reveal a bitter smile. "You think I did this on purpose? In that situation just now, what else could we do besides yield? Their strength is greater than ours."
Qin Xi fell silent. If a real fight broke out, he didn't think he was much weaker than those Late-Nascent Soul cultivators. However, those people had lived hundreds, even thousands of years longer than him, with incomparably rich combat experience. He wouldn't gain any advantage either.
"But, this really isn't a big deal," she added with a laugh. "Out of the five libraries, picking the first two would indeed be a huge windfall. But we aren't lacking in cultivation methods. No matter which one we pick, we won't lose out."
Qin Xi thought about it and agreed. Both of their cultivation methods were inherited from the Ancient Era, even the Primordial Era. Though they lacked content for the God Transformation stage, given their special physiques, switching to other methods wasn't practical. It would be better to cultivate to the Late-Nascent Soul stage and create their own methods.
After saying this, Mo Tiange didn't immediately go check the bookshelves. Instead, she turned and set up a formation beside the teleportation array they had just entered from.
This formation was no ordinary trapping array. It was a killing array, listed among the Ten Great Fierce Formations in the Xuanji Formation Manual. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator who entered wouldn't fare well.
She believed she wasn't the only one doing this. The first thing the others did upon entering their libraries must have been setting up defensive measures, lest someone go back on their word, follow closely behind with ill intentions.
While she was setting up the formation, Qin Xi had already walked forward and taken a book from the foremost purplish-red bookshelf.
This shelf held the lowest-level Qi Refining Stage cultivation methods. Sensing their cultivation level, the restriction on it didn't activate, allowing him to take the book freely.
"Huh? 'Introduction to Alchemy'?" Qin Xi flipped through it, looked up, and smiled. "It seems we didn't draw the best lot. But that might not be a bad thing."
Among the five categories—Five Elements Spells, Mental Cultivation Methods, the Way of the Martial Cultivator, Alchemy and Artifact Studies, and Experience Notes—the libraries containing Five Elements Spells and Mental Cultivation Methods naturally held the highest value.
Five Elements Spells were used for combat, while Mental Cultivation Methods related to the most fundamental advancement in cultivation. But the others weren't useless either.
Martial Cultivators were a branch of cultivators, once glorious in the Ancient Era. Many ancient sects possessed complete Martial Cultivator methods, including Sword Cultivators, Body Cultivators, and so on. The value of this library was slightly less than the first two, but still quite useful. In fact, from a Martial Cultivator's perspective, this library might be the most valuable. As for the other two categories, at first glance, they seemed the least valuable, but there was still a chance to hit the jackpot. For example, Experience Notes recorded strange tales and events of the cultivation world, treasure catalogs, and cultivators' cultivation insights. If one found notes on breaking through to God Transformation, their value could very well surpass the first two!
As for Alchemy and Artifact Studies, to others, it might be dispensable. Because many of the spirit herbs and materials that existed in the Ancient Era were now extinct. Without ingredients, even knowing alchemy and artifact-crafting methods, one couldn't make something from nothing—this was also why many ancient pill formulas had lost their value. Within this library, the valuable items might be the books recording talisman arts and formations. But these were auxiliary paths, offering no help in advancing to God Transformation.
However, all of the above was relative to others. For the two of them, it was completely different. Because Mo Tiange possessed the Void Heaven Realm!
The Void Heaven Realm preserved many spirit herbs that were extinct in the present day. Due to the lack of pill formulas, Mo Tiange could only let them grow wild, unable to utilize them. Those legendary spirit herbs were within her grasp. Gathering the herbs listed on these ancient pill formulas would be much easier. Even if some auxiliary ingredients were missing, given the quantity of spirit herbs in the Void Heaven Realm and their personal wealth, they could fully attempt to modify the formulas.
And this Immortal Palace belonged to an ancient great sect that might have had a Mahayana cultivator. The possibility of it preserving a peerless pill formula for breaking through to God Transformation was high. If they could truly find one, it would be a priceless treasure.
Mo Tiange already knew what this library contained. When everyone chose their teleportation arrays, Fuyaozi had already told her. Having finished setting up the formation now, she walked over. "So, how is it? Is the alchemy of the Ancient Era much different from today's?"
Qin Xi skimmed the pages rapidly and smiled. "Not much difference. But although this book is just an introduction, it's quite useful. Some of the texts in the Void Heaven Realm contain things we couldn't understand. This 'Introduction to Alchemy' provides detailed explanations for certain fundamental techniques."
"Oh? That's a pleasant surprise." The Void Heaven Realm contained many texts left by the previous owner. But due to changes in the cultivation world, much of the content was incomprehensible to the two of them. Even if there were pill formulas, some spirit pills couldn't be refined. Now, this basic introduction to alchemy precisely solved that fundamental problem.
Discovering this, both were overjoyed and began searching intently for useful books.
The jade slip from the Scripture Pavilion's management office stated that the books in this library absolutely could not be taken away. One could use an identity tablet to make copies, with the number of texts one could copy varying according to cultivation level. They had no identity tablets, and the library was protected by complex restrictions, preventing direct copying. This restriction was tied to the library's foundation, likely set by the highest-level cultivator of this ancient great sect, beyond their current cultivation to break. Therefore, they could only use the clumsiest method: forcibly taking the useful books.
Thus, they had to act within their means. Wanting to take all the books was impossible; breaking restrictions wasn't that simple.
After discussing, they decided to start breaking the restrictions from the highest level first.
The library wasn't just one room. At the far end was a small teleportation array. Placing a Spirit Stone would allow entry into the next room. The first room held Qi Refining Stage books, the second Foundation Establishment, and so on.
According to Fuyaozi, he had once entered the God Transformation Stage room back in the day. Though it was only one realm higher, the difference in power was worlds apart. The restrictions inside were simply beyond his ability to break, forcing him to give up.
Therefore, upon reaching the room containing Nascent Soul Stage manuals, the two stopped. Qin Xi began the search.
The first room contained a vast sea of Qi Refining Stage texts. By the second and third rooms, each had fewer than the last. In this fourth room they were in, Nascent Soul Stage texts were even fewer. Even so, Qin Xi still spent over half an hour flipping through all of them.
"This trip was worth it!" Withdrawing his spiritual sense from a jade slip, Qin Xi revealed a look of joy and said to Mo Tiange.
He rarely showed such a happy expression. Mo Tiange asked, "What did you find?"
Qin Xi waved the jade slip in his hand. "This book is called 'Returning to Truth Beyond the Dao.' It records the lifelong learnings of an ancient alchemy master, including alchemy techniques and formulas for many rare pills. Among them is a pill called the Spirit Severing Pill!"
"Spirit Severing Pill!" Not only was Mo Tiange shocked, even Fuyaozi on the Fusheng Sword was stirred.
Qin Xi smiled. "Hearing the pill's name, you should understand its use, right? Taken when cultivating to the peak of Late-Nascent Soul and attempting to break through to the God Transformation stage, it aids in achieving God Transformation!"
Mo Tiange steadied herself and quickly asked, "What about the required spirit herbs?"
Qin Xi checked again, a hesitant look appearing on his face. "We can gather most of them. But there are a few ingredients that seem... unheard of."
This was unavoidable. No matter how many spirit herbs were in the Void Heaven Realm, it couldn't possibly collect every spirit herb under heaven. Moreover, for a peerless pill like the Spirit Severing Pill, the required herbs were bound to be rare treasures of heaven and earth!
"No rush. Not only have I not formed my Nascent Soul yet, even for you, advancing from mid-stage to late-stage peak isn't simple. Given our lifespans, we have plenty of time to search slowly."
"Mm."
At this moment, Fuyaozi sighed with emotion. "To think a library like this would contain a formula for the Spirit Severing Pill. It's a pity that back then, the five of us were wary of each other and couldn't check each one thoroughly, missing this treasure."
Having found the Spirit Severing Pill formula, the two were satisfied. Under Fuyaozi's guidance, they spent another two hours breaking the restrictions and taking the books and jade slips from this room.
Exiting the fourth room, Qin Xi's spiritual energy was heavily depleted, forcing him to meditate and recover first. Fortunately, Mo Tiange had prepared ample spirit pills. It only took a little over half an hour for him to mostly recover.
The third room held Core Formation Stage books. Mo Tiange could help too. Though there were more books, their speed increased, and they were now familiar with the restriction-breaking methods. It only took an hour.
The first two rooms were even faster. Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment materials were of little use to them. They only briefly searched for a few foundational texts before exiting.