"Elders, I’m pleased that you all wish to take on disciples, yet as for the matter of accepting Ye Zhen as a disciple, I really cannot make that decision."
Once Sect Leader Guo Qijing said this, the six elders, who had been quarreling endlessly over who should take Ye Zhen as a disciple, simultaneously closed their mouths. If no one could take him, what was there to argue about? They had to first understand the situation.
"Sect Leader, why do you say this?"
"Half a year ago, Feibai already gave me a heads-up," said Guo Qijing.
"Liao Rakshasa?"
The expressions of the six Sect Elders froze at the same time, and they were rendered speechless.
However, several elders were still not ready to give up, "Sect Leader, according to the sect’s rules, Liao Feibai is currently just an Outer Disciple instructor and does not have the qualifications to take disciples. Moreover, even if he were qualified, he has yet to actually take...."
"Well, if any of you truly wants to take Ye Zhen as a disciple, you might try reasoning with Feibai to see if she would give up on Ye Zhen...."
The six Sect Elders immediately fell silent. To reason with Liao Feibai was to court suffering for oneself; escaping without several transparent holes would be a lucky outcome.
"This... this... Sect Leader, she, Liao Feibai, can’t be so unreasonable and disregard the rules like this!" The Seventh Elder, Zhongli Jing, who had come filled with joy, suddenly felt depressed.
"If Feibai were reasonable and followed the rules, would she be known as the Demon-faced Rakshasa?" Sect Leader Guo Qijing responded with a wry smile.
Ye Zhen was unaware of the scene unfolding in the silent chamber of the Sect Leader.
At that moment, Ye Zhen was happily rushing to the Scripture Storage Tower.
Having made it onto the Heavenly List, he had to quickly enjoy the privileges it offered and select a few secret manuals from the third floor of the Scripture Storage Tower to cultivate.
Not to mention anything else, take Protective Gang Qi for example. If Ye Zhen chose a Protective Gang Qi with outstanding defense to replace his most basic one, he wouldn’t have been scared to the point his heart almost leapt out of his throat during the sixth trial.
In front of the Middle-grade Earth Level Four-Armed Phantom Demon Bear, Ye Zhen’s most basic Protective Gang Qi was as fragile as paper, easily breached upon contact. At that time, Ye Zhen truly worried that the amulet might not react swiftly enough and that it might cost him his life.
Today, unlike usual, there was no long line at the Scripture Pavilion; only three or four people were waiting there. The main reason was that most people had gone to watch the excitement at the Heaven and Earth List.
The old steward guarding the Scripture Pavilion was half-dozing as usual, appearing half-asleep and half-awake.
"Ye Zhen, you wish to enter the third floor of the Scripture Storage Tower? If I remember correctly, you haven’t been an Inner Sect Disciple for very long, have you?" said the old steward.
"Old steward, please take a look at this!" Ye Zhen proactively presented his Identity Jade.
"Heavenly List... tenth?"
The drowsy old steward was stunned, and his cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, "I did not expect that the person causing those disciples to scream and rush towards the Heaven and Earth List was you."
"Right, only the third floor? Don’t you want to check out the fourth floor? Martial Skills of the Human-Level top-grade are much more powerful than those of the mid-grade."
Ye Zhen’s expression suddenly froze, "The fourth floor of the Scripture Storage Tower, I can go up?"
The old steward was also taken aback, "Ye Zhen, you don’t know about this either?"
"Inner Sect Disciples who make it onto the Heavenly List are qualified to access the third floor of the Scripture Storage Tower, but if they can make it into the top ten of the Heavenly List, they can freely enter and exit the fourth floor of the Scripture Storage Tower!"
"Making it into the top ten of the Heavenly List comes with these benefits?"
"There are plenty more!"
"Besides those benefits everyone knows about, you can also take a master unconditionally. Oh, and the Spirit Vein Cultivation Chamber, if your Cultivation breaks through to the Spirit Summoning Realm, you can go and cultivate in the sect’s Spirit Vein Cultivation Chamber for free."
As he said this, the old steward’s eyebrows shot up, "By the way, the least of the Disciples who made it into the top ten of the Heavenly List are at the Early-stage Spirit Summoning. How did you do it with your True Essence Fourth Realm?"
This question was one that even Ye Zhen found challenging to answer. While he was feeling somewhat troubled, an odd sound suddenly came from not far from the Scripture Storage Tower.
"I punch, here comes my fist, haha, Ye Zhen, you are defeated! I am now the top Outer Disciple, haha, number one."
"Lio Yunchong, I’m coming for you, do you dare to face a battle with me, Hong Bao!"
"No... no... I’m not lying, I really am the top Outer Disciple...."
On one side, a disheveled Hong Bao was gesturing wildly at a large tree, alternating between crying and laughing, swaggering one moment and fearful the next. In his jubilation, he was wildly arrogant, but when frightened, he wept ceaselessly, treating the tree as though it were his adversary.
Witnessing this, Ye Zhen was filled with shock and bewilderment.
"Old steward, what’s going on with Hong Bao?"
"He’s gone mad, became insane half a year ago! Just a few days after the grand competition between the two sects where you brought glory to our sect, Hong Bao couldn’t bear the finger-pointing from his fellow disciples and lost his mind."
"What a pity, this Hong Bao had some talent, but his will was too fragile..."
"Doesn’t the sect care for him at all?" Looking at the unkempt and deranged Hong Bao, Ye Zhen frowned deeply. Although he had some grievances and conflicts with Hong Bao, witnessing him in this state still stirred feelings of compassion in him.
"Why didn’t they take care of him? The Sect Leader personally examined him and said that Hong Bao was overly agitated and confused in his mind, incurable even with medicine or stone. Because of this, Elder Hong, not admitting defeat, specifically obtained some calming pills from the Black Water Medicine King, but they were of no use."
"Elder Hong went to get him medicine?" Ye Zhen was quite astonished.
"Hong Bao is Elder Hong’s nephew. Everyone in the sect knows that," the Old Steward said.
With a flash of surprise, Ye Zhen bid farewell to the Old Steward and went straight to the fourth floor of the Scripture Storage Tower.
Now Ye Zhen finally understood what the Ye Chao and Ye Sheng brothers meant when they said there was a significant figure behind Hong Bao. They were referring to Fifth Elder Hong Banjiang.
It was rather Ye Zhen’s fault for immersing himself in cultivation over the past year, having little time to deal with these miscellaneous matters. Such important news had escaped his attention.
"It seems I’ll have to be more vigilant around Elder Hong from now on...."
Ye Zhen immediately became cautious.
From Ye Zhen’s observations, this Fifth Elder Hong Banjiang was certainly not a magnanimous character. By some coincidence, Ye Zhen had killed his disciple Yuen Chengzu and made him lose face.
Now his nephew, Hong Bao, had gone mad. Although Hong Bao’s descent into madness had little to do with Ye Zhen—being a result of his own cowardice and lack of courage—Ye Zhen was sure that nine out of ten times, Elder Hong would put the blame on him.
Upon further thought, Ye Zhen felt that Zhou Zhi’an’s taunting and provocation that day, his eagerness to incite Ye Zhen onto the Martial Combat Platform, might very well involve Elder Hong’s shadow.
In an instant, Ye Zhen, holding his Identity Jade, passed through the protective light barrier on the fourth floor of the Scripture Storage Tower.
Compared to the bustling first and second floors of the Scripture Storage Tower, the fourth floor was so quiet it was as if nobody was there.
Not only was it quiet, but the number of bookshelves on the fourth floor was also several times less than those on the second floor. At a glance, there were fewer than a thousand secret manuals.
The higher the level of Cultivation Technique, the fewer and more precious the cultivation technique manuals.
Just as he turned around a bookshelf, Ye Zhen was startled by the abrupt arrival of a figure.
"Senior Brother Changsun?"
"Ye Zhen? You... how come you’re here?" Senior Brother Changsun Ran was very surprised to see Ye Zhen here, then was immediately astonished as he exclaimed, "Could it be that the dark horse who emerged out of nowhere and entered the top ten of the Heavenly List is you, Ye Zhen?"
"Uh... I suppose so!"
Ye Zhen’s answer once again shocked Changsun Ran, "I remember, your cultivation is only at True Essence Third Realm, right?"
"True Essence Fourth Realm!" Ye Zhen corrected him.
The surprise on Changsun Ran’s face deepened, "If I didn’t know that Fish-Dragon Nine Transformations is incorruptible and can’t be cheated, I would have suspected you of cheating. True Essence Fourth Realm, and yet you managed to pass the fifth stage, it’s almost unimaginable!"
"Keep cultivating hard, I’m waiting for the day you challenge me!"
With that, Senior Brother Changsun patted Ye Zhen’s shoulder and left amidst his astonishment.
"This Senior Brother Changsun is certainly magnanimous..."
Afterward, Ye Zhen dived into the thousands of secret manuals, searching for manuals suitable for his own cultivation.
Among the cultivation technique manuals, Ye Zhen found the One Qi Mixed Yuan Skill he was practicing. He flipped through it casually and then gave up on searching for other cultivation techniques, as the One Qi Mixed Yuan Skill Liao Feibai had chosen for him was indeed the most suitable.
Ye Zhen completely ignored the body skill category.
Ye Zhen guaranteed that among the human-level top martial skills manuals, not one could surpass his self-created Chasing Star Step.
Ye Zhen’s gaze settled on the category of Protective Gang Qi manuals.
There were not many human-level top Protective Gang Qi manuals, only a total of twenty-one.
There were at least three Protective Gang Qi manuals that caught Ye Zhen’s interest.
Soft Water Gang Qi, once cultivated to a high toughness, could give a toughness like pine, and even reflect the enemy’s attacks if cultivated to great accomplishment.
Shattered Jade Golden Gang, a defensive Gang Qi that is extremely rigid and strong. When cultivated to the utmost, it can turn defense into offense and directly injure the enemy.
Hundred Stacked True Qi, this Protective Gang Qi manual didn’t have many unique features, but one phrase in the introduction caught Ye Zhen’s attention: if cultivated to great accomplishment, Hundred Stacked True Qi can withstand a full-strength blow from someone in the Early-stage Spirit Summoning Realm, although it is extremely difficult to cultivate!
Faced with these three Protective Gang Qi manuals, Ye Zhen was hesitant. Each had its advantages and disadvantages. In the end, which one should he choose to cultivate?
PS: Brothers, I have to tell you, there will be one last public Chapter around 11 pm tonight. Once tonight is over, the book will be on the shelves, and it will be a big test for this book.
At midnight tonight, there will be two VIP Chapters released consecutively. I hope you brothers will come and support Pig Three!

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