197: Heavenly Demon Technique

Just after upgrading the qinglan token to Three-star, Zhang Sheng discovered the extraordinary nature of this token.

It wasn't just a symbol of status, but a special Spiritual Artifact of the Qinglan Academy—accessing classified information and receiving deployment orders all relied on it.

Perhaps it was because of the deterrence brought by his slaying of over ten thousand True Fetus Realm Desolate Beasts and his rapid ascent to over 2,000th place on the "fledgling tiger ranking,"

but on the way back to his residence, the Qinglan Guards he encountered were much more polite.

However, when he returned to his palace and sank his Divine Sense into the brand-new Three-star qinglan token, his expression suddenly changed drastically!

He had unearthed an extremely strange piece of information!

The Qinglan Academy's previous operation to support Tianxing City had actually explicitly forbidden Three-star and higher Qinglan Guards from participating!

The reason given was high-sounding: to provide low-star Qinglan Guards with opportunities for experience and to earn merit points!

More importantly, all classified information within the qinglan token was strictly prohibited from being leaked!

"No wonder..." Zhang Sheng's eyes were cold, his knuckles turning white from gripping so hard.

"No wonder I didn't see a single shadow of a Three-star Qinglan Guard when reporting to the Tianxing City station!"

All clues pointed to a cold truth—the upper echelons of the Qinglan Academy definitely knew about the disaster in Tianxing City in advance!

A surge of anger at being fooled rushed to his head, but he immediately forced it down.

What if he knew?

Right now, he was not yet strong enough to shake this behemoth.

Taking a deep breath to suppress his churning emotions, Zhang Sheng turned and headed straight for the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall.

With his clearance raised, perhaps he could find what he urgently needed this time.

The Managing Elder of the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall, Song Huan, had a middle-aged appearance.

Although he bore the surname of the Song Dynasty's royal family, it had been passed down for countless tens of thousands of years, and he was already a distant relative from a collateral branch, his Bloodline so thin it was almost negligible.

His cultivation had also been stuck at the Peak of the Divine Power Realm for many years, unable to advance an inch.

"Senior Song Huan," Zhang Sheng bowed respectfully and handed over his Three-star jade plaque, "Is the list of Cultivation Technique Jade Slips collected in the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall everything?" He had quickly flipped through the list but hadn't found his target.

Song Huan took the jade plaque, his fingertips stroking the Three-star markings. He looked up to size up Zhang Sheng, his tone flat: "Just upgraded to Three-star? You look very unfamiliar."

Zhang Sheng muttered to himself: I was just here a few days ago... "Zhang Sheng... Hmm, promoted to Three-star just a few days after entering the academy, the younger generation is truly formidable." Song Huan nodded slightly.

"Senior overpraises me." Zhang Sheng remained humble.

"The list contains common items. There are also some 'tasteless' things recovered in the early years, piled in a corner, ignored by everyone. Do you want to take a look?" Song Huan raised an eyelid.

Zhang Sheng immediately said: "Senior Song Huan, I have heard that in distant western kingdoms, there are beings who Cultivate magic power and demon power, which are very different from spiritual power.

I would like to borrow their Cultivation Techniques to study and gain some insight. By understanding other things, I might be able to help break through the Bottleneck of my Qi Refining Cultivation Technique."

Hearing this, Song Huan didn't find it strange; instead, he showed a knowing smile:

"Heh, kid, you have quite the ambition. Want to refine other powers from the violent energy of the Desolate Region? You'd better give up on that idea early!"

He leaned forward slightly, his tone carrying the warning of an experienced person:

"The world knows that the energy of the Desolate Region is violent and difficult to tame. Ordinary Cultivators can't even absorb and refine the relatively mild Spiritual Qi within it. Why?

Because the energy in that hellish place is simply a Chaos body of Spiritual Qi, magic power, demon power, Star Power... all sorts of messy powers mixed together!

Spiritual Qi is already the easiest strand for human Cultivators to control. If you can't even handle that, you still want to dabble in others? You're dreaming!"

Zhang Sheng naturally understood the logic Song Huan was explaining.

But in order to condense that legendary "Myriad Manifestation Divine Fetus," he had to try refining various types of exotic energy!

"What Senior says is true," Zhang Sheng said without changing his expression,

"I don't intend to Cultivate them, I just want to gain a glimmer of inspiration from them to help my Qi Refining Cultivation Technique reach the Perfected State."

Song Huan stared at him for a few seconds. Seeing his determined gaze, he shook his head helplessly: "Fine, stubborn kid. Wait here."

A moment later, two dusty Jade Slips appeared in Song Huan's hand:

"Zhang Sheng, over the years, there have been a few people like you who wanted foreign Cultivation Techniques. Now only these two are left at the bottom of the chest. One is ten thousand merit points! Have you thought it through?"

"Ten thousand?!" Zhang Sheng's eyelid twitched, "A common Rank 2 Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique is only one or two thousand!"

"Like you said, those are 'common' techniques!" Song Huan said calmly,

"These are foreign Cultivation Techniques! Obtained from killing enemies, once they're gone, they're gone! Ten thousand merit points each. Take it or leave it, just these two."

Zhang Sheng gritted his teeth: "I'll take both!" He paused, then asked:

"By the way, Senior, are there any time-related Spells in the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall?"

"Time Spells?!" Song Huan looked like his tail had been stepped on, his eyes widening suddenly. Then he burst out laughing and shook his head as if he had heard a huge joke,

"Kid, I've lived for nearly seven hundred years. Not to mention the Song Kingdom, even in the territory of our suzerain state, the Qian Kingdom, I've never heard of such a Heaven-Defying thing existing!

That is a legend, a supreme treasure!

Do you think the rules of the Heavenly Dao are a joke? Naive!"

Zhang Sheng said sheepishly: "I was being delusional. Senior, which two races do these two Jade Slips come from?"

Song Huan pointed to one of them:

"This one, the Heavenly Demon Art. It was recovered from a transformed great demon who sneaked into the Qinglan Prefecture three hundred years ago.

In the Northern Demon Kingdom, it's considered common goods." He then pointed to the other one. The surface of the Jade Slip was covered with traces of time erosion, with three blurry ancient characters carved on it:

"This one, the Star Scripture, has been sitting in the vault for who knows how many years. Its origin is long untraceable. Many people have tried, but their Divine Sense simply cannot absorb the Legacy within it; it's just like a stubborn rock."

Zhang Sheng's mouth twitched slightly: So one is a street-stall item from the Demon Kingdom, and the other is an unknown useless stone,

and he's asking for twenty thousand merit points?

Does he think I'm a fat sheep?

"Senior, if I really can't comprehend this Star Scripture, can the merit points... be refunded?" Zhang Sheng asked, clinging to a final sliver of hope.

"No refunds or exchanges!" Song HuanRefuse outright, then changed the subject,

"However... since it's similar to an ancient Jade Slip, I'll make an exception and allow you to take it out to study slowly, you don't have to absorb it in the hall."

Zhang Sheng grumbled in his heart: Isn't this clearly slaughtering a sucker? But for the Myriad Manifestation Divine Fetus, he couldn't let this opportunity pass.

Looking at Zhang Sheng's expression of enduring the pain of parting with his money, a flicker of imperceptible gentleness crossed Song Huan's eyes.

With his Lifespan nearing its end, interacting with young people made him feel a few years younger.

Afterwards, Zhang Sheng gritted his teeth and spent a few thousand more merit points to buy three defensive Formation Plates that could block Divine Sense probes, and an essence pill Pill Formula to replace the limited-effect blood essence pills.

As well as two dark-type Spell Jade Slips: the Rank 1 Heaven-Grade Shadow Bind and the Rank 2 Heaven-Grade Nether Erosion.

He planned to use dark-type Spells to replace the wind-type as the new tribulation for the Nine Tribulations Secret Codex - Divine Breath Chapter.

In addition, he also bought three "ancient Jade Slips" that no one could decipher, at a unit price of only one hundred merit points, just to try his luck.

Except for those "ancient Jade Slips" and the Star Scripture, the other Jade Slips had to have their Legacy absorbed on the spot.

Zhang Sheng concentrated, his Divine Sense entering the Jade Slips for Shadow Bind, Nether Erosion, and the essence pill Pill Formula.

As the information flooded into his mind, the Jade Slips turned into powder one after another, rustling down from between his fingers.

The remaining Star Scripture and the few "ancient Jade Slips" were carefully put into his storage ring.

Having mastered the essence pill Pill Formula, the main ingredient was still beast cores, while the auxiliary materials were some common Spiritual Plants.

Zhang Sheng purchased a large quantity directly at the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall, paying with spirit crystals, enough to support dozens of batches.

He returned to his residence palace.

Although the palace itself came with Formations for defense and blocking probes, the vigilance in Zhang Sheng's heart did not diminish in the slightest.

He carefully arranged the three newly bought Formation Plates around the quiet room, and layers of Divine Sense isolation barriers quietly unfolded, completely sealing off the entire space.

After confirming it was safe, he sat down cross-legged and solemnly took out those mysterious "ancient Jade Slips."

His Divine Sense was like a clay ox entering the sea, with no reaction at all.

Zhang Sheng held his breath and slowly opened his eyes.

In an instant, his pair of spirit eyes lit up with a faint glow, and profound runes seemed to flow deep within his pupils.

He no longer relied on Divine Sense, but concentrated his entire mind on his vision, locking onto the ancient Jade Slips before him.

His gaze was like a torch, penetrating the surface, beginning to capture and analyze the trajectories and anomalies of the most minute and primitive Spiritual Qi molecules around the Jade Slips.