Chapter 10: Within Books, A House of Gold

In the dead of night, Qin Haoxuan, in his snake form, made his way to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

The little snake was incredibly fast. In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it had bypassed Emperor Peak, crossed a dozen mountains, and arrived at the edge of the valley, a place reeking of sinister and poisonous energy.

Qin Haoxuan looked up. Dark fog churned at the valley entrance. The surrounding area was barren for miles, without a blade of grass or a single bird or beast.

As he neared the entrance, an immense pressure descended upon him, as if a giant boulder was crushing his body, making every movement a struggle. The pressure intensified with each step forward.

Thinking of his current predicament, no matter how potent the poison in the valley, Qin Haoxuan knew he had to take the gamble. He bet on the little snake’s immunity to all poisons, gritted his teeth, and plunged in.

Within the valley, dark clouds hung low. From time to time, a bolt of lightning would flash across the sky, striking the black, hardened earth that had been saturated with poison for ages. The landscape was a desolate and grim ruin, littered with the broken fragments of magic treasures. After thousands of years of exposure, they were rusted and corroded, yet still emanated a bone-chilling demonic aura.

In the distance were several stone mountains hundreds of meters high. One had been blasted in half and stood there, misshapen and eerie. Another had a massive, thirty-meter-wide hole punched through its middle, through which the dark gray sky on the other side was visible.

Are these scars, far beyond the power of man or nature, the remnants of the great Immortal-Demon War? Qin Haoxuan was deeply shocked.

“Oh, a living thing!” Just as he was looking around, a human voice suddenly came from his left.

He looked closely and saw a massive, ugly figure leaning against a withered tree a hundred meters away. Its skin color was so similar to the valley’s landscape that at first glance, he had thought it was part of the tree.

The owner of the body looked to be at death’s door, his life force all but exhausted, clinging to a single remaining breath. Qin Haoxuan also noticed a small, shimmering golden plant about ten meters away from the figure. It radiated an extremely pure spiritual energy. With the snake’s keen senses, he knew at once that this was no ordinary plant.

“Little snake, oh little snake, you’re not big, but you’re quite capable. To be able to enter this place without being poisoned shows you have some spirituality,” the figure said. “My life is at its end, and there is no hope of leaving this valley. To prevent my life’s work from being lost, how about I pass on my ultimate technique to you?”

Qin Haoxuan watched the figure warily, remaining motionless, his eyes filled with suspicion.

“I, the Undying Witch Fiend, have roamed the world for thousands of years and have never deceived anyone. If I say I will teach you my ultimate technique, I will. Didn’t you come here to seek treasures? My technique is a top-tier art even in the cultivation world. Are you not tempted?” The figure’s voice turned angry, and a terrifying aura suddenly emanated from his dying body, as if he would leap up and crush Qin Haoxuan if he refused. The threat sent Qin Haoxuan scurrying back in fear, but after a long wait, the Undying Witch Fiend did not, and could not, leap up to crush him.

At this point, Qin Haoxuan cautiously returned. Taking a few steps, he found that the pressure on his body increased with each one. He estimated that with his current ability, he could at most reach the golden plant. The valley was filled with deadly poisons, and he had no idea if this plant was a spiritual herb or a poisonous one. What if he ate it and died? But what if it was a spiritual herb? Wouldn’t he be missing a great opportunity?

As he hesitated, the Undying Witch Fiend suddenly shot a strange purple incantation from afar. It carried the sound of a charging army and flew straight towards Qin Haoxuan’s head. Terrified, Qin Haoxuan thought the fiend was trying to kill him. Under the valley’s immense pressure, his reactions were sluggish, and he couldn’t dodge. He could only watch as the incantation entered his mind.

“This is my unique ultimate technique, the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art. When cultivated to a profound level, this art is extremely powerful. The poison in this valley is too strong for any other creature to enter. To prevent my technique from being lost, I now bestow it upon you.”

Just as Qin Haoxuan thought he was about to die, he found that his mind was filled with profound and mysterious characters, as if they had been carved directly into his memory. His body was completely unharmed. He immediately understood that the old fiend was all bark and no bite. As long as he didn’t get too close, he couldn’t be harmed.

Under the fierce gaze of the Undying Witch Fiend, Qin Haoxuan pushed against the valley’s pressure. The distance of just over a hundred meters took him a full ten minutes to cross. If not for the snake’s tough body, the accumulated pressure alone, let alone the poison, would have been enough to crush any other creature to dust.

Seeing the uncultivated little snake’s prowess, the Undying Witch Fiend’s eyes glinted with satisfaction for his chosen successor. Qin Haoxuan didn’t know what he was plotting, but since he couldn’t be harmed, he decided to ignore him.

The golden plant was only three or four inches tall, entirely golden, and resembled a lotus. It had only a single golden leaf on its straight stem and looked as if a gust of wind could blow it over. Although it radiated a powerful spiritual energy, Qin Haoxuan didn’t dare to eat it. What if it was some deadly poison?

Remembering he had classes during the day, the undecided Qin Haoxuan temporarily retreated from the valley.

The next day, Qin Haoxuan dragged his exhausted body, with large dark circles under his eyes, to the lecture hall. It was the first day of official training. The first half-hour was for breathing exercises. A few more new disciples succeeded in the Seed Shattering Stage. As one of the few who had already succeeded, Qin Haoxuan was supposed to be practicing the Spirit Induction Art to water his Immortal Seed, pushing it towards the Sprouting Stage.

However, as he practiced, his progress was slow. While Zhang Kuang and the others absorbed spiritual energy like whales swallowing water, Qin Haoxuan’s intake was intermittent and less than one percent of theirs. Worse, due to the side effects from the previous night, he actually fell asleep while meditating.

By the time the official lecture began, with Elder Chu on the stage explaining the basics of cultivation, Qin Haoxuan was struggling to keep his head up. But his eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and he couldn’t stop yawning. His behavior drew stares from the others and displeased Elder Chu, lowering his opinion of Qin Haoxuan.

To Elder Chu’s exasperation, Qin Haoxuan, who had initially just been yawning, soon slumped onto his desk and fell asleep, his snores filling the air.

If Elder Chu had held a favorable impression of Qin Haoxuan the day before, believing that despite his poor aptitude, his firm Dao Heart made him teachable, today’s performance completely shattered it.

In his decades as an Initiate Master, this was the first time he had seen someone start snoring on the first day of training. If it had been one of the Purple Seed geniuses like Li Jing, Zhang Kuang, or Xu Yu, it might have been excusable. But what right did an uncolored weak seed have to sleep in class?

Elder Chu coughed loudly, hoping to wake him, but to no avail. With a hint of displeasure, he said, “Today, I will speak to you all about the Six Arts of Cultivation. They are: Laws, Alchemy, Forging, Talismans, Formations, and Control. ‘Laws’ refers to spiritual techniques and Daoist arts. ‘Alchemy’ is the art of refining elixirs and miraculous pills. ‘Forging’ is the art of creating various magic artifacts. ‘Talismans’ is the art of making various spiritual talismans. ‘Formations’ is the art of setting up arrays. ‘Control’ is divided into two parts: the methods of controlling magic artifacts, and the taming of beasts.”

The 200 new disciples in the lecture hall were all listening attentively, their brushes flying across their notebooks. Apart from Elder Chu’s voice, the room was silent, making Qin Haoxuan’s snores particularly jarring. They immediately drew looks of surprise and contempt.

“Waste,” the word floated through Zhang Kuang’s mind. If Qin Haoxuan had been diligent, he might have been a little worried. But now, he wasn’t worth his concern. Once he had mastered some basic spiritual techniques, he could find a quiet corner and make him disappear from the world.

“A rotten piece of wood cannot be carved.” Li Jing’s gaze also swept over Qin Haoxuan but didn’t linger. His focus was on Zhang Kuang. Qin Haoxuan wasn’t worth his time, but Zhang Kuang was. The future position of Sect Master would surely be taken by one of the three Unsurpassed Purple Seeds. Besides Xu Yu, who was a girl, Zhang Kuang was his greatest rival.

Zhang Kuang also noticed Li Jing’s gaze. The two Unsurpassed Purple Seeds’ eyes met for a moment before parting. Both saw a fierce determination in the other’s eyes; neither would back down.

Xu Yu nudged Qin Haoxuan with her elbow, but he didn’t stir, his snores continuing unabated, which drew laughter from the entire hall.

The usually timid Xu Yu’s face flushed red, and she shouted angrily, “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny!”

The hall instantly fell silent.

She was, after all, an Unsurpassed Purple Seed. After her outburst, everyone shut their mouths. They couldn’t imagine that the gentle Xu Yu would stand up for Qin Haoxuan like this. They were surprised, but also envious and jealous.

Although they were unhappy about being scolded by the soft-spoken Xu Yu, no one dared to show it. Offending a Purple Seed with limitless potential was no joke.

If anyone else had caused such a disruption to defend a sleeping student, Elder Chu would have thrown them both out. But this was an Unsurpassed Purple Seed. After a few changes in his expression, he calmed down and decided to ignore Qin Haoxuan. A Purple Seed disciple had to be given some face.

At the same time, he sighed for Qin Haoxuan. If he weren’t so self-destructive, with his Dao Heart, he might have achieved something with a bit of luck. But now, it seemed he was destined to be a menial disciple for life.

Qin Haoxuan slept from sunrise to sunset. He finally woke with a start, saw Elder Chu still lecturing, and slapped his forehead. Oh no, this is the first day of training!

Just as he was lamenting having missed a day of lectures, Xu Yu handed him her notebook.

Opening it, a faint fragrance wafted out. The elegant, neat characters clearly recorded the key points of the lecture. On the last few pages, there were some drawings of flowers and plants.

Qin Haoxuan smiled. Girls always liked to doodle. He thought nothing of it and continued reading.

One entry caught his attention. It recorded a new term he had never heard of before—Spiritual Sense Assault.

Spiritual Sense Assault was an attack method derived from soul cultivation that could be used after reaching a certain realm. It could instantly incapacitate an opponent, create illusions, or even shatter their soul. The stronger one’s spirit soul, the more profound their cultivation, and the more powerful the attack.

Such a miraculous attack method! Just reading the simple description, Qin Haoxuan knew it was extraordinary and became excited. But the following text was like a bucket of cold water. The minimum requirement to cultivate it was the Dao Fruit Realm.

That was the realm of the sect’s Grand Ancestors. It seems I’ll have to pay more attention in class. If not for Xu Yu’s detailed notes, I would have never known. Thinking this, he shot her a grateful look.

When he got tired of reading, he glanced at the drawings of the flowers again. His heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened, fixated on one of the drawings.

Beneath the drawing, Xu Yu had written: One-Leaf Golden Lotus. Entirely golden, grows in places of extreme yin and poison. Grows one leaf every 100 years, up to a maximum of nine leaves, hence also known as the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus. At nine leaves, it is mature, and its medicinal effects are at their peak, making it a supreme ingredient for alchemy. However, even a one-leaf lotus is enough to refine high-level pills like the Void Return Pill and the Transformation and Life Pill.