Sun Jingxiao, an immortal seed from the Pure Land, saw Qin Ming, Xiang Yiwu, and the others approaching as well. A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. This was a technique of the immortal path, having nothing to do with disciples of the Newborn path.
Still, he would not say anything. When the time came, whoever ended up staring blankly and completely lost would be the one feeling embarrassed and disgraced.
Books fashioned from immortal skin were rarely seen in this era; no one could afford such extravagance.
For a time, those wishing to get their hands on the book had already formed a long line.
Qin Ming waited for a while, but unwilling to waste time, he figured there was no harm in waiting until the crowd thinned out before contemplating it.
He prepared to go chat with Li Qingyue; earlier, people had constantly clustered around her, but now the crowd had finally dispersed.
"Are you really... that boy from Black-White Mountain?" The white-robed maiden Luo Yao walked over. On her pretty, slightly baby-faced countenance, her dark eyebrows were curved, and her large eyes were bright and watery.
Without question, she was quite lively and loved to chatter.
"Are you truly the same person I saw back then? Unbelievable!"
Before Qin Ming could even speak, her imagination was already running wild.
"Black-White Mountain used to be terrifying, and it's extraordinarily bizarre now too. Could it have revived? A monstrous youth emerging into the world from it..."
"What are you muttering about?" Qin Ming asked her.
"Ah? Nothing. Just thinking how unpredictable a person's fortunes can be," she replied earnestly.
Back then, in her eyes, he was merely a young hunter from a remote backwater. She truly never anticipated he would change so drastically, now even capable of defeating immortal seeds of the second realm.
Qin Ming chuckled and said, "I remember now. Aren't you that chubby girl separated from me by boundless mountains and seas?"
The white-robed maiden's face instantly darkened. Who was chubby?! She was brimming with boundless vitality, just slightly baby-faced—it had nothing to do with being fat!
Normally, who didn't address her as a fairy maiden? Yet in this youth's mouth, she was reduced to nothing of the sort.
"It really is you! Petty and holding a grudge!" She glared at the former hunter youth, astounded that he actually remembered the words she had said back then.
"Chubby girl, what realm are you at now?" Qin Ming asked, beaming with an amiable and friendly smile.
Luo Yao desperately wanted to pummel him, but considering his strength, she had to resign herself in frustration. The boomerang she had thrown in the past had struck right back at herself.
Qin Ming said, "Hmm, you're only at the early stage of the second realm. You still need to work hard. Without reaching the middle stage, you aren't even qualified to be evaluated as an immortal seed. The gap between you and your sister is quite large."
The white-robed maiden felt gloomy at first, but then her eyes sparkled again as she said, "My sister is like a celestial immortal reincarnated! No one can compare to her."
Qin Ming curled his lip. Unwilling to tease her further, he turned to leave.
The white-robed girl said, "I admit I spoke out of turn back then and misjudged you. But the distance between you and my sister truly is... still very far."
Qin Ming didn't dispute it; the woman in green was indeed astonishing.
Back then, she had seized the greatest fortune from the hands of the white-furred old beast—the new mountain lord of Black-White Mountain—along with the old weasel and former Chixia City Lord Ling Xu. That alone proved everything.
"What did your sister take from Black-White Mountain back then?" Qin Ming asked casually.
The white-robed maiden grinned playfully, naturally refusing to utter a single word about it.
Qin Ming turned and walked away, not wanting to waste time.
"Hey, don't leave! Let's chat!" Luo Yao called out.
Qin Ming glanced back at her. "What is there to chat about with you? I still have to contemplate scriptures."
The white-robed maiden was infuriated. This guy truly had no manners and made zero effort to sugarcoat anything—he was utterly obstinate and foul-tempered.
She couldn't help saying, "That's a scripture of the immortal path! What business does a Newborn like you have getting involved?"
Qin Ming stopped in his tracks and looked back. "Your immortal land has the Immortal-Combating Classic, right? Have you seen it?"
He had long kept the Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic in mind. Now that he had mapped out his future path, the piece he lacked most was the thunderfire needed for combining dragon and tiger medicines.
"I have. What of it?" Luo Yao asked.
Qin Ming instantly grew warm and enthusiastic, his face blossoming with smiles. "Fairy Luo, how about we trade scriptures? I'd like to exchange for your Immortal-Combating Classic."
Luo Yao's eyes widened. This youth looked down on her so much—did he truly think she was some naive simpleton? Opening his mouth just like that, wanting to swindle a legendary scripture out of her!
Qin Ming said, "Don't glare. I guarantee you won't get the short end of the stick. I'll go comprehend the teachings recorded on the immortal skin and make an equal trade with you."
Luo Yao curled her lip at once. "Tch. A young disciple on the Newborn path, trying to comprehend classics of the Immortal Dao Sanctuary? What are you thinking..."
Qin Ming cut her off bluntly, "Cut the chatter. I'm just asking one thing: if I can comprehend it, will you trade or not?"
Luo Yao's temper flared as well. "I'll trade! But can you? It's fundamentally impossible!"
Qin Ming looked at her. "Wait a moment. Don't boast just yet. Can you actually make that call? Are you qualified to trade scriptures with me?"
The white-robed maiden felt a pain in her chest. Who was the one bragging here?! How had he turned around to question her instead?
However, after mulling it over carefully, she truly didn't dare leak the entire Immortal-Combating Classic.
She said, "The only one I can trade is the Eight Views Classic, which is at the level of an extraordinary art."
Qin Ming's heart shook. As expected, the so-called Immortal-Combating Classic was patched together from different texts!
"Is the extraordinary art you mentioned the Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic?"
"No. The Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic is already at the secret scripture tier, whereas the Eight Views Classic is an extraordinary art."
Qin Ming pondered. Even if she gave him a secret scripture right now, he wouldn't be able to cultivate it. At present, he was still at the level of cultivating extraordinary arts, so having the Eight Views Classic would be plenty.
"All right. When the time comes, I'll extract a portion of the teachings and make an equal exchange with you," Qin Ming said.
The white-robed maiden was left speechless. What kind of person was this? Did he truly believe his aptitude was peerless, that he could comprehend any scripture?
Even her sister wouldn't dare be so conceited!
Seeing him about to leave again, she remembered her real purpose. Stepping forward mysteriously, she lowered her voice and asked, "Are you connected to the strange occurrences at Black-White Mountain?"
"You wanted to chat with me just for this?" Qin Ming offered her only the back of his head and strode away.
Suddenly, he noticed the purple lightning beast creeping closer, acting like a thief.
Moreover, he noticed the small purple hammer hidden inside her sleeve. Could she be planning an ambush to strike him a vicious blow out of nowhere?
Back in the day, Qin Ming had witnessed firsthand how she used that hammer in the giant centipede's Divine City to shatter the seven-color bottle Cao Qianqiu had gifted to Li Qingxu.
The purple-haired maiden gave him a sweet smile, pretending they were merely strangers meeting by chance.
Qin Ming grinned. Since she wanted to put on an act, he would play along. We'll see how things turn out later.
At that moment, Li Qingyue walked toward him.
Her white robes were like pristine snow, her dark hair glossy and lustrous, and her gaze clear and luminous. With her robes fluttering gently, her entire presence was transcendent, ethereal as an immortal.
"You're certainly popular," she said with a smile. There was none of the aloof distance that usually came with nearing the immortal realm; she remained as warm and close as before, speaking her mind openly just as she used to.
Qin Ming said, "How could that be? Just a moment ago, you were surrounded by a throng of people—I couldn't even squeeze through."
Then, lowering his voice, he whispered, "Did you know? Grandpa Li was already thinking of marrying you off. He was mostly worried you'd vanish into the night sky like a loose kite. But don't worry, I blocked it for you."
Li Qingyue paused in surprise, tilting her head to look at him, and then laughed, warm and refreshing as a spring breeze.
Qin Ming said, "Come on, let's join forces and decipher that scripture."
"All right!" Li Qingyue sounded quite confident.
By now, some people had already used memory crystals to duplicate the scripture on the immortal skin, so a long line was no longer necessary.
Of course, Chu Pianran had only revealed twelve pages; the rest of the scripture remained locked beneath mysterious patterns.
Before long, Qin Ming and Li Qingyue stepped forward, preparing to duplicate a copy as well.
"Fairy Li, Brother Qin, you two may examine the original directly!" Chu Pianran sent a voice transmission, clearly holding them in special regard.
In truth, renowned immortal seeds and divine seeds such as Cui Chonghe, Su Shiyun, and Zhao Yaoting enjoyed the same privilege.
Chu Pianran had brought the scripture not to make things difficult for others, but because she genuinely wanted later generations to help decipher it.
As for the classic on the immortal skin, she had only studied the first twelve pages herself; she truly couldn't make heads or tails of the rest.
Right now, several immortal seeds and divine seeds were deeply furrowing their brows. They simply could not fathom it—the classic was exceedingly abstruse, leaving everyone completely baffled.
Nearby, someone muttered, "Someone from the Newborn path actually went up. This isn't their method or their path at all. Truly commendable courage."
In contrast, Sun Jingxiao—who had been the first to think such thoughts—kept silent, because he himself had been staring at it in total confusion, having comprehended nothing up to this point.
Holding the immortal skin in his hands, Qin Ming fought an intense internal struggle. He truly wanted to trigger resonance and memorize the complete scripture.
However, he did not dare do so.
He knew full well that this was an extraordinary doctrine, likely involving near-immortal creatures.
He would never forget the terrifying ordeal he had suffered when resonating with the scriptures from the Eight Trigrams Furnace and the golden scale left behind by the giant centipede.
Back then, even with sporadic insights, the mental impact had nearly turned his mind to mush.
Qin Ming sighed inwardly. For now, it was better to play it safe and stay disciplined; he couldn't take risks here.
Kunling City harbored a group of grandmasters. If someone was watching this place, it would be all the more dangerous.
In the end, Qin Ming merely read through the scripture before closing his eyes to contemplate it.
Runes were interwoven across the immortal skin, preventing it from decaying even after thousands of years.
The doctrine contained no words. Instead, it was filled entirely with lifelike miniature figures, and inside each figure, black and white lines were densely intertwined.
Qin Ming's heart stirred. This style bore a slight resemblance to the Destiny-Altering Scripture.
He quietly pondered and scrutinized it. The doctrine was indeed difficult, forcing even his brows to knit slightly.
The main issue was that across the twelve pages, each page contained numerous figures, and each figure possessed complex black-and-white lines. If every human figure depicted a distinct energy circulation route, stacking so many together was truly punishing for anyone trying to decipher them.
Qin Ming tested it out. Circulating according to the black and white lines of each individual diagram posed little problem; after initial sluggishness, the flow quickly became smooth.
As his heavenly light followed the paths, it felt like blazing a trail through the night-mist world. Strands of light ignited within his body, surging like a river formed from a Fire Spring.
Looked at this way, it truly was similar to the Destiny-Altering Scripture!
Yet it was by no means the same; it possessed concrete techniques, applications, and maneuvers.
A thought crossed Qin Ming's mind. He knew his own circumstances: his heavenly light force also contained conscious spiritual light and divine wisdom. When he attempted to drive the routes using heavenly light or divine wisdom alone, the difficulty immediately skyrocketed.
Understanding dawned on him. Looked at this way, the doctrine was not all that difficult for him.
Thereafter, at regular intervals, he would examine the original immortal skin scripture again.
There were simply too many circulation pathways; fearing an oversight or error, he cross-checked repeatedly until he was certain there were no flaws.
Many people were speechless. Was it really necessary for a Newborn to strive so hard? Theoretically, one on the Newborn path couldn't practice classics of the Immortal Dao Sanctuary at all.
More than two shichen passed, and deep night had already fallen, yet everyone was still studying the scripture.
Throughout this process, faint light shimmered over only a few people who had gained some comprehension.
Among them were Cui Chonghe, Su Shiyun, Zhao Yaoting, and others.
Li Qingyue had also reaped rewards. Bathed in clear moonlight, she sat quietly with closed eyes, looking utterly sacred.
What each person comprehended seemed to differ; at the very least, the radiance clinging to the surface of their bodies varied greatly.
Eventually, people began stopping one after another. Whatever could be comprehended from the twelve pages had already been grasped, and spending more time on what they couldn't fathom was useless.
Only Qin Ming continued, and even in the final moments, he went over to check the original text and verify it against the scripture.
Some people sneered. They acknowledged Qin Ming's achievements on the Newborn path and granted that he might possess grandmaster-level aptitude, but trying to comprehend the scriptures of other paths right now was an utter waste of time.
"Look, the seeds of the immortal and divine paths radiate such extraordinary light after comprehending part of the doctrine! What has that Qin Ming comprehended?"
Someone couldn't hold back, their voice neither loud nor soft. Since everyone else had stopped and only he was still going, it caught everyone's attention.
Chu Pianran told the person not to say anything more, preventing them from disturbing the youth in the hall.
Whoosh! Black and white light suddenly burst from Qin Ming's body!
Instantly, the entire grand palace fell dead silent. His light was completely different from everyone else's.
Chapter 252