Spirit Flow Canon

After cultivating for a few more days and thoroughly consolidating his qi sea, Chen Zhuo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Next, he needed to consider increasing his strength and changing his cultivation method. Although the Changchun Art was profound, it was merely meant for laying a foundation. If Chen Zhuo wished to go further, he naturally required a stronger technique. Because of this, his thoughts naturally turned to the Immortal Mansion's spell library. The spell library's official name was the Spirit Flow Canon, though people rarely called it by that title. Most simply referred to it as the spell library. It contained tens of millions of cultivation methods from the Five Domains and Nine Heavens, with new arts added every single day. This was because whenever a cultivator submitted a technique or spell not yet verified by the library, the system automatically rewarded them with spirit coins upon confirmation. Many academic cultivators loved nothing more than spending their days researching slightly varied minor spells to earn a steady trickle of spirit coins from the library. Yet this was precisely what appealed to Chen Zhuo. The Spirit Flow Canon was not governed by human hands. Strictly speaking, the spell library functioned like an immortal intelligence. Over the past fifteen thousand years, several deceased Soul Formation Heavenly Lords had transferred their divine senses into it before their passing, transforming into cyber-entities to oversee everything. This did not grant the Heavenly Lords true immortality; rather, it was a way of preserving their legacy of divine consciousness, stripped of their original subjective emotions. As more Soul Formation Heavenly Lords and Nascent Soul True Monarchs passed away and joined the system, the spell library grew ever more intelligent and advanced. Even the Immortal Mansion possessed only partial jurisdiction over it and could not exercise full control. Even if a living Soul Formation Heavenly Lord wished to forcefully intervene, they could not overcome the combined divine senses left behind by multiple Heavenly Lords and dozens of True Monarchs. "I'm at the fourth layer of Qi Refining now, which reaches the threshold for the library's intelligent recommendations. For just one hundred spirit coins, it can provide me with an all-around personalized recommendation for cultivation methods..." Chen Zhuo mused inwardly. That was how the library worked. Starting from the middle stage of Qi Refining, once a cultivator laid a solid foundation, they could visit the spell library at every major realm and pay spirit coins to search for techniques suited to their physical constitution. For the Qi Refining stage, it cost one hundred spirit coins per query. For the Foundation Establishment stage, it was ten thousand spirit coins. For the Golden Core stage, it was five hundred thousand spirit coins. All things considered, the Qi Refining stage was relatively cost-effective at just one hundred spirit coins. The only problem was... "I don't even have a single hundred spirit coins right now..." Chen Zhuo twitched his lips, hesitating. In fact, he still had the Soft Water Shield and Water Silk Binding spells taken from the sinister elder, as well as the cultivation method the elder had practiced, all of which could be submitted to the library. "Have some faith." Taking a deep breath, Chen Zhuo considered the matter and realized his worries were probably redundant. "Believe in the divine senses of the deceased Soul Formation Heavenly Lords!" He had always worried about explaining the origins of his goods. Yet on closer thought, his spirit stones and talisman paper had already left plenty of clues. Adding a few spells now was hardly anything to fear. Besides, the library was managed by cold, dispassionate divine consciousness derived from deceased Soul Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators. Those who possessed the authority to inspect the database would almost certainly have to be Soul Formation or Nascent Soul seniors themselves. If an Immortal Mansion elder of that level actually took notice of him... Then there was nothing more to say, bro. Chen Zhuo would simply put on a righteous face and proclaim that he was handing over the Boundary-Breaking Bead to the Immortal Mansion! There were only three days left before the cave dwelling at the market expired, and Chen Zhuo's bronze token was already sending reminders. "Three days left..." Chen Zhuo nodded slightly. He then activated the Boundary-Breaking Bead and returned to the Immortal Mansion. Back from the cave dwelling in Yunjin Market, Chen Zhuo already had a clear plan in mind. Stepping out of his cave dwelling, he boarded a bus and headed toward University Town. Indeed, University Town once again. Taiqing City University Town lay in the southwestern corner of the city. Sprawling over a vast area, it brought together seven institutions of higher learning. Consequently, the vast majority of public cultivation facilities were situated here, such as spirit-gathering chambers and self-service alchemy workshops. The spell library was no exception. Roughly twenty minutes later, Chen Zhuo arrived in University Town. Looking around and following the street signs, a silver-white tower rising a hundred zhang into the air came into view. The brick-and-mortar branch of the spell library! Submitting or purchasing techniques could be handled directly through a spiritual communication jade slip. However, undergoing a physical assessment required visiting an offline location. After all, such an evaluation could not be performed through a jade slip alone. Taking a deep breath, Chen Zhuo walked toward the tower. As he drew near, he saw a long queue already stretching from the entrance. Most of the people in line were Qi Refining cultivators, with the occasional Foundation Establishment cultivator mixed in. Evidently, they were all there to query techniques or submit new spells. Chen Zhuo joined the back of the queue and waited patiently. The line moved slowly, as everyone entering the library had to undergo identity verification and registration. After waiting for about half an hour, it was finally Chen Zhuo's turn. "Present your identification." The person registering visitors at the entrance was an expressionless middle-aged cultivator. Chen Zhuo could not see through his cultivation. Yet to work as a public servant here, the man was most likely at Foundation Establishment. Chen Zhuo promptly took out his identity card and handed it over. The middle-aged cultivator accepted the card and gave it a quick scan, immediately bringing up Chen Zhuo's information. "Chen Zhuo. First-year freshman at Taiqing Vocational and Technical College of Alchemy, fourth layer of Qi Refining, acquired implanted spiritual root, spirit qi sensitivity level 19." The middle-aged cultivator read out the details, lifted his eyelids to glance at Chen Zhuo, and spoke with the faint lifelessness typical of a weary worker: "Go on in. First time?" "Yes," Chen Zhuo nodded. "Every booth is private. If there's any function you don't understand, just ask the dharma spirit inside." After giving this brief instruction, the middle-aged cultivator returned the identity card and gestured for him to enter. Chen Zhuo took his identification and stepped inside the spell library. The moment he walked through the doors, a wave of cool air washed over him. The interior was straightforward: in the center stood a virtual dharma spirit acting as a guide, flanked by rows of rooms on either side. Chen Zhuo found an unoccupied room and pressed his identity card against the door array according to the instructions. Beep. With a soft chime, the booth's door slid open. Chen Zhuo stepped inside, and the door closed automatically behind him. [Please place the recorded cultivation method here.] [If you do not possess a physical copy, you may establish a divine sense link to upload it.] After a moment's thought, Chen Zhuo retrieved the transcribed copy of the Cangming Embrace-Unity Classic from his storage bag. Setting the transcript down, Chen Zhuo took a step back. Immediately, a screen in the room began scanning the technique. Soon, the light faded, and a line of text appeared on the screen. [Detected: One water-attribute Qi Refining cultivation method. Submitter's custom name: Cangming Embrace-Unity Classic.] [Cross-referencing in progress, please wait.] [Cross-referencing complete. The spell library contains a substantial number of similar low-grade water-attribute methods.] [This method belongs to the ancient cultivation style and is generally crude, with slow spirit qi respiration. It contains 8 irreparable errors, 19 optimizable errors, and only 1 point of reference value. Overall value: low.] [Submission reward: 500 spirit coins.]