Lu Yang had long heard of the cultivation techniques authored by Eldest Senior Sister. After all, they were prominent enough to make the Dao Seeking Sect carve out an entire dedicated section specifically to house them.
Yet the techniques on the Scripture Pavilion's first floor were too basic, so he had never had the chance to look at them before now.
Today, he was finally seeing them with his own eyes.
"I knew it! No matter how talented you Dao Seeking Sect disciples are, there's no way you could just casually author cultivation techniques of this caliber," the Immortal Fairy realized in sudden understanding. She had actually thought the geniuses of the Dao Seeking Sect were exaggerated to such an extent that the *Lunar Dharma Body Art* was almost on par with the techniques she herself had authored.
"What are you saying? Eldest Senior Sister is also a Dao Seeking Sect disciple," Lu Yang emphasized.
While their most outstanding Senior Brothers, Dai Bufan and Ji Hongwen, were still racing to catch up to the elders' footsteps, Eldest Senior Sister—who belonged to the same generation—had already left the elders far behind in the dust.
This was the disparity.
The bookshelf before him held a dazzling array of cultivation techniques, all either modified from existing foundations or directly authored by Eldest Senior Sister.
"Heheh, what's this? Frightened by the number of techniques Yun Zhi authored?" A weathered chuckle sounded by Lu Yang's ear.
Lu Yang turned his head and saw a stooped old man standing beside him, looking entirely ordinary.
"May I ask who you are..."
"Just a rather idle old man who guards the Scripture Pavilion to pass the time these days. You can just call me Old Tao."
How could Lu Yang dare actually call him Old Tao? He secretly guessed that this man was either of the elders' generation or of the grandmasters' generation. Considering the special nature of the Scripture Pavilion, the grandmaster generation was more likely.
"May I ask what guidance Elder Tao has for me?"
"Hardly guidance. With Yun Zhi instructing you, what could an old codger like me teach you anyway? I just saw you come here and was reminded of Yun Zhi when she was little."
"Yun Zhi when she was little?" Lu Yang's curiosity was piqued, completely overshadowing his interest in studying the cultivation techniques.
The Immortal Fairy leaped straight up from her bed, eagerly waiting for Elder Tao to tell the story.
"When Yun Zhi was first brought into the sect by your master, she wasn't tall at all. About this high, roughly." Elder Tao gestured to his chest. His posture was hunched, so he was already short, and back then, Yun Zhi had only reached up to his chest.
"She was taciturn and icy cold. Who knows if she was born with that temperament or if it was because she had lived in a secret realm.
"Yet after coming to the Scripture Pavilion, her expressions became noticeably livelier.
"The girl was still too young back then, not yet at the age to cultivate. Your master told her to browse around the Scripture Pavilion as she pleased to build a foundation first.
"In the Scripture Pavilion, that girl focused entirely on reading cultivation techniques, furrowing her brows as she read.
"Seeing that the girl was carved like jade and quite adorable, I walked over and asked if there was anything she didn't understand, telling her she could ask me if she ran into trouble and I could answer.
"Her whole face was written with displeasure. Pouting, she said these cultivation techniques were poorly written. When I asked where they were lacking, she shook her head like a rattle-drum and said she couldn't pinpoint it, only that she felt they were poorly written.
"Those techniques certainly had flaws, but they were far from something a little girl could discern.
"I chuckled and thought nothing of it, assuming the girl just found the techniques obscure and difficult to understand, and being unable to comprehend them, stubbornly insisted they were poorly written.
"Who could have imagined? How long has it been, and that girl has already grown to heights no one can match. Even more so, she has her own unique insights into cultivation techniques." Elder Tao sighed with endless emotion. He could never have conceived that the little girl from back then would cultivate to such heights.
"Cultivate diligently. Perhaps the day will come when you surpass Yun Zhi as well!" Elder Tao patted Lu Yang's shoulder, entrusting him with high hopes.
"I'll work hard!"
Lu Yang roused his spirits and began studying the techniques authored by Eldest Senior Sister.
"*Heaven-Burning Blood-Igniting Art*, a cultivation technique hidden within an ancient grotto-heaven. Cultivators usually possess lifespans far exceeding mortals, cultivating to achieve longevity. This technique, however, does the opposite, breaking through realms by burning lifespan to achieve rapid cultivation growth. At critical moments, one can even temporarily burn lifespan to boost combat strength.
"The Mission Hall stipulates that every disciple must complete two missions each year.
"To complete her missions, Eldest Senior Sister falsely claimed she had visited an ancient grotto-heaven and discovered this *Heaven-Burning Blood-Igniting Art*, whereas she had actually created it herself. Because the information Eldest Senior Sister possessed was incomplete, knowing only that it was a technique that burned lifespan in exchange for combat strength, her version changed burning one's own lifespan into burning others' lifespan.
"During battle, by forcibly burning the opponent's lifespan, it grants them tremendous combat power while accelerating their aging; before the opponent even has a chance to unleash that tremendous power, they die of old age.
"*Chaotic Heaven-Transforming Classic*, the core heritage art of the Qingming Sect, never passed outside. Cultivated to great mastery, one exhales chaotic mist that cannot be dispersed and blocks both line of sight and divine sense. Practitioners of this technique can move freely within the mist to ambush opponents inside it.
"Eldest Senior Sister falsely claimed she had visited the Qingming Sect to study and acquired their sect's core heritage art, the *Chaotic Heaven-Transforming Classic*, submitting her self-authored version of the *Chaotic Heaven-Transforming Classic* to the Mission Hall. Cultivated to great mastery, this technique forms a chaotic domain that suppresses myriad daos; all arts and techniques become null within the chaotic domain, no living being inside the domain can muster the will to resist, and there is even a sliver of probability to cultivate the Chaotic Dao Body.
"At present, the Qingming Sect has replaced their core heritage art with Eldest Senior Sister's version."
The more Lu Yang read, the more his scalp tingled with numbness. As if he could ever surpass Eldest Senior Sister!
The good news, however, was that the techniques above were not written during Eldest Senior Sister's Golden Core stage. Lu Yang still had a chance.
Lu Yang stopped thinking about the outside world, gradually immersing himself in all kinds of cultivation techniques: Eldest Senior Sister's, sect elders', and those circulating on the market...
He pondered the psychology of the authors and the intentions behind each step, reading with rapt fascination until he forgot everything else.
More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Lu Yang emerged from the sea of cultivation techniques, suddenly remembering that he had come here to continue writing his own technique.
"Time to write!"
Lu Yang scratched the back of his head. Having read so many techniques, his head was brimming with profound lore, and he had felt he had a bright future on the path of technique creation. Yet when he picked up his brush to write, he realized he didn't know how to begin.
"I clearly felt like I understood everything when reading them, didn't I?"
Lu Yang braced himself and began to write. The Immortal Fairy watched from the side, not saying a single word.
Offering advice right now would only harm Lu Yang.
After racking his brains for half a day, Lu Yang finally had an idea and put brush to paper to continue his cultivation technique.
"Just like that!"
Inspiration surged like a spring. He wrote at lightning speed, his brush dancing across the page like soaring dragons and darting snakes.
The half-month spent reading techniques had not been in vain. He felt he had synthesized everything and innovated upon that foundation, with an endless stream of ideas pouring onto the paper.
"Right, this is how the next part should go!"
His only regret right now was writing too slowly to keep up with the flurry of his thoughts.
Two days later, the Golden Core chapter of the *Art of Illuminating the Heart and Seeing Nature* was finished. He edited and revised it further, making the technique more concise and the wording more precise.
"Mission accomplished!"
He immediately left the Scripture Pavilion and headed for Tianmen Peak, handing the completed manuscript to Eldest Senior Sister.
Eldest Senior Sister flipped through it carefully, nodded slightly, and praised:
"Not bad. This time, only eighty percent of the content needs slight revisions from me."
Chapter 341