Chapter 76: Hidden Peak

The minor incident during morning class was not a significant matter. Although the three disciples had a conflict with those from Xuansun Peak, it was merely a sparring match and caused no actual injuries. Ning Changjiu, being only an outer disciple, received his deserved punishment for speaking out of turn. This spectacle was met with schadenfreude, leaving the impression that he was arrogant due to favoritism—specifically, Lu Jiajia's partiality towards Ning Xiaoling.

Lu Jiajia put away her discipline ruler and returned to the lecturing desk, closing her eyes to rest. Beneath the dark ink screen, draped with a light bluish-black veil, her black hair flowed like clouds, her sword robes were like silk, and her demeanor was as cold and pure as a snow lotus blooming among cliff rocks.

Startled by her master's anger, Ning Xiaoling bowed her head for a moment before cautiously turning to look at her senior brother. She noticed that he seemed calm, perhaps feigning composure, with his chin slightly lowered and a peaceful gaze, as if he weren't angry at all.

Ning Changjiu lowered his wide sleeves, and hidden within them, he rubbed his palm, gradually easing the pain. He sighed inwardly, not having expected that his casual teasing earlier that morning would result in such early retaliation. Yet, he had genuinely praised her figure and appearance, using the scene as inspiration, and no one else was present. As a woman, Lu Jiajia should also appreciate beauty, so why was she so angry?

Was it because her injuries hadn't healed, making cultivation difficult? Or was it... Ning Changjiu's eyelids suddenly trembled, and his heart tightened. He wondered if she had found out about him personally treating her injuries back then. Impossible, how could she know? She was clearly unconscious then... Unless Ning Xiaoling betrayed him, but his junior sister had no reason to tell her these things.

Ning Changjiu felt strange and glanced at Ning Xiaoling. Ning Xiaoling didn't know what he was thinking. She simply gazed at her senior brother with her clear, innocent large eyes, blinking as if to say, "Senior brother, I didn't see you make a fool of yourself at all..."

After morning class, Ning Changjiu quietly exchanged a few words with her, then stood up, intending to leave.

"Wait," Lu Jiajia suddenly called out to him.

The discipline ruler disappeared from the dark desk. Ning Changjiu, who was walking towards the door, stopped. Before him, a long, square wooden ruler silently floated, blocking his way. Everyone's gaze fell on him simultaneously. They thought this outer disciple must be defiant and had secretly said something the master overheard, so now he was likely to be expelled from the Inner Peak. Some, however, secretly felt envious, marveling that the master would personally use... the ruler on him.

Even Ning Changjiu felt a bit nervous, thinking, "You can't be that vengeful, can you?"

"Master, do you have any further instructions?" Ning Changjiu asked.

Lu Jiajia looked at him and slowly said, "Later, during cultivation at the Cloud Platform Sword Arena, you may come and listen."

"What?" someone exclaimed, then paused for a moment before realizing what Lu Jiajia had said.

"Master, he's an outer disciple, that's against the rules," someone immediately retorted.

More people reacted after a slight daze. Someone said, "Master, disciples here have all cultivated at the Outer Peak for a year or two and shown outstanding talent before they get a chance to take the test and ascend to the Inner Peak. He is merely benefiting from Junior Sister Xiaoling's presence, which will inevitably cause resentment among other Outer Peak disciples, won't it?"

"Yes, and Junior Brother Changjiu's talent isn't exceptional. Cultivating with us would probably only discourage him."

These words were blurted out in Ning Changjiu's presence, indicating that the disciples had strong opinions on the matter.

Lu Jiajia glanced at Ning Changjiu, seemingly asking for his opinion. Ning Changjiu knew she intended to use this opportunity to guide his cultivation. While his heart warmed slightly, he still shook his head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Master. I prefer to cultivate on my own and later pass the assessment alongside other Outer Peak disciples to legitimately enter the Inner Peak."

Although Ning Changjiu said this, he had no intention of formally joining the Inner Peak. Accompanying his junior sister to morning class every day was already monotonous. If he also had to spend another two hours at the sword arena practicing swordsmanship... not to mention being disciplined with the ruler by Lu Jiajia if he was late... Every additional class meant another opportunity for Lu Jiajia to act on personal vendettas. Furthermore, with his current cultivation speed, he wondered when he would ever be able to defeat her. Most importantly, he had now figured out his own path of cultivation: to simply focus and move forward, cutting off any unnecessary details.

He nodded imperceptibly at Lu Jiajia. Lu Jiajia understood and said no more. "It was just a sudden thought. Since you're unwilling, then so be it."

Some people sighed in relief, while some less talented disciples felt a little regret. They had hoped to have someone reliably at the bottom to draw attention away from themselves, thus avoiding ridicule from fellow disciples and reprimands from the master. Junior Sister Lerou's thoughts were more astute. When Lu Jiajia had disciplined him with the ruler earlier, she already felt something was amiss. That ruler was clearly a privilege reserved for Inner Peak disciples; why should an outer disciple receive a personal beating from the master? Now, the master was even directly inviting him to cultivate at the sword arena. Did she intend to mentor him?

But this Ning Changjiu was truly ignorant. He couldn't even grasp the master's hidden meaning. Did he just want to comfortably live off Ning Xiaoling for the rest of his life? How could someone like this stay in the Inner Peak? He was truly disturbing their Dao heart and polluting the master's eyes. She vowed to find an opportunity to have the master expel him! Lerou fumed to herself.

Ning Changjiu walked into the Inner Peak, entered the library, where Yan Zhou was squinting, neither fully awake nor asleep. Ning Changjiu took out the book from yesterday, opened it to a page detailing the derivation of innate spirit formation principles, and began to read.

Books in the world offered numerous theories on the formation of innate spirits. Some believed they were primordial Dao-embryo nascent souls, their appearance influenced by one's birth date, time, feng shui at birth, and zodiac signs. As for why all innate spirits manifested as animal spirits, mythical beasts, or fierce creatures, it was thought to be related to humanity's inherent bestial nature. Others believed it was similar to the principle of "objects gaining sentience over time." They thought each person's body was a space, and once the Purple Mansion Qi Sea was formed, it was possible to cultivate innate spirits. These spirits, though shapely, shared consciousness with their masters, with the human being dominant. They could be summoned outside the body and move within a certain range. The two were one, and neither could truly leave the other. Still others believed they were seeds sown by demons into the human world. These seeds would take root and sprout within a person's body, forming an embryo, eventually devouring the person and transforming together into a force for demons to descend upon the world.

Ning Changjiu was unsatisfied with all these explanations. He couldn't recall what his innate spirit was in his previous life. Perhaps this was naturally obscured, just like the phrase "unobservable." It was also possible that on this timeline, his innate spirit had simply not been born. How could a person have memories of something that didn't exist? Yet, sometimes in his dreams, he often saw a red sun. The sun hung high against a pitch-black curtain, and at its center, something seemed to be coiled. Shadowy eyes gazed at him from afar, across the red waves. Each time this thought appeared, it caused a slight mental daze.

He immediately reined in his thoughts, his gaze falling back to the book page. Although these books presented various theories, there were three widely accepted characteristics regarding innate spirits: first, they had no innate consciousness; second, they were inseparable from one's soul; and third, they could be contaminated. Ning Changjiu had no doubts about the third point, as Ning Xiaoling's innate spirit had indeed been contaminated by the Red-tailed Elder's demon seed. However, this contamination should also be conditional; for example, the Red-tailed Elder and Ning Xiaoling's innate spirit, the Snow Fox, shared the same origin. As for the second point, Ning Changjiu had largely disproved it, because his own innate spirit had once been extracted by his master. Also, previously in the Imperial City, had his cultivation realm not been slightly insufficient, he would have personally stripped Ning Xiaoling's innate spirit from her body. The first point was also Ning Changjiu's greatest doubt: whether innate spirits were creatures that acted solely based on human consciousness, or if they possessed latent innate consciousness. This was the most crucial thing he wanted to know, as it directly related to his hypothesis about his master extracting his innate spirit years ago. However, he currently couldn't find any test subjects to verify his hypothesis.

He then turned to the section on human spiritual meridians, gazing at the "Cloud Qi" and "White Mansion" spiritual apertures that connected to the back. He looked for a long time, recalling his back, which had been so badly mangled by an illusory sword that the flesh was blurred and bones were almost visible, and finally sighed softly.

He quickly finished reading the book. He stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and pushed the book back into its wooden slot. He should have gone to diligently cultivate at that moment, but he didn't leave. He remembered what Yan Zhou had told him earlier: the lower half of the Heavenly Oracle Sword Scripture was supposedly left here. He naturally didn't covet the sword scripture, which was revered as a true treasure. However, if he could find it, it might be of some help to Lu Jiajia. After all, he was staying here for free, so he should do something for her.

Ning Changjiu's finger moved in the air, tracing a faint, almost invisible character: "Ning." The character "Ning" resembled a sword, and as he wrote it, it seemed to be imbued with faint, ethereal sword energy. In fact, when he first came to the library, he had vaguely sensed something, but the feeling was elusive, like standing in a deep gorge with water flowing from all directions.

The character "Ning," like a small flying sword, silently passed through the air, and his figure followed closely, his white robes billowing between the wooden shelves. A moment later, the small character stopped, shattered, and vanished like a spark. Ning Changjiu stopped where the small flying sword had dissipated. He looked around, then, relying on his intuition, pulled out a book. That book, of course, could not be the Heavenly Oracle Sword Scripture. However, he vaguely sensed that the book held another mystery. Its pages were snow-white, its deep green cover looked new, and two characters were written on it in heavy ink: "Grotto-Heaven."

Ning Changjiu's brows furrowed slightly. He knew he had triggered something, but his Dao heart gave no warning of danger, so after a moment of hesitation, he opened the first page.

"Formation?" Ning Changjiu frowned, looking at the several scattered dots made of gold dust ink on the title page.

The next moment, as if heaven and earth had inverted, Ning Changjiu felt his body fall. The scene of the library instantly receded from his vision, and the surroundings turned dim. Looking around, he saw walls polished smooth like patina, with faint bluish-black stone patterns embedded within them, resembling the markings on a python.

Inside the library, Yan Zhou slowly opened his eyes, glanced in the direction where Ning Changjiu had disappeared, and muttered, "A Daoist disciple?"

"Could it be someone from the Hanxu Sect?" Yan Zhou, for once, showed a look of worry.

The book was no longer in Ning Changjiu's hand. The book seemed more like a core for a formation. Standing there and taking the book had triggered the formation, teleporting him to this place. He looked around, examining the patterns of the rocks, confirming that he was still within the Inner Peak. If so, this place should be the space beneath the library.

He walked forward along the winding staircase. As expected, at the center of the path's end was the familiar Sky-Supporting Arm, that colossal arm piercing downwards through the rock. Looking down, his gaze met an endless void. Ning Changjiu looked up. High on the rock wall, many cavernous openings, like skylights, cast bright beams of light. If he could control a sword, he should be able to fly out from those rock caves into the sea of clouds beyond the peak.

Ning Changjiu continued to walk forward. The sound of an underground spring flowing echoed in his ears. Water seeped from the tips of stalagmites, dripping onto the stone surface with a pattering sound. Around the Coiling Dragon Pillar were four massive wooden beams, like single-log bridges. One end supported the rock wall, while the other was fitted into the Coiling Dragon Pillar using mortise and tenon joinery.

Ning Changjiu stood at the edge of the large pillar and the cliff face, glancing down. The entire mountain seemed to have been hollowed out. The lower section was an extremely vast space, and looking into it, there was only a pitch-black expanse. It was like standing on the edge of an abyss; even he felt a slight palpitation. Beyond the unease, there was also a faint, ethereal sensation. Of course, Ning Changjiu wouldn't take the risk of leaping into the abyss for some elusive opportunity. He simply took a glance and turned to leave.

The Inner Peak world beneath the library was immense. Centered around the Coiling Dragon Pillar, there were rock caves, heavenly grottoes with hidden currents, natural karst caves, and many broken ancient swords. Ning Changjiu walked around the stone path and discovered many artificially excavated spaces. He speculated that these should be the cultivation retreats for Inner Peak disciples.

As if to confirm his hypothesis, a cave dwelling ahead was half-open. Beyond its entrance, amidst many natural stalagmites, a young man in green robes sat cross-legged, disheveled and frowning, seemingly deep in thought. He appeared to have been in seclusion for a long time, having eaten no grain and only drunk the hidden spring water from the peak; his eye sockets and cheeks were slightly sunken. The moment Ning Changjiu arrived, the young man suddenly opened his eyes, as if he hadn't expected an outsider to come here. Several iron swords stuck beside him vibrated incessantly.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice rough and hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

Ning Changjiu glanced at him and said seriously, "There's a problem with your cultivation."