Chapter 1837: New Gains

Upon reaching the stairs, Zu An clearly sensed a barrier above, as if a membrane of the world separated the inside and outside of the staircase, much stronger than when he had descended. It seemed the seals had become significantly tighter and more robust after the Demon Suppressing Grand Formation was repaired.

He had initially worried about being trapped there, but fortunately, although entry was a bit difficult, he managed to break through the membrane with a little effort. He figured it was because he had merged with Jing Teng, carrying the properties and aura of a divine talisman, so the seals recognized him as one of their own and didn't obstruct him.

He quickly ascended that flight of stairs, reaching the level where the unnamable entity resided. He paused there for a moment, recalling their recent battle. Even through the thin membrane of the world, he had felt its terror, an incomprehensible, high-level power. Jing Teng had been injured by it, and the destructive power within her couldn't be dispelled. Even the 'Primordial Chaos Scripture' could only temporarily stabilize her condition, preventing it from worsening, but couldn't heal or remove that destructive force.

He had expected the entity to sense his presence and become agitated, perhaps even trying to break through the prison door to kill him. Thus, he remained vigilant, ready to leave at any moment. To his surprise, everything was calm; even the terrifying aura in that space seemed significantly weaker than when he had descended. He looked up and saw runes occasionally flickering on the prison door, walls, and floor. Clearly, the Demon Suppressing Grand Formation was at its peak, forcing even an entity as powerful as this one to quiet down temporarily. He gazed deeply at the prison door, thinking, "One day, I will see what you truly look like."

He continued his ascent. Earlier, when he had descended, the tomb had been filled with a cacophony of roars and howls, as if all the monsters within were celebrating. Now, it was eerily quiet; every creature was well-behaved, not daring to make a sound. He couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Demon Suppressing Divine Talisman below, then recalled how he had 'rubbed the other party's artifact spirit into the ground'... He felt a sudden surrealness. "How unpredictable life is," he mused. "They say shut-ins waste paper, yet who knew I'd still be using paper in this world?" But this 'paper' was infinitely more wonderful than those.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He brought up his keyboard system and saw the F6 icon flashing continuously, intermittently displaying the prompt: "Detected 'Baopuzi Scripture'. Merge?"

"Merge!"

Soon, a radiant glow merged into F6, which then displayed an ethereal furnace pattern, as if refining elixirs. Immediately afterward, a vast amount of knowledge flooded Zu An's mind.

Cultivators possess seven skills: Rites and Music, Divination and Trigrams, Ritual Offerings, Talismans, Formations, Alchemy, and Artifact Forging. Each is profound and infinitely mysterious; even the most brilliant individual might not dare claim mastery of a single domain in a lifetime. Yet, Immortal Lord Baopuzi was unprecedented and unparalleled, having miraculously mastered every single skill, especially alchemy. He even ascended to immortality through elixirs. Zu An was suddenly enlightened as countless elixir formulas and refining methods, along with theoretical knowledge concerning Rites and Music, Divination and Trigrams, Ritual Offerings, Talismans, Formations, and Artifact Forging, were imprinted upon his mind.

Rites and Music seemed to be a way to communicate with heaven and earth. The "Heaven and Earth Sacrificial Dance" that Immortal Lord Baopuzi had previously taught Qiu Honglei was one such method. However, Zu An always felt it would be a bit embarrassing for a grown man to dance. Fortunately, besides dancing, Rites and Music also included many musical scores. These weren't mundane, decadent tunes, but sounds of the Grand Dao. Each piece was very simple, often just a few notes, yet it could evoke the power of heaven and earth, assisting cultivators in peaceful practice, increasing cultivation speed, and making it easier to shed distracting thoughts during breakthroughs. "Hmm, this suits me." "Who doesn't secretly harbor the desire to show off their artistic side?" After learning it, he could pass it on to Shang Liuyu, who loved musical instruments. "She's quite fond of playing the xiao, actually; there's a xiao score in here, perfect for her."

Divination and Trigrams, on the other hand, focused more on mystical skills, capable of foretelling fortune and misfortune, allowing people to prepare in advance and thus find a sliver of life in a certain death situation. Zu An's 'Book of Records' was actually a similar ability, but it usually only predicted events within a few seconds; longer-term predictions still relied on Divination and Trigrams. Of course, the 'Book of Records' had its advantages: its descriptions of danger were quite specific and vividly graphic. Divination and Trigrams, however, were more ambiguous; no matter how one interpreted them, they seemed to make sense. Zu An, however, rather disliked these skills. Foreknowing one's fate wasn't necessarily a good thing, as the saying goes, "It's easy to know fate, but difficult to defy it." Sometimes, knowing certain aspects of fate could make one hesitant and prone to worrying about gains and losses.

As for Ritual Offerings (Zhaijiao), they referred to ceremonies performed to honor various deities or mysterious entities. Just as one would prepare gifts when seeking help in the mundane world, one needed to offer sincere intentions when seeking assistance from these mysterious beings. 'Zhai' typically meant purifying oneself days in advance by bathing, changing clothes, abstaining from meat and alcohol, and refraining from sleeping in the inner chambers, all to show the sacrificer's solemn sincerity. In short, it was about vegetarianism for mental clarity and bathing for physical purity. 'Jiao' referred to sacrifices: using animal blood and food for gods was 'ji'; using fine fruits and vegetables for gods was 'jiao'. Different mysterious entities preferred different offerings, and it was crucial not to confuse them. The 'Baopuzi Scripture' summarized various classifications and also taught methods for preparing different offerings. Zu An's eyes were opened wide. If he had seen these things on Earth in his previous life, he would have dismissed them as feudal superstition. But in this world of cultivation, it clearly couldn't be that simple. Immortal Lord Baopuzi had solemnly recorded these mystical matters. Could there truly be mysterious entities silently observing everything that happened in the world, responding to the pleas of those who performed rituals? The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Talismans were somewhat easier to understand. Both Yan Xuehen and Xie Daoyun were masters of this art, and he had previously witnessed Sun En's divine talisman in action. And he himself had just... used a talisman. The 'Baopuzi Scripture' recorded the fundamental principles of various talismans and methods for their creation. "Sister Yan and Little Sister Ling'er should like this."

Formations, on the other hand, involved arranging special diagrams using various elemental stone energies and runes to harness the power of heaven and earth, achieving specific effects. Simple formations included spirit-gathering arrays, those assisting in qi recovery, increasing speed, attack, or defense, while complex ones were like the Myriad Demon Suppressing Grand Formation he had just witnessed. Powerful formations often had the ability to turn the tide of battle, especially in military confrontations. An army with formations facing one without could almost unilaterally slaughter their opponents. The 'Baopuzi Scripture' collected many wondrous formations, but also frankly stated that there were countless formations in the world, and many mysterious ones were not included within it. Zu An quickly scanned, hoping to find the 'Myriad Demon Suppressing Grand Formation' from the depths of the great tomb. As expected, it wasn't there. It seemed Immortal Lord Baopuzi hadn't been able to reach the lowest level back then; the one who constructed this great tomb and set up the Demon Suppressing Grand Formation must have been an even higher-level existence.

The Artifact Forging section detailed the principles and methods for refining weapons, magic artifacts, and so on. Zu An was overjoyed. He knew that his 'Divine Mark Weapon Codex' had previously activated an artifact forging system, but he had been troubled by the lack of corresponding weapon blueprints, making it impossible to create many items. The 'Baopuzi Scripture' addressed these shortcomings. In particular, it recorded methods for creating various magic artifacts, like the jade pendant containing Jing Teng's grotto-heaven. "Hmm, now I won't have to worry about what gifts to give my female confidantes anymore." "Wait, why am I thinking about this?" He quickly composed himself and continued reading. It mentioned that a good magic treasure could sometimes be even more useful than one's cultivation and skills. Zu An recalled the terrifying beings in 'Investiture of the Gods,' where a single magic treasure often determined victory or defeat. With a treasure, one was a patriarch; if it was accidentally lost, one might even be beaten like a dog by one's own disciple wielding that same treasure. He searched through the categories of magic treasures, but was disappointed not to find the refining methods for the legendary ones. Immortal Lord Baopuzi also frankly stated that the more he researched this path, the more he realized his previous limited perspective, understanding that there were many powerful magic treasures in the world whose refining methods he unfortunately hadn't learned. He hoped that future generations would encounter fortuitous opportunities and gradually complete this knowledge. Despite this, Zu An was quite satisfied. After all, it clearly explained various principles and methods, laying a solid foundation. Afterward, once he collected specific magic treasure refining blueprints, learning them would be a matter of course.

Compared to the other six skills, Immortal Lord Baopuzi was most proud of his alchemy. The content in this section was also more extensive than the others. Zu An quickly scanned it, finding it incredibly profound. Many elixirs within were highly useful, including even top-grade elixirs with various miraculous effects that made him incredibly envious. In particular, several elixirs seemed capable of treating Jing Teng's current condition. After he left the secret realm, he definitely had to gather the materials to refine some of these elixirs and see if they worked. Zu An was very pleased with the 'Baopuzi Scripture'. In truth, he wasn't lacking in cultivation techniques; whether it was the 'Phoenix Nirvana Scripture', the 'Primordial Chaos Scripture', or the 'Gourmand Devouring Heaven Art', all were top-tier cultivation methods. Instead, the various skills within the 'Baopuzi Scripture' were more helpful to him now.

Just then, a keyboard prompt sounded: "Detected that host has collected 5 secret tomes. Conditions met. Food System activated."

"Food?" Zu An immediately felt dissatisfied. "What use could food possibly be?"