Meanwhile, at the foot of a tall cliff at the center of the holy island, Han Li was staring intently at a massive crystalline wall that was around 1,000 feet tall.
Daoist Xie was standing beside him, and he was also appraising the giant wall.
Around 80 feet away from the two of them, there were two green-robed elderly men standing off to the side with overawed expressions.
They were naturally the guards of this place, and they were both at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.
As soon as Han Li arrived, he released a sliver of his Grand Ascension Stage spiritual pressure, and the pair of elderly men immediately granted him access.
At this point, Han Li had already cast his gaze over the contents of the entire crystalline wall, and his attention was currently focused on several ancient golden characters that were ranked third on the list.
"Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword," Han LI murmured to himself as he reflexively began to stroke his own forearm.
A certain diagram on his forearm began to heat up and throb slightly under his fingertips.
Han Li exhaled before suddenly asking, "Is this Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword the newest Profound Heavenly Treasure on the roll? I heard that all races on the Tian Yuan Continent had been scrambling to search for it when it first appeared."
The two green-robed elderly men exchanged a glance before one of them stepped forward, and replied, "Indeed, Senior. When this Profound Heavenly Treasure first appeared on the roll, even some super races from other continents had sent people to search for it, but for some reason, none of them managed to find it, and no news of it arose thereafter. However, I'm sure those major races are still searching for it in secret."
"Perhaps so. Let's go now, Brother Xie," Han Li said with a smile, then immediately departed.
"We are greatly honored by your visit, seniors!" The pair of green-robed elderly men hurriedly extended respectful bows as they spoke.
Shortly after their departure, Han Li suddenly asked, "Brother Xie, do you know anything about this Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll?"
"I have no recollection of this object, and nor have I ever heard my past master mention it, but I did sense a hint of immortal spiritual Qi within it just now."
"Immortal spiritual Qi?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.
"Indeed. It's far from abundant, but it's extremely pure, no less so than the immortal spiritual Qi in the spirit liquid you've been providing me with," Daoist Xie replied.
"That's quite interesting. It's been many years since our Spirit Realm lost contact with the True Immortal Realm, but it seems that some things can't be completely severed," Han Li mused.
Daoist Xie's expression remained unchanged, and he offered no response to this.
The holy island wasn't very large, and with the map provided to him by Li Rong, Han Li soon arrived in front of a small teleportation formation.
He stepped into the teleportation formation with Daoist Xie, then made a hand seal, and a buzzing sound rang out as white spiritual light erupted from the formation, following which the duo instantly vanished.
In the next instant, white light flashed in front of a pavilion that was around 800 feet tall, and Han Li and Daoist Xie reappeared in another formation.
"Heavenly Tome Library"
Han Li looked up at the massive plaque hanging above the entrance of the pavilion, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes as he said, "Please wait for me here for now, Brother Xie; I'll be back soon."
"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie replied without any hesitation.
Han Li nodded in response before making his way toward the entrance of the pavilion.
Moments later, he found himself standing in front of a pale-faced elderly woman. "I've heard that the Heavenly Tome Library holds countless secret techniques; would you be able to open the restriction and grant me access, Fellow Daoist?"
The elderly woman was seated at the center of a spacious hall on the first floor, and she appraised Han Li with her brows slightly furrowed as she said, "You're very unfamiliar; have you only just arrived on the island? Seeing as you've come here, I'm sure you're already aware of the rules of our Heavenly Tome Library."
She was unable to detect this person's exact cultivation base, and that naturally came as quite a surprise to her.
"In order to learn a secret technique, I have to offer a sum of spirit stones or exchange for it with another secret technique not yet in the library's collection, correct?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"That's right. You're planning to issue spirit stones, right? Each secret technique is extremely expensive, but it's easier than offering another secret technique in exchange. There are already over 10,000 secret techniques in the library's collection, so it won't be that easy to find new ones," the elderly woman chuckled.
"I see. I actually do have quite a few secret techniques I collected from foreign races; you can examine them to see if there are any new ones," Han Li said with a smile.
Before the elderly woman had a chance to respond, Han Li suddenly swept a sleeve through the air, releasing close to 100 jade slips of different colors that hovered before the elderly woman.
The elderly woman's mouth gaped open in shock, and only after a long while did she ask, "These jade slips were all collected from foreign races?"
"That's right. Go ahead and examine them, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied.
"Please give me a moment, Fellow Daoist," the elderly woman said as she finally regained her composure.
After that, she quickly grabbed a jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it.
"Origin Light Splitting Technique; isn't this a renowned secret technique of the Flying Spirit Race? I've heard that only the core Flying Spirit beings with the purest bloodlines are able to learn this technique. This is indeed a secret technique that our Heavenly Tome Library does not yet possess," the elderly woman said with a stunned expression after a brief examination.
"Oh? It seems like you're very familiar with foreign secret techniques. This was indeed a secret technique I obtained from the Flying Spirit Race, but it's not suitable for me to cultivate, so I've never used it," Han Li said with a slightly surprised expression.
"Hehe, I'm renowned as the leading secret technique expert among our two races. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been assigned with the task of looking after this Heavenly Tome Library," the elderly woman said in a pleased manner.
After that, she stowed the jade slip away before taking another one for examination.
"Nine Flame Devilish Technique; this seems to be a devilish secret technique that's also a new addition to our library."
"Heavenly Light Azure Wood Arts; this is a Wood Tribe secret technique that our library already has."
The elderly woman was able to determine the origins of most of these jade slips, and it seemed that she wasn't exaggerating about her status as the leading secret technique expert of the two races.
After looking through only around a dozen jade slips, the elderly woman was already in shock.
Not only did these secret techniques come from a diverse range of origins, around two-thirds of them were new to the Heavenly Tome Library.
Generally speaking, one would only be able to bring out one or two types of secret techniques to be exchanged at the Heavenly Tome Library; such a large number of secret techniques being offered at once was unheard of.
After about 15 minutes, the elderly woman finally examined all of the jade slips, and she exhaled before asking, "Among these secret techniques, 61 of them are new to the Heavenly Tome Library; are you planning to exchange all of them?"
"61, eh? That's not bad; I'll use them to exchange for 61 of the secret techniques in this library," Han Li replied with a smile.
"In that case, I'll open the restriction right away for you to select other secret techniques. I must remind you that you have to come out right away after completing your selection, and these secret techniques can only be cultivated by yourself; they're not to be given to others. Otherwise, if the holy island is made aware of your transgression, you'll be punished by our enforcers," the elderly woman warned.
"Rest assured, I'll only be referencing most of these secret techniques and only truly cultivate a few of them, and I won't give them to anyone else," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve through the air to recover all of the jade slips that were rejected by the elderly woman.
"Good. I'll be opening the restrictions now," the elderly woman said before opening her mouth to release a shimmering golden badge.
She then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the badge, which immediately released a burst of silver light that surged toward the stairwell.
A dull thump rang out from the stairwell as if several invisible restrictions had been opened, and Han Li quickly vanished up the staircase, leaving the elderly woman alone on the first floor.
Han Li didn't stay in the pavilion for too long before he re-emerged in a calm manner, then cupped his fit in a salute toward the elderly woman before departing.
"Who was that? He definitely doesn't seem like an ordinary new Body Integration cultivator that's just come onto the island. Even I was unable to ascertain his cultivation base, and he was able to bring out so many foreign secret techniques at once. Could it be that he's…" the elderly woman murmured to herself, and as she did so, her eyes gradually lit up with a hint of realization.
Meanwhile, Han Li had just emerged from the pavilion when three balls of golden light suddenly appeared in the air above him.
