“It’s a little boring.” Yan Jin walked by his side and said, “Previously, we were in Godfiend patrol teams and often had the chance to fight demon monarchs. Now that the prefecture and county cities have been abandoned, Great Solar Godfiends like us won’t be of much use.”
Meng Chuan smiled and said, “Some Great Solar Godfiends are still needed down the mountain.”
“They are only allowed to leave the mountain because they are older,” said Yan Jin. “Some of our senior brothers and sisters are in charge of Earth Net’s investigations. Some are in charge of defending large cities.”
“You’re still young, and you cultivate a transcendent-grade Godfiend body. Archean Mountain still has great hopes for you,” said Meng Chuan.
Yan Jin walked to the hall and sat down. “Sit.” He then poured a cup of alcohol for Meng Chuan and said, “One has the highest chance of becoming a Marquis Godfiend before the age of 60. After the age of 60, one’s probability of becoming a Marquis Godfiend will gradually decrease. I’m the same age as you. I only have eight years left before I’m 60. I don’t have any confidence in becoming a Marquis Godfiend in eight years.”
“Despite being stuck at a bottleneck, breakthroughs can happen at any time.” Meng Chuan flipped his hand and took out a treasure box.
“Oh?” Yan Jin said in surprise, “You aren’t using a storage bag?” “Don’t let others know about it,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. “It’s a small pocket grotto-heaven that I carry with me. There aren’t many people who know about it.”
Yan Chitong and Xue Feng knew. Meng Chuan’s had greater trust in Yan Jin than in most others.
“A small pocket grotto-heaven?” Yan Jin exclaimed.
“Here.” Meng Chuan handed the treasure box to Yan Jin. “This is a unique treasure I obtained by chance. It’s useful for you, so I’m giving it to you.”
“For me?” Yan Jin smiled. They were good friends that had experienced life-and-death battles together when they were young. They cultivated together in Archean City and entered Archean Mountain together. Since they had a good relationship, it was normal for them to give each other gifts.
Yan Jin opened the wooden box curiously and saw an ice lotus flower inside. Flames flickered on the ice lotus flower’s pistils. Ice and fire… were perfectly combined within this lotus flower.
“This is…” Yan Jin’s heart skipped a beat. He cultivated the Azure Lotus Divine Body and dual-wielded swords. He also cultivated the Black Metal Sutra, Icefire Seven Absolutes. He had a deep understanding of ice and fire. Upon seeing the ice lotus flower that had ice and fire coexisting, he was immediately triggered. Soon, he reacted and looked at Meng Chuan. “This is too precious.” “It’s nothing much,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. “For example, my small pocket grotto-heaven is ten times more expensive than this! As for the ice lotus flower… it’s just one of my many treasures. This ice lotus flower isn’t anything to me. Don’t reject me if you call me brother. In the future, kill more demon monarchs when you become a Marquis Godfiend. We humans lack powerful Godfiends in this war.”
Yan Jin looked at Meng Chuan and nodded. “Alright.”
“That’s the way,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. “By the way, I still have to thank you for guiding You’er.”
“Meng You is quite talented.” Yan Jin nodded. “At the very least, she’s more talented than I was back then.”
“Yan Jin, you’re the same age as me. My children are already on Archean Mountain and are about to become Godfiends, but you’re still single,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. “Does any woman catch your fancy? When do you plan on getting married?” “It’s good to be alone,” said Yan Jin calmly. “I like the feeling of being alone. I don’t like having too many people. It’s too noisy!” The two drank and ate, chatting until midnight before Meng Chuan returned.
Late at night, Yan Jin stood at the entrance of the cave abode and watched Meng Chuan leave amidst the snow.
“He’s gone again.” Yan Jin closed the door to his cave abode and returned to his chamber. He took out the wooden box from his storage bag and looked at the ice lotus flower in the wooden box. As Yan Jin stared at the ice lotus flower, he whispered, “Meng Chuan, thank you.”
When Meng Chuan returned to his cave abode, he saw Xue Feng hiding in the darkness near the entrance.
Xue Feng walked out of the darkness. “He accepted it?” Xue Feng looked at Meng Chuan.
“Yes.” Meng Chuan nodded.
“That’s good, that’s good.” Xue Feng heaved a sigh of relief. “Remember, keep it a secret. Once he knows that I gave it to you, he will definitely return it to me.”
“It will be kept a secret.” Meng Chuan nodded. “But your estrangement…” “Sigh, it’s mainly because of my father’s temper. The Xue family owes my younger brother a lot.” Xue Feng sighed again before saying, “Thank you for your help. I’ll take my leave first. I have to leave Archean Mountain immediately and return to defend the city.”
Meng Chuan nodded and watched Xue Feng leave.
The next morning, Meng Chuan went to the Treasure Repository to visit Elder Yi.
“Junior Brother Meng.” Elder Yi warmly welcomed Meng Chuan and led him into a tea room. Elder Yi sat cross-legged and brewed some tea for Meng Chuan. “Have some tea.”
“I’m here because I want all Black Metal Sutras and Heaven-level techniques that involve the lightning lineage,” said Meng Chuan. “I want to read them. By the way, I don’t need the Heart Intent Saber and World Roving Dragon Saber.”
“Oh?” Elder Yi hesitated for a moment. “Junior Brother Meng, are you sure you want all of them? Archean Mountain has a long history. We have plenty of Heaven-level lightning lineage techniques.” “All of them,” said Meng Chuan. “Alright.” Elder Yi stood up. “I’ll go look for them. Wait for me here.”
After a while, Elder Yi returned to the tea room after Meng Chuan finished his cup of tea.
“Archean Mountain has a total of eight Black Metal Sutras involving the lightning lineage. You don’t need the Heart Intent Saber or World Roving Dragon Saber. The remaining six techniques are here.” Elder Yi placed six black metal plates on the table. They looked ordinary and didn’t have any illustrations. With a wave of his hand, piles of black books appeared beside him. The number of books was astonishing.
“These are the Heaven-level techniques of the lightning lineage,” said Elder Yi solemnly. “Heaven-level techniques are only at the Dharma Domain level. At most, one or two moves will reach the Grotto-Heaven realm. Therefore, they didn’t have the luxury of using Meteorite Metal for legacy impartation. The number of times that a legacy can impart intent guidance is naturally limited. Each instance of intent guidance will deplete the intent legacy. After about 20 instances of intent guidance, the intent legacy will be depleted.
“Therefore, readers need to be very careful.” Elder Yi looked at Meng Chuan. “If there’s no need, it’s best you don’t read it. Read it only when there’s a need! After reading it, you will be obligated to write a new legacy if you master it.”
Meng Chuan nodded. Legacies were obviously very precious.
“These are the lightning lineage Heaven-level techniques that contain intent legacies. There are 322 books in total. There are also books here that have depleted intent legacies; they only have textual descriptions. There are 619 of them.” Elder Yi waved his hand again, and a large pile of books appeared beside him.
“By the way, why do you suddenly want to read so many manuals?” Elder Yi asked curiously. “These manuals are filled with all kinds of different things. Many of them aren’t the same as yours.”
“I just want to read them,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. After seeing the purple lightning and painting the Fifteen Lightning Forms, he had a good understanding of lightning. Only a portion of the knowledge from the Heart Intent Saber and the World Roving Dragon Saber was usable to him. Now, he wanted to draw upon the wisdom of his seniors and lay the foundation for his future cultivation. Only by standing on the shoulders of his predecessors could he see further.“Alright, you can read them if you want to.” Elder Yi pointed at the six Black Metal Sutras. “These six Black Metal Sutras are spear techniques, hammer techniques, movement techniques, sword techniques, and so on. They aren’t saber techniques. Archean Mountain also doesn’t have the original copy of Lightning Devastator Saber.”
Meng Chuan nodded. It didn’t matter if it was a saber art or not. What he wanted was the profundities contained in the lightning lineage techniques.
“These manuals are important. Archean Mountain only has one copy for many of them,” said Elder Yi. “I’ll arrange a courtyard for you at the library. You can rest in the courtyard and read these manuals. Return them to me after reading them.”
“Don’t worry.” Meng Chuan nodded. This was a collection accumulated thanks to the sect’s long history.
Manuals were the core of a sect. These Heaven-level techniques’ intent legacies would be depleted after they were used more than 20 times. If disciples were allowed to cultivate anything they wanted, dozens of disciples were enough to deplete the intent legacies. Therefore, there were various restrictions when it came to learning. One had to ensure that the people that used the intent legacies could master the technique and produce new legacies. Only by doing things this way could it be passed down for generations.
Whoosh. Meng Chuan waved his hand and put away all the manuals. “Elder Yi, please lead the way,” said Meng Chuan with a smile.
“Actually, it’s not a good thing to read too many manuals.” Elder Yi walked in front and muttered, “Just follow what you are good at. Reading too much unrelated stuff can sometimes serve to confuse you.”
Meng Chuan didn’t say a word. From his point of view, these manuals were all ‘nutrients’ that allowed him to advance in the lightning lineage.
