Chapter 1990: The Elder's Library

"You..."

Unexpectedly, the gourd was so ferocious; with one gulp it swallowed the peak-level immortal lord sword. Zhang Xuan, furious, rushed forward, grabbed an axe, and hacked fiercely: "Spit it out!"

This sword was his best tool for self-preservation. If it were truly swallowed, the loss would be incomparable!

As for this thing... utterly unreliable, completely untrustworthy!

"A broken sword, acting all high and mighty here—better let me eat it..."

The gourd wriggled.

"Spit it out now, or believe me, you won't get a single bite from me again..." Zhang Xuan was about to explode with anger.

What the heck!

All day long, all it knows is eating!

Still, though annoyed, he was inwardly shocked.

He had always thought this gourd was utterly unreliable, at most its bathwater could heal injuries, otherwise useless. Who knew it could swallow even an immortal lord-level weapon in one gulp!

Being able to do that—didn't it mean... it was a weapon even stronger than an immortal lord?

Seeing the master so resolute, the gourd hesitated, then shook lightly and reluctantly spat out the Tongshang Sword.

It had no choice; what this master would give in the future would surely be more than what came from swallowing a single sword.

It knew how to choose.

Not to mention other things, just the true qi that could quickly restore it was something no sword could compare to.

"Who are you..."

The spat-out Tongshang Sword was terrified.

A peak immortal lord-level long sword, a famous weapon under heaven, had been swallowed by... a gourd!

The thought alone made it shudder.

"If you don't acknowledge the master, believe me, I'll eat you again and shit you out as a lump of dung..."

The gourd was displeased.

"I..."

Trembling for a moment, the Tongshang Sword suddenly became full of righteousness: "The moment I saw the master, I knew he was extraordinary and wanted to acknowledge him immediately. What I did earlier was just a test!"

"..." Zhang Xuan held his forehead.

He didn't expect an immortal lord-level weapon to be so shameless!

Soon, the acknowledgment was complete. Feeling the sword fully under his control, Zhang Xuan blinked.

It seemed... this gourd wasn't just freeloading; it had some use after all!

Although, with the flaws revealed by the library, he could eventually refine the Tongshang Sword, it certainly wouldn't have been this smooth!

"An immortal lord-level sword is too powerful; even with the Divine Sword Intent, I can't fully drive it..."

Having refined the sword, he finally understood how terrifying the Tongshang Sword truly was.

No wonder it hadn't wanted to acknowledge him as master.

With his strength at the Void Immortal realm, he was hardly more than an ant before it.

In fact, with his current power, he couldn't even unleash one percent of its might.

Even so, with this sword, if he caught someone off guard, he could even slay an immortal lord!

Thus, below the immortal lord realm, killing him was nearly impossible! Even immortal lords didn't need to be overly feared.

He truly had the ability to protect his life.

"Withdraw!"

With a thought, the sword was stored into his ring.

"You did well this time. I'll buy some elixirs for you as a reward."

He looked at the gourd with satisfaction.

If not for this thing, he couldn't have refined it so quickly; it had rendered great service.

After soothing the gourd a few words, he stored it back into his dantian and walked out of the room again.

Knowing that Luo Ruoxi might be a deity, his pressure had grown even greater; he had to improve his cultivation as quickly as possible.

Now that he had broken through to the peak of Void Immortal about an hour ago... it was time to find books and read, striving to break through quickly!

Once he reached the True Immortal realm, with the purity of his Heavenly Dao true qi, the Divine Sword Intent, and the Tongshang Sword, he could even fight an immortal lord.

Leaving the courtyard, he borrowed a flying sacred beast from Bai Ruanqing and flew toward the elder's peak.

Most books in the inner disciple library were below the Void Immortal realm, and those in the core disciple library were almost all below the True Immortal realm. To see True Immortal or even Immortal Lord cultivation techniques, he had to go to the elder's library.

Arriving there, he took out the identity token given by Han Jianqiu and successfully entered.

The elder's library was not as grand as the core disciple's; it was a two-story small pavilion with a few sparse bookshelves.

Frowning slightly, Zhang Xuan looked around.

True Immortal cultivation techniques were indeed inside, but not many in number.

Soon, they were stored into the library.

"Only six hundred plus?"

Zhang Xuan stopped.

In the elder's library, there were only over six hundred True Immortal cultivation techniques, far short of a thousand.

He went up to the second floor.

There were Immortal Lord cultivation techniques, but even fewer... only a dozen or so.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan was troubled.

For others, cultivating meant picking one technique and studying it hard. But he needed more books to form a Heavenly Dao technique and continue...

To be honest, over six hundred True Immortal techniques—only a large sect like Lingyun Sword Pavilion could provide that many; it was already a lot... but for him, it was still far from enough!

"Correct!"

With a thought, the True Immortal techniques converged into a single manual. Opening it, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

As expected, there were too many errors—seven in total!

A technique with only seven errors would be a peerless manual for others, but he couldn't cultivate it.

"Looks like I need to find enough manuals..."

He rubbed his brow.

To eliminate all seven flaws, he would need at least three to four hundred True Immortal techniques. Buying such manuals would cost who knows how much; the sword pavilion coins he had just earned were certainly not enough.

After circling a few more times and storing all the books in the library into his mind, he found that he still couldn't form a Heavenly Dao technique. Helpless, he had to walk out.

As he flew back, he pondered.

A True Immortal, in a place like Lingyun Sword Pavilion, could be an inner elder. Even among core disciples, few reached this level... In the entire continent, they were considered a local power!

In the Master Teacher Continent, they could rival a Great Sage.

Reaching such a level, techniques were scarce—that was normal... Finding over six hundred already showed the strength of Lingyun Sword Pavilion.

But... if he couldn't gather enough, he couldn't cultivate.

Having him cultivate a technique with seven flaws would be worse than death!

"The token Master Kong gave me can be used to buy any elixir for breakthrough... I wonder if it can buy techniques!"

A thought struck him.

According to Sect Leader Han Jianqiu, the token Master Kong gave could be used to buy any elixir for breakthrough, with unlimited credit... Could it be used to buy True Immortal techniques?

He couldn't afford them before, but with this thing, he could buy freely!

Thinking of this, his eyes lit up, but soon he smiled bitterly: "I need to leave Lingyun Sword Pavilion..."

This token couldn't be used inside Lingyun Sword Pavilion; to truly use it, he had to go to the Divine Communication Hall outside the pavilion.

"Let me ask first..."

Returning to the courtyard, seeing Bai Ruanqing still there, Zhang Xuan approached: "Do you know... which town is closest to the Sword Pavilion? Is there a Divine Communication Hall there?"

"You want to go out?"

Bai Ruanqing was startled.

"I'm thinking about it..."

Zhang Xuan didn't deny it.

"The closest town to the Sword Pavilion is called Wuhai City, about three thousand li from here. It's named for its proximity to the Wuhai Sea. The city is large, considered first-rate, and has a Divine Communication Hall!" Bai Ruanqing said.

"Not too far..."

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Three thousand li—a flying sacred beast could cover it in a little over an hour, quite close.

"It's not far, but... the Sword Pavilion doesn't allow disciples to leave casually. If you really want to go, it might take a lot of effort, even requiring review by the Elder Hall. Without a few days, it can't be done!"

Bai Ruanqing explained.

"A few days?" Zhang Xuan frowned. That long was indeed troublesome: "If disciples have such trouble leaving, what about elders? Can they leave freely?"

"No, elders also cannot leave the sect without special reasons..." Bai Ruanqing explained: "Unless..."

Her grandfather was one of the three great elders, Elder Bai Ye, so she knew the sect rules well.

"Unless what?"

"Unless you go out on a mission! In that case, whether elder or disciple, you can leave easily without being hindered!" Bai Ruanqing said.

"Mission?"

"Whether inner or core disciples, when they run out of sword pavilion coins, they go to the Mission Hall to take missions. With a mission token, you can leave the sect at any time without restriction!"

Bai Ruanqing explained.

Zhang Xuan understood.

He had heard about earning money through missions before, but thought it too slow and hadn't done it.

"Uncle-Master, if you really want to go out, I can take a mission, and we can go to Wuhai City together!"

Bai Ruanqing smiled.

She had long wanted to leave the sect and explore, but her grandfather had always forbidden it. Although she had taken many missions that left the sect, she hadn't gone far. If she went with Uncle-Master this time, her grandfather surely wouldn't stop her.

Wuhai City, the most prosperous city near Lingyun Sword Pavilion, she had heard of it for a long time and wanted to go.

"Then take a mission, and we'll go together..."

Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.

It would be inconvenient for him to take a mission with his identity; Bai Ruanqing could solve that problem.

"Let's go!"

Seeing him agree, Bai Ruanqing jumped onto the beast's back, and the two flew straight toward the Mission Hall.

The Mission Hall was where Lingyun Sword Pavilion assigned tasks, with levels and sword pavilion coin rewards based on difficulty.

Entering, they searched for a while and found many missions to Wuhai City.

Missions to Wuhai City were generally difficult, but the rewards were tempting.

"Wuhai City Wuhai Trading Company, appraisal mission, worth thirty sword pavilion coins! Let's take this one..."

After choosing for a while, Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

Other missions required a lot of time and effort; this one was just appraisal, which should be very easy. Completing it wouldn't delay his visit to the Divine Communication Hall.