Divine Transcendence

"You really are a cunning fox, thinking so highly of yourself! The materials in the public area on the first floor are all common knowledge, like the "Bai Cao Ji" and "Illustrated Guide to Dangerous Beasts" that I gave you before. If you want to access confidential information or secret techniques, you have to go to the second floor and exchange with the elder in charge," Zhao Tong raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Exchange? Does it require a lot of contribution points?" Yuan Ming asked.

"It depends on the specific situation. The contribution points required for exchange vary depending on the value of the information. Generally, the secret techniques for the Qi Refining stage require about ten contribution points, while the secret techniques for the Foundation Establishment stage usually require more than three hundred contribution points. And, each borrowing time cannot exceed three hours," Zhao Tong continued.

"Three hours..." Yuan Ming pondered.

"It’s usually difficult for anyone to remember a secret technique within three hours, so they need to spend additional contribution points to exchange for a copy. Generally, copying a secret technique for the Qi Refining stage requires one hundred contribution points, while copying a secret technique for the Foundation Establishment stage requires one thousand contribution points. This may be a problem for others, but it’s nothing for you," Zhao Tong looked deeply at Yuan Ming and said.

He was deeply impressed and envious of Yuan Ming’s ability to remember things at a glance.

If he had such an ability, why would he need to spend extra money to buy copies of these complicated and strange emotional biographies and supernatural novels?

"Are there only secret techniques on the second floor? What about cultivation techniques?" Yuan Ming nodded thoughtfully and asked.

"Cultivation techniques are the foundation of a sect. As far as I know, there are not many options available within the sect, and they are extremely expensive. Most people choose to cultivate the orthodox technique of the sect, the "Biluo Technique," and won’t spend a lot of money to exchange for others. Um... by the beginning of next month, the copies of the "Biluo Technique" should be distributed along with your contribution points, and you will be able to get them then," Zhao Tong said.

After listening to his words, Yuan Ming finally understood the rules of the Repository Pavilion and couldn’t help but ponder.

"Alright, I said I would find a solution for you. If you don’t have any contribution points at the moment, I can lend you five points," Zhao Tong looked at Yuan Ming, his eyes turning mischievous as he said with a smile.

"What are the conditions?" Yuan Ming asked without surprise.

"Very straightforward... consider it as interest. You will return me seven points at the beginning of next month, how about that?" Zhao Tong rubbed his hands and grinned.

"That’s fine, not too demanding. Okay," Yuan Ming nodded.

Zhao Tong then took Yuan Ming’s waist token and knocked it against his own. After a flash of light, he returned the waist token to Yuan Ming.

"Take a look," Zhao Tong said.

"How do I look?" Yuan Ming felt a little embarrassed at the words.

He had always been in a semi-nurtured state on the side of the Fire Refining Hall. Those guys who only knew how to refine embryos had no time to deal with other matters, so no one had told him how to use the waist token.

Although he had seen Le Gong operate it once before, he hadn’t had the chance to ask in detail before being driven down the mountain.

"You really... forget it, let me explain patiently. Hold the waist token in your hand, immerse your mind, and slightly focus your attention on the waist token," Zhao Tong explained with some exasperation.

Yuan Ming followed his instructions and concentrated his mind on the waist token. He immediately felt some textual information coming from inside, recording his name, the mark of the Fire Refining Hall he belonged to, and the additional five contribution points.

"How does it feel? " Zhao Tong’s voice sounded.

Yuan Ming nodded.

"In the future, when you need to trade contribution points, you can also use the waist token to make contact and control it with your thoughts."

"Hehe, as the saying goes, you can’t read a book without borrowing it. Using borrowed contribution points to borrow, it can also motivate you! Speaking of which, Senior Brother is doing this for your own good," Zhao Tong laughed.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhao. I will return it as promised at the beginning of next month," Yuan Ming sincerely thanked him.

For the other party to trust him and lend him contribution points based on their previous acquaintance in the Toad Valley, it was quite rare in a sect like the Biluo Cave.

Afterwards, the two chatted casually for a while, discussing the locations of their respective residences, and then waved goodbye.

When Yuan Ming arrived at the Repository Pavilion, he realized that it was already closed as it was past the hour of the Dog. He could only give up and plan to come back the next day.

By the time he returned to his residence in the Fire Refining Hall, it was already midnight.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, obscuring the moonlight.

Yuan Ming sat down by the bed and did not continue to cultivate the "Death Moon Method," but began to cultivate the "Nine Elements Method."

Compared to the slow progress of the Death Moon Method, the Nine Elements Method was steadily growing, which was a comforting thing for him.

However, Yuan Ming vaguely noticed that perhaps because he had advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining, the progress of the Nine Elements Method seemed to have slowed down slightly.

If this was true, then it would probably become more difficult as his cultivation progressed.

...

After a night of cultivation, Yuan Ming felt refreshed and full of energy. He went to the Fire Forge earlier than usual.

Fang Ge, who was accustomed to coming to the Fire Forge an hour earlier, looked at Yuan Ming’s figure swinging the hammer from a distance, and a rare smile appeared on his serious face as he nodded silently.

He was quite approving of Yuan Ming’s perseverance. Most of the newly recruited disciples nowadays were somewhat impetuous and couldn’t calm down, which gave him a headache.But every time Yuan Ming ran out of strength after three hundred or so hammer strikes, he couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head, leaving in disappointment.

While the spirit of trying again after failure is commendable, there should be some progress.

Yuan Ming naturally didn’t notice the good intentions of his senior brother Fang Ge, his mind was elsewhere.

When it was early in the afternoon, he finished his hammering for the day and left the forge, heading straight for the Repository with great excitement.

After registering at the entrance and paying a small contribution, Yuan Ming leisurely walked into the Repository.

As soon as he stepped into the main hall, he saw a black and red wooden spiral staircase about ten meters ahead, leading up to the second floor.

Centered around the staircase were rows of dark red, semi-circular tables and benches, where disciples from various halls were quietly reading.

Yuan Ming’s gaze swept over the area, noticing a circular passage outside the tables and chairs. Against the wall outside the passage were bookshelves filled with books.

He walked over to the bookshelf on his right and looked up, seeing wooden plaques hanging at intervals, labeled with categories such as "Herbs", "Miscellaneous Records", "Strange Tales", "Exotic Customs", "Geography", "Novels", and so on.

As he walked along the passage, Yuan Ming finally found the "Basic Manual of Spirit Beast Breeding" under the "Beasts" category, and immediately took it off the shelf.

He found a quiet spot to sit down, opened the book, and began to read.

Yuan Ming read slowly but with intense focus, his eyes glued to the pages, his fingers turning the pages every fifteen breaths in a regular rhythm.

When he finished the last page, he closed the book and began to recall the contents with his eyes closed.

This process was very quick, and in just a few moments, he had reviewed all the content.

It turned out that a qualified beast tamer not only needs to be good at capturing and taming spirit beasts, but also needs to master the art of breeding and raising them.

According to the book, most spirit beasts are captured and tamed in the first generation, and the second and third generations are usually bred and raised.

These descendants, raised from a young age, are more human-like and easier to tame, but the downside is that they lack wildness and are generally weaker.

After all, the more generations a spirit beast is bred, the thinner the bloodline of the first generation becomes, and the less wildness it has, making it far less powerful than the first generation captured and tamed. Therefore, after three or four generations, the bloodline is usually cut off and a new beast is captured and tamed.

However, if one can capture a young spirit beast with a pure bloodline, that would be the best subject for taming and training, balancing human-likeness and strength, and often awakening some talents more easily when grown up.

But such young beasts are very rare, and the Fire Glutton owned by the third cave master is one of them, no wonder he treasures it so much.

The content of the "Basic Manual of Spirit Beast Breeding" in Yuan Ming’s hand mainly focuses on the physical development and beastly cultivation of young spirit beasts.

The biggest requirement is to maintain a balance, ensuring that the spirit beast’s wildness and affinity are within a reasonable range, neither too close to humans and lacking aggression, nor too wild and attacking its master.

The book also categorizes different types of spirit beasts and outlines the general dietary rules for each attribute.

This classification is somewhat similar to the division of spiritual power attributes among human cultivators, but spirit beasts, due to their bloodlines, are usually more pure and generally have only a single attribute.

For example, green wolves are mostly wind attribute, excelling in speed, and their attacks are mainly wind blades, while black bears are mostly metal attribute, excelling in armor breaking, and their attacks are mainly claw marks and tears.

The Fire Glutton is obviously fire attribute, but there must be something else special about it.

After reading the "Basic Manual of Spirit Beast Breeding", Yuan Ming returned the book and picked a few more related books from the shelf, starting to flip through them page by page.

About two hours later, he had read almost half of the books about spirit beasts on the shelf.

When he found that the repeated content in the last few books had reached three or four tenths, Yuan Ming decided not to continue reading other books. The content he could read for free was probably just that.

However, with his photographic memory and his decent understanding of beast taming, he had gained a relatively comprehensive understanding of the way of beast taming and the situation of spirit beasts, which was enough for him at the moment.