Treasury Hall

Yu Ming prefers the [Earthbound Codex] and [Heartstone Hymn Sutra] over the other two once he sees the costs; the Codex is 1460 tokens, while the Sutra is 1520 tokens.

Yu Ming infers that a higher cost may mean a more powerful cultivation manual. Waiting for Zhang Xin to ask for her opinion, Yu Ming waits for an hour before he starts getting restless.

Feeling like Zhang Xin will take a while, Yu Ming goes around, checking out other sections of cultivation manuals.

Passing by the five element sections, Yu Ming sees some new sections. Yu Ming never knew there were lightning and wind elements.

Going through the Lightning section, Yu Ming finds that some of the Lightning cultivation manuals have high destructive potential.

Like [Nine Tribulation Lightning Art]. Or [Roaring Thunder Art]. Each had amazing Daoist magic.

Yu Ming continues reading and briefly goes through the other sections until he spots a man sitting on the floor, reading one of the manuals.

As Yu Ming looks at the man, hesitant to approach, the man suddenly turns around and looks Yu Ming right in the eye, saying, "Hey kid. Need me for something?".

Initially scared out of his mind, Yu Ming approaches the man once he calms down.

"I was just perusing through the section. I wanted someone to help me select my manual."

"Heh. I'm not sure I would be so open-minded, but to each their own, I guess. I won't poke into your business, but you better ask some of the seniors here. They love showing off to their juniors. I never asked, and so here I am again. Oh, and I am Wu Ming. "

"Thanks, Senior Brother Wu Ming. I am Yu Ming, an Outer Sect disciple who joined yesterday."

"Oh.. uh, I am an Inner Sect disciple, Wu Ming. Run along, kid; I need some private time here."

Wu Ming seemed embarrassed by Yu Ming's introduction and quickly shooed him away. Yu Ming didn't particularly notice, as he was much more interested in getting expert opinions on his manual selection.

Yu Ming starts to approach the elderly man at the counter, but he seems to lose his nerve by the time he is near him.

'Well... I don't need to bother an elderly person. Let's just ask a senior here.'

Looking around the stern seniors, Yu Ming finds himself at a loss for who to ask, until he notices a group of three seniors enters, nod at the others, and only bow to the elderly man before entering as a group.

Yu Ming quickly follows and approaches them, as they look more friendly than the other seniors guarding the Hall.

Deciding that being respectful and direct would go a long way, Yu Ming bows as he states his purpose, "Greetings, seniors! This is Junior Yu Ming, I just joined yesterday and wanted some expert opinions on which manual to select."

Of the two men in the group, a white-haired man with a handsome face and a longsword and the other one with a muscular and tanned body with a scar-covered face, the scarred man replies, "Alright, sure. I can help; Junior Sister Mei is the one who wants to redeem a technique anyway."

The white-haired man interjects, "My name is Lei Yong. The ape is Wang Yan, and the beautiful girl is my sister, Lei Mei. We are all Inner Sect disciples.

We aren't in any hurry, so why don't you show us what manuals you are considering?"

The four move back outside, and this time, Yu Ming feels that a lot of seniors are closer to the door. Not thinking much of it, Yu Ming shows the four manuals to them.

Once the three look over the manuals, Wang Yan asks in surprise," Why do you have only Earth element manuals? You do know that following all your elements will improve your cultivation speed?"

"I have only one element, it's earth."

Wang Yan does a double take at Yu Ming before concentrating on the manuals. Lei Mei is the first to speak, "You should choose between [Heartsone Hymn Sutra] or [Geomantic Earth Records]. The sutra is probably more powerful, but [Geomantic Earth Records] are more basic and will provide a great foundation for any earth elemental arts you decide to learn."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Before Yu Ming can reply, Wang Yan cuts through, "[Geomantic Earth Records] is trash! So what if he has refined and pure Qi? He's a man, he has the earth element; clearly, he is meant to walk on a body cultivation path. Yu Ming, if you take [Stoneforge Art], I guarantee you will have a muscular body when you grow up. Also, girls love body cultivators."

Wang Yan whispers the last part conspiratorially as Lei Yong drags him back and takes over.

"You both are pushing your ideals too much on their poor boy. Yu Ming, do not listen to them. [Geomantic Earth Records] will give you a very refined Earth Qi, so any Earth arts you cultivate will have much more power. But you also won't be able to learn other neutral arts as you have only Earth Qi. My best suggestion is not to take this or [Stoneforge Tablets], as that has the same problem with Earth Qi, but [Stoneforge Tablets] won't even give you refined Qi."

"The [Earthbound Codex] is good and balanced. I think it's a great choice over the remaining [Heartstone Hymn Sutra] because it has Buddhist influence. I don't think you want to become a bald monk, right?"

Before Lei Yong can convince him why he should take [Earthbound Codex] further, someone pulls him back.

"Now, now. Junior Brother Lei Yong, I can't let that slide. [Heartstone Hymn Sutra] definitely won't make you one of those bald asses. Also, you say [Earthbound Codex] is balanced, but [Heartstone Hymn Sutra] can do whatever it can!"

Lei Yong shook the hand off with a harrumph, "Everyone knows that your cluster loves these types of arts! Your people are too biased, don't corrupt the boy."

As the two get into a verbal fight, Yu Ming watches another senior come over to placate everyone. "Alright, enough, Junior Brother Zheng, Junior Brother Lei. Stop embarrassing yourselves in front of a junior. We should just ask Senior Liao! His knowledge is renowned through the Sect."

Yu Ming certainly didn't expect the senior to not placate the group while also adding fire to the situation. Yu Ming deeply regrets asking anything as he bows in front of the counter alongside his seniors.

The old man doesn't respond and just cracks open his eyes to glance at the manuals before declaring, "[Heartstone Hymn Sutra]"

Lei Yong grits his teeth and asks the elder when the others give him a mocking smile, "Elder Liao, Junior is dull; please enlighten me!"

Yu Ming feels like his soul is seen through as Elder Liao opens his blurry eyes to look straight at him.

"Select the Sutra. You have an affinity for this art. Come and meet me again if you enter the Stupa of Nirvana. Now, Leave."

Elder Liao emphasizes the last part while giving Lei Yong a warning glance.

Yu Ming finds himself dragged out by his seniors as he asks, "What is the Stupa of Nirvana?"

Lei Yong snaps back from his shock while giving him a complicated glance. "It is a Legacy site of our Sect." Lei Yong sighs and walks away without another word as his sister gives him an explanation, "Don't overthink the issue. Brother has complicated feelings regarding it, but I feel like you should just be happy. Elder Liao must think you have a good chance, or he would never say that. Just take the sutra. Goodbye."

Wang Yan simply smacked his back good-naturedly while saying, "Search for Wang Yan at Grey Iron Peak if you need something. Also, those two are making a big deal of nothing, just do your own thing. Goodbye, kid, we have places to be."

Taking the [Heartstone Hymn Sutra], Yu Ming looks at his remaining 3180 tokens and wonders if he should go for something else when he sees Zhang Xin finally arrive near the earth section with a tome already in her arms.

Waving the tome in her hand, Zhang Xin explains excitedly, "This is [Azureleaf Scripture]! A senior helped me select this, and it has all three elements in it!"

"You will never believe it, the senior was very nice. He helped me out according to my needs and didn't impose his ideas onto me."

Too tired to explain his story, Yu Ming just listens as Zhang Xin keeps explaining her encounter with a smile on her face until they finally separate to go to their respective residences.

Yu Ming's House

Yu Ming decides to cultivate for a while and gain some more awareness before thinking about how to use his remaining tokens.

Cultivation Room, Yu Ming's House

Seating in a meditative pose, Yu Ming opens the [Heartstone Hymn Sutra] and goes through the entire content 3–4 times, only starting to recite once he is sure he won't mispronounce or stutter during recitation.

As soon as he begins his recitation, to his horror, Yu Ming finds he cannot stop. The few wisps of Qi in his Lower Dantian seem to go crazy as they try to cycle through his body, causing him immense pain with each try.

More and more Qi is absorbed through his nose and mouth as they join the wisps to try and finish a cycle.

After ten minutes, as Yu Ming starts to feel bloated, the Qi finally pushes through the meridian and rushes inside the meridian, causing even more pain before it cycles back to the Dantian. Just as Yu Ming feels relieved that the pain is finally over, the Qi again starts cycling, only this time the pain is much more manageable.

As the Qi keeps cycling, the pain keeps getting lower and lower until Yu Ming doesn't feel anything but a cooling sensation and notices that his Qi has turned from grey to white, and the cycles stop once the Qi is white and pure.

Finally, Yu Ming stops reciting, looks at his body covered in brown and black liquid, and makes a break toward the washroom to clean everything off.