Strands of spiritual energy surged along the meridians towards the dantian.

In the dantian, it condensed into a ball of spiritual radiance, slowly merging into the five viscera.

The transplant process was swift, accompanied by an alternating sensation of hot and cold that was surprisingly comfortable.

Perhaps it was due to the Five Elemental Forces inherent in the spiritual roots.

Finally, after a while, the spiritual radiance completely disappeared, and the five viscera and six bowels returned to tranquility, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

He slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze was deep and profound, losing much of its previous naive clarity.

At this moment, he felt his body become light, as if he had been reborn.

Main Peak · Daoist Field (Training Ground)

Looking around, countless disciples gathered.

"Well fought, well fought indeed!"

"Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Wang's sparring is always the most entertaining. Our Main Peak is sure to take the top spot in this year's Grand Competition."

"It's still hard to say. Gongsun Ying from Sitting Dao Peak and Ye Tian from Qianyun Peak have both reached the late stage of the Golden Elixir. These two are like prodigies, breaking through two minor realms in just half a year."

Some people analyzed objectively.

The Sect Grand Competition is held every year, and disciples from all peaks can participate. On one hand, it tests the strength of the disciples from each peak, and on the other, it involves the distribution of some benefits.

The better a peak performs, the more rewards it receives in the latter half of the year.

Last year, Qianyun Peak sent their top disciples Duan Shuyun and Mu Liuxi, who almost crushed the other six peaks.

As a result, Meng Yutong had the opportunity to seize a chance to enter the Nation-Destroying Secret Realm.

But this year, Duan Shuyun went out for training and couldn't return, so the burden fell on Ye Tian, Mu Liuxi, and Yun Yao.

Lin Heng was just passing by and didn't intend to join the excitement, but unexpectedly, someone recognized him.

"Hey! Look, isn't that Lin Heng?"

Lin Heng's name spread throughout the sect from the day he returned to his ancestral roots.

Some disciples had even seen him before.

"It really is him!"

"Hey! What are you doing at the Main Peak? The Sect Master is still in seclusion, you won't be able to see him."

The speaker was a chubby man.

This person was named Du Yan, the nephew of the Main Peak's elder, and he had secured a position as the administrator of the Scripture Repository.

[So it's the fat nerd by Ye Tian's side.]

Lin Heng felt a bit speechless, not understanding why the protagonist always had a chubby sidekick.

Because they were honest and reliable?

Since he encountered him, he couldn't pretend not to see him.

He would need this chubby guy later to get the techniques from the Scripture Repository.

Lin Heng turned around and smiled slightly.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Du. I was just heading to the Scripture Repository and didn't expect to meet you here."

According to the original plot, Du Yan had already started interacting with Ye Tian, but hadn't yet become his sidekick.

Seeing him speak politely, Du Yan was a bit surprised and said, "You know me?"

"I've heard about Senior Brother Du from our senior sister, and it's a rare opportunity to meet you today."

"Oh..." Du Yan nodded, "You just said you were going to the Scripture Repository to select techniques?"

"Exactly!"

"Do you have a secret order?"

"I do."

Lin Heng took out the wooden token given by Meng Yutong and showed it.

Immediately, the surrounding disciples watching the commotion gasped.

"An Elder's Secret Order, he actually got an Elder's Secret Order!"

"Hmm? Are there different types of secret orders?"

Lin Heng looked at the wooden token in his hand, puzzled.

Du Yan coughed twice, suppressed his shock, and waved his hand, saying, "If that's the case, then follow me."

After about five minutes, the two arrived at the Scripture Repository. Seeing that Lin Heng still had questions, Du Yan explained:

"The Scripture Repository has nine levels, each corresponding to a grade of techniques. The higher the level, the higher the quality and completeness of the techniques."

"The Elder's Secret Order in your hand allows you to bypass any restrictions and freely enter levels 1 to 9."

"I must say, your master really cares for his disciples. Even a newcomer like you can directly use an Elder's Secret Order."

"Even I can only select techniques from levels 1 to 4."

Du Yan said enviously.

Lin Heng suddenly understood.

So there are different levels of secret orders. A Common Secret Order only allows selection of basic techniques on the first level, while the next level up allows access to levels 1 to 4.

The highest level is the Elder's Secret Order, also known as the Clearance Token.

[Not bad, Master really handled this well!]

Lin Heng glanced around and went straight to the second level.

The Scripture Repository was oval-shaped, with various scrolls arranged neatly. Fortunately, each area was marked with special characters, so he didn't have to grope around blindly.

Elixir, Artifact Refining, Body Techniques, Attribute Techniques, Miscellaneous

Roughly divided into five categories, each with many subcategories.

Body Techniques, as the name suggests, are related to physical cultivation, with countless martial arts and leg techniques.

In the original plot, since he didn't have spiritual roots, he could only practice the simplest qi exercises.

In actual combat, not only was the damage low, but prolonged use almost made his bones fall apart.

Now he possessed mutated Five Element Spiritual Roots, meaning he could cultivate techniques related to the five elemental attributes.

In Qi Refining, a cultivator draws spiritual energy to fill the dantian, forming a vast pathway within the body, storing spiritual energy in the limbs and bones, achieving the purpose of cleansing the marrow and transforming the body.

A book in the wood attribute section caught Lin Heng's attention.

"Azure Emperor's Spirit-Devouring Art"

Flipping through the Heaven-Penetrating Compendium in his mind, he found no information about this book.

The Azure Emperor might be the author.

But he naturally understood the meaning of the three words "Spirit-Devouring Art."

These three words often indicated a technique that assisted in absorbing spiritual energy.

To quickly retrieve information about it, Lin Heng immediately tossed it into the System Space without hesitation.

As expected, the system seemed to activate an automatic scan and directly displayed the relevant information.

[Technique: Azure Emperor's Spirit-Devouring Art]

[Grade: Fourth Tier]

[Attribute: Wood]

[Description: A vastly underestimated technique. If one can unblock all 108 acupoints, they will possess extraordinary cultivation speed.]

"Why is there a fourth-tier technique on the second level?"

Lin Heng found it a bit strange.

He took out a few other techniques that assisted in devouring spiritual energy and tossed them into the System Space, all of which were second-tier.

Even the descriptions directly rated them as trash.

"Alright, alright, I'll take this 'Azure Emperor's Spirit-Devouring Art' and then go upstairs to check out the attribute techniques."

Lin Heng put away the technique and headed straight to the third level.

Starting from the third level, there were no basic qi techniques like the Spirit-Devouring Art, and attribute techniques dominated the selection.

"Wow, the third level clearly has twice as many techniques as the second level!"

"There are quite a few disciples too."

"They're probably here to get free techniques."

The Scripture Repository had a rule that each person could only take away three techniques.

But this didn't stop them from staying in the Scripture Repository and browsing through the books.

This library-like operation mode was quite humane.

[Technique: "Ten-Zhang Golden Body"]

[Grade: Third Tier]

[Attribute: Gold]

[Description: A method for forging a golden body lost for a thousand years. Originally a tenth-tier divine skill, the current incomplete scroll can only cultivate up to a Three-Zhang golden body.]

(Proofreader: Zhang is a unit of length in China.  1 zhang = 3 meters)

"This is quite good. The golden body, being extremely firm and yang, will greatly help me refine the gold attribute of my spiritual roots to the utmost."

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"Although the Golden Wheel Technique is more complete, its prerequisites are demanding and time-consuming. Even if the Ten-Zhang Golden Body is incomplete, it was once a tenth-tier divine skill."

Cultivating immortality is also a process of self-realization. Perhaps he could use his extraordinary comprehension to complete the latter half of the technique.

Or even innovate.

Just as he picked up the "Ten-Zhang Golden Body" and was about to turn and leave, he noticed someone standing behind him.

[Whoa, where did this little potato come from?]

Lin Heng looked at the girl in front of him, who was only as tall as his shoulder, and was startled into taking a step back.

"Potato..."

"Oops! I mean, little girl, how come you walk so quietly? If I bump into you, don't blame me."

"Little girl?" The girl chuckled with annoyance. She had lived for hundreds of years and was being called a little girl by a young man barely over twenty in bone age.

It truly turned the world upside down!