Chapter 289: Chapter 288: Scriptures Depository (Seeking Subscriptions)_1
The so-called contributions for the Green Wood Sect are similar to the "good deeds" in the Mysterious Heaven Sect.
Various Foundation Establishment cultivators complete tasks for the Green Wood Sect to earn contributions, which they then exchange for the cultivation resources they need.
Zheng Tie felt a bit awkward upon hearing this, knowing that he had tried to flatter but missed the mark, so he spoke no further.
Elder Qian was processing the affairs rapidly, "The two of you sirs are truly sincere about joining our sect?"
"Of course..."
Fang Xi replied calmly.
"The Green Wood Sect is the leading force in the Zhu Mu Kingdom; I aspire to achieve Core Formation and naturally can only join..." Tie Jiu answered with a determined look on his face.
"Very good..."
Elder Qian chuckled as he handed over two storage bags to the two men, "These are standard issue for Foundation Establishment executives... there is also an identity token, you just need to drip blood into it to activate the identification, then you won’t need someone to lead you in and out of Green Wood Sect in the future..."
Fang Xi took out two blood-red wooden tokens from the storage bag.
"Oh, right, there’s another one, which you will need to take back and offer it up in the Ancestor Hall," Elder Qian added seemingly offhandedly.
These large sects naturally all have their own methods to control their disciples.
Heart Demon oaths on the Dao of truth tend to take too long to come true and aren’t secure.
In the Green Wood Sect, it is custom for high-level cultivators to store their essence blood.
If there are incidents of desertion, this essence blood can be used for tracing and capture... even to employ the Demon Path’s Heart Subduing Secret Skill, directly dooming the betrayer to death.
Fang Xi pretended to be unaware and squeezed out two drops of fresh blood from his finger.
Of course, this blood was not his, but from the ’Human Pupa’s Skin’.
With the Divine Consciousness of a Core Formation cultivator, using Mirage Beads to play illusions in front of these people, even that late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator named Fu would not notice.
Humm! Humm!
Once the essence blood was obtained, the two wooden tokens shone with light, each revealing a lifelike phantom image, looking exactly like ’Cao Chongyun’!
"Hmm!"
Zheng Tie, along with Elder Qian and Fu, stared unblinkingly at the scene, and upon seeing the figures on the two tokens identical to Fang Xi, they finally nodded in approval.
On the other side, Tie Jiu had also completed the blood acknowledgment ritual.
"Good, these two tokens will be personally taken by me to the Ancestor Hall for safekeeping... Ah, in the past, when fellow daoists joined, our Green Wood Sect would have held a ceremony... and then they would meet Old Ancestor Qing in person, but now let’s keep things simple..."
Elder Qian sighed, but there was a closer tone in his voice as he spoke.
"We can just be summoned by Old Ancestor Qing later on... I’ve heard, after becoming a Foundation Establishment disciple of the sect, one can freely choose a cultivation technique or secret skill from the Sect’s Scriptures Depository?"
Tie Jiu inquired straightforwardly.
Wasn’t this the reason he joined the sect?
By joining the Green Wood Sect in tumultuous times, one could garner more attention and benefits!
As for danger?
A battle cultivator who has ascended to Foundation Establishment on his own fears nothing!
"Of course, not only that, the sect will also freely provide access to spiritual vein caves... Afterward, you can take your tokens to the Scriptures Depository to choose any one cultivation technique or secret skill, as for the caves, I will issue them..."
Elder Qian chuckled joyfully, taking out a jade plate.
After he infused it with magic power, lights flickered immediately, turning into a three-dimensional projection near Green Wood Forest.
In this three-dimensional land, the primary color was green, dotted with bright white lights of various sizes.
"These bright white lights designate the locations of the caves... the brighter the light, the better the spiritual energy," he explained.
"Additionally, the red ones indicate they already have owners and cannot be chosen..."
Elder Qian gestured with an inviting hand.
Fang Xi stepped forward, releasing his early-stage Foundation Establishment Divine Consciousness to scan the whole map.
’First, choose the best spiritual energy... then pick as remote a location as possible.’
’The Green Wood Sect is indeed wealthy... or should I say, previously too many Foundation Establishment cultivators died in battles? They actually have medium-grade third-order caves available?’
’Pity... it’s too close to Lu Qing’s ’Nourishing Origin Cave,’ which would make any actions inconvenient...’
Fang Xi showed an expression of interest and reached out to point.
But just as he was about to do so, a dark hand extended nearby, pointing at a medium-grade third-order cave: "This place is not bad, Tie Jiu quite likes it... Mr. Cao wouldn’t steal what others love, right?"
Tie Jiu looked at Fang Xi, his face full of defiance.
"Not at all, not at all, I haven’t made my choice yet..."
Fang Xi thought it over and ultimately chose a location that was quite secluded.
"Emerald Bamboo Forest?"
Elder Qian was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, "That place isn’t bad... Although the spiritual energy is a bit scarce, it’s still a third-order low-grade cave, and as compensation... the Spiritual Medicine Garden at the entrance of the cave is double the usual size."
After selecting the cave, Fu left with a smile on his face, proud of his new contribution points.
And Tie Jiu left in a hurry, seemingly eager to select a cultivation technique at the Scriptures Depository.
As an individual cultivator, Fang Xi was well aware of the hardships of not having advanced techniques.
He and Zheng Tie didn’t rush to leave but chatted idly with Elder Qian a bit more, and before parting, Fang Xi directly handed over a storage bag, "I have just reached Foundation Establishment and will need some quiet time for cultivation... Of course, since I am now a sect cultivator, I should naturally serve the sect. My talisman craftsmanship is quite decent..."
"I see..."
Elder Qian nodded with a smile, his Divine Consciousness sweeping over the Storage Bag. He couldn’t help feeling very satisfied, "Please rest assured, brother Cao... Our sect is involved in a myriad of affairs, and it’s not just the fact that newly joined Foundation Establishment cultivators are traditionally given ten years of leisure to become familiar with the sect. Even after ten years, the demand for talismans within our sect is high, and we are in urgent need of talents like you..."
"Thank you!"
Fang Xi bowed his hands in salute and then departed with Zheng Tie.
"Nephew... are you going to the Emerald Bamboo Forest first, or the Scriptures Depository?"
Zheng Tie stopped mid-air and asked with a smile.
"The Scriptures Depository... Although I already have a main cultivation skill and do not wish to change it, I am very interested in the secret skills of the sect."
Fang Xi answered with a smile.
"Oh? I see... I happen to have some matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave here."
Zheng Tie bowed and did not inquire about Fang Xi’s cultivation techniques.
After all, these are a cultivator’s ’privacy’!
...
"Green Wood Sect?"
"The Spiritual Vein of this sect is indeed not bad... more suitable for Wooden Element cultivation techniques."
Watching Zheng Tie leave, Fang Xi casually switched into the Foundation Establishment official attire provided by Elder Qian in the Storage Bag, then took out a jade slip map and leisurely flew towards the Scriptures Depository.
The Scriptures Depository was located in the southeastern corner of the Green Wood Sect, surrounded by huge Spiritual Trees.
These towering trees almost required three people to encircle them, each one lush with branches and leaves, enclosing an ancient and elegant Scriptures Depository within.
Fang Xi, without even the need for the vision of an Array Master, knew that this was surely an intricate set of arrays within arrays!
’The protective Great Array of the Green Wood Sect is a third-rank medium-tier ’Ten Thousand Sea Bamboo Forest Array’... It will require some effort for me to unravel. However, there’s no need to break it, as just activating an ’Earth-shaking Treasure Talisman’ within the array... would turn the entire Green Wood Forest upside down... and then Lu Qing wouldn’t be a match for me.’
’This is true infiltration... Once discovered, I’ll flip the table, and no one will be able to hold me back!’
With such strength, Fang Xi was naturally relaxed as he entered the Scriptures Depository.
"Halt, the Scriptures Depository is a restricted area..."
Two guardians, each holding a wooden plate, stood within the halo of light at the door. Seeing Fang Xi in Green Wood Sect Foundation Establishment attire, they started to speak out a warning, but upon some hesitation, they respectfully greeted him, "This elder..."
"This is my identity plaque... I have come to the Scriptures Depository to exchange for a secret skill."
Fang Xi had already decided that Cao Chongyun’s main cultivation technique would be the ’Green Wood Longevity Skills’.
After all, this skill was available in Baize Immortal City and the Wood Kingdom, widely spread indeed.
"It turns out to be Master Cao, please!"
After verifying the wooden plaque, the guardians nodded to each other and one waved the plaque.
The halo of light split open, revealing a passage just wide enough for a single person to pass through.
Fang Xi walked through and arrived outside the Scriptures Depository, just in time to see Tie Jiu walking out with a hint of joy on his face...
"Sir Tie..."
He nodded and smiled in greeting.
Tie Jiu’s expression became serious, he returned the nod and then left the Scriptures Depository.
Fang Xi shook his head and walked into the Scriptures Depository with his hands behind his back.
On the first floor of the Scriptures Depository, numerous bookshelves were arranged in the shape of the Eight Diagrams, with several wooden tables in the middle where the disciples of the Green Wood Sect were either reading or copying texts.
Without lingering, Fang Xi went straight to the second floor, where there were far fewer people.
Passing through required verification with an identity plaque, and the various inherited techniques also reached the Foundation Establishment level.
He first visited the technique area, casually browsing through.
"Wood Armor Skill, Qingyuan Spell, Green Wood Longevity Skills..."
Fang Xi’s eyes flickered as he picked up the Green Wood Longevity Skills technique and found only the Qi Refining part, noting that the follow-up sections needed to be exchanged at the elder in charge of the Scriptures Depository.
This was to be expected; he flipped through a few pages, saw it was consistent with what he had previously learned, and soon lost interest.
However, just as he was about to put the book down, Fang Xi caught a glimpse of the introduction on the title page of the Green Wood Longevity Skills:
"’Green Wood Longevity Skills’, balanced and harmonious in magical power... originally from ’Wood Origin Sect’... ’Wood Origin Sect’ once dominated the Wood Kingdom for a time, later vanquished by our sect. Rumors say they once received the legacy of a certain ancient faction..."
"Could it be... that the ’Green Wood Longevity Skills’ also originated from Nine Leaves Sect?"
"Or perhaps, the influences of the ’Nine Leaves Sect’ run too deep in this tri-nation area, such that whether it be any Wooden Element cultivation technique or secret skill... they all, more or less, have some connections to it."
With these thoughts, Fang Xi left the technique area and entered the miscellaneous books section and started to browse again...
Although most of the books on the second floor only contained the beginning parts, the foundation and accumulation of a Golden Core Sect still broadened Fang Xi’s horizons immensely.
A few hours later.
He held a book on geomancy from the Earth Master category, somewhat reluctant to put it down:
"So it turns out that the formation of Spiritual Veins requires the forces of natural creation, often the work of millions of years..."
"However, it is also possible to deliberately search for and create Spiritual Veins, the representatives being Geomancy Masters and Dragon Seeking Masters... This is one of the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation..."
"A simpler method is to locate a ’premium Spirit Stone’, such a stone not only contains abundant spiritual energy but can also continuously draw spiritual energy from the world... even affecting the surrounding environment to form a small-sized Spiritual Vein..."
"Without premium Spirit Stones, other Spirit Eye Items such as Spirit Origin Pearls, Spirit Springs, and Spiritual Trees can serve as the core... combined with an array, and consuming a large number of Spirit Stones, similar effects can also be achieved."