Published at 25th of March 2019 10:32 pm

Chapter 833: Ancient Secret

Amid chatter, the Great Violetwing Beast eventually arrived at the foot of a mountain and landed. Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin stepped off its back and watched it leave into the distance before following the crowd on the path up the mountain.

With the master teacher emblem pinned on their chests, there wasn't anyone who hindered their path.

After taking a few steps, Luo Ruoxin gestured to her surroundings. "Recorded along this path are the insights and comprehension of cultivation that countless predecessors have left behind after paying the Saint Ascension Platform a visit."

Taking a closer look at the cliff face by the side, there were indeed all kinds of inscriptions on it.

There were two main reasons master teachers would make a pilgrimage there. One was to pay respects to the honorable Kong shi, and the second was to utilize the lingering aura around the Saint Ascension Platform to achieve a breakthrough to Sainthood. Just as there were those who failed, there were also those who succeeded.

Out of sheer delight, those who had succeeded would usually record the insights they had upon breaking through so that future generations could refer to them, and perhaps, take the final step across the threshold as well.

Of course, each insight was only based on the individual's comprehension, so they might not be applicable to everyone. Nevertheless, over the course of many years, countless insights had accumulated on the cliff faces, making them a valuable source of inspiration.

Most of these detailed the methods and the sensations experienced upon achieving breakthroughs to Half-Saint, Nascent Saint, and even Saint realm. Quite a few pilgrims had stopped in their footsteps to study them carefully, mesmerized by the content.

"There are too many insights here. It will take me at least a month to finish reading all of them…"

In the several dozen millennia since Kong shi's ascension to Sainthood, countless experts had visited the Saint Ascension Platform, and the writing extended all the way to the various mountains in the vicinity. Even with Zhang Xuan's photographic memory, it would still take at least a month for him to see all of the insights.

Glancing at the cultivators who were studying the writing intently, Luo Ruoxin shook her head. "Each cultivator has their own unique constitution, cultivation technique, and personality. Due to these differences, what they require to achieve a breakthrough also differed from one another. These insights may seem like a valuable source of inspiration, but if one were to read too many of them, one might lose sight of what is important and descend into confusion instead!"

As useful as the writing might be, it had its flaws as well.

Most of the insights contained the crystallization of the wisdom of the writer, making them a valuable source of knowledge. However, what worked for one might not necessarily work for another.

The more knowledge one accumulated, the more paths would be opened up before one. But at the same time, it also made it more difficult to sieve out the feasible path from all of the options.

Besides, even though there were countless roads a cultivator could take, all of these roads eventually converged into the same peak.

The Master Teacher Pavilion encouraged cultivators to be innovative and take risks. It was through such a culture that innumerable cultivation techniques, battle techniques, and secret arts had been created over the years. There were even more formidable cultivators who had successfully forged their own unique paths based on their own interpretation of the world, some conflicting with the accepted conventions of cultivation even, but they still managed to create their own feasible system.

Given the astounding complexity and vast number of possibilities within cultivation, there was no cultivator who could possibly make sense of everything. As such, there were many cultivators whose cultivation had gone berserk due to taking in too much miscellaneous information and losing their way.

This was also the reason the Master Teacher Pavilion maintained a tight control over the impartation of cultivation techniques. Only with the permission of a master teacher would a cultivator be allowed to copy the content of a cultivation technique manual. Otherwise, if one were to study indiscriminately, they could very well end up dulling their judgement instead, resulting in confusion.

It was also for the same reason most master teachers were encouraged not to study the writings unless they had been stuck in a bottleneck for too long and couldn't find the impetus to make a breakthrough.

While others might not be able to fully make sense of the writings inscribed into the cliff face, I am different… Zhang Xuan thought.

There were insights from at least several million cultivators inscribed in the area, and perhaps even Kong shi might have fallen into a state of confusion from this bombardment of information. However, Zhang Xuan was different.

With the Library of Heaven's Path, he could easily discern truth from falsehood and rationalize everything easily. Such a problem wouldn't affect him.

But… these writings aren't in the form of books but engravings on the wall. I wonder if I can take them in…

So far, the Library of Heaven's Path had only taken in written information in the form of books. Considering that the writings were inscribed on the cliff instead, it was hard to tell whether the Library of Heaven's Path could copy them in or not.

"I should give it a try. Flaws!" Zhang Xuan muttered softly with his eyes fixated on the wall.

Hualalala!

The next moment, the Library of Heaven's Path jolted intensely, and countless books fell from the heavens and onto the shelves.

Zhang Xuan took one of the books out and flipped it open. It contained the words which his gaze had been fixated on previously.

It works! Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up in excitement.

It seemed that, with the upgrade of the Library of Heaven's Path, his ability to store information in the Library of Heaven's Path by his gaze wasn't limited to only books but possibly written information of any sort too!

I don't have any use for these at the moment, but once my cultivation reaches the required level, I won't have to go through the trouble of searching for cultivation technique manuals anymore… Zhang Xuan thought in delight as he followed Luo Ruoxin up the mountain.

Along the way, his gaze would sweep across the cliff face to take in the insights on it.

If he had read them normally, it would have taken him a month's time at the very least. However, being able to take in the writings with his gaze, his speed was only limited by how fast he could walk. On top of that, the content would be filtered through the Library of Heaven's Path too, so he need not worry about falling into confusion either.

As the duo advanced, the number of cultivators who lingered by the cliff faces to study the writings reduced, and the number of experts increased.

The bottom of the mountain was mainly filled with Chrysalis realm cultivators, but at their current location, the crowd was predominantly Nascent Saint experts. Because of that, he became the odd one out instead, being the only Perfect Harmonization realm cultivator there.

As the Saint Ascension Platform was considered a sacred ground for master teachers, there were none who dared cause trouble here. Advancing ahead, it took Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin an entire night before they arrived at the peak. There, they saw something resembling an altar.

On the flat peak towered a massive cliff face, and there were countless cultivators densely packed before it.

Some were master teachers, and some were ordinary cultivators, but one thing common among them was that they were gazing deeply into the words on the cliff face, some pondering, some analyzing, some experimenting, and some cultivating.

The surroundings were extremely quiet, as if no one was willing to disturb the tranquility that lingered in these sacred grounds.

"These are the insights that Kong shi had when he ascended to Sainthood," Luo Ruoxin informed Zhang Xuan telepathically.

"This was left behind by Kong shi?" Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to the cliff face.

Majestic words describing a person's insight in his breakthrough from Nascent Saint to Saint realm were inscribed on the cliff face.

With Zhang Xuan's deep comprehension of painting, he could tell that the words had achieved a profound level. If not for some kind of power suppressing them, they might have gained sentience and escaped from the cliff face, becoming a lifeform themselves.

Upon reaching the peak of painting, one could create a palpable world with one's brush, leaving others unable to discern it from the real world.

Legend had it that a 9-star painter once drew out a prison that incarcerated an army of millions to their deaths. The army had no lack of Saint realm experts as well, but not a single person had been able to escape from the world he created.

While the painting on the cliff face had yet to reach such a level, it gave the distinct feeling of a lifeform, as if the words would leap out from their positions and slip away any moment.

After looking for a moment, Zhang Xuan replied with a frown, "Wait a moment… these words don't seem like Kong shi's!"

While these words carried an imposing disposition to them, they lacked the magnanimity to harness the world within them.

Since it was something left behind by Kong shi, it should carry altruism for the world in it. But the act of these words attempting to escape by themselves was conflicting with that.

"You have seen Kong shi's words before?" Luo Ruoxin asked.

"Un. A student of mine has Kong shi's personal letter which contains his handwritten words. The form might be similar, but there's something quite different about the words on this cliff face and that…" Zhang Xuan replied.

There weren't too many words on Kong shi's personal letter, but they carried an inexplicable force that jolted one's soul. Even Zhang Xuan had gone through Soul Tempering of a Mentor's Calligraphy due to that, enjoying a significant rise in his Soul Depth.

But the words before him didn't carry such a quality.

"You're right. These aren't the words left behind by Kong shi…"

Luo Ruoxin shook her head. "Even though this is sacred ground for master teachers and has been guarded carefully by the Master Teacher Pavilion, it has still been attacked by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe multiple times, and in one of those attacks, Kong shi's heritage was wiped off as well. What you see now is an imitation made by one of the masters of the Painter Guild!"

"Kong shi's words were wiped off by the Otherworldly Demons? But… didn't the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe disappear from the world?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

So far, he had only met one living Otherworldly Demon so far, but not only was it a hybrid, it was even talked into committing suicide by him.

Vicious and the Otherworldly Demon puppets were remnants left behind by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, but by no means could they be considered truly alive.

Since the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe had already disappeared from the Master Teacher Continent, how could they possess the force to destroy such a well-guarded sacred ground?

They had at least met several dozen thousand Half-Saint and Nascent Saint experts on the journey to the peak. The difficulty in scaling the mountain to destroy Kong shi's heritage was not any different from barging into the Master Teacher Academy to kill Lu Feng.

In a sense, it could be said to be a nearly impossible feat.

"Disappear? If the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe has disappeared from the world, why would the Master Teacher Pavilion still be spread across the world? Why would the Master Teacher Pavilion even go through the trouble of establishing Master Teacher Academies here and there? Why would they hold such strict examinations?" Luo Ruoxin said with complex emotions rippling in her eyes as she shook her head.

"Hongyuan Empire may seem calm, but that's far from the case!"

"Are you saying that… there are Otherworldly Demons in Hongyuan Empire?" Zhang Xuan's face warped in shock.

"Indeed. You must have heard of the disappearance of the Master Teacher Academy's old principal as well. If my conjecture is right, that's probably the doing of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe as well," Luo Ruoxin said with melancholy.

"The doing of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?" Zhang Xuan expression turned grim.

If the old principal's death was truly the doing to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, that would explain why the Byzantium Helios Beast carried such hatred for him back then.

Hu Yaoyao also said something similar to that… Zhang Xuan tightened his fists.

With the presence of the Master Teacher Academy in the city, he had always thought that Hongyuan City was as secure as it could get. However, it seemed like his thoughts were too naive.

"The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe originated from another world. Back then, in order to invade the Master Teacher Continent, they built many passageways linking their world to here, and Hongyuan City happens to be one of the places where a passageway is located… Otherwise, considering how Hongyuan Empire's national power is only average among the various Tier-1 Empires, how could the Master Teacher Academy be built here?" Luo Ruoxin explained.

"This…" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He had never really thought about this matter before, but Luo Ruoxin's words were logical and persuasive.

There were indeed many doubtful aspects regarding the choice of location to establish the Master Teacher Academy. However, if the true aim of the Master Teacher Academy was to maintain the seal on the passageway between the Master Teacher Continent and the other world, everything would make perfect sense.

"The reason I brought you here is not to study the words on this cliff face. While the cliff face once contained Kong shi's handwritten words, what remains is just an imitation. It might be possible to imitate the form, but it is impossible to imitate the intent as well… What I hope for you to do is to use your Eye of Insight to trace Kong shi's aura and find the real location where Kong shi ascended to Sainthood!" Luo Ruoxin said.

"The real location where Kong shi ascended to Sainthood? You are saying that… he didn't ascend to Sainthood on this peak?"

Since this place was known as the Saint Ascension Platform, it was naturally the place where others thought Kong shi had ascended to Sainthood…

Could it be that this Saint Ascension Platform is a fake?

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