Chapter 55: Seeking the Third Person for Treasure Hunting

The second floor of the Spirit Repository Pavilion.

Unlike the layout of the first floor, there were no bookshelves here, nor ancient texts or jade slips. Instead, there were numerous large white orbs of light, spaced far apart.

Each orb represented an Innate Spiritual Skill, and there were well over a hundred such orbs in this place.

Mu Zixi, twirling her twin ponytails with a finger, walked out of one of the orbs, looking quite bored.

Unlike the others, her goal was already clear; she had found what she wanted as soon as she entered.

But after finally getting to enter the Spirit Repository Pavilion, she didn't want to register her choice and leave so quickly.

Everyone else was still inside; how boring would it be to leave alone!

She looked around, wandering about.

These orbs were peculiar; they would glow only when someone entered and then deny entry to the next person.

Mu Zixi walked around once when she suddenly noticed something amiss. She counted them.

“Eight?”

Didn't eleven people come in? How could only eight orbs be glowing? Where were the other three?

The third floor was inaccessible. Could someone still be browsing on the first floor?

Mu Zixi frowned slightly, finding it mildly amusing, and quickly trotted down the stairs.

...

“Rustle, rustle, rustle!”“Rustle, rustle, rustle!”

A highly rhythmic yet very faint sound emerged. Mu Zixi crouched low and stealthily crept closer.

Zhou Tianshen?

What was he doing?

Mu Zixi stared in surprise.

She saw the sturdy young man holding an ancient text in each hand, shaking them out, then putting them back and pulling out two more.

That wasn't all; what was startling was that he suddenly stopped at a corner, his eyes gleaming, and then pounced on a dust-covered box.

It was as if he had discovered treasure!

After pouncing, he was pushing the box, stirring up dust…

He was clearly having a blast.

Mu Zixi was utterly bewildered. Her small head was filled with large question marks. She never would have guessed that this tall guy enjoyed such childish games.

But this was the Spirit Repository Pavilion. Instead of choosing a spiritual skill, he was playing lonely house here by himself?

“Zhou Tianshen!”

“What are you doing!” she demanded, hands on her hips.

The tall guy, who was moving boxes, jumped in surprise. He turned around, saw it was Mu Zixi, and immediately let out a sigh of relief.

“You scared me to death! I thought the Sutra Guardian was here…”

“Hmph, so if the Sutra Guardian isn't here, you're free to play?”

Zhou Tianshen paused, wiped some sweat from his brow, and said, “I'm not playing! I'm looking for a spiritual skill!”

Mu Zixi chuckled, seeing his grimy hand leave another mark on his face, and said, “You're covered in dust! Who looks for spiritual skills like this?”

“What do you mean?” Zhou Tianshen immediately retorted, pointing backward, “Xu Xiaoshou is looking for one too!”

Xu Xiaoshou?

Mu Zixi glanced in the direction he pointed and immediately saw a tall, slender figure.

However, the scene was somewhat different from what they had imagined.

Xu Xiaoshou at this moment, wearing a simple white robe, was leaning against a bookshelf, holding a scroll, lost in thought, as if pondering the mysteries of the Great Dao.

Several rays of sunlight streamed in from the attic window, falling upon the boy's lean face, creating a picturesque and beautiful scene.

Zhou Tianshen: ???

Mu Zixi was momentarily captivated, but then the image of Xu Xiaoshou rubbing his neck and saying “It stinks” flashed in her mind, and she quickly snapped back to reality.

She scoffed at Zhou Tianshen, “Your methods of finding spiritual skills are quite similar, aren't they!”

Zhou Tianshen remained silent. He looked at his own grimy hands, then glanced at Xu Xiaoshou's clean face, feeling greatly deceived.

“I think I need to explain…”

“No need to explain. You should go wash your face!”

“Oh? Don't you want to know this guy's secret to winning the championship?”

“I don't… Hmm? What did you say? Could you repeat that?”

“Nothing. I'm going to wash my face.”

“Hey, wait, can we talk somewhere private for a moment?”

...

Xu Xiaoshou, of course, wasn't 'perceiving' their conversation and actions and then strategically posing in a sunlit spot to show off.

He was genuinely captivated by the tattered scroll.

“Ten-Segment Sword Finger?” Xu Xiaoshou murmured aloud.

In the past hour, he had actually found many tattered scrolls, but they were all spiritual skills with unusual attributes, which he knew at a glance he couldn't cultivate.

Only this ‘Ten-Segment Sword Finger’…

Its grade was unknown; it required no spiritual energy, relying purely on sword intent and finger techniques. Upon reaching mastery, a single finger could sever the Heavenly River.

This was practically tailor-made for him!

Sure enough, the experience of his transmigration predecessors was incredibly useful!

His only concern was whether this sword finger would overlap in function with 'Sharp Light,' but this was also what made him ponder.

The description on this tattered scroll stated that sword intent was to be fused into the fingers…

Not into a sword artifact, nor making all things swords, but into one's own fingers!

This virtually pioneered a third cultivation method for sword cultivators!

The mainstream combination of swords and spiritual skills was one.

Xu Xiaoshou's self-created, and yet unproven, pure sword intent combat method was the second.

And this ‘Ten-Segment Sword Finger’…

Sword intent combined with the physical body?

The world is vast, and full of wonders!

Xu Xiaoshou was astonished by this wild idea. When sword intent merges with a sword artifact, it produces 'Sword Artifact Sentience'; so what happens when sword intent merges with the body?

No, that's not right!

Sword intent itself is cultivated from within one's self, so how can it 'merge'?

But then again, that's not right either!

It clearly stated here that it was possible…

Xu Xiaoshou was utterly confused.

He decided that if he couldn't find anything better later, he would take this 'Ten-Segment Sword Finger'!

Even if he couldn't cultivate it, this unique cultivation method would be enough for him to ponder for a long time.

“Hmm, who would have such a bizarre idea? It rivals my own ingenuity, must be a genius too!”

Xu Xiaoshou tried to look for the founder's name, but unfortunately, as it was a tattered scroll, no information was recorded on it.

He put the scroll away. Calculating the time, there were still two hours left—plenty of time!

Continue rummaging through everything!

...

“Rustle, rustle, rustle!”“Rustle, rustle, rustle!”

Mu Zixi somewhat regretted listening to Zhou Tianshen's nonsense. She clutched two ancient texts in her small hands, her face grimy, and even her beloved dress was dirty.

“Zhou Tianshen!”

“There's clearly nothing here!” She slammed the ancient text onto a bookshelf.

With a bang, Zhou Tianshen jumped in surprise.

His head poked out from a grimy crack in the wall, and he said with a bitter expression, “My dear ancestor, please don't scare people! Becoming a champion requires effort!”

Mu Zixi, who had been holding her breath, burst out laughing at the sight of Zhou Tianshen.

The guy's face was pitch black, and with the dim light making it hard to see clearly, when she looked at him, she could only see a row of pearly white teeth.

“Pfft!”

“I think you really need to wash your face, haha!”

“Shush! Lower your voice!” Zhou Tianshen waved the result of his search from the crevice—a tattered page. “Take a look?”

“You found something?” Mu Zixi's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran over.

Zhou Tianshen patted the tattered page and then blew on it, causing both of them to immediately start coughing.

“An ancient map?”

On the tattered, ancient parchment was a drawing of a one-armed old man, hanging upside down with a blade, in a very twisted and strange posture.

Mu Zixi's mouth instantly pouted. At a glance, this looked perfectly suited for Zhou Tianshen, but not for her.

Just as she was about to complain, she turned to see the grimy guy staring intently at the ancient map, seemingly entering a profound state.

“An epiphany?” she exclaimed in surprise.

“Precisely.”

“Then what Xu Xiaoshou said was actually true? The treasure is really on the first floor?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Mu Zixi felt a renewed motivation to search for spiritual skills. However, after realizing something, she froze.

Zhou Tianshen was in an epiphany, Xu Xiaoshou wasn't here. Just now…

Who was talking?

She whirled around, horrified.