Seventh floor.
Eighth floor.
Ninth floor.
The higher she went, the fewer quiet rooms there were, but the formations on the doors grew increasingly powerful.
As Xue Mingzhao walked along, she only saw tightly closed doors and didn't encounter a single soul.
Excellent.
As long as she didn't shout “I'm breaking the rules!” herself, no one would know about this today.
At the end of the ninth-floor corridor, the final set of stairs led straight to the top floor.
Xue Mingzhao held her breath and walked up step by step.
The tenth floor was even more unusual.
The entire floor itself was a completely enclosed, massive quiet room with no windows or other exits.
With a light leap, Xue Mingzhao landed on the tenth floor with both feet.
Success!
She almost laughed out loud on the spot.
Fortunately, the surroundings were excessively quiet, so she quickly covered her mouth and stifled her laughter.
The tenth floor was completely empty.
There were no towering bookshelves, nor were there piles of jade slips.
The entire floor contained only a low table and a seemingly ordinary cushion behind it.
Xue Mingzhao stood in place, a bit bewildered.
“Where is your companion of the same origin?”
“Is it that table or that cushion?”
The Chaos Spiritual Root was also bewildered. “I don't know.”
“I clearly felt it just now, but the moment you came up, that aura vanished.”
Xue Mingzhao narrowed her eyes. “Are you playing with me?”
“I really felt it!”
The Chaos Spiritual Root felt incredibly aggrieved. “It was right here just now!”
Refusing to believe it, Xue Mingzhao searched the tenth floor three times over.
Forget about any treasures, she didn't even see a single stray hair.
In the end, she plonped her bottom down onto the cushion.
“Don't tell me this thing grew wings and flew away?”
Just as she finished speaking, a faint hum suddenly echoed around her.
Xue Mingzhao raised her head.
The tenth floor, which had been completely bare, was now filled with countless ancient volumes that had appeared out of nowhere.
Those books hovered in midair, their covers of various colors, with light flowing around them in varying degrees of brightness.
Before Xue Mingzhao could react, a pale gold ancient book suddenly rushed out from the cluster of books, knocking aside several that blocked its way, and flew straight toward her forehead.
Smack!
The cover of the book smacked squarely onto her face.
Xue Mingzhao pulled the book off her face and looked down.
Three ancient, simple characters were written on the cover.
《All-Revealing Pupil》.
“Selecting a cultivation technique is one thing, but why are you hitting people?”
She muttered under her breath and casually flipped to the first page.
The ancient book suddenly transformed into a golden stream of light, shooting fiercely into the space between her brows.
“Holy crap!”
Xue Mingzhao's body stiffened.
The expected pain did not arrive.
In the next instant, a massive amount of text and cultivation chants flooded into her mind.
The 《All-Revealing Pupil》 was divided into five levels.
The first level: Qi Discernment.
One could observe the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, discerning its concentration, attributes, and flow, and also perceive others' spiritual roots and cultivation.
The second level: Illusion Dispelling.
One could see through illusions, disguises, and the reality of formations.
The third level: Object Penetration.
One's eyes could bypass outward appearances to peer inside objects.
Seeing this, Xue Mingzhao's expression turned subtle for a brief moment.
The Chaos Spiritual Root asked alertly, “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing. A proper technique for a proper person to practice.”
She continued to read down.
The fourth level: Karma.
One could observe others' karma, though each use would consume a vast amount of spiritual energy.
The fifth level: Retrospect.
One could peer into past events that had occurred in the same location. The further back in time one retrojected, the more spiritual energy would be consumed.
The contents of the entire cultivation technique instantly integrated into her consciousness.
Xue Mingzhao stared blankly at the description of the first level of the 《All-Revealing Pupil》.
Observing the presence, concentration, attributes, and flow of spiritual energy...
Wasn't this the Heavenly Eye she had stumbled into opening earlier!
It turned out she had only blindly touched the threshold of the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 before, without even mastering the proper cultivation method.
That was a trial version at best.
Now, the full version had finally arrived.
Xue Mingzhao asked excitedly, “Well? Is this the Little Four you sensed?”
The Chaos Spiritual Root did not answer immediately.
Only after a moment did it say hesitantly, “I don't know.”
“What do you mean you don't know?”
“After you reached the tenth floor, that aura of the same origin disappeared. Just now, when the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 entered your consciousness, I didn't sense it again either.”
Xue Mingzhao touched the space between her brows.
“It must have entered my consciousness, and the aura got masked.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root still felt something was off.
“But when Xiao Qian recognized you as master, I could clearly feel her aura. This...”
“How can a cultivation technique be the same as a bracelet?”
Xue Mingzhao had already found a reason for it herself.
“Xiao Qian is an artifact spirit, while the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 is a cultivation technique. One lives in a bracelet, and the other lives in my head. The way they recognize a master must be different.”
The more she spoke, the more reasonable it sounded. She spread open her palm.
The fourth petal of the five-colored flower in her palm remained dim, without any color.
The smile on Xue Mingzhao's face faltered slightly.
“Why hasn't it lit up?”
The Chaos Spiritual Root answered honestly, “I don't know.”
“Maybe I have to master the first level before it's considered fully bound to me.”
Xue Mingzhao quickly accepted this explanation.
The location matched.
The timing matched.
Just as she reached the tenth floor, the aura of the same origin vanished, and the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 immediately slipped into her consciousness.
How could there be such a coincidence in the world?
Therefore, the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 was definitely her fourth opportunity.
As for why the petal hadn't changed color...
There was probably a delay in the delivery.
Xue Mingzhao successfully convinced herself and tossed that minor doubt to the back of her mind.
Every level of the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 could be described as defying heaven.
Especially Karma and Retrospect.
Once she cultivated to the fifth level, what secret could possibly be hidden from her?
At that time, if anyone dared to do bad things behind her back, she would just stand at the scene and directly watch the recap.
It would even save her the trouble of interrogation.
Xue Mingzhao raised her head again, looking at the other ancient volumes hovering around her.
If just one 《All-Revealing Pupil》 was this formidable, how could the rest be bad?
She rubbed her hands together excitedly.
“Come to me.”
“Come into big sister's embrace.”
“Oh no, big sister's consciousness!”
Xue Mingzhao spread her arms wide, making a welcoming gesture.
The surrounding ancient volumes quietly hovered in place.
Unmoving.
A bizarre silence fell over the surroundings.
Xue Mingzhao maintained her wide-armed pose and waited for a long time.
Not a single book paid any attention to her.
She silently withdrew her arms.
“The previous one was so proactive. Why are you guys playing hard to get now?”
Cang Jue explained, “These volumes are only summoned by the formations of the cushion and the Library Pavilion. They do not possess the ability to choose their own masters.”
“Once you sit on the cushion, the formation will filter out the scriptures you can practice from the entire Library Pavilion based on your spiritual root, constitution, and cultivation techniques.”
“Regardless of how strong or weak the techniques are, as long as they suit you, they will appear here.”
Xue Mingzhao pointed at the space between her brows.
“Then why did the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 rush over on its own?”
“A few special scriptures carry their own soul restrictions and have the ability to choose their own masters.”
“Ordinarily, cultivators choose their cultivation techniques.”
“When encountering this kind of inheritance, the technique will also select the cultivator in turn. Once mastership is recognized, the inheritance will be directly branded into the consciousness.”
Xue Mingzhao understood.
No wonder the 《All-Revealing Pupil》 had acted so proactively.
It wasn't bad-tempered.
It was just that its way of choosing an inheritor was rather hard on the face.
Xue Mingzhao looked around and quickly discovered another problem.
“Since the other books won't fly over on their own and I can't leave the cushion, how do I get the ones that are far away?”
Cang Jue said, “Try to lock onto them with your divine sense, or just point to select them directly.”
With some doubt, Xue Mingzhao raised her hand and pointed toward the distant 《Detailed Explanation of Common Spiritual Pest Removal》.
The array patterns on the cushion beneath her lit up slightly.
A strand of golden spiritual light flew out, wrapping around the ancient volume and delivering it steadily onto the low table.
Xue Mingzhao picked up the ancient book and flipped through a couple of pages.
“So that's how it is.”
As long as a cultivator sat on the cushion and locked onto the desired scripture with their divine sense, the formation would deliver it to them.
It didn't matter if they made a wrong choice.
With a slight thought from Xue Mingzhao, the 《Detailed Explanation of Common Spiritual Pest Removal》 on the table flew back to its original place.
Whichever one she pointed at, it would come.
It was even more convenient than ordering from a menu.
Her gaze swept across the numerous scriptures and quickly locked onto the 《Nine Heavens Thunder-Attracting Scripture》, which glowed with the most vibrant spiritual light.
“You're the one.”
Xue Mingzhao pointed her finger.
The cushion's array patterns lit up once more.
The 《Nine Heavens Thunder-Attracting Scripture》 slowly left its original spot and was about to fly toward her when a sudden sound of footsteps came from the entrance of the tenth floor.
Someone was coming up!
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