The late afternoon air held a crisp clarity that reminded of my first days at the sect. I paused outside the imposing structure of the Archives, watching sunlight glint off the formation arrays that covered its walls like artful scars.
There was sothing both welcoming and forbidding about the building, a contradiction that seed to fit perfectly with cultivation life in general. It radiated that special "don't touch anything unless you want to die horribly" energy that all repositories of dangerous knowledge seed to cultivate.
"You know," I said quietly to Azure, "I'm starting to think archives and libraries are the most dangerous places in cultivation novels."
"How so?" Azure asked.
"Well, think about it. The protagonist walks in looking for a simple technique and walks out with so ancient forbidden thod that nearly gets them killed. Or they discover so terrible secret that changes everything." I chuckled softly. "At least I've already got my potentially lethal ancient technique. Just looking for sothing practical today."
"Very reassuring," Azure replied dryly. "Though I feel compelled to point out that your 'potentially lethal ancient technique' is progressing rather well."
That was true enough.
Despite the dire warnings I'd received when selecting the World Tree Sutra, my inner world had flourished under its guidance. The fact that I'd survived this long cultivating it probably put in rare company.
"Master, are you planning to practice those formation-inspired plant bindings as well?" Azure asked.
"Eventually," I replied. "But movent cos first. The tournant starts in seven days, and if I can't move properly, I'll be an easy target."
I straightened my outer disciple robes, took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors to the Archives. The familiar scent of old parchnt, ink, and subtle preservation formations washed over . The Archives always had a peculiar quality of silence, not rely the absence of sound, but a presence, as if knowledge itself had weight and substance in the air.
Elder Chang sat at her desk near the entrance, as always. Today she appeared to be wrestling with what looked like a scroll that was attempting to eat its neighboring docunts. Without looking up, she pinned the rebellious text with one finger while retrieving another with her free hand.
"Elder Chang," I greeted, offering a respectful bow.
She looked up, and I caught the briefest flash of surprise in her eyes before her expression settled into its usual calm assessnt.
"Young Disciple Ke Yin," she replied, regarding with renewed interest. "Still alive, I see. And if I'm not mistaken..." Her gaze sharpened, seeming to peer through my physical form to assess my cultivation. "Stage 8 of Qi Condensation. Quite remarkable."
I couldn't help but smile at her blunt observation. "I'm as surprised as you are, Elder."
"Are you?" She raised an eyebrow, finally subduing the unruly scroll by placing it under a paperweight inscribed with suppression formations. "Perhaps you shouldn't be. The World Tree Sutra is powerful, if dangerous. Those who survive its initial stages often advance rapidly."
A chill ran down my spine at her words. There was always sothing ominous in how she talked about the World Tree Sutra. It brought back mories of my battle with Ke Jun back at the shrine.
"About that," I began, stepping closer to her desk. "I've been wondering about the sutra's history."
"Oh?" She leaned back slightly, a single eyebrow arched.
"During a… confrontation I had recently," I said carefully, "soone seed to recognize the World Tree Sutra. He was about to say sothing about it, so warning or revelation, but never finished." I kept my tone casual, though this question had been burning in my mind for weeks. "I was wondering if, apart from those who failed to cultivate it at all, there were stories about cultivators who did succeed. And perhaps... what beca of them?"
Elder Chang's expression grew guarded. "Who ntioned this to you?"
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I hesitated, not wanting to bring up Ke Jun directly. "It was during the beast wave mission. One of the enemy cultivators recognized the cultivation thod I was using."
Elder Chang's expression grew contemplative, almost distant. For a long mont, she said nothing, and I began to wonder if she would answer at all.
"It has been..." she finally said, her voice soft but clear in the hushed archives, "a very long ti since anyone has cultivated the World Tree Sutra to a high level."
"How long?" I pressed.
"Before my ti," she replied. "And I am not young, even by cultivator standards."
"But there must be records," I insisted. "The sect wouldn't keep a technique if it was exclusively fatal."
Elder Chang sighed, her fingers absently tracing the edge of the scroll she had been working with. "There are fragnts of records. Incomplete stories. The World Tree Sutra is as old as our sect itself, most likely older. Much knowledge has been lost over the centuries."
Her evasiveness only piqued my interest further. "But the fragnts that remain... what do they say?"
She studied for a mont longer, then shook her head slightly. "This conversation strays from your purpose here today, I think. Why have you co to the Archives, Disciple Ke Yin?"
It was a clear deflection, cultivators and their secrets, but I recognized I wouldn't get further by pushing. "I'm looking for a movent technique," I conceded. "Sothing to complent my cultivation thod."
Her expression lightened, clearly more comfortable with this practical request. "Ah, a sensible pursuit. Follow ."
She led deeper into the Archives, past rows of sealed shelves and what appeared to be a cage containing a very angry book. The deeper sections of the Archives always gave an uncomfortable feeling, as if the knowledge itself was watching, waiting for soone foolish enough to reach for what they shouldn't.
"The outer disciple sect tournant is approaching," Elder Chang murmured as we walked. "I assu you're preparing."
"I am," I confird. "But my current movent options are... limited."
"I'm surprised," she said, glancing back at . "Movent techniques are usually the first technique that disciples choose.”
"I focused on combat techniques first,” I gave a common excuse one would expect from an eager villager turned cultivator. “I thought raw power would be more important than mobility."
While I maintained my embarrassed expression outwardly, inwardly I was thinking about how the Blink Rune had made any other movent technique seem redundant.
Why bother learning a qi-based movent thod when I could instantly teleport thirty ters with minimal effort? But now that I needed to conceal my rune abilities during the tournant, that decision was coming back to haunt .
"A common mistake among younger disciples," Elder Chang replied with a knowing look that made wonder if she suspected there was more to my story. "Power without mobility is like a mountain without paths, impressive but ultimately inaccessible."
I agreed wholeheartedly.
We arrived at a section filled with jade slips that emanated a subtle sense of movent even while stationary, an appropriate representation of their contents.
Elder Chang turned to face . "Before we proceed, I should verify your contribution point balance." She produced a small jade token and passed her hand over it, causing characters to illuminate on its surface. "It appears you have recently completed a beast wave mission. Your current balance stands at 2,000 contribution points."
I nodded, already aware of my balance. If I were to submit the Moonlit Dew Flower to the sect, I would gain another 1,000 contribution points, which from what little I knew about the flower was a poor amount, it would be better to keep the flower for my own advancent.
"There are a few Earth-rank movent techniques that cost 2,000 points," she continued. "Which ans you can afford one, but nothing beyond that."
"That should be sufficient," I replied.
"Can you use what we learned from those techniques in the Three-Leaf Clover Sect to improve whatever we get here?" I asked Azure silently.
"To so extent," Azure replied. "Those techniques were generally lower rank than what's available here, but their principles could be adapted and integrated. Don't expect to transform an Earth-rank technique into a Beyond Heaven-rank thod, but improvents are certainly possible."
"A Heaven-rank would be nice," I thought back with amusent, "but I'll settle for an Earth-rank that shes well with my battle style."
Elder Chang moved along the shelves, occasionally pausing to consider specific jade slips before moving on. Finally, she selected three and brought them to a nearby reading table.
"I've chosen these based on compatibility with the World Tree Sutra," she explained, laying them out before . "Movent techniques aren't rely about speed or displacent – they must harmonize with your core cultivation, or they'll create spiritual dissonance during battle."
I nodded, impressed by her thoughtfulness. Many cultivators simply pursued the highest-ranked techniques available, overlooking the importance of thodological coherence.
"This first one," she said, indicating the leftmost jade slip, "is the Flowing Shadow Step. It allows the cultivator to temporarily rge with shadows, traveling through them at greatly enhanced speeds. The transition between physical and shadow form becos nearly instantaneous with practice."
She pointed to the middle slip. "The Windborne Seed technique creates a temporary vacuum that pulls the cultivator forward like a seed carried on strong winds. It excels at rapid directional changes and can even allow brief monts of aerial movent."
Finally, she indicated the third slip. "The Root Traversal thod is perhaps the most aligned with your World Tree Sutra. It allows a cultivator to establish connections with the earth beneath them, creating underground 'pathways' through which they can travel almost instantaneously for short distances."
All three options seed appropriate, but I had to decide which would suit my battle style the most.
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