Chapter 154: Elder Xu and the Scripture Storage
Chapter 154: Elder Xu and the Scripture Storage
The hall Han Li stood in was very peculiar. The cylindrical-shaped, enormous room was roughly more than thirty zhang wide and four to five zhang tall. The green stone wall surrounding the area had light-red crystals embedded within, and on the floor there was a thin layer of white sand, which made the whole hall seem clean and tidy.
But if someone were to look up, they would be stunned to find white stalactites hanging down everywhere from the ceiling. This place was actually a stalactite cave, and it was slightly transformed by people into how it looked like today.
Surrounding the hall were three evenly-spaced tunnels. Two of the tunnels were marked with the character “Tool 器” and the character “Pill 丹.” There was nothing carved on the last tunnel, nor were there any labels nearby.
Since there was no one in the hall at the moment, Han Li swept his eyes across the room, hesitated a little, and went to the tunnel with the character “Pill 丹” carved at its entrance.
The tunnel wasn’t long. After more than ten steps and a turn, a slightly larger house appeared at the end of the tunnel. In the house there was a long table, and an old man with his face glowing stood beside the table as he looked at Han Li with a big grin.
And behind the table, there were several old, worn out shelves against the wall, the tops covered with cauldron furnaces, raw materials, and some other random, strange items that Han Li had never heard of before.
The old man, smiling broadly, spoke before Han Li could say anything, “Young Friend, you look unfamiliar. It’s your first time here, isn’t it! Less and less new faces are coming to this damned place! An old fellow like me is already tired of all these stiff, old faces here. It’s great to see a younger, new face!” The old man shook his head and said with a welcoming tone.
Han Li already realized that the Heaven Eye’s Technique didn’t work on the old man. He couldn’t tell the depth of the old man’s cultivation, which meant that the old man was another expert of Foundation Establishment. How could Han Li dare to ignore him!
And so, he immediately paid his respects and said, “Junior greets Senior Martial Uncle. This is Martial Nephew’s first time here at Yue Lu Hall. Senior Martial Uncle please point me in the right direction!” Han Li humbled himself before this senior.
“Young Friend, if you have any questions, just ask. Also, I am surnamed Xu. Call me Senior Uncle Xu or Elder Xu. Don’t call me Senior Martial Uncle. An old fellow like me doesn’t like hearing that!” The Elder immediately corrected his title to Han Li. It seemed like he cared about it considerably.
“Then… Junior will obey!” Han Li hesitated, and agreed since it wasn’t a big deal. He felt that the old man was strange.
“That’s right, now let’s talk about why you’re here.” The old man surnamed Xu continued in satisfaction.
“Junior wants to look for formulas related to medicine pills, read some books, and research the methods for refining pills.” Han Li tried his best to speak subtly and indirectly. He didn’t wish to draw people’s attention.
“Books about refining pills and formulas? Just follow this stairs straight up!” What surprised Han Li was that the Elder didn’t seem like he was going to ask at all. After he casually took out a black command medallion and casted a spell, a flight of stone stairs leading towards the ceiling appeared out of nowhere into the empty space next to the shelves,
Han Li was overjoyed. He immediately hastened towards the stairs, but just as he was about to go up, this Elder Xu suddenly made a sly expression.
“Reading in the library on the second floor will cost you one low-grade spirit stone every two hours. You are not allowed to take the original from this place, and if you want to copy the contents, there will be a fee of ten spirit stones for each copied document.”
Han Li haven’t even stepped onto the foot of the stairs when Elder Xu, who was behind him, spoke the rules in a tone that was neither too fast nor too slow. Han Li’s steps stuttered, and he almost cursed out loud.
The fee was too expensive! Not to mention the copying fee of ten low-grade spirit stones, the reading fee for two hours a spirit stones alone would stop a lot of poor disciples.
A low level disciple could only earn about twenty to thirty spirit stones each year through their respective jobs! But after their cultivation and daily expenses, only a few spirit stones could be saved in reality.
Hence, this type of fee was definitely unethical! Han Li’s impression of this Elder immediately made a 180 degree turn. What a profiteer!
Even though Han Li’s face now shows an unusual expression, he didn’t stop because of what the Elder said. Instead, he threw a low-grade spirit stone into the Elder’s hands without looking back and headed to the second floor in a hurry.
“Interesting! I can’t believe this kind of fee didn’t scare him away. Looks like he is someone with some money. Hehe. Looks like I will be able to gain some wealth!” Seeing Han Li going up the stairs so forthright, this person who called himself Elder Xu couldn’t help it but smile until his eyes resembled half moons. He rubbed the spirit stone on the corner of his clothes and examined it closely in front of his eyes. He exposed his stingy cheapskate side and was completely different than the approachable expression he had when Han Li first met him.
Han Li struggled to suppress how upset he was. After he calmed down, he carefully examined what was on the second floor.
The room was different than what was in his imagination: wide, bright, with countless books and bamboo slips filling the big room. Even though the room on the second floor wasn’t small, the items that were there were so few that it was truly disheartening.
Two dusty bookshelves, a dirty table, and a broken chair; these was all the furniture in the room. Of course there was also twenty to thirty old, yellow books on the bookshelves, a few worn-out bamboo slips on the table, and two jade cylinders that had lost their original color.
“This shabby? Did I walk to a wrong place? What kind of a major cultivation sect’s secret library is this! This place looks like some poor student’s run-down study room.” Han Li was hit hard by what appeared before him in the room. If it weren’t because he was hesitant due to Elder Xu’s hidden power, he would have almost certainly rushed downstairs, grabbed his collar, and questioned him.
After taking a deep breath, Han Li calmly walked in front of a bookshelf, randomly picked out an old book, and read it carefully.
“Five phases of Heaven and Earth corresponds to the five viscera, the location where the acupuncture needle strikes can change one’s life essence…” He only read the first few lines of this book, immediately felt surprised, and closed the book to look at the cover.
“Hua Clan’s Secret Acupuncture Technique” These five words appeared in front of Han Li’s eyes.
Han Li’s facial expression immediately darkened, but not because the book wasn’t exceptional. The records in this book described the rare method of acupuncture, which could even cure patients who were on the edge of dying and stimulate the patient’s’ potential. But what did acupuncture techniques have to do with refining pills?!?! What was even more staggering was that he had already read this book countless of times back when he under Doctor Mo’s tutelage. He even memorized it by heart. This was suppose to be a medical book in the secular world. Why would it be here?
A series of questions popped into Han Li’s mind, and it made him lock his eyebrows in confusion. But when his eyes landed on the rest of the books on the bookshelves, he had an even more ominous feeling about it.
Han Li went through the rest of the old books In a hustle. After going through every single book, his face darkened a little more. And after he went through all the books on another bookshelf, Han Li’s expression was as dark as the sky before a storm was about to hit.
None of the twenty books were about refining pills. They were either methods used to save patients or home remedy for strange and complicated diseases. The most absurd thing was that there was even a poison expert’s narration about ways to use poison. They were all books used in the secular world.
“Two hours are up. Keep reading and there will be additional fee of spirit stones!” Suddenly, Elder Xu yelled from downstairs.
Hearing this, Han Li was speechless. These trashy books were worth spirit stones? But when he turned and looked at the items on the table, he felt doubtful, took out another spirit stone, and threw it down to the foot of the stairs.
“I received the spirit stones, Young Friend. Keep reading. This Elder will stop interrupting!” Elder Xu grinned and spoke from downstairs.
Han Li stopped paying attention to the Elder because he knew clearly that to the old man who didn’t hide his desires, whether or not he paid his respects wasn’t important. What was important was that Han Li kept giving him more spirit stones and letting him make a profit.
But Han Li didn’t plan on wasting another spirit stone, so this time he moved faster when going through the bamboo slips on the table with a speed that was obviously faster than before. He only had to go through the contents briefly instead of reading them sentence by sentence.
Under the smooth, white light coming from a giant moon light stone on the roof, Han Li’s mood went up and down while flipping through the bamboo slips. After he went through all of the bamboo slips, Han Li put the bamboo slips back to where they came from and sighed softly.
This time, these bamboo slips really did contain formulas and reports for a few medicine pills, but unfortunately, judging from the ingredients, these medicines all had effects similar to the “Yellow Dragon Pellet” and the “Gold Essence Pill.” To Han Li, whose Eternal Spring Arts was currently at eleventh layer, they didn’t have much effect on him anymore.
Therefore, Han Li’s only hope was on those two jade cylinder that were the size of his fist. Hopefully, what they recorded would not let him return empty-handed.