The uproar caused by the Golden Ao Island cultivators eventually calmed down within the sect.
Another half-year later, Li Changshou emerged from his chamber, put on a fresh robe, and flew on a cloud at a safe altitude toward the Dao Archive Hall behind Breaking Heaven Peak.
What is the Dao Archive?
It’s where Dao inheritance is stored—that’s the Dao Archive.
Only a small portion of the tomes here were written by Immortals of the Duxian Sect. Most were obtained from outside sources.
Throughout the ages, Duxian Sect’s Heavenly and True Immortals brought back all sorts of manuals, scriptures, and odd items from their travels. Those they found useless would be stored here.
More valuable items, like powerful cultivation techniques or rare spell scrolls, were kept in the Inner Archive.
The hall was enormous. The outer hall alone could hold over a thousand people. Bookshelves were stacked wall to wall with techniques and spell manuals.
In a few corners, piles of clutter had built up over the years, untouched by anyone.
But—
Don’t underestimate these piles of junk.
They were the very foundation of the Duxian Sect’s hidden strength.
Back in the day, Li Changshou had found a fragment of a lost shamanic scripture buried in one of those piles. Inside a torn beast hide, he even discovered a bloodstained scrap of hemp cloth…
He hadn’t just stumbled in by chance. He had applied for a cleaning duty post through the Hundred Duties Hall, spending several years combing through everything.
He even got double monthly pay during that time, thanks to the commendations he earned.
Now, though, he no longer searched those clutter piles.
Why?
Because he had already picked them clean. Not a single useful thing remained.
Sadly, the engraving knife he once found, which still carried a trace of merit power, was destroyed during his ascension tribulation…
However, a divine technique he gleaned from another beast-hide scroll—Scripture Manifestation—survived that tribulation untouched.
Inside the outer hall of the Dao Archive, dozens of disciples were present.
Interestingly, over a dozen of them were huddled around the bookshelves holding escape techniques, studying the once-ignored Five Elements Escape Method and other obscure movement arts.
Li Changshou paid no mind, walking quietly to the back of the outer hall where two glowing doors were embedded in the rock wall.
Soft light radiated from luminescent orbs. An elder sat cross-legged before the doors on a cushion, eyes closed in meditation.
He was short and lean, with long white-gray hair, no wrinkles on his face, yet he exuded a deep, unplaceable sense of age.
[Elder Qiling: An expert of the sect. Cultivation level unknown. Permanent guardian of the Dao Archive Hall. Rarely leaves. Background unclear.]
Li Changshou had only learned this elder’s name during his journey to Beizhou, when his senior, Fairy Jiujiao, had mentioned him.
With both hands holding a silver-white miniature sword, Li Changshou bowed and said:
“Disciple requests access to the inner hall to study the sect’s secret tomes.”
Elder Qiling slowly opened his eyes. His grey pupils were calm and unblinking. He looked only at the small sword in Li Changshou’s hands, not even glancing at the man himself.
“Go in.”
“Yes, Elder.”
As a faint scraping noise echoed through the corridor, the heavy doors of the Dao Archive’s inner hall slowly creaked open just enough to let someone slip through. Li Changshou stepped inside and vanished without a trace.
Finally… snuck in.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Breaking Heaven Peak, in the living quarters of the “Ninth Fairy of the Wine Pavilion”…
A sudden crack of thunder exploded from one of the lofts. Lightning danced wildly as the surrounding defensive array shattered instantly. A slender figure slowly rose into the sky from the ruined building.
A few sect servants, always buried in endless chores, all looked up with admiration in their eyes.
Floating midair, the young fairy was surrounded by flickering immortal light that illuminated her charming and lively face. Her long hair fluttered in the wind, her simple linen blouse was taut across her figure, and her short skirt swayed gently. Bare jade feet pointed downward, toes grazing the air…
Then she opened her pure, untainted eyes, a confident smile rising at the corners of her lips.
Late-stage True Immortal Realm!
She had surpassed both Fifth Senior Brother and Sixth Senior Sister in one go!
I didn’t expect such a massive breakthrough! I’ve been in a state of Dao comprehension this whole time—didn’t even realize how much time had passed!
She stretched her waist proudly, riding the high of her triumph.
Man, I’ve been holding that in for way too long.
Heehee—where’s Fifth Senior Brother?
Where’s my little Shoushou?
No one came to welcome me out of seclusion?
She instinctively reached to her waist and grabbed her little gourd.
Tch, after this kind of breakthrough, even Master should give me some praise—
“Eh?”
She looked down at her beloved wine gourd, gave it a gentle shake, and heard no sloshing at all.
Oh no.
She had finished all her wine before entering seclusion, just to break through that bottleneck and enter Dao Comprehension!
Tssss—
She took a sharp breath. Forget striking a pose—she dove straight back into her loft, and the sound of frantic rummaging echoed within.
Damn it!
Of course, I don’t have any stockpiled!
I can’t keep wine stocked at all!
“Fifth Senior Brother! HELP!”
She dashed out of her building and sprinted to Jiu Wu’s loft, only to find the entire formation fully activated, with a wooden sign hanging at the front:
“Out on business. Don’t wait up.”
“Ah!
Little Shoushou! Can I get an advance on my salary?!”
Jiujiu quickly summoned her large gourd, hugged it tightly, and blasted off toward Little Qiong Peak.
Her speed in the air was like a streak of light, leaving several disciples along the way completely dumbfounded.
A short while later, at Little Qiong Peak.
Ling’e, who was quietly cultivating in her straw hut, suddenly heard a loud thud just outside.
She tensed immediately, spiritual senses expanding, and grasped several porcelain bottles in her hand just in case.
But just as she rose to investigate, she sensed her defensive array being forcefully broken through!
A gray blur dashed through the doorway, tripped on the threshold, and slammed into the floor. Ling’e almost hurled a potion bottle out of reflex.
Wait a minute—
That ridiculous crash, and the absurd amount of bounce in that body…
“Little Martial Aunt?!
What happened to you?!”
Ling’e rushed over, panicked.
Jiujiu lay face down on the ground, limp, slowly turning her head to reveal the despairing face of someone who had been wandering the desert, moments from dying of thirst.
The sight left Ling’e completely flustered.
“Little Martial Aunt, don’t scare me like this! My senior brother just went to Breaking Heaven Peak!”
“Q-quick…”
Jiujiu’s lips trembled. She reached out a trembling hand toward Ling’e, like someone using the last of their strength for a final, desperate plea.
And with that final breath, she whispered a single word…
“Wine…”
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1