“You…you…” Gu Aoyue pointed at Lin Ping'an, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Everything the other party said was true, leaving him unable to retort.
At this moment, his face was purple-red, and he felt an impulse to rush forward and kill Lin Ping'an on the spot.
Unfortunately, he didn't dare. This was the Sect, and outside the Scripture Pavilion.
More importantly, the other party's identity was indeed on par with the six Peak Masters.
He truly should address him as Junior Martial Uncle.
He had begun to ignore this difference in status, only thinking of him as a disgraced, abandoned Disciple.
Moreover, he was at Qi Cultivation Layer Six, while the other party had only just entered Layer One; the difference in strength was immense, giving him a blind sense of confidence.
At this moment, everyone around them was also stunned.
Making Gu Aoyue suffer a setback, yet unable to act out, this fellow was truly sharp.
“What 'you, you'? I am your Junior Martial Uncle! Call me Junior Martial Uncle and let me hear it!” Lin Ping'an said at his leisure.
“You…you just wait!” Gu Aoyue felt that many people around him were looking at him with mockery in their eyes. He finally couldn't bear it anymore, turned, and left.
“Haha!” Lin Ping'an's unrestrained laughter came from behind.
Gu Aoyue's back molars were practically grinding to dust at this moment.
This time, not only did he fail to humiliate the other party, but he was humiliated by the other party instead. How could he swallow this anger?
“Trash, garbage! You just wait for me! Don't let me catch an opportunity, or I'll kill you!” Gu Aoyue roared internally.
“Lin Ping'an, you've really offended Gu Aoyue to death.” Two guards stood outside the Scripture Pavilion, and one kindly reminded him.
“Senior Brother, does he dare to make a move within the Sect?” Lin Ping'an couldn't help but ask.
“He certainly wouldn't dare, but you can't stay in the Sect your whole life, can you!” The other party hinted meaningfully.
“It seems he really is trouble.” Lin Ping'an couldn't help but frown.
How could he possibly stay in the Sect his whole life? He still had his mother and his uncle's family.
“He wouldn't target my family, would he!” Lin Ping'an couldn't help but think of this question, and his face suddenly changed.
“It wouldn't come to that! If he wanted to do that, his Gu Family wouldn't dare let him do it. This is the greatest taboo for Cultivators!” The young man shook his head and said, “If all grudges were settled by troubling the other party's family, wouldn't the Cultivation World be in chaos?!”
“Thank you, Senior Brother!” Lin Ping'an quickly cupped his hands in thanks.
“I wouldn't dare, by seniority, I should also call you Junior Martial Uncle!” The young man quickly shook his head.
“Senior Brother is joking, I'm just an abandoned Disciple. I was just trying to anger that Gu Aoyue just now!” Lin Ping'an quickly waved his hand.
“Alright! You go in! Remember, Outer Sect Disciples can only be on the first and second floors. Your free time as a new Disciple is one hour, and after that, for every half hour, you'll be charged a small contribution point.” The young man returned the token to Lin Ping'an, allowing him to enter the Scripture Pavilion.
The Scripture Pavilion looked like a tall building from the outside, but inside, the space was enormous.
Thousands of bookshelves were neatly arranged within.
Each bookshelf was filled with all sorts of books.
Many Outer Sect Disciples dressed in gray Daoist robes moved about in the Scripture Pavilion.
“This is even more extensive than the library in Jizhou Prefecture's academy!” Lin Ping'an was not a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, but even he was shocked at this moment.
With so many books, how was he to find anything?
Lin Ping'an couldn't help but feel a bit dumbfounded.
He had initially thought one hour would be enough, but now, if he were to flip through them one by one, it probably wouldn't be enough even in a day.
“Senior Brother, excuse me, are there any Cultivation Techniques for cultivating Mental Energy here?” Lin Ping'an stopped a young man and politely asked.
“No!” The young man glanced at him, then left directly.
That look was as if he were looking at an idiot.
Lin Ping'an couldn't help but frown.
He then asked several more people, all of whom looked at him strangely, and their answers were all no.
It seems there wasn't any on the first floor, so he would go to the second floor.
On the second floor, he again asked some Disciples, but still, there were none.
Finally, a kind Senior Brother told him that Cultivation Techniques for cultivating Mental Energy could only be found on the third floor and above, and were only for Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators to Cultivate; they were simply not accessible to new Disciples like them.
Only when one Cultivates to the Foundation Establishment Realm does Mental Energy undergo a qualitative change, allowing one to control and project their Mental Energy to assist in combat.
He was a bit disappointed, but he felt he couldn't waste this hour.
So he browsed books on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
Most of the books here were unrelated to Cultivation; in fact, many of them were about strange occurrences, and local customs.
However, he did gain something in the end; he discovered a Spell called 'Object Manipulation Spell' on one bookshelf.
He had the ability to memorize things at a glance, so he simply flipped through it once and memorized the Object Manipulation Spell.
He searched aimlessly, and as he walked past a bookshelf, the copper coin on his chest suddenly became hot.
“Hmm? Is the copper coin guiding me?” Lin Ping'an had encountered this situation before in the Illusionary Immortal Formation.
He quickly searched on this bookshelf. The bookshelf had six layers, and he started searching from the top.
He opened and carefully examined every single book.
He searched until the very bottom layer, and in a corner, he picked up a slightly yellowed ancient book. The copper coin in his chest became hot again.
He knew he had definitely found it.
The ancient book was incomplete, seemingly missing many parts, and there were also signs of being torn.
The cover was inscribed with the three characters “Profound Understanding Scripture.”
“Profound Understanding, Profound Understanding! Understand the profound, comprehend the wondrous Spells, grasp the true meaning…”
He opened the page and was instantly drawn in by the scriptures, unconsciously falling into them, unable to extricate himself.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but the scripture broke off, coming to an abrupt halt.
“What a pity, it's an incomplete Cultivation Technique!” Lin Ping'an sighed deeply.
According to his estimation, only about a quarter of this “Profound Understanding Scripture” remained.
The content was obscure, and even he found it somewhat difficult to fully grasp.
However, this was indeed a Cultivation Technique, but it could only Cultivate up to the Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
“This scripture contains a method for cultivating Mental Energy, but it cannot be cultivated independently without cultivating the Profound Understanding Scripture itself. Should I Cultivate it or not?” Lin Ping'an hesitated for only a moment before making up his mind.
Cultivate it!
He must Cultivate it!
Anything discovered by the copper coin was bound to be extraordinary.
If he truly Cultivated to Foundation Establishment Perfection, he could always switch to other Cultivation Techniques later.
He didn't know that this choice would change the fate of his entire life.
He put the “Profound Understanding Scripture” back in its original place, then left the Scripture Pavilion.
What he didn't know was that not long after he left, an old man appeared in front of the bookshelf, looking at the “Profound Understanding Scripture” that had been returned to its original place, a hint of relief in his eyes.
“Tens of thousands of years! Finally, someone has chosen it!” The old man's voice was faint, full of emotion.
In fact, at this time, there were Disciples browsing books in front of the adjacent bookshelf, but they seemed to ignore the old man and apparently didn't even hear his voice.
The old man disappeared, and the “Profound Understanding Scripture” also vanished without a trace.
Lin Ping'an returned, diligently practicing the “Profound Understanding Scripture” daily.
He discovered that the magical power cultivated by this Cultivation Technique was far more powerful than the magical power cultivated by the Xuan Yuan Spell his Master had taught him.
The purity of the magical power was extremely high, and its power was greater.
Now, one part of magical power could be equivalent to five parts of his previous magical power.
To clarify here, magical power and spiritual energy are essentially the same. Spiritual energy is the power produced by heaven and earth, while magical power is a controllable power that Cultivators transform spiritual energy into after absorbing it into their bodies.
When one Cultivates to a profound Realm, they can merge with heaven and earth, freely mobilizing the magical power between heaven and earth. At that point, it can be called boundless magical power.
Lin Ping'an Cultivated tirelessly every day. When he was tired, he would enter the copper coin's space to Cultivate Mental Energy and practice the Water Dragon Spell.
Basically, after managing the three acres of spiritual fields each day, he spent his time Cultivating.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
He finally reached the Peak of Qi Cultivation Layer One.
Now, his magical power was abundant, and his Mental Energy was stronger than ever before.
At this moment, a person sneaked up the mountain below Xiao Yun Peak. He held a black bag in his hand, with a slight hint of nervousness on his face.
This person was short, with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, and his eyes darted around nervously.
“Zhang Ping, what are you doing on Xiao Yun Peak? What's in your hand?” Xue San immediately saw this person and shouted coldly.
“Xue San, you scared me to death! It's your turn on duty today!” Zhang Ping relaxed immediately when he saw it was Xue San.
“What's in your hand?” Xue San stared intently at the cloth bag, a wary look in his eyes.
“I'm here on orders, don't meddle in other people's business!” Zhang Ping clutched the cloth bag tightly, his eyes warily scanning his surroundings.
“On orders? Whose orders?” Xue San's expression became serious.
“Senior Brother Gu Aoyue!” Zhang Ping slightly raised his head.
“Senior Brother Gu!” Hearing this name, Xue San couldn't help but shiver.
This was not someone easy to deal with. He was just an Outer Sect Disciple with extremely poor talent. If the other party wanted to cause him trouble, it would be as simple as moving his lips.
Zhang Ping leaned closer and slipped two Spirit Stones into Xue San's hand.
“Don't say I don't look out for you, brother. Senior Brother Gu gave five Spirit Stones. You take two, I take three. How about I be the bad guy?” Zhang Ping whispered.
“What exactly are you going to do?” Xue San firmly clutched the two Spirit Stones in his hand and asked.
“That new kid annoyed Senior Brother Gu. He doesn't go down the mountain, so Senior Brother Gu can't do anything to him, so he wants to vent some anger! A swarm of black-backed bees broke through the Formation and entered the Grand Elder's spiritual field. This kid was negligent and didn't take good care of the spiritual field, so the Grand Elder will surely be very angry!” Zhang Ping said.
“This…this won't implicate me, will it!” Xue San was startled.
This was no small matter. If the Grand Elder blamed him and found out he took two Spirit Stones, he would probably be finished.
“There's no one here, you don't speak, I don't speak, who would know?”
“That's true…”
Zhang Ping swaggered up the mountain like that.
Lin Ping'an was still cultivating in the wooden house when he heard a buzzing sound from outside.
He quickly rushed out.
He saw dozens of black poisonous bees, the size of fists, circling above the nightshade herb field.
“Black-backed bees! How can there be so many!”
Mu Jingyun had once said that black-backed bees loved nightshade berries, and one black-backed bee could destroy an acre of nightshade in half an hour.
Lin Ping'an's face changed drastically, and he quickly rushed to the nightshade herb field, waving his hands to drive away the black-backed bees.
But the black-backed bees were very fast and very aggressive.
Upon seeing Lin Ping'an, they actually turned and attacked him.
Although the venom of these black-backed bees was not strong, it was enough to paralyze a person.
If a dozen came at once, even a Cultivator at Qi Cultivation Layer Two couldn't withstand it.
“Water Dragon Spell!”
Although Lin Ping'an was nervous, he wasn't flustered.
He retreated continuously, his hand seals changing, and he gestured towards the irrigation ditch.
Immediately, three water columns shot up into the sky, transforming into three ferocious Water Dragons, and engaged in battle with the black-backed bees.
“Hit!”
Lin Ping'an formed a hand seal, pointing at a small stone on the ground. The small stone flew up and directly smashed the head of a black-backed bee.
This was the “Object Manipulation Spell” he had cultivated, which allowed him to control light objects like stones to attack.
With the entanglement of the three Water Dragons, small stones flew up from the ground, killing the black-backed bees one by one.
In less than a hundred breaths, all dozen or so black-backed bees were killed by him.
He also collapsed onto the ground, his face a bit pale.
When he had practiced the Water Dragon Spell before, he could control five Water Dragons simultaneously and with ease, but in actual combat, even three made him a bit flustered.
He knew this was due to his lack of practical combat experience and nervousness.
Looking at the dozen or so nightshade herbs that had been destroyed, his heart ached terribly. At the same time, he wondered who was trying to harm him.
It was impossible for a dozen or so black-backed bees to rush into the Formation together; someone must have broken the Formation barrier.
He rested for a while, then circled the Formation.
He found a black bag, which still contained the corpse of a black-backed bee, and next to the black bag, there were signs that the Formation had been opened.
“Sure enough, someone is targeting me!” Lin Ping'an's face darkened. “Who is it? The Ninth Prince or Gu Aoyue?”
The Ninth Prince harbored hatred towards him due to jealousy over his relationship with Tang Yurou.
He should be in seclusion Cultivating at the Grand Elder's place right now, probably without time for such schemes. That leaves only Gu Aoyue!
This person is a bit troublesome!
Even though Lin Ping'an knew who was behind it, he had no way to deal with this person.
He looked at his painstakingly cared-for nightshade herbs with a heavy heart, carefully pulling out the damaged ones, and replanting nightshade seeds. After some cultivation, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, only a dozen or so were damaged; otherwise, if his quota was insufficient this time, he would have to pay out of his own pocket.
Outer Sect Disciples received three Low-Grade Spirit Stones a month, and each of those dozen or so nightshade herbs was worth one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.
How much time would he need to accumulate enough to make up for it?
At that point, he would truly be on the verge of tears.
The other party intended to slowly wear him down to death.
Thinking of this, Lin Ping'an couldn't help but grit his teeth again.
They say a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years. I, Lin Ping'an, will one day let you know my power!
But before that, I definitely can't let Xue San off the hook!
Without this person's help, or rather, without this person's tacit approval, the other party couldn't have brought a dozen or so black-backed bees up the mountain so easily.
“Xue San!”
Lin Ping'an strode down the mountain and threw the dozen or so damaged nightshade herbs in front of Xue San.