Chapter 23 – Martial Uncle Ruan
“We must go to the Scripture Pavilion!” Xue Shan and Wan Xiao Qing heard this and happily agreed.
Of course, Liu Ming had no problem with the arrangement.
Thus, Shi Chuan quickly made a symbol in his hands and created the dark cloud which brought the four of them to a certain place.
After the time it took to drink of a cup of tea (10 minutes), the four of them landed at the middle of a mountain. In front of them was a man-made green rock pillar forest and at the end of it was a temple that was leaning on the mountain. Half of it was exposed outside while the other half was within the mountain.
On the banner of the temple, two great purple-red words that showed expertise in calligraphy read “Scripture Pavilion”. To the sides of the entrance to the pavilion were two Demons Statues that were twenty feet in height. They both were expertly crafted to the point where they looked real. However, their dark skin that looked like metal betrayed their real identity as statues.
“You all must remember that since the Scripture Pavilion is one of the most important places in the sect, you must not come to the pavilion in any other way than the one we just took. Even if you are flying, you must not come within five thousand feet of the pavilion. Or else, you might trigger the mechanisms hidden within and be killed by the Golems guarding the pavilion. This has happened before.” Shi Chuan seriously said.
“What! The Golems that were mentioned, it’s not these two large fellows right?” Wan Xiao Qing said in a surprised voice while glancing at the two statues.
“Correct, it’s them. Don’t look down on them being golems; once activated, they are on par with Spirit Masters and can easily kill us Spirit Apostles. However, using them wastes too many Spirit Stones.” Shi Chuan explained as they went in the pavilion.
Liu Ming glance forward within the temple and showed surprise.
Right after entering, there was a small and narrow room that only had a chair and nothing else.
However, Shi Chuan didn’t show any surprise. With a flick of his wrists, his nameplate appeared in his hand and he placed it against the wall to his opposite.
After a “Pu Chi” sound, a white light flew from the nameplate and shot into the wall without leaving behind any traces.
Afterwards, Shi Chuan waited with Liu Ming and the others without showing any signs of impatience.
A little while later, white light sprayed from the wall and a chubby old man with a high hat came out while yawning. He seemed as if he still wasn’t too awake.
“Disciple Shi Chuan, greetings to Martial Uncle Ruan!” After seeing the chubby old man, Shi Chuan quickly went up and respectfully said.
“Oh so it’s you, the kid from Nine Infants Faction. Already bringing your new Juniors to pick their Cultivation Methods.” The old man glanced at the party and lazily said.
“The Juniors wanted to come take a look at the Cultivation Methods offered but whether they choose now is up to them.” Shi Chuan answered without thinking.
“Alright. According to the rules, the new disciples to indeed have a chance to browse the Scripture Pavilion once for free. I will also be explaining the advantages and weaknesses of each Cultivation method. However, rules are rules and I can only bring one person in at a time. Who will go first?” The chubby old man said fairly.
“Elder, I will go first.” Xue Shan immediately took a step forward and said with much anticipation.
“Hehe, then you better come with me brat.” After the “hehe”, the old man waved his sleeves and a bright white light came pouring out.
Liu Ming and the rest could not help but close their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, Xue Shan and the chubby old man had both disappeared.
“This….” Wan Xiao Qing said while looking shocked.
“No need to worry. Martial Uncle Ruan just used the formation power within the temple and directly transported Xue Junior to the Scripture Pavilion.” Shi Chuan didn’t seem surprised and explained quickly.
Hearing this, Wan Xiao Qing relaxed.
However, Liu Ming’s brows furrowed as he asked:
“Senior Shi, is this Martial Uncle Ruan always looking after the Scripture Pavilion? Also, which faction is he a Spirit Master under?”
“Haha, I know what Junior is worried about. Relax, the Scripture Pavilion has always been guarded by Martial Uncle Ruan and since his situation is quite special, he doesn’t belong to any one faction.” Shi Chuan smiled as he answered.
“Oh okay.” Liu Ming let out a small breath in his heart.
Afterwards, he and Wan Xiao Qing asked Shi Chuan about the Scripture Pavilion and was answered in full.
After the time it took to have a meal (about 30 minutes), the wall in front of them flashed as the chubby old man and Xue Shan, who had a large smile, came out.
“Congratulations Xue Junior! It looks like you have already found the Cultivation Method for you!” Shi Chuan’s eyes flashed as he smiled.
“Haha, it was all due to Martial Uncle Ruan’s guidance.” Xue Shan quickly nodded as he spoke.
“Who’s next.” The old man didn’t respond to Xue Shan and instead looked towards Liu Ming and Wan Xiao Qing.
“Junior Wan, why don’t you go first.” Seeing this, Liu Ming courteously said to the girl beside him.
“Since Senior Bai is being courteous, then Junior will thank you.” Wan Xiao Qing didn’t fake more gestures as she took a step forward.
“Good.”
The chubby old man nodded and waved his sleeves. After an explosion of white light, Wan Xiao Qing was also teleported away.
“Xue Junior, what Cultivation Method did you choose?” At this time, Shu Chuan asked Xue Shan.
“I picked the “Earth Spirit Method” described by Senior before. Martial Uncle Ruan checked my talents and helped me analyzed the various Cultivation Methods. After hearing everything, I felt that this method was best for me.” Xue Shan spoke truthfully.
“Hehe, then I’ll congratulate Junior. I also practice “Earth Sprit Method” and also at the early stages, this Cultivation Method cannot compare to the other methods, there are extremely few bottlenecks in which you don’t find your strength increasing for long periods of time. This is also one of the most practiced methods within the Sect. After you practice this method to a certain extent, you can also change to the Dark Styx Devil Method.” Shi Chuan smiled as he explained.
“What? Shi Senior also practices this “Earth Spirit Method”? Great! Then when Junior has any questions about the method, can I ask you for help?” Xue Shan replied happily.
“Of course. If Junior has any questions for “Earth Spirit Method”, feel free to come and ask me.” Shi Chuan responded without any hesitation.
Hearing this, Xue Shan quickly and repeatedly said thanks.
Liu Ming stood by the side smiling.
The time which Wan Xiao Qing took wasn’t long and after only about half the time Xue Shan took, she and the old man appeared in the room.
Wan Xiao Qing also had a happy expression which made it obvious that she didn’t return empty handed.
This time, before Liu Ming could ask anything, the chubby old man waved his sleeve towards Liu Ming.
All Liu Ming saw was a vase expanse of white light and suddenly he felt like he was free falling. After stumbling a step, he almost fell to the floor.
Thankfully, Liu Ming’s reaction time was far from normal and with a near impossible twist of his waist, he steadied himself.
“Huh? Pretty good. You’re quite agile. The two kids before couldn’t stand after being teleported.” The old man’s voice came floating into Liu Ming’s ears.
Recovering himself, Liu Ming looked towards his surroundings.
Liu Ming saw that he was in the middle of an foreign hall while the chubby old man was about two meters away.
The entire hall was a couple acres large and split into different regions by five-colored light walls. In each region, there was a stone table and on top of the tables were various scrolls in different shapes and sizes. Each pile of scrolls were covered by a colorful light lid.
“Before, I had learned some mortal techniques and thus have a reaction time faster than others.” Suddenly coming back to his senses, Liu Ming quickly bowed to the old man before explaining.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me. I was only randomly asking. Come with him, all the entrance Cultivation Methods are here.” The old Spirit Master waved his hand and walked towards a certain light wall.
After a bitter smile, Liu Ming followed behind.
“Peng!”
Under an arc drawn by the old man’s nameplate, the light wall was immediately broken into sparkling dust.
After walking into the region, Liu Ming showed surprise on his face.
“These are the free entrance Cultivation Methods that you can learn right now! What, do you have any thoughts?” After glancing at Liu Ming, the old man asked without much surprise.
“Martial Uncle Ruan, I heard from Senior Shi that there were only thirteen entrance Cultivation Methods in our sect. However, there are much more than thirteen Cultivation Methods here.” Liu Ming glanced at the hundreds of stone tables as he asked.
“Our Sect only has thirteen entrance Cultivation Method but after being founded for thousands of years, we have also found and collected other entrance Cultivation Methods. There’s nothing surprising about that. However, I would suggest new disciples like you to not choose any of the other entrance Cultivation Methods. There’s a reason for our Sect only having thirteen main entrance Cultivation Methods. Many of the other methods either don’t have a more powerful method corresponding to it or that practicing requires some special environment. Thus they are not suitable.” The old man answered lazily.
“Martial Uncle, thank you for your advice. Do you have any suggestions for the right Cultivation Method for me?” After Liu Ming heard the old man, he looked over nearly a hundred stone tables before asking again.
“What Spiritual Pulse are you?” Without even thinking, the old man asked.
“I am a Three Spiritual Pulse!” Liu Ming answered respectfully.
“Three Spiritual Pulse! Okay!” After nodding, the old man suddenly waved his arm and beckoned to the air in front of hi.
Liu Ming suddenly felt his body tighten as if it was bounded by some unknown force. Then with a “sou” sound, he was pulled towards the chubby old man.
After an initial shock, Liu Ming stopped struggling.
Then, he saw the old man chanting as the old man’s palms starting lighting up. Then, they transformed into shadows as the old man started patting Liu Ming.
However, Liu Ming felt nothing from the pats. Instead, after every pat, there was a warmth that would dive under his skin and even into his bones.