"This Fire Cloud Skill is indeed abstruse and difficult to understand, I should ask Grandpa Emperor for guidance when I have time," Emperor Liu Tianming snapped back to reality, looking at the jade scroll in his hand and sighed.

He shook his head, put away the jade scroll, and quickened his pace. Soon, he arrived at the peak and stood in front of a white jade hall with golden letters on the plaque that read "Book Sea".

There were no guards at the entrance of the hall, and on each side stood a bronze giant beast statue, each towering seven to eight zhang high, one a giant green lion, the other an exotic beast resembling a horse with an extremely long neck.

Just as Liu Tianming was about to step inside, a voice came from the side, "The Book Sea is a vital area of Chang Chun Temple. Which disciple from which Sect are you, not knowing you need to show a permission token before entering?"

Liu Tianming was taken aback and then realized the speaker was the long-necked exotic beast statue on his right. The statue suddenly came to life, stretching its neck out in front of Liu Tianming with bell-sized eyes staring intently at him, an imposing aura emanating from it.

"Are you the esteemed Bai Ze of the Book Sea? Junior Liu Tianming has recently joined Chang Chun Temple and has not yet taken a master, so I am unaware of the rules here. Please forgive my ignorance, this is the permission token." Liu Tianming bowed deeply, respectfully producing a white jade token.

"Seeing as you're quite respectful, lad, I'll let go of this transgression of trespassing. You may enter," the long-necked exotic beast nodded and said, its neck gradually retracting.

Liu Tianming thanked the beast and then walked into the hall.

From the outside, the Book Sea Hall appeared magnificent, but upon entering, he was greeted by rows and rows of extraordinarily tall bookshelves reaching seven to eight zhang high, some floating in mid-air requiring one to look up to see them.

Two side doors were to the left and right of the main hall, seemingly leading to two side chambers filled with tall bookshelves stacked with innumerable books and jade scrolls—a sight worthy of the name "Book Sea," that made it feel like the books were mountains and the knowledge a sea.

Yuan Ming marveled at the sight before him.

The Gui Cang Pavilion of Biluo Cave also had many classics and books, but compared to this place, it was like comparing clouds to mud—there simply was no comparison.

Liu Tianming too was awed by the scene before him and stood stunned for a moment before regaining composure and began searching through the shelves.

Seizing the opportunity, Yuan Ming observed that the layout of the Book Sea's collections was quite ordered, divided into multiple areas according to topics like Cultivation Techniques, Spells, Geography, History, Sect anecdotes, spiritual materials, elixirs, Arrays, etc. Despite the vast quantity of books, one would not feel dazzled or have difficulty searching.

Yuan Ming looked toward the Spell area, where the bookshelves were enveloped by a white light screen. Inside were placed numerous jade scrolls, and next to them were plaques recording the names of Spells for the Qi Refinement Realm, Foundation Establishment Stage, and even Core Formation Stage.

Yuan Ming was quite envious, but Liu Tianming headed straight for the area with the spiritual material classics.

He hesitated for a moment but did not forcefully hint to Liu Tianming to go there.

Liu Tianming was likely in the Book Sea to look up important materials, and Yuan Ming had already delayed him enough. There would be plenty of time in the future to manipulate him into borrowing those Spell jade scrolls.

Liu Tianming stopped in front of a bookshelf that was also shrouded in a white forbidden light. As he was about to search, a cloud of white fog surged on the light screen of the bookshelf and condensed into a figure about one chi tall, which astonishingly spoke human language, "Which classics do you need?"

"Who are you?" Liu Tianming was startled.

"I am the Array Spirit formed by the Book Sea Restriction. There are many classics in the Book Sea, and it is too time-consuming to search on one's own. Tell me the name or category of the book you wish to read, and I will guide you to its location," the white fog figure said.

"So you are the esteemed Array Spirit of the Book Sea. I am looking for content related to the Silver Chalice Flower," Liu Tianming said.

"The Silver Chalice Flower is a herbaceous spirit plant of the Asteraceae family, and the related classics are in the spiritual material area, third bookshelf, second layer," the white fog Array Spirit pointed to a bookshelf not far away and said.

"Thank you for your guidance, Array Spirit," Liu Tianming said with gratitude and quickly walked over, soon finding the related classics.

He took out a green token, which was the Identity Plate of a Chang Chun Temple Disciple, with the number five hundred appearing on it.

Liu Tianming activated the token, aiming it at a book within the light screen and lightly tapping it.

The number on the green token decreased slightly, and the book inside the light screen automatically flew out and into his hand.

Liu Tianming flipped through the classics, scanning them quickly.

Chang Chun Temple, being the leading Cultivation Sect in Da Jin, had unique insights in its collected materials. Yuan Ming followed along with Liu Tianming's reading of a few pages and felt he had gained quite a bit and was about to seize the opportunity to study further.

Just at that moment, the possession ended, and his consciousness returned to his original body.

Yuan Ming immediately checked the hourglass beside him, a hint of joy in his eyes.

The Fire Pine Wood, as a superior spiritual material, had replaced the previous Spiritual Pine, significantly extending the time of possession, almost reaching a quarter of an hour.

Moreover, from the information obtained through Liu Tianming, he knew little about the Fire Cloud Skill, while the old emperor seemed to have a good understanding of it.

It seemed Yuan Ming needed to change his strategy now.

Yuan Ming closed his eyes and took a moment to recuperate, then took out a blank jade scroll to copy down the Fire Cloud Secret Technique he had secretly learned, lest he forget it.

He didn't overestimate his ability to comprehend this secret technique on his own. After storing away the jade scroll and hourglass, he resumed the cultivation of the Nine Elements Technique.

Seven days later.

Yuan Ming lit incense and sat cross-legged with closed eyes.

His target this time was to possess the old emperor to delve into his understanding of the Fire Cloud Skill.

At that moment, the old emperor was sitting cross-legged in a dark room, eyes closed, breathing controlled, his aura circulating at an exceedingly slow pace, indicating some Cultivation Technique in progress.

After verifying the surroundings and situation, Yuan Ming immediately tried to influence his cultivation of the Fire Cloud Secret Technique through mental suggestion.

Perhaps it was because the old emperor's cultivation had reached the Late Foundation Establishment stage, much more advanced than Yuan Ming's, that his will was extremely firm. Yuan Ming exhausted a great deal of effort, yet by the time the possession ended, he still hadn't succeeded, not even causing the slightest ripple in the other's state of mind.

He did not get discouraged. After seven days, he continued to attempt suggestive possession, but it still ended in failure.

It wasn't until the third attempt that, perhaps the suggestion had taken effect, the old emperor executed the Fire Cloud Secret Technique once, and Yuan Ming hastily took the opportunity to comprehend it.

However, the technique was extremely complex. Merely relying on one observation, he naturally couldn't master it.

But with this beginning, the old emperor seemed to have lost his initial resistance to executing the Fire Cloud Skill. However, since this technique was quite conspicuous when used, the old emperor, likely due to concerns, always kept its power at the lowest when he executed it.

This did not impact Yuan Ming's comprehension of its execution process. After observing it several more times, fortune favoured the persistent, and Yuan Ming finally mastered this high-level spell as he wished.

Of course, this was only a preliminary mastery. To truly unleash its power, he still needed to practice it himself repeatedly.

...

One day, more than a month later.

In the depths of the Rain Ruins Swamp, next to a black pool, a thick red light suddenly rose and formed a rich fire cloud of about seven or eight zhang in size in mid-air, with flames rolling within it.

Even though it was raining in the sky, it did not affect the fire cloud in the slightest.

Yuan Ming stood on a White Jade Shuttle, hovering in mid-air, forming a spell seal with his hands and pointing at the black pool.

"Go!"

Seven or eight large fireballs shot out from within the fire cloud and entered the pool.

These Bursting Fireballs, condensed from the Fire Cloud Secret Technique, could not be extinguished by ordinary water.

A few breaths later, violent explosions roared from within the pool, throwing up gigantic waves several zhang high, turning the clear water turbid.

Hua Zhi was also nearby. Seeing this scene, her face showed pleasure.

"Roar—!" A low roar came from the pool, with a deterrence that could pierce one's Divine Soul.

"Master, be careful, it's coming out!" Hua Zhi's voice transmission rang in Yuan Ming's mind.

Before her voice faded, the turbid water suddenly churned, and a thick shadow shot out, pouncing towards Yuan Ming in mid-air like lightning.

Yuan Ming was well-prepared, controlling the Jade Shuttle to rapidly retreat backwards, instantly pulling back more than ten zhang.

The shadow missed its target and revealed its true form. It was a giant beast resembling both a snake and a lizard, over five zhang long and covered with a thick layer of black Scale Armor that looked indestructible.

A mass of thick black clouds floated beneath it, supporting the body of the beast.

"So it's an Ink Lizard Beast," Yuan Ming uttered lightly with surprise.

According to the classics, the Ink Lizard Beast was the offspring of the mating between an Ink Flood Dragon and a Swamp Giant Lizard, possessing the Ink Flood Dragon's sturdy Scale Armor and strength in Water attribute spells, as well as the tenacity and brute force of the Swamp Giant Lizard.

He appeared here in the swamp today partly to test the might of the newly learned Fire Cloud Secret Technique, and also to fulfill Hua Zhi's request to help repel this Ink Lizard Beast.

Yuan Ming formed another spell seal, and once more, seven or eight fireballs shot out from the fire cloud, targeting the Ink Lizard Beast.

In a frantic rage, the Ink Lizard Beast had just soared to mid-air when it sensed the force of the Bursting Fireballs. It quickly spewed out a black water pillar to intercept, then darted downwards.

The black water pillar, evidently not ordinary, made a "hissing" sound. Most fireballs were extinguished, yet two fireballs slipped through and hit the Ink Lizard Beast.

"Boom" "Boom" two loud noises later, the Ink Lizard Beast was blasted away but remained uninjured, righting itself midair in a roll.

Yuan Ming couldn't help but inwardly praise the toughness of the Ink Lizard Beast's scale armor and pointed with both hands.

One after another, fireballs plummeted from mid-air, consecutively striking the Ink Lizard Beast and exploding in a series, turning the air above the pool into a raging sea of fire, surging violently.

Although the Ink Lizard Beast's scale armor was tough, it couldn't withstand such continuous bombardment. Its defenses quickly broke, and it was submerged in the wild flames, emitting a piercing scream of agony.

Yuan Ming nodded slightly, quite satisfied with the power of the Fire Cloud Secret Technique.

Hua Zhi also let out an exuberant cry of cheer, spreading her arms wide as a dozen or so Demon Vines shot out, piercing like lightning into the rolling flames.

The large body of the Ink Lizard Beast fell from the sky, crashing into the mud near the pool.

Its body was covered in shattered scale armor and its flesh was a blur, heavily injured by the Fire Cloud Secret Technique. Hua Zhi's Demon Vines had also penetrated its body, rapidly absorbing its blood and demonic power.

The Ink Lizard Beast's body swiftly shrank, and within a few breaths, it turned into a dried-up corpse.

The aura emanating from Hua Zhi fluctuated slightly, as new dark purple vines grew inside her body, becoming more numerous and dense, quickly forming a large dark purple cocoon that enveloped her. The cocoon sprouted bunches of dark purple flowers, emitting a strange fragrance.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming's face lit up with joy.

Hua Zhi's strength originally pressed close to the Second-level Middle Stage. After killing and absorbing countless demon beasts in the Rain Ruins Swamp, she was finally about to make a breakthrough.

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