After Mu Die left Cloudsmoke Residence, Wei Tu thought for a moment, then took out a pale golden token from his robe and played with it in his hand for a while.
This pale golden token was the cultivation method token that Master Che had given each of his core disciples after accepting them.
With this token, they could go to the Loose Immortal Alliance’s Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion and pick any third-rank cultivation method, or a divine ability, or a secret art.
After becoming a disciple, because the Wind-Cleaving Eagle was "injured," Wei Tu left Red River Mountain Market in a hurry to avoid the Beastmaster Sect, and hadn’t used this token.
Just now, while guiding Mu Die, Wei Tu remembered that he still had this third-rank cultivation method token unused.
It wasn’t that Wei Tu had forgotten or been careless, but because he still had many divine abilities and secret arts on hand that he hadn’t fully mastered yet. Learning another third-rank divine ability or secret art at this point would be too much for him.
"Better to prepare early. Who knows how long the Loose Immortal Alliance can last? I should go learn a third-rank cultivation method first," Wei Tu thought.
Compared to the Hanshan Tao Clan, the Loose Immortal Alliance was a huge power. But compared to the five Demon Dao sects, the Loose Immortal Alliance was just a small force.
It was only a potential Nascent Soul-level force.
In terms of cohesion and top-tier strength, the Loose Immortal Alliance, made up of rogue cultivators, was far inferior to the five great sects currently dominating Zheng Kingdom.If the five Demon Dao sects attacked with full force, the first to collapse might very well be the Loose Immortal Alliance.
The Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion was located halfway up Red River Mountain, in the same secondary core area of Red River Mountain Market as Cloudsmoke Residence.
The mountain peak, mid-mountain, and foot of the mountain.
These were the three tiers of areas defined by the Loose Immortal Alliance.
At the mountain peak were the residences of seventeen Golden Core cultivators. Ordinary cultivators couldn’t go there without summons—violators would be punished.
The mid-mountain area was mostly where Foundation Establishment cultivators lived. There were also important alliance facilities here, like the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion, the Alchemy Hall, the General Affairs Hall, and others.
The foot of the mountain and surrounding areas were where Qi Refinement rogue cultivators gathered, a mix of all sorts.
A short while later.
Wei Tu left Cloudsmoke Residence and arrived at the entrance of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion.
After verifying his identity, Wei Tu easily entered the second floor of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion.
Like the He Family’s Scripture Pavilion on Crane Mountain, each floor of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion was organized by cultivation level.
The second floor of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion housed cultivation methods, divine abilities, and secret arts for the Foundation Establishment stage.
Of course, some rare Qi Refinement secret arts were also placed here.
"The scale is much larger than the He Family’s, but these collections don’t really interest me…" Wei Tu glanced around briefly and went straight up to the third floor.
Between the second and third floors, a pale yellow light barrier stood, set with a high-level restriction.
Wei Tu looked up and saw quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered before the pale yellow light barrier, all eager and ready.
He was puzzled and was about to ask a nearby cultivator when suddenly, a burly man carrying a sword charged at the light barrier, trying to force his way through.
Just as the burly man was about to pass into the light barrier—
Suddenly, the light barrier surged with a powerful force, flinging the burly man back dozens of steps.
But the force was controlled well—it didn’t seriously injure the man, just left him with some minor internal disruption.
"What a pity. If Old Xing had held on for just another breath or two, he might have made it to the third floor of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion and gained access to a Golden Core cultivator’s personal teachings…"
The surrounding cultivators murmured.
Hearing this, Wei Tu quickly understood why so many Foundation Establishment cultivators were gathered at the third-floor entrance.
This pale yellow light barrier was called the "Ten Thousand Methods Restriction," a special formation set by Array Master Qi.
No matter whether it was physical strength, magical power, or divine ability, all would be greatly suppressed inside this Ten Thousand Methods Restriction.
The Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion had a rule: any cultivator who could pass through this restriction could not only become a disciple of a Golden Core cultivator in the Loose Immortal Alliance, but also pick any third-rank cultivation method from the third floor.
"First recruiting disciples for the Golden Core cultivators, now setting up the Ten Thousand Methods Restriction in the pavilion—seems like someone truly capable is in charge of the Loose Immortal Alliance…"
Wei Tu silently admired them.
From these little rules, it was clear that the Loose Immortal Alliance leadership was seriously managing and developing their force.
Or rather, the Loose Immortal Alliance was still in a growth phase.
After the burly man’s failed attempt, no one else stepped up for a long while. Seeing this, Wei Tu didn’t hesitate either, and slowly walked up to the pale yellow light barrier blocking the entrance to the third floor.
"Who is that?"
"He looks kind of skinny, doesn’t seem like he’s also trained in body refinement like Old Xing?"
The gathered cultivators were surprised to see Wei Tu step forward.
When he felt it was about to be broken, that’s when he revealed his cultivation method token and stepped inside.
After all, his publicly known strength was only mid Foundation Establishment, and those who successfully broke through the Ten Thousand Methods Restriction generally had late Foundation Establishment strength at the very least.
For just one third-rank cultivation method, it wasn’t worth the risk of exposing his true strength.
Besides, Wei Tu didn’t believe the Loose Immortal Alliance would let him, as a Golden Core disciple, exploit a loophole like that.
There were many rogue cultivators like him, disciples of Golden Core elders, who had the strength to break the restriction. Yet none of them came here to join the fun.
Also, a third-rank cultivation method wasn’t something he urgently needed. Just getting one would suffice.
So letting greed take over wasn’t a good idea.
Wei Tu calmed his mind and carefully looked around the layout of the third floor of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion.
Just like the first and second floors—
The third floor’s collections were divided into sections like "Cultivation Methods," "Divine Abilities," "Formations," "Alchemy," and "Talismans."
"You need to exchange first before knowing which Golden Core elder the methods and abilities belong to…" Wei Tu frowned slightly after browsing for a while.
When he became Master Che’s disciple, Master Che had told him that everything on the third floor was contributed by the Loose Immortal Alliance’s seventeen Golden Core elders.
He had said that they, the core disciples, didn’t need to worry about it and could pick freely.
He also claimed the Loose Immortal Alliance didn’t have sectarian bias.
Before coming here, Wei Tu thought the collections on the third floor would be labeled with the names of the seventeen Golden Core elders, making it easy for them to choose whose methods and abilities to learn.
That would have been more straightforward.
"There’s no sectarian bias, but among the seventeen elders, there are easygoing ones and difficult ones, those who like to teach and those who don’t…" Wei Tu sighed quietly.
Although he understood that hiding which elder contributed what was standard practice in large sects, as a Golden Core disciple, this made choosing a method more inconvenient.
"I can only leave it to fate now. Hopefully, the method I pick won’t come from one of the difficult elders."
Wei Tu walked to the "Cultivation Methods" section and started picking methods that suited his attributes.
The Lesser Spring and Autumn Art was only a second-rank method. Once he formed his core, that method wouldn’t offer him much help anymore.
Back when True Lord Qin recommended it, he hadn’t expected that one day, Wei Tu would even have a chance at forming a Golden Core.
Given his potential, forming a foundation was already considered incredibly lucky.
"Divine Wood Origin Technique." After browsing for a while, Wei Tu fixed his gaze on a pale green jade slip on the shelf.
Divine Wood Origin Technique, just like Lesser Spring and Autumn Art, was an earth-wood attribute cultivation method, making it the best choice for him to switch to.
More importantly, just like Lesser Spring and Autumn Art, Divine Wood Origin Technique also cultivated an internal "spiritual seed."
Back during his Qi Refinement stage, Wei Tu refined a "Geomagnetic Wood Spiritual Seed" and gained "Geomagnetic Yuan Light."
Later, after further refining, the Geomagnetic Yuan Light evolved into a higher-level "Yuan Gravity Law Seal."
But at its core, all this progress came from refining that one "Geomagnetic Wood Spiritual Seed" during his Qi Refinement stage.
This third-rank method, Divine Wood Origin Technique, like Lesser Spring and Autumn Art, focused on cultivating internal spiritual seeds, from which combat techniques were derived.
Among the seventeen third-rank cultivation methods, only Divine Wood Origin Technique matched Wei Tu’s attributes the best.
Without hesitation, Wei Tu took out his cultivation method token and placed the pale green jade slip onto it.
Moments later—
The restrictions within the pale green jade slip unraveled, revealing its full content, as well as the name of the Golden Core elder who cultivated this method.
"Bao Siyan?"
Wei Tu raised an eyebrow as he saw the name, muttering to himself, "Not good."
Bao Siyan was one of the only four female Golden Core elders in the Loose Immortal Alliance.
It wasn’t that Bao Siyan was known for being particularly harsh among the elders, but because she was a female cultivator, it would be awkward for him as a male to approach her for instruction.
After all, men and women should keep some distance.
"Bao Siyan is known to be gentle among the elders. Picking her is still better than ending up with someone like Qu Xingdao or Yao Wenyuan, those with terrible tempers."
Wei Tu consoled himself.
Since men and women should maintain boundaries, at most, he would just limit how often he sought her advice—not too big a deal.
…
Meanwhile—
At the summit of Honghe Mountain, inside a lavish residence—
"Wei Tu?" A mature woman wearing a white bamboo hat slowly opened her eyes, her gaze falling on a line of text within the jade slip in her hand, her brows gently furrowed.
This was none other than Bao Siyan, one of the only four female Golden Core elders of the Loose Immortal Alliance.
Each of the seventeen cultivation method jade slips on the third floor of the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion had intricate restrictions placed upon them. As soon as a cultivator with a method token unlocked one of them, the information on that token would immediately be sensed by the respective Golden Core elder, even from a thousand miles away.
"Che old ghost’s disciple?"
"Mid Foundation Establishment, and a second-rank top-grade talisman master?"
Bao Siyan reviewed the information about Wei Tu listed within the jade slip. When she saw that he was a second-rank talisman master, a hint of joy flickered in her eyes.
"If he can reach third-rank talisman mastery, then that ancient cultivator's cave we failed to fully explore back then, perhaps with him, we could attempt it once more."
Bao Siyan mused silently.
Two hundred years ago, her dao companion perished while accompanying her into that ancient cultivator’s cave.
Within that cave, one of the barriers could only be broken by someone with deep mastery in talisman Dao. The talisman master needed to be at least third-rank.
Though True Person Che was also a third-rank talisman master, she did not trust "Che old ghost," whose strength surpassed hers by a wide margin.
Bao Siyan only trusted a third-rank talisman master she personally trained.
"Let’s first observe Wei Tu’s character and talent, and see if he has the potential to reach Golden Core." Bao Siyan wasn’t in a hurry. She casually sent out a talisman message and continued her meditation to refine her cultivation.
A Golden Core's lifespan was eight hundred years.
Over the years, she had encountered a dozen or so talented second-rank talisman masters.
But unfortunately, none of them had the fate to reach Golden Core stage.
…
In the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion, Wei Tu had no idea about Bao Siyan’s thoughts.
After copying the Divine Wood Origin Technique method, he left the pavilion and returned to Cloudsmoke Residence.
"Two talisman messages?" As soon as he returned, two talismans, one after the other, landed before him.
The first was from Bao Siyan, saying she would be available in three months. If Wei Tu wanted to ask about the cultivation method, he could visit her residence then.
Wei Tu wasn’t surprised upon seeing this. He had already guessed that the Loose Immortal Alliance likely had some way to inform the Golden Core elders about who was learning their methods.
After sending a reply expressing his thanks, he opened the second talisman message.
But the sender of the second talisman took Wei Tu completely by surprise.