He arrived back at his valley to find his three friends waiting anxiously at the entrance. The moment they saw him, a wave of relief washed over their faces.
"Brother Li!" Hu Jian called out, his voice a mixture of respect and genuine concern. "You were gone for the entire day. Is everything alright? Did the meeting with your master go well?"
Li Yu looked at the worried faces of his friends and a warm genuine smile touched his lips. He could not tell them the whole truth, the secret of the Grand Elders and his new hidden status. But he could share the fruits of his new position.
"Everything is more than alright," he said, his voice calm and reassuring. He led them into the main hall of the pagoda and sat at the head of the table. "They were pleased with my progress. Very pleased."
He placed the deep, oceanic blue jade slip given to him by Grand Elder Chen on the table. "As a result of my contributions to the sect, the council has seen fit to grant me a new privilege."
His friends leaned forward, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and excitement.
"I have been granted unrestricted access to the Myriad Tomes Pavilion," Li Yu stated. "All nine floors."
The ninth floor. It was a legendary, almost mythical place. A sanctuary that was said to house the personal, handwritten manuscripts of the sect's founder. It was a place that not even most of the inner sect elders were permitted to enter.
"The… the ninth floor?" Brother Kai stammered, his usual composure completely gone. "Brother Li, that is… that is the legacy of the ancestors! The knowledge contained there is priceless!"
"And it is now open to me," Li Yu said with a quiet nod. "The sect has decided that my unique foundation requires a unique path. I am to study the wisdom of our ancestors and forge my own arsenal of techniques."
He looked at them, a new determined light in his eyes. "My current techniques have served me well, but they are not enough. To truly protect this home we have built, I need more options. And the path to that strength lies in that tower."
He spent the rest of the day in quiet conversation with his friends, delegating the management of the menagerie and ensuring that everything would continue to run smoothly in his absence. He was increasingly becoming too busy to run a lot of the day to day. His friends were happy to take over some of his daily tasks, which he appreciated. The next morning, at the first light of dawn, he was gone.
He arrived at the Myriad Tomes Pavilion, a solitary figure in the early morning mist. The wizened, sleepy elder at the entrance opened a single, cloudy eye as he approached. Li Yu simply presented the oceanic blue jade slip.
The elder's other eye snapped open. The sleepiness in his gaze vanished, replaced by a look of shock. He looked from the token, a symbol of the sect's highest authority. Usually only the Sect Leader had it, for this calm boy before him to have it means he was personally sent here by the Sect leader. He slowly, respectfully, rose to his feet and bowed. "The path is open to you, Disciple Li. Please, proceed."
Li Yu gave a simple nod and ascended the spiraling staircase. He climbed, the spiritual pressure growing with each level. But his 'Void-Wrought Flesh' physique, a body forged in a crucible of life and void, was a fortress that did not even tremble.
He finally arrived at the ninth floor. It was a single, vast circular chamber, its walls lined not with shelves but with a dozen sealed crystalline display cases. The air here was still, silent and filled with an ancient aura of wisdom.
Each case contained a single original manuscript, its pages made of beast hide or woven from spiritual silk. The ink upon them still pulsing with the faint, residual will of the long-dead powerhouses who had written them. It wasn't just the founder's texts here, it was the texts from all the top powers of the sect through the years. This was the true heart of the Green Mountain Sect's legacy.
He spent hours simply walking the chamber, his spiritual sense a gentle, probing current as he read the titles of the ancient techniques. He saw domineering spear arts, world-ending sword forms and esoteric arts that promised control over the very elements. But he knew what he was looking for.
His first priority was a flight art. The Silver-Winged Flying Swordfish was a fine mount, but a true expert needed to be able to command the skies with their own power. He found it in a case dedicated to the sect's second Sect Master, a master of the wind element.
The scroll was titled «Gale-Rider's Passage». It was a high-grade, Earth-level technique that taught the user to become one with the currents of the wind, allowing for incredible speed and silent, effortless maneuverability.
Next, he needed to supplement his combat abilities. His «Deep-River Seal» was a powerful, single-target technique and his staff arts were for defense and control. He needed something with a wider reach, a technique that could handle multiple opponents at once. He found it in a dusty, forgotten corner, a manuscript written by an eccentric elder who had been obsessed with the concept of flexible warfare.
The technique was for the staff and it was called «Ironwood Staff Rain». It was a strange, ingenious art that taught the user to infuse their True Qi into their staff and then with a burst of spiritual energy, to cause the staff to dissolve into tens or hundreds of tiny needles like qi to attack with.
Finally, he sought to deepen his own dao of water. He found it in the very center of the chamber, in the display case dedicated to the founder himself. It was a simple, unassuming book bound in blue, scaled leather. The title was simple: «The Oceanic Heart Scripture». It was not a combat art. It was a profound cultivation scripture that taught the very nature of water: its weight, its depth, its adaptability and its all-consuming, life-giving power.
As he stood, his hand resting on the crystal case, a low, rumbling and kindly voice echoed from the corner of the chamber. "A fine set of tools. But a tool is only as good as the hand that wields it."
Li Yu turned to meet the voice. He had known he was not alone. Grand Elder Chen, the ancient, gnarled pillar of the sect, sat on a simple meditation cushion in the shadows, his presence so perfectly merged with the room that he was almost invisible.
"Grand Elder," Li Yu said with a deep, respectful bow.
"Do not be so formal, boy," the old man said, a warm grandfatherly smile on his wrinkled face. He slowly rose and walked over, his gaze falling on the three techniques Li Yu had chosen. "Speed, control, and foundation. You do not seek flashy domineering power. You seek to perfect your own base. A wise cautious choice. The choice of a man who plans to live a very, very long time."
He looked at Li Yu, his smile warm. "The path you have chosen is a difficult one. Your foundation is unique. These techniques will be fine starting points but you will have to adapt them, to forge them into something that is truly your own."
"If you ever find yourself at a crossroads, if you ever have a question that the ancient texts cannot answer, do not hesitate to seek out this old man. It has been a long time since I have had a student interesting enough to teach."
Li Yu felt a genuine warmth spread through his chest. This was the simple, gentle kindness of an elder seeing a promising junior, the beginning of a new bond.
"This junior is grateful for the Grand Elder's guidance," he said, his bow even deeper than before.
He spent the rest of the day on the ninth floor, absorbing the knowledge of the three techniques, his mind a hungry sponge. He returned to his valley that evening, his storage ring filled with a new arsenal of world-shaking knowledge.
He had the resources. He had the allies. He had the protection of his sect's most powerful figures. And now, he had the knowledge. The path to the peak was clear. The quiet, hidden leviathan was finally ready to begin its true, silent ascent.