When he entered the Library Pavilion, the first thing Lu Yang saw was an elderly man in his sixties lying lazily on a rocking chair, basking in the sun while seriously flipping through a Daoist scripture.
The moment Lu Yang stepped inside, the old man looked over.
"Another new disciple?"
The old man said indifferently, "Go pick something inside yourself. Remember, follow the rules written in there. Otherwise, if you die, don't blame me for not warning you."
"Thank you for the guidance, senior."
Lu Yang cupped his hands, then walked toward the bookshelves.
Sure enough, as soon as he approached, the disciple token at his waist seemed to sense something. A faint glow appeared, then turned into lines of text floating in the air.
"Lu Yang, disciple of Butian Peak."
"You may receive the secret transmission technique of Butian Peak for free. Additionally, your first exchange of a cultivation technique may be done via loan with no down payment."
Lu Yang didn't hesitate and directly claimed it.
In the next instant, the contents of the technique appeared on the disciple token. Lu Yang's mind quickly sank into it, and only after a long while did he come back to his senses.
"This technique… why is it also split into upper and lower parts, just like the Innate Dao Scripture?"
Recalling the ending of his previous life, Lu Yang's expression became rather ugly.
"The Dragon-Tiger Yin-Yang Joy Art—once perfected, it can refine a strand of Yin-Yang Dragon-Tiger Qi, ranked fifth grade. In theory, it also directly points to Foundation Establishment…"
"But what they gave me is only the Qi Refining chapter."
With the lesson from his previous life, Lu Yang was extremely wary of this kind of half-finished, abruptly-cut-off cultivation method. He even had the impulse to give up cultivating it altogether.
However, after thinking for a long time, he still sighed.
"I still have to cultivate it!"
If he cultivates it, there might be hidden dangers in the future.
If he doesn't cultivate it, he might not even have a future!
Moreover, this demonic art was truly profound. Not only could it extract the target's vital essence, it could also obtain the target's knowledge!
Techniques, divine abilities, experience—he could extract all of them!
"Furthermore, cultivators who are tormented by this technique will gradually have their minds controlled by the cultivator, becoming fanatically loyal and unable to escape. In the end, they become the cultivator's puppet, even willing to die for them. It is truly an extremely sinister and bizarre demonic art…"
Lu Yang studied the technique and silently comprehended it.
Another half hour passed like this before he tried to circulate it. Two streams of true qi flowed around his fingertips, forming dragon and tiger, faintly about to turn into a brand-new type of true qi…
"Mm!"
In the next second, Lu Yang's face turned pale, and the true qi at his fingertips dispersed.
"Failed? That makes sense. Although I already understand the theory, I still haven't practiced it in actual combat…"
Lu Yang didn't get discouraged. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the dazzling array of bookshelves before him.
According to the rules of the Library Pavilion, as a newly promoted formal disciple, he still had one chance to exchange a cultivation method or divine ability via loan with no down payment.
And what surprised Lu Yang was that the Library Pavilion didn't only contain demonic techniques.
There were also many techniques that were clearly from righteous sects, and they covered a wide range of fields—divination, sword arts, five-element techniques—everything was there.
"Minor Heaven-Severing Art, Supreme Taiyi Five Elements True Method, Longevity True Explanation, Divine Firmament Sword Control True Art…"
Lu Yang browsed for a long time before finally making his choice.
"'Divine Firmament Sword Control True Art', price: 1000 contribution points."
"Detected that this is your first exchange. You may loan with no down payment. Annual interest rate: 36%. Repayment over ten years. Do you wish to exchange?"
"How much?!"
Lu Yang almost cursed out loud.
An annual interest rate of 36% meant that principal plus interest, he had to repay 460 contribution points every year.
Ten years would be 4600 points!
Borrow 1000, repay 4600?
This was squeezing people dry down to the bones!
"Wait… I'm different!"
Lu Yang's eyes suddenly lit up.
Interest-free down payment loans might be a huge trap for others, but for him, it was completely meaningless.
Worst case, he would just restart.
What does the debt from the previous life have to do with me?
So as long as he wanted, he could freely loot the techniques and divine abilities in the Library Pavilion!
Since he had no intention of repaying, Lu Yang immediately became much calmer. He waved his hand grandly and, without even blinking, took the loan and bought the Divine Firmament Sword Control True Art.
Then something unexpected happened.
Previously, when he obtained the secret demonic technique, he was directly given the content. But this time, what he got was only a message:
"Your technique is being dispatched. It is expected to arrive at your cave residence within three days."
"Please wait patiently."
Looking at the message on the disciple token, Lu Yang felt a bit puzzled.
What did "being dispatched" mean? Could it be that this technique was a unique copy and hadn't been transcribed?
That said, Lu Yang believed that the Chusheng Sect wouldn't be so shameless as to just swallow his technique like this.
Before leaving, he went to the old man at the entrance of the Library Pavilion.
"Senior…"
As soon as Lu Yang saluted, the old man on the rocking chair said, "I'm not a senior. I'm also a sect disciple, just a bit older than you."
Lu Yang was stunned for a moment, then changed how he addressed him.
"Senior brother, do you know whether there are death-row prisoners in the sect suitable for our cultivation techniques to use?"
Being in a demonic sect, Lu Yang naturally had no thoughts of staying pure and unstained. He also had no taboos about cultivating demonic arts. Anything that could make him stronger, he would use.
The old man glanced at Lu Yang and suddenly said, "Did you take a loan to buy a technique?"
Lu Yang was stunned, then nodded.
"Then you don't need to worry about that."
At this point, a meaningful smile appeared on the old man's face.
"This technique loan, although hateful, isn't without benefits…"
"Go back and wait."
Lu Yang returned to his cave residence, completely confused.
But very soon, he understood why the Divine Firmament Sword Control True Art needed time to be "delivered", and what the old man meant by "benefits".
Three days later, a box was delivered to the entrance of Lu Yang's cave residence.
Lu Yang carried the box inside and opened it.
Then he saw a heroic-looking woman with a curvaceous figure and sharp phoenix eyes, bound hand and foot, stuffed in the middle of the box.
The woman couldn't be called a peerless beauty, but she was naturally beautiful.
Her face was bare, without any makeup, yet it instead gave her a kind of transcendent elegance.
And because she had stayed in the stuffy box for too long, her body was now covered in glistening sweat, beads rolling down her fair neck and into her chest.
"Demonic path!"
The woman glared at Lu Yang, her eyes wishing she could tear him into a thousand pieces. At the same time, she seemed to have thought of her own fate, and despair appeared on her pretty face.
Lu Yang frowned.
"You are… a disciple of the Yushu Sword Pavilion?"
"So what if I am?"
The woman closed her beautiful eyes, and two lines of clear tears slowly slid down her fair cheeks.
"Just kill me."
Only then did Lu Yang suddenly understand.
The Divine Firmament Sword Control True Art was the secret inheritance of the Yushu Sword Pavilion, the leader of the southern righteous path. He had been wondering where the Chusheng Sect got it from.
Now he understood.
Demonic arts could copy the target's knowledge and experience.
And the Chusheng Sect had directly gotten him a formal disciple of the Yushu Sword Pavilion.
In other words, if he wanted the Divine Firmament Sword Control True Art, he only needed to torture her.
"In this way, it both teaches the technique and solves the problem of disciples needing cultivation partners. Killing two birds with one stone, maximizing value."
Use everything to its fullest.
Truly the style of the Holy Sect.
Compared to the righteous sects' bitter cultivation—training in the freezing cold in winter and the scorching heat in summer—
This was the cultivation method of the demonic sect.