Huang Shi and Qiao Fenyi walked in silence, passing through the corridors and going up the stairway to reach the second level of the information hall.
Much like the first level, it was filled with a large amount of books and scrolls but to a much smaller degree.
It was clear that in the Azure Dragon Sect, Nascent Profound Realm level cultivation techniques were much rarer compared to their Elementary Profound Realm counterparts.
Strange, based on my previous calculations there should be a lot less Nascent Profound Realm Cultivators here.
Huang Shi had a basic estimate of the number of people present in the Azure Dragon Sect, which was around 100,000 people.
With the talent threshold, there should only be around 10 people in the entire sect that should have reached the Nascent Profound Realm, and yet, in this room alone, there were at least 50 disciples who had reached that level.
Although from what the system tells me, most of them are between the first and third level of the Nascent Profound Realm. I guess that's some sort of bottleneck.
Just as his confusion had reached its peak, it was the system that was able to clear up his doubts once more.
[The higher the rank of the sect/faction, the more resources they have at their disposal to raise more powerful disciples. This includes higher-level cultivation techniques, pills, and even formations that concentrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in their sect.]
Dang, so that's the reason. This must mean that in the higher-level sects, the concentration of spiritual energy must be high to an absurd level. It's probably so much easier to cultivate in those places compared to the Azure Dragon Sect.
Huang Shi felt a wave of envy rise through his chest as, for the first time, he was jealous of those so-called "young masters."
Whatever. Unless they also have a system, no genius in this world can compare to me!
After a bit of bravado, Huang Shi and Qiao Fenyi finally arrived at the third floor of the information hall, which looked a lot different from the floors below it.
The first thing they noticed was that the door to the actual place of learning was closed, and there were guards stationed at the place—both of whom were powerful cultivators of the 5th level of the Nascent Profound Realm.
They look a bit old, though...
Huang Shi suddenly realized that if a person was unable to reach a certain level of cultivation during their childhood, they would probably be relegated to the position of outer sect elder or inner sect elder.
Considering that these people are at the 5th level of the Nascent Profound Realm, they must be quite powerful inner sect elders.
Qiao Fenyi then looked at the two figures in front before bowing her head politely and speaking in a respectful tone.
"Seniors! I have come here with the explicit permission of Grand Elder Huang Li to lead Huang Shi to the third level of the Information Hall. I hope you will grant us passage!"
Qiao Fenyi, seeing that Huang Shi had not bowed his head like her, suddenly pushed his head down slightly, prompting him to do the same.
Do I really have to do this??
Huang Shi gave an inward sigh, lamenting the strange customs of the cultivation world, before one of the two guards, named Huang Bo, spoke in a rough tone.
"Show me the talisman."
Qiao Fenyi then looked towards Huang Shi, gesturing towards him with her eyes as she whispered with a bit of urgency in her voice, "Hurry up! Show him the talisman that Grandpa Huang gave you!"
Seeing that everybody here was waiting for him to act, Huang Shi gave a slight cough in embarrassment before standing back up and showing Huang Bo the talisman that had been given to him by his grandfather.
The talisman was made of wood and bore the design of the sect's sigil—an azure dragon flying through the sky that gave off a slight pressure of spiritual energy.
Huang Bo took the talisman from Huang Shi's hands and inspected it, releasing his spiritual energy and sending it inside.
After a few seconds, Huang Bo nodded his head, his expression returning to normal before looking towards Huang Shi and Qiao Fenyi.
"Only the person with the talisman may enter the room. Qiao Fenyi, you may return to your duties for now."
Hearing these words, Qiao Fenyi raised her head and nodded softly before looking towards Huang Shi and whispering, "I'll wait back down at the first level. The way the third level works is a bit different from the others, but you'll figure it out. Come find me when you're done."
After saying these words, Qiao Fenyi once again gave a slight bow before walking off towards the lower level.
However, before she could get very far, she heard something that made her expression flush red once again.
"Little miss, thanks for helping me out today! I promise I'll give you your reward later, and we'll have a date one of these days!"
Qiao Fenyi struggled to maintain her expression as she looked back with a glare in her eyes, before giving a pout and walking off.
Hehe, that girl is becoming more and more lovable by the minute.
After seeing the girl off, Huang Shi finally looked back at the two guards who were patiently waiting for him to finish his business. The other guard, named Huang Jun, gestured towards the door.
"Come in! Remember that the entire third level of the information hall is protected by a formation that prevents people from being able to take anything in the room. If you want a copy of anything on the third level, you cannot take a physical copy; instead, the information will be sent directly towards your sea of consciousness with a soul seal automatically placed on it."
After reading through the information on the first level of the information hall, Huang Shi already knew what a soul seal was. It was basically something used by powerful sects and clans to prevent their most precious techniques from being spread to outsiders.
If a piece of information was protected by a soul seal, unless you were willing to bear the pain of having your soul pierced by an invisible blade, you wouldn't be able to speak of it to others.