Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

Jiang Chen hurried toward the Scripture Pavilion.

After passing the assessment, he had received his Identity Token and uniform as a Sword Sect disciple from Lin Feifei.

However, the Saint Martial Sword Sect didn’t require its disciples to wear the sect’s uniform, so Jiang Chen was in no hurry to change. ’After all, the thought of stepping outside only to see everyone wearing the same thing as me isn’t exactly appealing!’

’The Saint Martial Sword Sect’s Scripture Pavilion is divided into two sections: Earth Level and Celestial Level. However, only Inner Sect disciples and Elders can enter the Celestial Level one. Right now, I need to deepen my understanding of the True Meaning of Water, so I should check out the Cultivation Notes left by the senior masters. If there’s time, I’ll pick out a Body Technique Martial Skill too!’

Jiang Chen muttered to himself.

’My cultivation has already reached the True Martial Realm Eighth Stage. Before long, I should be able to break through to the Ninth Stage.’

’In terms of Cultivation Techniques, I have a Divine Technique like the Profound Yellow Undying Technique.’

’For Martial Skills, I have the Earth-tier Fist Technique, the Eight Celestial Dragon Divine Fist, and the Earth-tier Sword Technique, the Infinite Sword Technique. For Body Refining, I have the Divine Demon Tyrant Body, and I even have a hidden trump card like the Ten Thousand Laws Golden Pupil.’

’If I want to significantly boost my combat power in a short amount of time, aside from comprehending the True Meaning of Water, I’m still missing a Body Technique Martial Skill!’

Even at Jiang Chen’s speed, it took him the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to reach the Scripture Pavilion.

Several hundred kilometers had already passed!

And that distance was less than a quarter of the way around Martial Saint Mountain. One could only imagine how enormous the Holy Mountain truly was!

"Elder, this disciple, Jiang Chen, wishes to enter the Scripture Pavilion," Jiang Chen said, arriving at the entrance and looking at the elder, whose eyes were slightly closed.

This was a Tower Guardian Elder!

The cultivation ripples from his body indicated he was at the Half-step Heavenly Destiny Realm. He had once been an Outer Sect Disciple, but unable to officially break through to the Heavenly Destiny Realm, he had to settle for becoming an Outer Sect Elder.

The Tower Guardian Elder said indifferently, "You should understand the rules for entering the Scripture Pavilion, I presume?"

"This disciple understands!"

Jiang Chen nodded, took out his Identity Token, and activated it with his will, paying one hundred Contribution Points.

Within the Saint Martial Sword Sect, the universal currency was Contribution Points!

The first time Jiang Chen had challenged the Earth Martial Hall, he had reached the 27th floor and been rewarded with over ten thousand Contribution Points. He was practically a tycoon!

After all...

Within the Saint Martial Sword Sect, people could exchange Spirit Crystals for Contribution Points at a rate of one hundred Spirit Crystals for a single Contribution Point!

The ten thousand Contribution Points in Jiang Chen’s possession were equivalent to over a million Spirit Crystals!

To think that he had fought his guts out in the Martial Arts Arena for a hundred-win streak and only earned a million Spirit Crystals for it!

"Mm, go on in." The Tower Guardian Elder nodded and went right back to sleep.

The Scripture Pavilion had a total of three floors.

The 1st Floor housed Yellow Tier Techniques, Martial Skills, and other records.

The second floor was for the Profound Tier.

And the third floor was for the Earth Tier.

Of course, even the Earth-tier Techniques and Martial Skills on the third floor were only the most common ones. The truly precious and powerful Martial Skills, Secret Techniques, and so on were stored in the Inner Sect’s Celestial Level Scripture Pavilion.

’Cultivation Notes on Tier Two Sword Intent are far more valuable than even Earth-Tier Martial Skills. I wonder if there will be any on the third floor...’ Jiang Chen thought, slightly vexed. He went directly to the third floor and quickly found the section where the Cultivation Notes left behind by senior disciples were stored.

’Earth Element? Light Element? Dark Element...’

Jiang Chen walked along the shelves, noticing that the records here were all categorized by attribute. He soon found the Cultivation Notes for the Fire and Wind Elements.

Unfortunately, the records stored in the Earth Level Scripture Pavilion were of a relatively Low Level, so the Cultivation Notes for these two attributes weren’t much help to him. He gave them a cursory scan before moving on.

’Metal Element? This volume of Cultivation Notes actually costs one hundred thousand Contribution Points?’

Jiang Chen froze. He took the Cultivation Notes from the shelf, and when he saw the author’s name, he was taken aback. It was Lan Haichen!

Jiang Chen opened to the first page, which recounted Lan Haichen’s glorious achievements. The actual explanation of his comprehension of the True Meaning of Gold didn’t begin until the third page. However, it wasn’t detailed—merely a brief overview. The subsequent pages were sealed by the Scripture Pavilion’s Restriction and couldn’t be viewed. Jiang Chen placed it back on the shelf, shaking his head and sighing. "Even though I couldn’t read the rest, I get the feeling Lan Haichen’s understanding of the True Meaning of Gold is too unconventional. It’s not comprehensive enough!"

Jiang Chen had been muttering to himself, but he was accidentally overheard by another Outer Sect Disciple who was also searching for cultivation records nearby.

The person was a woman clad in red leather armor that hugged her exquisite figure.

She was busty and curvy, with a full figure and a slender, supple waist that moved with an indescribable charm and allure.

This young woman was also an Outer Sect Disciple.

Right now, her bright eyes were wide, and her icy, furious gaze was fixed on Jiang Chen. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she said coldly. "How dare you criticize the Holy Son’s Cultivation Notes? Spouting such filth and offending His Highness’s dignity... you deserve to die!"

"Uh..."

Jiang Chen froze, looking at the girl who was firing accusations at him like a machine gun. "Are you talking to me?" he asked with a wry smile.

"Of course I’m talking to you!" the girl snorted, her eyes filled with disdain. "Everyone knows the Holy Son took only three months to comprehend the True Meaning of Gold from scratch! He’s practically a Celestial Being! To us, his Cultivation Notes are a Martial Arts Holy Scroll, a Supreme Martial Manual. How dare you critique His Highness’s notes and be so insolent? Apologize, now!"

Jiang Chen was speechless.

’I just made one casual comment, and I managed to attract one of Lan Haichen’s rabid fangirls.’

’Looking at how furious she is, anyone who didn’t know better would think I’d slept with her and then dumped her!’

He shook his head helplessly.

Jiang Chen gave a wry smile. "Little miss, I didn’t mean to insult anyone. Cultivating the Martial Dao is a process of pursuing the True Essence of Martial Arts. Everyone has the right to choose their own path. I read those Cultivation Notes and simply felt they didn’t align with my own philosophy. I can’t just abandon my own thoughts to blindly follow his, can I? What wrong have I done?"

"Hmph!"

The fangirl’s expression turned even uglier. She gritted her teeth and snarled, "Doesn’t align with your Martial Dao philosophy? Hahaha, that’s hilarious! Who the hell do you think you are? You’re not even fit to carry the Holy Son’s chamber pot, yet you dare say his Martial Dao philosophy is wrong? Fine! I’d like to see what a loud-mouthed punk like you is really made of!"

As she spoke, the fangirl took a step back, her slender, delicate hand clenching in the air.

VMMMM—

A ripple of True Essence enveloped her hand, and a black leather whip materialized in her palm. With a flick of her wrist, it let out a sharp CRACK!

The fangirl’s face was cold as she pointed a slender finger at Jiang Chen’s nose and sneered, "Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson. If you can last three moves against me, I’ll let you walk away. If you can’t, you’re going to get on your knees in front of the Holy Son’s Cultivation Notes and beg for his forgiveness!"

Before the words were even out of her mouth, the girl lashed out. The whip struck with incredible speed, moving like a black Spiritual Snake as it shot straight toward Jiang Chen.

This was an incomparably vicious attack!

If it landed, even a True Martial Realm expert would have their skin flayed open, facing the risk of grievous injury!

SNAP!

The long whip struck, but it failed to hit Jiang Chen.

Instead, he had caught the whip in mid-air with one hand.

"Get lost!"

Jiang Chen slammed the whip against the ground. "Push me again," he said coldly, "and I won’t be so courteous."

"YAAAH! You arrogant bastard, you dare to fight back? I’ll cripple your cultivation!"

The girl’s eyes were bloodshot as she roared in anger and attacked again.

This lash was filled with boundless killing intent.

It was aimed directly at Jiang Chen’s heart!

’Let’s see you survive this!’ the girl thought, her face a mask of venomous glee. ’Hmph, you deserve to die for daring to insult the Holy Son!’

"For fuck’s sake..."

Jiang Chen cursed under his breath. He shot his hand out like a claw and once again snatched the whip from the air.

The girl strained several times, but the whip wouldn’t budge an inch.

"Let go! If you don’t, I’ll kill you!" the girl roared.

The smile on Jiang Chen’s face vanished, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "I just expressed a different opinion, and you immediately try to kill me. Am I supposed to just stand here and wait to die? And you want me to kneel and apologize to a book? Hmph. You’re being completely irrational!"

"You dare call me irrational? You’re dead! Just wait until my older brother gets here! I’ll have him chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!" the girl shrieked, looking utterly feral.

"So noisy."

Jiang Chen snorted coldly.

With a flick of his wrist, he yanked hard on the whip, causing the girl to stumble and lunge toward him. He then swung the whip in a wide arc. Amidst a WHOOSHING sound, the whip wrapped around the girl, binding her as tightly as a cocoon. With a THUD, she fell to the floor, unable to move.

"Bastard, you..."

The girl opened her mouth, her face full of venom, but before she could finish speaking, Jiang Chen stuffed the handle of the whip into her mouth, silencing her. All that came out were muffled whimpers.

Jiang Chen crouched in front of her, patting her rosy cheek. "You should be glad you’re a woman, and I don’t make a habit of hitting women," he said lightly. "Otherwise, you’d be a cold corpse right now. And one more thing: don’t provoke me again. I may not hit women, but if there’s a next time, I’ll strip you naked and tie you up in front of the Earth Martial Hall for all to see!"

With that said,

he left the furious, venom-faced girl behind and sauntered off to continue his search for the Water Attribute Cultivation Notes.

’You bastard! How dare you do this to me! I’ll never let you get away with this...’

The fangirl stared daggers at Jiang Chen’s retreating back, her whole body squirming like a caterpillar as she tried to crawl toward the Scripture Pavilion’s exit.

Jiang Chen glanced back at her but paid her no mind. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He had already found the object of his search. There, on the shelf for Water Attribute Cultivation Notes, lay a simple, ancient, dust-covered book...