Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"Damn it!"

Not yet close, Chen Li had already seen from afar that the scripture vault’s defensive array was activated, instantly feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been splashed in his face, leaving him somewhat frantic and infuriated.

The thick earthen-yellow protective shield, with its obscure mana and strict aura, encased the scripture vault tightly, making his heart clench with fear.

The scripture vault is one of the most important places in a sect.

The defensive formation set up here was at least of the third order lower grade or above. With his strength, it was absolutely impossible to force his way through it, and even if he tried to wear it down slowly, not to mention whether the formation would counterattack, with his strongest attack only being at the level of the second order eighth tier, it would likely take an eternity.

Just as Chen Li was pacing back and forth outside the scripture vault, uncertain whether to enter or retreat,

An old and surprised voice had already come from inside the scripture vault.

"Chen?"

As he spoke, the protective shield quickly opened a circular hole.

Chen Li, seeing this, hurriedly flashed inside. It was indeed Ji Kai, the old guardian of the scripture vault, who was still sitting at the desk in the grand hall of the vault as usual. In front of the desk was a cup of fragrant tea, the steam misty, as if it was always waiting for someone to come to the scripture vault to choose cultivation techniques.

He had aged even more.

His figure was hunched, skin and bones, his spirit and vigor greatly diminished.

Chen Li looked around, it seemed that Ji Kai was the only one left: "Fellow Daoist Ji, everyone else has left, aren’t you planning to leave?"

"Leave, and go where?" Ji Kai said slowly,

"It’s just a matter of dying a few days earlier or a few days later. For someone of my age, what is there to be unable to let go of? I have guarded the scripture vault for the better half of my life and have grown accustomed to staying here. Rather than dying out there, heh, I’d rather die here in peace.

By the way, I haven’t asked yet, why have you come here? What’s the situation outside now?"

"The old ancestor self-detonated and perished, the administrative sect leader also died. Those who could escape, escaped; those who could die, died. The entire sect is deserted," Chen Li sighed.

Ji Kai felt a sad pang in his heart and shed two murky tears: "Returning True Sect is really finished now, alas. If only we had known not to move here back then; attacking Tianxing Sect was an even bigger mistake. Otherwise, I think things would still be fine now... Luo Shen had once advised the old ancestor, but unfortunately, the old ancestor was obstinate and wouldn’t listen at all."

"Who could have expected a third order demon beast to come!" Chen Li offered a word of consolation.

Ji Kai rambled on, starting with regrets, but then the topics became more distant, the more he spoke, the sadder he became, and finally he sobbed in front of Chen Li like a child.

"I’ve been without children all my life; I can’t remember at all what my parents looked like. Since I could remember, I’ve been in the sect. Alas, I can still recall living in a large dorm with a group of kids my age, learning characters in the morning, cultivating in the afternoon.

The caretaker was very fierce, strict in management, and we would easily get whipped. We were all afraid of him, but now in retrospect, those were the happiest times of my life.

Unfortunately, except for me, none of the others who didn’t reach Foundation Establishment survived; they all died before me.

Back then, the ancestral master was still alive, and the sect was truly flourishing..."

At this moment, Chen Li, who hardly had the patience to listen to all this, wanted to interrupt and ask him to take out the cultivation techniques from the scripture vault but found that he was too shy to say it in the face of such a weeping, sorrowful, and lonely old man.

Such sect disciples who were raised from a young age within the sect, living their entire lives with scant opportunities to go out, considered the sect as their home. Their attachment was naturally not comparable to someone like Chen Li who had joined halfway through.

Chen Li could only listen to him ramble on and on for quite a while, occasionally responding perfunctorily, until the other party, worn out, finally stopped, heaving sighs of regret.

"Fellow Daoist Ji, the sect now has been occupied by Bai Niao, and it’s likely the sect will dissolve. I secretly took a risk to come back this time..." Chen Li pondered for a moment, then started a conversation.

"Heh, I thought you had some other purpose, it turns out you came to steal cultivation scriptures," Ji Kai cut him off, his murky and reddened eyes stared at Chen Li, as if seeing through his heart, a stark contrast to his demeanor from moments before, almost like a different person.

"Uh..." Chen Li was at a loss for words, feeling extremely awkward.

Because that was indeed the fact.

But to say I stole them would be an overstatement!

"You Guest Elders always turn your backs on us when it matters most, utterly unreliable!" Ji Kai sneered, but then thinking of the current situation, he couldn’t help but let out a dejected sigh, "Alas, forget it, these things can’t be kept forever. They would just end up buried in the ground, might as well be of some use to you."

As he spoke, Ji Kai tossed over a storage bag:

"Here are the originals, all inside. I don’t expect much from you, just hope you’ll put them to good use one day."

Chen Li drew the bag towards him with Spiritual Power, caught it in his hands, opened it, and saw it contained a grand total of one or two thousand books.

This was the inheritance of a sect, which itself could be the foundation of a whole new school.

And now it had all fallen into his hands.

Besides that, there was a large pile of blank jade slips, numbering over ten thousand.

He suppressed his excitement, glanced over them, and quickly pulled out the "Longevity Skill" that he was cultivating from the storage bag.

The pages of the book fluttered without wind and quickly turned to the end.

But...

"Is there no Golden Core section?" Chen Li asked, disappointed, as the joy on his face faded significantly.

"Ha, you’re a cultivator who hasn’t even reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, yet you dare to covet the Golden Core? Such arrogance, do you even realize who you are?" Ji Kai burst into laughter, his eyes full of contempt.

At this moment, he looked down on Chen Li completely.

Chen Li felt a tightness in his chest, seeing the man’s constant sarcasm and barbed words, anger unavoidably rose within him:

"You yourself see no hope in your path, nearing your end, yet dare to recklessly claim I cannot achieve the Golden Core? Each of us has a different fate and methods. Since others have achieved the Golden Core, who are you to say I will not in the future?"

Ji Kai was stunned by his words, looking at Chen Li’s youthfully enviable face, it took him a while to snap back to reality: "Good, good, good, that’s an interesting statement."

After he finished, he seemed somewhat dispirited and no longer brought up the earlier matter:

"Golden Core cultivation techniques are extremely precious, naturally, they are with the Sect Leader. I don’t possess them. Now that the Sect Leader has perished, perhaps you can find them somewhere."

Ji Kai spoke slowly, then he took out a token from his bosom, thought for a moment, and took off another storage bag from his waist:

"Right, take this as well."

The token was the control token for the scripture pavilion’s Formation, capable of manipulating the Array.

The storage bag was his own private bag!

"Fellow Daoist Ji, what are you doing..." Chen Li was taken aback.

"No need for it! You’re right, I’m already on my deathbed, these things are of no use to me. Living is but pain for me. In fact, even if you hadn’t come, I probably wouldn’t have lasted many more days. Sigh, I hope you won’t end up having a day like mine." As Ji Kai spoke, a slight smile crept across his lips.

His voice grew increasingly faint.

His head slowly drooped.

His breath grew weaker and weaker.

And then, no more movement!

"Fellow Daoist Ji, Fellow Daoist Ji..." Chen Li called out twice and reached over to check.

Only to find he had already stopped breathing.

ps: Sigh, too late!