Chapter 164: Three Demon Techniques
"I see!"
Realization dawned on Zhang Chi as he heard this. He immediately recalled the incident from thirteen years ago, and his gaze turned cold.
"This was all a long time ago. I’d have forgotten if you hadn’t brought it up, Senior Brother. So, don’t worry about it. I can’t accept this either," Zhang Chi said, a smile spreading across his face.
"Junior Brother, I truly know I was wrong. Please, forgive me. If you’re willing to let bygones be bygones, I’ll go through hell and high water for you in the future, no questions asked. I’ll even swear an oath to the heavens!"
"Furthermore, I’ll publicly clarify what happened back then to clear your name, Junior Brother."
But instead of relaxing, the Sect Steward broke out in a cold sweat. He hastily offered more apologies and conditions.
He was just an ordinary Cultivator who’d only reached Foundation Establishment at sixty years old; he couldn’t afford to offend a Sect’s True Inheritor who had a promising shot at reaching the Golden Core realm.
While swearing an oath to the heavens wasn’t as binding as a Spirit Contract, it was still a powerful restraint for most Cultivators.
"Is that so? Very well. Since you insist, Senior Brother, it would be rude of me to refuse. As it happens, there is a small favor I need from you. Ever since I was wronged when I first entered the sect, I’ve always admired you Inheritance Hall Stewards. I always thought you were so imposing. So, could you let me experience what it feels like to be an Inheritance Hall Steward?"
Zhang Chi said nothing, letting the silence stretch as he thought. Only when the Sect Steward looked ready to crumble under the pressure did he speak again.
"Yes, of course! No problem!"
The Sect Steward let out a long sigh of relief and nodded eagerly.
True to his word, he swore an oath to the heavens, handed the Steward Token to Zhang Chi, and taught him the basics of how to use it.
He suspected Zhang Chi was up to something, but he didn’t dare ask a single question.
’Besides, an Inheritance Hall Steward’s authority is limited. It’s not like he could do anything major.’
’And it wasn’t a big deal anyway. He often had other disciples cover for him when he was busy.’
"Alright, that’ll be all. You may go!"
Zhang Chi said with a wave of his hand once he understood.
At the same time, he finally accepted the Storage Bag, which contained exactly ten thousand Low Grade Spirit Stones.
It might not seem like a lot, but for a typical Cultivator in the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, it was a considerable sum.
"Of course, Junior Brother."
The Sect Steward quickly retreated. Although the loss of the Spirit Stones stung, he felt an even greater sense of relief.
It meant that Zhang Chi truly wasn’t going to hold it against him.
SWISH!
Zhang Chi took the Spirit Stones, tossed the empty Storage Bag back to the man, and then headed deep into the Inheritance Hall alone. Using the Steward Token, he quickly opened the library dedicated to Demon Techniques.
’That’s right. One of the reasons he’d demanded the Steward Token was to get into this very library.’
The first thing Zhang Chi did was look up the Nine Flames Spirit Devouring Technique.
He’d been rushed last time and had only noticed that the Cultivation Technique included the Golden Core section. Now, he needed to check carefully if it went any further.
’If not, he could just buy it at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower. But if it did, he could consider redeeming it right here.’
He quickly discovered that the Cultivation Technique didn’t just go up to the Golden Core realm, but included sections for Nascent Soul and even Divinity Transformation.
"It’s this complete?"
Once Zhang Chi confirmed he wasn’t mistaken, he immediately used one of his opportunities to redeem an Upper Grade Cultivation Technique, choosing this Top Grade Demon Technique instead.
Divinity Transformation Powerhouses, also known as Celestial Monarchs or even Great Powers, were legendary beings of immense strength.
Not even the Ten Great Immortal Sects had such experts.
The vast majority of Cultivation Techniques in the Great Abyss only went up to the Nascent Soul realm. In the eyes of most Cultivators, that was considered a complete technique.
Therefore, no amount of Spirit Stones could buy a complete version of the Nine Flames Spirit Devouring Technique from a place like the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.
Naturally, Zhang Chi wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity.
With the Cultivation Technique secured, an elated Zhang Chi immediately began browsing the other Demonic Cultivation Techniques.
Between the sect’s reward and the compensation from the Golden Core Dwarf, he had a total of three opportunities to redeem an Upper Grade Cultivation Technique. If he could, he wouldn’t mind at all using them all on Top Grade Demon Techniques.
As for an Upper Grade Main Cultivation Technique, he could just redeem one in installments later to use as a cover.
’Asura Blood Burning Technique? Not bad. And this Divine Whale Devouring Sea Technique is excellent too!’
Before long, Zhang Chi had set his sights on two other Top Grade Demon Techniques.
Since Zhang Chi didn’t need a Main Cultivation Technique or a Body Refining and God Refining Technique, both of these Demon Techniques he chose were auxiliary ones.
The Asura Blood Burning Technique allowed a cultivator to unleash explosive combat power and drastically increase their speed, but at the cost of lowering their defenses and damaging their Vitality.
Its effects were far more potent than a Violent Qi Pill, but the drawbacks were also more severe.
When using this technique, a Cultivator would seem as if possessed by an Asura, with a high chance of becoming a monster that knows only slaughter.
’But these were all side effects, which his Jade Pendant could surely negate.’
The Divine Whale Devouring Sea Technique, on the other hand, allowed a Cultivator to absorb and store vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within their body.
This made it incredibly useful for Cultivation, breakthroughs, and combat alike.
However, there was a reason this Cultivation Technique was relegated to this library—it had its own severe drawbacks.
Cultivating and using this technique placed an enormous strain on a Cultivator’s Divine Soul and physical body. Prolonged use would inevitably damage their cultivation foundation.
Furthermore, its cultivation would stir a trace of the will of the Ancient Exotic Beast, the Sea-Devouring Divine Whale, that lingered throughout the world.
The will of the Sea-Devouring Divine Whale was so powerful that it would imperceptibly influence a Cultivator’s mind and body, causing terrifying mutations.
’But for Zhang Chi, this wasn’t a problem either.’
There were other decent Demon Techniques as well, but they were either slightly inferior to these two, of no immediate use to Zhang Chi, or unsuitable for accelerated cultivation with his Jade Pendant.
So, Zhang Chi didn’t choose any of them.
Zhang Chi immediately redeemed both techniques, then left and headed to the other, more conventional libraries.
He quickly selected an Upper Grade, Fire Element Main Cultivation Technique called the Li Fire Scripture and purchased the Foundation Establishment section in installments.
This Cultivation Technique was fairly standard among those of the Same Tier, but it was a significant improvement over the Middle Grade Cultivation Technique, the Three-Turned Fierce Sun Technique.
Furthermore, this technique had a unique feature: one could use certain Innate Spirit Fires to augment their Cultivation.
Of course, Innate Spirit Fires were exceptionally rare and difficult to obtain, and even harder to control once acquired.
Otherwise, this Cultivation Technique would be ranked higher than Upper Grade.
’But in the future, I can claim to have obtained some kind of Spirit Fire to explain away my rapid cultivation speed.’
After that, Zhang Chi also redeemed the Tier Three inheritances for Spirit Plant cultivation and the Turtle Shell Divination Skill in one go.
The former was manageable, costing only one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, but the latter cost a whopping three hundred thousand.
Fortunately, Zhang Chi had the compensation from the Golden Core Dwarf, as well as the Storage Bags from Song Youdao and Patriarch Xie. On top of that, he had been taking on alchemy missions for years and had already accumulated a significant number of Contribution Points.
Otherwise, he might not have had enough Spirit Stones.
This time, however, he wasn’t worried about the sect noticing his acquisition of these Tier Three inheritances. He had used the authority of an Inheritance Hall Steward to hide and delay the relevant transaction records.
’This was the other reason he had wanted the token.’
’By the time the sect’s upper echelons noticed, it would be far too late for them to trace it.’
Once he was finished, Zhang Chi didn’t linger. He immediately left the hall and casually returned the token to the Sect Steward.
Seeing Zhang Chi return so quickly, the Sect Steward specifically checked the token. Finding nothing amiss, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Junior Sister Qin? When did you all get here? Why didn’t you tell me in advance?"
When Zhang Chi arrived back near his cave residence, he saw Qin Susu and a few others waiting outside. They all looked incredibly tense.