"The fetus is formed from resting breath, the breath breathes from within the fetus..."
"Spirit movement is breath movement, spirit stillness is breath stillness; if you seek longevity, spirit and breath are mutually bound..."
Lu Bei flipped through the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula*, nodding thoughtfully. He understood every word, yet had no idea what any of it meant, let alone how to cultivate it.
Conclusion: it was indeed a bizarre book.
Hitting a dead end, Lu Bei decisively chose to lie flat. To hell with self-taught enlightenment—his personal attribute panel was far more useful. Every time he opened it, he could see his peerless, 'astonishingly brilliant' aptitude.
[You have encountered the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula*. Do you wish to spend 80 skill points to learn it?]
[You have encountered the *Slaying Demon Scripture*. Do you wish to spend 80 skill points to learn it?]
"The *Slaying Demon Scripture*?!"
Lu Bei's eyes widened. He picked up the booklet in his hands, flipped back and forth through it multiple times, scrutinizing it line by line and word by word, yet he couldn't find a single character related to demons.
Absurd!
"What *Slaying Demon Scripture*? Where is it? Did I open it the wrong way, or is there a bug?" Refusing to accept this, Lu Bei tossed the book about a few more times, even randomly selecting a few pages to tear open to make sure there were no hidden linings.
"Could it be..."
Lu Bei fished a bottle of Enlightenment Pills from his robe, swallowed two of them to steady his nerves, and his eyes suddenly lit up. According to his years of experience with martial arts dramas, peerless manuals were bound to be hidden within the text; to reveal them, one either had to soak them in water or burn them with fire.
Cut to Lu Bei staring at the book reduced to ashes in a fire pit, lowering his head in silence.
He had grown careless. He hadn't expected the fire to be so fierce.
"No big deal. On the bright side, before the old master passed away, he instructed me never to reveal the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula* to anyone. Now that the book is gone, no one will ever know."
Lu Bei sighed softly. Indeed, it really was no big deal. The book was gone, but the notifications on his personal attribute panel were still there. Right now, he needed to decide which technique to learn.
A terrible dilemma for someone with a severe case of decision paralysis: choose between the two—the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula* or the *Slaying Demon Scripture*?
Judging strictly by their names, both techniques belonged to Daoist Cultivators; one focused on defense and HP restoration, while the other focused on offense. Considering that he lacked everything, Lu Bei decided to trust his luck just this once.
The reason he had stood out among his colleagues, winning his boss's favor, a raise, and a doubled year-end bonus, was precisely his good luck.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, whichever one I pick..."
Having landed on the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula*, Lu Bei instantly abandoned hesitation, bypassed it on his personal attribute panel, and spent 80 skill points to learn the *Slaying Demon Scripture*.
It wasn't that the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula* was bad, nor was he doubting his own luck; it was simply too mediocre. By comparison, the *Slaying Demon Scripture* sounded just a fraction cooler.
As Lu Bei expected, possessing a personal attribute panel meant his aptitude was earth-shattering. In an instant, he mastered the *Slaying Demon Scripture*, and the technique interface refreshed, displaying a new line of information:
Technique: Slaying Demon Scripture Lv1 (0/5000)
"Five thousand experience points at just level 1? Truly a wondrous book from the Land of the Far West."
Lu Bei nodded secretly. Out of respect for the path of immortality, he decided to sit in meditation for five minutes.
If he remembered correctly, before Mo Buxiu left, he had mentioned that the *Embryonic Breathing Qi-Supplementing Formula* was a wondrous book he obtained in the far west of the Kunlun Mountains. Since the *Slaying Demon Scripture* was concealed within it, by extension, it also came from the Far West.
Speaking of the Far West, one had to mention the four extreme regions of the Jiuzhou World. When Lu Bei had first encountered the game, he had brushed up on some geography on the official website.
Jiuzhou possessed three mountain ranges, and heaven and earth possessed four extremes.
The three ranges of Jiuzhou were Buzhou, Kunlun, and Mayin, which horizontally cut across the Jiuzhou mainland from east to west. North of the Buzhou Mountains lay the Great Wilderness, rumored to be the origin of the demon race. Further north still was the Extreme North of perpetual frozen tundra, where gale-force winds stripped away bones, and even demon cultivators with formidable physical bodies dared not tread into its depths.
South of the Mayin Mountains was the boundless Dead Sea, filled with extreme yin energy and devoid of spiritual qi. Legend had it that after living beings died, they entered the Extreme South—that was another world altogether.
The Kunlun Mountains were located between the two major ranges, lacking the perils of the Buzhou Mountains and the chilling yin of the Mayin Mountains; they were hailed by immortals and cultivators as the cradle of all immortal sects in the world.
East of the Kunlun Mountains, immortal islands were hidden within the boundless ocean, details of which would open in Version 3.0. To the west lay the Far West, where demonic cultivators clustered—the universally recognized origin of demonic cultivators, a place where "chaotic" was a compliment to its local culture and public security.
The *Slaying Demon Scripture*, hailing from the birthplace of demonic cultivators, sounded like it had immense potential.
A quick note here: Wu Zhou, where Ning Province was located, sat slightly close to the Buzhou Mountains. Consequently, there were slightly more demonic entities, though life and property were officially protected. Anyone with household registration could not only join a sect to cultivate but also enter the imperial court as an official.
The "Zhou" in Wu Zhou also borrowed the fortune of the Buzhou Mountains, expressing the wish for the nation to stand eternal like the Buzhou Mountains.
As for Nine Bamboo Mountain, it did not extend from the Buzhou Mountains. At best, it was like the Buzhou Mountains had shivered, raising a tiny wrinkle on a patch of land thousands of miles away.
Nine Bamboo Mountain was in no position to claim such a relative.
Unworthy!
Five minutes later.
Technique: Slaying Demon Scripture Lv1 (1/5000)
"Too slow. At this rate, it will take at least half a month of neither eating nor sleeping to raise the Slaying Demon Scripture to the second tier." Lu Bei frowned and fell silent. Ever since he discovered he possessed an NPC panel, he had harbored a few questions.
Could he take on quests? Could he acquire experience?
If not, once players entered the game later on, out-leveling him would be child's play. If he could, then what was he—a player with an NPC panel?
Lastly, would he resurrect if he died?
That point was truly crucial.
"Shall I test it out?"
Test it and rest in peace. Lu Bei decisively abandoned thoughts of courting death, stood up, dusted off his rear end, and walked toward the backyard.
A flash of red darted hurriedly through the woods. Lu Bei stopped in his tracks, knowing it was a little fox spirit attracted by the Enlightenment Pill. He called out in the direction where it had vanished: "The sect is undergoing renovations for the next two or three months. Don't come over during this time; they're all high-energy bad men. If you get caught by them, your fate will definitely be worse than death."
"..."
The bushes remained completely motionless; the little fox spirit seemed to have run far away.
"Remember!"
Lu Bei spoke up once more: "If you still have your eyes on the Enlightenment Pill, come find me once the sect renovations are done. I'll leave a backdoor open for you. Don't worry, I'm nothing like that bunch of bad men."
Different from the bad ones!
***
"What? You said you have a cultivation technique?!"
That very evening, Bai Jin returned from Dasheng Pass and sought out Lu Bei. Upon learning that the latter had officially stepped onto the path of cultivation, her face turned frosty with anger.
"Was it Ding Lei? Is he the one who sold you this technique?"
Bai Jin's eyes flashed with a cold, murderous light.
Techniques among immortals were not entirely unreplaceable. After all, techniques varied in quality and were bound by cultivation realms; it was nothing unusual to switch to a better one as one's cultivation progressed.
It was somewhat surreal and haphazardly fascinating, but cultivation was simply like that.
All techniques in the world were created by those who founded sects, and every step forward required groping in the dark. When those geniuses died prematurely, the techniques they left behind lost their continuations, forcing later generations to either supplement them or choose anew.
The reason Bai Jin was angry was because Lu Bei had just embarked on the path of cultivation and needed a good technique to lay his foundation—something that would directly influence the heights he could reach in the future.
Would he shine forever as a genius, or fade into mediocrity and turn to dust?
The technique Ding Lei had put up for sale...
It wasn't that Bai Jin looked down on Ding Lei; she simply hadn't regarded him as anything to begin with. Among the hundred or so members of the Emei Sect, not a single one could actually fight. If Lu Bei cultivated a technique provided by him, at least half his aptitude would be ruined.
She was furious. She wanted to slaughter a Di—
No, murder would get her invited for tea by the Huangji Sect.
She was still furious. She wanted to dislocate Ding Lei's arms to vent her anger.
"Senior Sister, calm down. This has nothing to do with Sect Master Ding."
Lu Bei hurriedly spoke up, managing in the nick of time to rescue Ding Lei's wife and concubines from her wrath, and said to Bai Jin, "After Senior Sister left, I pondered the twelve Daoist scriptures once more, sorting them out in my mind. Suddenly, I felt the profound and unfathomable charm of the Dao scriptures, and then I achieved enlightenment."
"Enlightenment of what?" Bai Jin swallowed hard.
"I enlightened several cultivation techniques most suitable for me."
Lu Bei scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. But he had no choice—it was all his talent's fault.