Technique Library

It was a large green fruit, filled with small soft hairs. Minos had read an encyclopedia in the past called Nux Herbs & Fruits, but he'd never seen this one before.

"What is that?" He asked with curiosity.

"This is a Green-Furred Ascension Fruit. A Four-Moon level material, and one of the most important ingredients for making a Heaven-Opening Pill."

"Heaven-Opening Pill, the one that lets people break through to the Inner Heaven Realm?" Minos said with shock, as he inspected the fruit up close.

"That's the one, but of course you can also just eat it raw and use the energy to break some life locks. Given Ikki's talent, it'll be a simple matter to break two life locks with this thing." Venix said, as he put the fruit back in his spatial ring.

"I guess you really did think this through." Minos said.

"Of course, you should know how important this is for me." Venix said.

"Anyways, while Ikki is out getting lucky in the world and stumbling upon this fruit, you can do whatever you want." Venix spoke.

"While you do that, I'll be using this chance to refine my sword skills." Minos said.

"Good, since you've already got something planned, I'll head out. We probably won't see each other for a while after this, so take care in the meantime." Venix said, as he hopped off the couch and headed for the door.

After giving Venix a final farewell, Minos headed back inside. With Venix leaving the sect, Minos would be alone behind enemy lines, but fortunately he also had his own plans.

However, right now it was already late, so he decided to head to bed and get to work tomorrow. After waving off the maid who wanted to 'warm' his bed, Minos slept soundly.

…

Waking up bright and early, Minos quickly washed up as he prepared for the day. After once again rejecting the maid, he exited his house.

Despite having absorbed Merth's memories, Minos still took a short tour around the core of the sect, getting a better understanding of it.

With Merth's memories and his own understanding, Minos quickly formed a map of the place in his mind, highlighting the most important spots.

Two places immediately perked his interest, the first naturally being the Technique Library, which didn't need much explaining.

After that came the Mission Hall, which was where disciples earned contribution points they could spend within the sect.

Having absorbed Merth's memories, he knew his own contribution points were empty, which meant if he actually wanted to learn some new skills, he would have to take some missions.

Entering the Mission Hall, Minos looked around for a while as he reminisced. The last time he took a mission was in the Green Barrel Sect, which seemed to be ages ago.

After spending a second recalling memories, Minos refocused on his goal. Walking deeper into the building, he soon found a large chart at the front, slips of paper filling it up.

Other disciples were gathered around, reading the slips before deciding to either accept the missions themselves, or search for something else.

Seeing 'Merth' show up, most people moved out of the way, not wanting to anger him. Despite all being core members of the sect, Merth was ultimately a Son of the Sword, which was just below the elders and sect leader in terms of prestige.

"Brother Merth, here, take my spot." One man said with a flattering smile, as he moved out of the way and gave his position right in front of the board to Minos.

Normally Minos would at least say thank you, but that wasn't in Merth's character. After giving the man a condescending look, he ignored him, focusing on the mission chart.

'Three Moon Mission, Wolf King - A Thunder-Stroke Wolf King has been spotted near Lightning Birch Trail. Kill it and bring back its tooth as proof. Reward, 500 Contribution Points.'

'Two Moon Mission, Red Buffalo Herd - A Red Buffalo Herd is beginning to form near Red Blood Lake, cull the hoard and bring back at least 10 Red Buffalo ears as proof of completion. Reward - 100 Contribution Points.'

'One Moon Mission, Herb Gathering - Gather ten herbs of at least One-Moon quality. Reward, 10 Contribution Points.'

After thinking for a moment, Minos decided to take on the Three-Moon Mission. Since his goal was to learn techniques, then naturally he wanted to earn contribution points as efficiently as possible.

Three-Moon Missions were typically restricted for late-stage Life Lock cultivators, and 'Merth' was technically only at the Sixth Life Lock, but given his arrogant nature, it was normal for him to try something beyond his level.

After tearing the slip down, Minos headed to the desk next to the mission chart, handing his paper to the young receptionist at the front along with his sect badge.

"Mister Merth, while I can't control which missions you take, I would highly recommend you choose a Two-Moon mission instead." The young lady suggested.

"Are you calling me weak?" Minos questioned with irritation.

"Of course not!" The young lady responded, her face going pale.

"Then mind your own damn business." Minos shouted angrily, causing the young lady to tearfully record his badge, registering his mission.

"Next time, watch the way you talk." Minos said, ripping the badge forcefully out her hand as he walked away.

The other cultivators couldn't help but look towards the receptionist, some even wanting to stand up for her in righteous rage, but after seeing Minos's fading back, they could only swallow their anger, pretending nothing happened.

…

Entering the streets again, Minos couldn't help but feel a little dirty. He wasn't used to treating people like that, and the feeling definitely wasn't a pleasant one.

Fortunately, with this mission, he would soon leave the sect, meaning he wouldn't have to interact with anyone for a while.

Before that however, he decided to quickly check the Technique Library to get an understanding on what was for offer.

The library was split into four floors, each floor corresponding to a moon. Given Minos's current strength, he completely ignored the first two floors, before heading for the third.

The first three floors were open to anyone, and as long as one had enough contribution points, then even a First Layer Life Lock cultivator could learn a Three-Moon Technique.

However the fourth layer was different since it was the place where Inner Heaven level techniques were stored.

To go there, one had to have a high enough position in the sect, and despite being the Ninth Son of the Sword, Minos still didn't meet the requirements.

Inner Heaven was still a long way from him however, so after looking at the stairway to the fourth floor for a moment, he refocused on the third floor.

Three-Moon Techniques were quite expensive, starting at 1000 Contribution Points, meaning Minos would have to complete at least two Three-Moon Missions before he had a chance to get his hands on one.

Since he couldn't afford any at the moment, he could only browse through their introductions, getting a feel of what each technique was like.

'Blood Burst Explosion - Ignite your blood to temporarily double your speed and strength. Warning, this technique will only last five minutes at a time, and will leave the user severely weakened afterwards. 1500 Contribution Points.'

'Jade Bone Tempering - A special bone tempering technique that slowly turns Mortal Bones into Jade Bones, increasing strength and durability. Warning, this technique is incredibly difficult to master and very painful, the resources required is not something most disciples can afford. 3000 Contribution Points.'

'Three Split Shadow Sword - A special sword technique that makes use of speed to create an illusion of three swords striking at once. 1000 Contribution Points.'

'Flashing Flame Sword - A stronger version of the Two-Moon Flashing Spark Sword, both stronger, faster, and capable of igniting a much larger flame. 1250 Contribution Points.'

Looking through all the different techniques, Minos couldn't help but be fascinated, like a kid in a candy shop.

Much like the kid, he wanted to eat it all, but unfortunately given his current finances, he could only look, not learn.

After spending a moment more, Minos used all his strength to pull away, despite how much he wanted to stay.

Just before he headed down the stairs however, he noticed something in the corner of his eyes.

A dusty-book, thrown haphazardly on the floor near the corner of the room. If Minos didn't have incredible vision, he wouldn't have noticed it.

Walking over, he picked the book up, but he couldn't see anything with all the dust blocking the cover. After wiping it clean with his sleeve, Minos finally had a chance to see the title, which was labeled 'Thousand Tempest Puppet Storm.'

Despite such an interesting title, Minos didn't actually expect much, after all, the books in the library were all fakes, only having their titles and description.

If one wanted the real book, then they would need to talk to the deacon in charge of this floor, otherwise you'd get nothing.

Minos naturally expected this book to be the same, only having its title and description, but after flipping it over, he was shocked to find it was a complete book.

It seemed this book somehow managed to slip through the cracks, remaining here without anyone ever paying it much attention.

After looking around to confirm no one was looking at him, Minos quickly flipped through the book, absorbing its contents.

'Thousand Tempest Puppet Storm - Master the strings of fate, control a thousand puppets and let them rain fury upon your enemies.'