Gensheng walked straight toward the Outer Paths section.

  The shelves here were noticeably more deserted than elsewhere. Dust lay thick as blankets, and cobwebs claimed every corner. Most of the texts were fragmented copies or ancient scrolls abandoned by the sect for being "useless"—either their techniques possessed fatal flaws or their requirements were too grotesque for normal humans to meet.

  He pulled a few beast-skins from the shelves. 《Echoes of All Things: A Guide to Stone-Speech》—an essay on communicating with rocks to gain the favor of mountain ley lines. 《Yin-Fiend Body Tempering: Fragment》—a guide on drawing baleful energy into the flesh, though it conveniently lacked any method to stop said energy from eroding the practitioner's soul.

  The collection was a gallery of the bizarre. There were manuals on refining fingernails into artifacts, analyses of the spiritual differences between various demon beast droppings, and even a treatise on fasting techniques meant to make one's flatulence carry spiritual energy.

  The True Heaven-Valve Sect was truly a haven for the eccentric.

  Finally, in the most inconspicuous corner, he found a thin booklet stitched with common hemp paper. It lacked a title on the cover, but the spine bore three crooked characters: 《The Sutra of Primordial Stability》.

  “Created two thousand years ago by the Four-Armed True Lord. Used for drawing Qi and clearing meridians. Beneficial for divine sense. Requires multiple limbs to practice. Core Principle: Stability.”

  Gensheng tucked it away and moved to the Arrays section. Soon, a brick-thick, yellowed volume titled 《The Compendium of Common Arrays》 was in his hands. It was covered in colorful scribbles and heated arguments left by previous readers in the margins.

  He settled on a diagram for the Five-Element Spirit-Drawing Array. With five low-grade stones as anchors and a mid-grade stone as the core, it promised to turn even a humble dwelling into a high-grade spirit-cave.

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  Back in the Spirit Herb Garden, beneath the massive Sap-Heavy Tree, Gensheng set the stones. As the final thread of spiritual energy was injected, the Qi of the entire back mountain began to flow toward the tree in a slow, swirling vortex.

  "Good," he muttered. He sat down and opened the Sutra of Primordial Stability.

  The first layer was called "Severance of Five Senses." It taught how to split one's divine sense to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. While normal geniuses might manage to do two things at once, Gensheng looked at his six arms and let out a short, dry laugh.

  He adjusted his posture. His first arm flipped through the Array Compendium. His second arm compressed a ball of chaotic flame. His third arm carved a stone into the likeness of a corpse wasp. His fourth arm drew an Air-Warding Talisman with precise brushstrokes. His fifth arm performed hand-seals to keep the swarming wasps away from the array. His sixth arm—the one closest to the ground—rhythmically patted the head of the drowsy Essence-Marrow Toad.

  Six tasks, simultaneous and uninterrupted. After half an hour, the book was finished, the fire was compressed to its limit, the stone wasp was lifelike, and the talisman glowed with perfect power.

  The first layer of the Sutra was mastered. His divine sense was now like a bow drawn to full tension—clear, resilient, and under absolute control. This was the perfect cultivation method for a creature like him.

  He was about to check his wasp's breeding progress when a soft thud echoed against the barrier. He opened a gap to find the same scrawny servant from the gate, trembling once again.

  "Elder Chen... I-I wouldn't dare disturb you, but Elder Zhang sent me with a message."

  "Speak."

  "The sect has recruited a new batch of disciples this month," the servant said, watching Gensheng’s face warily. "By sect rules, every Elder must pick one they find pleasing... to take as a disciple and pass on their legacy."

  "I'm not going," Gensheng replied instantly.

  The servant’s face went white. "If you don't go, I can't report back! For the sake of the sect’s continuation! All the other Elders have gone! Elder Wang took a boy with great potential, and the Beast-Tamer Elder snatched up a Three-Root talent! You're the only one left!"

  Seeing Gensheng unmoved, the servant scrambled to pull out a registry. "Elder, please just look! If you don't want to go down there, I can bring the person to you! They’re waiting at the gate right now!"

  Gensheng was about to shoo him away when the servant, sweating buckets, blurted out: "There’s a quiet one in this batch! Might be just your type!"