Yang excitedly climbed the stairs to the restricted upper floors. He'd only been able to access the first three floors before, the theoretical knowledge sections. But now, with points in hand, he could access the floors where techniques were kept. The techniques that would determine a cultivator's path for potentially their entire life.

  He was excited because he knew that unlike others, he was able to find the perfect technique for himself due to his inner instincts. That mysterious sense that had guided him through the forest and led him to White Cloud Sect. That had helped him choose the right talisman brush. It would guide him now to the technique meant for him.

  He reached the fourth floor and stepped into a large, open space. Shelves lined the walls and created rows through the center of the room. Each shelf was labeled with categories and subcategories. The lighting was good here, spirit stones lamps providing steady illumination and the air smelled of old paper.

  Yang started with the closest shelf and immediately realized it was full of sword techniques. Manual after manual. Scroll after scroll. All dedicated to various sword cultivation methods.

  The Severing Clouds Sword Art. The Flowing River Sword Technique. The Mountain Splitting Sword Method. Dozens of them. Hundreds, perhaps.

  Yang moved to the next shelf. Also sword techniques. Different subcategory. More specialized approaches. Dual wielding. Speed-focused. Power-focused. Defensive styles.

  After his sojourn on the Azure Sword Sect's mountain, the idea of sword cultivation gave him hives. That trial had been traumatic. The sword intent tearing through his mind. Offering nothing but pain.

  He knew he had no fate with that particular path. Some cultivators were meant for the sword. Yang was not one of them.

  So he moved along, looking at other shelves. He came across techniques for many other types of weapons. Bows. Daggers. Spears. Lances. Halberds. Staffs. Whips. Hammers. Axes.

  The variety was staggering. White Cloud Sect apparently had weapon techniques for every conceivable fighting style. Yang looked through all the shelves on that particular floor, going through systematically. Just in case his instinct pointed him toward one of the techniques placed here.

  But nothing. No pull. No sense of rightness.

  He didn't believe his main cultivation technique would be weapon-based anyway. He might get some of these techniques later to practice. Having combat skills was practical and necessary. But a weapon technique wasn't suitable as a main cultivation method for someone like him. He was self-aware enough to know that much at least.

  His path wasn't the path of the warrior. Of the fighter who lived for battle. He was a survivor. An observer. Someone who'd spent years alone in the forest learning to endure and adapt. A different type of strength entirely.

  After finishing the weapon floor, he made his way up to the next level.

  This floor was different. He started looking through the shelves and found fire techniques. Water techniques. Earth, metal, water and, air techniques. All the basic elemental cultivation methods.

  He was extremely tempted by a lightning technique called the Thunder Emperor's Breath. The description promised incredible speed and devastating offensive power and the ability to call down actual lightning from the heavens at higher cultivation realms.

  It sounded amazing.

  But Yang knew that nothing would bring him more success than practicing something most suitable for him. The flashiest technique wasn't necessarily the right technique. He had to trust his instincts. Wait for the pull and that sense of certainty.

  He went through the floor methodically. Then moved to the floors above it. All based on different elemental approaches. The elements getting rarer and more exotic as he climbed to the upper floors.

  Basic elements on the lower floors. Sixth floor was similar. Wood. Ice. Magma. Storm. Shadow. Light. Rare and specialized elements on the seventh floor. Void. Space. Time. Life. Death.

  So many types of techniques in the sect. It was no surprise considering that White Cloud Sect was mainly an energy cultivation sect with no single focus.

  Yang took longer to look through the elemental techniques than he had with the weapon techniques. He was far more interested in their effects and uses. How they changed the body. What abilities they granted. The philosophy behind each approach.

  The effects and basic requirements of techniques were visible on the covers or first pages. Level of difficulty. Estimated advancement speed. Known advantages and disadvantages. But the actual way to practice was hidden. Sealed behind formation script that would only become visible to him when he purchased one and had it officially registered to his identity token.

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  He looked through the techniques for hours. Reading descriptions and comparing approaches. Letting his instincts sample each one.

  But nothing called to him. Nothing felt right.

  Finally, he realized he needed to keep moving. He still needed to find a main technique for himself, and he was spending too much time browsing when he should be searching systematically.

  The next few floors were all dedicated to various cultivation professions and crafts.

  One floor for alchemy techniques. Specialized fire control techniques for alchemists. Pill refinement procedures. Advanced furnace operation. The floor even smelled faintly of medicinal herbs.

  Another floor for tool refining and weapon forging. Specialized metal manipulation techniques for tool refiners. Ore purification methods. Formation inscription for weapons.

  And a whole floor dedicated to cooking techniques for the cooking cultivators.

  Yang thought of them fondly. While cooking cultivators didn't inspire the image of glory or power, they really made the life of the disciples better. Eating such delicious food every day was a genuine pleasure that couldn't be understated.

  The food made by cultivators was even better than what was sold in Tianlu City. He'd gotten the real taste of it once he achieved the first stage of Qi Condensation. After that, he could recognize the qi infused in the ingredients. The interesting flavors of the various spirit vegetables, meats, and rice.

  But he doubted he would find his main technique here among the profession-specific methods. Still, he went through each shelf anyway. Thoroughness was essential. Missing the right technique because he skipped a section would be foolish.

  Nothing called to him from these floors either.

  Now he was getting worried. Anxiety crept in as he neared what appeared to be the top floors. If he didn't find his technique in the next few floors, he would have to settle for something. Because apart from White Cloud Sect, he had access to no other place to get a cultivation technique from. He couldn't just leave and seek one elsewhere. Outer sect disciples weren't permitted to leave. And even if he could, where would he go? What other sect would give techniques to an outsider?

  He climbed the stairs to the next floor.

  This floor was all auxiliary techniques. Techniques mostly practiced by cultivators alongside their main technique to supplement and enhance their primary cultivation method.

  He was worried now, having to look for a main technique among auxiliaries. But perhaps some auxiliary techniques could function as main techniques? He'd read about cultivators who took unconventional paths. Who made unique techniques into their primary method.

  There were many techniques he found interesting. Clever methods he made a mental note to come back and buy later once he had more points. But for now, he was looking for a main technique.

  There were various escape techniques. Movement methods that increased speed dramatically. Evasion techniques that made the user harder to hit or track. Stealth techniques that concealed presence and spiritual signature. Defensive techniques that created barriers or hardened the body against attacks.

  Soul cultivation techniques. Methods for strengthening the spirit and mind directly. Body cultivation techniques. Ways to forge the physical form into something superhuman.

  Yang moved through them all. His anxiety increasing with each shelf that produced nothing. No pull. No sense of rightness. Just interesting but unsuitable techniques.

  Finally, he reached the last remaining floor.

  Yang started looking through this final floor more carefully now. His stress building. The worry that White Cloud Sect didn't have a suitable main technique for him growing stronger with each passing moment.

  Maybe he would have to choose something adequate rather than something perfect.

  The thought was disappointing and disheartening after all his hopes.

  He still decided to look through each shelf methodically. Give it a proper chance. But his expectations were low and disappointment had already started to settle over him like a heavy cloak.

  The techniques here were covered in light dust. A certain smell hung in the air. Like this floor had long sat undisturbed. These were techniques rarely chosen. Passed over by countless disciples in favor of the more popular methods on lower floors.

  Yang could understand why. These techniques seemed obscure or too specialized. Not the straightforward elemental or weapon methods most cultivators favored.

  He looked into every shelf he came across. Moving and reading carefully. Touching each manual and scroll to give his instincts a chance to react.

  Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

  He was near one unremarkable shelf near the back corner when he suddenly felt it.

  A jolt from his inner instincts. Sharp and unmistakable.

  Yang stopped immediately, his heart leaping. Excitement flooded through him, washing away the previous disappointment. It was here. Somewhere on this shelf.

  He started looking more carefully through each book and scroll on the shelf. His hands moving faster now. Eager. Searching for what had aroused the interest of his inner instincts.

  He went through each item methodically. Touching. Waiting for the jolt again.

  Then he felt it. Stronger this time. A definite pull. His hand had touched a rather dusty book. Thicker than most manuals. Bound in faded cloth that might have once been blue but had aged to an indeterminate gray-brown color.

  Yang pulled it from the shelf carefully. The book was heavy. He ran his hand over the cover to wipe the dust off, revealing the title inscribed in elegant characters.

  He read the name of the technique slowly, his excitement building with each word.

  The technique that his instincts had led him to.

  Yang stood there in the dusty, forgotten corner of the library's highest floor, holding the book that would change his life, and allowed himself a genuine smile of satisfaction and anticipation.

  This was it. This was his technique. His path forward.

  Finally, after hours of searching, he'd found what he was looking for.

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