After flying at top speed for three days, Nie Yun arrived at a quiet, secluded valley. It was encircled by mountains, with a gurgling stream and the crisp chirps of birds echoing all around.

In his past life, he had arrived here penniless and in a wretched state, his strength at the pitiful Body Emergence Realm. But in this life, he had not only reached the Ultimate Venerable Realm but was also the ruler of a nation, pursuing grand ambitions. The contrast was so vast it was breathtaking.

"This should be the place!"

After scanning his surroundings and confirming it in his mind, Nie Yun slowly descended from the sky. His feet touched the ground, and he began to walk deeper into the valley.

The valley looked just like any other, with no discernible features. If not for his past life, even a Heaven-Seizing Creation Secret Realm Powerhouse wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual. The reason Nie Yun had obtained the Secret Manual was because of what happened when he came here before. He was being hunted by a Demon Beast, and his spilled blood had accidentally undone the seal on an Array. It was by this stroke of luck that he had entered and acquired the Unparalleled Cultivation Technique.

He didn’t know who had left this Cultivation Technique behind, but even when he had reached the Peak of the Dantian Acupoint Realm in his past life, he had still found it unfathomably profound.

HUM!

He circulated his True Qi through his body, retracting all of his Power, and gently walked toward the location from his memory.

’This must be the spot... What a masterful concealment Array. Even with the knowledge from two lifetimes, I can’t spot any flaws...’

He walked for a while and stopped in front of a massive rock wall. After studying it for a moment, Nie Yun couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

Arrays were divided into many categories, such as concealment, Annihilation, and Illusion Realm. A concealment Array was a special type that used the surrounding environment to masterfully hide things. Once fully deployed, not even the most perceptive person could discover it.

In his past life, Nie Yun had learned a great deal about Arrays, including a deep understanding of various Grand Arrays throughout history. His eye for them was naturally sharp, yet even with such perception, he couldn’t spot a single flaw in this concealment Array. That alone spoke to how formidable it was.

"Go!"

He bit his fingertip and, with a flick of his hand, let a drop of blood trickle down the rock wall, just as he remembered from his past life.

RUMBLE!

The moment the blood touched a certain spot on the wall, the entire rock face erupted in Radiant light. A powerful suction force devoured Nie Yun, pulling him inside with a WHOOSH.

After a moment of vertigo, Nie Yun opened his eyes again and found himself in a spacious cavern, just as in his past life.

In the middle of the cavern were a stone table and stools, ancient in style and covered in a thick layer of dust. It seemed no one had been here for countless years. However, there was no trace of decay; the air was fresh and filled with abundant Spiritual Qi, making one feel completely refreshed.

’Those are the two stone walls...’

Taking a deep breath, Nie Yun suppressed his excitement and strode straight ahead.

Just as in his past life, the cave contained no Unparalleled Weapons or Supreme Elixirs, only two smooth stone walls. When he first arrived back then, he hadn’t noticed anything special about them. It was only after being trapped inside for a long time that he finally grasped their secret.

The two stone walls appeared completely blank, but they actually recorded the Cultivation methods for the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique and the Nine-Turn Nirvana Skill!

He walked up to the walls and sat down cross-legged on the floor. His Spirit seemed to merge with his past self, and as he watched, the smooth stone walls slowly began to change. One move after another gradually materialized before his eyes.

"Young man, that you could enter this place and hear my voice is a stroke of great fortune! I, Xuyu the Elder, will bestow upon you a great gift. These two stone walls are inscribed with two Cultivation Techniques: the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique and the Nine-Turn Nirvana Skill. You have three days to comprehend as much as you can. After three days, the stone walls will turn to dust. These two techniques are the culmination of my life’s research, powerful enough to defy the heavens and change your fate. Even if your Talent Dantian is not exceptional, they can still allow you to reach an extremely high Realm! However, their Cultivation is fraught with peril and exceedingly difficult. If you are afraid, it is best not to meddle with them at all!"

Just as the moves began to appear on the stone walls, an ancient voice rang out beside his ear.

The voice was powerful and majestic, penetrating deep into his soul as if it were resounding from the very depths of his mind. It was impossible to resist. He truly had no idea what level of strength the elder who spoke these words possessed.

In his past life, he had heard the exact same words. It was before these very walls that he had comprehended all nine layers of the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique and the Nine-Turn Nirvana Skill. Relying on these two Unparalleled Cultivation Techniques, he had reached the peak of the mortal world in just three hundred years, despite having only three Dantians!

Possessing only three Dantians was considered extremely poor talent in both his past life and this one. For someone with that level of Bloodline, reaching the Qi Sect was typically the limit. Yet he had not only broken through that barrier but had also advanced into the Secret Realm and become its Strongest powerhouse. It had to be said that these two Cultivation Techniques deserved most of the credit.

"I am not afraid!"

Although he knew this was merely a lingering spiritual imprint that couldn’t reply, Nie Yun still answered aloud, his eyes filled with determination.

"If your Spirit is firm and you master all nine layers of the techniques, perhaps we will meet again! Remember, my name is Xuyu the Elder. Xuyu, as in fleeting and ethereal. Haha!"

The voice echoed in his heart, the laughter filled with heroic spirit. A moment later, the laughter faded, and the stone walls flickered with light as the complete set of moves and meridian pathways for both Cultivation Techniques appeared before him.

’Meet again?’

Hearing the final words of Xuyu the Elder before his voice faded, Nie Yun just smiled and shook his head.

Judging by the style of the stone table and stools, this place was probably tens of thousands of years old. Xuyu the Elder likely never dreamed that it would take so long for a descendant to find their way here. After all this time, even an expert at the Peak of the Dantian Acupoint Realm, like his former self, would have long since turned to dust.

The Heaven-Seizing Creation Secret Realm involved seizing life from the heavens, but each attempt only granted a hundred years at most. Even for the strongest, ten thousand years was the limit. Anyone who could live longer than that would possess power beyond the human scope. At least, Nie Yun had never seen such a being in his past life.

Xuyu the Elder probably had a long life ahead of him when he left this secret manual. He could never have imagined that tens of thousands of years would pass before someone—himself—stumbled upon the seal by sheer accident.

’I have three days. I should focus on studying these two Cultivation Techniques. Perhaps I’ll gain some new insights and increase my strength!’

Pushing thoughts of Xuyu the Elder aside, Nie Yun looked back up at the stone walls, where the sequences of movements and meridian pathways came into view.

In his past life, his Cultivation was too low, and he had memorized the techniques in a rush. Much of it was rote learning without true comprehension, leaving him with only a superficial understanding. Now, with his vastly greater strength and insight, viewing them again would surely lead to different interpretations and epiphanies.

With that thought, he immersed his entire Spirit into the images on the stone walls. His True Qi began to move slowly through his body according to the Cultivation methods depicted, and Nie Yun gradually entered a special kind of Mental Realm.

ZZZZT!

As he entered this state, his muscles relaxed and his cellular activity increased. Even he himself was probably unaware that the True Qi in his Qi Sea was slowly growing in a peculiar way...

PS: Can I borrow 40 auto-subscribes? Our 24-hour subscription count is about to hit nine hundred. Let’s go, let’s go!

Thanks to the readers [LazySinceChildhood], [Vier, Randy], and yesterday’s reader [「Tremor」—One] for the 30,000 Qidian Coin donations. There will be a two-Chapter update at 7 PM. At 12 AM, the new volume will begin: Volume Six, Wudi Bright City. Please look forward to it. (To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, please consider supporting it with your votes and monthly passes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)