Half a month later, at early dawn.
Chen Mu lifted the thin blanket and sat up from his bed.
He habitually activated the Truthful Listening Technique, but then froze in place.
The swishing of tree leaves, the whooshing of the Gentle Breeze, the crackling of dry branches breaking, everything was so familiar.
Yet beyond these familiar sounds, there was also a faint buzzing noise.
The sound was not loud, but it filled the environment.
Curiously following one of the buzzing sounds, he approached the window.
A brilliantly blue butterfly quietly perched on the gray window frame.
As if it sensed Chen Mu’s approach, the butterfly slowly opened its wings.
The blue stripes on its wings became even more vivid and beautiful."Life..."
A sudden enlightenment emerged in Chen Mu’s mind.
The vibrating hum was not an ordinary noise, but rather the unique life force of the creature itself!
His gaze followed the butterfly as it took flight, looking into the distance.
In the lush green sea of trees, the humming of various pitches was continuous but not chaotic, creating a harmonious beauty!
Chen Mu involuntarily looked at the gray wall.
Truthful Listening Technique: 1/10000/Seventh Rank;
It was true!
The Seventh Rank Truthful Listening Technique could not only hear ordinary sounds but also miraculously detect the sounds of individual life forms.
Secret techniques could distort sight and cover up sounds, but they could not hide this unique rhythm of life.
"Qingdu Institution, huh..."
...
The next day, early in the morning.
Chen Mu hurriedly ate breakfast and headed straight for the Scripture Pavilion.
Upon entering, he looked up to see Qing Lu.
The man sat solemnly behind the counter as usual, expressionless as he leafed through a book.
Chen Mu nervously activated the Truthful Listening Technique.
A buzzing vibration immediately filled his ears.
"Great!" Chen Mu was exhilarated.
The Seventh Rank Truthful Listening Technique indeed could capture Qing Lu’s life force!
When Qing Lu sensed Chen Mu’s gaze, he couldn’t help but look up.
"Is something the matter?"
Something the matter? Of course, there was something.
A great thing!
Having spent nearly a month at Mist Smoke Mountain, he was on edge because of the enigmatic Qingdu Institution, always fearing the other party was lurking behind, discovering many secrets. ɌＡŊȎᛒƐŠ
But now, with the new Truthful Listening Technique to capture life’s rhythm, no matter how secretive the other’s movement technique, it could not escape his ears!
This person was none other than the head of the Scripture Transmission Institute and a likely Condensing Aperture High Cultivator, a true dignitary of Jilong Road.
At this moment, he caught a flaw of the other party, who was still unaware...
Heh!
"Good morning, Institution Head," Chen Mu greeted with a beaming smile.
Qing Lu tilted his head slightly, puzzled.
Even though the man appeared respectful as usual, Qing Lu felt something off about his eyes.
The human heart is complex and ever-changing, always hard to decipher.
Qing Lu didn’t think too much of it and said indifferently, "Go arrange the shelves, verify the catalog of scrolls."
"Alright!" Chen Mu responded cheerfully, heading to the second floor.
As he walked, he activated Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles.
Invisible Exotic Force centered around Chen Mu, spreading out like waves in all directions.
Wherever it passed, tiny dust particles were picked up one by one.
The already clean floor became even shinier, as if it had been carefully washed.
Chen Mu’s footsteps were light, as he carried the Scripture Pavilion catalog of scrolls, comparing and sorting them one by one.
He arranged various scrolls and books neatly and orderly.
"In novels from my previous life, many bigshots were librarians," he mused.
"So does this make me... a bigshot in reserve? Heh..."
Unfortunately, the Scripture Pavilion was filled with copies of Secret Techniques.
The lower-end secret technique copies still contained the actual Curse Commands, but the slightly higher-end ones only had summaries. Without the core Secret Technique Talismans, there’s no way to use the gray wall to increase skill Proficiency.
"At most, it could broaden one’s knowledge," Chen Mu sighed. Attaching the Truthful Listening Technique to his ears, he took out a copy of the Yunzhou Geographic Records and began to read.
In the several years since he came to Yunzhou, although he had been to many places, whether by his own volition or dragged along, he still lacked a clear concept of the whole region. He roughly knew that it was vast in area, accommodating seven paths and thirteen nations.
"Zhongshan Path is located in the northwest of Yunzhou, over ten thousand miles away from Jilong Road?!" Chen Mu was astonished.
In his previous life, the furthest distance from north to south in the whole country was also just over ten thousand miles.
"Yunzhou is so vast; I should definitely travel and see more of it in the future."
"The most pressing matter is still to Condense Aperture as soon as possible."
Without sufficient strength, he wouldn’t dare to roam freely.
He came to Mist Smoke Mountain primarily to cultivate the Netherworld Grand Summary.
But who would have known he’d encounter Qingdu Institution, making him too nervous to cultivate and causing a whole month’s delay.
With this in mind, he focused his spirit and carefully listened to the first floor.
The unique energy signal of Qing Lu buzzed through the air, and Chen Mu couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
"I will dig a hole and farm experience tonight when I get back."
He casually placed "Yunzhou Geographic Records" back on the shelf and gleefully contemplated his experience farming plan.
But in the next moment, an emotionless voice sounded out of nowhere.
"Yunzhou Geographic Records should be placed on the fifth layer, fifth grid."
Chen Mu felt as if someone had suddenly grabbed his heart.
He leaped around abruptly to find that Qing Lu was already standing three meters behind him again, without him realizing when.
When?!
Truthful Listening not working?!
Chen Mu’s pupils contracted sharply into pinpoints.
No, that’s not right!
He immediately put all his effort into activating the Truthful Listening Technique.
The familiar energy came from the counter on the first floor.
Hisss...
Clearly the person was on the first floor, so who was this in front of him...
A Secret Technique?
An illusionary clone? A fake?
Impossible!
Chen Mu remembered clearly that this secret shadow could take books from the shelf. It was not just a simple illusion.
This is troublesome... Your next read is at
...
At dusk, outside the bamboo cottage’s long corridor.
Chen Mu lay in a rocking chair, holding a cup of Replenishing Origin Soup and sighing deeply.
"The Truthful Listening Technique was a waste of effort!"
The ability to hear the life force was indeed miraculous, but without hearing Qing Lu’s clone’s movements, he couldn’t resolve the current dilemma.
"Am I being overly cautious?"
He was just a small fry, while Qing Lu was a lofty High Cultivator. Would he bother to keep an eye on himself?
Recalling the past month’s interactions.
Aside from his sudden and terrifying appearances and disappearances, what struck him most was Qing Lu’s indifferent and serene demeanor.
The most common sight was him sitting calmly behind the counter, reading a book.
"Am I waging a battle of wits with thin air?"
"Forget about Qing Lu, should I just get started?"
Chen Mu gritted his teeth, tilted his head back to drain the cup of Replenishing Origin Soup, and with a surge of mana, activated... Giant Spirit Divine.
In the end, he still didn’t dare to gamble.
"The old ghost of the Sun Family still has his eye on me."
"With my diligence and effort, plus a little help from the Proficiency of the gray wall, cultivating the Condensing Aperture should be no issue."
"I can’t rush for quick success and ruin my future prospects."
Chen Mu consoled himself silently.
Feeling the flow of blood and mana, Chen Mu turned his head to look behind him.
As black and red lights flickered, a three-meter-tall divine figure wearing red and gold armor emerged.
Since he dared not cultivate the Netherworld Grand Summary, he had plenty of spare energy and time.
Before he knew it, the Proficiency of the Fourth Rank Giant Spirit Divine had been farmed over five thousand times. The divine figure was now completely condensed from the waist up.
Chen Mu turned back and immediately noticed the giant crimson eye in the middle of the divine figure’s head.
It was less like an eye and more like a huge hole with a swirling vortex of crimson mist inside.
If he looked too long, he felt as though he would be sucked into it.
Apart from this eye occupying nearly half of the figure’s head, there were no other features on the square Chinaman’s face of the divine figure.
Mystery, antiquity, and eeriness spread along his gaze, blanking his mind and forcing him to look away.
"I wonder what existence this Secret Technique divine figure is modeled after. Just imitating its form already has such wonderful uses."
"But this is still useless for the current predicament."
Like the round-faced junior brother before, should he find a scapegoat to take his place and leave the Scripture Pavilion?
He thought about it and then shook his head to dismiss the idea.
The other courtyard was entering a period of great development, chaotic everywhere.
But Mist Smoke Mountain’s Scripture Pavilion was one of the few places of tranquility and calm, exceedingly suited to his needs.
Chen Mu squinted at the gray wall.
"Then I should learn another secret technique for investigation."
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