chapter 1371 to 1374 library of heavens|| number zero

Chapter 1371: - The Tragic elder Roshan 

 vipin was completely dumbstruck, not knowing whether he should retract his hand from the tortoiseshell or not. Whether I am talented or not, it’d do for you to just reflect it accordingly… Why the heck did you explode on the spot for? All I had done was to use a bit of my Heaven’s Path zhenqi and the power of the Library of Heaven’s Path to disguise myself… Do you really have to do this to me? 

Previously, when elder Roshan took out the tortoiseshell, he had treated it extremely carefully, as if it was his child. For it to explode just like that… wouldn’t the other party pit his life against him? Just as vipin was at a complete loss as to what to do, he saw the old man who was still smiling a second ago suddenly standing before him, staring at the remains of the tortoise shell on the ground with a twitching face, seemingly on the verge of going berserk. 

“Teacher…” Not expecting such a situation to occur either, Brijesh was shocked beyond words too. While others might not understand the significance of the tortoiseshell, he knew how important it was to his teacher. Having it reduced to dust like that was no different from claiming his teacher’s life.

 “My tortoiseshell…” The trembling elder Roshan reached out to stroke the remains on the ground, and in just an instant, he looked as if he had withered many years. “elder Roshan, he didn’t do it on purpose. Why don’t I have a new one forged out for you? Your tortoiseshell was already old and decrepit prior to this, filled with many cracks.

 It was only a matter of time before it broke. Just last year, I came to know an extremely skilled craftsman at the Chen Village; his handicraft is truly exquisite, and the price he charged is fair as well. Shall I introduce him to you?” Harshit consoled. “Pu!” Unable to take it anymore, elder Roshan spurted a mouthful of blood. “Cough cough…” vipin rolled his eyes at his future brother-in-law before shaking his head speechlessly. 

You shouldn’t try to console others if you don’t know how to go around doing it. You are only making things worse! A tortoiseshell of this tier was incredibly valuable… Do you think that you would be able to replace it just by forging a close replica? Seeing that Harshit couldn’t be relied on, vipin could only make a move himself. He pondered for a moment before speaking up earnestly, “elder Roshan, what is done cannot be undone, so there’s no use remaining upset about the matter. It’s just a tortoiseshell anyway. 

Why don’t I capture a few over tomorrow so that you can make as many of it as you want? If you like, you could even boil a pot of fine soup with their flesh too…” “Pu! Pu!” elder Roshan spurted even more blood. “Or else, why don’t I make a new one for you then?” Seeing that the situation seemed to only be getting worse with his consolation, vipin was really at a loss as to what to do. 

While he was touching the tortoiseshell previously, he managed to compile a book on it in the Library of Heaven’s Path. Despite the long heritage behind it and its high tier, it was plagued with many flaws too. 

As long as vipin was willing to set his mind to it and managed to gather sufficient books on it, he should be able to forge another tortoiseshell that was of the same tier or even higher! With this thought in mind, vipin decided to immerse his consciousness into the Library of Heaven’s Path to study the book so as to analyze the feasibility of creating an exact replica of the tortoiseshell when Brijesh’s anxious voice suddenly sounded. 

“Teacher…” His voice was quivering, carrying deep fear toward something. Sensing the anxiety in the voice, the depressed elder Roshan turned his head over. “Look at that…” Brijesh pointed to the roof above them. elder Roshan hurriedly raised his head, and what he saw caused his eyes to narrow in fear. At the same time, noticing the peculiar reaction of the duo, vipin and the others raised their heads as well, and in the next instant, they froze on the spot. 

A huge crack had appeared on the tortoiseshell-shaped building above them, and it was swiftly creeping its way across the area. The inscriptions that were used to fortify the building seemed to have been rendered useless in this very moment, as if they had encountered a force which even they were helpless before. “How could this be?” elder Roshan clawed his head in horror. The explosion of the sage amar’s Tortoiseshell could still be attributed to its old age and wear and tear, thus resulting in retribution from the heavens.

 On the other hand, the tortoiseshell building had a huge investment in manpower and resources to construct it, and in terms of durability, not even a Saint 8-dan pinnacle expert’s full strength attack would be able to cause the slightest damage to it. Why would it collapse all of a sudden? “Stop!” Bellowing furiously, elder Roshan rushed forward in an attempt to stop the destruction. No matter what, he couldn’t allow the Shrine of Seers to collapse just like that. 

However, despite his furious output of zhenqi, he was still unable to stop the collapse of the building. It was as if an inexplicable force that no man could rival was acting upon the building, forcing the collapse to occur. And before this force, even Saint 9-dan experts were nothing more than ants, not even worth a mention. Kacha! Kacha!

 Finally, the roof reached the limits of its durability, and with a series of explosions, rubble began plummeting from above. Many of the seers were immediately jolted out of their focused state, and they anxiously opened their eyes and darted out. As for vipin and the rest, it somehow felt wrong if they were to run away in this moment, so they could only drive their zhenqi and form a barrier above them to fend off the falling rubble. 

Hualala! Even amidst a cloud of dust, it took just a mere glance to see that the ancient tortoiseshell building was no more, replaced by a mere lump of rubble. All of the formations and the sort that it harnessed had also been completely destroyed as well. “This…” vipin blinked his eyes in a daze as he remarked, “Isn’t this building a little too poorly-built? Just who is the architect behind it? 

If any ordinary humans had been in here, they would have been crushed to death!” The building still appeared rather sturdy when he looked at it from the outside, but it turned out to be just a false sense of security! It was fortunate that he was strong, otherwise he would have never been able to survive the collapsing rubble no matter how many lives he had! “Pu!” Once again, elder Roshan spurted a mouthful of blood. 

“Teacher, what’s going on?” Brijesh rushed over to elder Roshan’s side and asked anxiously. It took a while before elder Roshan managed to calm down the stifled sensation in his heart. He looked at the rubble all around him with a desolated look and sighed deeply, “It must be the retribution of the heavens…” “Retribution of the heavens?” Hearing that phrase, vipin asked in incomprehension. 

“Seers sought to peer into the secrets of the heavens in order to receive insights into what the future holds, which is a violation of the natural laws of the world. For that reason, our occupation is deeply abhorred by the heavens. As such, we have to use unique means in order to conceal our presence from the will of the heavens, thus leaving the retribution of the heavens nowhere to strike… However, even such means aren’t completely infallible. After all, the heavens possess means which none of us can fathom.

 Take the situation just now for example, it seems that the will of the heavens have somehow slipped past the barriers we have put up and destroyed the entire place from within, thus resulting in the current state of affairs…” elder Roshan hesitated for a moment before explaining slowly. As a 9-star seer, even though everything had happened abruptly, he was still able to fathom roughly what had just happened with a swift divination.

Those who had reached the top in a certain field were bound to catch the envy of the heavens, and this envy would often manifest in a physical form such as the Leaving Aperture Ordeal and the Dimension Sundering Ordeal. In a sense, this could be considered to be the heavens’ retribution toward those who dared to vie power from it. And this was even more so for seers, who sought to peer into the secrets of the heavens.

 The only reason why they were able to survive so long was due to the elaborate preparations they had made to guard against the will of the heavens. Using the language of vipin’s world, it would be similar to how illegal gambling dens would swiftly hide all traces of their activities as soon their sentries caught sight of the arrival of the police, leaving the policemen completely helpless against them. 

And of course, when seers dared to peer into the secrets of the heavens, they didn’t just rely on their courage and bravado either. They would have made ample preparations in advance. However, they just didn’t expect that despite the tight guard they had put up against it, they were still noticed. 

Not only was the tortoiseshell destroyed, even the Sanctum of Sages’ several dozen millenniums old Shrine of Seers was destroyed as well… elder Roshan clutched his chest as a stabbing pain assaulted his heart. On the other hand, upon hearing those words, vipin’s eyebrows shot up in astonishment. 

He had previously attributed the incident to the lack of durability of the tortoiseshell and the building, but it turned out to be related to the will of the heavens instead. When he used the Library of Heaven’s Path to examine the tortoiseshell, the tortoiseshell broke. When he used it to help him assess whether he would be able to create an exact replica, the entire shrine collapsed on them… Could the ‘will of the heavens slipping past the barriers’ which elder Roshan had spoken about possibly be related to the Library of Heaven’s Path? 

If that was the case, he would have a huge responsibility to play in the destruction. vipin’s face turned crimson red, and he had no idea how he could explain this matter to elder Roshan at all. But at this moment, elder Roshan shook his head bitterly and patted vipin’s shoulder consolingly, “vipin, you need no blame yourself for this matter. This has nothing to do with you!

 Our Shrine of Seers probably got complacent and slacked off in maintaining the defensive barriers, thus resulting in the current circumstances. I know that it might seem that our occupation might seem quite dangerous after everything that has happened, but I can ensure you that this is an anomaly. 

As long as one were to speak prudently and make proper preparations beforehand, one wouldn’t face with any danger at all, not to mention that you possess the Discarnate Constitution of Divination!” “Safe?” Seeing that elder Roshan didn’t blame him for the matter, vipin internally heaved a sigh of relief. There was no way he could mention the Library of Heaven’s Path before the other party. Since the other party didn’t realize a thing, it would be foolish for him to speak up and give himself away. 

As for the damage he had cost, he would just have to find another way to compensate them. “Indeed, this is just a freak accident. Usually, it wouldn’t even happen once in ten thousand years…” Fearing that the genius he had set his eyes on would back out due to this matter, elder Roshan hurriedly explained. “If you are still feeling a little skeptical about the matter, you can take a look at our library over there. 

We maintain another layer of defensive barrier around it, so it was able to avoid the retribution of the heavens. As such, despite the collapse of the Shrine of Seers, it’s still able to remain standing. As long as sufficient defensive measures are made in advance, it’s really extremely safe!” As he spoke, he gestured over in a direction. Looking at where elder Roshan was pointing at, vipin saw a building standing not too far away.

 It was connected directly to the Shrine of Seers, but the destruction of the Shrine of Seers didn’t seem to have fazed it in the least. Through its open entrance, he could see shelves and shelves of books stacked neatly within. Despite the cloud of dust drifting in the area, the interiors of the library remained perfectly clean. “That’s your library?” vipin asked as his eyes lit up. 

The destruction of the Shrine of Seers had already left him a little panicked, causing him to rack his brain desperately to find a way for him to compensate them. However, if he could access the library and compile a complete Heaven’s Path Divination Art, he would be able to make it up to them in full. 

“That’s right!” elder Roshan nodded with a hint of pride in his voice. “Even though the members of our Shrine of Seers branch number much less than the other occupations in the Sanctum of Sages, our collection of books doesn’t pale in comparison at all. sage amar’s Tortoiseshell might have been destroyed due to the little accident we had previously, but you can still assess your talent through browsing through the books!”

 Previously, when the other party said that he wanted to browse through the books to determine whether he was suited for the occupation or not, he proposed using sage amar’s Tortoiseshell instead only because he thought that it would be too troublesome and too long. But with the destruction of sage amar’s Tortoiseshell, there was no other way around it anymore. 

They could only rely on the most primitive method now. “Alright then, I’ll go take a look.” Hearing that he was free to browse through the books, vipin heaved a sigh of relief. He instinctively began walking over to the library when warning bells suddenly rang inside his head, and he quickly halted in his footsteps. “If I were to use to the Library of Heaven’s Path in there, would the library collapse as well?” 

vipin’s heart jolted in trepidation. But thinking again, the reason why the Shrine of Seers collapsed was probably because the will of the heavens sensed someone attempting to peer into its secrets, so perhaps, it might not work on books? Besides, it wasn’t certain that the collapse of the Shrine of Seers was due to him using the Library of Heaven’s Path either. 

Nevertheless, just to be safe, vipin decided to activate his Library of Heaven’s Path from where he stood so that even if his guess was wrong, the defensive barrier would still be able to defend the library. Thus, he muttered lightly in his mind, “Flaws!”

 Hong long! In the next moment, a wild inferno swept across the books, burning them down into ashes in an instant. Following which, a massive crack crept across the entire library, similar to what that had happened to the tortoiseshell previously. And in just a few breaths, the building collapsed into a pile of rubble. … “My library!” elder Roshan’s eyes widened to their brim, and a mouthful of fresh blood spurted from his mouth. Frenzy consumed his mind. Just what in the world was happening?

 Why would multiple calamities strike the Shrine of Seers in such short succession? If it was just once, it could still be reasoned as them failing to conceal their presence well, resulting in the notice of the will of the heavens. However, for it to happen thrice… at this point, even he was unable to find any reason to justify it anymore. On the other hand, vipin’s lips twitched in horror at that sight as well, “Even books aren’t spared either?” 

He wasn’t too certain before, but this around, watching with his own eyes the inferno spreading across the library, there was no way for him to deny it anymore. He quickly turned to look at the dazed elder beside him and called out, “elder Roshan. elder Roshan? elder Roshan!!” vipin called out thrice, but the other party didn’t respond at all. 

Alarmed by the unnatural state that elder Roshan was in, he began worrying whether the other party had ended up sustain grievous internal injuries due to the multiple shocks he had suffered, so he immediately walked toward the other party to take a closer look. But in the next moment, a thick streak of lightning suddenly appeared from nowhere and fell right on top of elder Roshan. 

Kacha! elder Roshan collapsed to the ground. “elder Roshan, you…” Horrified, vipin hastened his footsteps. Hong long! Hong long! Hong long! Hong long! Multiple streaks of lightning drowned the old man, leaving only a pair of spasming legs outside

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Chapter 1372: - How Can a Man Say That He’s Unable to Do It 

 Some time later, the lightning finally receded, and elder Roshan climbed out from the ditch he was in an unkempt state. The expression on his face looked as if he had been ravaged by countless savage beasts, wretched and disconsolate. It was one thing for the Shrine of Seers and library to be completely destroyed, but to be struck relentlessly by lightning when an azure clear sky stood right above him… what was he supposed to make of this situation? 

All he wanted to do was to take in a student! It was not as if he had violated some heavenly rules or something, did his actions really warranted being struck by lightning? It was fortunate that the lightning only sought to punish and not to kill, or else even a Saint 9-dan pinnacle expert like him would have been reduced to ashes too. “Teacher…” Brijesh hurriedly pulled elder Roshan out of the ditch. 

At this moment, he had no idea what he could and should say in this situation either. This was the first time he had seen his teacher in such a state after coming under his tutelage two hundred years ago. “It’s all my fault…” Seeing how the lively and energetic old man being reduced to such a state within just a short span of ten minutes, vipin lowered his head apologetically. 

After all that had happened, it was apparent that the situation was just as what the other party put it out to be—it was retribution from the heavens. Peering into the secrets of the heavens was something forbidden by the heavens. It would still be fine if they weren’t caught in the act, but once they were… As the master of the Library of Heaven’s Path, unless he were to seal off the Library of Heaven’s Path, coming into proximity with the seers would cause the will of the heavens to swiftly notice the existence of such desecrating actions.

 In a sense, it was similar to how students cheating in the examination would be able to get away scot-free with they weren’t caught, but once they were, there was no way they could be let away lightly. Otherwise, how could the school uphold the integrity of the examinations? The authority of the heavens mustn’t be challenged! If it were to allow everyone to just peer into its secrets as when they liked, what would become of the world?

 Initially, vipin was planning to compile a book on elder Roshan to see if he could help the latter treat his injuries, but who could have known that this simple action would result in the will of the heavens noticing the nature of elder Roshan’s occupation and sending a streak of lightning down on him?

 And for every time he tried to check, another streak of lightning would fall. After multiple tries, it was finally absolutely clear to him that he was the one who had brought the lightning here… His primary intention was to save elder Roshan, but his goodwill had only ended up causing even more damage… Just the thought of it left him feeling deeply embarrassed. 

“Given that I’m unable to look at the books of seers or even examine those of the seer occupation… there’s really no way for me to learn the art of divination then…” vipin shook his head in disappointment. No matter what, as an Upper Nine Paths occupation, seers were deeply respected in the society. 

If he could master the art of divination, his standing would surely rise to greater heights, thus giving him more chips to win Pratyusha’s marriage in hand. But not only was the Library of Heaven’s Path unwilling to help him compile a Heaven’s Path Divination Art, it was even bent on destroying every single book relating to divination that he lay his eyes upon… From the looks of it, it seemed like he was completely unfated with this occupation.

 “elder Roshan, I’m truly apologetic about what have happened here today. If I hadn’t come here, such a situation wouldn’t have happened either…” vipin walked up to the dazed-looking elder Roshan, clasped his fist, and apologized earnestly. As one who possessed the Library of Heaven’s Path, it could be said that he carried the will of the heavens along with him. 

And to enter a place where others were peering into the secrets of the heavens with the will of the heavens with him… To be honest, it was already a huge blessing that none of the seers had died in this calamity. Even though it was completely unintentional, he still couldn’t shirk off responsibility for what that had happened here, so he could only admit to it candidly. 

“This has nothing with you…” With lifeless eyes, elder Roshan shook his head and sighed deeply. In his view, their occupation had simply revealed too many secrets of the world that the retribution of the heavens was falling upon them. No matter how talented the young man before him was, there was no way he could dictate the will of the heavens to attack them. So ultimately, the fault still lay in them. 

“elder Roshan, with all that had happened, I think that you might want some time to yourself, so I won’t impose on you any longer…” Knowing that there was no way for him to explain the matter, vipin decided to say no more. “Alright, you should return first. I’ll come and look for you after I make sense out of what had happened here…” elder Roshan nodded.

 After witnessing what had happened to the Shrine of Seers, the young man should be filled with apprehension for the seer occupation at the moment. It would be best for him to first figure out the root of the problem before approaching the young man to alleviate his fears and talk him into becoming his direct disciple. 

Otherwise, who in the world would be willing to join an occupation which would put one at risk of being struck by lightning at any moment? “Farewell then!” vipin clasped his fist once more toward elder Roshan before leaving the area. Harshit took one last look at the surroundings before quickly leaving together with vipin. 

As soon as he was in a safe distance away from where elder Roshan’s Spiritual Perception could reach, he finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. He walked up to vipin and asked with a hushed voice, “vipin, what exactly happened back there?” “I’m not too sure either…” vipin shook his head. It wouldn’t be safe for him to talk too much about this matter even if the other party was his future brother-in-law. After all, there were simply too much at stakes here. “You aren’t sure?”

 Hearing vipin’s response, a displeased frown appeared on Harshit’s forehead. But eventually, he still decided against probing any further. He wasn’t too sure about what had happened either, but without a doubt, it must have something to do with the young man before him. Otherwise, why would the Shrine of Seers remain perfectly intact for several dozen millenniums, only to collapse completely as soon as he appeared?

 Everyone had been saying that he was the King of Destruction, causing devastation and ruination everywhere he went. But within this short period of time that he came to know this young man, somehow, he felt that the young man was far more fearsome than he was. At the very least, the destruction he caused was explicable, caused mainly by excessive use of strength or failure to rein in his cultivation properly… On the other hand, the young man managed to tear the entire Shrine of Seers down, and no one knew how he did it at all! 

This must be the highest realm in the Art of Destruction. It seemed like he still had much to work on. “I really should interact more with him so as to learn the art of causing destruction inconspicuously…” Harshit thought as he stroked his lower jaw contemplatively. “Right! I have been too preoccupied with all that was going on that I forgot about husain!” 

Harshit suddenly recalled something at this moment and smacked his forehead regretfully He had been too caught up in trying to figure out if what had happened to the Shrine of Seers was related to the young man before him that he forgot his primary motive there. husain was still within the Shrine of Seers, and he hadn’t found an opportunity to beat up that fellow yet… It wasn’t easy for him to achieve a breakthrough, so how could he let husain off without giving him a huge gift? 

“It would reflect poorly on you if you were to simply run over to pummel him… In my opinion, there’s no need for you to go to him at all. You should make him come and find you instead.” vipin said. “Oh?” Harshit looked over in interest and asked, “How should I go about doing that?” “Simple. Of the many occupations in the Sanctum of Sages, are there any which the offspring of the shan kabila particularly excels in?”

 vipin asked. “Hmph!” Upon speaking of the shan kabila, Harshit immediately harrumphed in disdain. “While there’s nothing good that can be said about the personality of those of the shan kabila, I have to admit that their reputation isn’t just for show. There are plenty of experts amongst them, and their names are often brought up when speaking of the top geniuses of most supporting occupation as well…” 

The talents of the shan kabila’s offspring didn’t just manifest in their fighting prowess, they also had outstanding accomplishments in other occupations too. It was due to this reason that they were able to enjoy such a lofty reputation as the indubitable number one influence in the Sanctum of Sages, both feared and respected by the masses. 

“That’s good. Other than husain, who is the next most renowned offspring of the shan kabila? Bring me to him, and I’ll challenge him in his field of speciality!” vipin declared. “As long as we do a sweep of all members of the shan kabila, it should only be a matter of time before husain comes to us personally.”

 It was only a matter of time before the matter that had happened at the Shrine of Seers was traced to him. On top of that, the fact that master indra shane was a real figure amongst the top echelons of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters was also a ticking time bomb threatening to explode on him at any moment… It would be one thing if master indra shane were to never appear, but once the other party did and denied the teacher-student relationship that vipin claimed, it wouldn’t take long before greedy individuals would set their eyes upon him, determined to uncover the secrets behind his swift rise.

While the Master Teacher Pavilion had rules against such actions, it didn’t necessarily have the resources to enforce it. Furthermore, it also had many other strategic goals as well, such as uniting the various powers of the Master Teacher Continent to fend against the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. If it had to choose between maintaining friendly relations with a powerful organization and protecting an individual master teacher, even if a talented one, it would indubitably choose the former. 

Sometimes, for the sake of more important objectives, one had no choice but to compromise and turn a blind eye to other matters. The only reason why vipin was able to remain safe so far was due to his lineage, and this was also an important factor to preventing the top echelons of the Master Teacher Continent from falling into utter chaos. Kill a disciple, and his teacher would come knocking for vengeance; this was actually just a gross simplification of the effects of a lineage. 

One had to be extremely careful when dealing with lineages because it was extremely difficult to say for sure just who was connected to whom… For this reason, unless it was a truly irreconcilable grudge, most powers would avoid making a move on one another. There was an incident in the past where a Tier-3 Sage Clan casually sentenced a Transcendent Mortal cultivator from a minor clan to death for crossing them. 

But as luck would have it, a 9-star blacksmith turned out to be their great great great grandfather… In the end, the Tier-3 Sage Clan was nearly entirely wiped out from the face of the world. As such, most cultivators and powers would avoid making a move a person who could have possibly come from a powerful heritage. It was also for this reason that vipin was able to rise through the ranks safely, such that there wasn’t even any attempted assassination on his life.

 The protection he had received from the name ‘master indra shane’ had truly been invaluable. If not for the fact that master indra shane really existed, given how he had succeeded in crashing two Master Teacher Pavilions, the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would have long sent some men down to investigate his secrets. In other words, he was currently in a very precarious position. 

He had to become an 8-star master teacher and remove the seal on the Sanctum Head Token or raise his cultivation to a level where he would be able to protect himself before master indra shane came knocking. If he could become the next head of the Sanctum of Sages, even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would have to think twice before making a move on him. 

Just as what champak had said previously, generations of sanctum heads would challenge the students of powerful clans and organizations while they were students themselves in order to build up prestige, and this would allow them would swiftly gain control of the Sanctum of Sages after their inauguration. Since he was going to be the next sanctum head anyway, there was no need for him to hesitate about the matter either.

 It just happened that he had the poorest relationship with the shan kabila, so it went without saying that he should start from challenging them! If he couldn’t flip the entire Sanctum of Sages upside down, his surname shan’t be Zhang! “You want to challenge the shan kabila offspring in their field of specialty?”

 Harshit asked with a frown. “I know that you possess incredible means in the field of formations and beast taming, but it won’t be easy for you to defeat them in the other supporting occupations. Are you certain that you’ll be able to emerge victorious?” It wasn’t that Harshit didn’t trust vipin, but it was impossible for even the most talented master teacher to be skilled in everything. 

While the young man before him possessed exceptional prowess in the field of formations and beast taming, such that he didn’t think that there would be anyone in the Sanctum of Sages who could rival the young man, he couldn’t say the same for the other supporting occupations too. Just recalling the various unbelievable records that the shan kabila’s offspring had set in some of the supporting occupations was enough to send shivers down his spines. It was one thing if they managed to succeed, but if they were to fail in their challenge, things would get really embarrassing for them… “Don’t worry. 

As long as I can receive an ample amount of books, it won’t be easy for me to lose!” vipin said confidently. “If you are really confident about it, I guess it should be fine. It happens that I have some business at the Spirit Awakener Guild. Do you want to come along with me?” Recalling the various miracles that the young man had produced, Harshit hesitated for a moment before saying. “Spirit Awakener Guild?” 

vipin turned to Harshit. “Are there any offspring of the shan kabila there?” “husain’s younger brother, husain, is the Inceptive Sage there. However, his proficiency of spirit enchantment has already reached the level of 8-star… Are you sure that you’re able to do it?” Harshit asked worriedly. 

Chuckling softly, vipin replied, “Don’t worry, how can a man say that he’s unable to do it? If he’s still of decent character, I’ll let him off after a quick challenge. Otherwise, I won’t be standing on ceremony then…” — Promoting my Discord here: 

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Chapter 1373: - Changes in the Library of Heaven's Path 

 Even though vipin carried some prejudice against the shan kabila, he did not intend to make things difficult for every single one of them indiscriminately. As long as the other party’s personality was not too bad, he would not go overboard. 

As for husain… as a shameless toad lusting for the flesh of a swan, he definitely had to be punished! After making up his mind, vipin turned a confused look toward Harshit. “You mentioned Inceptive Sage earlier. What does that mean?”

 “There are many occupations in the Sanctum of Sages, and as long as a student achieves proficiency superior to all other students and becomes the indubitable number one in a specific occupation, they will receive the esteemed title of ‘Inceptive Sage’. This title isn’t merely honorary; more importantly, it is a symbol of power and standing.

 As long as one is able to become an Inceptive Sage, they will be considered as the representative of all students in that specific occupation, as well as their senior!” Harshit explained. “husain successfully enchanted the guardian golem in the Spirit Awakener Hall and made it move seven whole steps, thus breaking the record for the last three thousand years. Due to that, he became the Inceptive Sage of the Spirit Awakener Hall.” “Guardian golem?” 

vipin frowned. Enchanting a guardian golem should not have been too difficult a task. After all, he was someone who had even successfully enchanted a whole guild before! “You’ll know how difficult it is once you see it with your own eyes!” Seeing how vipin thought little of that matter, Harshit shook his head with a bitter smile.

 Naturally, the guardian golem was no ordinary statue, or else husain would not have been the only one to have successfully enchanted it in the past three thousand years. The Spirit Awakener Hall was also located in the Hall of Erudition, so it did not take them too long to arrive at their destination. When vipin saw the guardian golem standing at the entrance of the guild, he immediately understood why Harshit would say such words. 

Standing at more than a dozen zhang tall and six to seven zhang wide, it towered like a massive building before the Spirit Awakener Hall. On top of that, it was made of some kind of bizarre black stone that wielded the ability to absorb one’s will, making it difficult to light up the spark of enchantment within it. “This… There would indeed be some difficulty in enchanting it,” vipin remarked grimly. 

Even he would require a lengthy period of time and deplete himself greatly in order to enchant this golem. The biggest issue was not the golem’s size but the material it was made of. The material was not particularly suited for harnessing a spirit, causing any spirit enchanted into it to dissipate swiftly. In a sense, attempting to enchant it was like pouring a pail of water into a basket. 

The faster one poured the water, the quicker the water just seemed to flow away, making it seem like an impossible feat to achieve. As long as the rate one enchanted the golem was beneath the rate at which the spirit infused into the golem was dissipating, it would be impossible to succeed. 

For husain to not only succeed but even get it to move seven steps, he was indeed a formidable figure. With such thoughts in mind, vipin stepped forward, placed his hand on the golem, and sent his consciousness into it. In an instant, he felt as if he had been plunged into a domain of complete darkness, devoid of any hint of light. 

He could not see the slightest trace of the outstretched hand he had placed before him, and to make things worse, he found that he could not extend his Spiritual Perception outward either. With a light tap of his finger, he conjured a brilliant spark that illuminated the surroundings. However, before the light could even diffuse around, a powerful suction force suddenly devoured the light. 

This reminded him deeply of the Starluster Stone. Under the suppression of the surrounding suction force, the spark could only coil around his fingertip, unable to illuminate any further than that. Hu! vipin brought his consciousness back into his body and opened his eyes once more. Enchanting the golem would indeed be a huge challenge to him, even greater than the challenge of enchanting the entire Spirit Awakener Hall. 

Even with his current strength, it would not be too easy for him to succeed. “How is it?” Harshit asked. vipin hesitated for a moment before replying. “Can you bring me to where the 8-star spirit awakener books are located? I have some doubts concerning spirit enchantment, and I’ll need to browse through some books in order to resolve them.” 

He had only accessed 7-star spirit awakener books before, so his understanding of spirit enchantment was still a little lacking at the moment. As long as he could gather sufficient books to compile the 8-star Heaven’s Path Spirit Enchantment Art, he would be able to easily clear whatever test there was to become an Inceptive Sage. 

“You want to browse through 8-star spirit awakener books?” Harshit nodded. “You’ll have to clear the 8-star spirit awakener examination first for that. The examination hall is right ahead. I still have some matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving for now…” “Alright.” vipin nodded in response before heading into the Spirit Awakener Hall. 

Similar to the place where he had taken the formation master examination previously, there was hardly anyone in sight in the relatively big Spirit Awakener Hall, making the area appear exceptionally empty and cold in contrast. vipin quickly made his way over to the front receptionist and passed his emblem over. “vipin, this way please!” The receptionist was a young lady who appeared to be in her early twenties. 

After learning of vipin’s identity, her attitude became exceptionally friendly, and she quickly led him over to the library. “All 7-star spirit awakener books are within. There are quite a lot of books here, so if you need help finding any, feel free to approach me, and I’ll find it for you!” the female receptionist said. “It’s fine, I think I can manage by myself. Thank you,” vipin replied with a smile before walking into the library. 

The number of high-tier spirit awakener books in the rosaat empire Spirit Awakener Hall was rather lacking, so it would be best for him to browse through more 7-star spirit awakener books prior to taking the 8-star spirit awakener examination just to be safe. The library here did not disappoint. 

As soon as he stepped in, a massive collection of books immediately unfolded before him, causing his eyes to light up in excitement. Without any hesitation, he dived straight into collecting them into the Library of Heaven’s Path. Flaws! Hualala! Books were swiftly replicated in his Library of Heaven’s Path at a swift speed. vipin swiftly noticed that something was different.

 Hmm? Why does it seem like the speed at which I am collecting the books has improved? It was true that he could collect the books just by looking at them directly with his eyes, but there was still a slight lag between his sight and the materialization of the books in the Library of Heaven’s Path. Usually, while he was already done sweeping across the third shelf, the Library of Heaven’s Path would still be materializing the second. 

But this time around, it felt as if the Library of Heaven’s Path was running right behind his back. Just as his eyes reached the third shelf, the Library of Heaven’s Path reached the third shelf. There hasn’t been anything peculiar with the Library of Heaven’s Path recently though, and I haven’t fallen into a coma either. vipin began racking his brain to make sense of the peculiar situation he was facing.

 The only time the Library of Heaven’s Path had undergone a metamorphosis was when he met Pratyusha once more in the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. That metamorphosis had allowed him to collect books with not just his touch but with just a look from his eyes. However, that metamorphosis knocked him out for three whole days. This time, nothing of the sort had happened, but the book collecting rate had grown much faster than before. What was going on? 

A thought flashed across vipin’s mind, and he widened his eyes in disbelief. Could it be… It was a little hard for him to believe, but that was the only reason he could come up with no matter how he racked his mind. And that was… destroying the Shrine of Seers! In the view of the heavens, destroying a Seer Guild branch was probably equivalent to successfully raiding a den of criminals, ridding the world of a poisonous tumor. Could the changes in his Library of Heaven’s Path be related to that? 

vipin’s eyes lit up. Could it be that there is a reward for me bringing ruination upon the seers, something like a bounty? As powerful as the Library of Heaven’s Path already was, he would not hesitate to grab an opportunity to evolve it further. After all, it was the strongest trump card that he had in his possession as well as the foundation of his growth. Without a doubt, its metamorphosis would grant him great benefits one way or another. 

I guess I should go out and destroy a few more Seer Guilds when I have some free time on my hands… vipin nodded affirmatively. Of course, all of this was just his conjecture at the moment, so it would require further verification in order to determine whether his hypothesis was true or not.

 In any case, with the enhanced speed at which he could collect books into the Library of Heaven’s Path, he managed to collect all of the books in the library and assimilate them into his mind within four hours—in the past, it would have taken him six hours. Once he was done, he returned to the main hall to find the female receptionist. “I wish to take the 8-star spirit awakener examination. 

May I know what the processes for that are?” vipin inquired. In order to read the books of 8-star spirit awakeners, he would have to clear the 8-star spirit awakener examination first. “You wish to take the 8-star spirit awakener examination?” A slight hint of astonishment could be seen in the female receptionist’s eyes for a brief moment before she nodded. “The spirit awakener examination it actually rather simple, unlike those for apothecaries and blacksmiths. 

All you have to do is successfully enchant a grade-8 puppet before an elder of our Spirit Awakener Hall branch, and you’ll be considered to have cleared the examination.” “I’ll be troubling you to bring me over to the examination hall then.” vipin nodded. After which, under the lead of the young lady, vipin arrived at a relatively spacious hall. The elder invigilating his examination was an old man who appeared to be in his sixties. 

The eight brilliant stars on the emblem pinned in front of his robe indicated that he was an 8-star spirit awakener. The internal structure of the puppet was extremely simple, somewhat similar to the ones he had seen at the rosaat empire Spirit Awakener Guild. Its purpose was to gauge one’s mastery of spirit enchantment, so there was no need for excessive complexity.

 Stepping forward, vipin placed his palm on the puppet. A sliver of his consciousness slipped from his Primordial Spirit into the puppet, and it did not take him long to light up the latter’s consciousness. In truth, the puppet had only barely met the basic requirements to be considered a grade-8 puppet. Anyone who had met the minimum requirement to become an 8-star spirit awakener would be able to clear it with ease. “Here is your 8-star emblem!” Not expecting the young man to clear the examination in a single try, the elder was visibly surprised. 

He quickly helped the young man apply for an emblem and passed it over. Seeing that he had managed to clear the examination without any unfortunate accidents occurring, vipin secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Taking his new 8-star spirit awakener emblem, he headed for the section containing the 8-star spirit awakener books in the library and continued his studying session. 

Six hours later, he finally walked out of the library. It was exhausting going through so many books at once, but he did manage to master the 8-star Heaven’s Path Spirit Enchantment Art, thus raising his mastery of the art up to the level of 8-star pinnacle. “vipin, how is it going?” Barely after taking a step out of the library, vipin encountered Harshit. “Un, I think I should have…” vipin nodded as he replied, but halfway through his words, he suddenly stopped. 

He stared at the sight before him with utter shock, and it took a while before he managed to find his voice once more. “W-what is going on?” 

The majestic building that he had been in just six hours ago had collapsed, and white smoke was rising here and there. “Oh… I was intending to get Elder madhav of the Spirit Awakener Hall to help me reinforce my Primordial Spirit, but that fellow was simply too incompetent. He ended up ejecting my Primordial Spirit out of my body, and in a moment of carelessness… Well, it just became like that…” Harshit scratched his head in embarrassment. 

“You were able to cause such a mess just by fortifying your Primordial Spirit?” vipin was stunned. Previously, when Harshit said that he had some business at the Spirit Awakener Hall, he had already guessed that the other party was intending to find someone to help him reinforce his Primordial Spirit in preparation to facing the Dimension Sundering Ordeal. He thought that a matter as simple as this should not have been too much of a problem, but such a mishap still ended up happening. 

Honestly, can you stop causing destruction wherever you go? You are a huge embarrassment, you know! “Someone must have cut corners while building this Spirit Awakener Hall, or else how could it possibly be so fragile…” Harshit harrumphed unabashedly. Before Harshit could finish his words, a furious bellow suddenly sounded. “Harshit, can you be any more shameful than that?” Following which, a group of men rushed out angrily. 

The one leading the group was a young man in his late thirties. Taking a closer look, the young man’s facial features bore some resemblance to husain’s. “husain, what do you mean by that?” “You have barged into our Spirit Awakener Hall a total of two times, and each time around, you somehow manage to leave it in complete shambles. 

From today onward, our Spirit Awakener Hall no longer welcomes you. If you dare to take even the slightest step into here, don’t blame us for getting nasty with you!” husain roared with gritted teeth. “Humph, how is it my concern that your Spirit Awakener Hall’s building is so fragile? If you have the time to be roaring at me, why don’t you spend it finding better bricklayers instead?”

 Harshit snapped coldly. “You still have the cheek to be saying those words… If you hadn’t lost control of your own Primordial Spirit, would such a thing have happened? You really are a piece of work, you know?”

 With a grand wave of his hand, husain stepped forward and loudly declared, “With my authority as the Inceptive Sage of the Spirit Awakener Hall, I hereby pass an ‘Inceptive Sage Decree’. As long as Harshit steps into the perimeter of our Spirit Awakener Hall, all spirit awakeners are allowed to attack him without any qualms over injuring him or even killing him!” 

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