Of all the martial skills that had been heaped and abandoned to that corner, some were already torn up and the others were all incomplete.
In short, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that they were the trash of the already trash depository; however, since throwing them out would be too much of a waste, they had just left them in this corner.
It was from within this heap, that a certain scroll had strongly tugged at Min Hong's spirit sense when his eyes had gazed past that corner.
It seemed to be made from animal hide, and looked extremely worn, but Min Hong's overpowered spirit sense could detect an extremely ancient aura subtly wafting off it.
Reaching out, Min Hong pulled out the scroll from the pile of trash.
However, the moment he took it out and focused on it, his heart couldn't help but shiver in fear.
Others might have been oblivious to what seemed different about this animal hide, but, his spirit sense could detect a terrifying power coming from it!
The marks on the page were already ruined and faded. It had clearly been eroded by the passage of time. Min Hong guessed that the owner of this animal hide must have been an extremely terrifying existence; otherwise, there wouldn't be such a terrifying will left behind after all these years.
It was completely ridiculous that such a terrifying thing had now been thrown with the trash. Looking to his left and right to ensure no one was around, Min Hong hurriedly crouched at the corner and began to read through it.
All that was within the scroll however was the illustration of a single move, with the words written atop it being in ancient texts and blurry.
However, for some mysterious reasons, when Min Hong scrutinized these characters, they read:
"Willow Leaf Transformation."
'What an absolutely mystical title for a Martial Skill!' Min Hong thought in reverence.
However, in the next moment, he suddenly frowned at the content within the scroll.
Upon taking a closer look at the illustration within it, he realized that the only thing he could make out or comprehend from first glance was the fact that there were three moves within it.
Between each illustrations of these three moves, there were some indistinct lines, that connected one to the other, however they were very old and he couldn't tell whether it was originally like that or had been created after being crumpled or tossed too many times over the years.
"Time's up. All heirs must put back their manuals."
A cold voice rang out just at this moment, and everyone couldn't help but sigh; as usual, time had passed too quickly, and to top it all off, they were only allowed to come here once a month!
Looking at the messed up scroll in his hands, Min Hong couldn't help but feel reluctant to part with it. His time was just too precious, and he couldn't wait another month.
Who knew what could happen within that span of time?
Perhaps an idiot might mess up the pile and make it even more difficult to find.
Furthermore, even if he decided to come find it next time, what if someone saw him ignoring the innumerable skills on the shelves only to start digging through a pile of abandoned trash; at that point, they would surely suspect that he was onto a treasure of a martial skill.
By then, he wouldn't be able to study it uninterruptedly, and would have to come once every month to spend seconds contemplating it at a time. If that happened, who knew how long it would take him to comprehend the martial skill to Concept Level, not to talk of Clarity level mastery.
Even worse, should everyone show interest in the technique, then there would be no point in him using it, since others would be able to do so as well, even if with lesser mastery.
Seeing everyone leave, Min Hong slowly started walking with them, but he kept the ruined animal hide in his hands. The Blood Condensing expert of-course caught him red handed, and as such, his expression turned colder, but Min Hong before he could say anything, Min Hong beat him to it.
"Senior, I want to bring this destroyed animal hide page back home to study. Also, please accept this."
Not wanting the expert to instantly refuse his request, Min Hong swiftly took out a jade bottle and threw it at him.
The Blood Condensing expert was just about to scold him when he sense the level of energy hidden within bottle.
Reaching out to take it, he was astonished to find that it was a Blood Purifying Potion; a creation that was precisely what he needed to break into the next star of the Blood Condensing Stage.
Furthermore, what was the most important part to him was the fact that it was a middle grade potion; such a potion would save him at least half a year's worth of rigorous cultivating.
The expert's expression swiftly changed in the face of the treasure in his grasp, and in the end, he was unable to resist its allure, and thus said:
"Remember, I didn't see anything."
How could Min Hong not understand what he was saying? If he was found out, he wouldn't admit to any fault and Min Hong would be accused of stealing.
Min Hong however, could care less about the punishment he might receive; after all, there was no level of punishment the literature hall could dole out on him that could ever come close to matching the value of this martial skill, especially when even they didn't know its true worth.
The moment Min Hong left with the animal hide, the expert carefully examine the Blood Purifying Potion in his hand.
"To think such a little kid would have such a treasure in his possession. I have to find out more about him."
Upon saying this, the Blood Condensing expert stowed away jade bottle and disappeared deeper into the martial skill depository.
Min Hong on the other hand, was heading back home with a big smile and a skip in his step. Since he had dared to take out the Blood Purifying Potion, he was naturally unafraid of any from of investigation.
The current him needed others to know that he was an alchemist, and not just any ordinary alchemist, but one very close to Adept Sun Yi; only a relationship of such level can deter his enemies, and hopefully prevent them from brazenly troubling him.
It was also a way of telling him that he, Min Hong, was no longer the same, and if they wanted to bring out small fries to deal with him, they'd have to think about the consequences.
However, whilst his brain was busy contemplating the mystery of the scroll he had just obtained and that of the identity of who might be scheming against him and his family from the shadows, he failed to notice that he had, at some point, ended up walking into a small alley.
Suddenly, a huge net cascaded onto him from the sky, and before he could snap out of his deep thoughts and react to the situation, he was completely ensnared, whisked into the air.
The net's design was extremely intricate, and the moment it ensnared him, it instantly tightened up, firmly trapping him within its confines.
Just as Min Hong was about to start struggling, he was suddenly hoisted even higher into the air, and it was then that he finally noticed that there was a massive Stone Crest Vulture over his head.
The Stone Crest Vulture had yet to step into the Savage Beast Realm and was still a regular Wild Beast; however, due to its size and its nonaggressive nature, it had become the favorite pet for experts to ride on.
Realizing the extent of his current plight, Min Hong couldn't help but mentally chide himself; however, it was already a bit too late for any regrets. He had simply been too careless and indeed deserved to have been ensnared.
Soaring hundreds of meters into the air, Min Hong couldn't help but feel queasy by just looking down at the rough stony terrain beneath him.
Picturing what his fate might look like should he fall from such height, he couldn't help but cringe and gulp.
He ceased any form of movements; after all, he didn't know if the net was strong enough to hold his weight. If he did something that made it snap, and thus fall from such a height, even ten lives wouldn't be able to prevent him from turning into a flat paste.
"Hmph, you're one bold slave to dare bully my little brother!" A clear, lovable voice rang out from atop the Stone Crest Vulture.
The voice sounded very bell-like, but the anger contained within it caused Min Hong to realize one very important fact; his current situation was definitely not good in the slightest.
No matter how hard he craned his neck from within the net, he was unable to see who was atop the Stone Crust Vulture, thus, he kept mute; after all, he wouldn't want to go saying anything that would incur the lady's ire and cause her to drop him from such heights.
That lady however, didn't even deign to say anything in response to Min Hong's silence.
Seeing a large mountain in the distance, she urged her mount to fly over; however, as fate would have it, the mountain she had spotted turned out to be the Sunset Mountain. However, this time, Min Hong had been brought here under an utterly different situation.
Last time he was atop a mount; this time he was being heaped by one; furthermore, this time, his manner of descent was extremely unsteady, a far cry from last time's slow, gentle and stable landing.
The treatment this time also wasn't so good; after all, he had been released and sent dropping onto the rocky surface of the mountain from a thirty meter height.
Despite all the preparations he had made to protect his body, a bout of dizziness still assaulted Min Hong after being dropped unannounced.
"Hmph, you brazen slave. If I don't give you a proper lesson today, you won't know how to revere your masters!"
Min Hong was absolutely furious; now that they were on the ground, if he didn't properly teach her a valuable lesson, then she wouldn't know who the master was here, him.
However, despite having already known that it was a young lady who had captured him, when Min Hong finally laid eyes on her, he couldn't help but freeze like a deer in headlights.
Standing there, with an aura of absolute anger, was a slender fifteen-year-old maiden with large curves in all the right places. She was wearing white robes with a jade belt that caused her chest to become even more pronounced; clearly, she was being well nourished.
Willowy eyebrows slanted over her peach-like eyes which snuggled her jasper nose betwixt them. Her pouty lips that which indicated her anger also introduced a unique kind of beauty to her already gorgeous appearance.
"Hey, slave, where do you think you're looking?" The young lady fumed when she saw Min Hong's eyes continuously ogle at her.
However, upon being called a slave once again, Min Hong's anger which had been gradually dispersing suddenly flared once again.
"Little girl, are you on the wrong drugs? Why have you abducted and brought me here? Or is it that you've become enticed by this young lord's looks that you can't help wanting to take the errant path?"
The angry and regretful expression that Min Hong displayed along with his words angered the young lady so much that her whole face turned red.
"You shameless bastard! You dared to bully my little brother! Today, I'm going to relieve my brother's anger for him. And with a face like yours, even if this lady was stripped off her six senses, I still wouldn't consider you." She retorted in fury.
"Your little brother?" Min Hong couldn't help but blurt out those words in utter confusion.