Bright early in the morning, the sun had yet to rise.
Ye Ping opened his eyes.
After washing up simply, he left.
There were faint clouds and mist between the mountains and forests, and it looked like an immortal land on earth.
The faint sounds of the bell made one feel relaxed.
Ye Ping stretched his back and couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"Entering the ancient temple, the sun shines high in the sky above the forest."
"The winding path leads to a quiet place, the zen room that is deep in the woods."
"The light of the mountain is pleasing to the bird, and the shadow of the pool makes one's heart feel empty."
"All music is silent, only the chiming of bells can be heard."
That was a poem named 'The Zen Room Behind the Mountain Monastery'.
The poem was not considered very scenic, because it was a Daoist Temple, not an ancient monastery. However, there was no one around, so Ye Ping was in the mood for it.
After stretching his back, Ye Ping walked straight towards the Qingyun Dao Sect.
He planned to go to the Sutra Pavilion to revise his immortal cultivation knowledge.
Ye Ping spent the whole of last night observing the alchemy creation techniques, which was the secret manual that Xu Luochen gave him.
However, as he read on, he immediately understood that he could not refine pills for now.
The alchemy creation techniques required one to have spiritual energy to refine pills.
Using spiritual energy to refine pills would result in pure Spirit Pills.
In other words, he still had to use his own spiritual energy and willpower to condense pure Spirit Pills, which were non-poisonous.
Ye Ping understood, but he did not have any spiritual energy so he had no choice but to put it aside for now.
Now, the most important thing to do was to work on his immortal cultivation knowledge.
In Qingyun Dao Sect.
The few large halls were clean, spotless, simple, and tidy, which were different from the Dao Temples that were popular outside.
Perhaps, that was the style of the secluded secret sects.
His sleeves flew up in the wind.
Ye Ping admired their attitude. They were at peace with the world and resigned to fate.
Everything seemed ordinary, but in the Great Dao, things that seemed the most simple often contained infinite logic.
For example, why was there always an incense stick in the burner outside the main hall?
Could it be that the Qingyun Dao Sect could not afford to buy incense?
That was obviously impossible.
The so-called sincere heart was having a sincere spirit. If one had a sincere heart, one incense stick would be enough. If one was insincere, there would not be any increase in luck even if they offered an entire urn of incense.
Ye Ping gazed at the incense stick in the incense burner emotionally.
It was just a small incense stick, but it contained so much logic.
It was simply a hidden sect.
Peerless.
He retracted his thoughts and walked into the Sutra Pavilion.
The Sutra Pavilion of the Qingyun Dao Sect was not too large and there were a total of four bookshelves. There were many secret manuals on each of them.
Ye Ping was rather well-behaved as he did not flip through them randomly. His footsteps were light when he walked too.
However, as he stepped into the Sutra Pavilion and looked at the secret manuals on the bookshelves, Ye Ping was stunned.
'Ten Dragons Ten Elephants Primordial Spirit Technique'
'Immortal Dao Pupil Activation Technique'
'Perfect Development of the Supreme Vision'
'True Dragon Supreme Mystical Ability'
'Celestial Thearch Swordsmanship'
'3,600 Immortal Aperture Mystical Technique'
'36 Heavenly Mystical Abilities'
'72 Earth-shattering Mystical Abilities'
...
In the Sutra Pavilion, Ye Ping was already stunned.
He knew that the Qingyun Dao Sect was a hidden sect, but he did not think that it would be that terrifying.
Ye Ping knew that such a secret manual was impressive even though he hadn't read it yet.
However, what made him shocked was that those secret manuals were placed casually on the bookshelves.
There were neither any safety measures nor array formations to guard and protect the pavilion.
'Is this a hidden sect?'
'I love it.'
Ye Ping was agitated.
He was really excited.
If someone dared to say that this was not a hidden world sect, he would definitely slash them with his sword.
'Immortal Dao Pupil Activation! Essence soul technique! True Dragon Mystical Ability! Celestial Thearch Swordsmanship! 36 Heavenly Mystical Abilities!
Ye Ping was so agitated that he began shuddering.
It was truly an unexpected surprise.
However, after a while, he took a deep breath and tried hard to calm himself down.
"Ye Ping, don't get excited. These may be supreme secret manuals, but not everyone can learn them. Calm down, calm down."
Ye Ping took several deep breaths and eventually got a grip on himself.
He understood that although there were a large number of secret manuals, the problem was whether he could learn it or not.
It was not like he could learn all the things taught in the secret manuals.
Besides, what would happen if he ended up getting into trouble for practicing the techniques in the secret manuals without proper guidance? What if the Sect Leader and his Senior Brothers held it against him?
At the thought of this, Ye Ping became much calmer.
'I can't get lost.'
'Yes, I can't get lost.'
He kept telling himself not to be excited and to treat it as a normal item, but he was overwhelmed with excitement.
Who would be able to stay calm after seeing such impressive secret manuals?
The secret manuals in the Sutra Pavilion made Ye Ping unconditionally convinced that the Qingyun Dao Sect was a hidden sect.
However, Ye Ping did not read them.
Instead, he flipped through other books and read some information about the world of immortal cultivation such as 'The Events of Qingzhou', and 'Strange Stories of Jin Nation'.
Those books were thick and heavy.
Ye Ping was very patient and stayed in the Sutra Pavilion from day to night to read them.
He stayed there for 14 hours.
Ye Ping spent 14 hours reading books and ended up completing 45 books of strange stories in the Sutra Pavilion.
In his mind, he had a general understanding of Qingzhou, Jin Nation, and the immortal sects of the ten nations, including the power of the sects, the system of the imperial courts, and some other bizarre things.
"I didn't expect the power of the imperial court in this world to be on par with immortal sects."
Ye Ping muttered to himself.
According to the records, the imperial court was in charge of the mortal world while the immortal sects were transcendent. However, the immortal sects were not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court and were actually inferior in power. Besides, they had to comply with the imperial court in some matters.
Although it was a relatively cooperative relationship, the imperial courts had greater control.
However, it did make sense. In the world of immortal cultivation, there were definitely some people in the imperial courts who practiced immortal cultivation. With such a huge base, there would definitely be powerhouses, and once the nation's machinery began running, they would be an invincible force.
The immortal sects had peerless immortals too, but the issue was that the Dao sects often hid things from each other and would hide their heirloom teachings. Some even only imparted things to disciples who were in the line of succession. However, it was different for the imperial courts. As long as one worked hard to bring glory to the imperial courts, one would be rewarded with resources.
Besides, the most important thing was fame and interests!
The world coveted benefits and interests.
Who wouldn't want to become a king? Who wouldn't want to be above all in the world? Who wouldn't want to command great power and have people make way for them wherever they went?
Of course, some people did not care about fame and fortune, but how many of such people were there?
It was just like an old man in his eighties trying to convince a young person not to lust after beauty.
Of course, the old man wouldn't lust for beauty since he was old in his years. However, in his younger years, he was definitely promiscuous and lustful.
Beauty and lust might not tempt cultivators who had cultivated for hundreds or even thousands of years.
However, what about power?
What about the authority to command a million troops with a single order?
What about the throne that allowed one to rule over tens of thousands of people?
Hence, the power of the imperial court was superior to that of the immortal sects.
Ye Ping suddenly froze when he thought about it.
Immediately afterwards, he somehow felt a little upset.
Had he known earlier, he wouldn't have taken part in the Grand Immortal Ascension Meet more than fifty times.
He would have just gone to sit for the imperial examinations and emerged as the top scholar. Once he entered the imperial court, he wouldn't have to worry about not getting to practice immortal cultivation.
'Those online novels are to blame. They make the imperial courts sound so bad and really got me in trouble.'
However, Ye Ping soon felt that something was amiss.
'If I knew about this earlier, wouldn't I have missed the hidden immortal sect?'
'Right!'
Ye Ping suddenly realized a fundamental problem.
If he hadn't been clueless about that, how could he have joined the Qingyun Dao Sect?
At the thought of this, Ye Ping's spirits were lifted again.
Some time later,
Ye Ping stretched his back again.
He couldn't help but glance at a secret manual.
'3,600 Immortal Aperture Mystical Technique'
At this moment, a clear and crisp voice suddenly sounded.
"Little Junior Brother, why are you here?"
It was a female voice.