The sky was clear and the air was fresh at the West Garden Hot Spring in Cloud Mist Villa.
"Ah, this is so comfortable!"
Qin Yu, wearing only a pair of shorts, lay in the hot spring. Regardless of winter or summer, it was not necessary to worry about the temperature in the hot spring. The hot spring at Cloud Mist Villa was unlike any other, having magical healing properties. It was said by some expert healers that the water contained numerous substances beneficial to the body.
"Little Black, just come down!" Qin Yu suddenly reached out, grabbed 'Little Black', and plunged the creature into the hot spring.
Instantly, 'Little Black' flapped its wings in panic, but by the time it managed to escape, its feathers were already wet, truly turning it into a drenched chicken. Dripping with water, 'Little Black' looked at Qin Yu with a 'grieved' expression, as if blaming its young master for playing tricks on it.
Seeing 'Little Black's' state, Qin Yu burst into uproarious laughter, "Haha, Little Black, you're so cute! Come on, join me in the hot spring. It's very comfortable. You'll be a majestic eagle soaring the heavens someday, but you need to be able to handle water as well as the sky; otherwise, you'd be pretty useless."
While Qin Yu was joking with Little Black, the bird was flapping its wings to shake off the water droplets and glared at Qin Yu, seemingly very dissatisfied.
"Little Yu," Lian Yan said with a smile as he walked over from the West Garden corridor, appearing before Qin Yu after rounding a rockery. Qin Yu turned his head and immediately beamed a brilliant smile, "Grandpa Lian."
"I have some good news for you," Lian Yan said mysteriously, and Qin Yu felt a surge of excitement, "Good news? Could it be that father has arrived?" While he thought this, Qin Yu did not voice it aloud; he just eagerly looked at Lian Yan.
Lian Yan smiled and said, "The secret books you asked for have arrived."
Qin Yu felt a slight disappointment, but as he recovered from it, he suddenly leaped out of the hot spring, got dressed in a hurry, and his eyes filled with excitement, "Grandpa Lian, lead the way, where are the secret books?"
No one could help him except himself; he had to work hard and persevere.
"Come with me," Lian Yan said with a smile as he led the way. Qin Yu, filled with anticipation, followed behind him, his heart set on a firm resolve. In the past, Qin Yu had lived in a fog of idleness, spending his time reading in the study, gazing at the starry sky late at night, soaking in the hot spring, or playing with Little Black.
But the Qin Yu of this moment had a goal, and his entire being was fueled with motivation, his entire aura changing.
In the North Garden Underground Secret Chamber Group of Cloud Mist Villa.
The Underground Secret Chamber Group comprised dozens of chambers, and Lian Yan led Qin Yu into one of them. This chamber contained only a bed, a long table, a chair, and other essentials for daily life—its simplicity was evident.
Placed on the long table at that moment was a delicate black box.
"Little Yu, the secret books are inside this box," Lian Yan said, pointing at the black box. Upon hearing this, Qin Yu's eyes lit up, and he rushed forward to open the black box. This move, however, startled Lian Yan.
"Little Yu, don't open it!" Lian Yan's right hand flashed like an illusion, and he suddenly grabbed Qin Yu and placed him behind himself, speaking with utmost seriousness, "Little Yu, this is no ordinary box, and it shouldn't be opened like this!"
Qin Yu looked at Lian Yan, puzzled.
"Little Yu, you are too young to understand the preciousness of these secret books," Lian Yan said with a shake of his head and a smile, "Do you know that the value of these secret books may even surpass the secret treasures in the Imperial Palace of the Chu Dynasty? Therefore, the construction of this box is also peculiar. Forcing it open or opening it without care would destroy the secret books within."
As he said this, Lian Yan's hands moved like illusions, touching the box at twelve different points, each at a different location.
With a "bang!" a keyhole appeared on the box.
Qin Yu widened his eyes in surprise. He clearly remembered that there had been no keyhole on the box just a moment ago, and it had seemed like an ordinary box with a lid, not hinting at any sophisticated mechanism within.
Even if others took it, they would not be able to find the keyhole, and there was no key to be found," Lian Yan said as he pulled out a golden key and inserted it into the keyhole. With a "click," the box automatically opened.
Qin Yu immediately leaned over to look inside.
At first glance, the black box contained very thin books, each book with only about a dozen pages, the thinnest having only a few pages and the thickest no more than twenty. Yet despite their thinness, the box was filled with them.
"There are sixty-eight top-tier inner power secret methods and twenty-eight kinds of outer strength secret books inside this box. Little Yu, if you want to look at these secret books in the future, you must come to this chamber. You must not take them out. Understand?" Lian Yan said with a serious face to Qin Yu.
Qin Yu nodded affirmatively.
"Alright, you knew how to read by the age of six, and for the past two years, you've also read many books. You can understand these secret books on your own. Take your time; grandpa will be leaving now," Lian Yan said with a smile, and then he left the chamber.
Once Lian Yan had gone, Qin Yu, now alone, took each of the secret books one by one and placed them all on the table, filling the long table with a total of ninety-six books.
Looking at the secret books in front of him, Qin Yu's eyes shone with an unprecedented glow.
"Yellow Crane Ode", "Hundred Sentences Chapter", "Golden Cauldron Song", "Gold Mining Song", "Water Element Introduction", …
Book by book, the inner power secret manuals were treasures that would drive martial artists wild with desire. The Qin Family had a long and storied heritage, and not even the secret books of the Three Great Dynasties could compare. Many of the Qin Family's secret books had been lost for hundreds of years.
"Ancestor Dragon Technique – it seems like I saw this when I was a child. Didn't father have me read it?" Qin Yu considered the last book, the thinnest one, made of golden paper, the most precious of them. Even the three characters of 'Ancestor Dragon Technique' seemed to exert a pressure on the reader.
After perusing the sixty-eight top-tier inner strength cultivation techniques, Qin Yu turned his attention to the twenty-eight kinds of outer strength secret manuals.
"Iron Sand Palm", "Vigorous Vajra Palm", "Dragon Claw Hand", "Iron Cloth Shirt", "Vajra Cover", "Thirteen Grand Protectors Training", "Overlord Divine Fist", …
The twenty-eight kinds of outer strength secret techniques were laid out before Qin Yu.
First, Qin Yu casually picked up one of the books to slowly flip through. In the chamber, Qin Yu concentrated fully on delving into the various precious cultivation secret books collected by the Qin Family over countless generations…