Heavenly Sword Saint
The Scripture Pavilion stood in a quiet corner of the Jian Clan.
Unlike the main training grounds, there were rarely disciples gathered around it.
The pavilion wasn't large.
That was hardly surprising.
The Jian Clan was only a small clan, and its collection of cultivation manuals and martial techniques was naturally limited compared to the great forces Jian Chen remembered from his previous life.
Still, knowledge was knowledge.
Jian Chen stopped before the entrance.
An elderly clan member sat beside the door.
He glanced at Jian Chen before standing.
"Young Patriarch."
Jian Chen nodded.
"I'm here to enter the pavilion."
The old man didn't question him.
The Clan Master's order had already been passed down.
He stepped aside.
"You're free to enter."
Jian Chen walked inside.
The smell of old paper filled the pavilion.
Rows of shelves stood neatly along the walls. Most contained cultivation manuals and martial techniques of Yellow Tier, with only a small number of more valuable records placed farther inside.
Jian Chen slowly scanned the shelves.
His expression remained calm.
He wasn't expecting to discover some ancient inheritance hidden inside.
The Jian Clan simply didn't possess that level of foundation.
What he wanted was information.
Resources.
Records.
Anything that could be useful to his current cultivation.
He moved deeper into the pavilion.
The first few shelves contained basic cultivation techniques.
Jian Chen barely glanced at them.
He already had the Heavenly Sword Scripture.
There was no reason to replace it.
The next section contained martial techniques.
He looked through several of them.
Low-Tier Yellow.
Mid-Tier Yellow.
A few High-Tier Yellow techniques.
Jian Chen occasionally picked up a manual, read the first few pages, and returned it.
Most were ordinary.
Some were decent.
None were worth his attention.
After several minutes, he reached the rear section of the pavilion.
There were fewer shelves here.
Jian Chen stopped.
His gaze moved across the titles.
"Movement techniques."
"Body tempering."
"Defensive techniques."
"Weapon techniques."
He considered the possibilities.
His current strength was still limited.
Even though his understanding of cultivation was far beyond anyone in the Jian Clan, knowledge alone could not completely erase the gap between his present body and his former strength.
He needed resources.
He needed techniques suited to his current level.
And he needed opportunities.
Jian Chen picked up a body-tempering manual.
He flipped through it.
After a few pages, he shook his head.
Too inefficient.
Another one.
The same result.
He returned it to the shelf.
"This clan's foundation is indeed limited."
There was no disappointment in his voice.
He had expected this.
A small clan could not possess endless treasures.
Jian Chen continued searching.
Eventually, he found a section containing records rather than cultivation manuals.
His interest increased.
He pulled out the first book.
It was an old record of the Jian Clan.
Jian Chen opened it.
Names.
Events.
Clan leaders.
Changes in territory.
All kinds of information had been recorded over the years.
He quickly skimmed through it.
Most of it was irrelevant.
Then his eyes stopped.
A particular record caught his attention.
The Jian Clan had once been considerably stronger than it was now.
Not powerful enough to compare with the ancient clans he remembered from his previous life, but stronger than the current clan.
Several generations ago, the clan had possessed more resources and a larger territory.
Over time, however, its influence had gradually declined.
Jian Chen read silently.
There was nothing particularly surprising about it.
Small clans rose and fell all the time.
What interested him was the reason behind some of the changes.
Resources had been lost.
Several promising younger generations had failed to reach the expected heights.
Some opportunities had been missed.
The clan had slowly fallen behind.
Jian Chen closed the book.
"So that's how it happened."
He wasn't emotionally attached to the clan's past.
But now that he had become the Young Patriarch, understanding its foundation was useful.
If the clan was going to provide him with resources, he needed to know exactly what it possessed.
He continued reading.
After some time, he found another record.
This one concerned the surrounding region.
Moonriver City.
The nearby towns.
The stronger families.
The various powers that controlled resources in the surrounding area.
Jian Chen read each section carefully.
Unlike the cultivation manuals, this information was actually valuable.
His knowledge from his previous life was extensive, but the world had changed.
A thousand years was a long time.
Names could disappear.
Forces could rise.
Others could decline.
Jian Chen never assumed that everything he remembered remained unchanged.
That would have been foolish.
He closed the record and placed it back.
His expression became thoughtful.
"There are more changes than I expected."
Nothing here surprised him.
But it confirmed something important.
His memories could tell him where the world had been.
They could not tell him exactly where it was now.
That distinction mattered.
Jian Chen continued through the shelves.
Eventually, he found a collection of resource records.
His eyes sharpened.
This was what he had been looking for.
He opened the first record.
It listed various cultivation resources possessed by the Jian Clan.
The quantities were modest.
Very modest.
Pills.
Spirit stones.
Medicinal herbs.
Several low-level treasures.
Jian Chen quickly calculated how long the resources would last him.
His expression became slightly serious.
"Not enough."
The resources were sufficient for ordinary disciples.
They were not sufficient for someone cultivating the Heavenly Sword Scripture.
He closed the record.
If he relied entirely on the clan, his cultivation speed would eventually slow.
He needed another source.
Jian Chen began thinking.
There were many ways to obtain resources.
Hunting spiritual beasts.
Exploring dangerous regions.
Trading.
Alchemy.
Joining larger forces.
But each required time.
For now, he needed the simplest option.
A resource that existed near Moonriver City.
He continued reading.
Then his eyes landed on a particular name.
Azureblood Fruit.
Jian Chen paused.
A faint smile appeared.
"So there are still some."
The Azureblood Fruit was not particularly valuable to powerful cultivators.
At his former level, it would have been nothing more than an ordinary resource.
But for his current cultivation...
It was useful.
More importantly, it could help strengthen his body.
Jian Chen memorized the information.
The record stated that Azureblood Fruits grew in a region several dozen miles outside Moonriver City.
They were not easy to obtain.
Spiritual beasts inhabited the area.
Still, the danger wasn't beyond his current ability.
Jian Chen closed the book.
That was enough.
He didn't need to stay inside the pavilion all day.
He had found something useful.
As he turned to leave, his gaze suddenly fell upon an old wooden shelf in the corner.
Something about it caught his attention.
Not because of the books.
Because of the shelf itself.
Jian Chen walked over.
He placed his hand against the wood.
Nothing.
He frowned slightly.
His senses expanded.
Still nothing unusual.
Jian Chen withdrew his hand.
Perhaps it was simply an old shelf.
He wasn't going to waste time searching for secrets that might not exist.
He turned away.
Then stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
A faint trace of spiritual energy had passed through the floor beneath his feet.
It was extremely weak.
So weak that an ordinary cultivator would never notice it.
Jian Chen stood still.
He sensed again.
There it was.
A faint pulse.
Coming from beneath the pavilion.
Jian Chen's expression became thoughtful.
"Interesting."
He looked down.
The Scripture Pavilion had existed for generations.
There could be an underground spiritual source beneath it.
But if that were the case, why was the spiritual energy so weak?
Jian Chen didn't investigate further.
Not yet.
He needed more information before touching anything beneath the pavilion.
He walked back toward the entrance.
The elderly guardian looked at him.
"Finished already?"
"For now."
The old man nodded.
Jian Chen stepped outside.
The sunlight was already bright.
He looked back at the pavilion.
The building appeared completely ordinary.
But Jian Chen knew better than most that ordinary appearances could hide things beneath the surface.
Still...
There was no need to rush.
He had already gained something valuable today.
A direction.
Azureblood Fruits.
Jian Chen turned away.
His next destination was clear.
He would leave the clan soon.
Not because he was searching for trouble.
Not because he wanted to prove himself.
But because cultivation required resources.
And he intended to obtain them.
He walked back toward his courtyard.
The path ahead was still long.
But every step brought him closer.
Beyond Moonriver City lay a much larger world.
And beyond that world...
Lay the heights he had once reached.
Jian Chen's eyes became calm.
He wasn't trying to recover his former glory overnight.
He simply needed to climb.
One step at a time.
And this time...
No one would decide how far he was allowed to go.