Volume One, Chapter 18: The Destiny Cultivation Technique and the Three Thousand Great Paths

“The reason is simple: apart from the diagrams in that cultivation manual, no one can understand the text inside.”

“Why can no one understand it?”

Ye Chen was astonished. Having arrived in this world just two days ago, everything he had seen so far suggested that the Dayu Dynasty bore a strong resemblance to ancient Chinese dynasties.

Even the writing system was similar to Chinese characters. This led Ye Chen to initially believe that the Dayu Dynasty was akin to the Ming or Qing Dynasties in ancient China.

If the dynasties before the Dayu Dynasty had continuously used the same script, it would be impossible for anyone to fail to understand it.

With this in mind, the two of them arrived outside the Library Pavilion.

It was a massive structure resembling a small mountain, with an imposing main entrance bearing the three bold characters: “Library Pavilion.”

However, the grand doors were tightly shut, and there wasn’t a single guard in sight.

“Don’t be fooled by the lack of guards. This place is the safest of all. It’s protected by a grand formation set by first-class masters of Qi Men Dun Jia and Liu Ren—no matter if you’re a top-tier Martial God, you won’t be able to force your way in,” Jun Moyue said as he formed a hand seal and commanded sharply, “Open!”

Suddenly, ripples appeared out of thin air before them, slowly parting to reveal a passage.

As they approached the main gate, Jun Moyue turned and went to the side, where a small gate allowed only one person to pass at a time.

“The main gate is reserved for the emperor; the Astronomical Bureau personnel can only enter and exit through here.”

Speaking as he led the way, Ye Chen followed behind, and what he saw inside was truly awe-inspiring.

In the center of the hall at the entrance of the Library Pavilion stood a stone stele three zhang high, densely inscribed with characters.

Jun Moyue approached the stele and said, “This is the cultivation manual for fortune… ‘The Three Thousand Great Ways’!”

Ye Chen’s whole body trembled as he finally understood why no one could decipher it.

Though the characters were also Chinese characters, they differed from the script used in the Dayu Dynasty.

These were all ancient seal script characters from the Qin dynasty, also known as Small Seal Script!

To be honest, Ye Chen recognized some of the Small Seal Script, but not much.

This was thanks to his university days when he had studied rubbings from ancient steles.

Yet, from a glance, Ye Chen already knew what was written.

Because the inscription began with the opening lines of the “Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi.”

“Nature is called Dao, Dao has no fixed name or image, it is only one nature, only one primordial spirit. The essence of life cannot be seen; it is entrusted to the heavenly light. The heavenly light cannot be seen; it is entrusted to the two eyes…”

In traditional Chinese medicine’s thirteen specialties, the “Zhu You” specialty requires a thorough study of the “Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi.”

The “Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi” totals over ten thousand characters, and Ye Chen knew it by heart, recognizing the opening line immediately.

But the three-zhang tall stele surely contained more than just the “Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi.”

So Ye Chen continued reading and soon encountered the text of the “Dao De Jing,” specifically the version found in the Mawangdui silk manuscripts.

“The Way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth.

The named is the mother of myriad things.”

This portion contained about five thousand characters and was also deeply ingrained in Ye Chen’s memory.

As he read further, Ye Chen almost laughed bitterly.

Next was the opening of the “Huangdi Neijing,” the ancient treatise on natural truth.

And as expected, following that was the “Huangdi Waijing.”

At this point, Ye Chen already knew what would come next.

It would certainly be the inner alchemy cultivation methods and the outer alchemy cultivation methods.

Following that would be the corresponding physical training techniques, such as the Five Animals Frolic, Eight Pieces of Brocade, and Tai Chi.

Ye Chen skimmed the stele rapidly, almost reading ten lines at once.

Then he discovered that the bottom of the stele appeared to have been cut off, incomplete.

Jun Moyue noticed Ye Chen’s confusion and explained, “The stele was originally found in the ruins of an ancient immortal’s relic. It was incomplete when discovered. Behind it, there are also some carvings.”

They walked around to the back of the stele, and upon seeing the carvings, Ye Chen sighed deeply, filled with emotion.

How to put it?

After searching high and low with no success, the answer came effortlessly.

Yet in his heart, Ye Chen felt mostly disappointment.

He never imagined that after all this effort, what he ultimately found was something he already knew.

But Ye Chen sincerely believed these texts were useless!

Because back on Blue Star, he had already attempted to cultivate using them—and they simply didn’t work.

Moreover, just yesterday, he practiced the Five Animals Frolic once more; the effect was there, but very limited.

Could it be that there truly was no way?

Though unwilling to accept it, he had no other choice.

Seeing Ye Chen’s disappointed expression, Jun Moyue was not surprised in the slightest.

“Don’t be disheartened. Many geniuses have studied this stele, but few have truly comprehended it.

However, once one gains insight, it inevitably opens a new path for cultivation.

It is said that the origins of the Daoist, Confucian, medical, martial, Liu Ren, and Qi Men cultivation paths all stem from insights gained from this stele.”

Hearing Jun Moyue’s words, Ye Chen nodded in agreement.

After all, it contained numerous ancient works encompassing Daoism, medicine, martial arts, Qi Men Dun Jia, and ancient rituals.

Even the drawings on the stele included the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams, talismanic formations, and such.

As well as physical training arts like Tai Chi, Eight Pieces of Brocade, and Five Animals Frolic.

Ye Chen knew all of these, and was even highly skilled in many of these techniques.

Jun Moyue, seeing Ye Chen staring at the stele in a daze, assumed he had gained some insight and excitedly asked,

“Well? Have you realized anything?”

“No,” Ye Chen replied disappointedly, turning away.

In his heart, he thought this was not a cultivation manual for fortune at all.

It was a series of health preservation and healing methods penned by ancient Chinese Daoists and healers.

And the stele showed only a fraction of the content—Ye Chen himself knew far more.

“Don’t lose heart,” Jun Moyue said as they left the Library Pavilion together. “You can ask the Chief Monitor for some Life-Extending Pills. Living another year shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ye Chen smiled wryly and shook his head. “No, those pills must be very precious. It would be a waste for me to use them.”

“What are you afraid of? You’re the Ninth Prince. For the past five years, you survived by taking those very pills,” Jun Moyue said, causing Ye Chen to stop in his tracks.

In the original owner’s memories, the pills had been given by Ling Aoxue of the Heavenly Medicine Sect.

Thus, the original owner had always thought the pills were crafted by the Heavenly Medicine Sect.

But now it turned out that the pills he had been taking were actually made by the astrologers of the Astronomical Bureau.

With this realization, Ye Chen reached for an exquisite jade gourd at his waist.

Opening it, a faint medicinal fragrance drifted out.

Inside lay more than twenty Life-Extending Pills, given to him by the Heavenly Medicine Sect at the beginning of this month.

Ye Chen took one out and handed it to Jun Moyue. “Here, you keep it—I don’t like to owe people.”

Jun Moyue initially wanted to refuse, but upon seeing the color of the pill, he snatched it eagerly.

Examining it closely, his expression darkened, and he looked at Ye Chen in shock.

“Ninth Prince, are you joking with me? You’ve been surviving on these Life-Extending Pills for five years?”