Chapter 758: Arrivals, Fleecing, Discovery, Night Talk

The middle-aged man looked at Luo Mingfei. “What are you thinking? Do you really think someone with Master Zhang’s status would care about such a petty gain? Taking such a risk just for a few low-tier Daoist Collections… that’s something only a person with your limited mindset would do. Besides, he’s going so fast, just flipping through each one without really looking. What kind of Technique could possibly be recorded that way? He’s only glancing at the first few pages of each one!”

The old man spoke up. “Forget it. I’m not watching anymore. I heard he did the same thing at the Main Pavilion. The Pavilion Master even used Scripture Retrospect and didn’t find a single thing wrong. What are we getting worked up for? Besides, the Fanx Family Ancestor is the one who gave him his access rights. If something goes wrong, it’s not our responsibility. Let’s just get back to what we were doing and pretend we never saw anything.”

With that, the old man turned and walked away, the very picture of an unmotivated slacker.

The middle-aged man and Luo Mingfei looked at each other. After a brief pause, the middle-aged man said, “I’m going to go record my Technique. You should just stay at your post. And stop making such a fuss over nothing!”

With that, he also turned and left.

Luo Mingfei: “…”

‘So I’m the one in the wrong for noticing something was off and doing my duty to call you over to discuss it?’

‘And “doing research”? “Making a recording”? Fine, say that to outsiders. But we’re all slackers here, so who are you kidding with that “I’m busy” act? You think I don’t know how you slack off?’

…

Zhang Deming’s access had been granted by Fanx Yunfei, which meant it was no Ordinary permission. Coupled with his own status, Zhang Deming could now browse the entire White Rock Peak Scripture Pavilion without restriction.

Of course, while flipping through Tier Four and higher Techniques was fine, actually recording them to take away wasn’t as simple as spending a few Contribution points.

Aside from a few specific, publicly available Techniques, the Law-Level Dao Canons all required some form of special permission to a varying degree.

However, this didn’t stop Zhang Deming from reading. After several hours, he had combed through every Technique in the White Rock Peak Scripture Pavilion, with the exception of the Tier Five *Fire Separation Body Cultivation Method* and a few other Tier Five and Tier Six Techniques that he couldn’t access.

In the process, Zhang Deming saw many unusual Techniques, but none that he particularly wanted to learn.

He already had plenty of abilities. At his low tier, he should be simplifying, not complicating. If he learned too much, even with his cheat, he could easily become a jack of all trades and master of none.

Unless a Technique was exceptionally unique or something he desperately needed, he wouldn’t just learn it haphazardly.

Having fleeced White Rock Peak, Zhang Deming wasted no more time. He left the Scripture Pavilion, sprouted his wings, and flew toward Liuli Peak.

…

Liuli Peak, one of the Inner Sect Fifteen Peaks, was a major peak under the Miscellaneous Affairs Department.

However, White Rock Peak was the Main Peak of the Miscellaneous Affairs Department, whereas Liuli Peak was a subordinate one. The whole of Liuli Peak was dominated by two departments, or rather, one department: the Array Artifact Department!

Of course, while those two departments were dominant, there were also many practitioners of the other Hundred Arts Daos; the peak wasn’t exclusive to them.

Due to the presence of the Array Department headquarters and influence from the Outer Realm, Liuli Peak’s style was the most drastically different from the other fourteen peaks.

On the other peaks, any differences in style were merely matters of personal preference, all falling within the general framework of classical Xianxia. As for Liuli Peak… well, its style had gone full-on sci-fi. Super sci-fi, even.

All sorts of Light Screens were scattered about, and the place had a distinct campus-like feel. With the upcoming conference, the entirety of Liuli Peak was unusually bustling.

Having learned his lesson at White Rock Peak, Zhang Deming didn’t wander around. If he wanted to explore, he could just come back next time in a Disguise.

Zhang Deming headed straight for the Liuli Peak Scripture Pavilion. Due to the upcoming conference, a fair number of people were going in. It seemed cramming at the last minute was a universal phenomenon.

Zhang Deming ignored them and began his careless browsing, ready to fleece the place. He had expected to be in and out in a flash, but on the second floor, in the Artifact Refining Area for Tier Two Techniques, a particular book caught his eye.

*Special Forging: Puppet Heart*

Ever since he, in his identity as Mysterious Man Number Three, had first contacted the Watch Tower, learned of the Celestial Eye Parasite Plan from the Celestial Universe Federation, and obtained the corresponding data…

…he had been paying close attention to the path of Rune Life, all with the goal of swooping in to reap the rewards and earn some Qi Fortune. He had not only researched this path in exhaustive detail but had also invested significant effort into cultivating a pawn.

In the process, by combining knowledge from his past life with his current understanding of the Array Dao, he had realized the only thing he was missing to bring Rune Life to fruition was the core algorithm.

But whether it was neural algorithms or central core algorithms for big-data AIs, such things couldn’t be created without countless iterations and generational evolution. That was why he was waiting for the conference, waiting for the Celestial Universe to present the core algorithm of their own accord.

Regardless of their specific plans, their goal in pioneering the path of Rune Life was clear. Therefore, Zhang Deming wasn’t too worried; they would reveal the algorithm sooner or later.

It was for all these reasons that Zhang Deming had such a clear understanding of the subject, allowing him to pinpoint the fundamental issues with the conference topics.

After all, when he was making his preparations, he had already started explaining these three very same directions to his pawn, Xu Weihai.

However, when previously looking into the Artifact Dao, he had reviewed numerous Techniques but hadn’t found anything satisfactory. His original plan was not to rely on any one specific Technique. Instead, when the time came, he would simply integrate the core concepts of the Artifact Dao—much like Fanx Dexian had done—to develop a new Skill and pioneer the path of Rune Life himself.