Elder Du immediately became wary, his gaze sharp, and he quickly retorted, "No, no! Think of another way! Think of another way!"
Saying this, as if encountering a flood and fierce beasts, he rapidly retreated into the Nine Spirits Ring.
Of course, in Elder Du's eyes, Zi Linling was a being who would pluck every feather from a passing goose, more terrifying than any flood or fierce beast.
Zi Linling watched Elder Du, who was faster than a fleeing rabbit, and touched her nose, finding it both amusing and frustrating.
"Elder Du..."
She still wanted to "negotiate" with Elder Du.
But Elder Du gave her no opportunity, directly interrupting her.
"This old man is at a critical juncture in repairing his soul and needs to close his five senses and concentrate. Therefore, from today onwards, you must protect your own life. Don't look for me when nothing is wrong, and definitely don't look for me when something is wrong."
Zi Linling was speechless. This was too unprofessional. Even if he was lying, he should be more plausible, right? He shouldn't let people easily detect that it was a lie.
"Elder Du?!"
No reply!
"Elder Du?!"
Still no reply.
Zi Linling gave a wry smile.
The old man's acting was quite good; he could remain impassive and ignore her.
Forget it, forget it!
Since Elder Du wouldn't give her an opportunity to "rob," she would find someone else!
Weren't there two hundred-thousand-year-old beings in the Divine Maiden Palace...
But when she entered the Divine Maiden Palace and stated her intention, she was refused.
"Master, it's not that I'm unwilling to help you! You know, my true form is a fire phoenix. Although it's a divine beast, it's still a beast, right? And although beasts practice the body, this method is not suitable for you humans. So I'm very sorry, Master, Huangyi cannot help you!"
Huangyi stuck out her tongue, lowering her head apologetically.
"Master, have you forgotten? I am an artifact spirit! An artifact spirit! An artifact spirit! An artifact spirit! Why would an artifact spirit need to practice the body? Since we don't need to practice the body, there are naturally no body-training techniques. That stuff is less appealing to me than a piece of obsidian."
Yiran rolled her eyes, refusing somewhat indignantly.
Don't ask why she was indignant; it was because she felt her master was insulting their "spirit" race.
Zi Linling was dumbfounded.
At the same time, she found it even more amusing and frustrating.
Was she desperate and grasping at straws?
Or was she like someone looking for a doctor for themselves and instead finding a veterinarian, grasping at straws?
Under Huangyi's timid gaze and Yiran's resentful gaze, Zi Linling reluctantly left the Divine Maiden Palace.
It seemed she could only go to the Zi family's library.
Having become the head of the family, she no longer had any restrictions on entering the library.
Thus, she silently snuck into the library and went directly to the second floor, the cultivation technique area.
As expected of one of the Eight Great Noble Clans, the Zi family's collection of books was astonishingly vast.
The cultivation technique area alone was as large as a middle school classroom.
Inside, ten bookshelves were neatly arranged, each holding different cultivation techniques, sorted according to the five elemental spirits: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Among them, techniques suitable for fire spiritual roots were the most numerous, with over a hundred volumes, while those for gold and earth spiritual roots were the fewest, with only a dozen or so.
Of course, in addition to the cultivation technique area, the library also had a history section, a humanities and geography section, and an ancient texts section.
All of these combined totaled as many as a thousand books.
Especially the ancient texts in the ancient texts section, which were impossible to find elsewhere.
Even Zi Linling, as the head of the Zi family, needed the patriarch's token to enter this area.
This meant that the collection in the ancient texts section could only be viewed by successive patriarchs who held the patriarch's token.
Upon seeing the collection here, Zi Linling plunged headfirst into the sea of books.
As for searching for body-training techniques, she was no longer in a hurry.
Time passed day by day.
Even with Zi Linling's photographic memory, it took her ten days to finish reading all the books except for those in the cultivation technique area.
The prolonged use of her brain left her feeling dizzy.
Fortunately, after reading the books in the history and humanities sections and the ancient texts section, she finally had a systematic understanding of the Tian Yuan Continent, rather than having to be forced to ask Elder Du for explanations on specific knowledge as she had before.
Zi Linling shook her head, lay down in the ancient texts section for a short nap, and then returned to the cultivation technique area.
Because searching for cultivation techniques was a targeted and purposeful task, Zi Linling felt incredibly relaxed.
It was just a pity that in the cultivation technique area, there were many spiritual techniques, but none of the body-training techniques she wanted.
Zi Linling sighed helplessly, wilting like a frost-bitten eggplant.
Without body-training techniques, it meant she would have to spend more time exercising her body, making her breakthrough seem distant.
Sigh!
Zi Linling sighed helplessly, her spirit waning.
"Sigh!"
Another sigh startled Zi Linling.
She looked around vigilantly and said sternly, "Who?"
"Master, you don't need to be afraid. I am the spirit of the Seven-Colored Space. You can call me Guixu."
Although the voice was still ethereal, it now carried a hint of vitality due to the return of the green space.
"Guixu? You have a name?"
Zi Linling was extremely surprised.
Although this was not the first time she had heard this voice, it was the first time she had heard this name.
The ethereal voice carried a benevolent smile and said, "Once you ascend the Sky-Climbing Ladder, each step is a new heaven; a hundredfold of a thousand heavens, and only then do you reach heaven. Master, you want to practice the body, how could you forget the Sky-Climbing Ladder?"
Right, the Sky-Climbing Ladder!
Zi Linling slapped her forehead fiercely. How could she have forgotten this?
Looking for a needle while holding a needle, wasting divine treasures – that described her perfectly.
She clearly possessed the most suitable thing in the world for body training, yet she abandoned the fundamental for the superficial and searched for body-training techniques. It was utterly foolish.
Having found the method, Zi Linling was overjoyed.
But she was not completely carried away by her excitement.
This was still the library, not a suitable place for body cultivation.
She said joyfully, "Guixu, thank you! I will go to the Sky-Climbing Ladder soon!"
"Yes! I'll wait for you, Master!"
Guixu said faintly, then fell completely silent.
Zi Linling stretched, stood up, and walked out of the library.
The sunlight was warm, and her mood was excellent.
After all, her harvest this time was incredibly substantial!
Not only did she gain a thorough understanding of this continent, but she also found... remembered the method for body training, a true win-win.
However, her good mood did not last long, as some impudent creature bumped into her.
"Bitch, stop right there!"
This voice, why was it so familiar?
Zi Linling was slightly taken aback, then looked at the approaching person and said sarcastically, "Has Second Sister's hands and feet recovered?"
Indeed, the person approaching was Zi Jinling, whose tendons in her hands and feet Zi Linling had previously severed.
However, at this moment, Zi Jinling stood gracefully before Zi Linling, with no trace of her former crippled state.