Prime Originator

After receiving Maya's cooperation, Leon began to hover his hands over the scrolls and books within the secret room as light shot out from his palm to scan them.

Sometime later, all the scrolls and books within the secret room were successfully copied and stored in the Archive.

Maya was the first to connect to the Archive to search the newly recorded information and pick out a book for herself to read. However, after a moment, she was quickly angered.

"What the hell? Where there is not a single novel here! They are cultivation techniques and battle skills! Leon, how dare you trick me?!" Maya threw a tantrum.

Leon laughed and said, "Oh, is that so? That is unfortunate. How did I trick you? I said there might be novels among them. I did not say that there are. It is you who believe that there was. But seeing how certain you are, it seems you can read them all?"

"So, what about it?" Maya pouted with puffed cheeks in her child form.

"Can you translate them for me?"

"No!"

Being rejected so firmly by Maya, Leon could only smile wryly. 

Although he understood the reason for her behavior, he could not help but feel that she was becoming more like a child despite her archaic age. He remembered that she still needed an astronomical amount of energy to fully recover.

Leon shook his head.

That aside, with his strong foundations in the runic knowledge, it was still possible for him to translate the ancient runic text. However, the difference between him and Maya translating the ancient text is worlds apart in efficiency. 

Maya would be able to complete everything within a few breaths while he would need to take time translating rune for word one by one before guessing the overall meaning of each passage.

Leon entered the Whitespace and accessed the Archive before picking out a random scroll from the pile of new copies recorded. 

However, the moment he opened the scroll, he was surprised to find that it was not written in the runic language he was expecting but the ancient language used by the denizens of the Divine Realm. 

"Maya, this is…"

"Hmph."

Leon smiled and said no more. The artifact spirit was surprisingly cooperative. Although she said one thing, she did another. 

He started to suspect whether the reason she refuses to teach him better techniques is actually because she had lost most of her memories and did not remember any other good techniques to teach him.

Leon quickly refocused his attention on the scroll. 

The original scroll was made of white wood, and the runic texts were written in the blood of an unknown beast that was possibly a God beast if the scroll truly belonged to the primordial era of gods and devils.

Although what he was looking at now was just a copy made of energy, the Archive was able to replicate the aura of the original source. Thus, the black scroll written in blood exuded an extraordinarily ancient aura. 

[Immortal Meridian Tempering].

Leon immediately glowered with interest. Just the word 'Immortal' in its name alone was enough to make it sound extraordinary. 

"Sure enough, these techniques are actually from the primordial era of gods and devils! This is one hell of a discovery! This one is a body forging method for meridian tempering. The main requirement is… True Grandmist Energy?"

Leon furrowed his brows slightly before browsing the other books and scrolls.

[Everlasting Blood Mantra]

[Indestructible Bone Transformation Method]

[Archaic Flesh Refining Technique]

[Godfiend Body Forging Method]

[Divine Soul Refinement]

[Star God's Finger Art]

[Overlord Spear Art]

[Sun God's Fiery Dance]

[Devil Emperor's Tome of Darkness]

[Ice Phoenix's Frozen Calamity]

…

He found numerous body, soul, and energy cultivation methods, techniques, battle skills belonging to both gods and devils. He took a quick scan through each one of them and found two common points.

"All these methods, techniques, battle skills have a fundamental requirement for True Grandmist Energy before it can be practiced… Moreover, all of them are incomplete… I cannot find a single complete method, technique, or battle skill."

Leon frowned. 

Some contained two to three volumes out of five volumes. Some even went up to the seventh volume, but all the previous volumes were missing from the collection.

When Leon narrowed it down, only three books were left containing the first volume.

[Godfiend Body Forging Method]

[Devil Emperor's Tome of Darkness]

[Star God's Finger Art]

"Just these three, huh?" Leon began musing with a pondering look, "I wonder if pseudo-Grandmist Energy can be substituted to practice these methods."

In theory, it should be possible. The only downside is that the effect would not be as significant as recorded within the methods.

"I should give it a try when I find a quiet and secluded place to cultivate. For now, I should return." Leon decided. 

He checked on the condition of the unconscious Lumi inside the Worldspace before returning his consciousness to the outside world. 

During this time, his body had been standing still with an opened book in his hand while his dull eyes stared at the opened book intensely like he was in a trance. 

In the next moment, light returned to his eyes as his spirit finished returning. 

Leon glanced around and found out that no one was still around. He was still alone in the secret room. He closed the book and placed it back in its original spot before making his exit from the room.

This trip had been an unexpected windfall. 

'If I could obtain the complete volumes, that would be even better... It seems I will also need to pay a visit to the other Venerable Shamans and make formal requests to view their book collections. Still, I cannot get over the fact that there is actually so much heritage from the primordial era of gods and devils around here.' Leon silently thought.

He recalled that Master Woodrow mentioned everything had been unearthed from the southern ruins within the land of darkness, where the demon's territory was, and became immensely interested.

'With my current strength, going deep into the demon's territory is the same as throwing my life away.' Leon thought self-deprecatingly. 

After a moment, he paused and rubbed his chin in deeper thought, 'However, if I have Lumi with me, it might not be impossible for me to explore these ruins.'

"Oh? Did you learn anything from your perusal time, Little Brother Leonhardt?" Asked Master Woodrow. After watering his plants, he had returned shortly. 

However, that short span of time was more than enough time for Leon to plunder Master Woodrow's entire book collection. Furthermore, Leon was still hoping to collect from the other Venerable Shamans too.

"I did learn something, but it seems like all of these scrolls and books in your collection are incomplete, aren't they? Was the cultivation method created by the Darkmoon Tribe's ancestors inspired by these ancient scrolls and books?" Leon asked.

"Oh? That's right. Our ancestors did create the Darkmoon Body Forging Method after gaining some inspiration from this ancient heritage." Master Woodrow admitted. "As for the incomplete collection. There is nothing we can do about it. These were all collected from the southern ruins, after all. It's an exceedingly dangerous expedition where even Battle Masters have the risk of losing their lives."

"I see. However, I heard that Chief Valencia and the other Venerable Shamans each have their own private book collection. If we were to pool these together and complete the incompleteness, perhaps we might be able to learn something?" Leon suggested with an underlying intention.

"Hmm…"

Master Woodrow appeared to consider Leon's suggestion seriously. After a moment, his eyes brightened and Leon's shoulders with his hands.

"Little Brother Leonhardt has suggested something very interesting. No one has thought about this before. It could be the key to us understanding the secrets behind the ancient heritage of the distant past. I will bring this suggestion to the attention of the chief and the others at our next meeting—No, I should meet them now." Master Woodrow said.

The heritage from the southern ruins was unearthed and accumulated over hundreds of years. 

At first, no one understood anything from the ancient texts. Thus, everything was divided between many families for private study and had passed through many hands over the years.

Now that their understanding of the runic language has reached a substantial level, they should no longer be as clueless as in the past. If they put together the matching incomplete volumes, they might just obtain a complete volume and learn something from it.

"Then this younger brother will not hold Brother Woodrow back and will leave first. However, I hope Brother Woodrow will bring this younger brother along when the time comes if the chief and the others agree to the suggestion."

"Of course!" 

Master Woodrow gave his word.

Leon smiled and bid his farewell shortly after, leaving the Fragrant Tea Abode before making his way into the shopping district to find some nice clothing and equipment to gift Darlene. He did rip her clothes to shreds, after all. 

It did not bother him whether his suggestion would allow the Darkmoon Tribe to obtain many godly and devilish cultivation methods, techniques, and battle skills.

The heritage belonged to them, after all. 

However, even if they did obtain the complete and translated copies, they would never be able to practice the related method, technique, or battle skill without the prerequisite of True Grandmist Energy.

If pseudo-Grandmist Energy could indeed be substituted for True Grandmist Energy, then he might just be the only person who will be able to practice these methods, techniques, and battle skills.