Imperial Scepter

Gao Chun stepped into the study with light, quick steps.

My fingertips brushed over the rows of neatly arranged books on the bookshelf, and dust danced lightly in the morning light filtering through the window.

He bowed slightly, his gaze sweeping back and forth among the mountains of books.

He would occasionally pull out a book, flip through a few pages, then shake his head and put it back, his brows furrowed slightly, his expression a mixture of eagerness and anticipation.

After searching for nearly half an hour, my fingertips finally touched a thread-bound book with an antique cover.

The five seal characters on the cover, "Complete Collection of Fundamentals of Techniques," are vigorous and powerful.

His eyes lit up, a smile appeared on his lips, and he pulled it out as if he had found a treasure.

I dusted off the thin layer of dust on the cover, sat down at my desk, and eagerly opened the book.

Amidst the rustling sound of pages turning, lines of text came into view.

"Like cultivation techniques, spells also correspond to the five major cultivation levels of a Xuan practitioner, and are divided into five grades, from lowest to highest: Bronze, Silver, Gold, King, and God."

"Each level of cultivation technique is further divided into four stages: low, medium, high, and top."

"Bronze Realm cultivators can only cultivate bronze-level techniques, silver Realm cultivators can only cultivate silver-level techniques, and so on."

"Each level of a Xuan practitioner is limited to learning only one technique, and a total of three techniques can be learned in one major realm."

Gao Chun read the text carefully, word by word, his brows gradually furrowing.

Unconsciously, his fingertips traced the edges of the pages.

The scene of Old Man Gao casting "Control Technique: Thousand Miles of Ice" yesterday involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

A chilling aura swept across the sky, and frost flowers reflected a cold light, instantly condensing into a long, narrow ice coffin that froze the enemy, rendering them immobile like ice figures.

That kind of power was absolutely magnificent.

He sighed softly, his eyes filled with regret: "Such miraculous control techniques could not possibly be only at the bronze level."

The thought of not being able to personally perform such a cool spell made him purse his lips, his heart itching with longing, but he could only suppress this desire.

Continue scrolling down.

As he turned the pages of the classic texts, the new information invigorated him, and his eyes shone brightly like stars.

"The five types of magic techniques correspond to the five colors of the Dao seeds."

Yellow-type Daoist seeds are used to learn defensive spells.

Red-type Dao Seeds can learn offensive spells.

Purple-grade Daoist seeds can learn assassin-type techniques.

Blue-type Daoist seeds can learn control-type spells.

Green path cultivators can learn auxiliary spells.

He nodded slightly, his fingertips lingering on the words "assassin-type magic" for a moment, a hint of longing flashing in his eyes.

Holding my breath and focusing intently, I continued scrolling down, eager to explore more of the mysteries of magical cultivation.

"The core of cultivating techniques lies in opening up the acupoints within the body that hold the techniques."

"When a Xuan practitioner advances to the middle Bronze Realm, acupoints for magical techniques will naturally emerge within their body. These acupoints need to be opened with Xuan power, and then connected and linked together with Xuan power, condensing the seeds of magical techniques within the dantian."

"Only when the seed of a technique has taken shape can it be considered a complete mastery of the technique."

"When casting a spell, one only needs to use profound energy to activate the spell seed. The profound energy will then surge through the acupoints and meridians to the outside of the body, following a mystical trajectory to transform into a physical form."

Upon seeing this, Gao Chun leaned forward slightly.

His eyes were fixed on the pages of the book, his breathing became lighter, and his expression grew increasingly solemn.

He stretched out his finger and subconsciously tapped his dantian area.

He envisioned the opening of acupoints and the flow of profound energy in his mind.

The path to mastering magic gradually became clearer in his mind.

Next, suppressing his excitement, he continued to read the content about how to open acupoints in the Bronze Realm.

"Opening up 1 to 9 acupoints is a low-level technique of the bronze rank."

Opening 10 to 18 acupoints is considered a mid-level technique of the bronze rank.

Opening 19 to 27 acupoints is considered a high-level technique of the bronze rank.

Opening 28 to 36 acupoints constitutes the highest level of the Bronze rank technique.

Gao Chun studied this passage repeatedly.

My fingertips traced the numbers one by one, silently calculating in my mind.

He gained a deeper understanding of the grading system of Bronze Realm techniques.

After flipping through the book for a while longer, and having fully digested all the basic knowledge points, he closed the book, got up, and carefully put the classic text back in its original place.

After tidying up the other books on the bookshelf, I patted the dust off my hands.

He turned and walked out of the study, returning lightly to his own little room.

As soon as he entered the room, he couldn't wait to take out six magic manuals with different covers from the bedside table.

He remembered that last night, when Old Man Gao handed him the magic manual, he patted his shoulder and earnestly instructed him: "These magic techniques have all been carefully selected. You can examine them on your own. After you have chosen two, return them to me. Remember, you must not pass them on to anyone else."

Gao Chun's gaze swept over the six manuals one by one.

These are the following: Lightning-attribute assassin spell "Triple Thunder Shadow", Lightning-attribute assassin spell "Purple Thunder Illusion", Wind-attribute assassin spell "Gentle Breeze Remnant Shadow", Fire-attribute attack spell "Explosive Fireball", Metal-attribute attack spell "Flick of the Golden Sword", and Metal-attribute defense spell "Diamond Shield".

Looking at these six manuals that emitted faint fluctuations of elemental energy.

Gao Chun's eyes instantly lit up with an astonishing brightness, like two small suns adorning the night sky, shimmering with excited light.

He reached out and gently stroked the cover of each manual, a warm feeling welling up inside him: "Dad really understands me best."

He has only comprehended four elements: thunder, fire, wind, and metal. The spells his father prepared happen to be based on these four attributes.

Knowing his fondness for assassin-type techniques, he specially prepared three of them.

As for the two offensive spells and one defensive spell, he was itching to try them all.

But he knew in his heart that he was only at the middle Bronze Realm and could only learn two techniques at most.

"Sigh, I really wish I could have learned everything." Gao Chun sighed softly, his face full of regret.

But he quickly composed himself, his eyes hardening: "Let's check the grade and power of each spell first."

He first picked up "Three Extremes Thunder Shadow".

The moment my fingertips touched the cover, I felt a surge of violent lightning-based mystic energy rushing towards me.

He turned the pages, and the first line made him gasp.

His pupils suddenly contracted: "It requires opening 36 acupoints for magical techniques. A top-tier bronze-level technique, practically the pinnacle of its kind!"

A strong impulse surged within Gao Chun.

My subconscious thought was to reserve this technique.

But he forced himself to stay calm and continued reading the power description.

The manual records that after mastering the "Three Extremes Thunder Shadow" technique, the speed of this technique is comparable to lightning. Like a dazzling flash of lightning, it can appear thousands of miles away in an instant, leaving enemies far behind.

It can also create three lightning clones, the illusory images of which are indistinguishable from the real body, perfectly deceiving the enemy.

The more Gao Chun looked, the redder his eyes became, with a burning, intense light emanating from them.

He had already made up his mind: "This is it! The first technique must be 'Three Extremes Thunder Shadow'!"

He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly, trying to suppress his surging emotions.

The thought of his combat power skyrocketing after mastering this top-tier technique made him smile and his eyes sparkle.

After calming himself down a bit, he picked up the second manual, "Purple Thunder Illusion".

Upon opening it, the opening also states, "Opening 36 acupoints, top-level bronze stage..."

This technique specializes in speed. Once mastered, it makes one faster than purple lightning and quicker than thunder; even if the enemy chases with all their might, they can only catch a fleeting afterimage.

A hint of hesitation flashed in Gao Chun's eyes; he really wanted to choose this technique as well.

The speed of this technique is simply too tempting.

However, "Three Kingdoms Raikage" has the added function of creating clones to confuse the user, making it more comprehensive.

After a moment's hesitation, he shook his head and set "Purple Thunder Illusion" aside.

Then he picked up the third book, "The Lingering Shadow of the Breeze".

The cover has a slightly cool feel to the touch, and subtly exudes the lightness of wind-related mystical energy.

The opening still begins with "36 acupoints, top-tier bronze level..."

This technique also pursues extreme speed. Once mastered, the practitioner's movements are even faster than a gentle breeze, leaving numerous afterimages as they run. It belongs to the same school as "Purple Thunder Illusion".

The only difference is that one of their attributes is wind, and the other is thunder.

Gao Chun's heart burned with desire, and his eyes grew even redder and brighter.

But I suppressed my excitement and put it back on the desktop.

The fourth book is "Explosive Fireball".

As soon as I turned the page, a scorching fire-attribute profound energy rushed towards me.

"36 acupoints, top-tier bronze-level technique..."

The book records that after mastering this skill, one can condense a fireball in the palm of their hand, which can be used to ignite and generate heat, or thrown out to explode with astonishing power.

Gao Chun's eyes lit up instantly; this attack technique was extremely tempting to him.

But he suppressed his emotions and wanted to see if the last two doors would suit him better.

The fifth book is "The Golden Sword in a Flick of the Finger".

Touching the cover with my fingertips, I felt the sharp edge of the metallic mystic power.

"36 acupoints, the highest level of bronze-grade ceiling..."

Once mastered, one can condense five golden swords the size of a fingernail at their fingertips, which can be launched with a flick of the finger, as swift as small throwing knives, capable of killing instantly.

His breathing suddenly intensified, and his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

In an instant, a decision was made: "I'll choose the offensive spell!"

He couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

He used the "Three Extremes Thunder Shadow" technique to flash in front of the enemy, then flicked his finger to shoot out a golden sword... He could kill gods and Buddhas alike.

As he pondered, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curved upwards, and his eyebrows and eyes relaxed, filled with the unique longing and excitement of a young man.

My heart felt warm and fuzzy; the excitement was like having a warm little sun inside me, and even my fingertips trembled.

At this point, only one copy of "The Diamond Shield" remained.

He had already chosen two techniques, but he still wanted to take a look at them to broaden his knowledge.

As you turn the pages, the heavy, metallic aura of profound energy washes over you.

"36 acupoints, top-tier bronze-level technique..."

Upon seeing this, Gao Chun suddenly froze.

He turned around abruptly and re-examined all the secret manuals on the table.

The opening of each book is marked with "Opening up 36 acupoints, reaching the top level of the bronze ceiling..."

All six techniques were top-tier among their respective levels!

Gao Chun gasped, utterly shocked.

My father was just a Silver Realm cultivator, and merely a minor village chief in Gao Family Village.

How could someone like that easily produce six top-tier techniques of the same level?

He had long known that Old Man Gao was a man of few words and that there must be something hidden behind his actions.

But the six secret manuals before him still shattered his understanding.

Excited heart, trembling hands.

His fingers, holding the manual, trembled slightly uncontrollably, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his palms.

The turmoil surging in his heart almost overwhelmed his reason.