“Run! If I catch you again, it'll be three strikes. Get in here now, and I'll beat you until one breaks.”

The so-called eldest brother is like a father, a father's love is like a mountain, and filial sons come from under the stick. This was originally the style of the Ye family's eldest son in educating his younger brother.

If the younger brother is disobedient, just break a few sticks.

A bad wooden stick is better than a good tongue.

At this moment, Ye Family's second son poked his head out from the wall again, but he spotted a hint of a red mark on Ye Chu Xiao's neck.

"Big brother! Why is there a red mark on your neck? You didn't go to Pingliang Lane, did you!" Ye Lao Er said.

Pingliang Lane is the most extravagant place in Shenjing City, and it's also the only place in the entire Shenjing City where there's no curfew, even openly.

Ye Chu Xiao tugged at his collar, covering the hint of red mark that was showing, and then coughed dryly, but he was no longer as stern as before: "Get in through the main entrance for me."

As he spoke, his younger sister, Ye Chu Yu, had already opened the door.

The clever second son, Ye Chu Qi, walked in carrying two lotus leaf packages, handed them to Ye Chu Yu, then reached out to cover his mouth and yawned widely.

"There are hundreds of cultivation paths, which one do you plan to focus on?" Ye Chu Xiao asked Ye Chu Qi.

"Spiritual Chef, I guess! As long as I successfully enter the sect, I'll have someone to sign a contract to nurture me in the early stages, and I won't lack resources. Once I pass the Yujing realm, I can specialize in spiritual wine brewing," Ye Chu Qi said as always.

Ye Chu Xiao nodded upon hearing this, without saying much.

Although the Ye family had some savings, it wasn't much. With three siblings all wanting to cultivate, the burden was really not small, so the choice of a major direction was particularly important.

The younger sister, Ye Chu Yu, also had a similar plan, intending to become an embroiderer after completing her elementary education. That was also a cultivation direction where she could support herself. However, in addition to focusing on the Flying Needle technique, embroiderers also had extremely high requirements for aura. If the younger sister wanted to enter the sect, she would have to train more.

Cultivation is a great path with no end in sight.

Basically, only those cultivators from wealthy families can sprint all the way along the path without distractions. The vast majority of cultivators need to have some bias in their cultivation.

This is also the origin of the hundreds of cultivation paths. After many years of development, these hundreds of techniques have each developed a system, each with its own strengths.

Reaching a high level in any of them can be considered a hero of the time, and in fact, there is no distinction between superior and inferior.

After chatting for a few words, Ye Chu Qi went back to his room to catch up on sleep, while Ye Chu Xiao gave a few instructions to his younger sister before going out and taking a rented carriage straight to 'Tianyi Tower' located in Chongsheng Lane.

Tianyi Tower is the largest private library in Shenjing City.

Inside Tianyi Tower, classics related to true cultivation,術法 (shufa), and martial arts techniques require a large amount of silver to borrow.

However, some common sense about cultivation, gossip, anecdotes, and trivia from the cultivation world, historical classics, past allusions, and so on, can all be viewed for an entry fee of one or two taels of silver, until the closing drum sounds on the same day.

Ye Chu Xiao was eager to understand this world, and reading was the most convenient way for him to understand it.

After reading books in Tianyi Tower for a whole day, Ye Chu Xiao's head was dizzy.

Random reading without a plan was indeed not a wise choice.

There was no way around it, even in similar types of books, there were too many deliberately mystifying and contradictory things.

"I need a teacher, I don't expect him to be too brilliant, but at least give me a direction, instead of letting me stumble around like this." Ye Chu Xiao put down the book in his hand and let out a breath of frustration.

By wandering through the sea of books, Ye Chu Xiao not only wanted to gain a more accurate understanding of the world he had crossed into, but also hoped to find the origin of the 'Dao rhyme' from the books.

After all, that golden clock was an essential cheat for transmigrators, so there was no need to delve into it for the time being.

However, the Dao rhyme that could give people special talents and enhance their aptitude was clearly a 'phenomenon' that existed in this world, perhaps not universally, but certainly repeatedly.

Ye Chu Xiao wanted to figure out its origin and also sort out the connection between the Dao rhyme and the golden clock.

"The content you are looking for is not here, and you won't find the content you want to see in this kind of open-access library." A white cat jumped onto the table, then squatted in front of Ye Chu Xiao, licking its paws as it spoke.

Ye Chu Xiao looked around, and the people around him didn't seem to notice anything unusual.

"Just a little illusion trick, it can't hide from skilled people," the white cat said.

Ye Chu Xiao looked at the white cat with a solemn expression: "Transformation Illusion Technique? Are you from the Yuanzhi Sect?"

The white cat narrowed its eyes, then turned around and jumped to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into a masked man covered in a white robe, unable to see his figure, or even determine his gender.

The mask he wore was also mostly pure white, with only blood-colored tear marks hanging near the corners of his eyes, close to the bridge of his nose.

"Transformation Illusion? Almost, I am indeed from the Yuanzhi Sect."

"I came to find you just out of curiosity... just what kind of person could break free after being subjected to the Heart-Gu Technique, and even snatch away that wisp of Dao rhyme that my Yuanzhi Sect deduced to have fallen into the Ministry of Justice's dungeon." The white-robed, white-masked person seemed to be sizing up Ye Chu Xiao.

"Forget it! I'll tie you up first, and then interrogate you in detail later," the white-robed, white-masked person said.

But Ye Chu Xiao suddenly reached out and tore open his collar.

Under his collar, rune lines drawn with cinnabar were complex and winding, seemingly spreading all over his body.

This body of rune lines was drawn by a Kujing realm talisman master whom Ye Chu Xiao paid seventy taels to in Dongshi after leaving the Ministry of Justice's dungeon.

"This is... the Xiong Huo (Fierce Fire) Charm?"

"You don't think you can threaten me with this, do you!"

"Drawing such a charm close to the body can only allow you to choose self-destruction in an instant at most."

"Of course, based on the fate I was originally going to bring you, I have to say... you did make a wise prediction." The white-robed, white-masked person looked at the rune patterns on Ye Chu Xiao's body, and although he said he didn't care, in fact, he still slightly distanced himself from Ye Chu Xiao.

Ye Chu Xiao said: "This is Tianyi Tower. There are guardian cultivators in the tower, and the Jin Huang, Xuan Zhi, and Qian Jiao three guards are stationed nearby. Although the power of the Xiong Huo Charm is only average, the light and flame effect when it explodes is extraordinary and will definitely attract the surrounding people. Your illusion technique can't hide it."

"The charm is drawn on my body, whether it is triggered or not is up to me. Even if you use the fastest speed to control me, you can't interrupt my thoughts in an instant."

"So... are you sure you want to trade one life for another with me?"

The white-robed, white-masked person seemed stunned upon hearing this.

Then he laughed loudly: "Well said, Prisoner Ye Chu Xiao, I admit I was bluffed by you. Although I'm sure that even if I take action now to capture you, you won't detonate the charm, but you're right, a mere Ye Chu Xiao is not worth me risking my life for."

"As a reward for you winning a hand against me, I can answer a few questions for you."

"As for how many I will answer, it depends on my mood. You need to weigh the correctness of the answers yourself. You have to be careful not to be deceived by me."