The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

Ye Sheng walked up to the old man, bowed respectfully, and presented the bronze token with both hands: "Senior, this disciple has been ordered to come and consult the classics."

The old man stopped sweeping, slowly raised his head, and scrutinized Ye Sheng for a moment with his cloudy eyes, the whites of which were barely visible. His gaze seemed to penetrate to the very soul, and Ye Sheng felt a jolt in his heart, becoming as still as a wooden chicken, unable to move an inch.

After a long pause, the old man withdrew his gaze, spoke in a hoarse voice, and said indifferently, "Go in."

He took the token, glanced at it, and turned back to continue sweeping, as if Ye Sheng were nothing more than an insignificant fallen leaf.

Upon hearing this, Ye Sheng felt a wave of relief wash over him. He came to his senses and let out a long sigh of relief, thinking to himself: What just happened? It's like someone has stolen my soul. The opponent was too strong; if he had attacked just now, I probably wouldn't have been able to resist at all.

At this moment, Ye Sheng's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he was filled with lingering fear. He bowed again before stepping towards the stone gate of the Sutra Repository.

The heavy stone door opened silently as he approached. Instantly, an ancient and desolate scholarly aura wafted out.

Entering the Sutra Repository, Ye Sheng looked around. The first floor of the Sutra Repository was extremely spacious, resembling a grand palace. Rows of sandalwood bookshelves, several meters high, stood side by side, densely covered with jade slips and ancient books, and the air was filled with the calming fragrance of ink.

Ye Sheng took a deep breath and walked among the bookshelves. He came here with a clear goal: to find clues about the "object containing Dao essence" for Ye Kai. Then, he began to browse through the books on the shelves one by one.

"General Geography of the Azure Netherworld", "Illustrated Compendium of Spiritual Plants of the Eastern Regions", "Tales of Ancient Wonders"...

These ancient books and scrolls encompassed a wide range of subjects, containing many secrets of this world. Ye Sheng read them with great interest, and many vague records he had seen in the "Records of Local Customs" were confirmed and supplemented here.

At this moment, his literacy skills were also improving rapidly through his reading. However, an hour passed, and Ye Sheng had flipped through nearly a hundred books, but still could not find any clear record of "things containing the Dao".

Although words like "fragments of the Great Dao" and "essence of the laws" occasionally appear, they are all vague and do not explain how to find them.

Ye Sheng frowned slightly, feeling increasingly anxious. Two hours was indeed far too short in the face of such a vast collection of books.

He quickened his pace, his gaze sweeping across the bookshelves. Suddenly, an inconspicuous bookshelf in the corner caught Ye Sheng's attention.

On the bookshelf sat only a tattered ancient scripture made of animal hide. The scripture was neither gold nor jade, but a dark yellowish-brown color, with many damaged edges, and it looked very old.

Ye Sheng's gaze sharpened, and he approached, reaching out to take the ancient scripture. The scripture felt warm and smooth to the touch, with a peculiar texture.

He slowly unfolded it. He found it blank, containing only twisted and strange symbols, resembling ancient totems. But Ye Sheng didn't recognize a single one of these symbols.

However, the moment his fingertip touched those symbols, the long-dormant skill panel suddenly sprang to life, displaying a notification:

[An unknown information source has been detected, resonating with this panel...]

[Parsing... Parsing failed... Incomplete information source...]

[Warning! Information pollution detected...]

A series of notification sounds flashed wildly before my eyes, finally settling on a line of blood-red text:

[Resonance Activation: Unlock New Skills ??? (Incomplete)]

Ye Sheng's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart trembled violently!

resonance!

This ancient scripture of unknown origin resonated with his cheat code—the skill panel!

How is that possible?

The skill panel was his greatest asset since his transmigration, and it was also his unique and absolute secret, not belonging to this world.

But now, this mysterious ancient scripture is resonating with him! This completely overturned his understanding.

Ye Sheng stared intently at the ancient scripture, then looked at the flashing skill panel in front of him, his mind a complete mess.

What is the origin of this scripture? Is it related to the skill panel? Was my transmigration not an accident? Or is it something that also came from another time?

At this moment, countless questions surged forth, leaving Ye Sheng with a lingering sense of unease.

After a long while, he suppressed the pounding in his heart and tried to inject his true energy into the ancient scripture, but the scripture did not react at all. He then tried to probe it with his divine sense, but it was still like a stone sinking into the sea.

Half an hour later, this ancient scripture was like a bottomless black hole, swallowing up all of Ye Sheng's methods of exploration.

Knowing that time was running out, Ye Sheng was quite unwilling, but he had no choice but to give up and could only memorize every mysterious symbol on the ancient scripture.

Fortunately, as his literacy skills improved rapidly, he found that his memory also improved significantly, almost to the point of being able to remember everything he saw.

After Ye Sheng memorized the runes of the entire ancient scripture, he continued his search in the pavilion. Unfortunately, even after two hours, he still hadn't found any clues about the "object imbued with Dao essence".

When Ye Sheng walked out of the Sutra Repository dejectedly, it was already nearly dusk. The old man guarding the repository was still slowly sweeping the floor, as if nothing else could ever concern him.

Ye Sheng looked at the old man, hesitated for a moment, and finally stepped forward, bowed and asked, "Senior, I have something I would like to ask you."

Upon hearing this, the old man stopped sweeping, looked at Ye Sheng with his cloudy eyes, and said indifferently, "Speak."

"The reason I came to the Scripture Pavilion is to search for something called 'the essence of the Dao.' I wonder if you, senior, know anything about this thing, or perhaps have any clues about it?"

Upon hearing this, the old man fell silent, his wrinkled face expressionless. Just when Ye Sheng thought he wouldn't answer, the old man suddenly laughed again, a very eerie laugh, his originally cloudy eyes becoming deep and weathered.

He spoke in a hoarse voice, his tone distant: "The Dao, is it? Heh, what is your Dao? Now you seek the Dao, yet you do not know where it is."

He paused, then pointed his broom at the distant horizon, as if with a sigh: "Fine, you can try your luck in Zhongzhou. It's the center of heaven and earth, the place where the Great Dao converges; perhaps you can find the answer you're looking for there."

Zhongzhou?

Ye Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "What about our Eastern Region?"

"The Eastern Regions?"

The old man murmured to himself, then put down his broom and continued sweeping, saying indifferently, "If there is such a place in the Eastern Region, the most hopeful place is at the bottom of the Broken Dragon River."

"Bottom of the Broken Dragon River?"

At this moment, Ye Sheng's heart was filled with shock and disbelief. He truly never imagined that the murky river that had nurtured him and also trapped him throughout his childhood might actually contain the legendary "things imbued with the Dao" deep within its depths.

This news was even more shocking than the mysterious ancient scripture he had just seen.

"Thank you for your guidance, senior." Ye Shengqiang suppressed his shock and bowed again.

The old man ignored him and focused on sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground, as if his words were just a casual remark.

Without further ado, Ye Sheng turned and left Wanfa Peak.

On the way back to Liuyuan, Ye Sheng's mind was racing.

Especially what that old man guarding the pavilion said just now—it contained too much information and was too profound and difficult to understand.

"What is your way? Where is it located?"

"Zhongzhou, the center of heaven and earth, where the great Dao converges."

"At the bottom of the Broken Dragon River, the place in the Eastern Region with the greatest hope of containing Dao-related treasures."

As Ye Sheng walked, he carefully pondered these few sentences.

Zhongzhou was too far away for him now. It was the center of the entire Qingming Realm, the capital of the Dayuan Dynasty, the foundation of powerful clans, and the lair of the Blood Pact Merchant Guild.

If he were to travel to the Central Plains with his current strength and encounter a powerful member of the Blood Pact Merchant Guild, it would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock. Therefore, it seems that the only option left is the Broken Dragon River.

The Duanlong River stretches for thousands of miles, spanning the entire Eastern Region. Its waters are deep and swift, with treacherous undercurrents at the bottom, making it extremely dangerous. Moreover, he didn't even know how he got to the bottom of the river.