The paper, moving along with the wind currents, was carried outside the room, to which Wan Ling found himself chasing after.
It could be useless, a complete waste of energy not worth saving, but he had nothing to lose except a few seconds of his time. So he ran out of the room and snatched it before it could slip out the ajar window.
Grabbing it with fingers trembling with anticipation, he quickly scanned through it.
[I was but a youth when my old man informed me of a profound sect hidden within the Immortal Valleys. I planned on visiting it, but alas, during my decades as a cultivator, I must have forgotten. Even so, once I remembered, I made a dashing journey toward those accursed mountains. From how my father described the sect, I envisioned valor that rivaled the Celestial Sword Sect, pride that could put dragons to shame, but I was left in awe when I arrived and witnessed a sect that preached hedonism. A sect of self-pleasuring immortals that sought matters of the flesh instead of treading the path of the immortal. I, a proud cultivator, found that sight unruly, so I sacrificed my time and dignity to preach to them true cultivation. Alas, it seems the pleasures of the flesh had not escaped me, and I... Elder Han Lie indulged them. In the end, I left there more youthful than ever and carrying with me one of their prized techniques, a Dual Cultivation Technique. This elder has truly failed the heavens, and I fear they might strike me down during my next breakthrough. If such is so, I will accept it, but I want whomever is reading this to rid the world of the fiendish technique I brought back with me. It was too shameful to hide it within my home, so I buried it in a cave behind Ling Ling Waterfall. For the disciple or elder that finds this, I ask generously for you to destroy it so that devilish sect will not claim another like they claimed me. Please do so, and do not be overcome by the pleasures of mortals lest you want to be struck down]
[ P.S. This generous elder also left behind a few hundred high-grade spirit stones alongside the technique. You are free to take them, but only after destroying the manual. If you try to pull a fast one, this elder’s spirit shall hunt you. So don’t pull a fast one.]
"Holy shit!" Wan Ling exclaimed in shock, his hands still trembling from the sheer revelation he had uncovered.
Elder Han Lie, the elder who had died, didn’t just know of his impending demise, but he might actually have been the cause of it.
The elder died because he chased pleasure and, most of all, had acquired a Dual Cultivation Technique.
The truth was so insane that his feeble mind could hardly comprehend it, but he didn’t try to because he saw this as a chance.
If he couldn’t cultivate by traditional means, wouldn’t an unorthodox method be possible?
Normally, trying to cultivate via such means was next to impossible because most of the methods used had either been destroyed during the catastrophic wars of the Desolated Era or were being monopolized by powerful families and sects.
Hence, most cultivators used the traditional method, but in his case, Wan Ling had the location of a Dual Cultivation Technique.
Would it not only be logical that he used it?
Yes, he might die like Elder Han Lie, but unlike Elder Han Lie, he had nothing to lose.
Most of all, he had died once already. A second time wouldn’t change much.
"I knew it. Destiny had much more in store for me."
He leaped into the air excitedly, after which he crouched to fix the mess he had created.
He tidied up the entire place once more, but this time took the writing Elder Han Lie had left behind.
He didn’t want another disciple to stumble upon it, and most of all, it was his.
By late evening, he was done with the elder’s residence and left for the technique.
Ling Ling Waterfall wasn’t that far from the elder’s residence.
It was a beautiful hotspot for the female sect members to sometimes cool off and have a bath.
Most male disciples sometimes camped out there to sneak a peek.
Wan Ling had done it a few times, but his luck wasn’t very good.
It either ended with the female disciples catching him and him fleeing for his life.
Hence, when he arrived near the waterfall, he searched around to make sure nobody was nearby.
He might be in big trouble if someone saw what he was about to do.
After scouting the area about three times, he sighed in relief and glanced at the surface of the water.
It was clean and clear, and when bathed in the glow of the moonlight, it truly was a wondrous sight.
Wan Ling, glancing around once more, slowly stepped into the water and gracefully swam toward the portion of the waterfall where rocks gathered.
He climbed ashore and almost slipped a few times.
In the end, he caught himself each time and walked across the rocky surface.
Water from above beat against his head and shoulders, drenching his body, but the impact wasn’t enough to harm his cultivator’s body.
Eventually, he passed through the waterfall and found a cave just as the elder had said.
Walking through a small puddle, he looked around the dark cavern with keen eyes until he saw, at the far end, a wooden desk with a scroll and a pouch placed on it.
"Is this what they call hiding in plain sight?" he chuckled and ran toward the goodies.
Elder Han Lie had made no effort to hide them, and yet nobody had found them either.
Even so, he was glad nobody had found them until now because they were now his.
So, without wasting any time, he grabbed the manual, only for the world to throw even more surprises at him.