Xu Chang spent a few days in the Study Palace, maintaining his self-restraint. Every morning, a Ghost Ridge Palace Elder would deliver a lecture at the Study Palace.

Although not every lecture was by a Taoist Platform Realm expert, those who lectured were all senior Secret Realm cultivators, which was irresistibly tempting for the outer disciples still in the Yunling Realm.

In just two short days, even the remaining two junior brothers had started to waver and joined the group listening to the lectures.

Xu Chang was extremely frustrated, and what bothered him even more was that, aside from listening to the lectures, his junior brothers and sisters had done something even more excessive.

In the dead of night, Xu Chang sat alone in the courtyard. The courtyard was unlit, with only a few shadows sneaking in quietly, seemingly planning to get into the house unnoticed.

"Hmph!"

Xu Chang pressed the light switch, and the courtyard instantly lit up, revealing the sneaky figures of four junior brothers and sisters.

"What kind of sneaky business are you up to? What disgraceful things have you done?"

Xu Chang slapped the chair, angrily questioning the four junior brothers and sisters who hadn't been seen all day.

The few people were startled. After realizing it was Xu Chang, they immediately hung their heads, looking embarrassed.

"Why are you all silent? Where did you go all day?"

Xu Chang looked puzzled, not knowing where these people had gone today.

"Ahem, senior brother, we were just wandering around."

The little junior sister Jia Chuchu tried to brush it off, knowing that her senior brother disliked the Ghost Ridge Palace, she dared not tell the truth.

"Tell the truth."

Xu Chang looked at them disapprovingly, pointing at the dirt on their clothes: "Look at your clothes, can you get so dirty just by strolling around? Tell me the truth."

Seeing that they couldn't fool him, the few exchanged glances, and Jia Chuchu could only say awkwardly, "Senior brother, we...we went to work."

"What, work? You went to work for the Ghost Ridge Palace?"

Xu Chang's face turned completely dark. Listening to lectures was bad enough, not to mention working for the Ghost Ridge Palace.

In Xu Chang's view, working for the Demon Path was an unforgivable act. Wasn't this colluding with the Demon Path?

"Yes, senior brother, we went to work in the Puppet Hall of Ghost Ridge Palace. They have a great demand for cultivators, and we don't need any puppetry skills, just need to use spiritual power. We are just doing some odd jobs, but they pay us quite a bit of spirit stones. Today I earned two low-grade spirit stones."

A junior brother, Yu Ning, excitedly said, even taking out two low-grade spirit stones from his pocket.

Two low-grade spirit stones a day, which is a whole sixty low-grade spirit stones a month. You must know, he is just an outer disciple, and in the Golden Sword Sect, he could only earn a dozen or twenty spirit stones a month. Here in the Ghost Ridge Palace, it had doubled at once, which was the most tempting aspect for them.

Such a well-paid job was recommended by other righteous sect disciples who came here for training, so they went over to try it today and worked until late at night. They actually earned two full spirit stones.

Although the process was tiring, working till late night, the cultivators' physical qualities could endure it. Opportunities to earn spirit stones like this were not common.

However, Yu Ning did not realize that Xu Chang in front of him had his face clouded with dark anger.

"Foolishness, do you realize what you are doing? You are righteous cultivators. How can you work for the Demon Path? How is this different from abetting the wicked?"

Xu Chang roared, disheartened by their behavior, feeling utterly disappointed in them.

"Senior brother, we are only making some simple puppetry machines at Ghost Ridge Palace. We didn't help the disciples kill someone and dispose the body. It doesn't count as abetting the wicked, right?"

"Yes, senior brother, other righteous cultivators are doing it. Why can't we? Moreover, it's not something heinous."

"We even earn merit points working for Ghost Ridge Palace. I heard that merit points can improve our level, and there are many benefits in Ghost Ridge Palace. We can't waste such a great opportunity!"

A few disciples protested, feeling they did nothing wrong and were just doing some simple tasks.

"Hmph, look at you all, only a few days in Ghost Ridge Palace and already so corrupted. Now you're audacious enough to work for them. What will you do in the future? I can't even imagine."

Xu Chang's expression was grim. He couldn't understand why his fellow Golden Sword Sect disciples couldn't learn from him and had completely forgotten the sword cultivator's pride.

The Golden Sword Sect disciples fell silent, but inwardly they were quite discontented, secretly mocking. Naturally, Xu Chang didn't lack such spirit stones. He was an inner disciple, but for them, the outer disciples, it was difficult to obtain resources. Nobody wanted to miss the chance to earn spirit stones.

Seeing them not speaking, this meeting naturally ended in an unhappy note. Before leaving, Xu Chang said, "Reflect on your actions. We eventually have to return to the Golden Sword Sect."

In the subsequent period, Xu Chang found that his junior brothers and sisters went out early and returned late every day.

His warning had no effect. The few disciples had been completely blinded by the spirit stones of Ghost Ridge Palace.

Not only Golden Sword Sect disciples, but many righteous disciples went to work for Ghost Ridge Palace.

After all, working in the Puppet Hall, apart from being a bit more tiring, they indeed paid spirit stones, far exceeding their previous incomes, drawing many righteous disciples who came for training.

This went on for more than half a month.

On this day, Xu Chang sat cross-legged in the courtyard as usual, closed his eyes, and absorbed Spiritual Energy.

Suddenly, he keenly sensed a wave of Sword Intent, and his eyes snapped open.

Xu Chang stood up swiftly, took a few steps, opened the window, and looked towards the direction from where the Sword Intent emanated.

Then he saw his junior sister Jia Chuchu, holding a Longsword. As the blade danced, invisible gusts of wind swept through, causing the leaves of several old trees to rustle, as fallen leaves floated down.

"Frost Rain Hundred Sword Technique!"

With a soft exclamation from Jia Chuchu, the Sword Qi split into hundreds of streams, the frosty blades slicing through the falling leaves, carrying an extreme chill. The cold wind enveloped the shattered ice fragments, freezing the fallen leaves entirely, which shattered like glass upon hitting the ground.

This frosty Sword Intent was something Xu Chang had never seen before. Despite cultivating in the Golden Sword Sect for so long, he had never encountered a Sword Skill that wielded such cold energy.

Considering Jia Chuchu's status, even if there were swordsmanship he didn't know about, it wasn't something an Outer Disciple like her should be able to learn.

Jia Chuchu took a couple of light breaths, resting her forehead against the cold blade. The white mist she exhaled condensed into tiny ice flowers on the blade's surface, her face lit with joy: "This set of Frost Rain Hundred Sword Technique is truly formidable, much more powerful than the Sword Skills I practiced before."

"Where did this Sword Skill come from?"

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind Jia Chuchu.

Jia Chuchu turned around to see her senior brother standing behind her at an unknown time, his keen gaze fixed on the Longsword in her hand.

"Senior...Senior Brother."

Jia Chuchu was a bit nervous, instinctively hiding the Longsword behind her back, but this action, much like loudly declaring one's innocence, only further revealed her lack of confidence.

"Speak up, I'm not coveting your Sword Skill, I'm just curious. Where did you get this Sword Technique from? In our Golden Sword Sect, I've never seen such Sword Skills utilizing cold energy for attack."

Xu Chang said deeply. The Sword Skills of their Golden Sword Sect primarily focused on the sharp metal of the Five Elements, a fact evident from their sect's name.

As a Sword Cultivator, he was most obsessed with swordsmanship, and seeing Jia Chuchu perform a sword skill entirely different from the Golden Sword Sect's, something so novel made his heart itch with curiosity.

"Senior Brother, I got it...from the Book Collection Pavilion of the Ghost Ridge Palace."

Jia Chuchu knew she couldn't hide it, so she had to speak truthfully.

"The Ghost Ridge Palace?"

Xu Chang's eyes widened.

"Yes, I heard people say that Su Sect Master of Ghost Ridge Palace once seized hundreds of Sword Skills from the Ten Thousand Sword Alliance in Qing Province. These skills are all displayed at the Book Collection Pavilion, allowing Sect disciples to exchange them for sufficient Merit Points and Spirit Stones.

In Ghost Ridge Palace, they don't restrict the disciples' learning of magic skills but require them to accumulate Merit Points. The more contribution to the Sect, the greater the Merit Points, fulfilling the exchange requirements for more advanced skills.

It's said that even the sect-defining skill of Guan Chao Pavilion, the 'Bibo Sea Covering Skill,' the famous 'Blood Sea Devouring Sky Demon Skill' of Su Sect Master of Ghost Ridge Palace, and the sect-defining skill of the Ten Thousand Sword Alliance, the 'Star Constellation Sword Technique,' can all be learned if the requirements are met."

At this point, Jia Chuchu's eyes gleamed with excitement: "I've been working day and night at the Puppet Hall recently just to save enough Merit Points, plus some of my own Spirit Stone savings, and I finally bought this skill.

Although it's not as good as those advanced skills, much less the sect-defining ones, I feel it suits my constitution very well, and I progress faster learning it compared to the Golden Sword Sect's swordsmanship."

On the other hand, Xu Chang was utterly astounded.

Skills often form the foundation of a sect and are strictly controlled.

For instance, in Ghost Ridge Palace, techniques like the Insect Control Technique, the Human Worm Refining Technique, and the Body Worm Focusing Method, the Three Gu Master Classics, are only available to the inner disciples, which is the same in other sects.

But now Ghost Ridge Palace has broken this unwritten rule of sects, surprisingly allowing even Outer Disciples to access profound skills.

No, Jia Chuchu isn't even a disciple of Ghost Ridge Palace, yet she was allowed to learn, which Xu Chang found unbelievable.

Involuntarily, Xu Chang's breathing became heavier.

Especially upon hearing about the Star Formation, his eyes burned fervently.

The Ten Thousand Sword Alliance, that is the second Major Sect in Qing Province, having the qualification to threaten the status of the Qing Province righteous sect leader, the Fire Cloud Palace, following a pure Sword Cultivator path.

In terms of swordplay prowess, Golden Sword Sect isn't even qualified to carry shoes for the Ten Thousand Sword Alliance – after all, Golden Sword Sect is just an ordinary sect in Qingzhou.

If cultivators of equal realms were to confront each other, Ten Thousand Sword Alliance disciples might be able to defeat three of their Golden Sword Sect members – the disparity is that vast.

"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Jia Chuchu called Xu Chang several times before he snapped back to his senses.

"I'm fine."

Xu Chang took a deep look at the Longsword in Jia Chuchu's hands, his heart pounding uncontrollably. He no longer pursued the matter of his junior sister working for Ghost Ridge Palace, as he himself was tempted.

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