Chapter 60: The Secret Scripture of the Dao

“Xuanhuang Dao Canon… the name alone screams ‘Dao Virtue Sect’ style. But this is just the Merit-Based Artifact Forging Chapter? Does that mean the Xuanhuang Dao Canon has other volumes?”

A flicker of curiosity stirred in Lu Yan’s heart.

By pure chance, he had inherited the legacy of the Dao Virtue Sect. If there was an opportunity to collect more volumes of the Xuanhuang Dao Canon, he naturally wanted to explore them—just to see how deep the heritage of the ancient Merit lineage truly ran.

But for now, he set aside that thought and focused on the tome in his hands.

Flipping open the manual, the preface described how the method of forging artifacts through merit was originally passed down by the ancient Xuanhuang Immortal. The current Merit-Based Artifact Forging Chapter was merely a simplified version passed down by later generations.

Lu Yan skimmed past the preface and went straight to the main content.

The Artifact Forging Chapter itself wasn’t particularly long. After about half an hour of reading, Lu Yan had absorbed most of it.

But when he closed the final page, his face didn’t hold joy—instead, it was clouded with concern.

The content wasn’t lacking. Every step of the forging process, every auxiliary array and ceremonial ritual, was recorded with perfect clarity.

None of these were especially rare. The only slightly challenging part was arranging the formations, but with time and effort, Lu Yan could handle that.

However, two requirements completely exceeded his current capabilities.

First, Merit—an immense, unimaginable quantity of it.

Due to Merit’s highly elusive and unquantifiable nature, the Dao Virtue Sect used the manifestation of a Merit Gold Wheel behind one’s soul as a measuring unit. When accumulated to a certain degree, the Gold Wheel would appear and could even protect the bearer from curses and secret arts.

To forge a Merit Artifact required at least three Merit Gold Wheels.

Even Nascent Soul true monarchs who had cultivated in the Dao Virtue Sect for over a millennium struggled to form a single Gold Wheel—let alone the three needed for a single artifact.

Lu Yan had indeed slaughtered over a hundred thousand zombies in the Apocalypse Version and received merit from the Heavens for it, but most of that had already been consumed to refine his Xuanhuang Merit Fire. The leftovers weren’t even enough to form a single Gold Wheel, let alone three.

Still, if this were the only issue, Lu Yan wouldn’t be too troubled.

So long as he re-entered the Apocalypse Version and abandoned soul-refining in favor of pure zombie slaughter, his current strength would allow him to quickly gather the needed merit.

The second condition, however, was the true problem.

To be suitable for forging into a Merit Artifact, the object must have gained legendary status—it must be revered by the people and worshipped across the world to be able to bear the ocean of merit.

The Artifact Forging Chapter gave several examples:

In one instance, a mortal kingdom had suffered a catastrophic flood. Three thousand miles of land turned into a watery grave. A Nascent Soul true monarch of the Dao Virtue Sect descended from the heavens, piloting a Heavenly Ferry Boat, ferrying over a million mortals to safety.

Throughout the rescue, the true monarch never showed himself. Only the boat was seen shuttling back and forth, saving lives.

Grateful beyond words, the people enshrined the boat as a divine vessel and worshipped it with incense offerings. After decades of reverence, it was finally successfully forged into a Merit Artifact.

There were several similar examples: Nascent Soul monarchs or Golden Core masters using their treasures to save lives, then gaining the reverence of the masses, accumulating enough merit to refine them into divine artifacts.

“Their method of saving people could be quite enlightening. Maybe I can do something similar in another version…”

Lu Yan frowned as he glanced down at his Hundred Souls Banner.

“But once I unleash this thing, it summons ghosts and malevolent spirits. It’s practically the opposite of something people would worship.”

Closing the Artifact Forging Chapter, Lu Yan couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Besides, this method takes way too long. Getting the masses to worship the Hundred Souls Banner would first require exposing it to the public.

Once the information mapped back into the Immortal Cultivation Version, if I failed to complete the refinement, every orthodox sect would be on my tail.

Letting the Hundred Souls Banner be revered… I need to be extremely cautious.”

With the general plan settled, Lu Yan tucked the Artifact Forging Chapter under his arm and resumed browsing the other bookshelves.

There was no question—when the time came, the only book he could take with the token would be this Xuanhuang Dao Canon: Merit-Based Artifact Forging Chapter. Some of the formations and rituals described within required resonating with the scripture’s embedded Dao Impressions. It was crucial to solving the Soul Banner’s long-term hidden dangers, so there was no way he’d leave it behind.

But with more than two days remaining, he still had time to explore other valuable texts.

Now that he had the Merit Artifact forging method, Lu Yan completely let loose, flipping through books at a breakneck pace inside the Sutra Repository.

The Clear Sun Sect’s accumulation over tens of thousands of years exceeded even his boldest expectations. Cultivation arts, ancient myths, strange tales, forbidden histories—the place had everything.

Thanks to his recently enhanced soul from absorbing vast amounts of moonlight essence, Lu Yan’s memory far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators. Countless scriptures were devoured and imprinted into his mind.

During this period, the purple-robed Golden Core elder reappeared once and urged Lu Yan to slow down, to choose one book and study it seriously—perhaps he might gain an epiphany through the embedded Dao Impressions.

Lu Yan nodded on the surface, then turned around and resumed devouring books at full speed.

To him, his greatest advantage lay in accessing multiple version-worlds. The data he gathered from these different versions had the potential to unlock value beyond imagination.

Once he identified something truly valuable, he could focus and delve into it deeply.

For now, his goal wasn’t mastery—but information. And this Sutra Repository was the perfect source.

Seeing his attitude, the purple-robed elder lost all interest and simply retracted his divine sense, waiting for the three days to pass.

——

Two days went by in the blink of an eye.

On the third floor of the repository, Lu Yan was alone, still flipping through books on the high shelves.

Just as the elder had said, using the Sutra Transmission Token on these first three floors was indeed a waste. In over two days, Lu Yan hadn’t seen a single Clear Sun Sect disciple visit.

His hands flipped through pages rapidly—one glance was all it took to brand the information into his mind, then he’d move on.

Even at this insane speed, after two days, he’d still read less than one ten-thousandth of the repository’s first three floors.

Grabbing another tome by habit, Lu Yan suddenly paused.

The scripture in his hand looked half-burned, edges blackened and curling. It had been stashed away in the darkest, dustiest corner of the third floor.

Over the past days, Lu Yan had seen many damaged scrolls and bamboo slips. With thousands of years of history, such wear and tear was expected.

But the feel of this particular book—a kind of mystical beast-hide texture—instantly reminded him of the Dao Virtue Record and the Xuanhuang Dao Canon.

“…Could this scripture also be a secret manual from the Dao Virtue Sect?”

(End of Chapter)