Record of Mortals Slaying Heaven

The next morning, Shen Moqi was awakened by the sunlight streaming in through the window.

He paused for a moment before remembering where he was—in the small courtyard behind the library, on a hard wooden bed, and outside the window, a lush bamboo grove.

He sat up abruptly and rubbed his eyes. He had slept too soundly last night to even have a dream.

He glanced at the sky outside the window and estimated that it was still a while before 9 AM. He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and began practicing the "Basic Breathing Technique of Luo Xiao" for half an hour.

The spiritual energy was still thin, and absorption was still slow—but compared to last night, he wasn't as anxious anymore. Slow is slow, there's no use rushing it anyway.

After finishing his cultivation, he quickly washed up, put his fully charged phone in his pocket, and went out of the courtyard.

The bamboo forest was shrouded in a thin mist in the early morning. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground. The air was so fresh, as if it had been washed, that one breath invigorated you.

Shen Moqi took a few deep breaths and walked towards the Sutra Repository in a good mood.

He reached the door and reached out to push it open.

The moment my hand touched the door, it suddenly opened from the inside.

Shen Moqi was startled and subconsciously took a step back. The room was empty; there wasn't a soul in sight.

He stood at the door, peering inside for a long time, but there was still no one there.

"Senior?" he called out tentatively.

No one answered.

"Senior Lin?" he called out again, his voice louder.

Still, no one answered.

Shen Moqi hesitated for a moment, then stepped across the threshold and called out again, "Senior—!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he heard footsteps overhead, followed by a lazy voice drifting down the stairs:

"You brat, what are you yelling about! You're disturbing my sleep!"

Shen Moqi looked up and saw Senior Lin slowly walking down from the second floor, yawning as he went. His faded Taoist robe hung loosely on his body, his hair was untied and disheveled, and his face still carried the resentment of someone who hadn't woken up yet.

Shen Moqi quickly smiled apologetically, "Senior, I didn't mean to... I just..."

"What is it?"

"It's this door..." Shen Moqi pointed to the doorway, "It opened by itself. I thought we'd been robbed."

Senior Lin walked down the stairs and glanced at him sideways: "This is where I, a humble Taoist priest, have opened."

Shen Moqi was stunned, her face full of disbelief: "You opened it? Weren't you on the second floor?"

Senior Lin walked to the desk by the window, sat down, picked up the teapot—it wasn't even the same one from last night—poured himself a cup of tea, took a slow sip, and then glanced at him.

"You're making a fuss over nothing."

Shen Moqi blinked, wanting to ask again, but Senior Lin had already closed his eyes, looking like he "didn't want to talk to you."

Shen Moqi smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to ask any more questions. He looked around and his gaze fell on the teapot on the desk. Suddenly, he had an idea.

He tiptoed over, picked up the teapot, and poured Senior Lin a cup of tea.

Senior Lin opened his eyes and looked at him.

Shen Moqi smiled obsequiously, "Senior, please have some tea."

Senior Lin picked up his teacup, glanced at him again, and suddenly smiled.

"Hey kid, do you have something you want to ask me?"

Shen Moqi, having her thoughts read, stopped pretending, chuckled, and sat down on the stool next to her.

"Your Excellency is wise. I do have a few questions that I've been pondering all night."

Senior Lin, holding his teacup, leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "Go ahead and ask."

Shen Moqi thought for a moment, then asked the most important question first: "Senior, how many days does one Bigu Pill last?"

"Ten days."

Shen Moqi felt a weight lifted from her heart—she had guessed correctly.

"So... does our sect have any kind of canteen or dining hall? What if we run out of the Bigu Pills?"

Senior Lin glanced at him: "The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall has a dining hall where all sect disciples can go. Some of the meat from ferocious beasts tastes quite good, and it's also beneficial to your cultivation."

Shen Moqi nodded and asked, "Senior, that cultivation technique... I practice it every day, but I always feel that I absorb very little spiritual energy, and the refining is slow. Is it because I'm practicing it incorrectly, or... is this just how it is?"

Senior Lin glanced at him, his gaze carrying a profound meaning: "A Yellow-grade spiritual root is inherently slow at absorbing spiritual energy. As for refining..." He paused, "You've just entered the field and are practicing basic techniques, so it's normal to be slow. It will naturally get better once you acquire advanced techniques."

Shen Moqi smiled bitterly to herself—you don't know, I have four more steps in the refining process than others.

But he didn't dare say it, he just nodded and said, "Thank you for your guidance, senior."

He then remembered something and took out the identity token from his pocket: "Senior, how do I use this token?"

Senior Lin took the token and casually pressed it on the table—the token suddenly lit up, and a few blurry characters appeared on the table, disappearing in a flash.

Shen Moqi stared, her eyes wide with amazement.

"You need this to enter the Scripture Pavilion, leave the sect, collect spirit stones, and collect pills." Senior Lin tossed the token back to him. "Report it immediately if you lose it, or you'll be scrambling to find it when you need it."

Shen Moqi quickly took it and carefully put it away.

He glanced at Senior Lin, then recalled the door he had just opened, and couldn't help but ask, "Senior, how...how did you open that door?"

Senior Lin picked up his teacup but didn't say anything.

Shen Moqi thought he was unwilling to talk about it and was about to change the subject when she heard him slowly begin to speak:

"You'll understand when you can project your spiritual power outwards." Senior Lin put down his teacup. "Opening a door, closing a window, or fetching a book won't be difficult at all."

Shen Moqi was intrigued and asked, "What level of cultivation is needed to do that?"

Senior Lin glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, as if she thought he had asked a silly question.

"Anyway, it's not at your current cultivation level."

Shen Moqi smiled awkwardly, but secretly noted it down in her mind—releasing spiritual power externally sounds very powerful.

He asked several more questions—about the circulation of the cultivation technique, about meridians and acupoints, and about some of his confusion during cultivation. Sometimes Senior Lin would answer casually, and sometimes he would glance at him and scold him, "You don't even know this?" But after scolding him, he would still explain.

Shen Moqi discovered that this seemingly fierce Senior Lin wasn't actually that scary. He might swear, but he would say what needed to be said and teach what needed to be taught.

He didn't even quite understand why everyone was afraid of him.

After chatting for a while, Senior Lin suddenly stood up.

Shen Moqi also stood up, thinking he was about to leave.

Senior Lin glanced at him and said, "Memorize the location of the books well; I'll come back to check them in a while."

He had barely finished speaking when he vanished.

Shen Moqi blinked, then blinked again.

There was nothing there, just empty space in front of me.

He was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. Recalling what had just happened, he wasn't so surprised anymore—it was just divine intervention; you get used to it after seeing it so many times.

He took a deep breath, walked to the bookshelf, and began to work.

---

On the first day, there were not many disciples who came to the library to borrow books, only seven or eight here and there.

Every disciple who entered looked at Shen Moqi with a strange expression—not curiosity, not scrutiny, but rather... how to put it, as if they were seeing prey with one foot already in a trap.

One disciple even asked him directly, "Are you new here? From the Sutra Repository?"

Shen Moqi nodded.

The disciple looked him up and down, shook his head, a faint smile playing on his lips, and left without saying another word. He borrowed a book and left.

Shen Moqi was puzzled, but didn't think much of it.

When no one was looking, he secretly took out his phone, turned on the camera, and started taking pictures of the bookshelf.

Row after row, column after column, layer after layer... He took the photos very slowly and carefully, afraid of being discovered.

Fortunately, there weren't many people in the library, and those who came were just borrowing and returning books, so no one paid attention to what he was doing.

They filmed like this for three days.

During the day, they receive borrowers and lenders; at night, they return to their courtyard to recharge; and the next day, they continue filming.

On the third night, he finally finished photographing all the bookshelves and all the books on the first floor.

---

Back in the courtyard, he closed the door, lit the oil lamp, and took out his phone.

Opening the photo album and flipping through those densely packed photos, I felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

"Xiao Jiu," he whispered.

The phone screen lit up briefly, and Xiao Jiu's interface slowly appeared.

"I've taken pictures of all the books on the first floor of the library," Shen Moqi said. "Could you help me organize them? Number each book and categorize them by location, so that if I ask you where a book is in the future, you can just tell me directly."

The phone remained silent for a few seconds, seemingly processing a message.

Then a line of text appeared on the screen: [Data receiving...processing...estimated time: six hours.]

Shen Moqi was taken aback: "It takes this long?"

[Due to the large number of photos, each one needs to be identified, its information extracted, and an index built. We recommend waiting until the next day.]

Shen Moqi thought about it and decided that since there was no rush, she could just wait.

He put his phone aside, lay on the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

I've been busy taking photos these past few days, so I haven't thought much about cultivation. Now that I have some free time, those thoughts are starting to resurface in my mind—

The cultivation technique is activated, meridians and acupoints are activated, and the first layer of Qi is refined...

As he pondered this, he suddenly realized a problem: he knew far too little about the basics of cultivation.

The teachings of the Imperial Preceptor, combined with what Senior Lin said, are simply not enough. The path of cultivation is so long; how many problems will we encounter in the future? We can't keep asking others every time, can we?

He sat up and looked at his phone.

Xiao Jiu is processing the photos, but wait until it's finished...

A thought suddenly popped into my head: What if I asked Xiao Jiu to scan the contents of all the books on the first floor?

Those books contain biographies, travelogues, common knowledge about cultivation, local customs and products... If Xiao Jiu can memorize them all, she can just ask Xiao Jiu any questions she doesn't understand in the future!

His eyes lit up at this thought.

"That's it." He muttered to himself.

After Xiao Jiu finishes organizing the bookshelf, let it scan the contents. Then, if you encounter any problems during cultivation, you can ask and get answers anytime.

He lay back down on the bed, in a great mood.

The moonlight outside the window was like water, spilling into the bamboo grove and the courtyard.

He gazed out the window, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Although cultivation is slow, there are always more solutions than problems.

As I thought about it, my eyelids gradually grew heavy.