After asking her master a few more questions about cultivation, Chen Jinshu headed toward the Scripture Pavilion.
With the Outer Sect competition drawing near, there were few disciples on the path to the pavilion—most were either cultivating in their own courtyards or training in the sparring halls of their respective peaks.
Each peak had its own sparring hall, designed to help disciples hone their combat experience. While the halls varied in size, they served the same function.
Chen Jinshu had visited one when she first arrived at the Medicine King Hall. It housed numerous rooms, all warded with restrictions, allowing disciples to freely use various techniques. Some rooms even had puppet combat functions.
However, entry required contribution points, and the number of points varied depending on the room's features. She still planned to reserve a small room later, once she became more proficient with her zither techniques, to practice other spells and arts.
A short while later, Chen Jinshu arrived on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion. She scanned her surroundings and soon spotted the elder on duty. After explaining her purpose, she presented the elder's token given to her by her master.
"Oh, so you're Elder Shui's disciple." The guarding elder recognized the token immediately and confirmed its authenticity.
"Although disciples with an elder's token are permitted to enter the Restricted Section, there are rules and time limits."
"You are allowed only half an hour. And you cannot remove anything or make any copies. These are strict orders. If anything from inside leaks, the sect will hold you accountable."
The elder's expression was stern. He didn't know what Chen Jinshu wanted from the restricted section, but the rules had to be made clear.
"Thank you for the warning, Elder!"
"Alright then, come with me." With that, the elder lifted Chen Jinshu lightly, and the next moment, they vanished.
Chen Jinshu felt a wave of dizziness. When she opened her eyes again, the scenery had completely changed. If the main Scripture Hall was a golden palace of grandeur, then this Restricted Section resembled a prison—dark and oppressive.
Some of the books emitted an eerie red glow.
There was some light, but the glowstone above was dim.
"Elder, why is it so dark in here?"
"It's not that we don't want to brighten this place. Some of these books use light as a form of illusion. Darkness helps suppress such effects—and helps restrain impulsive disciples."
"Alright then. Tell me what you're looking for—I can point you in the right direction."
"I'm here to investigate a peculiar spiritual lotus—twin blossoms, dual colors, and dual attributes."
"That's certainly rare. It should be in this book here."
The elder thought for a moment, then reached out and a thick tome flew from the shelf into his hand.
"Here. You have half an hour—make good use of it."
"Thank you, Elder!"
Chen Jinshu took the heavy book and moved to the brightest spot at the center to begin her search.
"The Grim Record of Rare and Strange Flora"
"There's a 'Treasure Record of Rare Flora' outside… I guess this 'Grim Record' holds the more bizarre entries?"
The book cover was a dark red with illustrations of plants, but they were twisted and malformed, clearly mutated.
She gulped and quickly flipped through it.
The first entry was a blood-red fruit shaped like a beating heart: Blood Lang Fruit.
When ripe, it mimicked the heart of a cultivator or beast—pulsating, living off flesh and blood. It was immensely potent, yet lethally toxic.
"Definitely strange spiritual plants."
She skipped over anything unrelated to the twin-blooming lotus and continued her search. After fifteen minutes and flipping through half the book, she still hadn't found it.
"Could it not be in here? That doesn't make sense…"
Everything recorded here was bizarre—surely her mysterious lotus belonged here.
"Found it!"
At last, on the next two pages, she spotted the entry she'd been seeking.
"Moon-Devouring Demon Lotus. So that's its name. No wonder it feeds on moonlight."
She dove into the information:
The Moon-Devouring Demon Lotus was a twin-essence creation cultivated by an ancient demonic sect, known for its dual nature of pill and poison. When exposed to blood, it transformed into a monstrous bloodthirsty plant, violent and deadly. Under normal conditions, it was fed moonlight and grew in the form of a crimson twin-bloom: Blood Moon Lotus and Moon Lotus.
If the Blood Moon Lotus absorbed blood, the Moon Lotus would mutate in tandem.
When harvesting, both blooms had to be picked simultaneously. Removing one alone would cause the other to become a toxic flower capable of corrosive harm upon contact.
The Moon-Devouring Demon Lotus could also be used to refine potent pills that helped cultivators break through to higher realms—rare and valuable indeed.
"So this thing can either be a deadly threat or a priceless treasure. People just mishandle it and get poisoned."
"It does have cultivation value… just has to be kept far from blood."
Chen Jinshu thought this over carefully.
The record also mentioned an incident from thirty years ago, where a disciple had secretly brought a Demon Lotus into the sect, causing a massacre.
Blood from a beast accidentally splashed on the flower, triggering its mutation. It evolved into a blood-plant monster and devoured the disciple.
Once it consumed a cultivator's flesh and blood, it grew rapidly and rampaged, swallowing nearby disciples from several courtyards. By the time sect leaders arrived, the area was drenched in blood. An elder finally recognized it as a creation of the ancient demonic sect—the twin-lotus of pill and poison.
The lotus was eventually destroyed, but several seeds remained and were stored in the Medicine King Peak. It had never resurfaced—until now.
"If it was sealed in the Medicine King Peak, why was it at the Affairs Hall? Could a careless elder have let the seed slip out?"
That was the only possibility she could think of.
"Must've been a careless elder who leaked this dangerous thing…"
She glanced at the elder who was still resting with his eyes closed, then hurriedly scanned the rest of the strange flora listings. Half an hour passed quickly, and the elder's voice rang out.
"Time's up. Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yes, thank you Elder. You saved me quite a bit of time," Chen Jinshu replied with a slight bow.
"No need to thank me. I'm just afraid you young brats might touch something cursed in there."
The elder soon escorted her out of the restricted section.
"I should report this to my master," she thought as she rushed toward the Medicine King Hall.
Privately, she intended to keep the lotus. After all, it could be used to craft high-grade pills that were hard to come by.
She'd finally gotten her hands on it—of course she'd want to hold onto it.
Still, she needed to inform her master in advance. If things went wrong, at least she'd have someone to cover for her.