Sitting alone on the rooftop, Ye Wen chose a spot less likely to be seen, yet one from which he could survey every surrounding area.

He hadn't called anyone to join him; Artemis was resting in her room, as he was about to deploy his greatest secret—the ring that had changed its form countless times!

The immense help this ring provided needed no further elaboration; at least half of Ye Wen’s current cultivation level owed its existence to it.

The Shu Shan Sect’s present prosperity must also credit this ring significantly.

Because of this ring, Ye Wen never had to worry about his techniques or martial arts. Similarly, the disciples of the Shu Shan Sect never needed to fret over which techniques to practice or where to find skills suited to them, as the ring was like an inexhaustible treasury of secret manuals, always capable of producing the martial arts appropriate for whomever sought them.

After ascending to the Immortal Realm, the ring’s functions expanded yet again. Beyond obtaining secret manuals, it could now yield blueprints for magical artifacts and prescriptions for elixirs—things most cultivation sects desperately desired. For many, artifact schematics required countless trials, explorations, and massive material investment. But the Shu Shan Sect could receive the most detailed and perfect blueprints, requiring only that they follow the instructions written there—saving them an immeasurable amount of trouble compared to others.

This time, Ye Wen wanted to find a suitable cultivation method for Chong Lou, and his first thought was naturally to rely on the ring. The only source of hesitation for Ye Wen was that the ring now operated randomly; he wondered if it would conjure the secret manual he needed this time.

After years of probing and testing, Ye Wen had gradually confirmed the ring’s current efficacy!

Random!

But not entirely random!

Firstly, when initiating a summon, Ye Wen could specify a broad category: cultivation manuals, artifact designs, or elixir prescriptions!

Currently, it was limited to these three categories. Ye Wen was unsure if the divisions could become more specific and granular later, but for now, he could choose one of the three categories before the ring produced an item based on his selection.

As for what followed, that depended on luck!

Fortunately, the summoning cooldown was no longer fixed as it once was; it was now determined by the level of internal energy Ye Wen inputted and the tier of the item obtained.

For something not particularly rare, the cooldown might end after a single meal. But if the ring deemed the item exceptionally valuable, it could be unpredictable—sometimes taking three to five years. For instance, the last time Ye Wen summoned the blueprint for an authentic Frost Flood Dragon Sword, the cooldown lasted several years, so long that Ye Wen lost track of when it finally recovered.

Caressing the ring again, Ye Wen closed his eyes and slowly channeled his internal energy into it.

Initially, he didn't input a large amount of power; he introduced a small surge first, then forcefully focused his mind on the words "cultivation manual," even visualizing Chong Lou’s image repeatedly. He wanted to test whether the ring was completely random or if his own thoughts could influence the selection.

He hadn't tested this much before because the Shu Shan Sect had no specific urgent needs; randomness was fine, as anything produced would be useful to the sect.

This time, however, was different. Many of the martial arts manuals Ye Wen possessed followed the righteous and balanced Daoist path, with only a few Buddhist techniques.

These internal cultivation manuals utterly clashed with Chong Lou’s temperament and character. Setting aside anything else, if he were to teach Chong Lou the Innate Art, Ye Wen doubted he could even stand the sight of it, let alone whether Chong Lou could cultivate his temperament to master it.

“Even the Heavenly Demon Art that Hua Yi practices is fundamentally a Daoist technique. Furthermore, the Heavenly Demon Art Hua Yi practices is completely for female cultivators; Ling Zhu was only able to cultivate it due to some karmic coincidence, and even then, she had to supplement it with the Grand Supreme Unity Technique, which is extremely…”

The images flashing through his mind made Ye Wen’s face pale, so he decisively abandoned that option and continued to sift through the techniques he already possessed.

In truth, Ye Wen possessed enough cultivation methods to stock a library. Surely, something suitable for Chong Lou could be found among them. However, he consistently felt something was lacking, especially the fundamental inner cultivation method, which he had never located. Thus, Ye Wen decided to utilize the ring for a summon.

Having smoothly completed the summoning ritual, Ye Wen reopened his eyes and glanced at the manual in his hand. The four characters on the cover made Ye Wen’s eyes immediately light up.

“Star Sucking Grand Technique”

Ye Wen had never managed to summon this technique before; unexpectedly, it appeared today!

According to the original texts, this technique was merely a combination of a severely incomplete North Sea Divine Art and a fragmented Power Dissolving Technique; it wasn't considered rare and had numerous flaws.

Of course, with Ye Wen’s current cultivation level, patching up and perfecting those flaws wouldn't be difficult. However, the characteristic feature of the Star Sucking Grand Technique was its ability to absorb an opponent's power for one's own use. Moreover, it absorbed inner energy and true qi—he wondered if it could absorb immortal energy as well?

“Looks like this lad isn't fated for it!”

Just as he was about to lament Chong Lou's bad luck in receiving such a flawed manual, Ye Wen felt a reaction from his ring. A sudden agitation swept through his true qi, forcibly drawn out by the artifact, and then, as his vision swam, his hand felt heavier—another book had appeared.

Ye Wen stared blankly, first looking down to read the title on the booklet. The crystal-clear characters “Heaven and Earth Great Shift” immediately registered in his eyes.

“What does this mean? Is he supposed to use the Star Sucking Grand Technique alongside the Heaven and Earth Great Shift?”

He didn’t understand the situation. These two techniques weren't inherently bad, but what concerned Ye Wen was the ring's strange reaction—it had produced two manuals at once, and both shared a commonality: in the original narratives, they were top-tier techniques of the Demonic Cults.

Thus, Ye Wen began to suspect that because he had been constantly thinking of Chong Lou’s image during the summon, the ring was responding by producing techniques that matched Chong Lou’s projected image and temperament.

While he was pondering this possibility, he noticed that the true qi within his body had not yet settled. Another booklet suddenly popped out.

His palm supported the stack of manuals: the earliest, the Star Sucking Grand Technique, was at the bottom. When the Heaven and Earth Great Shift appeared, it settled directly atop the Star Sucking Grand Technique. Given that the Heaven and Earth Great Shift required far more cultivation stages than the Star Sucking Grand Technique, its booklet was significantly thicker.

The newly added manual was about as thin as the initial Star Sucking Grand Technique, a mere slim volume lying quietly on top of the Heaven and Earth Great Shift.

“Huh? Another one?”

Ye Wen glanced again, and the name he saw this time left him completely speechless—Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Technique!

“Heavens! Is this ring determined to produce every treasured demonic manual?”

Scratching his cheek with his free hand, Ye Wen gazed at the stack of manuals resting in his palm for a long moment, speechless. What troubled him further was that while these books were excellent, they didn't seem suitable for Chong Lou right now.

The Star Sucking Grand Technique had a singular function and too many drawbacks. The Heaven and Earth Great Shift was more akin to a method for manipulating inner strength, lacking significant cultivation benefits in itself. As for the Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Technique? Not only was it notoriously troublesome to cultivate, but it wasn't meant for a single person. Did Ye Wen have to find Chong Lou a close companion?

“Where am I supposed to find Fei Peng or Jing Tian?”

Thinking of this, Ye Wen felt a surge of frustration.

“Could it be that Chong Lou constantly seeks trouble with Fei Peng because he intends to use Fei Peng to practice that Dao Heart Seed Demon technique?”

The more he thought, the more he felt like spitting blood. However, Ye Wen suddenly felt this explanation made a strange kind of sense. Perhaps he could actually attempt this bizarre arrangement? After stroking his chin and seriously contemplating the feasibility, perhaps sensing Ye Wen’s dissatisfaction, the ring began to churn again. This time, the true qi inside Ye Wen was drawn out more intensely than all previous instances combined. Even Ye Wen had to concentrate fully, unable to let his mind wander.

“This one is really going for it!”

Grimacing as he controlled the true qi within his body, Ye Wen flicked the previous stack of manuals aside and stared intently, waiting for the manual the ring would provide this time. He was curious to see what the ring would produce after causing such a massive disturbance.

This time, the ring didn't make him wait long. Moments later, two equally thick booklets appeared in Ye Wen’s hands. The two volumes were stacked neatly; if Ye Wen hadn't been watching intently, he might have assumed it was one exceptionally thick book rather than two piled together.

Placing them before him, Ye Wen separated the two volumes and laid them side-by-side. The titles inscribed on them utterly shocked him.

“Blood Nerve Scripture”

This was the largest script on the cover, and just below the main title, smaller characters indicated 'Upper Volume' and 'Lower Volume' on the respective books.

Ye Wen’s understanding of the Blood Nerve Scripture was limited.

The fundamental reason was that he hadn't read the original source material. He had only read some Shu Shan fan fiction years ago—before he reincarnated as Ye Wen, the Head of the Shu Shan Sect. His knowledge of this manual was entirely confined to the descriptions found in those derivative works.

From those writings, Ye Wen knew this technique resembled the Nine Yin Manual in that although it was divided into two volumes, they could be cultivated independently. More accurately, they shouldn't be called Upper and Lower, but rather the Benevolent Volume and the Malicious Volume.

The first volume, the Benevolent Volume, was seemingly only practiced by the Blood God Elder in the original text; afterward, the Benevolent Volume was destroyed and never seen again. Since the Blood God Elder never made an appearance using it, nobody knew the contents of the Benevolent Volume.

Deng Yin, another famous figure from Shu Shan, practiced the Malicious Volume. Upon mastering it, he called himself the Blood God Son; his physical body existed between substance and illusion, rendering him immune to magical artifacts and flying swords. Upon pouncing on an enemy, he could instantly drain their life essence, both dominating and insidious.

Thinking of this, Ye Wen reached out and picked up the Malicious Volume, slowly reading through it. After all, his knowledge of the Blood Nerve Scripture was mostly limited to the details of this Malicious Volume, so he naturally began with that one.

Once he started reading, he nearly forgot the passage of time. Furthermore, as the world outside was perpetually gloomy, offering no changes in celestial brightness to gauge the time, Ye Wen had no idea how long he read the booklet. During this period, Artemis emerged for a look. Seeing him sitting cross-legged, unmoving, focused solely on the book in his hands, she decided not to disturb him.

Ye Wen had informed her before leaving that he was searching for a suitable cultivation method for Chong Lou. Seeing Ye Wen sitting cross-legged with several books laid out before him, Artemis assumed he was contemplating which technique to impart, deciding it was best not to interrupt. Although she couldn't comprehend why Ye Wen would trouble himself over such a matter—why not just pass on a powerful technique?—she didn't realize how dedicated Ye Wen was to his disciples. He felt that once he accepted someone as a disciple, a master must genuinely consider what is best for them and not just gloss over things carelessly. Otherwise, what kind of master would he be? He might as well not have taken the disciple at all.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this mindset that all his disciples respected him deeply, even if their master was occasionally unreliable and often seemed less like an elder. But because he taught them with such dedication, the disciples were profoundly grateful.

After reading for a long time, Ye Wen finally finished the entire Malicious Volume and gained a better understanding of the Blood Nerve Scripture!

Only then did he learn that although the Blood Nerve Scripture was split into two volumes, both recorded techniques belonging to a single discipline: the Blood Shadow Divine Light, or the Blood Shadow Divine Art, with only the cultivation methods differing.

The Malicious Volume described a strange and domineering cultivation method, yielding immense power upon completion, accompanied by intense killing intent. Moreover, its cultivation speed was far faster than the Benevolent Volume; a person with a firm will could achieve initial mastery in just a few years.

After finishing, Ye Wen picked up the Benevolent Volume. This time, it wasn't as arduous as reading the Malicious Volume, because the descriptions of many techniques in the Benevolent Volume were similar to the Malicious Volume, only lacking the intense killing nature and possessing less bizarre cultivation methods.

After skimming through it, Ye Wen compared the differences between the two volumes and found that while the Benevolent Volume also culminated in mastering the Blood Shadow Divine Light, it did not require the physical body to be destroyed. Furthermore, its cultivation path was not as agonizing as the Malicious Volume described—which demanded flaying one's entire skin and then piercing every pore with magic fire needles to burn the body with demonic flames.

Moreover, the demonic needles, arrayed throughout the body, would release a kind of Yin Demon that perpetually tormented the cultivator's spirit. If one’s resolve faltered, the result was immediate soul dissipation. This was even crueler than in the original texts, where there was a possibility of reincarnation; however, according to the version Ye Wen held, failure meant no chance of rebirth.

Since Ye Wen had never read the original source, he was naturally unaware of this detail, focusing only on comparing the two volumes.

But once mastered, the physical body vanished entirely, the entire physical form refined into an illusory shadow, achieving near indestructibility. Ye Wen wasn't particularly impressed by this near-immortality, especially after seeing the Benevolent Volume, which also resulted in near indestructibility but maintained a complete physical body—making him even less keen on the Malicious Volume.

The cultivation methods in the Benevolent Volume were much milder, requiring no such bizarre procedures. They were closer to the cultivation of ordinary techniques, except for one final hurdle: the cultivator needed to sit in meditation for decades to expel the Yin Demons stirred up by the technique. Otherwise, the practitioner would be constantly harassed by these Yin Demons and risk going mad at any time.

Additionally, cultivating the Malicious Volume affected the practitioner’s temperament. Perhaps someone inherently kind would become cruel and tyrannical, filled with murderous intent, after practicing it. The Benevolent Volume did not cause this. This seemed to be the fundamental reason why the Blood Nerve Scripture was split into Benevolent and Malicious halves.

Realizing this, Ye Wen could not possibly allow Chong Lou to practice the Malicious Volume. While he certainly wanted Chong Lou to become overwhelmingly powerful, he absolutely did not want to nurture a lunatic obsessed only with killing.

As for why he didn't simply tell Chong Lou not to practice the technique at all? It was because Ye Wen couldn't bear to let such a divine skill remain buried. Therefore, having Chong Lou cultivate this Blood Nerve Scripture was almost inevitable.

Reorganizing the two volumes, Ye Wen realized that by using the Benevolent Volume as the foundation for cultivating the Blood Nerve Scripture, some techniques or spells from the Malicious Volume could still be employed, but without the side effects encountered from cultivating the Malicious Volume in isolation. From this perspective, calling them Upper and Lower volumes was also accurate.

Having settled on a plan, Ye Wen casually put away the Blood Nerve Scripture and breathed a sigh of relief. “I wonder if I’ll end up creating a Demon Lord or a Blood God!”

Lowering his gaze, he discovered another manual lying before him. Ye Wen had been so engrossed in studying the Blood Nerve Scripture that he hadn't noticed when this set appeared.

In fact, this set of manuals had fallen out when he was handling the Blood Nerve Scripture. Because he was holding books in both hands, this set had dropped onto the ground before him, rather than landing in his hands.

Ye Wen casually picked up the booklet, his eyes immediately darting to the title. What he saw were the four characters: “Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”

“Heavenly Demon Divine Art? It’s already Heavenly Demon, yet it’s a Divine Art? What kind of name is that?”

But only upon opening it did he suddenly understand why it was named that, and where this martial art originated.

“So, it’s this set of techniques!”

This was a technique on par with the Cosmic Chaos Myriad Manifestations Art. The name derived from the fact that this technique was created by the Great Heavenly Demon, hence the name Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Objectively speaking, this was an incredibly domineering and formidable technique. Ye Wen studied it, suddenly uncertain whether he should have Chong Lou practice the Blood Nerve Scripture or this Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

“Before, there wasn't anything suitable. Now, there are too many suitable techniques!”

He also understood why the ring had drawn so much of his power in that last surge: the ring had absorbed the essence required for two top-tier internal cultivation methods at once. If Ye Wen hadn't possessed overwhelmingly robust cultivation and astonishing recovery speed, he likely would have collapsed, unable to move.

“Heavenly Demon Divine Art… Blood Nerve Scripture…”

Ye Wen stroked his chin, pondering for a moment, then glanced at the neglected Star Sucking Grand Technique and Heaven and Earth Great Shift! A thought suddenly struck him.

“Hmm? Since he’s destined to be called the Demon Lord in the future, why not…” practice them all together!