As Liu Hui saw them all leave, he quickly shut the warehouse door. He carefully observed the dark-tailed snake before him. The snake was entirely black and appeared quite small, currently coiled up, its head raised, watching Liu Hui, its forked tongue occasionally flicking out.

Liu Hui sensed its thoughts, finding the contents of its small mind pitifully sparse; the only discernible impulse was hunger. He mentally commanded the snake to consume the eggshells. The serpent immediately lowered its head and began devouring the surrounding shells, quickly finishing them all. After consuming the shells, the snake felt considerably satiated and comfortable throughout its body, causing it to ceaselessly flick its tongue and move about.

Liu Hui monitored the snake's thoughts, then controlled its movements, directing it to form the letter 'L' on the ground for a moment, and then the letter 'B' the next. He was utterly thrilled; this control brought him immense joy—a control that was entirely at his beck and call. However, this snake was too weak, capable only of simple motions. He wondered what it felt like for the Zerg masters to control so many swarm units in combat.

After letting the snake slither for a while, Liu Hui coiled it around his hand. He looked at the creature and said, "Since you are a dark-tailed snake, I shall call you Xiao Hei (Little Black) from now on!"

Xiao Hei heard Liu Hui speak but offered no reaction, remaining motionless in his grasp. Liu Hui commanded Xiao Hei to stay still, then pulled a fine, slender syringe from his pocket, carefully inserted it into Xiao Hei's body, drew a small amount of blood, and returned the snake to the incubator.

Liu Hui carried the incubator down to the basement beneath the office building. He opened the dimensional trading device and hailed Zerg. Zerg appeared almost instantly.

"Lord Zerg, I have found a creature I can command. Please examine it for me," Liu Hui said happily to Zerg, holding Xiao Hei up toward the screen.

"Oh, you found one so quickly. You have excellent luck. Command it for me now!" Zerg replied enviously.

Liu Hui placed Xiao Hei on the floor and made it perform numerous actions under his control. He asked, "This must be the power of control, right?"

"Indeed, this is the power of control. It seems you have quite the talent. You can now transfer this creature's genes to me; we will begin research immediately," Zerg chuckled.

Liu Hui traded the tiny sample of blood he had drawn to Zerg. Holding the blood, Zerg stated, "We will first test its evolutionary potential. If it is worth modifying, we will enhance it for you. However, I must inform you clearly: my fee for modifying one creature for you is one thousand units of Mystic Powder."

"Lord Zerg, can you modify it to become incredibly powerful? Also, when do I need to pay you for that Mystic Powder?" Liu Hui asked immediately.

"Rest assured, I will only collect the powder after your creature's modification is successful. As long as you let us perform the modifications, you need not worry about its strength being insufficient. Remember, we Zerg are warriors capable of fighting across the universe," Zerg laughed.

"In that case, I will have to trouble you then," Liu Hui said, feeling relieved.

"No need for formalities."

Liu Hui closed the trading device and looked at Xiao Hei, feeling immensely excited. Yet, he also sensed the little snake was somewhat fatigued, as it had only just been born. Thus, he instructed Xiao Hei to sleep, and the snake immediately settled into the incubator and drifted off.

It was now five-thirty in the morning, and the sky outside was beginning to lighten. Liu Hui had no inclination to take a second nap, so he reactivated the trading device and contacted Xiaoyaozi from the cultivation plane. That old man with the white beard had mentioned studying sectarian scriptures last time; he wondered if there was any progress.

Xiaoyaozi connected quickly. He appeared on the trading device screen, looking flushed and cheerful.

"Senior, you seem quite happy. Has something good happened?" Liu Hui asked with a smile.

"Little friend, I am happy the moment I see you. I was just preparing to look for you. Tell me, what is this?" Xiaoyaozi smiled and opened his palm, upon which rested a reddish stone block that nonetheless emitted a faint, hazy white light.

"This... this object looks somewhat familiar," Liu Hui said hesitantly.

"Heh heh, this object is the Fire Crystal Stone you gave me. I have found the Attribute Conversion Array in the ancient texts. After experimentation, I have now successfully converted the fire energy within the Fire Crystal Stone into an attribute-less energy," Xiaoyaozi declared proudly.

"Congratulations, Senior. This means you have more jade suitable for cultivation," Liu Hui replied with a smile.

"Heh heh, although I found the array to convert energy attributes, this particular Fire Crystal Stone is too low in grade. After conversion, it only reaches the level of low-grade jade, which isn't of much use to me," Xiaoyaozi sighed.

"Senior, look what I have here," Liu Hui extended his hand and waved the item in his possession in front of Xiaoyaozi.

"What is that?" Xiaoyaozi’s eyes widened.

"Heh heh, the grade of this Fire Crystal Stone I possess is far higher than the one in your hand. If converted, it should reach the level of high-grade jade." The stone Liu Hui had given Xiaoyaozi previously was merely the core of a Rank-Two magical beast; the one in his hand now was the core of a Rank-Four magical beast.

"Little friend, could you perhaps let me examine the Fire Crystal Stone you have first?" Xiaoyaozi said coyly.

Liu Hui immediately traded the Fire Crystal Stone to Xiaoyaozi. Xiaoyaozi accepted it with excitement, closely examining the stone, nodding repeatedly.

"Senior, I have a question. After the attribute energies within this crystal are mutually converted, is the total energy reduced at all?"

"Based on my estimation, after the mutual conversion of attribute energies, one-tenth of the energy is lost," Xiaoyaozi replied.

"Such a massive loss!" Liu Hui exclaimed, startled that energy would decrease by 10% after conversion. However, he quickly relaxed; such things were countless in the magic plane, and if he could acquire these crystals in large quantities, that small loss was nothing to worry about.

"Senior, can you convert these attribute energies into electrical energy?" Liu Hui asked.

"Electrical energy is also a type of attribute energy, so of course, other energies can be converted into electrical energy. This is because the ancient texts provide detailed records of all attribute conversion arrays. However, the same one-tenth energy loss occurs during this conversion process," Xiaoyaozi responded.

"Senior, does your sect have cultivation techniques for Xiuzhen?" Liu Hui inquired.

"Naturally. If we didn't have cultivation techniques, how could we be cultivators?" Xiaoyaozi asked, puzzled.

"Senior, I wish to trade attribute crystals for your cultivation methods," Liu Hui stated.

"My cultivation technique merely focuses on cultivating true essence and is not suited for direct combat. Do you still need such a technique?" Xiaoyaozi questioned.

"After cultivating this technique, one should be able to overturn mountains and seas, and then soar through the universe, right?" Liu Hui asked.

"Certainly. If it lacks even that capability, how could it be called a Xiuzhen technique?" Xiaoyaozi asserted proudly.

"In that case, let us trade your cultivation technique for my attribute crystals!" Liu Hui declared.

"How do you propose we exchange?"

"One cultivation technique in exchange for one hundred of these high-grade attribute crystals I possess. What do you think?" Liu Hui asked tentatively.

"Deal, but the trade must happen immediately," Xiaoyaozi hastily agreed, fearing Liu Hui might change his mind, given his extreme craving for jade at that moment.

"Do you have the technique on your person right now?" Liu Hui quickly asked, eager to finalize the transaction as well.

"I always carry my techniques with me, but do you possess this many attribute crystals?"

"If I didn't, how could I exchange with you?" Liu Hui chuckled.

Liu Hui retrieved one hundred Rank-Four magical beast cores from his storage space, and Xiaoyaozi produced an ancient, rustic scroll from his person. Both placed their items on the trading device and clicked the respective trade buttons. Thus, the ancient scroll arrived in Liu Hui's hand, and one hundred magical beast cores reached Xiaoyaozi.

Liu Hui was excited and quickly opened the scroll, but the moment he did, his expression changed.

"Senior, what is written here? I don't recognize a single character!" Liu Hui said dejectedly.

"These are the characters used in our realm. Can't you see the four large characters written on the cover: Tiandi Zhenjing (True Scripture of Heaven and Earth)? Don't you recognize them?" Xiaoyaozi asked in surprise.

"The name is actually Tiandi Zhenjing? Isn't that a bit too grand?" Liu Hui felt the name of the cultivation technique was excessively ostentatious.

"We cultivators refine the energy between heaven and earth, ultimately achieving our True Self. Is such a name strange?" Xiaoyaozi questioned, perplexed.

"Oh, no, I am just a little overwhelmed by emotion. Senior, perhaps you could explain it to me in detail; I cannot read the script of your world," Liu Hui requested.

"Give me the book."

Liu Hui traded the scroll back to Xiaoyaozi. Xiaoyaozi took the scroll back. He first meticulously inspected the magical beast cores in his hand, verifying their quality and quantity, before placing them into his own storage space.

Only then did Xiaoyaozi relax, preparing to read the contents of the scroll aloud to Liu Hui.

"Senior, please wait a moment." Liu Hui quickly stopped him. He found a recorder in the basement, pressed the record button, and signaled Xiaoyaozi that he could begin.

Liu Hui understood nothing of the meridians, energy circulation, or similar concepts Xiaoyaozi explained. Fortunately, he managed to record the entire discourse using the recording device. Xiaoyaozi soon finished explaining the Tiandi Zhenjing. Liu Hui asked him to elaborate on the details of the content once more, and Xiaoyaozi then shared some insights gained from his years of cultivation. Although the scroll's content was not extensive, under Xiaoyaozi's detailed explanation, the whole narration took two hours to complete.

After finishing the explanation, Xiaoyaozi was extremely eager to begin etching the conversion array with his hundred Rank-Four crystals. He told Liu Hui to consult him if any questions arose and then abruptly ended the call.

Liu Hui looked at the recorder with a headache. He replayed the recording, but the strange and obscure content immediately gave him a throbbing pain in his head; after only playing the beginning, his mind turned into a messy pulp. He irritably switched the recorder off.

Liu Hui felt a brief bout of frustration, but he knew he had no choice. For the sake of his future power, he had to master this cultivation technique. It seemed the next few days would be dedicated to carefully studying this recording. He put the recorder into his storage space, glanced at Xiao Hei, and then left the basement.