These were the three secrets that Ding Hao finally chose.

Basically, they were the highest-ranked skill books stored on the third floor of the “Swordsmanship Hall Library”.

The two old monsters, Saber Master and Sword Master, were both quite satisfied with Ding Hao’s choice.

Now, Ding Hao had used up his time he could spend in the library. He carefully held the three wood boxes and found his way back. When he finally came to the entrance the “pagoda library”, he once again met the white-haired old man, who was still lying on a bamboo recliner absorbed in some popular novel.

“You’ve finally chose some? Let me see.” The white-haired old man took the three wooden boxes from Ding Hao’s hand.

“Well, my little fellow, you have a keen eye and a lot of ambition. You have chosen the three skills that are the most powerful and at the same time the most difficult to practice on the third floor of the pagoda library. You’ve done pretty well.” The white-haired old man’s face showed a trace of surprise.

However, after a pause, the white-haired old man added earnestly, “Little fellow, although you have a keen eye, I must advise you to choose again instead of taking these three.”

Ding Hao was dazed. “But why?”

“These skills require hard training. They’ll take a long time. You won’t find yourself improve shortly and it’ll make your progress seem slow. Since you are now the number one of the five academies competition, you’ll face numerous challenges in the future. If you can increase your strength rapidly in a short time, you might find the situation exhausting.” The white-haired old man looked dignified when he said that.

Ding Hao put on a smile and gratefully answered, “Thank you for your advice, but I believe that the road to martial arts lies exactly in the accumulation of hard training. I should value long-term interests instead of quick results, which will only lead to an unstable foundation. I still want to choose these three.”

The old man shook his head and said helplessly, “Sure enough, you have the same stubborn temper as that old monster. Let it be, I will not force you, but I will give you one day. If you regret your choice tomorrow, you can find me and I’ll give you another chance.”

Ding Hao gratefully saluted the old man and said, “Thank you very much!”

“Well, mark them in the borrowing register next to you, then take it back to practice. You can make your own manuscripts. But remember, you must not pass on the contents of the secret script to other disciples without the approval of the general teaching staff of your college. Otherwise, according to the sect rules, no one can save you.”

“I see.”

Ding Hao filled out the borrowing register, thanked him again and turned to leave.

…

Seeing Ding Hao’s figure disappear into the distance, the white-haired old man lay back on the bamboo recliner. Suddenly, he said to someone that could not be seen, “The boy you’ve chosen is really good. He’s a bit interesting, and I didn’t came for nothing.”

“Haha, people I’ve picked are surely good enough. Well, thank you very much for this time. The first one in charge of the Swordsmanship Hall Library personally acted as the gatekeeper.” In the air, a voice Ding Hao would have been absolutely familiar with rang.

“It’s nothing. I just hope you’ll take good care of your chosen one. There’re all sorts of bad characters in this year’s listed disciples. It’s not quite on the other side. Don’t let the past tragedies happen again. Genius is always easy to die young.”

After finishing these words, with a silver flash, along with his recliner, the old man completely vanished into the air.

“Humph, this time, I will definitely not compromise with anyone. Whoever dares to touch my man will die!” The sound in the air was cold and terrible and even made the temperature drop abruptly.

Then, before the “pagoda library”, peace was restored.

After 15 minutes, an ordinary inner elder came to the gate of the “pagoda library” on duty.

There were also endless disciples who came here to borrow or return the skill books in the “pagoda library”.

“Less than one hour on the first floor costs five Contribution Points, 10 Contribution Points on the second floor, and fifteen on the third floor…” The elder on duty announced the price of visiting and borrowing magic skill book loudly.

…

As soon as Ding Hao returned to his room, and before he had the time to relish the three books he chose, a knock on the door was heard.

Wang Xiaoqi and Zhang Fan appeared at the door.

Over the past few days, Zhang Fan had purchased some energy catalyst herbs with the gold he had won in the gamble. After taking them, he had successfully activated his Qi Seed and mastered the power of Qi in the first stage. He had greatly advanced his realms, hence he looked completely refreshed. At the same time, he practiced more diligently.

Moreover, Wang Xiaoqi had finally stepped into the middle area of the Martial Disciple Realm.

However, apparently, he did not work as hard as the hunter youth did. With his talent, his progress could only be regarded as moderate.

“Senior Brother Ding, just now teacher-in-charge Wang Juefeng sent a messenger. In three days, we will have our first field trial. This time, we’ll go to the ninth test zone near the sect. There are relatively few demons and it’s less dangerous for us. Senior Brother Zhong and I want to purchase some essential items in the market. How about going with us?”

Zhang Fan warmly invited.

Ding Hao was pleasantly surprised. “A field test? Finally, I have the chance to see the world outside the sect.”

“Well, let’s go.”

Ding Hao wanted to buy something as well.

The three met. Then talking and laughing, they walked together to the market of Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.

…

The market was where all kinds of living, cultivation, and tradable goods were traded.

From bottom to top, there were 9 districts in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.

The five academies where the nominal disciple dwelled belonged to the outermost 9th district at the bottom, while the closest market to them was located at the 7th district. The market was not small, however, apparently, it could not compare with the market in the higher core districts.

This was the first time that Ding Hao had visited this market.

The streets were packed with people and full of hustle and bustle, much like the shopping centers on earth from his previous life.

The broad and smooth streets were lined with different antique shops of all sizes on both sides. Gold signs were hanging everywhere. The shops were engaged in all kinds of trades and were old brands, such as “Elixir Hall”, “Spiritual Medicine House”, “Fantastic Sword Hall”, “Joy & Blessing Pawnshop”, “Free Swap Hall” and etc.

In addition to these well-decorated shops, there were all kinds of stalls along the road and vendors were hawking loudly.

People who ran a business here included nominal disciples, outside disciple, inner disciple, and even some elders. Of course, besides the people from the sect, there were also many people outside the sect. They had received licenses from the sect and thus were also permitted to do business here.

The commercial development here was far beyond Ding Hao’s imagination.