As soon as Zhu Furong stepped inside the Nine-Layers Pagoda, the door automatically shut behind him. A dense fog of Spiritual Qi hit his face, making his body chilly and at the same time making it hard to breathe. Zhu Furong instantly sat down in lotus posture, closing his eyes. Within a few minutes, he calmed his mind and body to adjust to the environment.

He slowly opened his eyes and observed his surroundings. A vast space with a night sky above. A limited number of stars could be seen shining brightly in the sky. The pitch black walls of the Nine-Layers Pagoda is made up of Star Iron, found in the core of a star or a planet. Due to the Star Iron having gravitational properties, light doesn't reflect from its surface. So the whole space inside the Nine-Layers Pagoda is dark, more like the night-time.

Unexpectedly the floor of Nine-Layers Pagoda has Purple Grass growing on it. Leaves with a length of about 5 inches. Purple Grass is the only vegetation that can grow without sunlight and photosynthesis. Also, it dies if sun rays hit it. From this it can be inferred that the Nine-Layers Pagoda is always in the state of night-time.

The air in the pagoda is somewhat dense due to the high density of Spiritual Qi. The purity of the Spiritual Qi is also quite high.

Zhu Furong noticed that near him lay several items that he stored inside the Nine-Layers Pagoda, like the basketball sized High grade Spirit Crystal, a Space Ring, some jade boxes and wooden boxes filled with herbs and ores, etcetera. Everything is scattered on the floor in a random manner. The items are reflecting the light that falls on their surface else it would be impossible to see them in this darkness.

Zhu Furong stood up dusting his butt.

Zhu Furong suddenly heard Zhu Xingzuo calling him. "Don't waste your time standing there, start running. I am at the center of this floor, come here."

"Ah? Aren't the floors of the Nine-Layers Pagoda the size of a large continent? How long will it take to reach the center from here? Can't you come here?" Zhu Furong scratched his head.

"At your current speed, it would take you about half a day. So start running. I am not going there, it will waste quite an amount of my Qi to move as an egg." Zhu Xingzuo replied.

"Urgh!... Sigh!... So, which direction should I run?" Zhu Furong asked.

"Just follow the head of the Leo Constellation." Zhu Xingzuo answered.

Zhu Furong raised his head and noticed that the stars in the sky inside the Nine-Layers Pagoda form the 12 Zodiac Constellations.

"Wow." Zhu Furong uttered from amazement and then started running at full speed.

"There are only 12 constellations in the sky and no more extra stars are there. Is it some sort of array?" Zhu Furong questioned.

"Smart. Yes it's an array." Zhu Xingzuo praised.

Zhu Furong twisted his lips. "What does the array do?"

"Wait a sec, let me see..." Zhu Xingzuo went quiet for a bit of time before speaking again. "It's a type of 'Star Array'. Star Arrays use star coordinates in the array to borrow energy from their corresponding stars. This array has high efficiency during the night when the sky is clear. This particular '12 Zodiac Array' here in the Nine-Layers Pagoda is used for absorbing high purity Spiritual Qi from the 12 Zodiac Constellations and at a speed high enough to fill the air with Qi Fog." "Ah, the purity of this absorbed Spiritual Qi is about 90 percent." Zhu Xingzuo explained.

"Siiiii... Such a thing... " Zhu Furong sucked in cold air. "And with all this high quality Spiritual Qi available here, you still make a fuss about not having enough Qi." Zhu Furong complained.

"This is Spiritual Qi and what I use is Chaos Qi, of course I will make a fuss. How hard do you think it is to convert Spiritual Qi into Chaos Qi? The supply of Spiritual Qi is never enough." Zhu Xingzuo harrumphed.

"Humph!" With contempt, Zhu Furong continued running.

It took Zhu Furong about 10 hours to reach the center of this floor while running non stop. He is sweating bullets by now. Even with his strong physique he feels tired after running for so long without any rest.

With a plop, he fell on the ground with his buttocks. He huffed and puffed for air. In front of him stood a giant egg about the height of 10 feet. Some sort of translucent runes are running through the black and uneven surface of the egg.

"Xingzuo?" Zhu Furong asked while breathing heavily.

"Yep... Hehe, long time no see Big Brother." Zhu Xingzuo replied with joy.

"You have grown smaller." Zhu Furong frowned.

"I still have a long way to go. The last time you got hit by the Heavenly Tribulation for the whole night, I benefited a lot from it. The more Chaos Qi I condense the smaller the size of the egg will get." Zhu Xingzuo explained.

"I see." Zhu Furong nodded while wiping his face with a small towel.

"Let's get to work, where are the things my Masters left for me?" Zhu Furong stood up.

"They are here, look behind me." Zhu Xingzuo replied.

Zhu Furong walked around Zhu Xingzuo. He found some jade slips kept in a pile on the ground. There are hundreds of them. Zhu Furong picked a few up to inspect.

"These are Cultivation techniques, arts and skills. There are some refining methods too. And array..." Zhu Furong kept inspecting the jade slips with his Divine Sense for a few minutes.

He nodded. "Are these all? Only jade slips, nothing else?" Zhu Furong asked with doubt.

"These are all that I found here. Nothing else." Zhu Xingzuo replied.

"What about the other floors? Maybe they kept something there?" Zhu Furong asked.

"Er... This is the only usable floor. The rest eight floors are not accessible. There's no door. From what I found the upper floors all have high grade defense materials densely packed inside along with high rank arrays. There also seems to be some sort of mechanism in place. The middle of each floor is hollow with Spiritual Qi condensed in liquid form. The amount of energy this pagoda holds is enough to destroy a few planets and stars. But unfortunately it's not accessible either." "This pagoda... If I am not wrong, it is a part of some sort of artifact. You need the other parts to make full use of this Nine-Layers Pagoda." Zhu Xingzuo presented his observations.

Zhu Furong went into deep thought. After some time he breathed out a long breath. "Well, we can think about it later. For now, being able to use this pagoda as a secret storage and as an absolute defense artifact in clutch situations is more than enough for me."

"Let's check these jade slips to see if I can use something from here." Zhu Furong started reading each jade slip carefully and arranging them in order. He took out a few empty wooden boxes to separately store the jade slips according to their contents and size. The jade slips have different colors, and each one has a coating of Strengthening Array and Preservation Array. The jade slips are of different sizes and colors. Size from a finger length to as large as a palm of hand.

After a few hours Zhu Furong was left with about ten to twenty jade slips and rest he stored inside the boxes.

"Out of 468 jade slips, only these 19 are somewhat useful for me. Rest, all have some sort of restrictions or some outrageous requirements." Zhu Furong shook his head in disappointment.

"What did you find?" Zhu Xingzuo asked with excitement.

"The Body Cultivation technique you made me practice. The full technique has parts perfect for the Demon Race, but I don't think I will be Cultivating those parts right?" Zhu Furong picked one jade slip and fiddled with it before keeping it aside.

"No, Hei Hai modified that technique so it suits you better. You will only practice the 'Body Transformation' part, rest is not needed." Zhu Xingzuo clarified.

"So my next step in Cultivation is the 'Meridians Tempering' stage?" Zhu Furong questioned. Somewhat confused.

"No. You have already passed that stage during these few years. My constant care of your meridians with my Chaos Qi has already tempered your meridians to the peak. I even doubt you will see any difference from the Flowing Qi pill." "So your next step is Viscera and Bowels Training." "We have been collecting materials for that." Zhu Xingzuo replied in an unhurried manner.

"So did my battle prowess increase after reaching the Meridians Tempering stage?" Zhu Furong asked with curiosity.

"Ah, no. Something like this won't show any effect on your battle prowess. Your battle prowess is still at the peak Foundation Establishment rank. The next change... Hmm... It will be the Bones Reforging stage. You will receive a huge boost in your strength. The last two stages, Muscle Altering and Marrow Tempering will also significantly raise your strength. So look forward to it." Zhu Xingzuo explained with excitement.

"Hmm..." With a slight nod he picked up another jade slip.

"Law of the Jungle." "A skill to rule the world. Wherever I stand, I am the king." Zhu Furong read the starting few lines and showed an impressed expression. "The requirement is to have the Monster Race bloodline, the higher the rank the more effective the skill is." "Just like the king of the jungle, your roar will shake the soul of your enemies and instill them with fear, paralyzing them in their places." After these lines are the steps to practice the skills, Zhu Furong memorized it by heart then put the jade slip aside picking two other jade slips from the pile.

These two jade slips are the size of a palm with deep blue color. Zhu Furong held each in each of his hands. He spoke emotionally. "Cultivation Arts created by Master Hei Hai and his wife. 'Demon Sword, Freezing Point' and 'Heavenly Moon Dance'." "One for males and another for females" Zhu Furong put the jade slip with the female Cultivation Art aside and read the Demon Sword, Freezing Point art.

It's a Cultivation Art with pure Yin Qi requirements. Zhu Furong having the flesh and bones of a Snow Demon solves this problem. Now he has to check if this Cultivation Art suits his path of Cultivation.

Demon Sword, Freezing Point consists of a Yin Cultivation technique and a Weapon Art. This Cultivation Art can be used with any weapon, but it suits a sword the best.

It complements and counters the Heavenly Moon Dance, which also requires Yin Qi and has Weapon Art.

"Hmm... I like fighting with my fists more and only Cultivating Yin Qi is not beneficial for me. I will do it as secondary, enough to support the Weapon Art, since it was created by Master Hei Hai. It is definitely of a high skill level, there is no doubt about it. I can use a weapon to fight the masses. It's a hassle to fight a group with only two fists. I can just chop them with a large weapon and be done with it." Zhu Furong rubbed his chin with an evil grin.

"Now let's see what these are..." Zhu Furong picked 13 jade slips at once and went through them like shuffling cards, reading each jade slip one by one, his smile getting wider and wider, the corner of his mouth almost reaching his ears.

"Collection of Array Construction techniques up to rank 9, Artifact Refining techniques up to rank 9, Alchemy Techniques for rank 9 pills and medicinal liquid. List of different Arrays, Artifacts, Pills and Medicinal Liquids, with the name of the required materials." "Huhuhu… These are all treasures, I can't express my joy with words." "There are also jade slips with information about some species of Demon and Spirit race. Also some from Monster Race." "These will come in handy." Zhu Furong is very happy with this collection. The smile won't have his face. With these techniques and information he can reach even higher rank in the various Cultivation fields compared to his past life. Concocting a rank 9 pill on his own is no longer a dream. All Zhu Furong needs now is time and practice.

Keeping the 13 jade slips with the other 4 he picked earlier, Zhu Furong took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. There are two jade slips left to inspect. Zhu Furong kept these for the last. First, one of the jade slips is made up of the same base material as the Nine-Layers Pagoda, Star Iron. And second, the technique and art mentioned in these jade slips are the ones Zhu Furong needs the most right now.

With a calm mind Zhu Furong picked up the Star Iron jade slip. Upon picking up the jade slip, the first word that came into his mind was 'heavy'. Being refined from the core of a star, a one cm cube of Star Iron has a weight of about 100kg. This finger sized jade slip weighed about 2.5 metric tonnes. If not for Zhu Furong's good Body Cultivation, he wouldn't be able to lift it off the ground. But for the guy who used to carry one metric ton weights all the time in his body, he didn't even sweat a single bead while carrying this jade slip in his hand.

"Steps of God. A combination of maneuver skills." "Fly like a god. There's no one under the heavens who can catch up to you." Zhu Furong read the first few lines. This is obviously a maneuver skill. Zhu Furong has a strong body, and good Cultivation. But what he lacks is a skill to catch his enemies or escape in the moments of peril. With this the issue is solved.

He read the steps and requirements. "Requirement is to have a strong physical body, as strong as a Strength Demon or a Dragon." "If I remember correctly, Strength Demons have a large frame with stone-like solid muscles. They are the strongest Demons when it comes to physique." "Hmm..." Zhu Furong raised his arm and pulled and pushed the muscles. "It will do." He murmured with satisfaction.

"Pfft..." Zhu Xingzuo couldn't help but laugh.

Zhu Furong ignored him.

"Step one, Wind Steps. Flow like wind, fast and flexible. Light and unrestrained."

"Step two, Thunder Steps. Zoom like lightning while your steps call upon thunder."

"Step three, Wind and Thunder Steps. Catch me if you can."

"Step four, Space Steps. Cut through space. They blink, you blink."

"Step five, Time Steps. Time waits for none, but why do I feel I am back in time?"

"These five steps, make the Steps of God." Zhu Furong made a strange face. He scratched his head with both his hands. "Oh my god!" "These steps are so vague with not much useful information. It's filled with puzzles. These are only hints." "I guess, I have to decipher the Cultivation methods of these maneuver skills myself with just what's written here." "Gotta rack up my brain real hard." "Siiiiii..." Zhu Furong breathed through his teeth. Irritated to the max.

"Don't worry, I will help you. Why are you getting so irritated? Two brains will work on it, it will be solved in moments. Hehe..." Zhu Xingzuo cheered.

"Hah... Well whatever." Zhu Furong picked up the last jade slip, this jade slip is deep red in color. It gives the feeling of picking up a lump of coagulated blood.

"This is the solution for your current predicament. A method to solve the issue of Demon Qi in your body. Though I don't think it will be solved any sooner. This Cultivation Art takes quite a long time to practice and the resources required are also large in number and huge in quantity." Zhu Xingzuo spoke from the side.

"Blood Purification Art." Zhu Furong read the name of the Cultivation Art. It was enough to know what this Cultivation Art is about. He still gave it a read.

"The origin of this Cultivation Art is the Blood Demon species of Demon Race. It's a method to burn your blood to purify the essence. To supplement the loss of blood you need various resources according to your bloodline properties." Zhu Furong silently read the rest of it.

He took a deep breath. "Ok, let's clarify certain points." "The higher ranked bloodline will absorb the lower rank to increase its own purity." Zhu Furong frowned.

"You have my bloodline as a Monster Race. Being a Primal Beast, I am on the top of the rankings, so even if you absorb the blood essence of a Divine Beast like a Dragon, you will retain the bloodline of a Primal Beast. But..." "If it is the opposite, then your Dragon Bloodline will be replaced by the Primal Beast bloodline, and if your body couldn't handle the bloodline of a higher rank than you would die." Zhu Xingzuo explained.

"Understood. So I have the best Monster Race bloodline out there. What about my other three Bloodlines?" Zhu Furong asked.

"Hmm... In my opinion, since Hei Hai and Bian Chao were the gods of a whole race. Then that means their bloodline is the most superior in their races." "From Hei Hai you got the bloodline of a Demon and from Bian Chao you got the bloodlines of a Spirit and a Human. All three bloodlines are of high rank." Zhu Xingzuo concluded.

"Good." Zhu Furong slightly nodded with a thoughtful look. After a while he sat in lotus posture.

"There is a method to check one's bloodline purity. Let me try it here. After that we can plan accordingly." Zhu Furong suggested.

"That would be great." Zhu Xingzuo agreed then he went silent so as not to disturb Zhu Furong.

After about half an hour, Zhu Furong woke from meditation.

He murmured. "Demon 70 percent, Human 50 percent, Spirit 50 percent and Monster... 30 percent..."

Zhu Furong went silent for a moment before breaking with a thunder.

"You bastard, cheap skate, Xingzuo, only 30 percent Monster Race bloodline! You fucker!" Zhu Furong cussed loudly pointing at the egg in front of him.

"You-You... How can you curse me like that? Do you know how much I sacrificed? Go out there and ask a Dragon to give you a drop of his blood essence, let me see what happens. Humph! You should know how to appreciate my kindness." Zhu Xingzuo jeered.

Zhu Furong glared at the egg for a while before turning his head with a humph.

"Well, I have to farm high rank Spiritual Beasts in the future it seems. I am gonna eradicate the whole Tartarus Forest if needed. Tch!" Zhu Furong clicked his tongue before running at full speed towards the door. He carried the 19 selected jade slips to keep them near the door for easy access.

"Hey, couldn't you have read me the jade slips? You did it to look for information on the Star Array before didn't you? If you read all the jade slips, I don't have to run back and forth such a long distance. You really are of no help." Zhu Furong complained.

"It took you 4 hours, just to skimp though these 468 jade slips. To read each and every one of these to you... No thank you. I am too lazy." Zhu Xingzuo yawned to show his laziness.

Zhu Furong rolled his eyes and shook his head.

It took another 10 hours to reach the door, after resting near the door arranging the items in an order, Zhu Furong opened the door to leave the pagoda.

Zhu Furong has spent a whole day inside the pagoda.