"You really are a weasel trying to eat a swan egg, dreaming quite beautifully! The materials placed in the first-floor public area are all general information, like the 'Hundred Herbs' and 'Common Beast Atlas' I gave you before. If you want to access confidential materials or secret techniques, you need to go to the second floor and exchange them with the managing elder," Zhao Tong raised his eyebrows and said with a smile.

"Exchange? That must cost a considerable amount of contribution value, right?" Yuan Ming asked.

"It depends on the specific case. According to the different values of the materials, the required contribution points also vary. Generally, a secret technique book for the Qi Refinement Realm needs about ten contribution points, while for the Foundation Establishment Stage, it usually takes over three hundred contribution points. Additionally, each borrowing time cannot exceed six hours," Zhao Tong continued.

"Six hours..." Yuan Ming murmured.

"It's usually difficult for anyone to memorize a secret technique book within six hours, so one needs to spend additional contribution points to exchange for a copied version. Typically, a copy of a Qi Refinement Realm technique costs a hundred contribution points, while a Foundation Establishment technique copy costs a thousand contribution points. This is a significant issue for others, but not so much for you," Zhao Tong looked deeply at Yuan Ming and said.

He remembered Yuan Ming's photographic memory vividly and envied it greatly.

If he had such ability, why would he need to buy these twisted and bizarre emotional biographies and strange novels over and over?

"Are there only secret techniques on the second floor? Are there any cultivation methods?" Yuan Ming nodded thoughtfully and then asked.

"Cultivation methods are fundamental to a sect. As far as I know, there aren't many available inside the sect, and the choices are extremely limited and shockingly expensive. Most people choose to cultivate the sect's orthodox method, 'Biluo Skill', rather than spending a large amount to exchange for others. Well... at the start of next month, the copied version of 'Biluo Skill' should be issued along with your contribution points, and then you'll be able to get it," Zhao Tong said.

After hearing this, Yuan Ming finally understood the rules of the Gui Cang Pavilion and couldn't help but ponder.

"Alright, I said I'd think of a way for you. If you don't have any contribution points for now, I could lend you five points," Zhao Tong looked at Yuan Ming, his eyes twinkling mischievously, and said with a grin.

"What are the conditions?" Yuan Ming asked without surprise.

"Playing it smart... How about paying back seven points at the beginning of next month as interest?" Zhao Tong rubbed his hands and snickered.

"Fair enough, not too ruthless. Agreed," Yuan Ming nodded.

Zhao Tong then took Yuan Ming's waist card, tapped it against his own, and after a flash of light, handed it back.

"Take a look," Zhao Tong said.

"How do I look?" Yuan Ming asked awkwardly.

At the Fire Refining Hall, he was essentially semi-free range; those focused solely on refining the embryo had no time to care about other matters, hence nobody had ever explained to him how to use the waist card.

Although he had seen Lei Gong operate it once, he had been rushed down the mountain before he could ask any questions.

"You really are... Never mind, I'll be a good person through and through. Hold the waist card, immerse your mind, and just focus slightly on the waist card," Zhao Tong said somewhat speechlessly, but still patiently explained.

Yuan Ming did as told, and as soon as he focused his mind on the waist card, he sensed some text information coming from it, recording his name, the emblem of his affiliation with the Fire Refining Hall, and the newly added five contribution points.

"How about that, do you feel it?" Zhao Tong's voice rang out.

Yuan Ming nodded.

"In the future, when you need to trade contribution points, just use the waist card and control it with your mind."

"Hehe, as the saying goes, you can't read a book without borrowing it. Using borrowed contribution points to borrow materials can also motivate you! Speaking of which, Senior Brother is really looking out for you," Zhao Tong chuckled.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhao. I will return it as promised at the beginning of next month," Yuan Ming sincerely thanked him and said.

The fact that Zhao Tong, based on their slight acquaintance in Toad Valley, trusted him and was willing to lend him contribution points, was an extremely rare occurrence within the Biluo Cave sect.

Afterward, the two continued chatting idly about various things, shared their living locations, and then waved goodbye.

Yuan Ming arrived at the Gui Cang Pavilion only to find that it was past 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the Gui Cang Pavilion had already closed, so he had no choice but to plan to return the next day.

By the time he returned to his residence at the Fire Refining Hall, it was midnight.

The sky was covered with clouds, obscuring the moonlight.

Yuan Ming sat down beside his bed but did not continue to cultivate the 'Moonlight Technique'; instead, he began to cultivate the 'Nine Elements Technique'.

Compared to the slow progress of the Moonlight Technique, the Nine Elements Technique was steadily improving, which greatly pleased him.

However, Yuan Ming also vaguely noticed that, perhaps due to his advancement to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, the cultivation progress of the Nine Elements Technique recently had also slightly slowed down.

If this really was the case, the further he progressed in his cultivation, the more difficult it would become.

...

After a night of cultivation, Yuan Ming felt refreshed and not at all tired, arriving at the Fire Workshop to refine embryos earlier than usual.

Fang Ge, who also habitually arrived at the Fire Workshop an hour earlier, watched Yuan Ming swing his hammer from a distance, a rare smile appearing on his serious face as he nodded in approval.

He admired Yuan Ming's persistent tenacity. Most of the newer disciples these days were somewhat impetuous and lacked patience, which gave him quite a headache.

Yet, every time Yuan Ming faltered after more than three hundred strikes from exhaustion and had to take a break, he couldn't help but sigh and shake his head as he walked away.

Though the spirit of trying repeatedly was commendable, there had to be some progress instead of constant failure.

Yuan Ming, of course, didn't notice Fang Ge's thoughtful attention; his mind wasn't there at the moment.

When it reached 1 pm, having completed his day's hammering, he promptly left the Fire Refining Hall and rushed excitedly to the Gui Cang Pavilion.

After registering and paying some contribution points at the entrance, Yuan Ming leisurely walked into the Gui Cang Pavilion.

Upon entering the first-floor hall, he immediately noticed a black and red wooden spiral staircase about thirty feet ahead, leading to the second-floor hall.

Around the staircase, there were circles of dark red, semi-circular tables and benches, where many disciples from various halls sat quietly reading books.

Yuan Ming's gaze swept across the area; outside the tables and chairs, there was a circular walkway. Beyond the walkway, on the walls, were shelves covering the entire wall, stuffed densely with books.

As he walked along the right-hand side of the shelves, looking up, he noticed wooden plaques hanging at intervals, labeled with categories such as "Hundred Herbs," "Miscellaneous Notes," "Strange Stories," "Strange Wind," "Geography Records," "Notes and Novels," and more.

While walking down the pathway and looking around, Yuan Ming finally found the "Hundred Beasts" category and took down the "Spiritual Beast Breeding Manual" from the shelf.

He found a quiet spot to sit down, opened the book, and began to read.

Yuan Ming read slowly but was extremely focused, staring intently at the pages, turning them every fifteen breaths in a very systematic manner.

When he turned the last page, he closed the book and began to carefully recall the content with his eyes closed.

This process was quite quick, taking just a few tens of breaths to review all the content.

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Apparently, a competent Beast Tamer not only needed to excel at capturing and taming spirit beasts but also had to master the techniques of breeding and rearing them.

According to the book, most spirit beasts' first few generations were obtained by capturing and taming, while the second and third generations were often bred and reared.

Because these later generations were raised from a young age, they were more human-like and easier to tame, but the downside was also clear: they lacked wildness and were generally weaker in quality.

The more generations a spirit beast was bred through, the more diluted the blood of the first generation became, lacking wildness, and their combat ability was far less than that of the first generation captured and tamed, so generally, after breeding spirit animals through three or four generations at most, they would stop breeding them and capture new ones again.

However, capturing a young spirit beast with pure bloodlines was naturally the best candidate for taming and breeding, as it balanced humaneness and strength, often awakening more talents as they aged.

Such juvenile beasts were very rare and were considered something one could hope for but not seek. The Fire Chan'er owned by one of the Three Cave Masters was an example, no wonder it was so treasured.

The content of the "Spiritual Beast Breeding Manual" Yuan Ming held focused mainly on the physical development and beastly nurturing of young spirit beasts.

The greatest requirement mentioned was to maintain a balance, ensuring the spirit beast's wildness and affinity were within reasonable limits, neither too close to the Human Clan lacking aggressiveness nor too wild to pose a threat to its master.

The book further categorized different types of spirit beasts according to their attributes, defining the general dietary rules for each major attribute.

This categorization was somewhat similar to the division of spiritual power attributes among Human Clan's cultivators, but spirit beasts, due to their bloodline, tended to be more pure, usually having a single attribute.

For instance, Green Wolves were mostly of the Wind Attribute and excelled in speed, with their attacks mainly using Wind Blades, while Black Bears were mostly of the Gold Attribute, excelling in Armor Breaking, using scratches and tears for attacks.

Fire Chan'er was clearly of the Fire Attribute, but it likely had some other special traits as well.

After finishing the "Spiritual Beast Breeding Manual," Yuan Ming stood up, returned the book, and then picked a few more related books from the shelf, flipping through them one by one.

About two hours later, he had read through nearly half of the books about spirit beasts on the shelves.

Upon realizing that the content was starting to repeat in the last few books to the extent of about 30% to 40%, Yuan Ming decided not to continue looking through other books. What could be read without spending was about this much already.

However, with his photographic memory and a reasonable understanding of Beast Taming, he had combined these various records with his own insights and gained a relatively comprehensive understanding of the Way of Beast Taming and the situation of spirit beasts, which was already sufficient for him at the moment.