Long Chen entered the Divine Dao Scripture Pavilion, revealed the mentor's nameplate, and the gatekeeper disciple finally stopped blocking him.
The Divine Way Scripture Pavilion in the inner courtyard was much stricter in inspection than in the outer courtyard. Long Chen had to go through three rounds of inspections before entering the scripture pavilion.
The Divine Way Scripture Pavilion in the inner courtyard was about the same size as the Divine Way Scripture Pavilion in the outer courtyard, but the books were less than one-tenth of those in the outer courtyard.
Many bookshelves were small, but next to them were more than a dozen cramped quiet rooms, each just big enough for one person.
In the cramped meditation room, there was a device for placing books. Once the books were placed on the ground, the formation inside the meditation room would activate, helping people quickly memorize the contents of the book.
Because the inner courtyard's Divine Way scripture pavilion was filled with extremely important books, and the content was extremely large, making reading very difficult. Therefore, there was a special reading room in the inner courtyard.
If it were another inner sect disciple, entering the Divine Dao Scripture Pavilion once required paying 100,000 Immortal Crystals to buy an admission ticket.
Moreover, using the meditation chamber required ten thousand immortal crystals at once. It could be said that the inner courtyard burned even more money, so many disciples prepared in advance when entering the Divine Path Scripture Pavilion, exhausting all their soul power in one go and only leaving after learning enough.
Moreover, the Divine Dao Sutra Pavilion in the inner courtyard had no space for soul restoration, so most people would rely on pills to hold their ground, only leaving when their bodies couldn't take it anymore. After all, money was spent wisely.
Because Long Chen was a human-level mentor, having this avatar allowed him to enter the Divine Dao Scripture Pavilion for free, but studying books and using the reading room required paying for himself.
Elite inner sect disciples rarely use immortal crystals directly; instead, they use crystal cards. If they want to learn a book, they can simply swipe the crystal card, and the money will be deducted so the book can be taken down. Otherwise, with the protection of the formation, it would be impossible to get it.
"What a trap!"
Long Chen entered the Divine Dao Scripture Pavilion. He was once extremely excited, but now it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, as if reality had slapped him across the face—his dream had come to an end.
Long Chen had originally thought this place was just like the outer courtyard, where he could read with his own abilities, but it turned out he was reading with his own funds. He had planned to read all the books here, but now he could only laugh—money was simply not enough.
As Long Chen walked forward, he found that the cost to read any book here was never less than ten thousand immortal crystals. Ten thousand was the minimum limit, with the highest going at fifty to sixty thousand.
"Why not just rob him?"
Long Chen was annoyed, but then he thought, robbing was never that fast. Well, the academy's ability to make money was truly exceptional.
But complaints aside, learning is still necessary. Even though the tuition here is so expensive, Long Chen noticed that there were still many people here, and many study rooms were occupied.
Moreover, Long Chen saw many people with pale faces and lifeless eyes, showing signs of extreme exhaustion, yet still desperately studying.
Long Chen nodded. Perhaps the high entrance fees and tuition made people cherish opportunities even more. In the outer courtyard, no one worked this hard.
Everyone here was busy, barely glancing at anyone else, working extremely hard. Long Chen thought to himself that most strong people were stronger because they were more diligent than others.
Long Chen made his way to the fire technique manual area and noticed that there were noticeably fewer people here than elsewhere. The reading rooms in other places were packed with people, and some were even lining up to wait.
This area was noticeably much less crowded; although it wasn't completely deserted, at least there were no queues.
"Fire Cloud Palm, seventeen thousand."
"Explosive Flame Fist, twenty-one thousand."
"Purple Flame Locking Heaven and Earth, forty-six thousand."
Long Chen looked at the prices of these immortal arts and couldn't help but feel speechless. This was too expensive, and the cost was just too much.
However, along the way, Long Chen couldn't find the bookshelf of the Great Brahma Heavenly Sutra. As he moved forward, his heart began to sink, because the further he went, the higher the price of books. Soon, he saw a hundred-thousand-level existence.
At the end of the bookshelf, he saw a pillar made of immortal gold, with runes flickering on its surface and radiating terrifying energy.
Embedded in the pillar were four books about a foot square, each flickering with flames. It seemed to be burning, radiating a powerful pressure.
Although he had mentally prepared himself for the "Great Brahma Heaven Sutra,"
seeing those four characters still made Long Chen's heart race with excitement.
"These are volumes one through four of the Great Brahma Heavenly Sutra." Long Chen looked at the four books, filled with excitement. From the fluctuations in the books, he could feel the fluctuations of the scriptures inside even through the formation—so familiar.
"It really is the Great Brahma Sutra, absolutely correct. Volumes one to three, exactly the same as what I learned." Long Chen's heart pounded wildly; he had truly found the Great Brahma Heaven Sutra.
"Volume one 500,000, Volume 2 1 million, Volume 3 1.5 million, Volume 4 2 million. I'm going." When Long Chen saw the fees listed above, he almost cursed out loud.
Studying four volumes at once costs five million immortal crystals—this is just shameless. Is the academy really broke or something?
Long Chen looked at the instructions carved on the pillar and almost laughed. It read: The Great Brahma Heavenly Sutra is profound and difficult to comprehend, extremely difficult to comprehend. Those with high comprehension must study repeatedly to succeed. Be cautious, be cautious.
In other words, if you want to practice the Great Brahma Sutra and succeed on the first try, it's impossible. Succeeding three times, five times, ten or eight times is already extremely rare.
So, you need to be mentally prepared before learning, because the bookshelves here charge at this rate. If you consume such a terrifying amount of immortal crystals at once, and still can't learn after dozens of attempts, you'll be so angry you'll smash the bookshelf.
Perhaps the academy knew this would happen and explained it here, so as not to upset the disciples. Long Chen continued reading and suddenly made a pleasant discovery.
It turns out that the second volume of the Great Brahma Sutra contains the content of the first volume. This is because the scriptures must be combined with the mental methods of the first volume to recite the second volume's texts. Therefore, the second volume contains the heart teachings from the first volume.
The fourth volume, the Great Brahma Sutra, contains the mental methods from the first three volumes, meaning Long Chen can directly cultivate the fourth volume without worrying about the first three.
Long Chen had originally come for the fourth volume, but if the first three volumes differed from what he had cultivated, then going to cultivate the fourth volume would be too dangerous. This kind of thing couldn't be taken lightly; even a slight mistake could cost him a life.
"Damn it, did you calculate that I just made a fortune and deliberately come to extort me?" Long Chen gritted his teeth and took out his crystal card.
Inside this crystal card were a total of 2.03 million immortal crystals. Most of this money came from the Pill Institute, which included rewards for human-level mentors, earth-level mentors, one-star top-grade pills, and one-star treasure pills.
Now, with two million to be handed out all at once, Long Chen's heart was bleeding, but there was no other choice. For the sake of the Great Brahma Heaven Sutra, no matter how expensive, he had to give it up.
"Buzz!"
After swiping the card, Long Chen showed only thirty thousand Immortal Crystals left. Then the fourth volume of the Great Brahma Heaven Scripture trembled, and a ball of light appeared in Long Chen's hand.
Then the pillar slowly opened, revealing a portal—a place for comprehension specially prepared for disciples practicing the Great Brahma Heaven Sutra.
Long Chen held the orb of light and was about to enter when suddenly a cold voice came from behind
"Wait"