Opening the package, there were three items inside. One was an ancient book, "The Classic of Returning to Truth," which was the true teaching that Old Priest had received, and also the cultivation method previously practiced by this body. However, for Ryan Clark, since he now possessed the "Shangqing Yu Yu True Transmission Daoist Record for Overcoming Calamities and Attaining the Dao," a fundamental method that directly pointed to the Great Dao, the cultivation method in this scripture was of little use. Still, the Daoist arts in the "Treasure Record" were all derived from the fundamental method. Aside from a few divine abilities that required external objects for cultivation, most of them were Daoist techniques that could only be practiced after reaching the Golden Core stage. In contrast, the "Classic of Returning to Truth" contained more usable Daoist arts. Although they were all techniques and, due to the limitations of cultivation level, not very powerful, their magical nature meant they always had various practical uses.

When Ryan Clark thought about the lack of power, he recalled a divine Daoist technique from the "Treasure Record" that required external objects for cultivation: the Taiyin Lung Metal Geng Sword Qi. This divine ability required finding a piece of Geng metal, then using a secret method to absorb the essence of the Geng metal into the lungs, tempering it day and night with secret techniques until it finally took shape. According to the description, its power was tremendous, and unlike spellcasting, it did not require forming hand seals or chanting incantations, making it extremely fast to use. Even cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage might not be able to withstand its edge. Of course, whether one could actually hit the target was another matter, as this divine ability had both range and usage limitations. Naturally, as the sword qi was gradually nurtured over time, both its power and range would increase.

But this was just a thought. The minimum requirement for cultivating this divine ability was the Out-of-Body stage. Without fine control over one's soul, how could one control the essence of Geng metal? Without powerful internal energy, how could the lungs withstand the sharpness of the Geng metal's essence? Moreover, Geng metal was not so easy to find! Of course, it was not strictly necessary to use Geng metal; Taiyi true gold, Western gold essence, or the essence of Taibai—all legendary materials for forging immortal swords—could also be used. The divine ability would simply be renamed accordingly, but these materials were just as rare and hard to come by.

Strangely, in the "Treasure Record," Logan Reed stated that one must cultivate this divine ability, along with four others (Lesser Yin Heart Yang True Fire of Emptiness and Reality, Jueyin Liver Yang Green Wood Transformation Art, Taiyin Spleen Yang Mountain Stabilizing Technique, Lesser Yin Kidney Yin Ice Soul Divine Light), before reaching the Golden Core stage. Doing so would bring great benefits upon entering the Golden Core stage, though Logan Reed kept the specifics a secret.

Back to the main topic, the "Classic of Returning to Truth" was also a fundamental part of a true Daoist transmission, but unfortunately, it lacked the basics of artifact refining and alchemy.

Ryan Clark set aside the "Classic of Returning to Truth" and suddenly thought that since he would mainly cultivate the "Treasure Record" in the future, wouldn't Old Brooks's Daoist lineage be lost? Although he and Old Brooks did not have a true master-disciple relationship, Old Brooks's care for Brian Foster was something he had seen through fragments of memory. Now that this was his own body, he certainly had to feel grateful and repay the kindness. It seemed he would have to find a worthy successor during his future travels to pass on the lineage.

Ryan Clark looked at the next item: a bundle of talismans, about a dozen in total. These were protective items that Old Brooks had prepared for his disciple in his final year. Although one could use techniques after reaching the Qi-nourishing and Soul-strengthening stage, the process at this stage was complicated and time-consuming. Therefore, talismans were often drawn in advance, so that when needed, a single incantation or even a bit of soul power could activate them. As a master at the Out-of-Body stage, the talismans left by Old Brooks were certainly far superior to those of his disciple Ryan Clark.

Ryan Clark carefully examined the talismans—seventeen in total, with four types and four of each: Invisibility and Qi-concealing Talisman, Earth-absorbing Armor Talisman, Qi-guiding Thunder-summoning Talisman, and Golden Light Soul-breaking Talisman. The last one was a talisman written in ancient cloud script (the "Treasure Record" contained content on primordial thunder patterns and ancient cloud script)—the Taiyi Heaven-shaking Thunder. Faint lightning flickered on it, and the calligraphy was archaic, looking as if it was beyond Old Brooks's ability to draw. It was either inherited with the true transmission or obtained during his travels by chance.

The final item was a mirror, with a piece of paper attached by Old Priest. On it was written that Old Priest had obtained this from an abandoned temple in the old mountains west of the lake. This mirror had trapped a hundred-year-old ghost in the temple for decades. When Old Priest passed by, unaware of the situation, he moved the mirror, allowing the old ghost to escape. After a fierce battle, Old Priest was nearly killed and finally used one of the two Taiyi Heaven-shaking Thunder talismans he had received with the true transmission to destroy the hundred-year-old ghost. The mirror was also shattered in the process. Although Old Brooks could not identify the material of the mirror, he picked up the largest fragment and remade it into a mirror. It no longer had its former power and could not even be considered a magical artifact, but due to its innate spiritual nature, it could still restrain weak ghosts.

It was precisely because the material was excellent that Old Brooks intended to leave it to his disciple, hoping that one day it might be reforged into a magical artifact. As mentioned earlier, before the Golden Core stage, spellcasting involved many steps. Although the process became faster as one's cultivation improved, some still found it too slow and thus devised various alternatives, such as talismans and magical artifacts. Using external objects to cultivate divine abilities, as described in the "Treasure Record," was also a kind of alternative method.