He didn’t care at all about how this copy of the Heshan Scripture was bound; he casually tore off the outer cover, intending to keep only the inner pages with the scriptures. But as he tore off the cover, he saw a corner inside gleaming with golden light. Adam Brooks suddenly became delighted, exclaiming to himself, “Good thing I’m clever—turns out there’s something valuable hidden in this scripture.” He pulled the cover open, and inside the lining, there were three pale golden pages, seemingly made of pure gold, yet as thin as paper, soft as silk, and with a most peculiar texture.

However, no matter how many times Adam Brooks turned the three golden pages over, he couldn’t see anything on them; both sides were smooth and slippery to the touch, but extremely tough when he tried to tear them. If there was something hidden inside these thin sheets, Adam Brooks couldn’t believe it—these were already as thin as a cicada’s wing, how could there be any layers?

After checking the cover, Adam Brooks found there was indeed nothing else, and couldn’t help but scratch his head. He had no choice but to tuck the three golden pages inside the main text of the “Heshan Scripture” and stuff it into his chest. As for the black cloth pouch, Adam Brooks kept it as well. As for the few pieces of loose silver, he was clever enough to dig a hole and bury them in the same spot, even marking a nearby tree.

After finishing all this, Adam Brooks finally staggered back to Tianma Stronghold.

Chapter Two: The Three Golden Pages

Adam Brooks was good at flattery, so after becoming the seventh chief, he was sent by the main chief to guard the back mountain. There was only a small path on the back of Tianma Mountain, and no one ever passed by, making it very peaceful. When there was no robbing to do, it was an extremely easy job, which was why he could sneak out.

After returning to Tianma Stronghold, Adam Brooks ignored everyone else and secretly found a secluded spot to start studying the “Heshan Scripture.” He was well-read and could understand this scripture. This Big Boss Brooks flipped through the scripture a dozen times, and his eyes lit up when he saw the method for refining the “Five Yin Pouch” on page seventeen.

“That’s it! The black cloth pouch that man used must be the Five Yin Pouch described on this page of the Heshan Scripture. But since that man is dead, no one can use it, so it couldn’t show its power and ended up in my hands. According to the method here, to refine the Five Yin Pouch, you need the blood of living creatures to defile others’ magic, and it can also store various magical tools and personal items—many wonderful uses. I don’t have time to kill so many creatures, but this Five Yin Pouch should already be refined. I just need to re-refine it, and I should be able to use it.”

Adam Brooks turned to page seventeen of the Heshan Scripture and read it several more times before following the instructions: he bit his middle finger, endured the pain, and drew three blood talismans on the black pouch. Because the blood dried, he had to bite his finger again. Even though Adam Brooks had suffered plenty of hardship at Tianma Mountain, he couldn’t help but grimace. But after drawing the three blood talismans, nothing happened at all; it didn’t resonate with the magical item as described in the Heshan Scripture.

Adam Brooks gritted his teeth and tried again, but still nothing happened. He became a bit discouraged and cursed, “Turns out it was a charlatan! And I thought he was some great master—ended up scaring myself for nothing. No wonder the man dropped dead in shame when he saw me; he must have been afraid of being humiliated by me, Big Boss Brooks, and didn’t dare sully my hands.”

After boasting to himself, Adam Brooks couldn’t find anything to wipe his hands with, so he casually grabbed the three golden pages he had tucked into the main text of the Heshan Scripture. The main text was written on silk paper, and if he wiped blood on it, the writing would be smudged and unreadable. But these three golden pages were as soft as cotton cloth, perfect for wiping blood.

As soon as Adam Brooks wiped his finger blood on one of the golden pages, for some reason, his whole body suddenly went limp and he lost all strength. But this only lasted a moment; Adam Brooks thought he was imagining things and didn’t take it seriously. He steadied himself and was about to put away the Heshan Scripture and the three golden pages, but when he tried to wrap them up together and tuck them into his chest, he was surprised to find that the golden page he had wiped with blood now revealed some writing.

A thought flashed through Adam Brooks’s mind, and he immediately became excited, thinking, “That’s it! That’s it… These two things must be used together. The golden sheet reveals writing when it’s stained with my blood. I must first practice this incantation before I can use the Heshan Scripture’s magic. I’ve read before that to learn the Dao, you must first cultivate magical power, and only then can you learn spells. I can’t use the Heshan Daoist arts because I don’t have magical power. Once I learn these breathing techniques and cultivate magical power, I’ll naturally be able to use all sorts of spells. I, Big Boss Brooks, truly have some destiny to encounter such a stroke of luck. I’d better memorize all these incantations first.” He gritted his teeth, bit his finger again, and wiped blood on the other two golden pages as well. Again, he felt a wave of weakness, but it couldn’t dampen Big Boss Brooks’s joy.

Adam Brooks casually shook them open and saw that each of the three golden pages contained different content, but all were methods for meditation and cultivating qi, breathing and circulation techniques. Each page had only a few hundred words, and the methods described were extremely simple.