Huh, I thought it would be easier to choose.

Flipping through perhaps the hundredth book, Felix looked up from his seat to see thousands more waiting on the shelves. Felix had tried to just use his system’s evaluation to choose the manual. However pretty much all of them were labeled as 'very weak' or worse. He did find a few that were just weak, but they also had 'fundamentally flawed' next to them. After reading a few of the books he realized that there is a lot he doesn’t know. He tried asking Elder Shen for his opinion. The elder had simply told him to make sure to pick one from the four elements of wind, fire, water, and earth.

Even though that eliminated half the library, there are still so many manuals left. It is too bad Elder Shen was so insistent on using one of those elements. Some of the other manuals seem to be on completely different types of cultivation like body cultivation and bloodline cultivation. Who knows what I can achieve with the help of the system? He did say that I can investigate those later but that I should start with more traditional cultivation.

He glanced down at one of the manuals he had set aside.

[Heavenly Earth (Mortal 1)]

Power: Trash

Comprehension: (0/100)

Stage: Qi Gathering

The book was one of the biggest books in the floor. He had originally only glanced at it out of curiosity due to its size. Upon skimming it over, however, he found that it was an attempt to infuse a sword cultivation manual and an earth cultivation manual to make. From the short bio in the front, the author apparently wanted to outshine his brother who was an amazing lightning cultivator. The book was based around the idea of giving the cultivators earth qi the power of heavenly lightning.

I am not sure what metric to base my decision manual on. However, if I must start with one, for now, I will choose one that is bold. Depending on how my system abilities work, I will still have enough points left over to choose a different manual.

Pushing the other manuals to the side of the desk, he placed the Heavenly Earth manual in front of him. Unsure of what he needed to do, Felix tentatively placed a hand on the cover and mentally prompted the system to begin manual learning.

[Do you want to initiate manual learning for the cultivation manual Heavenly Earth for 1 KE?]

[Yes or No]

Trembling in excitement, Felix sent a mental Yes to the system. He could see his total KE points go down from fifty to forty-nine. He braced himself for the wave of information to hit him. He figured it would come to him in a wave of information and he wasn’t sure how ready a normal human brain could handle that. So, he waited. And waited. And waited.

Is it broken? He looked around, feeling a little sheepish. Don’t tell me the system is broken? Maybe I need to read it? He felt angry for a moment then held back a snort. Oh no, I have to read it like a normal person. While shaking his head, he opened the first page he began to read.

When the earth ascends to the heavens. when the Heavens shatter the earth. Sense your…

Felix felt nothing at first but then after the third sentence, it was like something brushed his mind. Desperate to have an advantage in this crazy world, Felix reached out toward the feeling. He blinked in surprise as he was expecting a mental download. However, he suddenly felt a presence push commentary on the meaning of the first sentence. In a panic, he ran over to a nearby shelf and grabbed a quill and paper. With frantic strokes, he noted down the information as best he could.

Luckily, the presence did not rush him and waited for him to finish writing. Tentatively he began reading the second sentence again and felt the presence comment on it as well. Yet this time it was not in words but a combination of meaning and emotion. Felix asked the presence to pause as he tried to figure out how to put the meaning into precise terms. In frustration, he simply marked which sentence it was connected to and tried to capture the information in a few different phrases.

It continued like this for hours. Sometimes the information would be straightforward words other times it would be pure meaning. There were even a few sentences that the presence described in memory of the kinesthesia of the action. Finally, he was able to finish the last sentence.

When your will of Earth becomes the firmament, you shall sunder heavens.

Upon reading the last word, Felix felt himself relax and the presence withdrew. He sat there stunned for a little bit. His stack of notes was nearly as thick as the monstrous book. He massaged his hand as he thought over the experience.

That lecture, for I know no better word for it, felt all over the place. The presence was sometimes a coach breaking down the fundamental yet at other times a fellow student excitedly explaining the lesson we had both listened to.

Felix softly chuckled. He felt exhausted yet he couldn’t help but think how amazing the experience was.

The weirdest part of this is how mystical some of the information is. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised as I am in a literal cultivation world, but I would have thought I would see more traces of earth's rules of reality reflected in the manual. I would think that the very fact that there are humans and things like gravity seems to work here would imply that there should be similar rules. Mmm.

He set those thought aside and observed the system's summary of the manual.

[Heavenly Earth (Mortal 1)]

Power: Trash

Comprehension: (100/100)

Stage: Qi Gathering

Felix was unsure if he should proceed. Should I really try to improve this book? I really don’t know if this will be worth it or not… However, if I am honest with myself, I have to try advancing the manual. I need to understand the system's capabilities. He initiated the Manual Advancement for 1 KE.

He expected to receive another mental lecture yet instead he felt that will from before asking him a question about the first sentence of the manual. Surprised, he answered as best he could. Then after an awkward pause in his own mind, he responded to a mental prodding to ask a question in response. The will seemed to think for a moment and answered back. Felix then found himself in a meeting in his own mind. He felt like he was with another student discussing a homework problem, yet they were not limited to mere words. As the so-called conversation continued, he began furiously taking notes again.

During the question and answer session, he finally realized how terrible the manual was. The way the presence asked questions made spotting these errors easy even to his eyes. Though the derision felt from the presences when they went over certain sections of the manuals made this even more obvious. Only when the book described how to refine your earth energy to be similar to heavenly lightning was a slight hint of grudging respect felt from the voice.

Hours later he sat back and ran through everything he had gone over. As the conversation progressed, he began to realize that he was holding the voice back. It was like he was working with someone to solve calculus, yet he barely even understood addition. With a sigh, he glanced at the prompt describing the book.

[Heavenly Earth (Mortal 2)]

Power: Trash

Comprehension: (100/100)

Stage: Qi Gathering

Shit! Still trash. If only I had known more. Perhaps I could have gotten more out of the experience. Suddenly a thought struck Felix. He turned toward the cultivation sections for earth cultivation manuals and sword cultivation manuals. A hungry gleam was in his eyes.

Though the next time, I will be ready.

Using his spiritual sense Elder Shen watched disciple Felix pursued the cultivation manuals.

Perhaps the attack is good for him in the end? He is so much more motivated now. Ahh, Elder Rong was right. It is gratifying to see another generation begin their journey.

He raised his eyebrows at the manual Felix finally picked.

I am pretty sure that the manual is a little ambitious. A bit of a crackpot manual but as long as it gives a decent foundation, he can still switch to the sect’s season manuals when he becomes a Foundation level cultivator.

As Felix began to take notes, Elder Shen couldn’t help but let his raise his eyebrows. He was surprised by how insightful some of the notes Felix wrote down. However, when Felix began to go over the book again and write notes on how to improve a few sections of the book. Though he was using his spiritual sense, Elder Shen actually had both eyes focused in Felix's direction.

Though the changes aren’t heaven shattering, to improve a manual with no cultivation and no heavenly feature… Truly that attack must have been a blessing. It seems he was left with a great talent for understanding manuals

Elder Shen continued to watch and occasionally sneaked to use a rejuvenating technique on Felix.

Can’t have such a prodigy getting injured now, can we?