Did she have to get that blow in?

Felix exited Everglade’s yard and looked back to see her waving. He returned an awkward one of his own. He had a harder time returning a smile for her own, the lash mark on his butt still smarting.

At least she switched to the practice rope. If she had gone at it like the tree, well, I wouldn’t be sitting down for a while. Did she have to hit me on the ass though? She had a weird look in her eyes when she did too. How am I supposed to sit down and study like this…? Don’t tell me she did it so I would take a longer break. Why are all the women I meet crazy?

He took one last glance back to see Everglade’s disappearing form, the much larger door closing behind her.

Still, I must thank her. Beyond the kindness she has shown me. I might have an answer, or at least a direction to go in.

Even these back roads had traffic, and Felix had to dodge a group of disciples carrying sacks and large iron cauldrons. He barely avoided being run over again but took a side road in the direction of the Hall of Knowledge. Absently, he noticed that a few disciples broke off to follow him.

Huh, bunch of weirdos. Not that I can really call someone a weirdo, or is it a take’s one to know one kind of situation? Now, where I’ve been going wrong is that I was looking for a singular solution. An answer to solve all my problems. That would be fine if I could find one. The problem is that Tai Wei made it pretty clear on that front, I’m fucked.

“That fucking lizard.” said Felix, massaging the bridge of his nose.

The disciples who had followed him were now whispering to one another, giving him furtive looks. Felix hurried his pace slightly.

He made it clear that the only exception resembling my case would be beings who ‘utilize principles of reality to stabilize their state.’ I think that means some fundamental truth or maybe some crystallization of that truth? Aka, high level stuff whose specifics, I can only guess at. I should have had him clarify that with my single question, since he was going to throw a tantrum anyway. Still, it is pretty clear that it is some high-grade cultivation nonsense. Ideally, it is a comprehension thing and not a limited resource, otherwise, I am screwed. I can’t compete with the top people in the mortal worlds, much less up there. Obtaining what he explained needs to be my ultimate goal. Wait, multiple heads…

Felix froze and the disciples behind him did as well. Then he held in a scream and stomped forward once more, the disciples slow to follow.

That scaly fuck! I bet he is one such individual. God, I have been going crazy over this whole thing for weeks and that just occurred to me. Unless he is just strange, but then his heads acted separately and all that. So, he might have an actual solution and didn’t share!

“Excuse me? Sir? Thousand Season disciple.” said one of the disciples from behind.

Alright, Felix, step back. Getting angry at the God isn’t helping. You know the ultimate goal, ‘utilize principles of reality to stabilize your state’. But you also know that getting that is a pipe dream, especially at your current capabilities. So, what if I didn’t focus on a single solution, but worked to delay the inevitable. Something that will likely fail in the end but will allow you to survive till you get what you need. Maybe even lay the groundwork for a full recovery when you do.

“Disciple? Disciple! we really just need a moment of your time.”

I can’t limit myself. I need to make everything I do related to helping either the root cause or more likely the symptoms of my conditions. I shouldn’t limit myself to just manuals either. Just like that tea-

“Hey Asshole! Stop, damnit!”

“What?” said Felix, spinning around. “Ahh come on, I was on a roll! Why do people always interrupt me when I am so close?” said Felix. He eyed them. “Well, what do you want?”

Mammoth, Hidden Badger, and Bloody Buddha? Why are there three disciples from different sects getting along?

“Didn’t you hear us?” Said the mammoth disciple. His ruddy face warped in displeasure. “I know you Thousand Season Sect disciples are arrogant, but you need to give us some respect. We don’t serve you, this is an alliance.”

“He's right.” Said the hidden badger, his good looks ruined by the smell that wafted off him. “We just tried to talk and then you ignored us for a good five minutes.”

“Alright,” said Felix. “I get distracted when contemplating the Dao.”

“Contemplating the Dao my ass!” said the mammoth disciple. “You’re just essence condensing like the rest of us. No one at our level even messes with their techniques unless they are geniuses.”

“Really?” said Felix. I know it’s the system, but I needed that confidence boost. I am awesome, thank you very much. “So how amazing would such a disciple be.”

“What?” said the Mammoth disciple. “They would be the prized disciple in any sect. Their future, limitless.”

“Why are you prattling on about people beyond us.” Said the Hidden Badger disciple. “The point is that we wanted to talk to you.”

“Well, you have my attention.” Said Felix. “What do you want?”

“My companions and I wanted to know if you would like to go on a mission with us.” Said the Bloody Buddha disciple. “The mission we are currently looking at requires one more. I’m sorry we ruined your state of mind. I know that can be frustrating.”

“Thanks for the apology, really.” said Felix, “But I can’t.”

“Why not!?” said the mammoth disciple. “See, he is just as stuck up a prick as the rest of them. Thinking they are too good to go on a mission. I bet their elders have been secretly giving them all the points they need. I knew this sect is really a bunch of coddled silk pants held up by their elders. It shows.”

“Hold on! Where are you even hearing such things.” said Felix. “Plenty of my fellow disciples have been risking their lives. I have been risking my life.”

“I heard their elders pushed to give their unfair access to our sects’ manuals.” said the Badger disciple, giving Felix a dirty look. “An abuse of power is what it is.”

“What!?” Snapped the mammoth disciple, now ignoring Felix in favor of the Badger disciple. “That’s outrageous.”

“We all technically have access to them. Most of them at least.” Said the Bloody Buddha disciple with a roll of his eyes. “You just have to get enough contribution points. I’ve heard the rumor too, but I am sure the person came by it fairly.”

“That just proves my point!” said the mammoth disciple. “No one has even had a chance to accumulate so many merits. What? Did they win the war or something?”

The Hidden Badger disciple shared his similar displeasure as the Bloody Buddha Disciple moved closer to Felix.

“Don’t mind them.” Said the boy. “My name is Jetchi. No surname. How about you?”

“Felix. I have one but I don’t really use it. Are they normally like that?”

“I wouldn’t know” said the boy, rubbing a hand over his bald head. “Only been on one mission with them. Apprehending a criminal to aid a nearby city lord. One of us would have been enough. The rogue cultivator wasn’t even essence condensing. Are you sure that you don't want to go on the mission?”

“I really am fine. I returned recently from a mission and still need to use up my gains. I am sure I’ll be back out there soon.” Said Felix.

Not likely.

“A shame.” Said Jetchi. “Well, we are staying in the guest house furthest down the mountain on the west side. Come down if you change your mind in the next few days.”

“Did I hear correctly? You said you went on a mission? What happened?” said the Hidden Badger disciple, turning from their conversation. Then he kept going before Felix could respond. “We just apprehended a criminal ourselves. A true monster. It was truly something.”

Jetchi gave Felix a suffering look and Felix smiled.

“Wow. I’m sure it must have been very heroic. How did you three manage to catch him?” said Felix.

“Through our superior cultivation talents of course.” Said the hidden badger disciple, puffing up his chest.

“Please Cao, no more.” said the Bloody Buddha disciple. "Your incessant boast is ruining my luck. Come on, let's not waste anymore time here. We still need to find a fourth.”

They went on their way and Felix could still hear Cao’s argument of how heroic they had been even after they had disappeared around the bin. Felix watched them go before he shook his head and continued on his way.

Everglade was right. I really do need to pay a bit more attention to what’s going on. I need to at least be aware of the obvious pitfalls. What if they had found out I was the one with access to their manuals?

---break---

“So Elder Shen, those are my thoughts on the subject.”

“I fail to see what you are doing any differently. This really isn’t much different from a plan from what you’ve been trying to do?” said Elder Shen with a Sigh.

“Before I was trying to see if I could create and improve a soul manual that would fix my soul. That is still of course ideal. Now though, I think it makes sense to change everything else I do to help my soul in any way I can. Perhaps even looking at the stranger trash manuals for inspiration. Anything that might give me that extra bit of help.”

“Drastic.... Though it may be what you need. Still not much of a plan.” Said Elder Shen. He looked around the room. “You know you’ve really made a mess of things up here.”

Felix followed his gaze to the stack and stacks of books that still filled the upper floor of the Hall of Knowledge. He couldn’t help squirming a little in his seat at the mess and then had to repress a wince.

That damn lash still hurts. Thankfully, Elder Shen showed me where the cushions were hidden.

“I’ll clean it up, Elder.” Said Felix. “I just got so lost in my work.”

“No, no, it is alright. I don’t want to mess with whatever organization you have going on here. It isn’t like you haven’t been contributing to the sect with your improvements of late. This isn’t enough to damage the book either, so no harm done. Just know that you will clean up eventually. Now, the question is how do we make it happen and where to focus.”

“Well, I was thinking I could rely upon you elders to help me perfect certain techniques. Each one aiding my condition. Beyond that, maybe use things like pills, formation, and the other parts of a cultivator's arts to help? I really don’t know much about those.”

“Mm, we can get started but we will want Elder Zhenzhen here and disciple Xue. Though they have the least experience, they both have the most talent in creating new techniques.” Said Elder Shen. Then he smiled at Felix’s scowl. “Don’t be angry Felix. While what you’re feeling towards Elder Zhenzhen is understandable because of her advice, she did not do it with malicious intent. Nor would the rest of us say something different. At the end of the day, you should just be thankful that you found out the truth of your situation from perhaps the only person in this world who could have told you.”

“I know, it is just hard, Elder.” Said Felix.

“Good. I believe we need to utilize your gift to the fullest for you to have a chance. You will need to read even more, and you can’t spare even the terrible books on the lower floors. To make this happen, we need some things from the Clear Sky Sect that I believe may be useful to you. Most importantly, it is a utility technique of theirs centered on reading.”

“Reading?” said Felix. “Why would there be a technique for something like that? techniques seemed to be ultimately built to help strengthen and increase a person’s cultivation. That does neither, well indirectly.”

“Oh, you would be surprised what kind of strange techniques people come up with. Cultivators can sometimes find themselves with a lot of time on their hands after all. I’ll have to direct you to some of the more interesting books at some point,” said Elder Shen with a laugh and a wink. “Besides, they are a sect centered around the gathering and distribution of information. Much information is stored in the written word. Now, the increases that come with cultivation certainly improve one’s reading speed but what does that do for all the Clear Sky disciples of lower cultivation tasked with mountains of paperwork.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Said Felix. “So, did a past elder make it for them?”

“Well, they have accumulated a number of such techniques, some of which have been created by past elders.”

“Does the one you are thinking of have a different origin?”

“It does. A friend of mine loves the story. Far in the past, a Clear Sky Elder of the past was famous for heaping mountains of paperwork onto his disciples. The elder didn’t worry at all about revenge because it wasn’t possible for the disciples to cultivate well in the little free time they had. Unfortunately for the elder, he allowed his assumptions and arrogance to be his downfall. One of his disciples was in fact a genius, but he didn’t achieve power by just cultivating the little time he had. Instead, he used that time to create a technique that cut his reading time in half. The elder in his arrogance never bothered to check on the disciple who did so much work. Then years later, he learned his lesson.”

“Wow, that pretty impressive he was able to do that.” Said Felix. I need that level of MC. “So, can I request it through the Martial Alliance’s contribution system? I didn’t see it in the listed manuals, so I assume it is one of the techniques that the Clear Sky Sect held back.”

“It is. However, you will be able to get started on it right away.” Said Elder Shen.

With a grin of a child who had done something bad, the Elder slipped out a small book from his robes. Setting it down between them, he gave Felix a knowing look. Felix stared down at its cover, which read [Thousand Words, Thousand Pages, One Glance].

“Wait, you already have a copy?” said Felix.

“I never said you couldn’t read it Felix, just that we will need to ask.” Said Elder Shen. “That is to prevent issues when they find out, and they will find out considering how fast you will be reading. Though with your improvements, it is possible to say we found a technique in an inheritance even better than theirs. Oh, how Elder Zetsu will squirm!”

Felix reached out and touched the book.

[Thousand Words, Thousand Pages, One Glance] (Mortal 1)

Power: N/A

Comprehension: (0/0)

Stage: N/A

Huh, N/A for stage and power. Makes sense I suppose… time to get serious about reading!