Dawn of the next morning.

“Li Jian, are you there?!”

“Li Jian, wake up and come out already would ya!”

Continuous banging on the door, Li Jian woke up annoyed.

‘I hope waking me up in the morning like this doesn’t become a routine..’

Li Jian walked out of his house and instead of Lee Gang staring at him angrily, it was the Meng twins. One who was calm, and the other who was rowdy.

“Good morning, Li Jian!”

“‘Bout time you’re awake.”

“Hello Meng brothers, I’m glad we all made it into the sect, but how about knocking a little more gently in the morning.”

With guilty expressions, the Meng brothers looked to the side and gave a helpless shrug.

“We were looking for you yesterday, but you weren’t home!”

“Yeah, I was being given a tour of the outer sect.”

“We heard about what happened with you and Lu Bao?”

“He wanna fight, we’ll give him a fight.”

“Haha.. Thank you for worrying about me, but I won’t have you two involved in my own affairs.”

“We’re in this together Li Jian. If it weren’t for you we probably wouldn’t have figured out the first stage of the exam. We owe you our gratitude.”

“Much appreciated Li Jian. If anyone messes with ya, we’ll be right there by your side.”

“Many thanks, brothers.”

Smiling, Li Jian couldn’t help but feel thankful for how true and passionate these two were. These were the type of people he would protect and fight with.

“By the way, do you guys know if there is a library around here?”

“Of course, we checked out a lot of the facilities yesterday. Come on, it’s this way! We don’t really have anything to do today since our classes are tomorrow.”

Walking along the path through the morning fog, Meng Zhao spoke about their day yesterday and how they entered the Jade Moon Trial. But Li Jian was already lost in his thoughts..

‘I wonder how Li Mu is doing? He looked different that night.. I should ask him about what happened to the rest of the members of the Li clan.’

“This is it. Looks really old, but it has all the books for whatever you need. You’re not allowed to take the books out due to a protective array, but you can read whatever you want inside.”

Grumbling noises interrupted the conversation, and with an embarrassed look, the twins grabbed their stomachs.

“We’re gonna go grab a snack, we’ll meet ya back here in a bit.”

“Oh, by the way, have you spent your monthly allowance yet? Don’t blow it all on resources.”

Ears twitching, Li Jian looked at Meng Zhao, squinting his eyes.

“Monthly allowance?”

“You don’t know..? Outer sect disciples receive 20 contribution points monthly. Jiao’er and I will probably spend this on food for the month. We’re thinking of taking on a mission after our classes, you should come with!”

‘20 contribution points.. Was that little or was the 500 I received excessive?’

“Didn’t know we were given an allowance, that’s good to know! I don’t know when my class is, but I’m definitely looking forward to taking on a mission.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll wait for ya and then take it together.”

At this point, the twin’s bellies had been roaring.

“Uhh, so we’re going to go eat some breakfast. I’ll bring you back some dumplings.”

“Thanks, take your time. I’ll be in here for awhile.”

Li Jian walked into the small, old building. It looked like it hadn’t been maintained for awhile now due to the vines that had grown along the sides. Compared to the rest of the buildings in the sect, this building looked way too out of place.

Within the library, there was only one other person: a small, petite girl with long, black hair that covered her eyes and most of her face. When Li Jian walked in, she glanced at him before burying her face into the book she was currently reading.

Without paying attention to her any longer, Li Jian walked around examining all of the books. Brimming with excitement, Li Jian chose a few to study. Back in the Falling Leaf Village, there weren’t that many resources available to him besides Uncle Chen’s limited knowledge. This library was a trove of treasures to Li Jian, because he had always wondered about the world outside of Falling Leaf Village.

[History of the Strong Winds Continent]

[Jade Moon Sect]

[Book of Affinity]

Opening the first book about the continent, Li Jian flipped through the pages without skipping a single word.

‘The Strong Winds Continent is made up of seven sects: Jade Moon, Iron Dragon, Frost Fox, Sacred Phoenix, Azure Ocean, Heaven’s Lightning, Nether Phantom. These sects are dubbed “The Seven Sects”’

Continuing to read and study, Li Jian consumed all of this information easily.

As he moved onto the next book about the Jade Moon Sect, Li Jian read many tales of Patriarch Shui and how he brought the sect to its recognition amongst the seven sects.

‘The Dragons of Jade Moon Sect.. So it’s not just Patriarch Shui who is known as the Jade Dragon..?’

Putting aside the history books, Li Jian grabbed the Book of Affinity book. Looking through the contents, he realized there was only information regarding the five basic elements.

‘A cultivator with a fire affinity will have difficulty comprehending another element and may hurt their own cultivation.’

With a wry smile, Li Jian closed the book and returned the three to their original shelves. It had already been a few hours since he entered the library, but looking around, the only people in the library was Li Jian and the girl reading her book.

‘I guess not that many disciples of the sect are interested in books.’

When Li Jian went to reach for another book, the door swung open.

“Li Jian, we’ve been waiting for hours! How much longer will you be? Your dumplings are cold already..”

“We’re gonna go to the mountain and train in the trial. Why don’t ya come with? Your cultivation is a little lackin’”

“You guys go on without me, I have another matter to attend to.”

“Okay, we’ll see you later then.”

“See ya.”

Watching the two leave, Li Jian turned around and grabbed one last book.

[Martial Skills]

‘Martial Skills are classified into three different subclasses: Offensive, Defensive, Movement. Having a balance of all three is important, neglecting one would be disadvantageous in combat. Skills are also classified into different grades A-E, where A is the best and E is the worst.’

Li Jian, after reading a little bit more, stood up and walked towards the exit.

The girl in the library watched Li Jian leave and when he opened the door, a warm breeze entered brushing the hairs of the girl aside slightly revealing a pair of beautiful, violet colored eyes.

Closing the doors to the library, Li Jian stretched his body and breathed in.

‘Let’s go see what I can buy at the shop.’

Retracing his steps from the day before, Li Jian headed towards the hall.

Entering the same crescent-shaped building, Li Jian passed by the guardian lion statue and made his way into the shop.

Skimming through the skills available, many were E grade skills. With a limited supply of resources available, outer sect disciples knew the sect would focus a majority of its resources into inner sect disciples. Jealousy, envy, and motivation drove these disciples into working hard to maybe one day become inner sect disciples themselves.

‘..Flame Blast.. Water Barrier.. Stone Armor.. Air Slice.. So many skills tailored to the elements, it’s a shame I don’t have an affinity with any of these.’

Sighing, Li Jian continued to search for skills that didn’t require any element-affinity.

‘Four Palm Strike is considered an offensive type skill, so I should focus on defensive or movement.’

‘Concentrated Fist.. Tiger Skin.. Nimble Step..’

These skills were displayed with a parchment that had a small description of the skill. Presenting the parchment to the check-out table, a worker would then grab a copy of the skill book in exchange for the necessary contribution points to purchase.

[50CP: Tiger Skin [E]: Hardens the skin to be as durable as a tiger's.]

[30CP: Nimble Step [E]: Lightens the feet to make each step substantially more agile.]

‘Ehh.. 20CP difference.. I’ll settle with Nimble Step.. If I’m fast, my opponent won’t ever touch me so I shouldn’t need to worry about my defense for now..’

Li Jian grabbed the Nimble Step parchment and walked towards the cultivation resources.

‘..Is there anything that can help increase my cultivation…’

Examining all the medicinal resources, Li Jian caught sight of a pill and an herb.

[200CP: Fox Soul Pill: Condensed spiritual energy of a Midnight Fox’s soul. Helps greatly in cultivation, but can also damage one’s soul if too weak.]

[70CP: Spirit Grass: Increases cultivation slightly.]

‘Cultivation resources are so expensive! If I can breakthrough with this Spirit Grass, I can try and use the Fox Soul Pill to climb into the 4th level.. But the pill isn’t only expensive, it can even hurt my cultivation..’

Already having a target on his back, Li Jian reluctantly grabbed the parchment for Fox Soul Pill and Spirit Grass. With three parchments in hand, Li Jian walked to the check-out table where a middle-aged man sat. Li Jian handed him the three parchments.

“Nimble Step, 30CP. One Spirit Grass, 70CP. One Fox..”

The man raised an eyebrow and looked at Li Jian.

“One Fox Soul Pill, 200CP.. Are you sure about this choice? Why don’t you settle for some more Spirit Grass..? This pill might be too dangerous for you.”

“Thank you senior, but I’ve already made my choice.”

Hearing the word Fox Soul Pill, some of the nearby disciples turned their gazes towards Li Jian.

“A 2nd level is purchasing Fox Soul Pill? He’s insane”

“Cocky idiot. Rushing cultivation at that level is a waste.”

“Kids should know their limits.”

“Isn’t he the one who offended Lu Bao? He must be desperate.”

With a disapproving look, the man totalled the items and grabbed the items.

“Your total is 300 contribution points. Hand me your Outer Sect medallion and I’ll deduct the according points for you.”

Taking out his Outer Sect medallion, the man checked Li Jian’s CP and deducted 300 and then handed it back along with his purchased items.

‘This kid has 520 contribution points? I’m pretty sure this kid’s a new disciple..?’

“Disciple, don’t rely on shortcuts for cultivation.”

“I understand senior.”

Li Jian bowed and placed his items in his bag.

Exiting the hall, Li Jian sensed his medallion buzzing.

‘Looks like my class will be tomorrow. Time to head home and eat this grass..’

Arriving at his home, Li Jian quickly entered and placed his things down. He took out the Spirit Grass and threw it into his mouth.

With a sudden burst of spiritual energy, Li Jian sat down and closed his eyes as he absorbed the energy.

A few hours later, the moon rose lighting up the night sky.

Li Jian opened his eyes and radiated an aura of the 3rd level of the Mortal realm.

‘That was too easy! Cultivation resources truly change everything! I wonder what kind of resources inner sect disciples receive...’

Li Jian pulled his bag over to him and took out a skill book.

[Nimble Step]

Reading the skill book carefully, Li Jian was able to comprehend it quickly. Following the patterns and body movements, he focused his spiritual energy into his feet and stood up. He felt the weight of his feet disappear gradually.

‘Incredible! I feel like I can walk on water!’

Li Jian walked out of his home and activated Nimble Step. Leaving behind after-images of himself, Li Jian reappeared with a shocked expression.

‘Simply too incredible! For an E grade movement skill, this was well worth the contribution points.’

Already sweating, Li Jian had run out of breath and noticed the toll the skill had on his body. His spiritual energy had been depleted tremendously.

‘I’ll need to train more before I can fully utilize it in battle. The spiritual energy consumption is too great for me at my current level.’

Li Jian walked back into his home and sat down. Closing his eyes, he began to stabilize his cultivation since he had just recently broken through and had expended most of his spiritual energy.

‘Lu Bao, if you dare to fight me, you will regret it.’