“You didn’t know about the library, Lu Jie?” the Old Man asked me and I found myself stuttering. I went through Lu Jie’s memories, trying to find any mention of the library. As it turned out, Lu Jie had heard of the Library when he’d first joined the sect and then had made the extremely smart decision of completely ignoring it as it wouldn’t help him at all to grow his cultivation.

I wanted to facepalm so badly.

“No, master,” I finally replied. “I’d forgotten about the library.”

The Old Man hummed to himself, looking at me with a strange expression. I probably looked like an idiot right now. I certainly felt like one.

“Well, I suggest you have a look there. The sect library in the outer sect is open for all to visit. Though there are certain sections in the library you can only access once you have collected enough tokens from the sect,” the old man said, and I paused. Right, the tokens were another thing that I’d completely overlooked.

“Whatever the result may be, this old man wishes you well on your path, Lu Jie. Establishing a spirit herb garden and linking it with your cultivation is an idea this old man hadn’t thought of in his wildest dreams. Yet here you are, my apprentice, already taking steps towards surpassing me,” the Old Man replied with a chuckle, and I felt both grateful, yet slightly apologetic for the Old Man.

He’d never had the leisure to chase such wild dreams in his life, and here I was, aiming to demystify all of cultivation itself.

“Oh, no need for that gaze, Lu Jie. This old man is content with his place in the sect. Being a humble alchemist, with a sharp and hard working apprentice, is all I’d ever wished for. The further you go Lu Jie, the more proud I will be,” the old man said, and I bowed. I could tell he’d left one thing out of his desires. His grandson.

“I’m grateful to have you as my master,” I replied, and the old man nodded contently, smiling back at me.

“Now go on, and have a look at what insight you’ve gained. They often reveal the secrets of the heavens upon introspection,” the old man said, and I dipped my head as I headed out.

Time to go visit the library.

***

The sect library was near the top of the outer sect peak, alongside all the other buildings of importance. Being a part of the outer sect halls for all new disciples that joined, the library was conveniently near the area where all the crafters and scholars tended to be.

Which was another thing that Lu Jie had never had an interest in. The fact that the sect didn’t just harbour cultivators on the martial path, but even those of the fine arts. Which was mostly just poetry and other kinds of writing, but alchemy and cultivation formations were also a part of it. The latter was something I held quite an interest in.

Formations were something I’d been taking a glance at when trying to study about cauldrons. Often, the carvings on the cauldrons were part of one, but more so than not, formations were often formed by characters arranged in an amulet with the Qi set arranged in specific patterns to cause certain effects. The merchant selling his ward had been one such example. And I suspected there were probably formations that’d allow me to create an electrically charged area for Labby to more efficiently cultivate her lightning arts in.

I walked through the entrance area of the upper areas of the sect. The inner areas of the sect contained a central path that extended down the hill, all the way to the end of the sect boundary, outside which were the open plains and forests where the spirits roamed freely. The top of this path was where all the buildings were.

The sight was quite similar to the city if I were to ignore that every passing person was a cultivator and in a realm close to mine, if not higher. This explained to me why Lu Jie had had such a low view of his own cultivation.

I glanced at a couple of cultivators in the Fourth realm and above walking by, lightly dipping my head as I passed them. I sensed the gaze of one of their spirits lingering on me for a moment before it seemed to lose interest.

From the looks of it, none of them had been disciples. Fourth realm disciples were talented enough to be in the inner sect grounds, or they had joined the sect as cultivators, finally getting a wage from the sect, alongside what I assumed were other benefits.

I continued on my path, my hand reaching to my pocket for Labby instinctively. I’d let her stay in my room, where she would undoubtedly chew through quite a few of the herbs today. The realisation of how often Labby had stayed by me made me feel melancholic about being away from her. But some distance was always good between people, spirit or not. Especially when one of them was a child. I’d hate it if my parents were around all the time after all.

Eventually, I found my way to the library. The building itself was built in a very traditional style, with little embellishments to be found. I observed the area for a bit before I headed inside.

I let my senses expand, trying to see if there were any other cultivators present. Nothing besides a couple of disciples. I froze in my steps for a moment as I sensed a massive presence looking at me. I bowed respectfully to whichever elder I’d caught the gaze of.

Holding my breath, I waited in silence, as the presence receded and I took a sigh of relief. One could never catch a moment of relief in this place. Not with this many powerful cultivators around.

I headed further into the library, making my way in as I tried not to gawk. I didn’t begrudge Lu Jie over many of his choices. His defeat, arrogance, and every choice that had led to the unfortunate death he’d had were pitiable. Yet this one choice. I begrudged him a bit. It’d have saved me hours of work, had I known about this library.

Perhaps I was shoving my lack of thought on the matter upon Lu Jie. It didn’t matter in the end. What was done was done. And it led me through some very interesting ideas and theories as well. Trade-Offs, in the end.

I let my gaze travel through the library. Scrolls and thick texts were lined all across. Large characters denoting various sections of books, and jade slips I could tell contained many simple arts.

It was a fascinating sight, and I stood around for a moment taking a look when my gaze fell on one of the counters set near the entrance.

“The rat boy, Lu Jie, is it?” the voice spoke, without looking up from the scroll of parchment the elder was writing on his desk. I recognised the figure as the elder who’d granted me the art to bind Labby and I bowed in greeting.

“What is it that you’re looking for today, disciple? I hope you haven’t lost your spirit already. Though from the looks of your binding art, it seems that you’re doing well for yourself,” the elder said, as his hands smoothly switched out the parchment for a different one, not disturbing the stroke of the brush in the slightest with the movement.

“I still have my spirit, honourable elder. I was fortunate enough to get some help with the binding as well,” I said before I added. “I’m looking for some books on spirit herbs and cultivation. Possibly something that could aid in the growth of spirit herbs,” I replied honestly. If someone was going to be helping me out, then I would not say no.

“Spirit herbs and cultivation you say,” the elder spoke, as I heard a chime-like voice ring from behind them. “Xin Yue will guide you towards the section,” the elder spoke, as I saw a misty figure manifest. A woman stood behind the elder, her face covered by a pure white cloth, and her body draped in flowing robes that let only the slightest of snow-white, almost translucent skin peek through.

“Many thanks for your guidance, elder. May I ask for your name?” I asked, wondering how the same person was working in two different sections of the sect.

“You may refer to me as Tian Feng,” the elder said, and I bowed once more.

“Follow along, disciple,” the spirit added in a melodious whisper, as I felt like I was stranded once more inside a lonely forest, as the moon shone down upon me.

I walked behind the spirit, floating like a ghastly figure, and I noticed that her feet still touched the ground, albeit barely. I stared at the spirit in front of me, a living bundle of questions and wonder. If shooting lightning from your fingers was quasi bullshit magic, then this was a full on dive to the deep end. An endless quarry of questions to be answered and to be explored.

I heard a giggle ring around, like the sound of a bell ringing on a gentle breeze. “I can sense your curiosity, disciple. Perhaps it’d do well to learn to temper your emotions?” the spirit said with a slight laugh and I blushed.

I felt embarrassed at being teased like a child, but I didn’t let the thought linger as the spirit stopped soon.

“This should be your destination,” she whispered, and I nodded. I went to the shelf, looking through the books on the shelf alongside the many scrolls as I picked them out one at a time.

Carrying around a dozen in my arms, I stopped my book horde, deciding to find a place to read them first.

I turned around to find the spirit still floating behind me. “The child has accepted my gift, disciple. It’d do you well to look after her well, as she grows. Her’s is a new path, different from her kind. I suppose such is the case with you as well,” the spirit whispered, as I felt an icy chill brush past me. A shudder went down my spine, as I felt an unseen gaze look at me from all around before the spirit vanished.

I stared blankly at where the spirit had stood, thinking over her words for a while, before I shook my head. Labby would grow just fine, and I already knew to be there for her.

I walked with my pile of books and scrolls, finding a suitable place to place them down, as I found a grin covering my face. Excitement filled me at being surrounded by a veritable mass of knowledge and I wondered just how much more might be available to the inner sect disciples. I tried to put a lid on my bursting desires as I opened the first of the books from my pile.

It was time for some good ole magic research!