It was early in the morning, Cheng Hua woke up as if after a deep slumber, he looked around his slightly shabby room and left it with big strides.
Back on the busy street, he was once again stunned by the grandeur and refreshing aura of the sect. He did not waste any more time and headed straight for the library.
Towering in front of him was a dark oak wooden building, not too big yet not small, it was an embodiment of majesty through simplicity.
After opening the library doors, a whole new view appeared in front of his eyes, hundreds of shelves filled to the brim with multicolored books and scrolls, furthermore, there were multiple floors spanning out the entire space implying the separation of techniques by quality and importance.
"How may I help you, junior brother?"
Hearing a sudden voice, Cheng Hua turned to his left to inspect the talker, it was a short teen, about 175cm tall, with long black-dark bluish hair left to hang over his shoulders, he had a handsome face and manly posture.
Seeing this young man in front of him, Cheng Hua was stunned for a second by the guy's looks, but quickly recovered, and answered with a bow.
"My name is Cheng Hua, a newly appointed outer sect disciple, would this senior brother please instruct me where should I search about books on cultivation?"
With a practiced move, the man turned to the side while saying:
"Follow me, the cultivation manuals are on the 37th row."
After reaching said bookshelf, the guy once again spoke:
"My name is Qin Hong, please call me if you require my assistance once again." With these words, Qin Hong headed back to his spot near the door.
Now left alone in this altar of knowledge, Cheng Hua picked the first book that he saw on the shelf, namely "Introduction to Qi cultivation".
However, just as he touched the book, something unexpected happened, exactly, one would never guess, but a system window popped up!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Basic level book detected, absorption available, would you like to initiate knowledge transfer?
Y/N
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Not being able to hold back anymore, Cheng Hua clicked the yes button and started laughing in a low but seemingly crazy voice.
'Noone has any chance, they were doomed the moment I came here HAHAHAHAHAA.'
A couple of hours later, Cheng Hua sat at a table in the library, head on the desk and barely breathing.
'UGHHHHH, SOOO tiring. I have finished the whole cultivation compartment but it took so long... I'll just absorb the next compartments when at a later date. Now I should go treat myself to some of the local delicacies.'
Leaving the library, Cheng Hua walked down the street until he reached a big exquisite building, the nameplate on top of the doors read: 'Drunken Star Villa', Cheng Hua had naturally kept in mind such a luxurious building the first time he passed by, now that he had amassed quite a fortune he did not mind being a little more lavish.
Once a businessman, always a businessman. While he could eat the common meals, he never truly came to enjoy the food of this world, he hoped at least now he will have an opportunity to do so.
Having entered the villa, a beautiful attendant in classy clothes led him to a table in the corner.
"What would you like, sir?" She said.
"Let's see, bring me your most expensive wine, the most delicious meat, and something else of your own recommendation, what do you think?"
Having just heard the young man in front of her speak utter rubbish, the woman couldn't help but blink twice in confusion and ask in a disbelieving tone.
"Are you sure sir? Just the wine and the meat would total to 2000 gold coins or 25 sect contribution points."
Although he was hit quite hard by the exorbitant price, Cheng Hua couldn't back down now, it was in his blood to seek something till the end even if he ends up losing a little in the process, for the greater picture it will bring more benefits.
As such, Cheng Hua nodded to the girl and signaled for her to leave and get his dishes done.
Just as she turned around and was about to leave, an amicable voice was heard.
"Wan-er, do get this sir's meal done, as for the drink, get him a pot of honeyed water."
Not daring to go against her boss' orders, she left in a hurry, and in her place, a young man took a seat at Cheng Hua's table.
"This friend here, one is not allowed to drink wine here until he reaches 16 years of age, unfortunately, a certain someone kept making trouble so the sect had to add a new rule, please let me serve you a pot of honeyed water, on the house."
Cheng Hua's face changed from visible confusion to annoyance, slight displeasure, then nodded with a sigh.
"Then so be it senior, do not let this junior keep you busy anymore, please be on your way."
Getting the obvious hint that he is not wanted here, the man sized up the teenager in front of him once again before cupping his fists and leaving to do his own things.
Soon Cheng Hua was served his meal and wine substitute. As the food entered his mouth, he only had one word to say.
"Amazing! I had not eaten something this delicious in years!"
Well, that was 10 words, but that is of secondary importance...
Having paid the bill of 1200, the price of the meat and salad thing he was served, Cheng Hua returned to his humble abode and continued his meditation.
This time the qi around him moved even quicker and smoother through his meridians, he also stopped holding back due to inhibitions, he now possessed knowledge of hundreds of different cultivation techniques as well as basic outlines of it, he had already chosen something which suited him the most at the moment. Sadly it was not the sort of incomplete manual that was actually super overpowered, but well, it will have to do for now.
The manual was named: "dragon's breath", it was a set of breathing as well as circulation techniques that favored the absorption of fire qi from the surroundings, all while increasing one's affinity towards it and increasing cultivation speed.
Pretty basic at first glance, but that was one of the 6 strongest techniques in the library.
Well, the beggar is not given a choice, anything is better than nothing, and this one was indeed a whole lot better suited for him than others.
As Cheng Hua continued to cultivate as dictated in the manual, the fire qi particles all over the sect rushed into his pores, strengthening his muscle fibers and bones, they were tempered by fire and although Cheng Hua felt it was extremely hot, it was not too overbearing, so he persisted in circulating his qi.
Then all the other particles charged into his body and settled into his dantian after a couple of circulations. It was then that Cheng Hua felt that something was off and that the current happenings were different from what was depicted in the manual.
He did not have too much leeway of thought though so he concluded on it being either caused by the book his master bestowed upon him, after all, 'Heavenly Intent does indeed sound like it could bring a lot of benefits'.
This was a sleepless night for many people in the sect, they all felt like their cultivation turned sluggish and decided to rest for a day and calm their inner demons, of course, some more experienced lecturers and sect elders realized something was wrong, however, they could barely pinpoint that the epicenter was around the outer court, not able to identify the exact place.