Following the signs directing to the Min village's martial library, Luo Si went to a big wooden cube shaped building. The guard at the building's entrance inspected her level before granting the resenful soul access.
Columns of shelves filled with all kinds of book and scrolls was the first thing to be taken notice of when one stepped into the large, 2 floored, library.
The first floor, which was literally flooded with wooden racks was accessible for those who reached the second Martial realm stage. A staircase positioned beside a counter pointed up to the floor above. Dacorated with warning signs, telling that it was only allowed to people of the 5th stage or higher.
The receptionist, a greasy old man with a buckled back was sitting behind the counter. He didn't even look and said abscentminded. "First floor only. 2 incense sticks of time. Undeserved. After that, 20 silver per incense. If you can't pay, you will be expelled from the library for 4 weeks."
Anybody could tell that the hunchback did not like his job one bit.
"Hey, you!" He shouted towards a young girl, immersed in a book, jumped up when she was called. "Can't you read? Taking notes is forbidden. 40 silver. Besides, your incense sticks burned down and a new was ignited. Plus 20 silver, makes 60 silvers. Pay up, NOW!"
Knowledge came at a high price and was strictly guarded by rules. Yet the penalty of violating them was on an even higher level.
The girl appalled. Only managing to escape the receptionist when she emptied out her pouch. Disposed of all her savings, she ran away crying.
The receptionist looked at Lou Si. Still standing in front of the counter. "What you want? Your incense is already burning."
Luo Si moved after being reminded of the short timeframe. There were not many people present. It was clear that not many could afford the fee.
In silent quick steps she searched the shelves, filled with countless books. Looking for a certain category.
The books and scrolls around her had distinctive characters written on the spine's lower end, ranking them into tiers between low and medium. Sometimes a medium high found its way in between.
"Fist art… blade technique… Bingo! Mental Techniques."
Unlike the others present, Luo Si passed themost attractive spots and arrived at a slightly dusted shelf. Clearly indicating that not many were interested in this section.
"Hmm, there are not many. Probably the reason why I haven't meet anybody with a mental technique. Nobody here wants to strengthen the mind when they can have entertainful looking techniques. Such a shame."
She looked through the 2 dozen books.
"Mental Explosion, Scorching Soul, Spirit Spike, Mirror Mind"
"Mirror mind doesn't sound bad and it's a medium tier technique. Let's see, enhanced thinking, blocks and reflects mental attacks. Seems I've found one, and it's even a high medium tier technique. No doubt they put some from above into this floor or else this section might as well be closed down."
What she was looking for was not the skills protecting her soul from mental attacks and true death, but the 'enhanced thinking' mentioned at the beginning of the book. Players had a difficult time understanding and memorizing the written techniques in SR.
That was because their brain had never experienced the worldly energy before. While the natives were practically born with it. Growing accustom to it.
Although, the intruders had found a solution after months inside SR.
Either, one stubbornly read the context over and over again, until they deciphered the context. Or they could develop a second 'magic brain.' It sounded weird but it was like carrying around a mental storage-compiler combination.
There was no difference felt when a player developed a magic brain besides being able to read and memorize the native's language and techniques. Sometimes, it was even better than their mother language, and faster thinking. But the individual was not automatically able to understand every book they read, the moment they learned the technique. The storage depended on one's cultivation, soul, strength and mind technique.
As for how Luo Si could comprehend the Wu Ji Quan Qigong. The answer was that it was a Foundation technique. And those were tried to be kept as simple as possible since the people who read them had to embark on the path of cultivation after they comprehended the book. Of course, the families and tribes had taken precaution like seals and traps to fend off against unwelcomed readers.
She sat on the ground. Reading the book intensively.
"The path of Tao is dark when the mind is troubled by raging waves. If water is silent like mirror, acumence will be preached."
The scripture, although readable, was not just identifying the words and understand them. To discern the essence contained inside was the hard part. But who would know this better than a 100 year old empress of martial arts.
Half an incense stick had already burned down before she comprehended the part of how to develop the magic brain.
A sudden enlightenment got ahold of her as her head started to hurt anon. Wordly energy seeped into her head and all kinds of headaches started to reappear. It started with a simple tension. Followed by a migraine. Her ears beeped and dizziness overcame her.
The symptoms were only getting worse as time passed. Her head was beating like a drum. A feeling of exploding and imploding at the same time tortured Luo Si.
After a minute passed her state of mind returned back to normal, except now it felt neat and clearer than ever before. As if new space, space for knowledge, was unlocked. With great clearance also came emptiness. 'Starting from scratch, how exciting.'
"ahh…" Luo Si breathed out like a locomotive. The neuralgia had ultimately moved somewhere else.
She looked at the book and the symbols appeared clearer and easier to understand. 'So that's what it was. Guess that's called: take one get one free.'
Not wanting to waste time Luo Si repeated the learning method displayed early on inside the cage. Building a connection between her two hands she rapidly ran along the lines, while forcefully putting the context inside her newly created storage. This time without any problems.
After putting the book back in place she sunk into thinking.
"The first stick should still have a third of time remaining. Hmm, what do I need? With that I no longer need an offensive skill. I've got a mind skill now too. Although, based on its name it should be rather on the defensive side.
"What is most important right now is to improve my constitution. Since I have that, let's see if there are any, that are compatible with it."
Luo Si closed her eyes and released an impulse of energy in a sonar like manner after gathering it. 'Anymore and it will get suspicious.'
Hathi*
"Did it get colder?" A native close to her rubbed his nose.
She disappointingly opened her eyes. "Well, it should not be a common thing, especially not in the village of fire." There were some slight resonates but they were too vague and did not leave a deep impression.
It was pure coincidence that she landed here. "But it's also my luck for gaining a more uncommon elemental. What else? Weapon technique? No, weapons will break easily in the first stages and only the body remains loyal. Besides, the benefits are better."
While other techniques circulated around the Martial Fighter, body cultivation techniques affected the cultivator directly. In addition to being hard to train, finding a suitable one was like looking for a needle in a hay sack.
You could of course try your luck. The chances however, would be higher than anywhere else that success and output were not satisfactory. But if the compatibility was good, the benefits would outshine the hard work.
"Since I want to focus on the path of body practitioner as much as possible, I should keep my distance from weapon arts for now. What else am I in need of? With the 2nd stage it is best to go outside.
"The forest has many dangerous beasts. Killing them is not a proplem. But what if I encounter a beast of a higher level, or multiple? I can only rely on my body and can't escape since the Martial technique is not a fast one… Escape! Yes, I need a movement technique."
She walked in a fast pace towards the movement section. Running was forbidden and the receptionist threw an eye at her when she accidentally stepped up loudly.
Arriving at the in comparison fully equipped destination Luo Si scanned the shelf.
"Coal trial, exploding to heaven, silent autumn 7 falling petals… "
She took out some books and compared them. After another 5 minutes she decided on a book called 'Skid Step.'
It read that one could glide above the ground and other surfaces like the wind. It was one of the few medium tire skills and the description gave her a moment of eureka.
Stuffing her memory brain with another one, the book was quickly crammed back before swift and wide steps were taken towards the exit.