|Word Count 2194|
"Have you heard about the recent unbelievable news?" A random outer disciple from the side branch family spoke excitedly, his suspensive words immediately piquing the interests of his three fellow disciples.
This random outer disciple had a rather funny appearance with pock marks all over his face and a pair of protruding teeth that reminded one of a rodent.
"Tell us quickly instead of trying to use your usual suspense," One of them said hurriedly with impatience laced in his voice.
"You and your career of gossiping, tch!" Another one clicked his tongue with a look of disinterest but his huge ears were busy trying to pick up reception signals.
"Says the one who can hear gossip from several miles away," The news bearer retorted harshly with an unpleasant expression on his face.
Immediately, the group sprang into laughter before pressurizing the outer disciple with the news to spit out everything.
"Do you know Zhao Feng?" The outer disciple started excitedly while looking at the expressions of everyone in the gang.
"Uh, haha, isn't that the side branch family disciple that had his girl taken by the main family disciple Zhao Yijian?"
"Yeah that one… the green hat bearer, hehe."
"I also heard that he is Zhao Kun's target of bullying."
Another wave of exaggerated laughter followed next.
"So it was like this… today, Zhao Kun had a one on one battle with Zhao Feng." The rat-toothed outer disciple continued.
"And… he defeated him in one move."
"You are so full of shit. Isn't Zhao Kun, a peak 2nd rank Martial Learner and Zhao Feng still in the first rank?"
"Yeah, how can a first ranker with little to no background shake a peak second ranker with a good background and high grade techniques at his disposal?"
The rat-toothed outer disciple fumed angrily and an ugly expression formed on his face which made it even more comically uglier.
"Fuck! Your mouth is so full of shit. You all smell of shit and piss."
"Fuck, what did you say bastard?" The other three outer disciples retaliated and started cracking their fists in a threatening manner.
They started converging menacingly toward the rat-toothed outer disciple.
"Y-You… W-what do you think you are doing?!" The rat-toothed outer disciple pointed his trembling finger at the three while his shaking legs slowly moved backwards.
"Things are about to get messy. It seems your face isn't ugly enough. For insulting us, today we will teach you a severe lesson!"
"Muuuum!" A sissy, despair-filled scream filled the air as the multiple fists and kicks descended on the poor guy.
Zhao Wei who had just walked out of his courtyard and was heading toward the martial arts library, witnessed this comical scene.
"As expected of NPCs." Zhao Wei was totally dumbfounded.
"And is that guy for real? Calling out on his mother when being bodied far away from home." He couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
Anyways, that scene that was more like a comedic relief for Zhao Wei, showed him some smaller aspects of the Cultivation world.
If you are weak, other people will easily try to step on you. Just like an ant on the ground, it's easy to trample it under your feet.
If you do not have the strength to control your own fate then you will just be a fish on a chopping board.
"Pathetic," Zhao Wei muttered under his breath while taking steady steps towards the martial arts library.
He really looked forward to acquiring new knowledge.
As someone who likes to fragment things when doing analysis, Zhao Wei already had a clear picture of what he needed.
Raw power was just a mere aspect of general strength. To be an all-rounded fighter, one had to consider other vital aspects such as tactics, observational skills, judgment, speed, and adaptability.
He wondered what type of techniques he would encounter among the thousands of skills present in the first floor of the martial arts library.
Even though the Zhao Clan's main family was established on extremely large acres of land, it only took Zhao Wei a few minutes or so to reach the clan's important grounds, the Martial arts library.
"Greetings Great elder," Zhao Wei took a humble approach after seeing the white-robed old man stationed at the entrance of the Martial arts library.
After reading so many troupes that always happen in Cultivation novels, Zhao Wei knew that any elder that could be found in the martial arts library shouldn't be trifled with.
Although he already knew of the strength of the white-robed great elder just from reading the novel and also through the spectacular inspection of his Byakugan abilities, Zhao Wei had to make a good impression.
There was no need to be rude or impetuous.
"Hmm, peak of 2nd rank at 14 years of age and a branch family outer disciple," the white-robed great elder said expressionlessly while looking at him.
Zhao Wei wasn't surprised that his cultivation realm could be seen at a glance by someone stronger than him.
The white-robed great elder was someone who had already established his own inner strength which was extremely thick, so it was expected.
'This a wake-up call for me to look for a concealment technique once inside the martial arts library.' Zhao reminded himself so that he wouldn't forget.
"Your movements will only be within the boundaries of the first floor of the martial arts library. The second floor and third floor are under restrictions, that's all you need to know," The white-robed great elder started to slowly explain.
"Since you are a side branch family outer disciple, you can only choose one middle ranked martial art or two low ranked martial arts with a time limit of one month when borrowed."
The white-robed elder then proceeded to further explain to him about the different treatment received between the main disciples and branch disciples.
"Remember that you only have half an hour. Use your time wisely."
Zhao Wei knew about all of this so he just pretended to be attentive.
Also he didn't ask any unnecessary questions as there was no need for useless chatter.
The first floor was crowded as usual and several outer disciples could be seen carefully analyzing the techniques that they wanted under such a tight time limit.
Even though it felt unfair, there was nothing that could be done. The world has always been unfair and fairness was something that could only be used leisurely by exceptionally strong individuals.
Zhao Wei got a few looks but the people who looked at him immediately turned their attention away.
Time was of essence so they didn't want to waste any of it.
The shelves in the first floor were methodically categorized into several sections: Fist Skills, Palm skills, Movement skills, Weapon arts, Defense/Body refining skills, Inner Breathing skills, and many more.
Zhao Wei was amazed by the sheer number of skills inside the first floor.
It wasn't wrong to say that the martial arts library was the very foundation of the Zhao Clan.
'It's time to devour everything!' Zhao Wei thought while rubbing his two hands together.
Rummaging through the myriad of books, his mind was like a camera capturing everything to perfection.
Zhao Wei felt lucky to have been granted [Photographic memory] and [X-ray vision] which increased the speed at which he etched the contents of the martial arts books into his brain.
In the span of 10 minutes, he had already covered almost five hundred books and his mental energy still seemed nearly inexhaustible, this was due to his special status as an otherworldly soul.
His maddening actions had garnered him some attention but Zhao Wei didn't give a fuck.
[Lightly Floating Ferry], the technique that carried Zhao Feng up to the Broken Moon Clan arc, wasn't among the martial arts books that he had registered in his mind.
This was an indication that Zhao Feng had already taken it and thus this made it very easy for Zhao Wei to confirm the timeline.
Of course, if he could get that technique it would be worth it. Zhao Feng would have to return the technique to the martial arts library eventually. As for the derivation of the hidden contents of the book, his eye abilities were pretty good in the aspect of scrutinization. They weren't called the [Eyes of Insight] for nothing.
By the time he already had a minute remaining, no martial arts book on the first floor had been spared from his greedy eyes.
And to cloud the eyes of the elder and others, he took a single peak middle ranked martial arts technique under the movement skills category.
[Illusory Mist Steps] - A movement skill that emphasizes on tricking and confusing the enemy's mind. Essentially, it plays with the sensory system of the opponent. With a step, one can become two, and two can become three and so on. After comprehending this skill to perfection, the user would be able to create life-like illusory clones capable of tricking the eyes of even the fabled 'Holy Martial Path' martial artists.
A technique that could even fool Ascended Realm cultivators when he was just a lowly consolidated realm ant!
How shocking was that!
Zhao Wei was satisfied by the technique and felt that it was hidden in the shelves just for him to find.
He also found himself inadvertently interested in illusions.
It was not like he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Lord Aizen. It was honestly just a mild interest.
But in his Otaku mind, the word 'Yokoso' was constantly replaying itself.
Shaking his head while having a knowing smile on his face, Zhao Wei decided to end his stay in the martial arts library.
"Grrrr!"
His stomach retaliated in annoyance, wanting to be filled with a lot of food.
He suddenly felt so hungry. The brain was the hungriest part of the body at 2 percent of our body weight and Zhao Wei had been overclocking it during those 30 minutes.
"Illusory Mist Steps…" The white-robed great elder commented after looking at the martial arts book that Zhao Wei had picked but he didn't speak further about it.
"Remember to return it after a month, young man."
"I will keep your words in mind, great elder." Zhao Wei bowed his head lightly toward the white-robed great elder before leaving.
After Zhao Wei's figure disappeared over the distance, the white-robed great elder put on a reminiscent look on his face.
"Youngsters… sigh, I am slowly getting older and older. Will that kid comprehend anything from the technique or will it be a situation of him biting more than he can chew?"
"The Family sparring contest will be happening soon. It's time to see the young hidden dragons and phoenixes that the clan has produced over the years."
With another sigh, he closed his eyes in silent meditation.
Zhao Wei's figure didn't linger in his mind. To him, he was just like any other disciple among the thousands inside the Zhao Clan.
***
Inside the small, well-designed cottage,
"Well-cooked Mushroom soup and fried pork chops, ahh."
Zhao Wei burped lightly while touching his flat stomach. Despite eating the meal provided by the servants of Zhao Clan, his hunger remained a tad bit insatiable. And since he couldn't do anything about it at the moment, he decided to curb it.
To him, it seemed only the food of the wild was going to satiate his gluttonous stomach.
"I also need a lot of money which will in turn provide me with the necessary cultivation resources."
Zhao Wei knew of the importance of resources when it came to progressing one's cultivation base especially during the first three foundational 'power' ranks.
He didn't have a well-off background and rich parents that could feed him medicinal pills and herbs since childhood or a talent worthy of recognition.
So he had to entirely depend on himself.
The Zhao Clan was merely his starting point and a springboard for his future rise.
While thinking about the issues pertaining to money, a certain magical treasure came to mind.
Copper Mirror.
If he had something like the [Copper Mirror], then… he wouldn't have to worry much about his cultivation resources.
The terrifying function of duplication was so overpowered and extremely useful when one needed a lot of resources.
"I reckon that poor bastard is still lamenting about getting rich." Zhao Wei laughed while thinking about one of the novels that he had read in his previous life.
Didn't the Ancestral Eye of Dream also evolve at some point and in the process allowed the protagonist to gain such an ability?
He then shrugged his shoulders dismissively before taking a meditative posture.
"Me and my wishful thinking. Well, it's normally good to fantasize about various things from time to time."
"Now which techniques should I choose?"
Martial arts techniques numbering to thousands surfaced and danced around in his mind while awaiting his final verdict.
What type of techniques was he going to choose?
Or what was he going to do with all that knowledge that he had acquired?
Only himself knew what had to be done!
***