The Martial Library was a place of discipline and order, of silence and patience. The peace of this holy ground shouldn't be disturbed. However, heaven and earth work in a mysterious way.
Numerous, arrogant Young masters come to this sacred gate that protects the holy ground and challenge it to get inside the palace of knowledge and wisdom. However, the two brave men, clad in silver brilliance stood tall with a dragon spear in their hands, protecting decorum past these gates.
Just like any other day, the two brave men were guarding the door to knowledge and wisdom when they spotted a great enemy coming towards them.
The both of them recognized this great enemy and were fearful of him, for this great enemy possessed control over the fate of their life and death.
However, these brave men didn't cave in the face adversity, instead, both of them stretched out one of their arms and shouted, "Stop, First Young Master! This is the Martial Library, not some place you could come to play."
Even though, they had heard of the First Young Master being a genius, it was in literary arts. This place was the Martial Library, a place not for poems and stories.
Li Jing, however, didn't stop. He continued walking forward and only halted a meter away from the guards. He took out a scroll and pointed it at them, "Here."
The two guards looked at each other before the one on the right walked forward and received the scroll from him.
After opening it, he read the contents of the scroll before glancing at Li Jing.
"Apologies for our earlier impudence, Young Master. You may enter the library.", saying this he bowed lightly. He, then, looked at his partner, who was looking at him in confusion, wondering what could the content of the scroll be, and nodded, gesturing for him to open the gate.
The scared gate to the holy ground of knowledge and wisdom opened and the great enemy walked in triumphally. The brave men could only watch helplessly and regretfully, for they couldn't defeat the invader this time.
Thus, concluding the story of 'Two Brave Men Of The Scared Gate' and marking the beginning of a new chapter, 'Holy Lord And His Subject'.
...
Within the main hall of the Mansion of Knowledge and Wisdom, there sat an old man on a high platform, lazily eating grapes. Dressed in a Daoist robe, he wields the truth about the nature of the world.
A master of countless arts, the Holy Lord sits on his throne everyday, feeling extremely bored. He bears the responsibility of protecting the eternal silence within his holy ground and to bestow divine punishment upon those who seek the path of destruction.
Rarely anyone defies his sacred decree and even the Ruler of the Ancient Li family obeys the rules of the palace of Knowledge and Wisdom.
Today, however, a subject of his had sought out his presence to plea him for the knowledge of his holy grounds.
"Welcome, First Young Master Jing. I believe its our second meeting.", the old man said while scrutinizing Li Jing from head to toe.
"Greetings First Elder. Its my honor to meet your omniscient self.", Li Jing bowed deeply when he spoke those words. After all, the First Elder, Li Wei Ren was a man of profound knowledge and wisdom. He had read every single book and martial manual of the Martial Library and it didn't mean metaphorically. He deserved respect.
"Haha. You're one smooth talker I see.", Li Wei Ren chuckled before continuing, "The Patriarch had informed me of your arrival. However, I won't let you seek the books here if you don't pass a small test of mine."
Li Jing had not expected such turn of events and thought that it would be easy for him to get the books from the Martial Library. However, its seems that nothing in this world could be obtained easily.
A flutter of nervousness washed over him so, he took a moment to calm down before replying, "Please go ahead, Elder. For I am going to pass the test."
"Arrogant!", Li Wei Ren sneered but smiled faintly while he spoke, "However, I like your confidence. This is how you should act for you represent the younger generation of our family and should conduct yourself as such."
"I have already seen your intelligence in literary and honestly, it surpasses mine by a lot. Here is my test. I have always heard countless poems about the moon and its romance but am bored hearing all the talks about moon. So, I want you to tell me a poem about the sun."
The more the old man said the more Li Jing felt that this test was going to be an easy one. However, he had a bad premonition when he heard the word 'bored' and it came true when Li Wei Ren spoke the word 'sun'.
If it was about the moon then, Li Jing had countless poems in his arsenal to shoot this old man to death. But sun, well it won't be easy but it wasn't something impossible. He took a moment before starting to recite a poem.
"Illuminating the void,
It rises from the east,
With golden brilliance as a beckon of wars.
The Golden core stands high in the sky,
Shadowing the white pearl,
It represents hope.
Depicting the cycle of life and death,
It reminds everyone,
One day everything will set in the west."
He calmly recited every word with regal, making ones blood boil. Even Li Wei Ren was lost in thought for a moment, thinking about the magnificence of Sun.
"Excellent! Very impressive! First Young Master, no, Xiao Jing, you have passed the test. From now on, you are free to browse through the first floor of the library.", the old man laughed heartily and his affection for Li Jing soared.
Li Jing smiled after passing the test and immediately thanked him, proceeding deeper inside the first floor of the library.
The Holy Lord saw the disappearing figure of its intelligent subject and smiled before muttering, "May thee find what thee seeks." and going back to resting, enjoying the eternal silence and thus, concluding the story, 'Holy Lord And His Subject'.
Once again, marking a new dawn of story, 'Within The Alleys Of Knowledge'.
....
Roaming within the deep, dark alleys of knowledge is a young boy holding a lantern. Here he was searching for the tales untold. Within this sea of knowledge, hiding was a treasure, waiting for its rightful owner to come.
The young boy, unknown of the treasure, seeks for a book of wisdom to bestow him strength.
Here he is, with a lantern of hope.
Li Jing looked through the numerous books, trying to find the ones which had information about the Blood Strengthening Realm and Meridian Opening Realm. However, seeing the sheer number of books he had to go through to find them was a tantamount of work.
He could have asked about them from the old man but there was chance of drawing unwanted attention from him, which he didn't want to risk.
The sun rose higher in the sky but the atmosphere within the Library remained the same.
Finally, his search came to fruition when he found a book which had information regarding the Blood Strengthening Realm.
However, much to his surprise, the concept of strengthening blood was the same as Body Tempering that was to use Inner qi to refine and strengthen blood. The reason it was treated as a distinguished realm was because of the ability to use a unique qi called Blood Qi.
Li Jing could already tell what it was so, he didn't read any further and continued his journey in search for a book on Meridian Opening Realm.
But to his utter disappointment, the same application was used for Meridian Opening Realm too.
"Just how low is the cultivation system of this world? Probably because its a low level world. Sigh~"
He thought, sighing.
Now, his second goal was to find a Battle Art.
Battle Arts were special arts that were utilized to bring forth the full potential of a individual's Martial Path and the Martial Technique they were practicing.
Soon, he found a simple Fist Art called the Serpent Fist Art.
"Great. Now I only need a movement Technique.", Li Jing muttered softy.
He continued searching and searching...but nothing caught his sight. The golden core was at its peak and was slowly degrading to lower levels with passing time.
Suddenly, he caught sight on a old book. What attracted him to this book was its title, 'Six Steps To The Cloud'.
He read through the book and found that this was no ordinary Battle Art. It was a high level art but unfortunately, the pages after the Second step were torn away, making it an incomplete art.
Having completed his purpose here, Li Jing decided to head back home.
The curious boy found the book of wisdom and decided to leave the alleys of knowledge before putting off the lantern of hope and heading back to his paradise, where the ones he love reside.
Thus, concluding the story, 'Within The Alleys Of Knowledge'.
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Hello, reader! Formless_Daoist here.
Hope you are enjoying my novel. I tired a new way of writing in this chapter and hope to get your reviews in the comment section 'cause this chapter took a lot of brain power out me, especially that poem about sun. Phew~.
So, please tell me, should I continue writing this way in the future or not? Also, support me through voting, reviewing my book and commenting, for that's my motivation.
Like it! What are waiting for!? Add it to your library.