"This is the 'Healing Salve.' I specifically bought it from the 'Infirmary.' This tiny bottle cost me a hundred credits, damn expensive! But the medicinal effect is good. I applied it once, and the pain in my legs disappeared. The rest is for you, little brother."
Hua Sicong explained.
Indeed, the one who understood him the most was his brother, who shared the same ailment.
"It's still Sicong who understands me. Damn, my legs have been hurting all morning."
Hua Sichong laughed it off.
He opened the bottle cap, and a strong medicinal fragrance emanated from it. He took a sniff, and it had a slightly pungent and tingling scent.
Hua Sichong immediately took off his pants and applied the "Healing Salve" to the painful areas on his legs.
In an instant, a cool sensation spread through his legs, permeating his whole body. The previously sore spots immediately diminished significantly.
While applying the salve, Hua Sichong asked, "What kind of medicinal herbs are used to make this 'Healing Salve'?"
"You really know how to ask questions!"
Hua Sicong rolled his eyes.
Hua Sichong chuckled. How could two people who had no interest in pharmaceuticals, alchemy, or talisman drawing know the formula of this medicinal liquid?
In Hua Sichong's memory, there was also a medicinal liquid in the Hua family called the "Hua Creation Salve." It was specially formulated to treat sword and burn injuries, and its effects were quite good, bringing considerable income to the family.
The formula had always been tightly held by his grandfather until it was passed to the clan's patriarch, Uncle Hua Gengjin, before his grandfather's passing. It seemed that only the clan leader knew the formula, emphasizing the importance of such knowledge.
On Earth, this would be considered a closely guarded trade secret, a patent protected by law.
Hua Sicong said, "This 'Healing Salve' was personally formulated by Mentor Hu Deqing for us students. It's not sold in ordinary pharmacies. But a hundred credits is too expensive."
Hua Sichong shook his head and cursed, "Damn! It's more ruthless than robbery."
He only had a little over two hundred credits left, enough to buy two bottles.
The two of them walked out of the dormitory, laughing and joking. Hua Sichong felt a lightness in his legs. It seemed that the "Healing Salve" had a good effect.
On the way, they encountered several students heading to the training ground. Hua Sicong went with them, while Hua Sichong left on his own.
It wasn't that Hua Shirong didn't want to improve his martial skills, but after being reborn, he was eager to understand this world, and this "Hua Shirong" couldn't provide him with that.
In the fused memories, the life trajectory of this "Hua Shirong" was limited to the family, the academy, and he couldn't even describe the complete picture of Yishui Town, let alone anything else.
The Library stood side by side with the Pharmacy and the Forge. From a distance, the three four-story buildings stood silently among the tall and lush trees. The Pharmacy and the Forge were relatively bustling, with people coming and going, while the Library was much quieter, like a serene and elegant young girl, peacefully residing there, noble and mysterious.
Hua Shirong approached, and in front of the Library was a spacious garden filled with various flowers and plants. However, two large trees were planted in front of the building, resembling gatekeepers.
A path paved with green stones led straight to the front courtyard, where an iron gate stood quietly closed.
In the middle of the iron gate, there was a palm-sized jade piece embedded in it. Hua Shirong took out his identification plaque and stretched it towards the jade piece. With a soft "beep," a row of words appeared on the plaque: Conditions met, access granted.
The iron gate "clacked" open automatically, and Hua Shirong walked in. Then, the gate silently closed behind him.
Hua Shirong walked along the path paved with green stones and arrived in front of the Library. At this moment, a person slowly walked out of the Library. He was wearing the usual attire of a mentor, but he looked elderly, with white hair and a cloudy gaze. He was an old man in the twilight of his life.
Hua Shirong quickly took a step forward and respectfully said, "Student Hua Shirong greets the mentor!"
The old man glanced at Hua Shirong but remained silent. He extended a withered arm, and Hua Shirong understood that he wanted the identification plaque.
So, he handed over his own plaque.
The old man took the plaque and took out another one from his own bag of treasures. The two plaques corresponded to each other, but there was no "beep" sound.
The old man returned the plaque to Hua Shirong and said expressionlessly, "Insufficient credits, go back."
"Huh? How many credits are lacking?"
Hua Shirong was stunned. This was something he never expected.
The old man glanced at Hua Shirong and said, "You need at least three hundred basic credits."
He only had a little over two hundred points, clearly not enough.
Hua Shirong awkwardly said, "Mentor, could you please explain in detail? This is my first visit to the library, and I'm not familiar with the details."
The old man didn't mind the trouble and paused before saying, "Three hundred basic credits will only grant you access to the first level of the library for reading. You have no authority to enter the second or third levels, let alone borrow books."
Hua Shirong understood. The more credits one had, the higher the privileges, and they could even borrow books for reading. He didn't have any intention to borrow books, but even just accessing the first level of the library required more credits than he had.
Hua Shirong tentatively asked, "Mentor, what if I'm just a few dozen credits short? Can you make an exception for me to stay on the first level...?"
Hua Shirong hoped that his plea would convince the old man to grant him permission.
"Rules are rules. How can they be easily broken?" The old man interrupted Hua Shirong without hesitation before he could finish his sentence.
Fine, there was no room for negotiation.
Hua Shirong also acted decisively and turned to leave.
After a few steps, Hua Shirong stopped and looked at the ground littered with dry branches and fallen leaves in front of the building. A thought struck him, and he turned back to call out to the old man who was about to enter the building.
"Mentor, what if I'm just a few dozen points short? What if I clean up all these fallen branches and leaves in the garden? Could that make up for the remaining credits? Let's consider it as if you had assigned a courtyard cleaning task in the mission hall, and I took it."
The old man lightly frowned, glanced at Hua Shirong, and then looked at the scattered leaves on the ground. He smiled and said, "So be it."
Hua Shirong happily accepted the cleaning tools handed to him by the old man.
Half an hour later, Hua Shirong finally achieved his wish and entered the library.
The layout of the library resembled a modern-day library. In the center of each room was a large screen, surrounded by rows of wooden shelves neatly displaying books, all covered by a gentle white glow.
Hua Shirong knew that it was a formation, serving the purpose of protecting the books while also preventing dust and repelling insects.
Hua Shirong, on his first visit to the library, felt as lost as Liu Laoliu entering the Grand View Garden. Once inside, he stood there, unsure of how to proceed.
The old man who accompanied him asked, "Dear student, what type of books would you like to read?"
The old man's attitude was now completely different, clearly influenced by Hua Shirong's earlier act of cleaning the fallen leaves in the courtyard to gain entry to the library.
He seemed rather benevolent and kind-hearted.
After a moment of consideration, Hua Shirong replied, "Senior, I would like to learn about the overall situation of the Nine Continents and the general information about this town."
The old man approached a large screen, and Hua Shirong wasn't sure what he did, but the screen started to flicker, displaying groups of text.
As Hua Shirong looked at the text, a few words inexplicably popped into his mind: search engine.
The old man tapped on the words "Nine Continents" on the screen, and immediately a set of text appeared: Chronicles of the Nine Continents.
Then, the old man found the words "Phoenix City" and tapped on them. The screen displayed four words: Chronicles of Phoenix City.
Hua Shirong was astonished by the old man's impressive manipulation. If it weren't for the fact that he knew this place wasn't modern Earth, he would have thought that tablets were born in this magical land.
Once again, it was the wondrous effect of formations!
It seemed that this formation, like the mobile phones on Earth, had already permeated various aspects of human life.
After displaying these two books, the screen was closed by the old man.
He then went to a row of wooden shelves, activated a formation, and took out the books from different shelves, placing them in front of Hua Shirong.
The old man said, "Three hours."
There was even a time limit for reading. However, three hours should be enough.
Within the library's rooms, there were some tables and chairs specifically provided for reading.
At this moment, in the spacious library, Hua Shirong was the only reader. There was no one beside him at the tables and chairs, allowing him to read and explore this magical continent undisturbed.
Hua Shirong sat at the table, pondered for a moment, and then opened the thick book titled "Chronicles of the Nine Continents," immersing himself in the detailed reading.
The reason why this land was called the Nine Continents was because it was composed of nine separate and unconnected landmasses.
The nine landmasses are respectively known as Zhongtian Continent, Shangkun Continent, Xingyu Continent, Lei Heng Continent, Gonghua Continent, Fengming Continent, Shengwei Continent, Xianyan Continent, and Hongyun Continent.
What separates these nine continents is an endless expanse of seawater known as the Boundless Sea.
Among the nine continents, they are further divided into Upper Two Continents, Middle Three Continents, and Lower Four Continents based on their longitude, latitude, geographical environment, territory size, and the strength of the earth's qi.
The Upper Two Continents consist of Zhongtian Continent and Shangkun Continent.
Zhongtian Continent is the most powerful in terms of both territory and strength among the Nine Continents. It stretches from east to west, spanning a distance of millions of miles. While Shangkun Continent is inferior to Zhongtian Continent, it is still far superior to the other seven continents.
The Middle Three Continents include Xingyu Continent, Lei Heng Continent, and Gonghua Continent.
These three continents have comparable strength, similar land areas, and are not far apart from each other. Over thousands of years, it has been difficult to determine their relative strength, but compared to the Lower Four Continents, the difference is like heaven and earth.
The Lower Four Continents consist of Fengming Continent, Shengwei Continent, Xianyan Continent, and Hongyun Continent.
These four continents have relatively smaller land areas and the thinnest earth's qi. As a result, the cultivators in these four continents have the lowest cultivation realms and strength among the Nine Continents.
Although many talented cultivators aspire to go to the Middle Three Continents or Upper Two Continents, the distance between them is too vast, and only extraordinary individuals can achieve it. Thus, they have to give up such thoughts.
While reading this section, Hua Shirong meticulously compared the distance data between the Lower Four Continents and the Middle Three Continents and Upper Two Continents. Besides marveling at the vastness of this continent, it shattered his concept of distance.
Comparing it to the relatively clear size of Earth, the difference is stark.
The diameter of Earth is approximately over 12,000 kilometers, which means that the distances between the Lower Four Continents can fit in dozens of Earths, let alone the even more remote Middle Three Continents and Upper Two Continents.
One can imagine how immense this planet is!
Now the question arises: how do people interact with such vast distances?
Based on the limited information Hua Shirong possesses, cultivators on this continent hunt demon beasts and form contracts to obtain pets.
While flying pets can travel tens of thousands of miles in a day, Hua Shirong does not believe that relying solely on a pet can cross the boundless sea.
Therefore, there must be other means of transportation that Hua Shirong is unaware of, special methods of transportation that connect the nine continents and facilitate communication.
Otherwise, how was this "Chronicles of the Nine Continents" compiled?
And how did it spread throughout the entire Nine Continents?