Chapter 298: Chapter 295 – ROI

 

After my words, stating my intention to take everything from the dangerous and faulty section, only blank looks stare back at me, dumbfounded.

The Unsealed section.

That area is the dumping ground containing the broken, flawed, harmful, and personally dangerous cultivation methods, techniques, and a variety of other items that were deemed useless to practice. And useless, dangerous trash they truly are. As if they could allow you to progress into qi condensation safely even a little, it would simply be considered a bottom tier method.

But these can’t even get considered as bottom tier. 

However, this also means it contains the few things in the library you can take for yourself, as long as you are an outer court disciple.

So, why do they let anyone outer court and up take these useless methods?

First, because outer court disciples and above already receive methods when they join. So, there is no concern about outer court members taking these methods in desperation.

Second, the true goal of leaving this open is to encourage the ‘fixing’ of some methods for the more research-oriented sect members.

Even within traditional sects, like this one, they are still cultivators. Pushing the boundaries of common sense and looking for more and better ways to cultivate. And per the common saying, ‘Even a mosquito is still meat.

If a sect member can make something out of a failed product, then it means more power and prestige to the sect itself.

Researchers have the added incentive that any useful creation out of this trash is treated as their own. With all the rights and privileges that the creator receives: full choice on who to give the method to; security levels; and the ability to sell the method to the sect for merits.

And even the sect can’t tell you what to do with it, as mandated by the agreements set with the Library organization.

The only real blockers for The Unsealed Section items are the dangerous items. Because in many ways, the reason they define it as dangerous usually isn’t talking about danger to the practitioner. Even then, it’s just a matter of getting approval and verbal promise not to practice the method, only research it theoretically. They’ll also get watched closer afterwards, just in case.

But none of that explains why they seem so stressed right now.

And stressed they are.

Mao and Ling haven’t blurred yet, clearly hoping for me to clarify.

I just give them a smile, in accordance with my senses.

Mao sighs in response. They both blur for a moment, which turns into two before they stop. Ling nervously speaks back up.

“I apologize, James, but we’ll need to call in our leader for th…”

“There’s no need to put up a front any further, Ling. It’s clear he’s already realized what we’ve been doing. Looks like he’s a sharp one.”

I jump a little at the deep voice that has suddenly appeared behind me.

A short, portly, hairy man has sped into the room, at a pace that I couldn’t track.

But there’s only one thing that comes to mind after seeing him.

… he looks like a human sized fantasy dwarf. Stout face, golden beard, tanned skin. Adding to that, his thick muscles and huge belly really sell the appearance.

Is this guy really the leader of their group?

 

… I didn’t sense the disc opening. Though, now that I think of it, there’s no reason there wouldn’t be other entrances to here.

At least I’m sure he wasn’t in the area just listening in directly. I had my scan checking for that much.

He continues, uninterrupted.

“So, Disciple Delinion. I hear you are looking to obtain the contents of the Unsecured Hall in its entirety. Of course, there is no issue with grabbing these one by one, but as I’m sure you are aware, there are others that emerge when you grab large amounts.

“First, what are you planning on doing with this information?”

Right. I know why they are concerned.

It’s the same issue that our world had with big data, large sets of information used to understand patterns and perform a variety of functions.

There are plenty of nefarious things that can be done with such large stacks of information, even the trash that I’m asking for.

But most cultivators don’t know about those dangers… but I have a feeling librarians do.

“I will use the aggregated information to create both generalized and specialized methods and techniques. And as you might be aware, I plan to use it to support other qi-based activities, as well. Since there are a variety of other failed things within it.”

The yellow bearded Elder gives me a long stare, running his hands in his beard in thought.

I get a small feeling that some sort of lie detector was used on my answer.

“Hmm… you actually seem to understand some of the work we do here, don’t you? Well, even so, that still creates some problems in itself.”

He shifts his body away from me and starts pacing, making me a little nervous. Although I like to pace when thinking, as well.

“There are many librarian groups trying what you are, but at much larger scales and with far more useful data sets than this. If you are looking to try that here, we could always bring you into our group…”

…

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He’s trying to recruit me?!

Well, that makes sense. I think he knows what I’m going to try and how I’m planning on doing it.

… as well as the huge risks of doing it by myself and not even with the quality information.

So, I deeply bow to him, speaking with a serious appreciation for the opportunity he’s offering.

“Thank you for the generous offer, Head Librarian Su. However, I have existing commitments which require me to remain independent.”

His face tightens and there’s clear disappointment on his face as he fully turns away from me.

Even with this, this is a generous action in the world of cultivators. Him simply turning away at my rejection, rather than the invitation itself.

Just like with the mafia, you don’t turn down offers to join when you are a skilled person. There are consequences to not going along with powerful people. Likely, the only thing covering me is their relationship and agreements with the sect.

Which is a good reminder for me.

Leave a door open to allow people to still get what they wanted. At least, until I find a way to directly combat them.

With that in mind, I raise an alternative.

“Of course, I would be open to sharing part of the results I get with the library, after a certain period for my groups to make use of it, and some negotiations.”

He turns a little back to me.

“Hmm. That is, if you are successful, of course.”

He paces again, rejoining the conversation. Until he pauses to look back at me.

“The sect and I have two concerns. The first being that you could not handle such a large amount of information, especially as a cultivator at the first steps. Even I had trouble handling all the information of the library. Of course, what you are asking for isn’t most of the works in the library.

“But it is still around 30% of the library’s information. Far above what most under Core Formation could handle.”

He pauses. And let the silence linger for a bit before speaking up.

“You are a treasured asset to the sect, both as a core disciple and because of your healing abilities. If you were to perish because I allowed you to perform such an ill-advised action…

“Second, you have not contributed enough to the sect yet to warrant the allowance of such a thing. Of course, that’s to be expected, as you have just entered.”

He leaves his words open, indicating me to respond.

“In terms of your first concern, with my abilities, I will keep myself alive. It will be a struggle, but I can do so.”

Struggle is an understatement, from my calculations. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Regarding the second, I’m planning on using the merit system to achieve that. What things from me do you need to satisfy the merit requirement?”

He gives a mysterious smile, as if he was waiting for that question.

“Good to hear you have some idea about how this should go. Because of your increased value to the sect and the risk of your method, the merit value of giving this to you is increased. And this has already been run by the council and the Patriarch, for your information.”

… are they seriously updating each other in real time with this?

I may have underestimated the danger of near instant communication or, more specifically, the willingness of cultivators to share information this freely with each other.

I assumed they would be much more cautious about others gaining an advantage. But I suppose the relationship between the Library and the sect is that solid. That doesn’t change any of my plans and I planned for this to some extent… but it is still frightening to consider.

He continues, uninterrupted.

“Here’s what we need…”

He lays out multiple things for me to do for them, listed as such:

1. Help them to find the location of any pair of pearls in the Pearls of Antiquity set (which is made of 10 pearls, with 5 pairs).
2. Heal everyone in the hospital, after this meeting.
   1. This was already discussed with the Patriarch, but they were planning on giving me merits for it in the first place.
3. And provide an undisclosed service for both the Patriarch and himself.

If I do these things for them, then the sect believes they would have received enough value out of me to allow this risk.

A reminder that no matter what group I join and no matter how benevolent they may seem in this world… they expect a return on their investment.

Things like this make me wonder if it was the best choice to join the sect. If it wasn’t for my scan letting me know how bad it would have been to go the rogue cultivator route, I would have definitely gone for that.

However, he adds something that softens the blow and reminds me of the benefits of joining a sect.

“With all that said, if you complete these tasks, earn the merits, and even successfully mentally process the information… the Patriarch will place you on the fast track for becoming an Elder of the sect. After you reach an appropriate Cultivation Realm, of course.

“Adding to that, we will provide several items for our growing star.”

Well. They certainly are planning on keeping me locked in with the pearls. But I suppose this is this world’s way of doing things.

“Give us what we want and it will benefit you. And if it doesn’t work out, we received what we wanted, so it’s no loss to us. And in the interim, we’ll give you a task that will take a while, so we can get even more value out of the relationship.”

So, I give the only answer I can.

“Okay.”

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