Chapter 87: 84. Second Phase Of Training

(Bu Cai POV)

"Congratulations on successfully completing the first phase of training. Now you both have a reliable lifeline to guide you in dangerous situations in battles.

This, without a doubt, is very useful.

However, this still isn't enough!

So what if you have a nice premonition here and there?

What you need to learn is how to effectively utilise these premonitions. In fact, if you are able to achieve good results in this stage then you won't even need that sixth sense!

What is this amazing thing I'm talking about, and that you will be learning in the next two months?

Knowledge from predecessors!

Battle tactics, optimal responses to emergency situations, alchemy, poisons and corresponding antidotes, Spirit Beasts' anatomy and habits, Spirit formations, human anatomy and much more!

All your competitors will be a bunch of twenty-year-olds at worst, so even if you can't catch up to them cultivation-wise, as long as you are more knowledgeable then you'll have a definitive edge over them!

So for the next few months, you will be focusing on reading through texts and books in the grand library and cultivating Qi at rest times!

It's alright for you both to find specialisations and focus on certain areas, but I'd like you both to get a preliminary understanding of all the main things at least."

...

Those were the words Chen Long left with us before we were locked up in this library.

Currently, I was seated down at a table in a private room reading a book on the physicality and mentality of Body Refining to Gold Core Spirit birds called, Birds For Beginners.

Chen Fei was also beside me flopped over onto the table like a dead fish- Clearly, he wasn't enjoying this one bit.

I don't blame him though.

We've been through a week of this two-month journey, trying to cram every bit of knowledge we could into our hippocampi, and it's torturous.

This week made me recall when I used to be engrossed in studying in my previous life, and how calculus used to be my notable personality trait, and it makes me shiver.

But what scares me more, is the sheer amount of information in this place.

It's fucking absurd.

To let you be able to visualise the sheer amount, I will have to first explain to you how the library works here.

First things first, in the grand library, you don't go to get books, rather, the books go to get you.

To elaborate, there are at least tens of thousands of clansmen who use the library every day for a variety of reasons, so instead of everyone scrambling about to get what they want, a different system has been established.

Remember the Clan token I was given when I joined?

Yeah, this was one thing it's useful for.

The Clan token gets upgraded or downgraded based on your status, which therefore would grant you different privileges based on the status. 

One such privilege was the tier of information you could get from the library, which was divided into five tiers- Tier 1 being the lowest and tier 5 being the highest.

And with that token, you could pull up a glossary of all the books you are able to access according to your tier by injecting Qi- It comes up as a holographic type screen.

You could interact with it and scroll through each category until you found the book or material you desire, and then you can click on it and it will teleport to you!

Cool, right?!

And if the book was already in use, you could apply yourself into a queue or pay Clan points to have it rewritten!

My information tier was surprisingly high with it being at tier three, which allowed me access to, I shit you not, four-thousand three-hundred and seventy-two categories!

Each category has a varied number of materials, but some popular categories have tens of thousands of data!

Not only that, but some categories also have subcategories where the knowledge branches out and connects with other categories!

Although it's true that some categories are very niche, or that some have lots of incomplete or slightly outdated data, it still didn't change the fact that it's insane!

I guess this was expected of a Clan that has its roots dating back to the formation of the empire hundreds of thousands of years ago.

All that being said though, there are many restrictions to this token that ensure that information was not easily stolen. One is that a person had to be within a certain range of the grand library to attain the information.

Anyways, talking about my situation over the past few weeks.

Starting after the arguments about who is Senior Brother (Of course it was me), I hadn't been in contact with the Spear God or Sun Qiu again and had to go back to training the sixth sense.

Due to this, other than achieving a decent sixth sense, nothing overly substantial happened.

I was never able to catch Song Jue's interest again, I wasn't able to meet Xie Xinyi either. Sun Ting went back to his Clan to train more, and Long Tian had seemingly fallen into the shadow realm.

If I were to mention one thing though, that would be that the system gave me a reward for saving the Spear God.

====================

[Congratulations, Host has stolen Long Tian's plot armour surrounding the vital supporting character, Tian Xu.]

[Host will be rewarded with one {Absolute Analyse} and information regarding the first 'main antagonist'.]

====================

...

====================

{Information- Basic Analysis}

[Name: Wu Hai (Heaven Devouring Demonic Venerable Xue Ye Xie]

[Age: 19 (408,732)]

[Cultivation: Mortal ]

[Skills: Hedonism(Advanced), Alcohol Tolerance(Advanced), Shamelessness(Advanced), Irritation(Intermediate), Scheming(Beginner)... ]

[Inherent Talent: God-Level Adaptability(Sealed), Fiendcelestial True Physique(Sealed)]

[Inherent Quality: Innate Demonic Nature]

[Background Story]

Wu Hai was the fifth prince of the Divine Sword Empire. Born to an out of favour concubine, and having seemingly no talent in anything alongside a crippled spirit root, Wu Hai grew to be resentful of everything around him.

Although his mother was kind-hearted and truly tried her best for her son, to the extent that she'd personally gone multiple times to desperately beg the emperor for some support, he eventually still became a waste of a person through and through.

He got addicted to alcohol, and once he didn't have enough money to fund his alcoholism, he'd beat and scream at his mother in order to get more.

But this all ended once he reached the age of twenty when his soul was devoured and his body was taken over by Xue Ye Xie, a demon venerable.

By utilising Wu Hai's untapped potential, and his own signature technique, All-Devouring Hand, he rapidly increased his cultivation and talents.

Eventually, after the destruction of the Wu Clan by Long Tian, Xue Ye Xie escaped and went around the realm devouring millions of people in secrecy. Once Long Tian ascended, he became more unrestrained and killed relentlessly.

Xue Ye Xie fought Long Tian in the second upper realm and just barely escaped with his life.

Xue Ye Xie fought Long Tian in the third upper realm where he eventually dies.

[Importance in Plot: F(SSS)- Without the antagonist bringing pressure, how could the protagonist rapidly improve? In some ways, a worthy enemy is more important to the protagonist than the heroine herself.]

==================

I was naturally a bit shocked after finding out the boy who ruined my matchmaking plans, was actually the big bad. But I was already getting a bit desensitised to all the bullshit being thrown at me from the system.

Honestly, at this point, I had accepted that whilst walking through the fruit market there would be a chance I'd find some homeless kid chilling around with a Heavenly God physique to his name.

And the reason I mentioned this as nothing overly substantial, is because there is still a whole year until the real Wu Hai dies, and the true antagonist awakens.

And I am not intending on delaying my cockroach hunting any more than needed.

Long Tian will be headless by the end of this year, whether he likes it or not!

So this information is inconsequential, and even if this so-called 'Demon Venerable' awakens tomorrow, it won't change the fact that he won't be picking a fight with Long Tian as he'll be more focused on building up his strength.

What made me a bit confused though, was that although this world was very life-like and real, there were still many novel elements. Such as arrogant young masters, heroines, antagonists, supporting characters etc.

The System seemed to also reinforce this fact by calling the person by their 'role'.

So this sparked an idea in me.

If I killed Long Tian successfully and stayed in this world, would people in the future end up different from what they would've initially been like with the absence of Long Tian?

E.g. If I killed Long Tian right now, would the 'main antagonist' still takeover Wu Hai's body?

Or would that fate be completely cut off?

Because, if the 'characters' still act the same, wouldn't that mean I'd have to deal with the 'antagonists' myself?!

...

Let's just leave that to the future.

Back to the present situation, after a week of studying, I've come to realise that photographic memory was disgustingly overpowered.

Things that would usually take diligent revision to memorise, now only need a glance.

So from the targeted subject list that we were given, I've already gained a preliminary understanding of all of them.

For further context, preliminary understanding wasn't anything impressive, but it means that I know some basic theory and I'm not completely clueless. E.g. I can identify a common pill's grade with an 8% accuracy- Which, admittedly, was not very good, but it was at least something.

The targetted subjects include,

-Poisons and corresponding antidotes

-Spirit Beast's anatomy and habits

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-Spirit Formations

-Human Anatomy

-Battle Strategy

-Emergency Situations

-Alchemy

-Talismans

-Ancient Languages

...

All this information just seemed to be absorbed by me.

To give a comparison, Chen Fei's only got the basics down for Battle Strategy and Human Anatomy and has been stuck on Ancient Languages for a while.

Although he's a dumbass, it's still enough to represent the huge gap between a (somewhat)normal human and me!

Moving on from humble bragging, my cultivation has also been going great as well.

I've been able to break through to the third stage of Qi Condensation!

How was I able to make such progress you may ask?

Hehehe, did you honestly think I'd leave behind the two herbs I got caught stealing?

Of course not!

Through the cleansing effects of the Snow Ginseng, I was able to break through two realms at once!

As for the Clear-Petal Lotus that helps with comprehension, I've been able to use it to digest the content I've been reading more, and also to consolidate my Sword Dao.

Speaking of which, after doing some testing with sword Qi, it's become evident to me that my strength is now on a whole new level. 

A slash with and without sword Qi differed immensely. If I were to make a comparison, a slash with basic Qi would be like a baby's punch whereas a slash with sword Qi is akin to a stampede of raging elephants.

Now imagine a slash with sword Qi executed alongside my mystic technique, [Fifty Slashes].

Yeah, utter obliteration.

Honestly, I've started to become a bit nervous knowing I wield this much power.

Just one rash move and I could accidentally kill tens, or even hundreds, of mortals.

A few times over the past few weeks, I've wondered whether I was truly human anymore. 

Would I also eventually turn into one of those self-obsessed cultivation machines, who just strive for endless power and longevity, by continuing to go down this path?

Hopefully, I won't.

My goal was to finish off this petty cockroach, then have fun with my family and friends, and just overall enjoy life in this fantasy world!

I want to be able to do common things I never got to do in my previous life, whilst also experiencing the exotic things this universe offers.

As for what's next?

I've not thought that far.

"Hey Bu Cai?

Hear me out, okay?

I may, or may not, be stuck with a few words so... Help this senior brother out this once.

...Okay?"

"..."

Shameless bastard.

This was the seventh time today he's asked for my help, yet he actually has the cheek to say 'this once'!

Even more reprehensible, was the fact that he's still calling himself a senior brother!

Where does he get this audacity from?!

*Sigh* 

"Come here then, I'll assist you 'this once'."

His eyes lit up as he hurridly brings his chair over and plops down beside me.

"Hurry up then, I want to get through this dogshit language, pronto!"

Heh.

Heh heh.

Heh heh heh.

I picked up the book that was in front of me, and before he could react...

*BANG*

I BASHED IT OFF HIS HEAD!

"You mannerless, impudent, bastard!

Since when have you grown the balls to lie to my face and tell me to 'hurry up'?

Not to mention the fact that you dare to still proclaim yourself as my senior brother!

Do you feel no shame?

Ask with a better attitude, or I'll be telling your father about your nights out with Sun Ting!"

After rubbing his head a bit he looked up at me indignantly and said angrily,

"I'm older than you, bastard!

And you were there those nights asw-"

*BANG*

"You're speaking out your ass again!

Why would an upright and virtuous person like me do something demeaning like drinking alcohol and skipping training?

Now say the truth!"

"You shameless dog!

Don't try and deny it-"

*BANG*

"Y-You ba-"

*BANG*

"S-STOP!"

*BANG*

"YOU WEREN'T THERE, I AM SORRY FOR LYING!"

As expected, a little tap on the head, here and there, was all it takes for him to start saying the truth!

I responded with a satisfied smile,

"See?

It wasn't so hard!

I'm not an unreasonable senior, as long as you admit your wrongdoings I won't hold it against you.

Now let's see, I'd recommend skimming through 'Ancient Languages For Dummies' and 'Words Of The Old' as a start. When you have done that, come back to me and ask about anything you don't understand."

Holding a hand on his head, he glares at me with watery eyes as he says,

"Y-Yes, Senior Brother."

He then moves back over to his own part of the desk and proceeds to look for the books.

Seeing this, I instantly feel better about myself and thought proudly to myself,

What nonsense was I thinking about!

There's no way I'm not human, after all, how could a kind and handsome senior brother like myself ever change?

...

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Author's note:

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, any recommendations or tips are appreciated.

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