4 Choosing a Technique (1/2)
The day after Shi Li woke up, Shi Xingwan's room.
Shi Li opened the door to his father's room and entered, closing it after. He sat on the chair he used last night and looked at his father. ”I've gotten a good night's rest. Are we going to start, Father?”
Shi Xingwan placed his papers down as he rubbed his chin. He looked at Shi Li and nodded. ”Indeed. Follow me.”
Shi Xingwan stood up and headed outside. Shi Li stood up from his chair and followed his father.
”May I ask where are we going, Father?” Shi Li asked respectfully.
Shi Xingwan tried to remember the place as he answered, ”The clan library.”
…
Minutes later, both of them stood in front of a door that was thrice the height of a normal human. Its width was equal to the average arm span of two humans, which made it definitely big. Its border was painted in gold as intricate carvings covered it. The walls were made of rough cut stone, contrasting the decently artistic door.
Shi Xingwan placed his hand on the door as he released his full aura. All of a sudden, Shi Li had the urge to kneel down towards his father because of the oppressive power his father was exuding.
Realizing what he was doing, Shi Xingwan retracted most of his aura as he channeled part of his qi towards the door. ”Sorry about that, my son.”
Shi Li composed himself by breathing slowly but his face was still quite pale. After a while, he replied, ”It's fine, Father. If I can't bear a simple thing as this, how can I become someone strong in the future?”
Shi Xingwan lightly chuckled for a bit. 'Youngsters these days are quite optimistic. Guess I'll let him be for now.'
He then pushed the massive door, revealing tens of bookshelves that have books ranging from history to miscellaneous topics.
He looked at Shi Li, only to see Shi Li's face in awe. Shi Li knew that a library had a lot of books, but he knew for sure, that the amount of books here would exceed the libraries in his previous life by multiplefold.
”Welcome to the library,” Shi Xingwan said. ”Follow me.”
Shi Li did what he was told and followed Shi Xingwan as they made their way through the library.
In the midst of their walk, Shi Li asked his father, ”Father, is it fine if I can access the library at any time?”
Shi Xingwan thought about for a bit before shrugging his shoulders. ”I don't see why not, it's good for you to obtain more knowledge anyways.”
”If you want to access the library, just ask an elder to help open the library for you, okay?”
”I got it,” Shi Li nodded.
…
A few minutes later, the both of them stood in front of a few bookshelves, with each book exuding a faint aura of nature.
”We're here, the cultivation technique section,” Shi Xingwan said.
He then pointed towards the three bookshelves in the middle and continued, ”These three bookshelves have cultivation techniques focusing on the Tempering realm. The leftmost is for Skin Tempering, the center is for Bone Tempering, and the rightmost is Organ Tempering. Energy gathering manuals are also on the rightmost bookshelf.”
Shi Li walked closer and examined the bookshelves. The bookshelves were made of fine grain wood, with the intersections being well made. They stood out from the other bookshelves in the library, being the only few that looked decent.
He then grabbed a random book from the first bookshelf and checked its material. The cover was made of slightly dated leather and the pages were made of paper with a yellowish hue. This showed that the books were quite old, showing its authenticity to Shi Li.
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[Scorching Ember Skin Art]
[Grade]: Middle Human
[Strength Increase]: 27 ren
'This cultivation technique allows the cultivator to temper their skin through extreme heat. Once the cultivator cultivates the technique to the peak of Skin Tempering, the skin's defense would be boosted tenfold and it would faintly radiate a red color. Once an enemy touches your skin, there's a chance for their skin to be burnt.'
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In an instant, Shi Li had many questions in his head. He looked at his father with a curious gaze, only for his father to lightly chuckle. ”What's wrong, my son? If you have any questions, ask away.”
Shi Li's eyes lit up since his questions would be answered. Being a transmigrated person, he needed to know everything there is within this world.
”What's ren? What's Middle Human grade?” Shi Li asked his father two questions right off the bat.
Shi Xingwan rubbed his chin as he tried to recall information regarding the two things Shi Li asked. After a while, Shi Xingwan opened his mouth.
”Ren is the basic unit of strength. An average human can exert 1 ren. Some humans after training can exert 2 or 3 ren. Us cultivators, on the other hand, can exert tens of ren in the lower realms and even millions in the higher realms.”
”About Middle Human grade, let's focus on the grade part. Grades are used to determine the quality of a technique, a weapon, an artifact, and other miscellaneous equipment.”
”There are three grades of quality: Human, Earth, and Sky. These grades can be split further into four substages: Low, Middle, High, and Peak. Before you think that Sky grade is easily available, within the clan library, we only have one technique at the Half-Sky grade.”
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Shi Li. ”Do you understand?”
After not responding for a bit, Shi Li nodded. ”Un, I understand.”
Shi Xingwan turned around as he walked towards the exit of the library. ”I'll leave you here since I still have some other things to do. Once you find a suitable Skin Tempering realm cultivation technique for your body, just go to my room, okay?”
Shi Li nodded. ”I got it, Father.”