Thanks to the unfortunate interruption along the way, Kade didn’t arrive at the outer sect library until the sun was beginning to set.
Unless he found a suitable technique quickly there was a good chance he’d be here until morning. The body struggled less from lack of sleep and food as cultivators ascended the stages, so one all nighter wouldn’t kill him.
He entered the huge tower through thick metal doors. Despite only being the library of the outer sect, this was one of the most heavily guarded locations on the two mountains, containing a vast hoard of knowledge and techniques.
There was a Junior Elder and one of the older disciples working at the front desk. The disciple seemed to be busy transcribing texts from dusty old scrolls that looked to be falling apart to fresh manuals.
Before Kade could enter the Junior Elder needed to check his qualifications. He gave his full name and the man quickly leafed through a registry until he arrived at the correct page.
The thick tome was nearly as wide as Kade’s head and contained the names and some basic information about each disciple of the outer sect such as the realm their cultivation had reached and their contributions to the sect.
“Why do you need entry to the library today, Disciple Trelawney?” The Junior Elder peeked over frames to look him up and down.
Why a cultivator who definitely had no need for such vision aids decided to wear glasses was anyone’s guess. Perhaps he thought it made him look more intelligent?
He was wearing the robes typical of his station, black material as a base with golden sun patterns weaved around the neck and a golden trim. His skinny physique and unkempt hair gave off a cowardly vibe but his cultivation had to be solid to be at the rank of Junior Elder.
“I have achieved a breakthrough to the third stage of martial refinement and have come to receive my technique allotment,” Kade replied smoothly.
The Junior Elder pushed his glasses up his nose with two fingers before holding out a roughly carved clear crystal and placing it on the desk.
“Squeeze the crystal with all of your strength, it will know if you are telling the truth or not,” the man demanded with an impassive expression, clearly used to the rigmarole of the task.
Kade still wanted to fly under the radar for now, not sure of the risks that exposing his true cultivation would entail, especially now that he knew at least one Senior Elder had it in for him.
He applied around half his strength to the crystal, just enough to give off the impression of a disciple that had just freshly broken through into the third stage of martial refinement.
The increase in physical strength as one progressed through the ten stages of martial refinement were not linear, instead each breakthrough completely refined and tempered the bones, muscles and internal organs leading to exponential gains, hence the name of the realm - martial refinement.
This meant that a practitioner at the tenth stage of martial refinement would be able to easily defeat hundreds of opponents beneath the seventh stage singlehandedly, or even take down two or three ninth stage opponents unless their coordination was exceptional.
Though it was important for cultivators not to let their strength inflate their ego, there was always a greater peak to reach, always someone more powerful than yourself. At least that was what the elders taught.
Kade always thought it was a load of self righteous bollocks. They let assholes like Aaron walk around as if they owned the sect and act like a god despite having pitifully weak cultivation compared to the sect as a whole.
In this world, might made right. If you were stronger than your peers you would be able to dominate them and gain access to greater resources and power.
Seeing the results on the crystal were satisfactory, the Junior Elder took it back from Kade and returned it to a drawer underneath the desk before handing over a small jade.
“This jade gives you access to the first and second floors of the library, you may spend as long as you like browsing but it is forbidden to learn any of the techniques unless you request an authorised withdrawal. When you have chosen the manual you’d like to borrow, just bring it here and we’ll register it in your records. You will then have a week to study the technique before you are required to return it. There are severe penalties for breaking the rules,” he explained, not a hint of expression visible on his face throughout.
Kade nodded and took the jade, carefully stowing it away in one of the pockets in his robe before entering the grand library, marvelling at the sheer scale of the building.
He’d been here once before, just after entering the sect. Each disciple was provided a copy of the outer sect’s standard cultivation technique which they could receive from the library upon entry.
Back then he’d been a complete bumpkin, having never left his hometown until joining Mystic Solar Valley and the library was one of the first buildings he’d ever seen that was taller than a single floor.
The shelves were uncountable, stretching as far as the eye could see, forming a labyrinth of knowledge and secret reading alcoves.
Thankfully, there was a rather simple to understand organisation system employed by the library, kept in order by the many disciples who opted to work there to receive a few more cultivation resources.
After asking one of said assistants for directions, Kade made his way to the second floor where the staff techniques were located.
The first floor was for cultivation techniques, formation arts and talisman techniques, while the second floor mostly housed weapon arts and techniques, with a few manuals on other esoteric or practical schools of knowledge such as sealing arts, forging and enchanting.
After finding the correct section, he began to browse through the myriad manuals that were scattered among the shelves. Some freshly written, others dusty and aged, some even in languages other than the standard universal script.
Unfortunately, one couldn’t simply judge the techniques from their names. A technique could have a simple one word name and be one of the most extraordinary works of martial prowess to exist or have a complicated and extravagant name yet be overly complex and lacking in substance.
Thankfully there were ways to figure out if the manual you were reading was well suited to your purpose, or if it would muddy your foundations.
Within a few pages of skimming one could judge the contents and see if the energy circulation and breathing techniques were a match for one’s physique and cultivation method.
It was possible to learn techniques that clashed with your typical way of cultivation, but it was best to limit such practices, as it would cause imperfections and lead to stagnation in the future.
If possible, Kade wanted a staff technique that would complement the natural function of the Resonant Echo Staff, best enabling him to repeatedly strike the same area and trigger the building force of the blows.
The first few manuals he flipped through seemed to be useless, the mantras too complicated to fully master within the week allocated for studying them.
Over the next few hours he did nothing but skim through the initial pages of countless scrolls, manuals and jade tablets to find a suitable technique.
There were a few that he liked the sound of and were a good compliment to the sect’s 【Nurturing Radiance Art】, the basic cultivation technique of the outer sect, but that didn’t fit his combat style well.
When he’d arrived the library had been bustling, hundreds of disciples there to study, work or search for hidden gems among the multitude of techniques available to them.
At any given time of day there would always be at least one elder and one assistant at the desk along with a few disciples scattered around, yet the majority of those disciples had left to sleep, leaving Kade in complete silence on the second floor.
Eventually the sun began to rise, the radiance of dawn slowly creeping into the library through a large window behind Kade.
Sunlight caused written works to fade over time, but the sect had formations in place to prevent such tragedies and as such could allow the light to freely bathe any members working or studying in the library.
He had spent all night trawling through the section containing the staff techniques and still had yet to find one he felt was suitable to learn.
There were plenty that would be passable, perhaps even enough to give him an edge over the other disciples during the inner sect examinations, but Kade wanted to aim for the pinnacle of cultivation; anything shy of near perfection wasn’t enough to build a strong foundation.
His eyes were starting to sting a little, the effects of not sleeping for over twenty four hours starting to show themselves. It was then that a particular manual caught his eye.
From the outside it had the appearance of an ordinary martial technique, the cover somewhat aged and dusty but not enough to be considered ancient.
The reason it had stood out to him was the strange curling script the title of the manual was written in and the way it sparkled a faint blue as the sunbeams caressed it.
The script was foreign to him, not one of the many languages he’d encountered thus far in his time in Mystic Solar Valley or back home, yet the meaning of the words were somehow clear in his mind.
【Flowing River Art】
He opened the manual, the first page entirely blank except for a single phrase, written in the same curling script as the title, ‘Stillness without form, strength without limit’.
It was exceptionally strange that he could understand every word despite the manual being written in an entirely foreign script, but cultivation techniques worked in mysterious ways.
He flipped to the next page, but was surprised to find it completely blank, not even an ink blot or speck of dust visible. Rapidly leafing through the entire manual provided a similar outcome.
Apart from the first page, the rest were entirely blank. Kade groaned. Just when he thought he’d found a treasure among the trash, it turned out to be fool’s gold.
He went to put the manual back on the shelves, but he couldn’t throw off a strange feeling in the back of his mind. Something was strange about the technique, but he wasn’t able to put his finger on what exactly.
“The Junior Elder said learning the techniques in the library is forbidden, but surely I can’t get in trouble just for repeating a phrase?” He muttered.
Out of curiosity and because his brain wouldn’t stop bugging him unless he gave it a try, Kade decided to test out the phrase in the manual as a mantra.
Taking a seat under the window, crossing his legs and placing his palms facing upwards resting atop his knees, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to centre himself.
Once he had cleared any unwanted thoughts from his mind and closed off any distractions from the library such as the early rising disciples and mysterious rustling noises echoing from hidden nooks and crannies, he repeated the phrase in his mind while taking deep, slow breaths.
At first, nothing happened except the deep relaxation that naturally came with such meditation. Kade continued to repeat the mantra internally while breathing, yet there was no response from his body.
As a test, he tried to do the same but instead spoke the mantra out loud instead of in his mind. Even after a few repetitions there was no effect.
Frustrated, he stood back up and went to return the manual. Having sated his curiosity he would have no regrets about leaving it in the library.
However, when he got to his feet, a wave of dizziness struck and he had to reach out to a nearby shelf to stop himself falling to the floor.
