New Library - 390

The funeral procession went on for a good amount of time. Hundreds of people walked up to the podium in order to honor the city lord's death. Hundreds of stories were told about his kindness and greatness.

Although he had been helpless during the major events in the last few years, such as the sudden underground invasion and the appearance of the demonic cultivators, people remembered him as the city lord during those times.

He received no less praise than the hidden sword king himself.

Finally, at the end of the ceremony, his wife and children went up to the podium and thanked everyone for their kindness while holding back tears.

It was dark when Zhou Fan, the old man, and Lu Wei returned home. They went to bed and continued the cycle of peace.

It was nearly 100 years later that an interesting event happened. On the other side of the world, an empire was destroyed overnight. Luckily, it had nothing to do with the library or the city. It was simply a shocking piece of news.

For something as big as an empire being destroyed overnight, even the old man could not get involved. It would take the void traversing cultivators of the world to investigate it.

200 years passed, and a person that the old man and Zhou Fan knew long ago entered the library.

The girl who introduced Zhou Fan to the library stood shocked as she looked at the old man. 

When Zhou Fan came down the stairs, her shock increased.

"You two are cultivators!" She said loudly.

"Quiet down. You are in a library." The old man said. "Welcome to the cultivation world. Is being a cultivator that shocking?" The old man asked rhetorically.

"Sure, anyone can be a cultivator, but to not have aged a single day in so long. You two must be more powerful than the city lord." She said.

"You don't look to have aged that much." The old man said.

"Well I am a core formation cultivator. I attended one of the lectures of the wandering cultivators from long ago and managed to enter the foundation establishment realm. After wandering around for many years, I managed to luckily enter the core formation realm. On the other hand, you two have been in that realm at least for a long time." The girl shouted.

"Do you know who my son is?" The old man asked simply.

"I've never heard of your son. Why would I?" The girl asked.

"Go ask around. Nobody would find it surprising that the father of such a person has a cultivation base. People would assume that he helped me out." The old man said.

Ever since his son had joined the blue flower sect, the old man had known that his secret would get out eventually, even if it did not get fully revealed.

Cultivators who had met him long ago, such as the grand elder of the blue flower sect, had long realized he was a cultivator. Based on the fact that she could not see his realm, she even assumed he was at least in the same realm as her.

By putting two and two together, it was not difficult to guess that he was the hidden sword king. In other words, the grand elder knew that the old man was a soul formation cultivator.

There were very few people who would bother him if they knew, and those who did not would naturally not bother him.

After leaving for a few hours, the girl did not come back. It seemed that she had found the answer and understood.

After that brief encounter, time passed quickly. In the next 300 years, the old man casually saved the city once.

Besides that, the only interesting thing was the growth of the city. With a new ambitious city lord, the economy of the city grew. With the rumor of the hidden sword king that had long become a known fact, the city was growing at a rapid pace. Houses were built everyday and the city walls had been moved far away from where they had once stood in preparation.

The library had experienced a higher rate of customers, though there had still been few. 

On this day, the city lord visited the library. The new city lord was a core formation realm cultivator, a noble of the empire.

As soon as he saw the old man, he managed to understand that he was a powerful cultivator, at least in the core formation realm.

He had known that the old man had to have been a cultivator from the city records, but he hadn't thought that he would be so powerful.

"This city lord greets the librarian." The city lord said, slightly bowing.

"Don't bow to an old man like me. It is an honor for the city lord to come to my humble library." The old man said with a bow.

"Thank you. I have come with a proposition. How would you feel about the creation of a new and greater library?" The city lord asked.

"Really? After all this time?" The old man asked.

"Indeed. With a greater city, we should naturally have a bigger library. The new library would have martial arts and techniques, as well as many more books like the ones currently in here." The city lord explained.

"In the plans, we even want to have a field for people to practice martial arts in and receive guidance." The city lord added.

"I see. It is a good idea." The old man nodded.

"I believe that you would be the perfect person to head the library. You and workers of your choice." The city lord proposed.

"It would be my honor." The old man bowed.

"Haha! In that case, the library will begin construction and finish in a few months. I look forward to your work." The city lord said.

"Thank you." The old man said as the city lord left. After calling down Zhou Fan, the old man explained what he had been told.