81.

"I see, we have a new arrival amongst us. How about you introduce yourself?"

Inside another room, Yang Ze was standing in front of the students silently. Beside him was a frail middle-aged man who had a smile on his face. One look at him, and anyone could guess that he never practiced any martial arts.

"Hello, I am Hua Ji, and I just joined the alliance today."

Speaking with a slight pause, Yang Ze nodded his head towards the others in front of him.

Compared to the previous room where everyone was sitting on the ground cross-legged, the people here were sitting on bamboo chairs and in front of each person was a table upon which bundles and bundles of papers were stacked.

The majority of the people here were in their late thirties with a few minorities of people being in their early twenties. However, one thing that was common amongst all of them was that everyone sitting in this room, regardless of their age, had a weak physique. None of them seemed to be practicing any martial arts or secret techniques.

"I see... On behalf of all scholars, I welcome you to our humble learning place. So, my little friend where did you come from?" Though he was speaking with a smile, his eyes were constantly observing Yang Ze from time to time.

"I came here from the city of Ignis."

"Ohhhh! That's quite a distance you traveled young friend."

"So... What brings you here?"

"To... learn more about the world I guess."

As soon as he said these words, the man suddenly turned his head with a smile before speaking.

"A young explorer, eh... are we?"

"So... Tell me, what do you think about martial arts?"

"Errr..." Yang Ze was silent for a while. The person in front of him was acting weird the moment he entered the class. How would he say it? He was a bit tad more excited after seeing him.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze puffed his chest before speaking in a righteous tone. "Martial arts are used for a single person's strength while the books...." Looking at the piles of papers that were scattered throughout the room, he continued "The books are the essence of a generation. A few hundred years later, people may or may not remember the martial arts, but they will surely remember the wisdom passed upon them."

With every sentence he spoke, Yang Ze was making up more bullshit. However looking at the eyes of the people sitting here brimming with light and a smile that was etched on their faces, his rubbish seemed to work pretty well.

"A wonderful answer." The man nodded in approval before signaling him to take a seat at the front.

"Now" After Yang Ze took his seat, he clapped his hands before asking a question. "Young friend, you said you are here to learn about the world. How much about it you actually know?"

"Honestly... Nothing." Shaking his head, Yang Ze continued, "Since childhood, my family wanted me to focus on martial arts. Any books that were not related to martial arts were strictly prohibited. They always told me that once you are strong, you will learn about the world."

"So? Do you agree with that statement?" The man asked the question.

"No. On the contrary, I think that we need to learn about the world first. I wanted to be a scholar, an explorer, a traveler, but unfortunately, all I got were voices filled with mockery."

Yang Ze's words seemed to resonate with the people here. All of them had the same situation. Some were not talented enough, some couldn't afford the resources, some didn't have time, and some just wanted to live peacefully. In that instant, their eyes were filled with sympathy and approval. Sympathy because of the situation, approval because of his decision to pursue his dreams.

"Well... Worry not. Since you have joined these lessons, I will make sure you fulfill your dreams."

The man smiled before looking at others and speaking loudly.

"Since we have someone new joining us, let us take a moment to briefly revise some of the basic things."

"Let's start from the place where we are standing right now. This is the city of Mehull founded over two thousand years ago and is the oldest city in these northern plains."

"The world that we live in is divided into many different regions, and the place that we all live is called Northern plains. The Northern plain is more than five thousand miles in radius and is entirely controlled by the Xuanwu Academy.

There are countless cities, towns, and villages under the jurisdiction of the Xuanwu Academy. So, you can say they are the true ruler of these plains."

"That's it?" Looking at the man that went silent, Yang Ze was flabbergasted. He thought he was going to learn more about the structure of this world, but it seems that it wasn't going to be possible for a while.

"Well, if you really want to learn more about the region we are living in, I would suggest you read some books in the library. Now, let's come back to Mehull City. In the beginning, this city used to be a small village that was constantly terrorized by the bandits. Back in the day, our ancestors were all the students of Xuanwu Academy, so they took on the mission to eradicate these vile bandits and then established order and law here. With the passage of time, this place transformed from a small village to a town and is now finally one of the strongest cities in the northern plains." During the last lines, his voice was filled with pride.

"Now this city is controlled by the three big families, the Xia clan, the Yuwen clan, and the Feng Clan. Other than these families, the entire city is overlooked by the city lord who is an elder from the Xuanwu Academy. Every year, our city pays taxes to the Academy in return for their protection."

"Protection from what?" It was Yang Ze who spoke.

"....." The man went silent for a long time before shaking his head with a sigh.

"Just think of it as a fee. A fee that we need to provide for living here."

'Taxes.' Yang Ze thought of an easy word. It would make sense if the Xuanwu Academy was collecting taxes from everyone. After all, in this world where strength prevails, it would be them making the rules.

"Okay... Let's move to another topic. Today we will discuss about the events that took place 37 years ago in the year of the moon...."

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By the time Yang Ze came out of the lessons, his face was full of annoyance. It seemed that he thought of them too highly. The knowledge that he got from the second lesson was nowhere near as he had hoped. Hell, even that little guide whom he met after entering the city gave him more information than these so-called scholars. No wonder other people always mocked them or look down on them. It wasn't that they were feeling superior, but just that these so-called scholars were nothing but a group of narcissistics.

"What a waste of time." Cursing slowly, Yang Ze looked at the distant building before making his way there.

'Alliance Library'

Looking at the words on the plaque, Yang Ze took a step forward. However, before he could even enter the building, he was suddenly stopped by a man sitting on a chair outside the building.

"Token please."

"Oh yes..." Nodding, Yang Ze threw the token that he just received today. However, the man took a look at it before shaking his head.

"I see... you have just joined today, so let me explain how this all works."

"This token is only eligible for the lessons and field practicing. To use other facilities, you need to take their membership."

"Huh?" It was Yang Ze's turn to be surprised. After spending more than fifty spirit stones, he was suddenly told that he needed to pay extra for using other facilities. Yang Ze felt like he was playing some kind of mobile game where you need to pay for everything to unlock.

Looking at Yang Ze whose face was slowly getting darker, the man gave out a hollow laugh before speaking slowly.

"Well, this alliance was after all formed for the members of the three families. So, unless you are a member of the three families, you need to pay for using our facilities."

"Sigh." Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze nodded before asking in a flat tone. "How much?"

"Well, to use the library, you need to pay 10 spirit stones per week."

"Take it." Without wasting any time, Yang Ze threw out the spirit stones on the table in front of him.

"Great." Looking at the spirit stones, the man's face bloomed with a smile. Reaching out to a small drawer, he pulled out a jade token and threw it to Yang Ze. "This will be valid for a week. In case you lost it, you need to pay again for membership. I wish you the best."

Yang Ze wasn't in the mood to chat, so without wasting another second, he directly went inside the library.

Just like the libraries in his previous life, this place was full of rows upon rows of books. If there was one thing that differentiates them two apart, it would be the lack of systematic arrangements. There were no sections or topics. Most of the books were just piled up on top of another. Other than a few souls sitting there in silence, the entire library seemed to be deserted.

"Well, that's just great." Shaking his head, Yang Ze picked up the nearest book.

'A guide to traveling.'

After looking through a few pages, he threw the book back and picked up another book.

'A guide to living in wild.'

"This is gonna take a while." Shaking his head, Yang Ze started looking through the book that could give him more information on the world he was living in.

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"I see. So, this is everything that happened with you."

"Yes."

"Okay, go back home now. I will take care of this matter."

After exiting the shop, the man exhaled heavily and looked at the notes that he took inside. It was everything that the fatty did after his arrival in the city. This included his selling many products, meeting new people, coming up with new plans, instructions to the servants, and his meeting with Yang Ze.

Signaling the guards to follow him, the man picked out the first name from the list.

"Let's go. We have work to do."