4 Choosing a power technique

The second floor and above was pertaining to the martial study. The library pavilion was divided into five floors: there were some light reading books on the first floor, primary level power techniques on the second floor, intermediate level power techniques on the third floor, and advanced level power techniques on the fourth floor. However, the fifth floor showcased the collection of a few Xiantian level power techniques which belonged to Yi Yuan School.

For all those years, Ye Xiwen did not know the name of that person but everyone called him Old Mo. Although Ye Xiwen did not know that old man's status, he could tell that that Old Mo was most likely a senior from Yi Yuan School. Therefore, Ye Xiwen was always respectful to Old Mo whenever they met.

"What brings you here, Young Ye? Do you want a book to read? Do you want a book on classic history or geography?" Old Mo put down the book that he held in his hand, and said with a kind smile on his face. His impression of Ye Xiwen had always been good, after all he was a modest and polite youngster who also liked to read. More importantly, very few people were willing to calm their mind by reading books nowadays. The younger generation seemed to have become very fickle and impatient these days.

"Old Mo, I am here today to borrow a book on martial arts." Ye Xiwen said.

"Martial arts?" Old Mo's eyes flashed with an indescribable radiance, "You have already reached the fourth stage?"

"Not bad. Not bad at all, ha ha ha!" Old Mo gave a hearty laugh without restraint. It really seemed as if Ye Xiwen was his own nephew.

"Since you are going to choose a power technique, beware of not getting too greedy because slow and steady progress is vital for your own good!" Old Mo said, although he would say that to every disciple who used to come here to choose secret books, he was unusually serious with Ye Xiwen.

Most young people always want to learn this and that from the outset and end up being unable to pay attention to what they really need at that time. Some people think very highly of themselves and believe that they possess absolute natural gifts, but the final result of their training only brings out a poor imitation of the real thing. Attempting to learn something beyond one's ability and failing as a result of that is only going to bring superficial knowledge to a person. In that case, that person would never be able to become as good as those few people who have already commanded specific martial art techniques.

"Thank you for your reminder, Old Mo. I will certainly keep that in mind!" Ye Xiwen felt that Old Mo's words were too profound and bowed deeply in gratitude.

Training by reading a book was not like reaching the heaven in a single leap. While reading books earlier, Ye Xiwen would pursue to finish reading a book thoroughly before jumping onto the next book. In this case, it was surely possible to read a lot of books within a certain period of time but his learning would be much more transparent and effective than those people, who tend to follow many books at the same time - all thanks to the mysterious space.

"Well, this old man won't talk anymore, go in and take a look." Old Mo waved his hand, then lay down on the rocking chair and began reading the book again.

Ye Xiwen entered the library pavilion and was already thinking that this Old Mo was always so unpredictable. Of course, one could simply imagine his status in Yi Yuan School while considering the fact that he was the only guard of the library pavilion. How could they possibly send some poor old man to guard such an important place? However, since Ye Xiwen had always been so eager to find out more and more about this world's circumstances that he would just rush into the library pavilion each time in a hurry. As a result of that, he never really got a chance to observe Old Mo. No matter how one would look at him, he still looked like an ordinary old man. However, how could this ordinary old man possibly be sent over to guard the library pavilion with no one to assist him? This simply indicated that Old Mo and his abilities must have earned a very high level of trust in Yi Yuan School. Concluding from all that, it could be said that there was only one possibility to justify Old Mo's mysterious identity - He most likely possessed unfathomable strength, and enough to make it impossible for others to see through his cultivation.

Moreover, it could be expected that he held a high status in the sect. It just wasn't known why he would willingly guard over the library pavilion with such a high status. Even though the library pavilion was considered a very important place in Yi Yuan School, in the end it didn't hold any significant influence.

Ye Xiwen did not think too much about it. In any case, Old Mo was not an enemy. He was more of a well-wisher who was very fond of Ye Xiwen.

Yi Yuan School's library pavilion had a huge collection of books that were stacked categorically in two categories, namely foundation level martial arts and Xiantian level martial arts. Xiantian level martial arts were usually hard to obtain, and foundation martial arts were not necessarily needed too much. In any case, fist techniques, palm techniques, leg techniques and several other types of techniques were merely learned for laying the foundations. In the future, the probability of using foundation level techniques was very low while confronting tough enemies as the body would not survive so much exertion.

In other words, learning foundation level martial arts was nothing more than getting a hang of the basics of sword techniques, fist techniques and so on.

Therefore, Ye Xiwen began to check out foundation level martial arts, and the most impressive among them was undoubtedly the one named 'Rushing Thunder Hand'. He had seen his elder brother, Ye Feng, practicing Rushing Thunder Hand before, and it had left a profound impression on him. Rushing Thunder Hand's attack speed was extraordinarily fast; its attack power was also quite great. Even though it was a foundation level technique, its attack power wouldn't be considered weak once it was practiced to the Dacheng level. After practicing 'Rushing Thunder Hand' to the peak level, every punch would trigger nine thunderous sounds which would produce nine echoes between two shots.

Ye Xiwen did not stay on the first floor, rather directly went up to the second floor. There was a visible thin membrane on the staircase between the first and the second floor. Ye Xiwen passed through that membrane and only felt a slight resistance that tried to obstruct him from going up, but he still went up very smoothly.

Ye Xiwen knew that this membrane was not strong enough to prevent the disciples who would insist on rushing up, though he came up with no difficult himself. He knew that this membrane was a clever installation as those having the cultivation level of Houtian fourth stage or higher would be unimpeded. Those without the strength of Houtian fourth stage could not go up.

Ye Xiwen was very interested in Rushing Thunder Hand. Hence, he quickly found it and confirmed that its greatest characteristic was its unbreakable speed.

Ye Xiwen opened the book and started memorizing the contents. The secret books were not allowed to be taken out of here, but one could copy it. Ye Xiwen did not bring over a pen and paper, so his only option was to store it up in his head. Anyways, it was allowed to take away copied material so most people simply chose to go back after that.

Ye Xiwen memorized the entire secret book in less than half an hour. After that, he put it back and went downstairs. He didn't stop anywhere and directly went out of the library pavilion.

Old Mo was still leisurely reading that ancient book when he saw Ye Xiwen coming out. He smiled and said: "Selected?"

Ye Xiwen nodded and said: "En, I chose 'Rushing Thunder Hand'."

"Rushing Thunder Hand? That secret book is pretty good." Old Mo said, "Its might is also pretty good, but it is a palm technique. You have to find an opportunity to choose a secret book on weapon arts, or you will end up losing while fighting with tough opponents!"

"En!" Ye Xiwen nodded.

"If you want to specialize in palm techniques or fist techniques, then at least practice 'Rushing Thunder Hand' to six echoes or higher. Focusing on several martial art techniques is detrimental, so might as well just specialize in one. The so-called concept of biting off more than you can chew, I think you already know."

"Thank you so much for always pointing me in the right direction, Old Mo!" Ye Xiwen said. "Please excuse me!"

"Go!" Old Mo looked at Ye Xiwen once, then immediately began to read the old book that looked somewhat yellowish due to age. As he lay on the rocking chair, a relaxed look appeared on his face like always.

Ye Xiwen knew that Old Mo had always been this way, so he did not mind and turned around to go back to his own courtyard.

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