392 Imperial Scholar and Princess - 392

A week later, the grand opening of the library commenced. As he stood on a stage next to the old man, Zhou Fan wondered how everything had turned out like this. He had simply wandered into a city and became a worker at a library.

Now, he was standing on stage looking down at tens of thousands of young people eager to enter the library. He was seen as a mentor and a strong cultivator.

That was despite not once ever using his power.

The old man spoke to the children in the crowd, as well as the many others below him. There were scholars that had come from afar just to enter what was now one of the greatest public libraries on this side of the world.

The libraries that could compare were in sects or other private organizations.

The speech soon ended, and the old man cut a red ribbon, symbolizing the opening of the library.

He and Zhou Fan entered, followed by a large number of young people and scholars.

Luckily, there were nearly a hundred workers in the library. It was unknown if they would all stay as the excitement went down, but they were necessary for the first few days.

Zhou Fan and the old man stayed on the upper floors. They did not expect anyone to come up so far.

It required a certain status or price in order to, and while the library was technically public, not everything was freely accessible.

It was also possible to enter the higher levels with some sort of contribution to humanity such as killing demonic cultivators or helping in a war against some of the other races in the Zhou galaxy.

Surprisingly, after a few hours, Zhou Fan and the old man saw an old looking man in white robes enter the 15th floor where they were staying.

Zhou Fan and the old man recognized him as they were always reading books and he was a well known person.

"Greetings, Imperial Scholar." The old man bowed. Zhou Fan stayed sitting down.

"No need to bow. My status is not too high." The Imperial Scholar said as he raised his hand.

"It is not a bow to status, but a bow of respect." The old man retorted.

"Haha. In that case, I will not refuse." The imperial scholar laughed. 

As his title said, he was the imperial scholar of the empire that Zhou Fan and the old man lived in. He was also a powerful cultivator in the nascent soul realm.

The old man did not respect him because of his cultivation, but because of the quantity and quality of books he had written over his many years of life. It was also said that he may enter the soul formation realm before his lifespan ends.

"I'm just here to look around the library. I must say that I am impressed so far." The imperial scholar said.

"Do I qualify to enter the top floors?" The imperial scholar asked.

"No need to joke. If you could not enter, then who could? Still, I am afraid that you will not be impressed." The old man said.

"Don't worry about it. The only libraries that could truly impress me are the ones in the tri-sect alliance." The imperial scholar said.

The old man nodded and began to lead the imperial scholar around. Zhou Fan was left alone on the 15th floor. He had assumed that he would be left alone for the rest of the day at least, but he soon saw a young woman no older than 20 entering the floor.

Zhou Fan saw her and recognized her. The 5th princess of the neighboring empire. The neighboring empire was an ally of the empire that Zhou Fan was in. Otherwise, this empire would have been easily destroyed.

It is said that the emperor of the neighboring empire is in the soul formation realm, and very near to the peak of that realm. There was no doubt that he could defeat the old man.

"You must be the vice-head of the library. Do you know me?" The princess asked.

"I do." Zhou Fan responded.

"In that case, we can skip introductions. Care to show me around the next few floors? If you're not too busy of course." The princess laughed.

Zhou Fan was currently slumped in a chair and staring at the ceiling, so he could not make an excuse.

Zhou Fan showed her around the 15th and 16th floors, meeting the old man and the imperial scholar on the 17th floor.

The imperial scholar was sitting down at a table, reading a book.

As soon as he saw the princess, he stood up and bowed.

"Greetings 5th princess. It is an honor for my empire to host you." He said.

"Of course it is. Don't worry about me, I'm taking a tour." The princess said with a smile.

She seemed much more arrogant than when she spoke to Zhou Fan.

The imperial scholar nodded and sat back down to read.

Zhou Fan briefly introduced the 17th floor before moving to the 18th floor. As he was halfway through the tour, the princess suddenly turned around and shot an icicle at Zhou Fan's head.

Zhou Fan did not react or move, but when the icicle hit him, it immediately shattered into fragments.

"Hah! I knew it. They said that the vice-head of the library was young and weak, but you seem strong." She said happily as if she had won a bet.

Zhou Fan ignored what happened and continued on with the tour. The princess shot more icicles at him from behind, but Zhou Fan acted as if nothing was happening.

Finally, after the 145th icicle, Zhou Fan acknowledged what was happening.

"If you throw another icicle at me, I'm going to slap your father in the face." He said before turning around.

The princess stood stunned for a second, before laughing loudly. She then shot another icicle at Zhou Fans back.

Zhou Fan instantly grabbed her by the neck and disappeared. He and the princess appeared in a nearly empty throne room. Only a single middle aged man was sitting on a throne.