Chapter 30. Everything New is Well-Forgotten Old.

Walking back on the second floor, Rand kept holding his head with his left hand, frowning, pretended to have a severe headache. He knew that the elder, though unlikely, might be observing him even here. If his condition hadn't changed after acquiring the technique, it would look unusual, and Rand didn't want the elder or the sect to notice this peculiarity, as it might lead to dangerous thoughts.

Having made it halfway down to the first floor, Rand noticed Eyron studying the talismans with techniques near the staircase. His body, still mangled by healing burns, might have evoked disgust or even fear in many, but such a trifle did not matter to Rand, who looked at him calmly without averting his gaze.

When Rand approached within a few dozen meters of Eyron, the latter also noticed him and, ceasing his examination of the talismans, headed towards him.

"Senior Oberin, are you alright? You look unwell," Eyron asked, seeing Rand's pale and pain-twisted face.

Looking at his burnt figure, Rand involuntarily thought, smirking to himself, "Ha, hearing that from you is amusing. And why do even you care about my condition?" But he did not voice his thoughts.

"You must be imagining things. I'm perfectly fine," Rand replied, grimacing and continuing his slow walk towards the staircase.

"I see. It seems now isn't the best time for a chat. You've probably already chosen a technique and are feeling the effects of absorbing a large amount of information into a body that still has too little Qi. How about we talk a bit tomorrow after the lesson? I think we have something to discuss."

Hearing these words from his groupmate, Rand abruptly stopped and looked at Eyron's burnt face, which showed no readable emotions due to his injury.

"What do you want to discuss with me, junior Eyron?" Rand asked in a still pained voice, as if trying to suppress his discomfort.

"About a certain unusual little friend of ours. I think even in your current state, you understand who I mean," Eyron replied cryptically.

These words made Rand ponder: "He meant Weed. There's no doubt about it. Has he also noticed something strange about him? But why did he decide to discuss this with me and not with someone else, like a deacon? This situation is very unclear, but that's why I need to agree to figure it out."

Rand stood silent for a couple of seconds as if it was hard for him to gather his thoughts due to the headache, then finally said:

"Alright, we can talk tomorrow after the lesson. I hope this conversation will not be pointless."

"You don't need to worry about that, senior Oberin," Eyron assured, then returned to studying the talismans' contents.

"I don't doubt that he, like me, could notice Weed's oddities, like his persuasive ability. Let's say that could also notice my suspicion towards Weed, although I tried to hide it — this is possible. And because of my suspicion, he might have chosen me for the discussion among all the other novices. He hasn't told the deacon or anyone else in the sect because he only has baseless allegations without any proof. But for now, these are just my thoughts. Let's see what he says tomorrow," Rand reflected on this short conversation while descending the staircase and walking through the first floor. Finally, he left the enormous building.

At the exit of the Library, he was again met by its guardian, elder Saran. According to etiquette, Rand needed to thank him again, this time in person, not through the wall. Fortunately, the second thanks, like the first, required nothing from him but a small amount of courtesy.

"Thank you, elder, you have been very helpful," Rand said gratefully, with poorly hidden pain in his voice, approaching the elder and bowing to him.

"It's nothing, you don't need to bow for such a small thing. Actually, you surprised me a bit, young Oberin. Almost everyone asks me something: from foolish questions like 'which technique is the strongest' to where to find the technique their master recommended. But you didn't ask anything. Instead, you chose to find a technique suitable for your needs on your own, without relying on others. That's the mindset of a true cultivator, and it's something I value in novices and disciples. That's why I gave you one piece of advice and now I'll give you another. Your choice of technique is quite good; its versatility in use will give you a significant advantage over opponents. But don't try to start practicing it too early, at least not before reaching the fourth level of Qi Condensation. Yes, it's written that it can be practiced from the third level, but trust me, you'll save a lot of time if you wait. Besides, with your talent, you won't have to wait long."

"Thank you for the guidance, elder," Rand thanked the elder for the third time, thinking to himself, "Good advice, elder, but unfortunately, it's somewhat useless to me since I already know this. Perhaps I need to play the less courteous novices, otherwise these elders will endlessly try to share their 'wisdom' with me. Maybe I should add a bit more arrogance typical of geniuses to Oberin's character?"

Leaving the elder and the still-waiting novices, Rand headed straight for the portal arch. For some reason, he recalled his old thoughts about this structure from the time he first saw it: "It's quite an impressive construction when you think about it. A teleportation formation usually requires such a massive amount of Qi to activate that without additional support of several hundred spirit stones, practitioners below the Core Formation stage simply wouldn't be able to activate it. And for such a formation to be used by even mortals, it would require practically burning spirit stones by the kilogram. But they cleverly bypassed this problem using a volcano that continuously generates a vast amount of Qi. They installed an auxiliary formation at the base of the arch that receives energy from the volcano and converts it into the necessary state for the arch's formation to work. If such economical formations could be installed throughout the empire, then… I'm starting to ponder about abstract matters again..."

Finishing his thoughts on the peculiar method of powering the portal arch, Rand, who had already traversed the remaining distance to his destination, entered the Outer Sect Repository building. The sight of the inner hall differed significantly from what he had seen about ten days ago. That time, the hall was nearly empty, with just one worker sitting at a table. Now, several dozen people were present, standing in queues at three tables manned by novice workers. Rand noticed the same young man who had given him his items last time and, deciding it was better to approach someone who knew of his status as the elder's disciple, Rand headed straight for him, completely ignoring the indignant queue. Courtesy was unnecessary with regular novices. The storage worker, seeing Rand, immediately recognized him and, stopping his conversation with the youth in front of him who was demanding something, addressed Rand.

"Oh, senior Oberin, how can I help you?" the worker asked respectfully, though in terms of age and cultivation, he was much older and higher than Rand.

"I need to receive the rewards for the competition. Preferably quickly."

At that moment, the youth who had been so rudely ignored couldn't contain himself and began to shout:

"Have you forgotten your place, Alerg? Not only did you steal my ten spirit stones, but now you're also ignoring me and letting someone cut in line? Is this by the rules? Do you agree with me, everyone?" he yelled, turning to the practitioners in the queue with anger and rage in his voice.

Hearing the murmurs of agreement from the people in line, the youth became even bolder and addressed Rand:

"And you get to the back of the line. No matter what bribes you gave to this idiot, you have no right to... " the youth didn't finish his sentence as he received a slap that made him stagger, but he managed to stay on his feet. The slap came from the repository worker named Alerg.

"You'd better shut up now, Leylin. You've already said too much. Senior Oberin is the elder's only disciple and has a great future ahead of him, unlike scum like you. If you don't want me to confiscate all your spirit stones for the next month for your insolence, disappear right now.

The novice Leylin glared angrily at Alerg and Rand but, seemingly afraid of the consequences, said nothing more and quickly left the hall. Some people in the line wanted to say something, but remembering who controlled their resource distribution, they wisely chose to remain silent. After all, it wasn't their problem.

"I apologize for this scene, senior Oberin. Sometimes these talentless idiots get too rowdy and don't know their place," the novice Alerg apologized to Rand.

"I'm not interested in your affairs. I came here for my reward and I hope to get it right now."

"Of course, of course, no problem. Please place your hand here," the novice pointed to a small rectangular protrusion on the table, on which the imprint of someone's large palm was barely visible. Rand followed the novice's request and placed his hand on the protrusion, which immediately lit up, followed by a brief flash of light from the entire table.

"You've taken first place, senior. Congratulations. You're entitled to five hundred low-quality spirit stones, a high-quality magical artifact of your choice, and ten standard Qi accumulation pills. I can give you the spirit stones and pills right now, but as for the artifact... You have two options for choosing the artifact. The first option is that I'll give you a catalog, and you can use it to choose an artifact based on its description. After that, I'll bring it to you from the artifact repository. However, I should warn you that the catalog contains only the most general information about the artifacts, so choosing the perfect one for your needs can be quite difficult. The other option is that you can come with me now to one of the underground floors and choose from the artifacts displayed there. The downside is the relatively small selection of artifacts available.

"Can't you just take me directly to your artifact repository so I can choose from there?" Rand asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't. I don't have the permission to let anyone else into it or to move the spatial artifact repository," Alerg replied.

"Alright, I understand. Give me the catalog, and if it doesn't suit me, we'll go to the underground floor "

"Right away, right away," Alerg responded and began rummaging through his spatial pouch tied to his belt, then pulled out a rather hefty book. Here, take this.

"A book? I thought it would be something like a talisman," Rand said, surprised.

"Our Outer Sect Repository is designed for novices with low cultivation, and talismans with such a volume of information can cause a pretty severe headache, so we have to make do with books.

Rand didn't ask any more questions and instead took the catalog book in his hands and began reading it on the spot. But less than a minute into reading, he closed the book in disappointment, as its contents were practically useless. The book described all the artifacts in just a few pitiful words, like: "High-quality magical artifact Morning Star Blade, created by the disciple of the Fire Dragon Sect, Alar. Contains the Morning Star technique, Fire element."

"This barely qualifies as an artifact description. Where is the material from which the blade is made? Where are its length and other important specifications? Where does it even briefly mention what this technique does?"

"Who managed to create such a detailed catalog?" Rand couldn't help but ask with not particularly concealed sarcasm.

"I understand your frustration, senior, but I can't say for sure who originally compiled it. It was made a long time ago, but it was probably one of the elders. Originally, the catalog wasn't intended for this purpose. In the past, all disciples were allowed to inspect the contents of the spheres — that's what we call our main spatial repository artifacts. However, after a few unsavory incidents involving theft, novices were deprived of the opportunity to approach the spheres directly, and now everyone has to choose either through the catalog or by going to the underground floor and hoping there's something suitable there.

"This is just ridiculous. Fine, take me to the underground floor." The absurdity of the situation only irritated Rand.

"Very well, follow me," said Alerg, standing up from his desk and heading towards the wooden door behind him.

Rand followed him. Behind the door was a long corridor with many metal doors, each looking difficult to breach. At the end of the corridor was a spiral staircase, which the novice led Rand down. After descending about ten meters, they arrived at another door. This one was made of stone, resembling marble, and fit snugly against the wall with almost no gap. The novice touched it with his hand, causing the pendant around his neck to glow, and the door silently opened.

"Please go ahead. Behind this door are only high-quality magical artifacts, so you can choose any of them. But don't try to take anything out by yourself; you won't be able to leave the room if you do, even if you place it in your spatial artifact. When you're done choosing, use this talisman. I'll sense it and come right away, " he said, pulling a small jade talisman from his pouch and handing it to Rand.

He continued, "Don't try to go any lower or enter any other doors. It won't work, and the deacon will be alerted immediately, and problems will arise. Good luck with your choice. I have to go now; other novices are waiting for me. "

Once Alerg disappeared behind the door, Rand began to inspect the room he was in. It was a spacious area, several hundred square meters in size, illuminated by dozens of lamps placed around. The ceiling was low, only about three meters high. The room was densely filled with artifacts displayed on various pedestals. Each artifact had a detailed description of its characteristics, and each one could be examined visually and even touched.

Rand spent about twenty minutes examining most of them, focusing on defensive artifacts based on Byron's advice, until he found a rather unusual item in the corner of the hall — a suit of plate armor with no description nearby.

"Is this an imperial legion armor? It certainly looks like it. But it can't be, they should all be at least of spiritual rank, and how could one end up here? " Rand wondered, and to dispel his doubts, he immediately summoned Alerg using the talisman he had been given. Alerg appeared within a minute.

"Have you already made your choice, senior?" he asked as he approached Rand.

"Not really. Tell me about this armor; there's no description for it, " Rand inquired, pointing to the plate armor.

Alerg stood still for a couple of seconds as if digging through the depths of his memory, then said:

"I remember now. You have a keen eye, senior. This is one of the best artifacts here, although it has its flaws. I don't know where the description went, but it was something like this:

"Full Plate Armor of Impenetrable Defense. It was modeled after imperial knights armor, and was originally created as a mid-quality spiritual artifact. However, due to but due to damage in battle, its structural integrity was partially compromised, and it completely lost the techniques embedded in it. Its combat potential after the damage is equivalent to that of a high-quality magical artifact. The primary material is purple iron. The armor is a single structure consisting of a cuirass, pauldrons, helmet…" Alerg recited the description monotonously from his memory. When he finished, he spoke in a normal voice:

"Something like that, I think I didn't forget anything. Oh, yes, I should also warn you that although it no longer has techniques, a couple of features of a spiritual artifact remain. For example, it still has a single-owner attachment. You might not know this yet, but artifacts of spiritual quality and above require a spiritual sense binding to fully use them. Since cultivators at the Qi Condensation stage don't have a spiritual sense, they usually can't use them. However, don't worry, there's a workaround. There's a special magical artifact that mimics the owner's spiritual sense and helps bind other artifacts to them. The only downside is that to achieve the binding effect, you need to wear both artifacts continuously for several days or even weeks. Such an artifact, which helps with binding, usually costs a hundred spirit stones, but for you, I can offer it for just fifty. — While saying all this, he suddenly remembered that Rand hadn't agreed to take this armor yet, so he hastily asked:

"Senior, does this armor suit you? After all, it was once a spiritual-rank artifact, far surpassing the power of magical rank. In the future, you might even be able to repair it.

Rand remained silent for a minute, making Alerg a bit nervous. All the while, Rand continued to examine the armor, thinking about something, but then he finally spoke:

"Yes, it suits me. I'll put it on right now. Since it's not bound to me, I'll need your help with this, and then you can bring your binding artifact. I'll take that too.

Even with Alerg's help, it took Rand about five minutes to put on the armor. When he finished, he sighed meaningfully. Putting on the armor made him feel, for a moment, as if he had stepped into the past. The good old days, when things were simpler. Although back then, he didn't like much wearing such armor…