Second Floor

[WC 2.08K]

The silhouette of the Martial Arts Library could be seen from afar as Zhao Wei slowly neared it.

His demeanor was still refined and lonesome, his gait slow and seemingly careless. The expression on his face was subdued, not showing an ounce of his inner emotions and thoughts. Zhao Wei looked unaffected by whatever had happened just a few moments ago.

He hadn't been wrong, that was all that mattered to him. His conscience didn't have any guilt and his mind was devoid of any afterthoughts or lingering sentiments.

Zhao Yufei had to face reality. Reality was an unfair bitch and he, Zhao Wei, had already seen through it or so he thought. Zhao Yufei could be considered still young compared to him when it came to maturity and life experience.

The man named Zhao Wei was unlovable. He deemed himself so. He was a being that yearned for power and lived for power and mysteries the universe had to offer. He lived for the ultimate goal of being unshackled by anything in existence; to be supreme, to be an eternal existence.

But was there a possibility of his vision and grand ambitions being flawed? No one knew. Even Zhao Wei himself didn't know.

As long as one had their own ideals, dreams and path to follow, was there any need to care about the little mundanities barring them from achieving whatever they want?

As an Earthling, Zhao Wei's knowledge could be said to be several miles ahead of everyone in the Fan Universe.

How many plots and stories have he read? There were honestly so many.

"The main character always appears at the last hour to save despair-filled female leads or a scenario where the love interest and close ones of the main character are used as hostages and bargaining chips to bring worry and anger onto the story's hero." Zhao Wei knew them all too well.

Such kind of tribulation wasn't what he needed in his life's journey.

He didn't need anyone or anything that could be used against him. He feared and abhorred liabilities at the same time.

He didn't want unnecessary dramas to plague his own daily life.

"Greetings Great elder," Zhao Wei respectively cupped his hands when he saw the usual guardian of the Martial Arts Library.

Zhao Wei already knew his name. It was supposed to be Zhao Yusong or just Elder Zhao but he couldn't just call out his name aloud. It was best for him to act natural like any other oblivious disciple.

"Inner Disciple Zhao Wei, and here I was wondering when you would come to the Martial Arts Library. This old man has been diligently waiting for you." Elder Zhao smiled amiably at him while nodding his head subtly.

To say he wasn't satisfied with this demonic genius would be severely wrong. Zhao Wei's previous performance at the Clan's Sparring Tournament had left a deep impression in his mind. Elder Zhao honestly believed Zhao Wei to be nothing short of monstrous.

'He looks calm and reserved even in my presence. His breath is steady and strongly restrained, a testimony of how sublime his control over his inner strength is. At such a young age he's already able to achieve such feats, I can't even begin to imagine the limitless possibilities of his future.' Elder Zhao thought in appreciation while running his rough hand through his voluminous white beard.

Zhao Wei somehow found his mini actions quite amusing. His long beard kind of reminded him of the headmaster of Hogwarts.

"You can call me Elder Zhao. I suppose you should already have an inkling about my identity." Elder Zhao introduced himself, his sharp eyes never leaving Zhao Wei.

"I had my own guesses especially after seeing you sitting together with the Head of the Clan. Anyone attentive would have been able to put two and two together." Zhao Wei humbly replied. From an outside perspective, anyone would have really thought that Zhao Wei was humble and the filial type of guy. Only himself knew that whatever he was saying and doing weren't heartfelt. If the situation needed him to be humble and respectful, then he would do just that.

"Also there is something about your aura that maybe to elevate your status above other elders." Zhao Wei calmly continued.

Elder Zhao's eyes twinkled before his body almost keeled over in laughter.

What an energetic old man, Zhao Wei thought.

"Hoho, you really have a way with words young man. I presume that's it only you who can come up with such a speculation."

"Anyway, that's enough chatter for the day. Let me bring you to the second floor." Elder Zhao rose from his seat before beckoning Zhao Wei to follow him.

'I have been waiting for those words like forever.' Zhao Wei then started following Elder Zhao to the second floor.

Compared to the first floor of the Martial Arts Library which had thousands of martial arts books, the second floor seemed rather scarce and unimpressive. The second floor was where high ranked martial techniques and peak ranked martial techniques were located. The second floor had no physical books present in the shelves but only jade tokens. Those jade tokens held the names of the martial arts skill and the summary of what the skill completely entailed.

Those were some of the basic knowledge that Zhao Wei remembered from the novel after witnessing it himself.

High ranked martial techniques and peak ranked martial techniques were extremely precious to the clan so the appropriate security measures came in the form of jade tokens.

"You don't exactly seem surprised by the state of the second floor?" Elder raised an eyebrow as he looked at the expressionless face of the rising disciple.

'He's becoming more interesting with each little moment that I get to know him.'

"You are not gonna ask me anything?" He cast an expectant gaze at him.

Zhao Wei shook his head and came up with a random reasonable reply. "I think there's a reason as to why things are as they are. The clan has its own reason for doing things and I don't think I am in a position to ask about everything."

Elder Zhao sighed helplessly, disappointment clearly written on his face. As the custodian of the library, Elder Zhao wished to be occasionally asked questions or else he would find it painfully boring sitting there everyday without anything to do except for one singular job.

"You can choose the skills that you are supposed to. Just pick up the jade tokens of the skills you find yourself comfortable with and give them to me." Elder Zhao instructed.

Zhao Wei nodded before he started reading through the mixture of two hundred or so, high ranked and peak ranked martial techniques. Of course, peak ranked martial techniques were in the minority.

"Relentless Tornado Kicks, peak ranked martial technique, it is of the wind attribute and has three levels. Effective against multiple enemies. When cultivated to perfection, the user would be able to sweep away thousands of armies."

'You are the one I want. How can I pass up the chance to airbend my way through multiple opponents? Also the technique inevitable reminds me of Heizou.' Zhao Wei thought with a slight smile on his lips.

In his past life, he had been a casual gamer apart from being an avid novel reader and anime watcher. So it wouldn't come off as a surprise for him to know a few game characters and their attack patterns.

Zhao Wei also saw the technique chosen by Zhao Feng in the original timeline "Star Finger" but he didn't give up on the "Relentless Tornado Kicks". Since he cultivated the [Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Technique], he could easily use it as a template to create something similar to "Star Finger" but inarguably more powerful.

Since Zhao Wei had already chosen a peak ranked martial technique, he was now only left with two high ranked ones.

He found a high ranked skill called [Freezing Ice Spear Technique]. As the title suggests, it obviously leaned heavily on the ice element. It had four levels. When cultivated to the max level, one will able to condense ice spears in the air and attack through the air by causing a rain of ice spears. One would be comparable to a Monarch of Ice and Blizzard.

It also the qualities of an expert of the Transformation State.

To Zhao Wei, the final level of the spear art had a little bit of semblance with how the King of Uruk liked to attack through the Gates of Babylon.

'Oh Gilgamesh yo.' Zhao Wei chuckled inwardly.

'He would probably curse at me for referring him like that,' Zhao Wei thought as he picked the jade token of his last high rank skill.

It was honestly an unexpected good find. A rarity, to say the least.

[Overworld Thunder Cry], a technique that utilized sound waves to attack the senses of the opponents. The enemies attacked would feel as if innumerable thunder booms are ringing inside their ears and minds. When cultivated to perfection, their is a small probability of affecting the soul realm of the target.

"From the summary alone, there is no doubt that the technique isn't suited to be of high rank, that is unless… it's very difficult to comprehend." Zhao Wei mused silently.

"You have already chosen your techniques I see. I am honestly curious of what you have chosen." Elder Zhao couldn't hide his avidity as he quickly took the three jade tokens off Zhao Wei's outstretched hands.

"I can't believe it. You-" Elder Zhao exclaimed before stopping mid-sentence.

'Old man, can you stop overreacting just for once?' Zhao Wei rolled his eyes at Elder Zhao who was intensely looking through the jade tokens he had chosen.

"[Relentless Tornado Kicks]!"

"[Freezing Ice Spear Technique]!"

"[Overworld Thunder Cry]!"

"Those three techniques are very difficult to comprehend and require one to have deep comprehension of martial arts. Young man…"

Elder Zhao sighed in defeat after remembering that the person standing before him was already a freak of nature. A person of mystery that could look at you and you would feel as if everything about your existence has been entirely exposed.

"Ah, forget it. I believe you can just pull off what many couldn't." Elder Zhao laughed at himself.

"That brat Zhao Linglong wouldn't stand a chance against you if you master any of the three techniques," Elder Zhao praised.

"You are surely jesting, Elder Zhao. You are overestimating my capabilities. How can I hope to shake the position of a young dragon like Zhao Linglong, the future of the Zhao Clan?" Zhao Wei laughed with a self-deprecating smile on his face but Elder Zhao failed to catch on to the hidden sarcasm in his tone.

"Stop being unnecessarily humble and have some confidence in yourself." Elder Zhao patted his shoulder before going and disappearing into a hidden room, probably where they stored the true copies of the all the skills on the second floor.

A few moments later, Elder Zhao returned with three old books on his hand.

"Here." Elder Zhao placed the three books on Zhao Wei's hands.

Zhao Wei quickly started going through the three books individually.

In a matter of seconds, he had already finished imprinting everything inside neural circuitry.

"Finished already?" Elder Zhao tried not to act surprised and only smiled foolishly.

"I think so. It isn't anything special." Zhao Wei replied nonchalantly while returning the books back to Elder Zhao.

'It isn't anything special. Young man, don't force my hand cause I will spank your cocky ass for nearly making me puke blood!' Elder Zhao silently grieved as he tried to restrain his growing aggravation from spilling out of his mouth.

'Who memories three big books in a matter of seconds?!'

"Elder Zhao, your face isn't looking good. Are you sick by any chance?" Zhao Wei looked innocent as he asked in a concerned voice.

"It's nothing." Elder Zhao replied after recomposing himself.

"Can I take my leave then?"

Elder Zhao gestured his hands in dismissal as if shooing a terrifying wolf in sheep's clothing.

'And never come back here to cause me unnecessary shock and distress.'

Unknown to him, as Zhao Wei turned around to walk away, a cheeky smile adorned his face.

'Old man, you are truly resilient to hold onto that blood rising in your throat, hehe.'

***

Enjoy!

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