Deep within the southern academy mountain range, at one of the mountain peaks, Edward was sitting with a scroll in his hand. This was the manual given to him by Old Summer.
Edward opened the scroll and checked its contents. At first glance, it seemed the scroll contained a blank, black sheet of paper. This means it was made of Spiritual Black Paper of at least Grade 4 or higher. The contents in the paper were written through Qi manipulation, which means one has to infuse their Qi into the paper first to read the contents. The contents of the paper will become visible only after that.
Edward held the paper with both his hands and started infusing his Qi in it. As he kept infusing his Qi, he felt a bit strange.
"Why hasn't the contents appeared yet. I have already infused quite a good amount of Qi in it. It can't be fake, right? No, it shouldn't be. It was given to me by Old Winter after all.", he thought.
He didn't give up. He kept infusing more and more Qi in it. But soon, he started to feel annoyed and frustrated. He started to infuse more Qi at a faster rate. A fair amount of time passed yet the scroll showed no reaction. He felt like he was about to go crazy.
"This damned thing! Just work already! How much more Qi will you absorb!"
Edward kept shouting and cursing while infusing his Qi into the piece of paper. It stoped no sign of changing or stopping as it kept absorbing Edwards Qi.
Edward finally became angry and decided to stop. But he was dumbfounded as he realized he couldn't stop the infusion and absorption.
"Fuck!', he shouted in his mind.
The paper seemed like a bottomless pit as it kept absorbing more and more Qi from Edward.
"Damn you! Just stop already!"
Yet, it showed no sign of stopping.
Finally, when the absorption stopped, Edward was almost drained out. He was breathing heavily as he was about to try to tear the paper into pieces when suddenly, words appeared on the paper.
[Whoever is trying to read this paper, this paper has detected from you Qi that you are not Little Summer. So, whoever you are, be sure to remember that you are learning from me, your granddaddy Old Winter. If you are not Little Summer and still learning from this manual, it means you are acknowledging me, Old Winter, as your master. I don't want to be called master, just call me your Granddaddy whenever you read this manual to learn cultivation.]
"Fuck You!", Edward cursed in his mind as soon as he read these words. Who in the world is so eccentric and egoistic at the same time? Is this the so-called Old Winter? How come he is so different from the way Old Summer described him to be? Wasn't this Old Winter supposed to be a brave and wise, respected senior? Who the hell with such qualifications write this kind of shit in a cultivation manual?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
As Edward was thinking all this, the words disappeared from the manual, and new words appeared. Edward started to read them as soon as they appeared.
[If you got pissed and you cursed while your Qi was being absorbed by my special spiritual black paper, then you are a fool. You are just blindly rushing towards power without watching your steps. If you are so much in a hurry to get stronger than you have neither the patience nor the endurance for thinks like this, then don't expect to see yourself anywhere in the true world of martial cultivation. With such little patience and endurance, persuing power is meaningless.]
These words hit Edward's mind like lightning. It was true. As days passed, his patience was getting thinner and thinner. He was always only thinking about getting stronger so that he could find and reach Snow, and be with her. He was so lost in his pursuit of strength that he was only thinking about the big things like cultivation, cultivation realms, power, his life as the First Paragon, and ignoring all the small things. He wasn't supposed to be like that. He was supposed to be the calm and composed one, the one with wisdom.
As Edward was lost in deep self-reflection, more words appeared on the paper.
[The purpose of the continuous draining of Qi by the spiritual paper was to check the depth of your cultivation and your Qi reserves. From what the spiritual black paper tested, it seems you are at the Third Level of the Qi Accumulation Realm. Judging by the amount of Qi the paper absorbed, your Qi reserve is insanely high for your level. you must be a very exceptionally great cultivator compared to your peers. But don't get so smug. The world is vast, and it might not be impossible to find someone at the same level as you with a higher Qi reserve. Always remember that there is always a sky beyond a sky, and a person beyond a person]
Edward sighed. He admitted that it was the truth. The words vanished as more words appeared:
[P. S: If you were thinking about tearing this apart when it was sucking you dry then good luck with that. It is a Grade 8 Spiritual Paper, best of luck trying to tear it down.]
"Grade 8?", Edward was shocked. From what he heard from Old Summer, when Old Summer last met old winter, he was at the peak of the Aura Formation realm, the sixth realm. Then how did he manage to get a Grade 8 spiritual black paper, and how did he manage to utilize it? It means he must've been at least at the Dao Communication realm back then. He was probably hiding his actual cultivation from everyone else. This Old Winter guy, it seems he is a far deeper character than Edward thought at first.
Edward kept reading what was written in the paper.
[The paper had a bit of spiritual intelligence which I used to say all these things to you. But now, it has been used up and I can write to you no more. I believe we will meet one day. I look forward to that day.
P. S: As you cultivate, don't forget to thank me, your granddaddy Old Winter. Old Summer thinks this manual has only instructions on the Qi Accumulation realm but actually, it also carries my instructions on the Energy Foundation Realm and Aura Formation Realm. It's only because Old Summer was too old and wasn't talented enough to break through to a higher realm that I did not tell him everything. But your vigorous Qi tells me you are quite young, around 18 years at age. Which means you have a great chance of breaking through to those realms in the near future. So, I am giving you access to all the contents of this paper. Best of luck.]
Finally, the words disappeared, and a cultivation manual from the Qi Accumulation Realm to the Aura Formation Realm Appearded inside Edward's mind while the paper burned to ashes.
"This Old Winter guy! He was able to guess my age, cultivation, and strength through this paper although he isn't even in the same country. To be able to find out all this via just a piece of paper, as well as judge my inner thoughts and mental condition, he is no ordinary character!", Edward thought in his mind in astonishment.