A soft greenish glow surrounded my hands, shimmering in and out of existence, leaving behind a tingling sensation. As I tried to keep my fists up, two spherical barriers the size of my head formed around them. No matter how much I concentrated, I wasn't quite adept like a Qi Gathering Cultivator, where I could freely control my Qi.

Glancing to the side, I saw the owl-like being staring at me without blinking.

Was he curious about how I was doing this? It was much less impressive than it might appear to an outsider.

Or perhaps he was pondering the futility of barriers around my fists since this was a martial technique and not an array, where the smaller the barrier, the stronger it was.

"This is something I came up with in case I ever need to punch someone with poisonous skin or something like that," I explained my reasons for training in this manner.

Well, at least that was part of the reason. Simply training for utility sounded like a chore. Also, any logical person could point out that instead of going through all this effort. I could just use a sword instead of punching someone with poisonous skin.

But I trained this mainly because it was fun. I wanted to see how far I could push this and how similar certain defensive martial arts and barrier arrays were.

Overall, defensive martial techniques were less versatile and didn't grow stronger with a smaller area of effect for the barrier. Yet they were still impressive, naturally stronger than any of the level 1 arrays I had conjured until now. The martial technique's Qi was also denser and easier to manage.

I smashed my fists together, but they didn't touch; the two spherical barriers collided. As they ground against each other, they created the sound of someone scratching a blackboard. In response to the noise, I just applied more force.

Slowly, the defensive greenish glow began to crack. I used a weaker version of the technique to acclimate myself to having small barriers around my hands, but it was still quite challenging.

Clearly, the Dancing Jade Armor was not designed for something like this at all.

My initial plan was to have the Dancing Jade Amor form into gloves. Sadly, that was too complicated to accomplish on the first day. With only the library's silence, the sound of the barriers breaking down around my fists resembled glass shattering.

As shards of Qi fell to the ground and my fists finally touched, I kept staring at the green shards that began disappearing into a green mist, and then nothing.

Despite the slow progress, I didn't feel discouraged at all!

If I was going to have a defensive technique, it would be quality over quantity. The least I could do was develop that one technique to be as versatile as possible. I would have to master this technique to levels none had before.

"How is your day going?" Mao suddenly asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. His owl-like golden eyes goggled at me as if trying to see into my soul.

Okay, he was totally acting like a weirdo here. I knew it must be confusing to communicate as a monstrous beast in human form. Imagine how weird it would be to communicate with other birds if I became a bird.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't call him out on it.

"What's with the weird question out of nowhere?" I asked.

"The last guy I talked to was over a decade ago," the owl said awkwardly. "Humans have weird rituals."

So he didn't regularly meet with the librarian? They managed the same library, so one would assume they would at least meet up more often. But that seemed not to be the case.

"What did you want to do?" I inquired.

"Well, I was attempting one of those weird rituals called—small talk. I know that it is considered rude to just immediately tell someone what you need or want," Mao said and took a breath. "I mean, to me, such things are completely alien. The reason why beings communicate is to tell someone something and convey that information about something. So talking about nothing is definitely weird."

"How did you do it then?"

"You mean how owls communicate?"

"Yeah."

"We usually just hoot when there is a predator nearby, which is a clear enough signal. I mean, we for sure don't do the 'small talk' thing before an eagle swoops down to kill us."

The intricate thoughts behind owl communication were fascinating, but it wasn't why we were here.

"Not to be rude, but can you get to the point already?" I said.

"I'm not the one with the weird rituals here. I mean, what if there is danger nearby? Do I have to write you a poem about nothing before warning you?" He shook his head.

Okay, he was stuck in this small talk for a while. Should I just explain it to him?

I was about to explain to him that there was no need to do that, as not even humans would do small talk with something dangerous nearby. However, it felt like saying such things would prolong this conversation unnecessarily. I would just tell him later about it when I had more free time.

"Anyway, I wanted to simply ask, how many spirit roots do you have?" He asked, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he cleared his throat and added, "I'm not trying to belittle you or anything."

Since I was in the outer sect, Mao should know that my talent was nothing special. Yet he still asked. He was skittish and nervous, and he seemed to expect me to say something extraordinary.

"I don't take offense to it since it is nothing more or less than average. I have fifty-three spirit roots," I answered calmly.

It was no use hiding this kind of information, as it wouldn't be hard for him to find private information about me if he ever wanted to. I could use this to get closer to Mao, a humanoid monstrous beast who was clearly important. He no doubt held a lot of influence in the library and knew many secret places.

Honestly, I liked the idea of having Mao as a friend since he was clearly an ex-owl. It wasn't every day that someone had the chance to ask a bird what it felt like to be... well... a bird.

Unexpectedly, the owl man breathed a sigh of relief when he heard my talent grade.

What the hell was up with that reaction? Now, I was tempted to take offense!

But before I could question his reaction, Mao quickly rushed down the stairs, leaving me in absolute silence alone in this cave-like library.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"What the actual fuck?" I muttered under my breath.

But it's not like I cared. Instead of taking offense, I'd rather practice this new technique. As someone who adhered to the strict rule that the quality of techniques was more important than quantity, I had to actively hold myself back from training new techniques.

But with Dancing Jade Armor, I now had a whole new toy to play with!

*********

Xin Ma was having another relatively normal day, with nothing unusual happening. Though being a librarian, the job was bound to grow dull.

He couldn't help but wonder if Liu Feng had passed the trial on the third floor.

Typically, someone who failed at a trial would have come out dejected. Yet Liu Feng would have gone right back to reading on the second floor and moved on as if nothing had happened. That was just the kind of person he was.

However, the bored librarian had another source of excitement: a young red-haired man who had come to the library for the second time. He was a newcomer in the Sect. Instead of reading a book, the youngster stared at the air before him, appearing somewhat absent-minded.

The red-haired youngster nodded his head and whispered something under his breath.

He looked quite dimwitted doing that.

Despite how he acted, Xin Ma kept an eye on him. While he had told everyone else that the array had likely malfunctioned, Xin Ma knew these library barriers and inscriptions better than anyone alive. These arrays would not malfunction, but it was too embarrassing to admit that a three-star Body Tempering disciple had sneaked something out of the library without him finding any proof of it.

But since that day, he had put up some of his own arrays at the entrance, especially for handling the young red-haired boy. Even with the new arrays, he only found that the boy had somehow grown to become a five-star Body Tempering cultivator in a matter of weeks.

That kind of progress was highly unnatural.

Well... he had seen something similar before.

Xin Ma remembered Liu Feng's revelation that he could sense Qi. So far, the red-haired thief had shown no signs of sensing Qi, so Liu Feng had a bit of an advantage in that regard.

However, this wasn't a said-and-done thing, as it wasn't like Xin Ma had ever had any reason to monitor Liu Feng so much that he would know when his personal disciple broke through. Liu Feng never stole anything or acted in a way that would warrant such mistrust. It made it hard to pinpoint when he had broken through since he never bragged about his achievements. Even when he bragged, it was an attempt to get a rise out of old Shan Sha, and he usually failed to do that.

Xin Ma spent hours pondering useless things and answering a couple of questions. Only a short time after most of the disciples left, including the red-haired thief, this time without sneaking anything out of the library.

By the time the sun set, everyone had left.

Just as the sun set, a loud noise came from the stairs leading to the second floor. It sounded nothing like the calm steps Liu Feng usually took.

Xin Ma turned toward the noise and saw a humanoid creature with an owl's head, human torso, and harpy-like legs. The owl man looked around like a madman until its wide golden eyes landed on Xin Ma.

"Do you know anything about the disciple that just reached the third floor?" Mao asked, the feathers on his face ruffling around as his golden eyes dilated.

But despite the rambunctious sounds the owl-like manager of the third floor had made, Xin Ma was in quite a good mood as it seemed like Liu Feng had passed the test. Usually, Xin Ma was not allowed to say that there was a test on the way to the third floor, supposed to test someone's fortitude and willingness to wait and take one step at a time. But that did not mean he could not give some friendly advice to his personal disciple.

Thankfully, Liu Feng had been smart enough to listen.

"If you mean a quiet, dark-haired young man who likes to read, then that's my personal disciple," Xin Ma calmly stated. Though he was more surprised than he let on.

He had never seen Mao outside the third floor. Xin Ma had assumed that some kind of restriction array kept the monstrous beast confined there.

"Do you know about the young man's talents?" Mao inquired.

Talents?—Xin Ma's mind immediately went to Liu Feng's ability to sense Qi prematurely and his proficiency with arrays.

Usually, he would have liked to brag a bit about his disciple. But Xin Ma knew the consequences of others learning too much about him, which is how he ended up in this position.

"Of course, Liu Feng has his own talents. I didn't pick him as a personal disciple for no reason," Xin Ma said vaguely, displaying a disinterested gaze, indicating that he did not find Liu Feng unique in any way. "I taught Liu Feng some minor tricks; he is my eyes and ears in places where I can't be."

If he had it his way, Xin Ma would never have monstrous beasts in the sect. Even one so disfigured and acting as some kind of guardian.

Whether he could speak like a human or not, a beast was still a beast in his eyes.

"Does this personal disciple of yours truly have fifty-three spirit roots?" the owl man asked, his worried look almost human-like. But Xin Ma dismissed such thoughts as nothing more than a pure imitation.

A beast was and would always be just that, a monster wearing human skin.

Xin Ma raised a questioning brow, pointing out, "Shouldn't you be able to tell? A Foundation Establishment beas-... Cultivator like you has access to the second floor, and the third floor is your playground. Shouldn't you be able to tell through your own access to the arrays on the third floor just how talented someone is and what cultivator they are?"

"I just saw something crazy," Mao reasoned. "It wouldn't be surprising if someone could hide such things from my senses."

"Liu Feng does indeed have fifty-three spiritual roots," Xin Ma stated, unable to stop his disappointment from slipping through.

It was such a shame. While Liu Feng's talent was just about average for the sect. With that work ethic, intelligence, and lack of recklessness, he would undoubtedly have reached greater heights if he had just ten or twenty more spiritual roots.

After all, despite his measly talent, Liu Feng had been able to sense Qi before even entering Qi Gathering. Imagine what he could have done with even more spiritual roots?

Mao sighed in relief, saying, "Thank the heavens for that."

Xin Ma immediately frowned and glared at the humanoid owl.

This damned beast! How dare it belittle-...

The librarian took a deep breath, calming himself down. But despite getting a tight grip on his emotions, he couldn't let someone talk like that about his personal disciple.

"While you are technically here to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't allow too much corruption or get bribed by clans," Xin Ma calculated his following words carefully before spitting them out. "You should still know that the sect would do nothing if I happened to squash some useless monstrous beast. Do you think I'm going to allow you to return to the third floor after wishing for my disciple's downfall?"

"I meant nothing-"

"How would we know that?" Xin Ma interrupted Mao, adding, "Do you intend to harm my personal disciple?"

The air in the library grew stale and cold as Xin Ma released some of his Qi. This caused the bookshelves and table to shake while strange dark symbols crawled up the reception desk.

Mao took a step back, frowned, and mumbled under his breath, "Master was right. Human cultivators always resort to violence at the smallest inconvenience."

But when Xin Ma did not stop, Mao raised his hands and said, "You know better than me that there are arrays in place here to stop me from acting against humans. I can't even walk out of this building."

Instead of confronting him or adding fuel to the fire, Mao stepped back and walked up the stairs to the upper floors.

That should be enough of a threat.

Xin Ma withdrew his fighting intent and calmed down. He was expecting peace and quiet after such an encounter, but that was nothing more than a dream when Shan Sha walked out behind one of the shelves.

"It seems like the brat impressed Mao. That useless bird isn't easily impressed," said the old man, running a hand along his goat-like beard while holding a cup of tea in his other hand. "While Liu Feng is weird, he still has some moments where his intelligence shines through."

Xin Ma hid his smirk behind a fake cough.

Despite Shan Sha's only bantering with Liu Feng when they were around each other, the old goat still had a high opinion of the kid.

But just as they were about to continue conversing, Xin Ma halted as he sensed someone walk past the arrays at the entrance.

The library was closed at this hour. Usually, only Liu Feng came during these hours, and he was currently on the third floor.

Who could it be?