"With how she acts, Song Song is headed for an inevitable demise. She's making too many enemies," Ye An continued her rant.

I had zoned out halfway through. After all, it was more than ironic that Ye An was accusing others of making enemies. Did she forget what she had done? Ye An had her own enemies from when she killed all those people in the exams.

If it weren't for Song Song's protection, she would be in deep trouble. Inner elders and disciples would come out of the woodwork hunting her, ready to do terrible things.

"The closest thing she has to a friend her own age in the inner sect is me, and that's saying a lot," she smiled, her gaze sharpening as she looked at me. "Though I'm not much help with anything. I broke through haphazardly during my fight with Song Song, and my foundation is all messed up. Not only can't I use Qi, but even cultivating is not an option for now. I have to let my Qi settle down naturally."

She also left out the part where she had eaten a pill to forcefully increase her cultivation right after breaking through. Also, there was that strange technique. If I were a betting man, I'd say that technique did most of the damage.

While many logical rules from my last world and this one had changed drastically, morphing how I looked at things, one rule still held true: something could not be created from nothing.

In this case, more Qi could not be made from no Qi.

Where had she even gotten such a technique?

From what Ye An had said until now, she would be dead from her Extreme Physique before she ever got a chance to cultivate again unless she found some way to heal herself.

Well, none of those things were my problem. I had my own matters to attend to.

After gathering my thoughts, I held Ye An's gaze and said, "I will join Song Song's group."

She said nothing, blinking a couple of times and seeming lost in her thoughts, before finally coming to her senses and saying, "I never took you for an illogical person. You always seemed like the calculating type who never participated in something without being sure they would win."

That second part was quite an acute assessment of me. But Ye An seemed to have other ideas, so I let her continue talking.

"Was just the thought of Song Song dying enough to make you put yourself in danger? That's quite romantic. I would congratulate you if I wasn't more than a hundred percent sure your feelings are wasted. I don't think Song Song feels such things for any man..." Ye An's gaze was emotionless. "Actually, she likely holds love for no one, not even herself. She's just an instinctive being going through motions and imitating humans because she follows her instincts to survive, and acting as a human would help her survive longer."

Okay, how long was she actually going to rant?

While her expressionless face might not show it, just with how much yapping she was doing, I could tell she had a bone to pick with Song Song.

Ye An was just assuming things here. But I let her continue assuming whatever she wanted.

"Yeah, yeah," I said and began climbing up the stairs toward the upper floors of the library.

I had nothing to do up there, but sitting about and doing nothing was better than listening to her talk. Her soft, innocent, and beautiful appearance did not match her personality.

While ascending the stairs, the stark contrast as I walked past an array separating the second and first floors became obvious, as all the sound from the first floor abruptly stopped.

That was not something I had paid much attention to before, but it was very welcome right now.

On the second floor, Speedy was walking about the bookshelves. Since I had nothing to do, I walked past him and was about to pick a new book to read.

But as soon as I stepped a few steps away from Speedy, my Qi senses blipped, and I knew someone was behind me.

What?

I turned around, expecting someone to be there, perhaps somebody who had snuck through to the second floor.

But that was not the case; instead, there was just empty air and Speedy walking about.

"I can see you," I said out loud, even though I couldn't see anything. It had worked against people before.

Every muscle in my body tightened, waiting for something or someone to appear. But there was no one behind me except Speedy.

After a dozen seconds of the standoff, still, no one was there—just the library and its eerie quietness as usual.

Was it an array acting up, or...

I glanced at Speedy and picked him up. He was heavier than usual and too big to comfortably sit atop my head. So, instead, I just held him while strolling comfortably through the library.

But despite trying to get away from the annoyance that was Ye An, her words still held some truth in them. Song Song had no friends in the inner sect, and despite claiming to be the closest to her, Ye An was also just waiting for her opportunity to stab her 'friend' in the back.

However, if she thought that I might seek revenge if she tried to betray Song Song, that thought might make her hesitate for a split second, and that would be more than enough time for someone like Song Song to react.

I looked down at Speedy and rubbed the little guy's head. "All that political bullshit, am I right, little guy?"

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In response, Speedy just continued looking straight ahead. The little guy had no worries in the world and was living my dream of doing whatever he wanted.

Also, I should ask the librarian whether anyone else was on the second floor. Because if there was no one, then this little guy probably just tried gathering Qi for the first time!

I felt a strange pride at the thought of Speedy trying to gather Qi. Was this how a parent felt when they saw their child take their first step?

...

Days passed, and days turned into weeks. Slowly, the golden shine of autumn faded, and the trees stood naked without leaves. My days passed peacefully, and I no longer heard from Song Song or any of her people. Whether Ye An had delivered my message to Song Song was questionable.

I walked through my training ground, and the place no longer resembled what I was used to. The broken trees were still there, but the grass had dried up, and that green, energetic feeling was no longer around.

Standing atop the boulder where I usually left Speedy during my training sessions, I couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy about the whole thing.

Just as I was admiring the scenery, a small milk-white snowflake fell on the tip of my nose.

When I looked up, there were just big white clouds in the sky, with barely any sun getting through. A few moments later, it began snowing, and winter officially started in full swing.

With this, many monstrous beasts would hibernate, and travel plans would dry up. On the other hand, monstrous beasts that stayed awake for the winter would find a new favorite type of snack in humans.

Usually, mindless monstrous beasts took part in these attacks, meaning only those at Qi Gathering attacked large towns at best. Since the Foundation Establishment and beyond, monstrous beasts had human-like intelligence and knew that attacking human settlements would not be a smart idea in the long run. But I had a feeling that this time would be different with the red-haired guy around.

Despite the impending danger and the pressure of death appearing and growing closer each day, I still hadn’t broken through to Qi Gathering. The librarian had said that it was not something I could rush despite ensuring that my techniques were mastered to near perfection and my physical body was up for the challenge.

The last step was to somehow have my own Qi and my body start sucking the Qi around me to act as fuel for my cultivation and grow my own Qi reserves.

Standing up from the boulder I was sitting on, I landed on the dry ground and took a spirit stone from my pocket.

While my cultivation hadn’t advanced to the next level, I had improved in some areas.

Closing my eyes, I visualized the Qi inside the rock and carefully siphoned it. Opening my eyes again, I muttered, “Eight Trigrams, Golden Inauguration, Dancing Tax! Wealth Barrier!”

Instantly, I was surrounded by a pyramid-shaped golden barrier that gave off a soft metallic hum. The Wealth Barrier was stronger when gold was used as sacrifice and was an outdated barrier utilized by merchants of old times, something I had stumbled upon on the second floor.

To be considered a Level 2 Array Conjurer, someone had to use their own Qi or the Qi from a spirit stone to form a Level 2 barrier. Usually, the easier way was to just be at the Qi Gathering stage to tick off all those points, but I was a special case when it came to this. Despite the greater difficulty of achieving this, there were few advantages, as I had to carry spirit stones around to use arrays. This was usually done by cultivators who did not want to waste their Qi.

Extending my hand toward the golden barrier, my palm touched the hardened surface. Even though the golden barrier shimmered like water when I put my hand on it, it was still a hard surface and undoubtedly strong enough to handle attacks even from Qi Gathering Cultivators and would no longer be destabilized by someone just using Qi on them.

From where my palm made contact with the barrier, spiderweb-like cracks began spreading, and soon they overtook it. The barrier shattered like glass in seconds, with shards exploding outward and stabbing into nearby trees, sometimes even cutting through trees like razor blades.

I was working on a new attack with the Wealth Barrier, trying to combine the effects of two arrays. However, I had had too little success with it and no longer had much time to test things out as a hobby; I had to focus on improving in areas that would increase my survivability during winter.

I jumped up, and with a single leap, I was higher than any of the tallest trees could reach. Enjoying the sensation of falling for a split second, I grabbed onto a branch and swung myself toward the library.

Every movement was controlled, and it felt like I was dreaming. Despite over half a year passing since I came into this world, moving around like some superhuman never got old. I had never enjoyed exercising that much, but this was a whole other thing!

It took me less than a minute to reach the library tower entrance, with only a slight dusting of snow on my hair. But even then, I hadn’t gone as fast as I could and was using no movement technique.

Since it was early in the morning, no one was there except my teacher, the librarian. He was behind the counter, as always. Except this time, he was reading a thick book. Not just any book, though—it was my monster encyclopedia that I had put a lot of effort into.

As I walked closer, he looked up and met my gaze. “I really hope you’re not going out there with Song Song just so you can confirm the contents of this book.”

“Not necessarily, but that is a very good side quest when I’m out there,” I said, dragging a chair and sitting down next to the counter.

“I still do not understand why you decided to go out there with Song Song. It seems like such an illogical choice on your part, and I can see no reason why you would act on something like this,” he said; his voice was deadly serious despite how nonchalant he acted by flipping to another page in my book. “Though I must admit, your encyclopedia of monstrous beasts is quite good. There is even a species of scorpion I haven’t seen before in here; it describes their weaknesses in a lot of detail and even where their hearts are.”

Despite his compliments about my book, it was evident by the tone of his voice that his previous remarks held more weight here. Honestly, telling him my reasons would make no sense to him. I would come off as crazy to him. Perhaps I was crazy in assuming certain things that had almost no physical proof and could be correlated to mere coincidences.

"Well, now that I have become a Level 2 Array Master, do you think the Sect has a place for me? Preferably very far away from the Blazing Sun Sect, involving some work that a Level 2 Array Master could do," I said.

"First off, congratulations on becoming a Level 2 Array Master," he said while adjusting his glasses once more. "While impressive given the time you have been studying arrays, in the grand scheme of things and within the Sect itself, you have gone from a disposable Body Tempering Cultivator to a disposable Level 2 Array Master. Trust me, you do not want to be outside the walls reinforcing the arrays while the monstrous beasts are trying to devour you alive. You should keep certain abilities to yourself."

"Well, that's a shame," I shrugged, expecting something like this.

Leaning back in my chair, I glanced at the librarian before returning my gaze to the library.

My teacher might be stoic, but I knew he also had a history of becoming an Array Master. He was forced into a position he did not want and ended up in a dead-end job.

"Any day now, Song Song will come and have you join her little group of misfits," my teacher said, his voice as hard as a stone and betraying no emotions or how he might feel about this whole thing.

"Well, I'm ready," I said.

I had been waiting all this time for Song Song to send a letter or for someone to notify me…

Wait, she would do that, right? She wouldn't just show up one day out of nowhere without prior notice and ask me to come with her immediately, right?

I should prepare just in case…