Chapter 18: A night in the city.
Liang Chen was not so impatient that he immediately left for the Mystic's Hidden Realm, he first wanted to gather a bit more information, not just about the hidden realm, but also about the various cultivation realms. Liang Chen had never left Green Rivers city, he had always been under the care of his parents, so he knew preciously little about the world, he was what you would call a country bumpkin.
He asked the man a few more questions, especially about the Mystic's Hidden Realm and if there were any libraries in the city he could use. The answers left him rather disappointed, as he would have to pay for any detailed information about the Mystic's Hidden Realm. The libraries in the city were similar, in that while there were several libraries, there was only one that he could use, as the rest required him to pay to enter and read books.
The only library that was free to use contained less information, and the information it had was less detailed, but that was the price it had to pay to be free for everyone. Liang Chen could only shake his head with disappointment, he had completely underestimated the greed of men. After getting directions to the free library, as well as getting directions to the location of the Mystic's Hidden Realm, Liang Chen left the Eternal Dragon Pavilion.
He had not spent too much time inside the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, but the number of vendors in the plaza had increased quite a bit, the enticing smell of roasted meat and vegetables filling the air as the sound of their voices mixed together. Liang Chen glanced at the vendors who were selling food, his stomach releasing a low growl. Ever since he left Green Rivers city, he could only eat the what little he himself managed to catch.
It was a little better when he was traveling with Zhou Zing, as they shared some of the food they had, but he had still eaten very little lately. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing his stomach to quiet down, and then started heading towards the library he had been directed towards.
The library that was free to the public was located towards the southern end of the city, closer to the part of the city that was considered the slums. The building itself was made out of coarse stone and shaped like a large circle, the roof completely flat. Despite being close to the slums, the building was quite clean and good shape, a small stream of people constantly entering and leaving the library.
Liang Chen joined the stream of people entering the library, the faint smell of mold and old wood tickling his nose as he entered the library. The inside of the library was rather simple, large shelves filled with books lining the walls and covering most of the floor, a small area at the center of the library containing a few tables, chairs, and couches so that people could sit and read. Right past the entrance were two long counters, one on each side of the door. There was an old man with a head full of white hair sitting behind one of the counters, while a rather young girl was sitting behind the other counter. There were two burly men standing at the side of each of these two people, acting as guards and making sure that no one could steal any books or harm the people sitting behind the counters.
Liang Chen walked up to the old man, who wore a droopy expression and had murky eyes, asking whether or not they had anything about the information he was looking for.
“Excuse me, do you have any books about cultivation and the Mystic's Hidden Realm?”
The old man raised his head somewhat after hearing Liang Chen's voice, his eyes containing a sliver of confusion as if he had not been able to hear Liang Chen. His gaze landed on Liang Chen, sweeping him with a slow glance. After a few moments of silence, he gave a slow nod of his head, his words somewhat slurred, as if he was not quite there mentally.
“Ahhh? Information. We only have the most basic information, if you want anything more specific, you should go to the library owned by the Diamond Hand Merchants. But looking at you, I can guess that you won't be able to do that. Bookshelf E-12 holds information about cultivation, while bookshelf M-2 holds information about the Mystic's Hidden Realm, but it really is only the basics.”
The man was not looking to insult Liang Chen, it was simply a fact that Liang Chen looked very poor at the moment. He pointed out as he spoke, his hand thin and wrinkly, resembling a chicken foot. Liang Chen followed the man's finger, his eyes resting on two bookshelves, one resting against the left wall, and one placed close to the center of the library. He gave a slight nod of his head, thanking the old man and heading towards the bookshelves.
“The basics are enough, thank you.”
Liang Chen walked over to the two bookshelves, quickly flipping through a few books until he found a few thin ones that seemed to contain the information he was looking for. He tucked the books under his arm and then walked over to the center of the library, sitting down at a wooden table and starting to slowly read through the books, memorizing the information.
The first thing he read about was the Mystic's Hidden Realm, and the information he read completely shocked him, even if it was just the most basic information. The hidden realm was practically a small world of its own, so large that it had yet to be fully explored, containing several different environments and a large variety of Demonic beasts. Because of the wide variety of environments and Demonic beasts, plus the restriction that prevented people above a certain cultivation realm from entering it, the various sects and clans liked using the hidden realm as a means to train their younger generation.
Of the people that entered the hidden realm, only around half would be able to leave the hidden realm alive, the rest forever buried inside the hidden realm. Upon reading this, Liang Chen could only widen his eyes in utter shock. The hidden realm had a 50% mortality rate, but the clans and sects were still willing to send in their younger generation to train, were they completely insane?
But how could Liang Chen know how cruel the real world was? He had always stayed safe with his parents, never forced to face the real world, not until his parents died. Even if the mortality rate was higher, the clans and sects would still happily send in their younger generation. And the reason behind that was that the clans and sects wanted quality, not quantity. They had so many members that millions could die without them really caring. If millions had to die to breed tens of strong disciples, they would happily pay that price. And it was because the younger generation knew this that the competition between them was so fierce, killing each other just to gain the smallest advantage over the others.
After reading what little the library had about the hidden realm, Liang Chen started to read the books that were about cultivation. The books about cultivation were all very short, only containing the names of the various realms, as well as a few legends that may or may not be true.
Cultivation was divided into several realms, starting with the Ascended Tower realm that Liang Chen was currently in. After that came the Heaven's Gate realm, which was followed by the Soaring Immortal Realm, the Primordial Immortal Realm, the Transcended Immortal Realm, and finally the Sovereign God realm. There were a few legends that there was a cultivation level above Sovereign, but there was no way of knowing if these legends were true.
As he read about the various cultivation realms, Liang Chen's heart slowly sped up. Which of these cultivation levels had Qing Lan Yong reached? How strong would he have to become to kill him? What cultivation realm, what sub-realm? Just by looking at the number of realms and sub-realms, he could feel how daunting the task was. But he was not deterred, his blood boiling with desire and ambition. No matter how hard it was, no matter how painful it would be, he would achieve it.
Liang Chen slowly finished reading everything, making sure that he memorized it. When he closed the last book, there was no longer any light shining in through the few scattered windows of the library, so it seemed like night had arrived. He stood up and stretched his body, his stomach once more releasing a low growl. Luckily, the library was now almost empty, so no one had been around to hear his stomach growl.
He placed the books back where he had found them, and then bade the old man at the counter farewell. The night air outside the library was chilly and much fresher than the air inside the library, prompting Liang Chen to take a deep breath. He swept the surroundings with a glance and then started walking. He had no particular place in mind, he simply walked through the alleys until he found a small alley that was filled with a few wooden boxes, somewhat secluded from the rest of the city.
Liang Chen sat down amongst the boxes, crossing his legs and leaning against the wall, closing his eyes in quiet cultivation. Since he had no money, he could obviously not rent a room for the night, so he had to make do with finding a secluded spot in the city to spend the night. Once morning rolled around, he would be able to hop onto a caravan that was heading past the hidden realm, making it so that he was not forced to walk the entire way.
With his eyes closed and his mind focused on cultivation, Liang Chen was only able to keep a bit of his attention on the surroundings, just enough to be alerted whenever someone got close to him. He was in an unfamiliar city, so he was not willing to truly put all his focus on concentration, lest someone attacked him while he was cultivating.
And it was because of this, that he was able to notice someone approaching him after a few hours. He silently halted his cultivation, but he did not open his eyes or let the approaching person know that he had noticed them, calmly paying attention to them by tracking the electricity moving through their body. The person stopped a bit in front of Liang Chen, standing still for a few moments, seemingly either confused or hesitant. After a short moment of hesitation, the person swung his arm, the sound of something moving through the air sounding out.
Liang Chen did not know why, but his blood started boiling somewhat upon realizing that the person was attacking him. He had just been silently cultivating here, minding his own business. Was that something worth getting attacked for? His eyes shot open and his body leaned forward. He uncrossed his legs, the tips of his feet kicking off the ground and sending his body hurtling forward.
He felt something hard hit his back, but he simply grit his teeth and ignored the pain, grabbing onto the legs of the man in front of him. He gave the legs a strong pull, sending the man crashing to the ground. While the man was disoriented from falling, Liang Chen grabbed onto his face, his vision turning somewhat red as his Qi started to move towards his hand, aggression filling his mind.
Liang Chen's eyes were somewhat bloodshot as they landed on the man who was now beneath him. Despite Liang Chen's hand grabbing onto his face, his fingers almost sinking into his skin because of the force, he could still see the man's expression. The man looked to be middle-aged, but his skin was dirty and he was very thin, his bones clearly visible. He was clad in mere rags that just barely covered his lower body. Liang Chen could not feel an ounce of Qi from the man, so he had clearly never cultivated before.
The man's murky brown eyes released a terrified light as he looked at Liang Chen's bloodshot eyes and ferocious expression. Liang Chen could feel the man tremble beneath him, tears gathering in his eyes as his face filled with despair. Seeing the man's expression, Liang Chen's mind quickly cleared up, the poisonous Qi that was heading towards his hand quickly receding. He let go of the man's face, quickly backing up until his back hit the wall. He didn't even look at the man as he spoke, raising his somewhat trembling hands and looking at them with a shocked expression.
“Just leave, I don't want to see you again.”
The man quickly got up, running away as fast as he could. While the man was running away, Liang Chen continued to look at his faintly trembling hands. He was just about to kill that man, a normal person who hadn't even cultivated. He didn't even think about it before he saw the man's expression, he had simply been filled with so much aggression that he did not care. He curled up against the wall, a slight mutter escaping from his lips.
“I'm sorry Mother, Father, I almost went against one of your teachings.”
Liang Chen was a cultivator, and his parents had long since taught him that cultivators must not kill normal people, as they would then be punished by the heaven's. Despite realizing that the heaven's were indifferent, he was not willing to go against his parent's teachings. After the mutter escaped his lips, his eyes hardened with determination, a low voice sounding out into the night.
“I am Liang Chen. I will never become what you want me to be, I will always be Liang Chen.”
Liang Chen realized that this was not the first time he had suddenly been filled with anger, his blood boiling and his vision dyeing red. Ever since he had first bathed in Demonic beast blood, especially since the time he bathed his entire body in the blood, it had started happening. Only a fool would not realize that the reason he was becoming so aggressive was that the aggressive Qi from the Demonic beast blood had infected him slightly. But Liang Chen refused to lose himself to the Qi, he would stay as Liang Chen, no matter what. He did not return to cultivating, silently waiting the last few hours before the sun would rise.