She hopped through where the roof should’ve been and skipped down the side of pyramid. I did the same. I landed at the base next to Hui Ming. I smoothed my robes and took two steps back to stand behind her. She walked and I stayed behind her, playing my role of a servant.

Long shadows came with the sinking sun. Warm red colors painted the sky like watercolor. The sun set when we got to the border of the Black Library’s district.

It was nighttime, but that was when the school was most active. The crackle of frying fat. A man yelling at his employee. Discussion and gossip blended into background chatter. The streets turned into a noisy night market.

Glowing rocks perched on rocky stands, serving as lampposts. Shops had their advertising out in full force, trying to turn the new students into regulars. The smell of meats blew into the residential areas, causing a flood of students to come with their pockets filled with money.

None of this had any effect on Hui Ming. She always looked perfect, wether she was sweeping dust or acting as a square class student. Her square badge rested on her chest, pushed up a bit by her breasts. Seeing the badge, others parted around us to give more room.

I played my role of a servant until we reached a line in the ground where the market stopped. It marked the border between two districts, a boundary the rowdiness couldn’t cross.

The contrast couldn’t be sharper. Hui Ming took off her badge when she crossed the line. She pointed in front of us. A black cube stuck out in the distance. It was made of a pitch black material I could barely make out against the night sky.

She led me deeper into the district. She seemed to know the way. “Have you been here before?” I asked.

“Twice,” she replied.

I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. Of course she didn’t. “Tell me more?”

“I was twelve the first time I came here. It was for a rare spirit scroll. It helped me develop my movement technique.”

“The second time?”

“One of my sisters wanted a spirit scroll but she couldn’t get into the school. She asked me to get it for her.”

“Younger or older?”

“She’s my younger sister. All my sisters are younger than me.”

“So you’re used to being called big sister?”

“Yes, although Jing’s different. I don’t know why she calls me big sister. She’s the big sister in this… may I say family?”

Our shoes clicked against the tiled floor. I saw a few small cafes, “Sure.”

“Jing’s the big sister in the family. In truth, I don’t qualify to be called sister at all.”

I furrowed my brows. “That’s not true. I can’t say it’s not odd to be called a sister and a servant at the same time, but that’s not important. Family and servant are just names to me. You can be both at the same time. Don’t underestimate your importance. Both Jing and I would risk our lives for you.” She knew I was talking about the battle against the Crimson Fire Sect, which had started because we needed to protect Hui Ming.

She gulped, “You shouldn’t.”

I walked faster to catch up to her. I walked with her, side by side. We didn’t have our badges on, so I didn’t look too out of place next to her. I peaked at her face. Her head was slanted down, eyes staring at the ground. “You know how much we treasure you.”

She continued staring at the ground, “Forgive me for saying this,” she swallowed again, “but you shouldn’t, not to the point of risking your life for me.”

“Don’t think like that,” I said, but I knew it was useless. She wasn’t some robot I could order around. She served me, but only because she wanted to. She could always disobey me if she thought it was for the better.

She didn’t respond. She knew neither of us wanted to talk about this.

She stopped after a while, “This is the Black Library.”

"Straightforward name, I like it.”

A wall of black loomed in front of us. The wall seemed to stretch forever on both sides. It was many times larger than any of the other towers. The sheer size of the building instilled awe into observers. Moonlight shined down, and the wall glinted like obsidian.

So this is what Hui Ming meant when she said this place was beautiful. The library wasn’t beautiful because of designs or patterns. It was beautiful for its size. Its size pressed a sense of everlasting stability into me. It told me it was here now, and it would be here the day I died.

I touched the wall. It was still warm from when the sun was up. “Do we still have to find an entrance?”

“We’ll find it if we follow the walls,” she returned to her businesslike mode. We arrived minutes later.

A stream of people flowed in and out of the entrance. I thought there’d be more traffic. The traffic was on par of that of a mall, but this building more than ten times larger than malls.

We went in. The black stone covered every inch of the library. The ceiling was held up by gigantic dark pillars several times wider than I was tall. “This library is the most precious place in the city,” Hui Ming said.

“Really? More precious than the tip of the central volcano?”

“The tip of that volcano might be able to rival the Black Library in a few thousand years.”

“Weird, those history books never mentioned this place.”

I grabbed the side of a pillar and squeezed just hard enough so it wouldn’t break. This stone wasn’t the toughest in this world, but it was harder than the diamonds of my old world. The whole building was made out of this.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Your books didn’t mention it because it was built too recently. It was built just a fifty years ago, but now they call it the everlasting tower.”

“Hm, I wonder why,” I said snarkily.

“It’s extremely tough.”

“I know...” The black stone was cool and all, but I couldn’t find any books. “Where are all the books?” The gigantic lobby was almost completely empty, and there were no obvious exits.

A woman wearing plain light blue robe walked to us. I took a closer look at her robe. It had a sheen I’d never seen before. It may be plain, but it certainly wasn’t cheap. Two thick gloves hung off a belt on her waist. She looked around thirty, but cultivators that looked thirty were always much older.

I shifted to face her. “Hello, who-”

Hui Ming bowed to her. “Good midnight, tower master.” I realized my mistake and bowed as well.

“Mhm, where do you want to go?” she said.

“Any one of the main rooms, please.” Hui Ming replied.

“Is this man coming with you?” she asked. Hui Ming nodded. She shrugged, “See ya.”

The floor dropped out beneath us. I almost yelped. We feel a short while before landing at the bottom of a hole. The top sealed off, leaving us in the dark.

“Light, please?” I said.

Hui Ming lit a fire on her fingertip. We were in a box with no escape. The flame leaned to the side as the box lurched. I stuck my out a foot to restabilize myself. Hui Ming didn’t react. Defying physics, she stayed upright without stumbling.

The box sped up more before coming to an abrupt stop. The side of the box opened, revealing a room filled with countless shelves. The top of the shelves connected with the low ceiling. The familiar smell of old paper flooded my nostrils. Hundreds of glowing orbs were placed all over the room, filling every corner with warm light. The room was surprisingly empty for a main room. We were the only ones here.

“Do you like it?” she said. She chewed her inner lip, making part of her lip squirm. I nodded.

“Please sit”, she gestured at a set of sofas built to fit a large group of friends. I did as she asked, my hands almost slipping on the silky exterior of the sofa. “What would you like?” she asked.

“Get me a few of those spirit scrolls, please.” I’d heard about spirit scrolls and books, this was just to satisfy my curiosity. She went to fetch the scrolls.

Hui Ming appeared from behind a shelf with a tray of scrolls. They gave off a faint aura. I took one and unfurled it on a table. It had an old, musty smell. The people who read the scroll had treated the scroll with utmost care, but it was already torn at the edges. I thought such precious scrolls would be tougher, but normal person could rip this one without Qi.

I read the first line. It felt the same as when I read a normal book. “So I just read it? Nothing else?” Hui Ming nodded, so I continued reading.

Bits of Qi came out of the scroll as I read. The Qi reached out from the scroll and touched my forehead. A blurry image of a man popped into my head. It was like I was imagining it, but the image was clearer. The man went through five sword stances, showing the reader how to balance Qi and physical movement.

I tore my eyes from the book. “Holy shit I need this.” This was many times more effective than reading directly from a book. I would’ve bought spirit copies of all my books if I’d known about this earlier.

“I brought some incense,” Hui reached into her robe.

I put my hand on her arm, “No need for that. Where can I get more of these spirit scrolls?”

“You can buy them, but they’re expensive,” she said.

“Even for us?” I asked. I still had several million shards, and I could make a lot more when I started selling pills again.

“One scroll isn’t very expensive, but buying a library for your students would cost billions.” She read my mind. I didn’t want the books for myself, I wanted them for the people I’d chosen. “And if you want this library, that’s impossible too. The school would never give it up. You might as well try to buy the entire school. ”

“Billions!,” I choked. “Can I hire people to make copies of the books?”

“They’re spirit scrolls, they can’t be copied.”

“How come?”

“You can copy the words, but they’d lose the trance effect. You’d have to find all the original writers, most of which are dead.”

“Damn,” I rubbed my head,“...how hard would it be to rob this place?” I wasn’t against resorting to robbery if it would help cultivate the ones I chose. Hui Ming didn’t show signs of disapproval either.

“That won’t be possible, even for you.”

“I don’t know what I expected. What, do they have an Orb in here?” I asked.

“That, and the tower master is at the Dao Journey stages. Besides, this place is built as a moving labyrinth. The tower master can move the rooms around at will. You can destroy half the labyrinth and not find any rooms. Then you’d have to fight all their reinforcements while the Orb is active,” she said.

There was no chance I could survive that, at least at the moment. But, “I’ll be able to do that if I have some time to prepare.”

Hui Ming blinked, “Ah-yes, of course. But please don’t be reckless.”

“Got it,” I unrolled a second scroll. This one was made with silvery, fluid pages wrapped around a carved wooden rod. None of the scrolls on the table were alike. I reached the third line, and the images started appearing in my head.

“Ah!” Hui Ming said, ripping me from the experience.

“What?” I said, sounding annoyed on accident. I should’ve been annoyed, but I somehow wasn’t.

She stared at her feet. “There’s another way to get spirit scrolls. You can learn the Daos and write them yourself. But you’ll need to fully understand the Daos you write about.”

“But I don’t have any Daos,” I said. She cocked her head, indicating she didn’t understand. “I don’t understand any Daos. I’m not even at the first stage of Dao Formation. I was planning to ask for your help to get to the first stage, but I met you while I was in the alchemy tower and we ended up here somehow.”

“You don’t understand any Daos… I’m sorry for not seeing this before. I’ll always be here to help if you need it,” she said.

“Anyway,” I said, “sit down.” I pat the part of the sofa next to me. She bent down and sat as I asked, but she didn’t seem to know what to do next. I turned a seed into a peach and handed it to Hui Ming. Another seed became a wooden plate and I set it on the table. Hui Ming use her sword to cut the peach into eight even pieces. She positioned them on the plate in a flower pattern. “They aren’t for me. Take one,” I urged.

“Me?” she said.

I looked around the room, “I don’t see anybody else.”

She took one and bit at its edges. Her bite made a crisp snap. Her eyes widened, “It’s sweet.” I grinned.

Hui Ming sat with me silently, sharing plates of fruit with me. I looked to the side to look at Hui Ming. Her short lustrous hair partially covered her cheeks, which bobbed as she chewed on my fruit. I smiled, she could be adorable sometimes. I suppressed an urge to poke her cheek.

This was the kind of peaceful atmosphere I wanted to settle in. One where I could visit a library and eat fruit with friends and family.

I used to be different. The old world was a peaceful place, where my only problems were my grades. I wished for chaos, or a little something to spice up my life. I don’t know what changed. Now I just wanted to settle down.

It wouldn’t be that simple, though.

“Help me find books on The Will Of The World,” I got up and started searching the shelves. I the next three hours reading through scattered bits of text on the subject.

In summary, The Will Of The World is a powerful force that does a bunch of random things. Sometimes it interfered with humans by making them keep promises. Sometimes it concentrates mana to create danger zones.

One of the danger zones it created was a complex self-repairing maze. This bothered me. It confirmed The Will Of The World was intelligent. If it was intelligent, it must have something it’s trying to do. I couldn’t find what it was trying to do no matter how much I searched the texts. It was random, more like a collection of beings than a single being trying to do something. I got up to find another book.

I wandered between the shelves. They had everything here, even a shelf for philosophy. I stopped in front of it and ran my finger across the shelf. A layer of dust accumulated at my fingertip. I stared at the dust on my finger.

I heard Hui Ming’s footsteps get closer. They stopped a short distance behind me. “Is something wrong?”

I winced.

“Of all the shelves here, only the philosophy shelf is so dusty. It’s like nobody’s touched this shelf in years. This would be the cleanest shelf in the room if Brian were here.”

“Brian?” she said.

“An old friend. We’ll see him soon, I hope,” I said. Some of my classmates spawned in the area around me. I’d already met two of them, meeting more was more than likely.

“You have friends?” she asked.

“Yes! What kind of question is that? Of course I have friends,” I said.

“I’m sorry, I just haven’t seen any in my three months with you,” she said.

“Fair enough,” I mumbled.

“But if we’ll meet him soon… what is he like?” she said.

I paused. “It’s always hard to describe this kind of thing. He was athletic, although he didn’t put any effort into it. He was just born with an amazing physique. He never trained but he could run a mile in under six minutes.”

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”

“A monster like you wouldn’t get it. He was good at everything, not that his talent came anywhere close to yours.” Hui Ming could easily run a mile in twenty seconds. Comparing them simply wasn’t fair. “He was also good at school, although I wasn’t far behind him in that aspect. He was nice, I think, but he could be annoying sometimes. He’d go on and on about his stupid ‘new ideas’, he’d never stop.”

I put my palm on exposed parts of the shelf. I swept my palm across the shelf, removing all the dust. I went to the layer beneath it and repeated the process, removing the dust from each layer of the shelf.

I pat my hands against my robes to get rid of the rest of the dust. “I don’t really feel like staying any more. Do you want to stay?” She shook her head. “Then let’s go.”

I withered the plants I’d made. Hui Ming put the books away. There was only one door in the room, so I assumed it was the exit. I opened it, but it only led to an empty black room.

“So… how do we get out?”