Chapter 8 - Thick Librarian

In the morning, when many disciples were heading out on missions or to lectures, Xiao Fang was just waking up. His earlier fatigue had all but dissapeared. Instead, what resurfaced was his l.u.s.trous desires to cultivate.

Xiao Fang saw Li Lian dressing up. He still had his morning wood and wanted to relieve himself, but now she was already preparing to leave.

"Going out so soon?", he asked.

"Mn, I need to do missions to become an inner court disciple. I'll be back later tonight", she replied.

Xiao Fang finally understood why he saw some men hanging around the mission board yesterday.

"I'll miss you, Lian'er", he said.

She was already half way out the door when she suddenly froze.

"Don't miss me too much", she said before leaving.

Xiao Fang racked his brain around trying to alleviate his boredom. He recalled the spacial pouch that the elder outside of the exam hall gave him. He took it out and began inspecting the contents within.

> 50 rapid healing pills

> 20 medium grade spirit refinement pills

> 5000 merit points

The pills in his pouch were rare valuables. He began pondering on what fortunes he might acc.u.mulate if he were to pass the inner court disciple test. The thought of that made Xiao Fang drool inwardly.

Xiao Fang eventually left the house too. Besides trying to improve his n.a.k.e.d sword technique, there was another reason why he came to the Black Paradise sect. He often heard rumors saying there were dual cultivation techniques and methods being kept in this sect. So, naturally, the sect's archives became the first destination Xiao Fang thought about checking.

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On the way to the sect's archives, Xiao Fang found a small romance library/bookstore. Xiao Fang's mother used to always take him to these kinds of stores. Though he never read romantic novels on his spare time, his mother would often read it to him when he was younger.

Suddenly, sitting behind the from desk, Xiao Fang saw a beautiful girl peacefully and comfortably reading a book. Besides her, there was only one other girl in the store so it was hard to miss her. She had long brown hair, hazel eyes, and a small pearl earring that made her face shine beautifully in the light.

Judging by her fitness he could immediately tell she was a body cultivator, but unless he could feel inside her little sister he wouldn't know for sure what realm she is in. 

"Junior greets senior sister", Xiao Fang said.

She looked at Xiao Fang then nodded kindly before asking, "How can I help you?".

"I am looking for a particular cultivation technique, I was hoping senior sister could help me find it".

She put her book down then looked at Xiao Fang curiously.

"Sure, what are you looking for?", she asked with a smile.

"Do you have any books or techniques on dual cultivation", he smiled back.

...

There was an awkward silence.

"Why do you need something like that?"

"Why do you think?", Xiao Fang leaned forward.

"A-Are you by any chance a dual cultivator?"

"I am".

She stared into his violet eyes speechlessly.

"Too awkward...", he thought.

"It seems there are none here, so I'll be on my way".

"Ah, no that's not it. It's just, no one has ever asked me so I was a bit shocked. Well I don't have any books on dual cultivation, but I do have a dual cultivation technique".

Xiao Fang smiled bitterly. He nearly didn't ask her himself and now he was wishing he didn't. Then he realized what she meant.

"Senior Sister, If you really have a dual cultivation technique would it be alright if I borrowed it for a few days? I have enough merit points so please name your price."

"You can rent it out, but I have a few conditions".

"Alright"

"First-", she hesitated. "First you must promise to satisfy me with this technique for at least 24hrs after you've learned it. Of course, this doesn't mean it has to be done in one sitting, we can do it over several days", she quickly explained embarrassingly.

"That can be arranged, is that all?", Xiao Fang quickly replied nonchalantly. His words hit her hard. He responded so quickly it almost seemed as though he was expecting it. She instantly regretted not asking for more time.

"Second, you need to prove to me that you know how to satisfy me before I give it to you".

"Is there a third?" his plain words made her feel like vomiting a mouth full of blood. Each condition she mentioned so far was as good as gold to her, but it seemed like they were merely a few spare bronze coins to him.

"I-I can't think of it on the spot so... so let's just say you also owe me a favour".

Xiao Fang nodded, "Deal". He reached out his hand waiting for her to grab it.

"What are you doing?"

"Your second condition. I will have to prove my abilities right?". She froze looking at his hand.

"mn", she nodded. She was almost in her 30s and felt as though she was slowly missing her opportunity to do these kinds of things. However, in Xiao Fang's eyes she seemed like she was only in her early 20s, because in the world of cultivation, age can be deceiving. Even if she looked 40 it wouldn't have made a difference in his eyes. In some cases, it may be completely dependent on your body cultivation realm.

Perhaps in any other sect she might been a peerless beauty, but in this sect she looked only slightly above average. Though she wasn't as shockingly beautiful as Li Lian, her curves were definitely much more generous. Furthermore she had an expression of confidence, intelligence, and maturity that was unmatched for someone her age. She seemed as though there was nothing in this world that could break her, which only made Xiao Fang want to try her that much more.

She slapped Xiao Fang's hand away. "Don't act so brazenly in public", she scolded him the way a senior sister normal would. She then quickly called her new junior sister, Xun Wei, to take over her post before going into the back with Xiao Fang. The doors closed and Xiao Fang's piercing gaze became sharper as if he were a crouching tiger ready to pounce his prey.

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Meanwhile in the matriarch's main hall, a few elders got word of this mysterious child that had entered their sect. Some thought it was just the false eye testimony of an elder turned senile. Others, that knew Elder Du well, knew this definitely was no small matter.

"Calm down there is still no proof that such a child exists. If worse comes to worse Elder Du can simply apologize for putting him in the outer court sect".

"Do you know how fast he must have been running?! Forget the challenges, even if our fastest inner court disciples were to simply run around this sect who amongst them would be able to do it in under 5 hours, much less 3 hours. Imagine what kind of backer he must have. Would a mere apology truly be enough?".

Most practitioners in the cultivation world, including the elders in this room, would spend all of their efforts enhancing their spiritual cultivation, because it was much easier to train to the same strengths but with a fraction of the effort. However what they would lack is speed and stamina. 

"Matriarch, this is truly a serious situation".

The Matriarch was in deep thought, in her head she believed no matter where the child came from there would be no way someone could surpass many of her elders in cultivation after only a few months of training. She eliminated the possibility that the child could be someone from the older generation, because unlike other sects they only accepted disciples that turned 18 that year and their skeletal age would be checked before and after entering the exam. The only way this could make sense was if this boy was a body cultivator, but this would mean he would at the very least be a Solid Body Realm cultivator, which is simply unheard of at his age.

"Quiet down. If this boy truly exists, then I'll need to see him myself. Keep your eyes open and try not to offend anyone you don't recognize for now", she said with a stern voice, giving off the airs of a queen.

"We understand, Matriarch". The elders bowed then left without a word.