Fourth floor of the library.
The manuals here were all four-star grade, the prized treasures of the City Lord's Mansion. Every single one was worth a fortune.
Even a wealthy force like the City Lord's Mansion possessed only around fifty four-star manuals in total.
Only core members of the City Lord's Mansion were qualified to borrow manuals here. Ordinary people were not even qualified to come upstairs.
To test Fan Lang's learning ability, Old White brought him all the way up to the fourth floor.
"Everything here is a four-star manual. You may choose three to take with you. As long as you master one of them within three days, I'll believe you possess heaven-defying comprehension." Old White pointed at the surrounding bookshelves.
"Only three? That's pretty stingy. Can I take a few more?" Fan Lang asked greedily.
"Three is plenty. If you master all three, you can come back and exchange them for other manuals. As long as you have the ability, the City Lord's Mansion will spare no effort in nurturing you. And you'd better understand the meaning of the words 'repay kindness.'"
"Heh."
Fan Lang chuckled. They were just a few books, not some enormous favor. There was no need to take it too seriously. Once he became stronger, helping the City Lord's Mansion out a little would count as repayment.
"Alright, let me see what manuals catch my eye."
Fan Lang swaggered around the floor and looked through every manual. After careful consideration, he selected three.
"Heaven and Earth Seal, Spider Web Hand, and Water Cloud Palm. I'll take these three." Fan Lang made his decision.
Old White stroked his beard and offered his thoughts on the three manuals.
"The Heaven and Earth Seal converts Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy into a seal. It is extremely powerful, but very difficult to learn. Only those exceptionally sensitive to Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy can master it."
"The Spider Web Hand transforms Mystic Power into strands of thread to bind enemies and restrict their movements. To master this combat skill, one must possess superb control over Mystic Power, shaping it as fine as Spider Silk while ensuring it remains tough. It is truly difficult beyond measure."
"The Water Cloud Palm is a water-element combat skill, while you used a fire-element combat skill during the Entry Examination. These two elements repel each other. You have already grown accustomed to converting fire-element power, so learning a water-element combat skill will greatly increase the difficulty. This one is not really suitable for you."
Old White dealt with manuals every day and knew them like the back of his hand. His assessment was thorough and well-founded.
"Finished?" Fan Lang asked.
"Finished." Old White froze.
"Then I'm leaving. Bye." Fan Lang tucked the three manuals away and left directly, too lazy to discuss them with Old White.
Whoosh.
A faint chill wind blew past.
Old White was left standing there alone, feeling utterly stifled. Did Fan Lang really disregard him that much? He had kindly evaluated those manuals, yet Fan Lang had not responded with a single word!
What Old White did not know was that, in Fan Lang's eyes, these manuals were only useful in the early stages and had no value worth discussing. Naturally, he could not be bothered wasting his breath.
Besides, Old White's experience was completely useless to Fan Lang. Fan Lang's method of learning was fundamentally different from that of ordinary people.
No matter how difficult a manual was, once it reached Fan Lang, it was like a naked young woman—there were no secrets left to speak of.
"Learn all three. Start with the most powerful, the Heaven and Earth Seal!"
The moment Fan Lang left the library, he issued the command to the system.
Four-star manuals took a long time to learn. The Heaven and Earth Seal required twenty hours to master. Even by cheating to cut the time in half, it would still take ten hours.
In other words, Fan Lang could learn at most two four-star skills per day.
Although that was somewhat slower than learning low-grade manuals before, it was still astonishingly fast.
He could leave the learning to the system function and did not need to worry about it at all. He had a new leveling plan for today, one that required him to leave the City Lord's Mansion.
When he reached the gates of the City Lord's Mansion, Fan Lang saw two familiar figures.
They were the two guards who had mocked him!
These two had once said many nasty things to Fan Lang, ridiculing him for confessing to Luo Hongyan. It had nothing whatsoever to do with them; they had simply been foul-mouthed.
Fan Lang narrowed his eyes, and a chill flashed within them.
The two guards saw Fan Lang, and their expressions changed. They had heard yesterday about how Fan Lang had displayed great might during the Entry Examination.
Fan Lang was no longer the person he had been before. The two guards could not help but fear him.
Never taking revenge was not Fan Lang's style. With a dark expression, he walked toward the two guards step by step, frightening them into retreating again and again.
"Fan Lang, I heard you became a retainer of the City Lord's Mansion. Congratulations."
"Hehe, our brothers did say some unpleasant things before, but we were only joking. Don't take it to heart. When we have time someday, we'll treat you to drinks and apologize."
The two guards put on different faces and forced smiles at Fan Lang. The more they acted that way, the guiltier they appeared.
Fan Lang said nothing. He simply swung his hand and viciously slapped each guard across the face!
Smack!
Smack!
The crisp, resounding slaps sent the two guards crashing to the ground, blood spilling from their mouths.
These two guards had mocked Fan Lang before, making him feel humiliated.
Since it was humiliation, he would take revenge with another form of humiliation! This was called returning the favor in kind!
Fan Lang's face was as still as water as he looked down at the two guards. If they refused to accept it, he would keep hitting them.
The two guards had been slapped and glared furiously at Fan Lang. They wanted to curse him out, but did not dare utter even a fart. Fan Lang's gaze frightened them. They even had the feeling that if they dared act recklessly, Fan Lang might kill them!
A retainer held a higher status than guards within the City Lord's Mansion. Even if Fan Lang killed them, the City Lord's Mansion would not pursue the matter too deeply.
The two guards could only swallow their shattered teeth along with their blood.
"Tell me, did you deserve that?" Fan Lang asked calmly.
"We deserved it."
"We deserved it."
The two guards answered quietly. Admitting it brought them endless humiliation, more painful than the burning pain on their faces.
"That's more like it." Fan Lang snorted coldly, spared the two guards, and strode away triumphantly.
The two guards exchanged a look, their faces as bitter as gourds.
"What the hell is going on? How did that brat suddenly become so powerful that he even became a retainer?"
"Shh, don't let him hear you. We can't afford to provoke him, so we should avoid him. Don't mess with him again in the future."
The two guards each rubbed their red, swollen faces.
Having avenged his past humiliation, Fan Lang was in high spirits as he made his way to the leveling location he had chosen for today. For the past two days, he had leveled in the wilderness. Today, he had switched to the city.
Before him stood a gloomy building that resembled a massive prison, surrounded by iron railings. Four large words hung above its entrance—Underground Arena!
As the name implied, it was an underground Duel Arena. The structure aboveground was merely an entrance, while the core area lay below.
There were many gladiators in the Underground Arena. There would never be a shortage of opponents here!
"Underground Arena, here I come!"
Fan Lang's eyes gleamed as he strode forward.
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