Strange New Knowledge Added

Liu Shuyue did not slow down until she had put a great distance between herself and the place.

She turned back. That miraculous shop was already beyond another hill, and through layer upon layer of trees, she could only vaguely make out a faint cluster of light.

The shopkeeper had not chased after her.

Perhaps, just as he had said, this transaction had been a fair trade. Still, she could not let down her guard.

The moment Liu Shuyue understood what she had obtained, she realized that her initial judgment had been completely wrong! What did he mean by trading four abilities for one? Had she known Broadly Read Through the Ages was like this, she would have gladly offered several more abilities in exchange!

She had actually seen another history, an incomparably vast history! All manner of people had established all manner of dynasties within it. Their rise and fall unfolded like a magnificent, turbulent scroll, far more complex than she had imagined and far beyond anything she had learned.

She could not understand why an ability capable of so greatly expanding one's knowledge and experience had been classified as an ordinary eighth-grade ability. Its description was also completely contrary to reality. What did it mean by, "You think you can learn lessons from it, but in fact you cannot"? Many people in that history had clearly said otherwise. For example, one could use history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of nations; one should not forget the lessons of those who came before... It had to be said that either the shopkeeper had been too careless and mislabeled the ability, or he had deliberately been testing her.

But now, the latter answer seemed far more likely.

Return or exchange within one month?

She would never return this ability for the rest of her life.

Liu Shuyue had not said everything.

Ever since her enlightenment, a question had always lingered in her heart. Since the purpose of the Lotus Cloud Sect was to assist rulers in governing the world, why were there so few records in the sect's library of disciples who had assisted rulers in the past? Logically speaking, whether their achievements had been good or bad, they should have been faithfully recorded. The good could be imitated, while the bad could serve as warnings. Yet she had never found anything of the sort. Whenever she asked her master, her master would merely smile without answering. Or perhaps it was that the sect's elders simply never concerned themselves with any disciple who had descended the mountain, as though the changes of the mortal world had nothing to do with the Lotus Cloud Sect.

With Liu Shuyue's speed, traveling from Kunlun to the capital of the Great Qi Kingdom should have taken no more than a month. Yet she had already spent nearly half a year on the road.

During those months, she had passed through more than ten towns and cities, witnessed many things she had never seen in the sect, and learned many things that books had never taught her. In theory, with sect disciples assisting them, the dynasty should have flourished and the people should have lived in peace and contentment. Yet the reality she had seen along the way was nothing like that. Bandits and criminals ran rampant in remote places, while official roads and villages lay abandoned. Only a few major cities were slightly better off.

Moreover, no matter how she inquired, she could not find any news of the previous generation of disciples who had left the mountain. She simply could not understand it.

The mountain gates opened only once every hundred years, and cultivators, so long as nothing unexpected happened, could generally live beyond that age. Even if disciples who had left the mountain had died halfway through their journeys, they should have left behind many deeds and accomplishments.

Yet there were not even many folk tales about immortal disciples.

Liu Shuyue could almost conclude that the previous disciple had failed.

Perhaps, just like the negative examples mentioned by the sect elders, that person had been ensnared by worldly desires and forgotten their original intentions. Or perhaps they had become too deeply involved in court affairs and strayed from the sect's true purpose.

She still had no way to verify the matter with the authorities, because doing so would shake the image of Lotus Cloud Sect disciples as omniscient assistants.

If the previous disciple had failed, then what about her?

After all, every generation of disciples learned the same things she did, and their talent could only have been greater than hers. If they had achieved nothing, would she also follow in their footsteps?

This string of worries and unanswered questions had made it impossible for her to travel with peace of mind.

Yet at this moment, Liu Shuyue was no longer as worried as before.

Because she had received the guidance of countless "predecessors," observed many court struggles, and learned how to remain true to herself and fulfill her duties. It was as if she had glimpsed countless possible futures for herself and had the chance to choose the best one.

What an extraordinary ability!

Her master had told her that she should remain calm as still water at all times, but Liu Shuyue could not stop the corners of her lips from lifting.

She had absolutely made a profit!

Seen this way, the shopkeeper had not been taking advantage of her vulnerability after all?

But when she thought of the unchanged fake smile on that young shopkeeper's face from beginning to end, she still gave a dissatisfied snort. They were both extraordinary people, so why did he have to speak with the sharp, worldly manner of a merchant? Could he not simply place the abilities on the table and introduce them openly?

And besides... the name of the shop, "Mala Tang," was strange too.

Not only was it inelegant, it was even somewhat vulgar.

Could those three words carry some deeper meaning?

"Mala Tang... Chen Xuan..."

Liu Shuyue silently repeated the names. Just what faction do you belong to? Are you some strange wilderness deity, or a mysterious sect from overseas? And what world do these historical stories belong to?

If she ever had a chance to see him again, she would certainly have to ask him properly.

After cleaning up the bloodstains, Chen Xuan let out a long breath.

He really was the shopkeeper of this store now.

That feeling, both illusory and real, had been circling in his heart all along. If he had not been afraid of disturbing the neighbors late at night, he would have shut the door and shouted a few times. He wanted to vent, yet desperately restrained himself. At that moment, he felt like someone pretending to be normal inside an absurdly bizarre dream.

But no matter what, facts were facts.

He took two deep breaths and calmed himself down first.

Since he was the shopkeeper now, what was he supposed to do next?

"Right... check the inventory."

Chen Xuan tossed the rag into the sink, walked over to the computer behind the counter, and maximized the inventory window.

The overview displayed: Ability Inventory: [4]. Available Ability Providers: [1]. The one after that was still Chen Xuan himself. Liu Shuyue's name did not appear there.

"Looks like the number of abilities and providers aren't linked one-to-one," he mused. "Once these abilities are traded, do they become ownerless abilities? And since I'm the shopkeeper, can I serve as a temporary provider at any time?"

Then can I use these abilities?

He opened his own section, then dragged the inventory ability "Alchemy" into it.

In an instant, a massive amount of information surged into his mind, making him grunt in pain.

He could actually do it!

The swelling pain came quickly and faded just as fast. Moments later, Chen Xuan felt that his mind was filled with a great deal of new knowledge, such as how to distinguish ordinary medicinal herbs from Spirit Herbs, and how to refine them into pills. There was no doubt that this was knowledge Liu Shuyue had learned, and now it belonged to him.

The inventory count had also changed to 3.

But what did that matter? He was the shopkeeper, so he could participate in trades whenever he wanted. Giving abilities to himself would not cost him anything! If abilities were treated as money, then it was equivalent to him being able to withdraw the shop's savings whenever he pleased, without paying a single bit of interest.

Besides, abilities were far more useful than money!

He impatiently wanted to drag over the other abilities in storage as well, only to discover that he could not. His page had only four slots. The software looked like an Excel spreadsheet, but there was no way to add or remove entries.

So he could only possess four abilities at once?

Was everyone like this, or did it vary from person to person?

Chen Xuan immediately thought of the answer. It should be the latter.

It was simple. Liu Shuyue had traded away four abilities at once. If the limit were four, then she had effectively given up everything just to obtain Broadly Read Through the Ages, which made no logical sense. Furthermore, judging from her reaction, although trading one for four had displeased her somewhat, it had still been within an acceptable range. She had not shown much regret over losing those four abilities either. That meant Liu Shuyue had far more bargaining chips available for trade than just these.

After all, she was a cultivator, while he was an ordinary person.

Chen Xuan accepted that point easily enough. Four was four. Since he could not increase the limit, he could at least adjust what filled those slots, right? He dragged both Can Eat a Lot and Can Sleep a Lot back into the inventory, then dragged Heart Calming Incantation and Spirit Sword Technique onto himself. This entire series of operations succeeded as well.

A cool stream of energy rose from the soles of his feet and coursed through his entire body in moments. He immediately understood the use of the Pure Heart Art. It was a passive cultivation technique, much like internal energy in martial arts films. Once learned, it could circulate on its own, strengthening the body and working in tandem with other abilities.

He also discovered that even a beginner-level cultivation technique had extremely strict aptitude requirements. If he wanted to learn the Pure Heart Art through ordinary means, he might practice for more than ten years without seeing results. Yet ability trading could bypass that threshold, as if forcibly grafting the ability onto his body. Not only could he master it, he could wield it with ease.

It was as though Liu Shuyue's memories and accumulated experience of cultivating the Pure Heart Art had been transferred to him as well.