With Zhang Meng, his loyal "number-one fan," standing in plain sight to shield him, Xu Qian's life grew ever more comfortable. Zhou Kang thought he was "steady and hardworking," Zhang Meng "followed his every order," his colleagues thought he was "pretty capable, but not a bad person," and the prisoners thought he was "not to be trifled with, but played by the rules." He was practically a model student in the art of getting along with everyone at the bottom of the Heavenly Prison.
That day, Zhou Kang called Xu Qian to the Guard Room again. His face wore an expression that said, "I've got an easy job for you."
"Xu Qian, Old Liu over at the library is getting on in years and can't organize everything by himself. There are piles of discarded books and odds and ends. Go give him a hand and clear them out." Zhou Kang said over his tea. "It's quiet over there, and not as filthy as the prison. It's a pretty good assignment."
The library? Xu Qian's heart stirred. He'd been there several times before and had secretly picked up all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge. He'd even found a fragment of the Turtle Breath Art and the basics of formation runes. It was a true treasure trove!
"Yes, Captain Zhou. I'll go right away." Xu Qian put on a grateful expression, but inside, he was already over the moon. Another chance to stock up!
He made his way to the library on the outskirts of the Heavenly Prison, following a familiar route. As he pushed open the heavy wooden door, the familiar smell of old paper mixed with dust washed over him.
Old Liu, who managed the library, was dozing face-down on a table piled with records, drool nearly reaching his beard. At the sound, he blearily raised his head. Seeing Xu Qian, he waved weakly. "Oh, it's Little Xu... Zhou Kang sent you? There, those few piles in the corner. They're all useless wastepaper. See what you can sell, bundle it up, and throw the rest straight into the stove to burn..."
Xu Qian looked where he pointed. In the corner stood several "mountains of books," piled high with yellowed, damaged, and even worm-eaten books, records, and loose pages. A thick layer of dust covered them; clearly, no one had touched them in a long time.
Good grief, this is all knowledge! How can you call it wastepaper?! Xu Qian's heart ached, but he replied respectfully, "All right, Old Liu. You rest. I'll take care of it."
He rolled up his sleeves and got to work "cleaning." Of course, his way of "cleaning" was a little unusual.
First, he roughly sorted the books. His movements seemed brisk, but were actually slow. Every time he picked up a book or a stack of loose pages, he carefully ran his hand over the cover and pages, secretly urging the Longevity Dao Fruit into action.
Streams of faint knowledge flowed into his mind like creeks joining the sea.
[Acquired a small amount of knowledge about 'Former Dynasty Law.'] [Acquired a small amount of information from 'Local County Annals.'] [Acquired insights into 'Analysis of Inferior Pills.'] [Acquired...]
Most of it was miscellaneous knowledge with little use, or so incomplete that the Dao Fruit couldn't be bothered to extrapolate anything from it. But Xu Qian didn't mind. Even a mosquito's leg had meat on it; there was no such thing as too much knowledge.
As he "absorbed" the knowledge, he set aside the truly tattered, worthless scraps of paper. Anything that still seemed to contain some useful information, or was made of unusual material, he quietly gathered in another spot.
As he worked through a pile of books at the very bottom, nearly rotted through with mold, his fingers brushed over a thick volume whose cover was nearly detached and whose pages were blackened and brittle. The pull from the Longevity Dao Fruit suddenly grew much stronger!
[Acquired knowledge from 'Detailed Explanation of Basic Talismans' (fragment).]
A stream of information, far more systematic and clear than the bits of miscellaneous knowledge before, flowed into his mind! It covered the principles behind drawing dozens of the most common basic talismans, the order of their strokes, techniques for guiding Spiritual Power (true qi), how to identify common talisman paper and ink, and even rudimentary methods of making them!
Though incomplete, and missing many advanced talismans and sophisticated techniques, it was simply perfect as an introductory guide!
Talisman arts?! Xu Qian's heart gave a sudden leap. This was good stuff!
In this Immortal Martial World, talismans were one of the bona fide supernatural powers! Though this was only a battered guide to the basics, it meant he might be able to learn to make practical talismans like Fireball Talismans, Gentle Breeze Talismans, and Vajra Talismans! Even the lowest-grade ones were still supernatural tools. Whether for fighting enemies, providing support, or making an escape, they could be put to great use!
He fought down his excitement, carefully pulled the nearly disintegrating book from the pile of wastepaper, and brushed away the thick layer of dust. A few indistinct seal-script characters appeared on the cover: Detailed Explanation of Basic Talismans (Volume Two).
Only the second volume? No wonder it had been treated like wastepaper. But for Xu Qian, the basics were more than enough!
Holding the book, he walked over to Old Liu, who was still dozing, and asked softly, "Old Liu, this book... It looks pretty substantial. Are you getting rid of it too?"
Old Liu squinted at the shabby, moldy book and waved dismissively. "Oh, that one... No idea which forgotten corner it came from. It's only half a book, and it's about drawing talismans or something. Looks like ghost scribbling. Who could make sense of it? It's all trash! You like it? Take it, take it. It's just taking up space!"
Xu Qian: "!!!"
Trash?! You're calling this trash?! This is the stepping-stone on the road to becoming a talisman master! Xu Qian screamed inwardly, but did his best to keep his expression calm.
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