Early in the morning, sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting dappled shadows across the earthen floor.
At the breakfast table, Ning Chuan pushed around the thin porridge in his bowl and spoke as if casually. "Dad, Mom, I want to... make a trip to Nuoding City today."
Liu Lan was picking up some pickled vegetables for Ning Xiaohe. Hearing this, she looked up in surprise. "Going to the city again? Didn't you just go with your dad a couple of days ago? Did you leave something behind?"
Ning Dazhuang also set down his bowl and looked at his son, his brow slightly furrowed. Clearly, he too felt that making frequent trips to the city was troublesome.
Ning Chuan put down his chopsticks. The thirst for knowledge unique to a young man appeared on his face, along with a trace of embarrassment. "I didn't leave anything behind. I just want to... buy a few books to read."
"Buy books?" Liu Lan and Ning Dazhuang exchanged a glance, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.
For a farmer's child, recognizing a few words was already good enough. A child taking the initiative to buy books was a rare sight in Holy Soul Village.
"Yeah." Ning Chuan nodded, trying to make his reason sound more convincing. "When I went into the city with Dad last time, I saw so many books in the bookstores... I want to buy some about Soul Master stories, or... books about medicinal herbs."
After a pause, he lowered his voice, a hint of longing in it. "Maybe... if I learn more, I'll have another way out in the future?"
Those words touched the softest parts of Ning Dazhuang and Liu Lan's hearts.
Their son had failed his Martial Soul awakening and was destined to have no connection to the path of a Soul Master. Though they never said it aloud, they had always harbored deep regret and worry.
Now that they saw their son pulling himself together and wanting to learn something to find another path, how could parents possibly refuse to support him?
Liu Lan's eyes reddened, and she hurriedly nodded. "Good, good! Reading is a good thing! Your mother supports you!"
As she spoke, she looked toward Ning Dazhuang.
A complicated expression crossed Ning Dazhuang's dark face. After a moment of silence, he said in a muffled voice, "Reading is a proper thing to do. The money... your dad will pay for it."
After saying that, he got up and entered the inner room. After rummaging around for a while, he brought out a small cloth pouch and carefully opened it, revealing the gleaming Gold Soul Coins inside, along with several even more dazzling Purple Soul Coins.
After hesitating for a moment, Ning Dazhuang picked up a heavy Purple Soul Coin and handed it to Ning Chuan. "Here, take it. When buying books... choose useful ones. Don't waste it."
His tone remained stiff, but the concern in his eyes was unmistakable.
One Purple Soul Coin was equivalent to ten Gold Soul Coins. For the Ning Family, it was unquestionably an enormous sum.
Warmth surged through Ning Chuan's heart as he solemnly accepted it. "Thank you, Dad! I know what I'm doing."
Ning Dazhuang glanced at the sky, then added, "I'll go with you. There are lots of people in the city..."
"No need, Dad!" Ning Chuan quickly waved his hands, an easy smile appearing on his face. "I've been there once already, so I know the way! Besides, I even dared to go to the back mountain alone. Could Nuoding City be more dangerous than the back mountain? Just rest at home, or go work at the carpentry shed. I'll be back soon!"
He had to enter the city alone.
Some things would be inconvenient to do with his father beside him.
Ning Dazhuang looked at his son's confident expression and recalled that he had indeed returned safely after entering the mountains alone yesterday. After some hesitation, he finally nodded. "All right. Be careful. Come back after buying the books, and don't wander around the city."
"Got it, Dad!" Ning Chuan answered readily.
Liu Lan gave him a few more reminders, then stuffed several still-warm coarse grain cakes into his hands for the road.
Ning Chuan carefully tucked the Purple Soul Coin into the inner pocket of his clothes. With a completely different mood from last time, he once again set out along the dirt road leading to Nuoding City.
His steps were light, and his heart was filled with anticipation born of a clear goal.
More than two hours later, Nuoding City's tall walls came into view once more.
After paying the entry tax, Ning Chuan smoothly merged into the bustling crowd and headed straight for the district where the bookstores were located, following his memories.
However, as he stepped hopefully through the doors of one bookstore after another and carefully browsed the bookshelves, his heart gradually sank.
Legend of the Soul Emperor, Chronicles of Spirit Hall Heroes, Speculations on the Top Ten Beast Spirits Ranking...
The books were dazzling in variety, with flashy covers and intimidating titles. Yet when he flipped through them, nine out of ten were fabricated novels, unofficial histories, or biographies of powerful figures filled with conjecture. There was not a single book containing genuine material about the Soul Master cultivation system!
As for books about medicinal herbs, there were even fewer. The only ones available introduced common wild vegetables or the most basic hemostatic herbs. Their illustrations were crude and descriptions brief. Compared to the vast ocean of medicinal knowledge in Ten Thousand Herb Appraisal, they were worlds apart!
"Boss, do you have any more... professional books? Ones that explain how Soul Power is cultivated, for example? Or more detailed herb encyclopedias?" Unwilling to give up, Ning Chuan asked a bookstore owner.
The owner was a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses. He looked Ning Chuan over, saw that he was plainly dressed, then smiled and shook his head. "Little brother, the kinds of books you're talking about aren't something small bookstores like ours can sell. Those are treasures read by the Soul Master lords. You'd have to go to Spirit Hall's library, or the library at Nuoding Soul Master Academy. Those places aren't somewhere just anyone can enter!"
The owner's words were like a bucket of cold water, dousing most of Ning Chuan's enthusiasm.
Only then did he realize how naïve his thinking had been.
In this world where strength reigned supreme, true knowledge—especially Soul Master knowledge tied to the foundation of power—was a resource tightly monopolized by the upper class!
How could it possibly find its way so easily onto ordinary street bookstalls?
Ordinary people did not even have the right to touch it!
Standing on the noisy street, looking at the ordinary people around him rushing about to make a living, then thinking of those lofty Soul Masters, Ning Chuan deeply felt just how rigid this world's class barriers were.
Without a Martial Soul and without Soul Power, one was shut outside the gates of power and knowledge.
It seems that obtaining systematic knowledge through normal means won't work in the short term. Ning Chuan sighed inwardly, but he was not discouraged.
If the conventional road did not work, then he would take an unconventional one!
The Heavens Trash Station was his greatest support!
After adjusting his mindset, Ning Chuan stopped fixating on the bookstores and began wandering the streets without any apparent destination. However, his gaze sharply swept over the shops on both sides, especially places related to Soul Masters.
Weapon shops, armor stores, herb shops... even that imposing Seven Treasures Pavilion.
Ning Chuan paused outside the entrance of Seven Treasures Pavilion. Looking at the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda banner, he fell into thought.
Perhaps... I can indirectly obtain some information or resources through the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's channels?
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