No Path Through the Sea of Books

In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting mottled patches of light across the earthen floor.

At breakfast, Ning Chuan picked at the thin porridge in his bowl and said casually, "Dad, Mom, I want to... go to Nuoding City today."

Liu Lan was placing some pickled vegetables into Ning Xiaohe's bowl. She looked up in surprise. "Going to the city again? Didn't you just go with your father a couple of days ago? Did you leave something behind?"

Ning Dazhuang also set down his bowl and looked at his son with a slight frown, clearly feeling that frequent trips to the city were troublesome.

Ning Chuan put down his chopsticks. His face showed a young man's thirst for knowledge, 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 glances, both seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.

For a farmer's child, knowing a few words was already good enough. A child who took the initiative to buy books was a rare sight in Holy Soul Village.

"Yeah." Ning Chuan nodded, trying to make his reasoning sound more convincing. "Last time I went into the city with Dad, I saw so many books in the bookstore... I want to buy some about Soul Master stories, or... books about herbs."

After a pause, he lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of longing. "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 spoke of it, deep regret and worry had always remained in their hearts.

Now that they saw their son pull himself together and want to learn something to find another path, what parents wouldn't support him?

Liu Lan's eyes reddened, and she quickly nodded. "Good, good! Reading is a good thing! Your mother supports you!"

As she spoke, she looked at Ning Dazhuang.

A complicated expression crossed Ning Dazhuang's dark face. After a moment of silence, he said in a muffled voice, "Reading is proper business. The money... Dad will pay for it."

After saying that, he got up and went into the inner room. He rummaged around for a while, then brought out a small cloth pouch and carefully opened it, revealing the golden Gold Soul Coins inside, along with several even more dazzling Purple Soul Coins.

After hesitating for a moment, Ning Dazhuang picked up a weighty Purple Soul Coin and handed it to Ning Chuan. "Here, take it. When you buy books... pick useful ones. Don't waste it."

His tone was still stiff, but the concern in his eyes was impossible to mistake.

One Purple Soul Coin was worth ten Gold Soul Coins. For the Ning Family, it was absolutely a huge sum.

Warmth surged through Ning Chuan's heart as he accepted it solemnly. "Thank you, Dad! I know what I'm doing."

Ning Dazhuang glanced at the sky and added, "I'll go with you. The city has a lot of people..."

"No need, Dad!" Ning Chuan quickly waved his hand, a relaxed smile appearing on his face. "I've been there once already, so I know the way! Besides, I 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 in the carpentry shed. I'll be back soon!"

He had to enter the city alone.

Some things would be less convenient with his father by his side.

Ning Dazhuang looked at his son's confident expression, then remembered that he had gone into the mountains alone yesterday and returned safely. 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 and stuffed several still-warm coarse grain pancakes into his hands for the road.

Ning Chuan carefully tucked the Purple Soul Coin into the pocket close to his body. With a completely different mood from last time, he once again set foot on the dirt road leading to Nuoding City.

His steps were light, and his heart was filled with anticipation for his clear goal.

More than an hour later, Nuoding City's towering walls came into view once again.

After paying the city entrance tax, Ning Chuan expertly merged into the bustling crowd and headed straight for the district where he remembered the bookstores being.

However, as he stepped hopefully into one bookstore after another and carefully browsed the books on the shelves, 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 dazzlingly varied, with flashy covers and intimidating titles, but once he flipped through them, nine out of ten were fabricated novels, unofficial histories, or speculative biographies of powerful figures. There was not a single book with genuinely useful content about the Soul Master cultivation system!

Books related to herbs were even scarcer. The few available only 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 anything more... professional? Something about how Soul Power is cultivated? Or a more detailed herb guide?" Ning Chuan asked a bookstore owner unwillingly.

The owner was a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses. He sized Ning Chuan up, saw that he was plainly dressed, then smiled and shook his head. "Little brother, books like the ones you're talking about aren't something small bookstores like ours can sell. They're treasures read by 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 naive his idea 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 classes!

How could it possibly find its way so easily onto common street bookstalls?

Ordinary people did not even have the right to touch it!

Standing amid the noisy streets, Ning Chuan looked at the ordinary people around him, all rushing about to make a living. Then he thought of those lofty Soul Masters, and deeply felt just how rigid this world's class barriers were.

Without a Martial Soul and without Soul Power, one was cut off from the gates of both strength and knowledge.

"Looks like obtaining systematic knowledge through ordinary means won't work in the short term." Ning Chuan sighed inwardly, but he was not discouraged.

If the ordinary path was blocked, then he would take an extraordinary one!

The Heavens Trash Station was his greatest support!

After adjusting his mindset, Ning Chuan stopped fixating on the bookstores. He began wandering aimlessly along the streets, though 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 Seven Treasures Pavilion for a moment. Looking at the flag bearing the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, he fell into thought.

"Perhaps... I can obtain some information or resources indirectly through the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"