The Great Tang Dynasty, Qingshi County, Huanglong Prefecture, North Province.
At Huayue Study, Li Qing carefully tidied every book in the study.
Holding a feather duster, he swept it over the bookshelves again and again, cleaning away the dust.
Li Qing was from Earth. It had been ten years since he transmigrated to the Great Tang Dynasty.
Now he was a fifteen-year-old boy, with an ordinary face and a height of six feet. Only his eyes seemed somewhat lively.
Ever since Mr. Huayue had found him in the wind and rain, he had stayed here.
From his initial bewilderment and helplessness to his present familiarity with everything, Li Qing had become an ordinary citizen of the Great Tang.
Since he was young and had no means of supporting himself, he could only live at Huayue Study.
The first time he came into contact with books, he discovered something that seemed like a cheat.
There was a Jade Tablet in his mind. The knowledge in every book he had read or touched appeared on it.
The Jade Tablet would alter this knowledge, distilling its essence and discarding the dross, until it became a new book.
At first, he had been thrilled. But as time passed, he had helplessly realized something.
Although the knowledge was corrected, understanding it didn't mean he could put it to use.
For example, one book he had read, the Doctrine of the Mean, explained the Way of Confucianism.
After the Jade Tablet revised it, it was still just an ancient book. It couldn't make any practical difference to his life.
It had only helped him understand more principles. Compared with the knowledge taught by professors on Earth, this knowledge focused more on how to conduct himself and handle affairs, and had taught him a few ways to cultivate his spirit.
As he tidied the books, Li Qing quickly finished that day's cleaning.
He came to a corner of the bookshelves, where there were quite a few new books that Mr. Huayue had bought from out-of-town merchants.
As usual, Li Qing opened them and sorted them onto the shelves one by one.
Whenever he touched these books, the knowledge in them would silently appear on the Jade Tablet.
As he was putting the books away, Li Qing suddenly froze. The Jade Tablet in his mind had changed.
His heart gave a faint shudder. "What's going on?"
He hurriedly put away all the books in his hands, then quickly went to the shop entrance and sat on the little stool to the left of the door.
He focused his thoughts on the Jade Tablet in his mind.
Now, a strange set of contents had appeared on the Jade Tablet.
The Blood Refining Art (Category: Art; Foundation Establishment) Cultivation Method: Obtain the essence blood of nine kinds of living beings, inscribe the Blood Curse upon your body, and endure the agony of Blood Curse Body Refining. Then you can extract the vital qi of the blood path from any living creature to strengthen your origin and complete Foundation Establishment. Innate Minor Art: Bloodletting. Touch any wound, and it will bleed continuously. Price: Abstain from meat and fish. Break the taboo, and you will gradually become an Anomaly. New Version: The Essence Blood Art (Category: Art; Foundation Establishment) Cultivation Method: Use your own essence blood to inscribe an improved Blood Curse upon your body. Lock in your dissipating vital qi, refine it, and complete Foundation Establishment. Innate Minor Art: Bloodletting. Touch any wound, and it will bleed continuously. Price: None.
These words glimmered with a faint blood-red light, unlike anything in all the books he had seen before.
"Foundation Establishment? Essence blood, Blood Curse, vital qi?"
Countless thoughts flashed through Li Qing's mind, and his whole body trembled with excitement.
"This is a cultivation world? Could there really be a path to immortality here?"
His mind was flooded with joy. He had thought he would live an ordinary life until old age, never imagining that Heaven would give him such a huge surprise.
Just as his heart brimmed with delight, he noticed the price listed in the old version of the art.
"Abstain from meat and fish? Break the taboo, and you'll become an Anomaly?"
"Isn't this a cultivation world? How could breaking a taboo turn you into an Anomaly?"
A strange look crossed his face, and a familiar feeling rose in his heart. It was just like the plots in the Cthulhu novels he had read in his previous life.
"This is some messed-up bullshit. This really isn't a Cthulhu Cultivation World, is it?"
Li Qing felt a chill in his heart. This kind of cultivation world was terrifying.
One wrong move and your Sanity would plummet; one wrong move and you'd become a monster.
His thoughts shifted again. "But my Jade Tablet seems able to modify cultivation arts, turning them into arts without a price."
"At least nothing's happened so far." A strange expression crossed his face, but he had already decided to cultivate this modified art.
"I don't want to keep living the same life day in and day out for decades."
"In this world where people are eaten, I don't want to spend my whole life as a commoner."
A trace of resolve appeared in his eyes, and Li Qing made up his mind.
"Li Qing." A faintly indifferent voice sounded in his ears.
Li Qing's heart gave a leap. He quickly stood and called out,
"Sir, I'm here!" He hurried into the shop.
A scholar in a blue robe slowly emerged. He had a handsome, jade-like face, a distinguished bearing, and a beautiful one-inch beard on his chin. He looked every bit the well-read scholar.
This man was Mr. Huayue, the owner of Huayue Study. Ten years ago, he had found Li Qing in the wind and rain.
His gaze fell on Li Qing, his expression cold. "Here's a string of coins. Go to the market and buy a hen."
"Yes, sir!"
Li Qing took the money and tucked it into his pocket, then hurried out of Huayue Study.
Qingshi County was a large county with a population of fifty thousand.
Its main livelihoods were agriculture and mining in the North Frontier Forest, five miles away.
The people here were fairly well-off. As long as they worked hard, everyone could get a couple of meals.
When Li Qing arrived at the market, it was still morning.
Many nearby farmers, hunters, and small-time vendors had already come here with the previous day's harvest.
Li Qing strolled around carefully a few times, picked out a sturdy hen, then spent all the money he had on some yams for stewing with it.
With the hen clucking wildly, he headed back toward Huayue Study.
When he entered Huayue Study, he saw Mr. Huayue seated behind a desk.
Mr. Huayue was reading a book, a faint smile on his face, seemingly utterly absorbed.
Carrying the hen, Li Qing headed toward the back room and went straight to the kitchen.
He had lived here for ten years and had long grown used to Mr. Huayue's habits.
The man was an old-fashioned scholar who cared about nothing but reading and looking after the study.
Li Qing handled nearly all the household chores.
Before long, evening had come. Li Qing finished making the chicken soup, ladled out a bowl, and carried it to Mr. Huayue's room.
With the soup in his hands, he walked very slowly, making almost no sound as he went.
Just as he was about to knock, a strange sound suddenly came from inside the room.
Ck, ck—smack, smack—
It sounded like someone chewing. Li Qing's heart inexplicably fluttered with unease.
"Slurp, slurp."
The eerie sound of sucking came again, and Li Qing's skin crawled instinctively.
He looked toward the room. It was pitch-black beyond the crack in the door, so he couldn't see what Mr. Huayue was doing.
"He hasn't even lit a lamp, and he's eating something in there? That's kind of creepy, isn't it?"
Thinking of what he had read that day in The Blood Refining Art, his heart gave a sudden leap.
"Meat and fish? Breaking the taboo? An Anomaly."
Then he remembered that the knowledge he had gained by chance had clearly come from a new book brought back by Daoist Huayue.
"Why was that book in that stack of new ones?" Li Qing felt that nothing made sense.
"Could Mr. Huayue have practiced The Blood Refining Art? And... broken the taboo?"