He got straight to work.
Jiang Jie soon had the little maid buy him a stack of paper and a pen.
The technological level of this world was strange. There were Kobolds still living in primitive tribes, humans and dwarves living in slave and feudal societies, and gnomes and Goblins with highly advanced technology that could even rival twentieth-century Earth. Later, there would also be the ridiculously awesome Draenei and Ethereals, whose technology surpassed twenty-first-century Earth, and, of course, the incredible technology of the Titans.
Thanks to the development of alchemy, papermaking had long since been invented. And because this world had far more varieties of plants than Earth, it also had many kinds of paper. Of course, without specialized paper mills or assembly lines, paper was not cheap.
Entirely handmade, additive-free and pollution-free: one silver coin per stack.
"What should I write first? A Game of Thrones? Dragonlance? Or Forgotten Realms? Forget it. I'll ride Master Trouvere's coattails and copy Tides of Darkness!" Jiang Jie got to work.
Xiao Feng, the intelligent computer, reached out and tapped, activating the gaming pod's automatic translation function. Earth's writing was immediately translated into Azeroth's Common, the human language of this world, and Jiang Jie copied it directly.
He wrote quickly.
As a member of the Barov Family, the original Nicholas had come from a family that, though not as wealthy as the nobility, still counted as middle class in this world. He had grown up comfortably, and reading and writing were no problem.
Jiang Jie had inherited those memories perfectly.
Jiang Jie wrote while the little maid watched beside him.
"Dawn had come, and the morning mist shrouded the land as it always did. Sleepy Southshore had stretched and begun another day's activities. Though not a trace of morning light could be seen, everyone in town knew that the day had arrived..."
The little maid sat beside Jiang Jie, propping her chin in her pale little hands and reading softly aloud as she watched.
At first, she was a little bored, feeling that Jiang Jie's writing lacked passion. After all, the very first line of Turalyon: Glory of the Holy Light was, "On this day, the Holy Light's blessing descended upon a man destined for greatness, and the glory of Lordaeron and indeed all the human kingdoms was born, shining like the stars!"
How captivating!
How stirring!
The little maid yawned, thinking that young Nicholas had a way with words, but his style needed work. She would have to remind him.
But as she read on, she became completely engrossed. Her eyes grew wider and wider, and her voice rose and fell with the story.
When she read about Lothar arriving in Southshore with the refugee fleet from Stormwind City, her heart clenched;
When she read the mention of the raid on Karazhan and the killing of the astral mage Medivh, she cried out;
When she read about Lothar bringing Varian Wrynn, still a prince at the time, to the royal palace of Lordaeron to meet King Terenas, she felt as though she were there, seeing it for herself!
Night had fallen by the time Jiang Jie finally put down his pen.
He had been writing for over four hours and was tired.
"That's it? Why aren't you writing any more? What happened next? What exactly was Orgrim Doomhammer planning to do? What happened when King Varian and Prince Arthas first met? How was the Alliance formed? What you wrote is different from what Master Trouvere wrote!" The little maid blinked and rubbed her elbow, which was a little sore.
Jiang Jie smiled. "Then which do you think is better?"
"Yours, of course! It isn't as stirring, but it's more captivating, and it makes me feel more like I'm seeing it with my own eyes! And I think yours feels more real, as though it actually happened! I've heard lots of people have criticized Master Trouvere's writing, saying that some of it isn't quite right. I heard even Lord Uther said that the part about the Silver Hand was exaggerated and didn't accord with the spirit of chivalry," the little maid said without hesitation.
Jiang Jie nodded with a smile. "Good, then. Do me a favor. Good things should be shared. Take these pages to Princess Calia. Perhaps she'll like them."
"She'll definitely like them!" Stars sparkled in the little maid's eyes. "Nicholas, I never imagined you weren't an alchemist at all. You must be a bard! A better bard than Master Trouvere!"
The little maid skipped away, and Jiang Jie shook his head with a soft laugh.
This was a test of the waters. First, he needed to see how Princess Calia reacted. If she enjoyed it too, there would be money to be made. If her response was lukewarm, Jiang Jie did not intend to waste any more time on this.
For him, what mattered more now was improving his strength as much as possible.
He still had some of the herbs he had bought earlier. Jiang Jie prepared another basin of mana soup, drank it all down, then entered the gaming pod again and began training.
"The Black Tortoise Longevity Art needs no attention. It cultivates automatically. Lightness Skill: Skimming over Water is just the most basic lightness skill, nothing difficult. Those rogue skills Miles taught me aren't actually very hard either. I've already mastered them completely. Pegasus Meteor Finger, on the other hand, is rather difficult. Most importantly, I still don't understand the human body in this world well enough, and there are still gaps in my knowledge of the acupuncture points. Besides, Pegasus Meteor Finger is far more demanding than those rogue skills. I'll train Pegasus Meteor Finger, then." Jiang Jie felt helpless.
Why had he listened to that crazy talk from Xiao Feng and chosen something as difficult as Pegasus Meteor Finger right from the start?
Wouldn't some ordinary finger technique have done? Couldn't he take things one step at a time?
Unfortunately, once aboard the pirate ship, there was no getting off. Besides, Pegasus Meteor Finger really was terrifyingly powerful. It was worth the hard work.
Returning once more to the Child Hall of the Shaolin Auxiliary Temple, Jiang Jie faced nine little monks this time.
Nine little monks, five or six years old, each of whom had studied various martial arts for at least two years. Finger techniques, fist techniques, staff techniques, saber techniques, palm techniques-they had everything. And every one of them had far stronger internal cultivation than Jiang Jie, basically all at the Houtian Second Layer.
Jiang Jie was just there to get beaten up!
Still, this brutally punishing training method was indeed effective. Jiang Jie's combat strength kept increasing, and he grew more and more adept at using Pegasus Meteor Finger. Since Pegasus Meteor Finger was itself considerably stronger than the martial arts the little monks had learned, Jiang Jie could sometimes manage to take down one or two of them.
Nine-person difficulty was far harder than five-person difficulty-more than twice as hard!
Jiang Jie reckoned that unless he cultivated the Black Tortoise Longevity Art to the second layer, or mastered another two or three martial arts on the level of Pegasus Meteor Finger, he could forget about taking down all nine little monks!
In the end, four hours passed, and even with the gaming pod's energy almost exhausted, Jiang Jie still had not cleared the challenge. His best result was taking down three little monks in a desperate fight, which was already quite good!
"Tsk, tsk. What a weakling! Ah, poor Xiao Feng, stuck with a host like you!" Xiao Feng lay on a massage chair, enjoying a sunbath while mocking him without mercy.