The library's heavy wooden doors slowly swung open, and a rich, aged scent of ink mixed with the damp mustiness of paper stored for years rushed at them, filling the entire space.
"Wow... so many books!"
Lu Fei swallowed instinctively, his eyes shining with astonishment as he let out a quiet exclamation.
The brothers' view suddenly opened up. The library's exterior was square and antique in style, but its interior had a distinctive circular layout. Ring after ring of bookshelves lined the walls, with countless volumes neatly arranged on their wooden shelves.
The library had two floors. The second was an open-centered circular platform seven or eight meters wide, with an elegant wooden spiral staircase on either side connecting it to the ground floor. The whole place was quiet and solemn, steeped in the air of books and learning.
Lu Yu curled his lip slightly, unmoved.
For Lu Yu, who came from Blue Star in the age of information overload, the collection before him was exceedingly meager, hardly worth mentioning.
Even so, these books still presented a problem for Lu Yu, who had only just entered the Soul Master World. He knew nothing about the layout of the Spirit Hall Branch's collection or where the various categories were kept. If he searched through the books one by one on his own, there was no telling how long it would take.
Just as Lu Yu frowned slightly and considered what to do, a lazy, elderly voice suddenly sounded beside him. "You two little fellows, this isn't a place to play."
At the sound, Lu Yu and Lu Fei turned to the left at the same time. Only then did they notice an old, long table just inside the doors. Behind it sat a rattan reclining chair, where a white-haired old man lounged at his ease, slowly waving a palm-leaf fan.
A sharp gleam instantly flashed in Lu Yu's eyes. He immediately guessed the old man's identity-the librarian.
Although he didn't know the layout of the collection, the librarian stationed here was bound to know the location of every book like the back of his hand.
Lu Yu hurried forward and bowed slightly, his manner respectful. "Hello, sir. May I ask if you're the librarian here?"
"Oh? You're so young, but you do know your manners."
The old man turned to Lu Yu with a hint of surprise, a flicker of astonishment in his eyes. Everyone who entered the library was a registered Soul Master. They were all proud and looked down their noses at others, and none had ever given him, the man stationed at the library, a proper glance. Most of the time, they simply bossed him around and ordered him about as they pleased.
The two children before him, still so young, were unusually humble and polite by comparison.
The old man's surprise lasted only a moment. His gaze swept over their young faces, and he had already reached a conclusion. These two children had most likely just awakened their Martial Souls and taken their first steps on the path of a Soul Master.
The old man sighed helplessly to himself. The two were still young and pure of heart, so naturally they knew to treat people politely. Once they had fully experienced the respect and privilege afforded to Soul Masters, they would probably become just as disdainful of others as everyone else.
Lu Yu stood quietly throughout, without urging him to hurry.
Seeing how composed and polite Lu Yu was, the old man waved a hand impatiently. "If you want to read, go find a book yourself. Don't disturb this old man's rest."
"Sir, there are so many books here, and this is our first visit. We don't know where any of the categories are. Please give us some guidance." Lu Yu spoke and carried himself humbly, without a trace of impatience or arrogance.
As the saying went, you didn't strike a smiling face. Faced with the courteous Lu Yu, the old man found it hard to turn him away.
Besides, both Lu Yu and Lu Fei were Soul Masters, while he was merely a man with one foot in the grave. If he deliberately slighted them today, the two children might remember it after their cultivation improved and harbor a needless grudge. The loss would outweigh the gain.
At that thought, the old man sighed softly in resignation and slowly straightened his lounging body. His casual tone grew somewhat more proper. "Go on, then. What kind of books do you want to read?"
"Sir, we'd like to consult books about Soul Beasts." Lu Yu stated his purpose without the slightest hesitation.
Lu Yu had already planned his future cultivation path. Since he could absorb a set of Soul Rings as well, he would prioritize selecting high-quality Soul Skills with built-in life-preserving abilities. The golden ant Soul Ring he had absorbed yesterday had given him an extremely practical defensive Soul Skill, greatly improving his ability to stay alive.
The old man's eyes filled with a hint of doubt. He looked back and forth between Lu Yu and Lu Fei and asked, "Have you two already broken through to level ten and prepared to obtain your First Soul Rings?"
"Not yet." Lu Yu shook his head gently and explained frankly, "We just want to learn about the characteristics of different Soul Beasts in advance, figure out what types of Soul Rings are compatible with our Martial Souls, and make thorough preparations."
The old man breathed a sigh of relief and did not ask any more about their Martial Souls.
The Soul Master World had always had an unwritten rule: a Martial Soul was a person's most closely guarded secret. Unless one was a close relative or dear friend, one must never pry into it. This was a boundary all Soul Masters tacitly observed.
The old man lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then raised a hand and pointed toward the spiral staircase on the right. "The shelves in the area to the right of those stairs are filled with illustrated guides to low-level Soul Beasts. You can look through them yourselves."
"Thank you for your guidance, sir."
Lu Yu bowed slightly in thanks, then took Lu Fei by the hand and headed in the direction the old man had indicated.
Lu Yu glanced over the shelves and soon pulled out a thick, yellowed copy of the Elementary Soul Beast Illustrated Guide. He gently brushed the thin layer of dust from its cover and opened it.
To his surprise, the guide was not a dull, text-only record. It contained detailed accounts of various low-level Soul Beasts' ages, habits, abilities, and habitats, as well as clear, vivid hand-drawn illustrations. Its contents were thorough and easy to understand.
Lu Yu pulled another book from the shelf and leafed through it. Its format was much the same, with illustrations and text side by side.
He simply selected two guides, then led Lu Fei to a clean wooden table nearby and sat down.
"Xiao Fei, look at this one." Once seated, Lu Yu pushed one of the guides in front of Lu Fei.
"Brother, I can't read, so it's no use giving it to me." Lu Fei hurriedly waved his hands and repeatedly declined in a lowered voice, afraid the old man would hear that he couldn't read and drive him out.
"This book is different." Lu Yu opened it and spoke softly to reassure him.
"There are lots of pictures of Soul Beasts in it. You don't need to read; just look at the pictures and get familiar with what the different Soul Beasts look like. We're Soul Masters now, so start by seeing what Soul Beasts look like."
A flash of surprise crossed Lu Fei's eyes. He quickly took the guide in front of him and flipped through the pages.
Sure enough, just as Lu Yu had said, the pages were filled with illustrations of all sorts of strange creatures he had never seen before.
Lu Fei was instantly captivated by the Soul Beasts' wonderfully bizarre appearances. His eyes sparkled like those of a child seeing the strange beasts of the Classic of Mountains and Seas for the first time. Filled with curiosity and a sense of novelty, he became completely immersed in this new world.
Seeing Lu Fei absorbed in the guide, Lu Yu put aside his own distracting thoughts and lowered his head to read. He devoted himself to absorbing the knowledge of this world, filling the gaps in his understanding bit by bit.