Chapter 13: Su Yuan's Choice

"You're certain you've chosen this spell?" The Scripture Pavilion elder was visibly surprised. "Absolutely!" Su Yuan confirmed firmly. "You've got guts! But your Spirit Root..." The elder shook his head, his meaning clear. Su Yuan remained silent—he couldn't possibly explain to the elder that he was essentially cheating the system. "Well then, so be it." The elder simply offered this reminder before acquiescing to Su Yuan's stubbornness. He passed his palm over the scripture, causing it to glow with a rich purple mystical light before pressing it against Su Yuan's forehead. In an instant, a flood of knowledge poured into Su Yuan's consciousness. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, but he endured the overwhelming influx. The elder showed a flicker of surprise. "Interesting." Su Yuan opened his eyes, exhaled deeply, and bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Elder!" "Enough, go now. Just don't come regretting it later," the elder said dismissively. "Yes!" Su Yuan nodded before leaving the Scripture Pavilion with light steps, immediately heading toward the library to continue reading. From behind a bookshelf, Zheng He emerged holding a scripture, watching Su Yuan's retreating figure with a peculiar expression, the corners of his mouth quirking upward. The elder glanced at him. "Envying another's talent won't lead you to greatness!" Zheng He stiffened before lowering his head to explain, "I was merely offering advice. The choice was his own!" The elder snorted but said no more—what teenage boy's thoughts could escape his notice? "Hand it over." "Yes!" Zheng He hurriedly presented his chosen spell scripture. "A low-grade Profound Tier spell? You're sure?" the elder probed. "This is the one!" Zheng He insisted. The elder nodded, unsealed it, and slapped it onto Zheng He's head. Zheng He staggered dizzily until the elder steadied him with a wave. After recovering, Zheng He thanked the elder and left. Perched on a tree branch outside, Valley Master Lan took notes in his book: [Zheng He shows jealousy and hidden malice beneath a gentle facade—potential demonic cultivation material, excellent spy candidate] [Liu Miaowen remains detached and uninvolved—needs further observation] [Ye Bufan is arrogant yet indecisive—requires tempering] [Su Yuan? A strange boy with remarkable audacity.] The Valley Master muttered to himself, "The disciple observations are nearly complete. Time for a long nap until the three-month evaluation!" With that, he vanished. The Scripture Pavilion elder glanced at where the Valley Master had been and sighed, "Still the same old Valley Master—putting on airs in public while sneaking about and slacking off in private. No wonder he's stuck at his bottleneck!" Meanwhile, Zheng He cursed inwardly, "That nosy elder always dispensing unwanted advice! Doesn't he know some things are better left unsaid? No wonder he was 'promoted' to this backwater Scripture Pavilion—he probably offended someone important!" Unaware of these events, Su Yuan leisurely entered the library and began flipping through books as usual. The library attendant, Yinqin, dozed in his chair as always, now so accustomed to Su Yuan's footsteps that he didn't even stir. Su Yuan read happily until late at night, adding another hundred books to his tally. Yinqin woke and chuckled wryly, "Little Su, do you plan to read every book in this library?" "I'll try! Only 79 days left," Su Yuan lamented. "There are so many—at least a hundred thousand volumes!" "I was joking, but you're serious?" Yinqin gasped. "Is that not allowed?" Su Yuan asked, puzzled. "Well... if time's so short, why not take over my night shifts? Then you could read overnight," Yinqin suddenly suggested. "Eh?" Su Yuan blinked. "I could do that?" "Of course!" Yinqin thumped his chest. "The books can't leave, but this isn't a high-security area—any disciple can guard it." "Then it's settled!" Su Yuan agreed. "Great! You start tonight. I'll relieve you tomorrow morning—read to your heart's content!" Yinqin laughed heartily before handing Su Yuan the library token and departing swiftly. With the doors closed, Su Yuan's eyes gleamed at the sea of books before him. No longer constrained by Yinqin's presence, he could speed through them rapidly. Using his Qi Refining Stage 2 vision, he scanned pages like flipping waves—while he couldn't memorize them instantly, the knowledge would integrate once his system activated the entries. Book after book, Su Yuan read tirelessly until dawn found him dozing in Yinqin's chair, having adopted the attendant's signature lazy posture. "Senior Brother, may I read?" A bright female voice startled Su Yuan awake. "Read freely—just don't remove or disorganize them," he mumbled sleepily. "It's you?" Liu Muwan exclaimed in surprise. Su Yuan yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Ah, Senior Sister Liu." "What are you doing here?" she asked, perplexed. "Guarding the library. Problem?" "No..." Liu Muwan had no rebuttal. "I'll go read then." "Go ahead." As she entered, Liu Muwan glanced back to see Su Yuan nodding off again. "This Su Yuan—sleeping here, sleeping in lectures—how much time does he actually spend cultivating?" She found him utterly baffling. Yesterday, his advice about "mastering one to understand all" had inspired her library visit today, only to encounter this enigma again—now even stranger! Shaking her head inwardly, she immersed herself in cultivation manuals. Soon after, Ye Bufan entered, spotting Liu Muwan immediately. As he reached for a book, Su Yuan's voice sounded beside him: "Read freely—don't remove or disorganize." Then the snores resumed. Ye Bufan's eye twitched. Recognizing Su Yuan, he frowned, glanced at Liu Muwan, then huffed and selected a manual. Half an hour later, Yinqin returned. "How was it, Junior Brother Su?" "Perfectly fine!" Su Yuan grinned. "Any visitors?" "Maybe one person?" Su Yuan mused. "Better than my usual empty shifts!" Su Yuan deadpanned, "Am I not a person?" "Uh, not what I meant..." Rolling his eyes, Su Yuan bid farewell and headed to the lecture hall for his usual routine of feigning attention. After class, he returned home and delivered some resources to Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei gasped, "For me? I can't accept!" "Dream on—remember the thousandfold repayment?" Su Yuan retorted. "But this will hinder your own progress!" Zhang Wei hesitated. "Before I had resources, I still outpaced you. I'll easily make the outer sect—you might not," Su Yuan pointed out. "You... knew my deals fell through?" Zhang Wei looked touched. "Guessed as much." "Thank you!" Zhang Wei regained his confidence. "Let them scheme! With my dual Spirit Root, amazing comprehension, and your supplies, entering the outer sect will be child's play! We'll be the unrivaled duo of the outer sect!" Su Yuan's eye twitched. "I believe in you." As Zhang Wei strutted off, nearly three months slipped by. One day, Su Yuan told Yinqin, "Senior Brother, I may not come tomorrow." "Why's that?" Yinqin asked. "I'll be focusing on the ranking challenge," Su Yuan explained. Yinqin suddenly remembered—Su Yuan was still an Immortal Seed candidate. "Right, the deadline approaches. I hope you make the outer sect—we might meet again there!" Su Yuan smiled. Yinqin added, "You can read at the peak's library later—smaller but sufficient." "No need," Su Yuan declined. "Giving up reading?" "Finished," Su Yuan grinned. "You brat! There are 180,000 volumes here!" "Just kidding!" "Get out!" Yinqin laughed. Chuckling, Su Yuan left for home, where Zhou Wuyou awaited. "Any findings?" Su Yuan asked. Zhou Wuyou reported gravely, "Among high-grade Spirit Roots, top-ranked Zheng He reached Qi Refining Stage 3 with eight meridians opened. The weakest high-grade has seven. The best mid-grade reached Stage 2 with six meridians, the worst mid-grade has five. Five guarantees outer sect; seven gets inner sect." "Zheng He only has eight?" Su Yuan seemed surprised. "Later stages consume more spiritual energy—Zheng He's progress is already astonishing," Zhou Wuyou sighed. "Your progress?" "Just Stage 2 with four meridians." "Understood. Wait for my good news." As Zhou Wuyou left happily with today's 25 resource portions, Su Yuan felt strange. In nearly three months of not cultivating, his spiritual energy had grown automatically to 2,300 strands—enough to open six meridians. Was cultivation truly so difficult for others? He checked his system panel: [Name]: Su Yuan [Region]: Green Vine Continent [Level]: Unknown (54/100) [Realm]: Qi Refining Stage 2 (66/100) [Trait 1]: Work Hard, Rest Hard: You excel at balancing work and rest. Longer rest periods enhance cultivation effects. Current rest duration: 72 days 8.2 hours "Seventy-two days without cultivating—how powerful will the effect be?" Su Yuan wondered.