Chương 11: Photocopy Mystic Art.

After completing the book-scanning mission, Ren Qingquan found himself in a dilemma and ultimately decided not to visit the fourth floor.

'There is only some powerful martial arts method and martial arts technique for high leveled martial artists placed on the fourth floor. But my martial arts method is already among the most powerful. Probably equal to something that can only be found in the fifth floor.'

'Furthermore, I've already finished system's mission. So, let's not waste my chance on entering the fourth floor and only spend it once I am powerful enough to use the technique placed inside.' Just when Ren Qingquan prepared to return to the second floor, I quickly reminded him of something. [Host, the range of Scan is 11 meters radius around you.] Ren Qingquan feels confused about my sudden reminder.

'What are you trying to say?' [Ding! The host may use Scan to collect the books located on the fourth floor from the third floor.]'That's genius!' Ren Qingquan paused on his step and returned to the third floor. He realized a problem and thought.

'But, scanning books require a long time. Furthermore, I don't even know whether those books are useful for me.' I've prepared for this problem and speedily replied. [Do you wish only to scan the book's title? Doing so will require a much shorter time compared to scanning the whole book.]'Yes!' Ren Qingquan answered and started walking around the third floor, while I secretly scanned the book titles on the fourth floor.

Luckily, there aren't many books on the fourth floor, and I finished scanning the titles on the whole floor within half an hour. Opening the recently gained System library function, Ren Qingquan looked at the hundred of book titles and contemplated which one he wished to [Scan]. An hour later, he finished scanning a few martial arts books that might come in handy in the future and finally left the third floor.

When he reached the second floor, Ren Qingquan realized he hadn't copied any book, and decided to copy the 'Basic Of Corpse Refining'.

'After I learned how to get spirit qi, I'll begin learning this technique. So, I'd better copy them so people won't feel weirded out.' With that thought, he began copying the book. After he finished copying the Basic of Corpse Refining book, Ren Qingquan asked me.

'System, are there any other books related to corpse refining in this shelf? Oh, and books related to souls. After all necromancy is also related to the soul.' Sigh... Whatever, I'll help him this time. [System has detected three books that might be related to corpse refining and two books that seem to be related to souls. You may find them on the third row of the second shelf on your right, fourth row of the fourth shelf on your right,..., and the last soul-related book is hidden inside the cover of a book titled 'Body Building For Beginner Chapter 3' on the fifth row of the third shelf to your left. It's a book that's as thick as a brick, so you won't be able to miss it.] Ren Qingquan followed my guidance and took five books, then scanned them while copying two random corpse-refining books. Meanwhile, I am focusing on the two soul-related books titled 'Soul Impact' and 'Soul Swallowing' respectively.

The Soul Impact book is placed in an abandoned corner and is filled with dust. Meanwhile, the Soul Swallowing book is hidden inside the cover of a book called 'Body Tempering For Beginner Chapter 3'. I've taken a glance at them and understood the approximate use of both techniques. Soul Impact is a soul-attack method that can weaken the connection between the target's soul and body, leaving them unable to control their body.

If used by someone with a strong soul or boosted by a massive amount of spirit qi, it's even possible to cause damage to the enemy's soul. As for Soul Swallowing, it can be called a super powerful demonic technique that boosts someone's cultivation by swallowing others' souls. No wonder it's hidden inside the cover of a trashy-sounding book, just like other powerful secret techniques in novels. Physically, it only consisted of three pages filled to the brim with tiny words.

If those not in the know saw it, they'd think it was some kind of barcode. Thankfully, I have [Scan], which lets me zoom in and read it. Anyway, as a highly overpowered technique, it also has a side effect that balances it. When used consecutively within a short interval, the user's soul will be contaminated by the souls they swallowed. At a lower level of contamination, it will only cause the user to adopt some of the dead target's habits.

At this step, the practitioner's soul could still slowly purify the contamination. So, the practitioner of Soul Swallowing must stop using the technique while their soul is purifying itself. At a higher level of contamination, it will drive the user into madness and even confuse their identity. At that step, the contamination can't be automatically healed, and the practitioner could already be said to have fallen into qi deviation.

Except for that, the books also taught some knowledge about souls, which is precisely something I needed. One part seems especially important. The book mentioned that there are three layers to the soul. The outer ones are the defensive layer, which have some natural defense. The middle layer that held the soul's memories and emotions, which is the main cause of soul contamination. At the deepest part is the core layer, where the pure soul energy is gathered.

That energy is the main target when using the Soul Swallowing technique. The book said that at higher levels of mastery, the user could begin targeting the core of the soul and minimize contamination by reducing the amount of the middle layer absorbed. But it might require someone to be at an almost-immortal level to achieve that degree of mastery in soul sensing, soul control, and soul manipulation. That's because the core layer will disperse at an incredible speed once the mid and outer layers vanish.

They also dispersed much more quickly than the mid-layer. So it's impossible to simply wait for the mid-layer to disperse and reveal the core layer, since the core layer would disappear first. After reading up to that point, I checked that Ren Qingquan is still busy copying the book and began ruminating. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I felt I could use [Devour] to find a loophole in that technique.

If I succeed, I should be able to make Ren Qingquan's strength increase at an incredible speed. Once he reached the peak of the world, there is no need to worry too much whether or not Ren Qingquan might suddenly get killed by a random powerful person. So, I could focus on finding a way to escape this dark space and enter the real world.

After he finished copying those books, Ren Qingquan went to the first floor and prepared to leave the library. When Ren Qingquan passed through the old hidden expert's seat, the old man who had been sleeping suddenly opened his eyes. He started the book Ren Qingquan has copied and said, " Kid, are you taking those cultivation books? Don't bother to waste your time on them. All of them, without exception, require spirit qi to use. But there is no spirit qi in this world."

"So, you better throw those books and stop wasting your time." The old man said while shaking his head. But when he saw Ren Qingquan hadn't moved to return the book, he could only sigh.

"Sigh… I see you're so hard headed."

"Go check the third row of bookshelf number 17 on the fourth floor. There should be a technique that allow martial artist to generate spirit qi. But, it is incredibly difficult to train. So, you better give up trying those nonsensical cultivation books soon." The old man said while closing his eyes and mumbling, "Let's see whether or not you're willing to waste your chance to enter the fourth floor this year for that book after knowing all of this."

Ren Qingquan excitedly walked toward the stairs leading to the second floor. As Ren Qingquan walked towards the stairs, I saw the old man open his eyes and look at him.

"Don't waste your youth pursuing such an useless things. Otherwise, you'll regret it when you reached your old age."

"I should've been able to reach Martial Emperor realm with my talent. But, alas..." The old man sighed with melancholic eyes and closed his eyes once more. When the old man closed his eyes to sleep once more, I could see Ren Qingquan twitching his mouth.

'Is this a real case of tsundere? What a pity the old man is both old and a guy. Otherwise, I'll happily date someone with tsundere personality.' (¬_¬) Is that something you should be focused on right now? That old guy just told you an extremely important information! I quickly checked the books on the fourth floor I'd scanned and found the one the old man mentioned. It's a book called 'Body Tempering Method'.

Amid our shared anticipation, Ren Qingquan finally entered the fourth floor and ran quickly to the shelf containing the Body Tempering Method. I also scanned it and began reading the method. After reading the book, I felt I had been scammed. First, let's observe from its size and cover. The book is exceptionally thick, and seems to have almost a hundred pages. Its cover is made of hard paper with an unknown material. On the hardcover, the word 'Body Tempering Method' is written in golden ink.

Then there are the first fifty or so pages, made of slightly newer paper than the rest of the book. Those pages are filled with comments, or more specifically, complaints from others who have read the book. The few complaints I've seen go like this: Ren Zhangli - Not recommended. My cultivation has regressed, and I spew a lot of blood while training with it. Ren Yuangong - Trash book.

I turned pale after martial arts deviation while training using the book's method, and my wife beat me because she thinks I've gone to the brothel! Even Ren Qingquan's grandfather has left a review on page fifty two. Ren Wangzhen - Useless method that should be burned in fire. It actually requires the practitioner to sacrifice their vital energy to generate a minuscule amount of spirit qi.

I wasted a month's hard work to generate a small amount of spirit qi that's not even enough to cast a rubbish flame summoning technique! Even Ren Wangzhen, who always seems calm in Ren Qingquan's memory, has cursed the book. I guessed most of the core members of the Ren family have left a review condemning that book. With the number of people hating the book. For it to have survived until now is a miracle in itself.

After cursing the time I'd wasted scanning those useless things, I finally found the main content of the book. It consisted of many words and diagrams depicting movement and the circulation of internal energy. I checked the book and found it only includes parts that let the user reach a Qi Refining level. From my knowledge of xianxia novels, I knew that Qi Refining should be one of the progression stages for cultivators.

I've seen the comments, and people said a Qi Refining cultivator should be at the same level as a Martial Saint. But the Qi Refining realm didn't seem to be the end of the book, as it felt incomplete, with unfinished sentences and a torn page on the last few pages. So, if Ren Qingquan could somehow find the continuation, then it should be possible to advance by using this book to reach higher cultivation. Finally, on the back cover, there is a note.

Contributed by Ren Zhanyu, forty-fourth patriarch of the Ren family - Collected from Meteor Island.

Ren Qingquan saw the page full of reviews condemning the book and directly skipped them while cursing every single person who's bored enough to leave their review inside a book. At last, he finally saw the part containing the martial arts method, or more specifically, the cultivation method, and asked me.

'System, do you think this thing can help me generate spirit qi?' [System isn't sure. But, it should be possible.] Ren Qingquan nodded and carried the book down to the first floor and handed it to the old man guarding the library. Seeing Ren Qingquan, the old man opened his eyes and picked up several new sheets of paper and inks. Through [Scan], I could see the old man controlling his internal energy to circulate in a certain rhythm.

Soon, that energy transformed into a small trace of energy I previously suspected to be spirit qi. After synthesizing the spirit qi, that old man began circulating the spirit qi around his body. Once he completed the circulation, I could hear him mutter Water Mirror Transformation, which should be the technique's name. With it, the spirit qi he has just synthesized left his body, and the ink nearby him moved on its own and seeped into the papers. I scanned the papers and found a copy of Body Tempering Method.

It has been copied just like using a photocopy machine. The old man said, "I've finished transcribing the books. Even the diagrams inside has been copied as is. So, don't find fault with me if you break a bone or two because of practicing the book. That simply means your comprehension is too low, and you miscomprehended the technique." Then, he lay on his chair while lazily shooing Ren Qingquan away.

"If you want to leave a bad review on the book, you need to wait until next year when you got another chance to enter the fourth floor."

'Darn, has leaving bad review on Body Tempering Method has became some sort of tradition in the family?' Ren Qingquan thought. Stupid Ren Qingquan, there is an even more important thing than that. That old man has definitely used a cultivation technique to transcribe the book! Before the old man cast that water whatever technique I prefer to call photocopy technique, he had definitely created a spirit qi out of the energy martial artists gained from their training. Wait a moment.

Calling it - energy martial artists gained from training - sounds quite a mouthful. Let me check their official name in the original Ren Qingquan's memory real quick. I rumaged through the memory and quickly found the energy martial artists generated to be called vital energy. Anyway, the old man is actually capable of creating spirit qi. That should mean the Body Tempering Method's ability to synthesize spirit qi is legit!

Based on the reviews and my observations, the main weakness of the Body Tempering Technique lies in the amount of vital energy required to create spirit qi. That old man has just sacrificed one tenth of the vital energy contained in the first stage Martial Apprentice to use the photocopy technique. Just that seemingly useless photocopy technique require so much energy. Not to mention other higher-level techniques that would definitely need more spirit qi. Now that I think about it.

No wonder those people talked shit about the Body Tempering Method. Perhaps I need to push forward the plan to experiment whether or not [Devour] could help reduce the side effects from the Soul Swallowing technique. Ren Qingquan is incredibly excited at the thought of cultivation. So, I doubt he'll agree not to cultivate a cultivation technique.