Chương 34: Naturally, An Important Library Must Have A Hidden Expert.

Ren Qingquan's carriage soon passes by a moat separating the palace and other areas of the city. After showing the documents inside the bamboo that Fatty Zhang gave him, Ren Qingquan's carriage is allowed inside. Because the palace's size is simply enormous, my [Scan] can only pass through several nearby buildings. Even so, through the trick I've learned, I could absorb the light that's reflected into the range of my [Scan] to view the surrounding areas.

Thanks to that, I could see the scene as if I had an eye at a hundred meters above Ren Qingquan, which is the periphery of his [Scan] range. This way, I could barely have a full view of the palace. Calling it enormous is simply an understatement. If a large clan residence like the Ren Family's or the Zhang Family's can barely be categorised as a housing complex, the palace is already a small city. There are hundreds of buildings, big and small, with varying uses.

Coupled with several gardens, an artificial mountain, and an artificial lake, the palace already stretches my understanding of 'house'. Even though I have forgotten most of the memories from my previous life, I still vaguely remember that I am from the lower-middle class. With my middle-class brain, I simply couldn't comprehend what they need such a massive house for. Why does the emperor even need a frickin artificial mountain and lake in his house? For a morning marathon? Swimming? Fishing?

While I am in awe at how extravagant the life of the rich can be, Ren Qingquan has left his carriage. Because of the palace's strict security, Ren Qingquan's other guard can only stay near the carriage. That's why Ren Qingquan is only accompanied by Xiao Cai, as both of them followed an eunuch to the royal library. Soon, an enormous three-storied building came into view. The building is three hundred metres long and a hundred metres wide.

When I use Scan to see from a hundred metres above Ren Qingquan, I can see many gardens inside the building. The eunuch led Ren Qingquan and Xiao Cai into the building before stopping at the gate. Bowing to Ren Qingquan, the eunuch said, "We've arrived at the royal library. This servant apologises, as he can't accompany you inside the library. Once sir has arrived inside, you may show the document to the librarian." Ren Qingquan nodded and walked to the library with Xiao Cai.

As Ren Qingquan entered, I could see Xiao Cai handing the eunuch a few silver coins, which the eunuch received without changing expression. The moment he entered, Ren Qingquan saw an elderly woman sitting behind a desk. Thanks to the information from the eunuch who had accompanied him, Ren Qingquan knew that the woman was the librarian.

After he showed the document to the elderly librarian, she briefly looked at it and then said, "You may read any book on the first floor, but be careful not to damage them, or you'll have to pay for it. Don't think you can get away after damaging a book, because I can sense what you're doing in the library. Also, keep quiet in the royal library, or I will kick you." Ren Qingquan seriously nodded his head. Since entering the library, he has opened my system map and seen the dot representing the old librarian.

From the size of her dot, she's already a Martial Emperor. Moreover, she's in the middle rank among the Martial Emperors I've scanned. That's also why Ren Qingquan nodded seriously to himself. On another note, I also placed my [Scan] on her. Though I'm not sure if I can get juicy gossip ahem, I mean important information from a librarian, it's better than nothing. After receiving permission from the librarian, Ren Qingquan examined the map and moved to the far left side of the library.

'Let's start from here. System, quickly activate [Scan] and collect the book titles.' In fact, I had already begun working even before Ren Qingquan gave the order. The library has three floors and covers an area of thirty thousand square meters. Even excluding the gardens, the space still exceeds fifteen thousand square meters. Fortunately, the upper floors appear to be smaller, so the total area filled with books is roughly thirty thousand square meters.

Furthermore, I've become more skilled at scanning book titles. So, even though there are many things I need to scan, the time I spend will definitely decrease. While I am scanning the book titles, Ren Qingquan isn't idle either. He picked a random book as camouflage while speaking to me, 'System, I want to learn the first level of Four Direction Sword, Yang Armor, and Feather Step technique.' Previously, Ren Qingquan had selected the three techniques.

However, he didn't have enough time to learn them before the carriage arrived at the palace. So, while waiting for me to finish scanning the book titles, Ren Qingquan decided to learn the cultivation techniques he had chosen and complete the mission I sent. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. While scanning, I fell into thought to remind him. [Host, activating skill learning function will consume calculation power and decrease the book scanning speed. Do you still wish to proceed?]'Yes.' [Learning the first level of Four Direction Sword, Yang Armor, and Feather Step technique will consume a total of 30 points. Do you wish to proceed?]'Yes.' [Please open and read the Four Direction Sword Technique. System will assist the host in understanding the technique.] Ren Qingquan followed my instructions and opened the system library screen while holding the book in his hand to hide that he was reading from the library screen.

Once he had finished learning the Four Direction Sword technique, I asked Ren Qingquan to open the Yang Armor and Feather Step techniques. While helping him understand the techniques, I also continued scanning book titles. Although the scanning speed had slowed down from helping Ren Qingquan to master his technique, it was still better than nothing. Once Ren Qingquan had finished comprehending the first level of all three techniques, I sent him the mission completion notice. [Mission: Increasing Combat Strength. Detail: Learn one useful attack, defensive, and evasion cultivation technique, respectively. The chosen Technique's quality must pass System's criteria. 1/1 attack technique 1/1 defensive technique 1/1 evasion technique Reward: 10 Points Punishment: -10 Points Deadline: 24 hours.] [Congratulations, you've completed the 'Increasing Combat Strength' mission! You have been rewarded with 10 points.] Ren Qingquan opened his personal panel. [Name: Ren Qingquan Point: 86 Cultivation realm: Peak Qi Refining. Cultivation method: Body Tempering Method. Cultivation Technique: Soul Swallowing Technique, Blood Nurturing Technique, Four Direction Sword (Level 1 / 4), Yang Armor (Level 1 / 4), Feather Step (Level 1 / 4). Profession: Corpse Refiner. System function: Devour, Scan, Calculate, Transfer, Map, Mission, Skill Learning, Selective Devour.] He looked at his personal panel with confusion, 'System, don't you think something is missing? Also, there seems to be something new added?' [Indeed. System has decided the Martial Arts Technique section is no longer relevant. For the sake of maintaining a streamlined UI design, System has decided to switch it to a profession section.] There are many words Ren Qingquan wanted to say. But all of those words finally turn into a single question.

'You can do that kind of thing?' [Yes. The personal panel is under System's control. It's something System created to help the host understand your current condition.]'Then, can you add more points to me directly?' I rolled my eyes after hearing Ren Qingquan's question. [Yes. But only the number will change, while the amount of energy that the point represents won't change.]'What a pity.' Ren Qingquan thought while clicking his tongue.

Then, he got preoccupied with the cultivation technique and stopped talking to me. Occasionally, I could see a faint membrane of spirit qi surrounding him. It should've come from the Yang Armor technique. Time quickly passed, and five hours have gone by. I had just finished scanning and organising all the books, and after removing duplicates, I listed them for Ren Qingquan to select from.

I believe I could have done it in less than five hours, but while scanning the titles, I suddenly noticed a person hiding deep inside the library. He's a middle-aged man with a long goatee and a dignified face. From my [Scan], I found a secret passage in the library that led deep inside the place where that person is. If it's only a secret passage and a secret room, it won't surprise me and make me delay for so long.

The reason that person and the secret passage captured my attention for so long is the other party's strength. That person is the strongest Martial Emperor I've ever met. In fact, I suspect he might have surpassed the Martial Emperor realm. Because that man has piqued my interest, after giving him my [Scan], I observed him and found he's actually busy training.

As he's the strongest martial artist I've ever seen, I took the time to copy his Martial Arts method by scanning and compiling data on his training movements and internal energy circulation. That's also the main reason I spent extra time while scanning the library's books. Still, I won't say it's a waste of time in the slightest.

Soon, Ren Qingquan had finished selecting the book titles that interested him. He raised his head to look at the sky through the nearby window and saw that the sky had turned yellowish orange. Seeing that evening had arrived, Ren Qingquan found himself in a difficult dilemma. Finally, he seemed to decide and approached the librarian.

"Can I stay here for the night?"

"The royal library has no closing time. You can stay here as long as you remain quiet," the elderly librarian replied curtly without even looking up from the book she's reading.

"Alright," Ren Qingquan said, returning to his seat after her response.

'System, can you continue scanning the books even after I sleep?" [Yes.]'Then, I will proceed to a new area that we haven't explored yet. This way, there will be enough books to [Scan] even as I slept.' Somehow, Ren Qingquan's words made me feel bitter. Honestly, I envy him—why can he sleep, travel, and do everything while I am trapped in this dark space?! As night descended, Ren Qingquan also began to get sleepy. So, he decided to move to another area, which I haven't scanned yet.

Next to him, Xiao Cai saw Ren Qingquan stand up. She picked up the book she was reading, then followed him to sit elsewhere. In less than an hour, Ren Qingquan had almost dozed off. Before he slept, I could hear Ren Qingquan think, 'This situation reminds me of when I tried to download a large game. Back then, I also let it download by itself while I slept.' (¬_¬) While Ren Qingquan slept, I scanned the surrounding books while occasionally stalking the other people anchored to me.

Through their [Scan], I saw the situation around them. All of them have done nothing important. Even Ren Xuan is only spending his time riding a massive flying bird he borrowed from the Martial Spirit Sect. I suppose he's probably flying towards the Ren Family's residence to complete the mission from his master. I kept watching, but even until Ren Qingquan woke up the next morning, I failed to eavesdrop on any important information.