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Chapter 334: Buying Books
🕑 Added 2024-10-13 10:07:35 +0000 UTCOnly the elder from the Talisman Sect took one glance at He Yi in the arena before gently shaking his head and closing his eyes, saying nothing more.
After receiving their orders, the organizers immediately went to investigate the matter.
However, this did not interrupt the ongoing Talisman Master Tournament.
The fifth and final group soon began their assessment.
This time, there were no surprises; the results from the fifth group were on par with those of the first three groups.
Once all five groups had completed their assessments, the list of the top 500 talisman masters was officially finalized.
Night had fallen.
Once again, the familiar golden list was displayed.
But this time, each name stood out more prominently, as the number of contestants had now been sharply reduced to just 500.
After this round of assessments, the Talisman Master Tournament was nearly at its end.
The final assessment would take place the following day, and after that, the final rankings would be announced.
After spotting Liu Chun's name on the golden list once more, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu left the tournament grounds.
They decided to visit the bookshop that Yuan Qing had mentioned earlier.
Unlike in the mortal world, many shops in the cultivation realm didn’t close when night fell.
Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu had adapted to the cultivation realm's lifestyle over the past few days—there was no fixed schedule.
Many shops stayed open year-round, while others would close and not reopen for unpredictable lengths of time.
Given that Panxiang City only opened once every hundred years, most shops wouldn’t close just because it was nighttime.
So Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu didn’t have to worry about the shop being closed.
After winding their way through several streets, they finally arrived at a shop with a sign that simply read “Books.”
Standing outside the shop, both Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu were silent for a moment.
They hadn't expected to find a shop in the cultivation realm that was even less refined than those in the mortal world.
The entire shop was essentially a massive tortoise shell placed upside down on the ground.
The entrance was at the raised part of the shell, presumably where the tortoise’s neck used to extend when it was alive.
Jiang Youfu hesitated and tugged at Lin Xiao’s sleeve.
He had never seen anything like this before—not even a turtle, let alone something so large and strange. He was understandably scared.
Lin Xiao reassured him, saying, "It's nothing to worry about. It's just the shell of an animal, like the snails we used to catch in the village."
Thinking of the snails they used to catch, Jiang Youfu felt a bit more at ease, but he still instinctively held onto Lin Xiao’s sleeve.
Seeing the dark entrance that seemed to reveal nothing inside, Lin Xiao felt a bit uneasy himself.
However, he reasoned that since the shop had been in Panxiang City for so long without any reported issues, it was probably safe.
He considered telling Youfu to wait outside but ultimately decided against it, not wanting to leave him alone. So, they both stepped inside.
As they entered, the noise from the bustling street outside was instantly cut off, leaving them in silence.
The inside of the shop was very quiet.
There wasn’t a single person in sight.
That's right—not a single person, not even a shopkeeper.
Lin Xiao looked back at the entrance they had just come through and saw that from the inside, they couldn’t see the street outside.
Near the entrance, there was a small sign that read: "Five spirit stones to exit without purchasing; if you buy, just pay for the books."
Below the sign was a small, glowing slot, clearly meant for depositing spirit stones.
It seemed the shop’s entrance was designed to prevent anyone from leaving without paying, and it likely had some kind of mechanism to detect whether someone had bought anything.
Lin Xiao was impressed, thinking that this shop was set up to make a profit no matter what.
He began to wonder if his sect could set up a similar shop in the cultivation realm—no need for anyone to manage it, which would be perfect for a sect located in the mortal world like Lingxian Sect.
However, they would first need the skills or resources to set up such a shop.
For now, this was something to think about later.
Even if they wanted to open a shop, it wouldn’t be easy. They would need to find a good location, secure a steady supply of goods, and ensure a consistent flow of customers.
These were all considerations for the future, not something that could be decided on a whim.
The shop’s interior was much larger than its exterior suggested.
It was filled with densely packed bookshelves.
On the left were shelves filled with traditional paper books, while the right side held rows of jade slips.
Each bookshelf was marked with prices.
The jade slips were generally more expensive than the traditional books.
However, there were exceptions.
The bookshelves at the far end held traditional books that were priced higher than most of the jade slips.
Aside from the bookshelves, the shop was completely empty. They didn’t even see another customer.
Seeing that the shop seemed normal and there was nothing out of place, Lin Xiao said to Jiang Youfu, "Let's split up and see if we can find any useful books here. We'll buy them and bring them back to the sect."
Lin Xiao had already explained the importance of books to their sect, so Jiang Youfu didn’t ask any questions. He nodded quickly, said “Okay,” and began scanning the shelves.
Lin Xiao also started browsing the other side of the shop.
Perhaps to discourage people from reading without buying, the books and jade slips could only be browsed briefly—just a few pages of content were visible.
But the glimpses provided enough information to know what each book was about.
Since they were mainly looking for books on the history of the cultivation realm, these were relatively easy to identify.
As he browsed, Lin Xiao found himself increasingly tempted to buy more.
Although many books weren’t directly related to the history of the cultivation realm, their content was fascinating.
There were books on mythical beasts, various journals from explorers who had visited secret realms, insights into cultivating with different spiritual roots, and more.
There were even many books on cultivation techniques and methods.
These were probably common and widely available, or they wouldn’t be sold so openly.
Although their sect had its own techniques, having additional references wouldn’t hurt, right?
Who knows? Maybe after reading these, he could come up with ideas for new techniques or spells in the future.
"Oh, this one is on beast taming—I need it!"
"What? This one analyzes the relationships between the major sects of the Northern and Southern Spiritual Realms? I must get it!"
"Oh my god, they even have a detailed guide to secret realms in the Northern and Southern Spiritual Realms!"
...
Before long, Lin Xiao had gathered a large stack of books and jade slips.
On the other side, Jiang Youfu ran over with a thick book in his hands, excitedly calling out:
"Brother Xiao! I found it! Is this the one you're looking for? A Brief History of the Northern and Southern Spiritual Realms!"
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