Chapter 2

After Gu Hanyuan took his leave of Yu Daiyan, he decided to first visit the Library Pavilion. Having finally arrived in a Wuxia world, it was impossible not to be curious about Wu Gong, yet his own memories contained no trace of any martial arts.

Upon arriving at the Library Pavilion and identifying himself to the Elder on duty, Gu Hanyuan successfully entered the pavilion.

It is worth mentioning that the Elder on duty today was named Shi He, a disciple of Daoist Mu. Since Daoist Mu was accepted as a disciple by Zhang Sanfeng on behalf of his own master, Gu Hanyuan had to address him as Grand-Uncle-Master according to their seniority.

Suppressing the frustration regarding the complex situation of the Comprehensive Martial Arts World, he began to survey the Library Pavilion. The pavilion had three floors; the first floor mostly contained various Daoist scriptures. The second floor housed various martial arts manuals, including internal arts, external move techniques, and lightness skills. The third floor was locked, and Gu Hanyuan was not qualified to enter.

The martial arts manuals on the second floor were numerous and varied, filling five bookshelves to capacity. Most of them were authored by Zhang Sanfeng, while the rest were left behind by Elders who had studied under their masters, with the quality being uneven.

As expected of the Wu Dangpai founded by Zhang Sanfeng, who could create a Daoist tradition, its heritage alone was already not inferior to North Shaolin.

Gu Hanyuan flipped through the manuals, reading them one by one, and discovered that he possessed an eidetic memory, and he could master any Wu Gong move the moment he saw it.

A glance at his personal status on the system revealed a new list of various moves, though all were at the introductory level. Above this were realms such as Proficient, Mastery, Minor Success, Major Success, Perfection, and Transcendent. To improve, besides practicing and gaining insight, one could also use Villain Points. Unfortunately, Gu Hanyuan's Villain Points were a pitiful 0 at this moment.

After reading through all the manuals, Gu Hanyuan found that the vast majority were useless; they were either low-level martial arts researched by Zhang Sanfeng in his early years or martial arts left behind by Elders who had studied under their masters.

The more useful ones included the internal art "Wu Dang Nine Yang Skill", the lightness skill "Cloud-Ladder Step", the palm techniques "Cotton Palm" and "Mountain-Shaking Palm", the saber technique "Mysterious Void Saber Technique", the sword techniques "Soft-as-Silk Sword" and "Thirteen Swords of the Spirit Gate", and the hidden weapon "Hibiscus Golden Needle".

As for the several ultimate arts like "Pure Yang Infinite Skill", "Tiger Claw Hand", "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber Skill", "Flying Cloud Sleeve", as well as Daoist Mu's "Spirit Jade Heart Method" and "Two Forms Divine Sword", they were likely all on the third floor and could only be learned by direct disciples.

Although Gu Hanyuan was somewhat disappointed not to be able to learn the ultimate arts, he was content. Moreover, because he learned quickly, he had studied all the manuals on the second floor in less than two hours, thinking that perhaps once he learned more martial arts, he too could play at "Using the Opponent's Own Way to Return the Favor".

External move techniques and lightness skills were difficult to practice inside the Library Pavilion, but he could try the internal arts.

Gu Hanyuan circulated the heart method of the "Wu Dang Nine Yang Skill" and soon felt a wisp of airflow moving within his meridians. After completing one cycle along the circulation path, it grew slightly stronger and flowed into his dantian. He had easily entered the Early Acquired Stage.

The realms in this world were, respectively, Acquired, Innate, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, Earth Immortal, and the legendary Shattering the Void. Each realm was further divided into four levels: Early, Mid, Late, and Peak.

Gu Hanyuan was excited for a moment because he had obtained his first wisp of true qi and intended to continue his practice, but the hunger in his stomach interrupted his thoughts.

Feeling the hunger in his stomach and even some spasms in his gut, Gu Hanyuan guessed that true qi was not generated out of thin air but was converted from the body's energy. "Poor in literature, rich in martial arts"—the ancients did not deceive me. As for whether this was only the case in the Acquired Realm or if it was the same for subsequent realms, it remained unknown for now.

Gu Hanyuan endured the hunger and helplessly walked out of the Library Pavilion. After expressing his gratitude to Elder Shi He on duty, he went off to find the canteen to forage for food.

Shi He looked at Gu Hanyuan's retreating back with slight suspicion, feeling that there seemed to be something different about him compared to before.

Was it more self-confidence?

Unable to figure it out, Shi He shook his head and helplessly gave up.

After finishing his dinner, Gu Hanyuan did not return directly to his room to rest but instead wandered around.

As for the content of the dinner, there was nothing to say; in this era lacking seasonings, it was difficult for him to adapt. If he hadn't been starving, he probably would have needed to do some mental preparation before he could eat it.

Before long, Gu Hanyuan found the courtyard where Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu resided, which Song Yuanqiao had always kept reserved for Zhang Cuishan.

Because Zhang Cuishan was only in his early twenties when he went to Ice Fire Island and had not taken any disciples, the courtyard was very cold and secluded.

Yu Daiyan's courtyard was actually not much better than Zhang Cuishan's. Although he had taken a few disciples, most were taken to look after his daily life. Without teaching them Wu Gong, few people were willing to be his disciples. However, thanks to Yu Daiyan, Gu Hanyuan had an independent room. In the courtyards of people like Song Yuanqiao and Yu Lianzhou, who had many disciples, several people had to squeeze into one room.

The coldness of the two courtyards made Gu Hanyuan very satisfied; even if his Wu Gong was not high now, he could easily sneak into Zhang Cuishan's courtyard at night. Moreover, he had heard on the way that Zhang Cuishan would be talking all night with several fellow disciples he hadn't seen for years and would not return to his room to rest.

Gu Hanyuan knew his opportunity had come.

He returned to his room to quietly wait for nightfall.

Several hours later, it was nearing the Hour of the Rat, which is 12:00 at night.

Gu Hanyuan quietly left his room. He was very lucky on the way not to attract anyone's attention and successfully entered Zhang Cuishan's courtyard.

Finding Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu's room was simple, as it was the only room in the entire courtyard with candlelight, reflecting Yin Susu's slender figure. Of course, only Yin Susu was in the room at this time; it was likely that the encounter with Yu Daiyan during the day had left her restless and unable to sleep.

When Gu Hanyuan walked to the door of the room, he could see shadows moving inside; clearly, Yin Susu had already sensed someone approaching. After all, she was an expert at the Innate Realm, so it was not strange that she could sense Gu Hanyuan.

Gu Hanyuan reached out and knocked gently on the door a few times, and a female voice came from inside.

"Who is it?"

"Fifth Aunt, this is Gu Hanyuan, my master is Yu Daiyan, and I have an urgent matter to see you about."

Yin Susu, who was inside the room, was originally unwilling to open the door to a man in the middle of the night, but upon hearing Gu Hanyuan mention Yu Daiyan, who had left her restless, she hesitated for a moment before opening the door.

"It's you?"

Yin Susu clearly still had an impression of Gu Hanyuan, who had been sizing her up during the day, and she exclaimed. Given what happened then, she felt a bit more vigilant, and her expression turned cold.

"What business do you have with me?"