The atmosphere in the bookstore instantly froze.
Lin Qi looked blankly at the man in white, his mind a complete blank.
How did this person get in? Just now, there were clearly only him and Wang Kai outside. And this person's outfit... who still dresses like that to go out nowadays?
"Wang Kai, you—"
Lin Qi turned to question, but he was dumbfounded.
The entrance was empty.
Wang Kai and those three thugs had disappeared at some point, not even leaving behind the baseball bats. Only the old street lamp was on, casting a dim yellow light on the bluestone pavement.
"No need to look for them." The man in white spoke without turning his head, his voice cold and clear, "I've sent those ordinary people away."
Sent away?
Lin Qi's heart tightened: "What did you do to them?"
"Don't worry, just let them take a nap." The man in white finally turned around, "They will wake up tomorrow."
Moonlight shone through the window, falling on his face.
It was an extremely handsome face, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, skin as smooth as jade, features so delicate they didn't seem real. Even more bizarrely, his eyes were a faint golden color, with a faint glow swirling in his pupils.
Lin Qi instinctively took a step back.
"Who...who are you?"
"I am Qingxuan," the man in white slightly bowed, "the Sword Venerable of the Cultivation World."
Sword Venerable?
Cultivation World?
Lin Qi felt his brain wasn't quite enough to process this. He looked at Qingxuan, then at the bookmark in his hand, suddenly remembering that strange dream just now.
"Are you saying...you're a deity?"
"Not quite a deity, merely a cultivator who has lived a bit longer." Qingxuan's gaze fell on the bookshelf, his eyes burning hot, "Young friend, is this place the Tianlu Pavilion?"
Lin Qi was stunned.
How does he know about Tianlu Pavilion?
"Do you know this place?"
"It's not just knowing it." Qing Xuan sighed softly, "Three hundred years ago, I came here once. The keeper at that time was a cultivator surnamed Lin."
Surnamed Lin?
Lin Qi's heart skipped a beat.
His grandfather was surnamed Lin. Could he be talking about...
"That senior's cultivation wasn't high, but his knowledge was vast. He taught me a set of sword techniques, helping me breakthrough from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage." Qing Xuan's gaze became distant. "Later, when I came again, he was no longer here. I never thought that after three hundred years, I could enter this place again."
He turned to Lin Qi and bowed deeply.
"Young friend, since you can open the Tianlu Pavilion, you must be the descendant of that senior. Please accept my bow."
Lin Qi hurriedly dodged.
"No, no, no, I cannot bear such a grand gesture." He scratched his head. "But my grandfather indeed ran a bookstore. Could the Lin cultivator you mentioned be him?"
"Your grandfather?" Qing Xuan was slightly taken aback. "Did... he ever teach you cultivation methods?"
"No, he only taught me how to read and look at books." Thinking of his grandfather wearing reading glasses and telling him stories, Lin Qi's eyes welled up with tears. "Three months ago, he passed away."
Qing Xuan fell silent.
After a long while, he said softly, "Even cultivators have their lifespan. It is fortunate for seniors to pass away peacefully; this is already a kind of good fortune."
He paused, then looked at Lin Qi again: "Young friend, as the descendant of the keeper, I presume you have inherited the Tianlu Pavilion?"
"Inheritance?" Lin Qi smiled bitterly. "I only got a bookmark, nothing else. This dilapidated bookstore will soon be demolished. In two days, even this shabby place will be gone."
"Demolished?"
Clearly, Qing Xuan did not understand this term. Lin Qi couldn't be bothered to explain further, merely shaking the bookmark in his hand: "Do you recognize this thing?"
The bookmark glowed faintly under the moonlight.
Qing Xuan only needed one glance, and his expression changed.
"This is... the Tianlu Token!"
Qing Xuan's voice trembled slightly.
"Tianlu Token? What's that?"
"The key to the Tianlu Pavilion, and also the identity credential of the keeper," Qing Xuan took a deep breath. "With this token in hand, you are the new pavilion master of the Tianlu Pavilion."
He pointed at the bookshelves around them.
"Young friend, do you know what these books are?"
Lin Qi glanced at those yellowed old books: "Aren't they just some old books? The Analects, Tao Te Ching, Records of the Grand Historian... My grandfather collected these second-hand books, and since they couldn't be sold, they were piled up here."
"Sold?" Qing Xuan laughed, "Young friend, you're mistaken. Each of these books is an unparalleled cultivation technique."
He walked to the bookshelf and casually pulled out one book.
On the cover of that book, three big characters were printed clearly - "Free and Easy Wandering".
"The Zhuangzi's opening chapter, people merely take it as a fable," Qing Xuan opened the book. "But to cultivators, this is an extraordinary body technique. 'Riding on the true form of heaven and earth, and controlling the six elemental forces to wander infinitely'—how can this be a fable? It's clearly a cultivation mantra!"
Lin Qi was stunned.
Qing Xuan then pulled out another book.
The Art of War.
"A holy scripture of military strategy, and also the general outline of formation techniques. 'Its speed is like the wind, its slowness like the forest; its attacks like fire, its stillness like a mountain'—this is the method of battle formations, and also the path of cultivation."
And another one.
The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon.
"A classic of medicine, but also secrets for longevity. 'In ancient times, those who knew the Way would follow Yin and Yang, harmonize with numbers'—this is the foundation-building method, and techniques for prolonging life."
Lin Qi's mind buzzed.
"Are you saying... these books are all cultivation manuals?"
"Not just that." Qing Xuan shook his head. "The real manuals are hidden within your mortal textbooks."
He pointed towards a pile of books in the corner.
Those were Lin Qi's high school textbooks, along with a stack of supplementary educational materials. He had brought them when he was sorting through his grandfather's belongings and had left them there untouched.
Qing Xuan walked over and picked up a book titled "Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Practice".
"This book is the real treasure."
Lin Qi almost thought he had misheard.
"You said... Five Three?"
"Five Three?" Qing Xuan didn't understand this abbreviation, but just opened the book with a fervent look in his eyes, "Look here—'Given the function f(x)=ax²+bx+c, find its extremum point.'"
He pointed at that math problem.
"How can this be merely a math problem? It's clearly deducing the rules of heaven and earth! 'Extremum points' are 'the pinnacle of Dao', and 'derivatives' are 'changes in qi'! If one can comprehend the subtleties within, sword moves will transcend form!"
Lin Qi: "..."
He suddenly had a bit of understanding as to why his math scores were always failing.
So, he wasn't studying math; he was contemplating the Heavenly Dao?
"And here—" Qing Xuan flipped to the physics section, "'Newton's Second Law, F=ma'. Force equals mass times acceleration, this is the essence of 'power'! In the past, I relied solely on brute strength when using my sword. If I could truly understand this principle, the power of my sword techniques would increase by at least thirty percent!"
Lin Qi was thoroughly dumbfounded.
He recalled how he used to struggle with physics problems until he felt like collapsing, and then looking at Qing Xuan's fanatic expression, he suddenly felt an absurd sense.
"So... all these years, I've been wasting treasures?"
"Wasting treasures?" Qing Xuan put down the book and spoke solemnly, "Young friend, do you know the value of the Tianlu Pavilion? Every book here could stir up bloody storms in the cultivation world. If outsiders were to learn of this place, cultivators from all three realms would flock here."
He looked at Lin Qi with a complicated gaze.
"A commoner has no crime, but possessing jade becomes his crime. As a mere mortal, you cannot protect this place."
Lin Qi's heart tightened.
He understood what this meant. What his grandfather left him wasn't an inheritance, but a huge trouble.
"What should I do then?"
Qing Xuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly knelt on one knee.
"Qing Xuan wishes to guard the pavilion master, only asking to read and contemplate here."
Lin Qi was startled.
A sword venerable who had lived for hundreds of years kneeling before him, a high school senior dropout?
"Please get up quickly!" He hurriedly tried to help him up, "This is not right..."
"It is right." Qing Xuan remained kneeling, "If the pavilion master does not agree, Qing Xuan will kneel here forever."
Looking at this earnest god-like figure begging to study, Lin Qi suddenly found this world too surreal.
At that moment, the bookmark around his neck heated up again.
Zhuge Lao's voice echoed in his mind—
"Kid, agree to him. The Tianlu Pavilion requires willing power to sustain it. The more seriously he reads, the more power you will gain."
Lin Qi was stunned.
Power?
What kind of power?
Just as he was about to ask further, the bookstore's door was kicked open.
"Lin Qi! You dare to still be here!"
Wang Kai's voice rang out again.
Lin Qi turned to see Wang Kai holding a fire axe, standing menacingly at the doorway. Behind him, a crowd of at least twenty or thirty people stood, each carrying some sort of weapon.
"To gather so many people to help, it shows how much attention you deserve," Wang Kai sneered, "Today, I'll tear down this shabby bookstore, let's see who dares to stop me!"
He raised the fire axe and swung it fiercely towards the bookshelves—
Then, he saw Qing Xuan.
The great Sword Venerable just happened to lift his head, his light golden eyes swept over him indifferently.
The axe hung in mid-air.
Wang Kai's body froze, as if under a paralysis spell. He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound, only his eyes darted wildly, filled with fear.
"Pavilion Master," Qing Xuan turned to Lin Qi, his tone calm as usual, "This person wants to demolish the Tianlu Pavilion, how should we handle him?"
Looking at Wang Kai's distorted face, and then at the room full of books, Lin Qi suddenly remembered what his grandfather once said—
"Xiao Qi, books are your best friends. Whoever bullies you, books will help you take revenge."
He took a deep breath.
"Let him sleep for a while first."
"Alright."
With a gentle wave of Qing Xuan's hand, Wang Kai and the two dozen thugs collapsed in unison, falling into a heap.
Lin Qi swallowed hard.
The legacy left by his grandfather seemed far more powerful than he imagined.
And at that moment, Zhuge Lao's voice sounded again—
"Kid, this is just an appetizer. The real trouble has just begun. That guy just now carried the aura of a cultivator..."