Chapter 15: General Studies Library

Li Mo Shang spent some time admiring the changes to his body, slowly acclimating himself to the capabilities of his new physique. Not only had his appearance improved dramatically, his physical ability and basic cognition had increased by folds. Compared to the previous body's inbound sluggishness, Li Mo Shang felt that he could truly cover a zhang in one step without the assistance of spiritual qi.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Li Mo Shang viewed the Heretic manual once more. 'Body Tempering Realm Methods of Cultivation' was the only new phrase visible on the yellowed pages in his mind. It seemed that to obtain more knowledge regarding cultivation from the Heretic manual, further conditions would need to be fulfilled. Frowning slightly, Li Mo Shang felt a little disgruntled from the tease the Heretic manual had given him, for he felt extremely anxious to begin tempering his body.

Thus, when Su Yuan'er barged into his room to begin eating dinner, she found a young hottie with pale white skin, sitting on his bed before a mirror while frowning. Adding on the factor that he was barely clothed, it truly was no surprise that a resounding scream could be heard.

Li Mo Shang had never felt such skeptical gazes from people in the intensity that his dormmates kindly 'presented him'.

Ling Shi Ming and Wang Xing were flabbergasted at the sudden change in appearance, constantly asking him questions how he obtained such white, pristine skin tone and texture. Li Zhen Yue and Su Yuan'er wouldn't accept that he was Li Mo Shang, and Ling Shi Ming didn't even look or even talk to him at all, causing some discomfort to rise in Li Mo Shang's heart.

Regardless, he answered their questions casually, claiming that his grandmother from the Li Family had sent him a miracle skin tonic, avoiding any details or leads that reflected the supernatural. Of course, the downside was that he had to promise the two girls to obtain a constant supply of the "medicine" for them, creating another set of problems in the future.

Blue Rose University, adherent to its mission statement of promoting student self-sufficiency, permitted the students to eat at the cafeteria during lunch sessions, forcing breakfast and dinner to be obtained themselves. It was surprising to everyone in Room 303 that Wang Xing, the pale good-for-nothing looking youth, was a magnificent chef. Using the minimal ingredients that Li Zhen Yue had purchased on a last-minute shopping, he had whipped up a delicious beef braised stew.

While eating the delicious food, Li Mo Shang suddenly quivered inside when he saw several strands of spiritual qi approach his spiritual core from within the stew. Doing his best to keep his expression calm, Li Mo Shang directed a spiritual scan towards Wang Xing, only to find nothing wrong. Were there spiritual properties in the food that Wang Xing made, or was he simply imagining it? Li Mo Shang wondered. Could Wang Xing be a cultivator?

Nobody noticed the docile Wang Xing suddenly shoot a quick look at Li Mo Shang, his eyes flashing with an indiscernible light.

The next morning, Li Mo Shang acted his role of a university student perfectly. Sitting quietly in the auditorium listening to the professors' lectures while taking notes and attempting his very best to ignore Li Zhen Yue's pleas for help, Li Mo Shang finally managed to remove the initial stain of a "rich delinquent" in Professor Wan Xue's opinion. It was perhaps fortunate that Su Yuan'er was in a different lecture hall during the general studies courses, otherwise it was unknown whether Li Mo Shang would retain the mental fortitude to maintain the image of a hard-working student and not a cultivation maniac.

Deciding to forgo lunch and explore the campus to familiarize himself with its structure, Li Mo Shang casually strolled alongside of the cobbled paths, walking through the outskirts of the university. Looking at the public service quality of the scenery before him, Li Mo Shang sighed lightly. Truly, Blue Rose University was extremely wealthy.

The cobbled paths were created from riverbed stones of many different colors. Laying a winding path snaking through each building in the university's campus, the cobbled roads formed a vague diagram of a plucked rose held within a grasp, with the administrative building serving as the base. The grass on either side were neatly trimmed with not a single blade out of place, and with his enhanced vision, Li Mo Shang could clearly observe that each stone was of the same dimensions and texture.

Following the school map displayed on his terminal, Li Mo Shang finally made his way before the general studies library. Structured similar to an octagonal prism, the building was made from a smooth light brown material, without a single seam or air perforation present on the surface. As wide as two hundred meters long and fifty meters tall, the building seemed display once more the magnificence of Nan Qing's top university. If this was the size of the general studies library, how big were the specialized research ones?

In the middle of each walls existed a massive pair of sliding doors, nearly a third of the building's height. Made from a molecular reinforced crystal substance, the glass doors were completely transparent, without any light distortions from the outside, allowing Li Mo Shang to peer inside with ease. Stepping through the sliding doors, Li Mo Shang nodded as the scenery inside was truly different from the plain exterior.

The inside of the general studies library exuded a sense of paradise, for soft, luxurious couches lay next to the walls and bookshelves, creating an atmosphere more akin to a social club. There was not a single workstation table in existence, and only small tables could be found in the library, but only pots of blue roses were placed there. Looking around, Li Mo Shang could see pairs of students leisurely perusing books in the library; some were even lightly flirting around on the sofas.

Towering bookshelves of sandalwood and dark oak stood everywhere, some even as long as the entire library itself. Looking around until he found the architectural plans stacked on a steel podium, Li Mo Shang quickly realized that each bookshelf contained a separate category of information, and the length of the bookshelf merely represented the research conducted on that subject.

Unfortunately, the categories were not that specific or relevant to Li Mo Shang's target, so he could only helplessly go to the "Ancient History" category.

Standing in front of a decently sized bookshelf compared to its peers, Li Mo Shang saw rows upon rows of books of various sizes and thickness, and felt truly lost on where to start when facing the enormous magnitude. Plopping himself onto a nearby couch, he willed his spiritual core to expand his spiritual sense, to capture the names of all of the books at once. Immediately after, he regretted such action the most.

With regards to the spiritual core formed from the Heretic manual's methodologies, Li Mo Shang could only praise it, for the abilities the spherical unit possessed were truly unparalleled and mysterious. Li Mo Shang had a premonition that the spiritual core's true abilities were still far from discovery, and held high expectations for the future. However, a function he would desperately beg for from the Heretic manual's creator would be a limiter when receiving information after conducing a scan with his spiritual sense.

Rows and rows of books and their contents were directly crammed into his brain. When Li Mo Shang had asked for an acorn, the spiritual core had thrown an acorn tree into his face. Clutching his head with both hands, he grit his teeth and shivered as thousands of experiences, thoughts, and emotions were poured into his soul. Not only did he obtain the hidden meanings of each book, even the author's life and background thoughts were not spared from the spiritual core's ruthless deduction.

Li Mo Shang saw the rise of a glorious empire from a destitute farm owner with a pitchfork, standing beside him as the man in poverty became a soldier, a general, and finally an emperor ruling over six major empires. He explored the realms of beauty alongside of a disfigured, malnourished woman who would begin the rising admiration and pursuit for beauty by women. Folklore origins, ancient ruins, lost treasures and legends, hidden techniques, even the wet spring novels of ancient times from many nations were comprehended by the spiritual core and force-fed into Li Mo Shang's soul housed within.

The hourglass of knowledge never cared about the recipient's complaints, causing Li Mo Shang to regard the spiritual core as the masterpiece of a sadist, for a single spiritual scan intended for skimming through the titles sent him spiraling into a mental hell. The lunch break was in its final moments when the spiritual core had finished its torture, and Li Mo Shang staggered back to the lecture hall, this time unable to maintain the pristine student image. Only Li Zhen Yue sent inquisitive glances towards him, however.

It was unknown how Li Mo Shang obtained the courage to step back into the library after afternoon lectures were over, returning only when it was time for dinner.

Back in his individual room, sitting on his bed and looking towards the darkening sky, Li Mo Shang sighed in relief as the intrusive knowledge had finally settled down in his soul, no longer making him experience the combination of an extreme sensation of nausea, anxiety, and lethargy. Without supplementing his soul with copious amounts of spiritual qi, he would not have lasted the entire day scuttling around like a university student. Upon thinking twice about the entire ordeal, Li Mo Shang decided to return to the library a week later.

Although the pain was truly excruciating, experiencing information being branded and assimilated into the soul, Li Mo Shang was pleasantly surprised to discover that all three spiritual rings orbiting his spiritual core had grown in density and overall purity of the coalesced spiritual qi. Moreover, the first ring's cluster had an interesting oddity; within the cluster of spiritual qi, Li Mo Shang could faintly perceive a grey tome, overflowing with profundity and gravity, though he couldn't discover why. Perhaps it had something to do with the knowledge shopping spree he had undergone today?

In regard to the information torture Li Mo Shang had experienced today, it truly wasn't that bad as the knowledge that students could not hope to remember were snugly nestled within Li Mo Shang's soul. He could instantly recite a random book's contents from the ancient history bookshelf without losing accuracy, even accessing the creator's original intentions during the creation of the book. Not only that, even the described motions in several books regarding the ancient classic arts seemed natural to Li Mo Shang, as if he had spent millennium perfecting his skill in seclusion.

With a giddy smile and a fleeting feeling of elation, Li Mo Shang bounced back onto the bed, stretching his limbs to their fullest length before falling into a deep sleep. If, by the end of his conquering of the general studies library, the Heretic manual would provide him the rest of the Body Tempering Realm cultivation methodology, then it would truly be a snowfall of good fortune…