4 Entering the Library

'Just when I thought my life in this world couldn't get any worse, I've been told that I only have 10 years left to live. And by my mother, no less!' Exclaiming these thoughts inwardly in his mind, Shi Li looked at his mother with a pensive expression. On the other hand, Shi Languang looked at her son with a hint of guilt, telling his son, "I…didn't really want to bring up the topic again, son. But since you asked me about it, I…just had to."

"You don't have to feel guilty, mother. I truly appreciate you telling me the reason behind it," Shi Li said in response, wanting to console his mother. "Then again, isn't that even more of a reason why I should start cultivating?"

In Shi Li's mind, he knew that cultivating to higher realms would eventually extend one's lifespan. However, he wasn't certain as to which realm would allow him to do so. More or less, he was basically making a gamble here. In any case, he would still cultivate either way.

"That…" Even though she wanted to dissuade her son from cultivating, after sensing her son's conviction and determination through her words, which weren't visible in her son's reason before, she eventually let out a sigh and lightly nod. "Alright, son. You can start cultivating. However, I have nothing to give you to help you out."

Although Shi Li noticed the reluctance on his mother's face as she made the decision, he placed the thought on the back of his head as he replied, "Don't worry, mother. I won't ask of anything from you. I don't even mind cultivating slowly. After all, don't you want your son to be by your side forever?"

Letting out a long sigh, she eventually looked at her son with a smile, telling him, "Who knew my son has a way with words? Alright, alright. As long as you don't regret your choices, then I'll support you all the way."

After saying that, she then rummaged through her pockets, eventually giving Shi Li a small piece of square wood that had the number 0 written on it. "At first, I didn't know whether I should give this to someone else, but since you're going to start cultivating, it seems it was fated to be given to you, son."

"What is this?" Shi Li asked as he looked at the token, to which Shi Languang replied, "It's a token that allows you to access the clan's library of manuals. You can choose your cultivation techniques with that token."

Knowing very well that this token he had in his hands was a sort of gift from his mother in his journey of cultivation, Shi Li clenched the hand that held the token as he said to his mother, "Thank you, mother. I won't let you down."

With that, he hurriedly made his way to where the clan's library was, allowing Shi Languang to look at the fleeting silhouette of her son. With a light chuckle, she made her way back to the clan kitchen as she said to herself, "My son never changes, huh."

…

As he gradually made his way to where the clan library was, he could not help but rummage through the previous owner's memories regarding the part where he only had 10 years to live. Surprisingly, it took him quite a long time to recall this memory. However, he did not find it surprising as he soon found out that the only memories the previous owner had regarding that problem was when he was 7 years old.

Normally, children at that age would start to cultivate, which made sense why he had been taken to a doctor to check for any problems. Unfortunately for him and his mother, the doctor told them that he only had 20 years to live. Of course, the young Shi Li was still oblivious and did not know what that meant. With that, the younger Shi Languang decided to keep it a secret from him after having a talk with the younger him about it, which surprisingly lasted for 10 years.

"I wonder if this is also an illness just like Imperfect Meridians and Imperfect Body," Shi Li muttered to himself as he continued to make his way to the clan library, deciding to check that book in his room once he got back.

And with that, after ten minutes of walking, he eventually arrived at the clan library, which was currently barren, considering how a lot of people in the clan would peruse the library's books for techniques. Thinking about the feast that was going to be held sometime later this day, he decided to place the thought at the back of his head as he arrived at the entrance of the library, only to be stopped by a man in his thirties.

"Your token?" the man asked Shi Li, to which the latter nodded as he gave the man the token that his mother gave him. Looking at the token that was given to him, then at the person that gave the token to him, the man could not help but let out a sigh as he told Shi Li, "To think you would be treated this badly. They only gave you a Tier 0 token?"

"Tier 0 token?" Shi Li tilted his head in confusion. Seeing that he didn't know what it meant, the man explained, "Tier 0 tokens are only given to the clan's servants or the children of the clan's servants. Don't you think you should be treated better? You're a son of the clan leader, you know?"

Hearing the man's words, it was only then did Shi Li recall through the previous owner's memories that his mother was one of the many concubines of the Shi clan's leader. Although he wondered as to why the clan leader did not even show up for one of his wives, he decided to just chalk it off as the clan leader being a playboy of sorts.

"So, what kind of token would I normally get?" Shi Li asked in response, noticing that the man did not care whether he was a cripple or not. After a few seconds of silence, the man told Shi Li, "At the very least, a Tier 2 token. With that kind of token, you'd be able to access at least half of the manuals in this library alone."

"But since this is only a Tier 0 token, you can only access techniques that are Low Wood-grade at most," the man continued, only to notice Shi Li's confused expression once more. "Just so you know, Wood-grade is the lowest grade for techniques out there, being split into three more minor grades: Low, Middle, and High. Low Wood-grade is the lowest of the low."

"Thank you for enlightening me, uh…" Just as Shi Li was about to thank the man, he realized that he did not know the man's name. Fortunately, the man told him his name, telling Shi Li, "I'm Shi Daoliang, the guardian of this library. You can just call me Elder Daoliang."

"Then, I shall thank you for enlightening me, Elder Daoliang," Shi Li said in response, prompting Daoliang to let out a chuckle as he told him, "Although I would've liked to help you increase the amount of techniques you could access, the authority of a token is absolute. Then again, since it seems you're just starting out on your cultivation, you can choose an internal and an external cultivation technique at Low Wood-grade. The token won't hinder you from doing that."

"Understood." With a nod, Shi Li then entered the library, heading to the area where techniques at Low Wood-grade were held. As for Shi Daoliang, he looked at Shi Li for a bit before returning to what he was previously doing.

…

After arriving at the area of library containing all of the techniques at Low Wood-grade, he then perused through the various bookshelves containing cultivation techniques aimed towards the body or those towards qi. Some of the cultivation techniques looked tempting to him, giving him greater strength or speed as he continued to cultivate. But after remembering his various illnesses, he knew that greater strength or speed would get him nowhere. In his current situation where he only had a limited number of years to live, it was more beneficial for him to get a technique that allowed him to cultivate faster.

Fortunately, it did not take him very long to find two cultivation techniques that exactly fit the requirement he needed, one for qi and one for his body. However, the names of the techniques could not help but make him feel like he would be mocked at if they knew.

"At the very least, my foundation for both my qi and my body would be solid," he muttered, consoling himself as he looked at the titles of the cultivation techniques once more.

"<Rudimentary Qi Refinement Manual> and <Rudimentary Body Refinement Manual> huh…"