11 Second Level in the Mortal Realm

While cultivating, Shui entered a trance-like state. In this state, he did not notice that black impurities were being released from his body, nor did he notice that all of these impurities were being cleaned soon after being expelled.

By the time Shui came out of his trance, he looked at his own body with an amazed smile on his face. With the understanding he had gained, he knew that he had not just entered the Mortal Realm, but had reached the second level of the realm. Starting from the Mortal Realm, there were the Soul, Earth, Sky, Master and True Master Realms, each with nine levels and a perfect limit. After asking the artifact spirit of the Library, he found out that he still had three hours left in this space. That meant he spent only about ninety hours to reach the second level in the Mortal Realm! Even Kate, one of the best geniuses of the clan, was still at the first level, but Shui only thought that he had this achievement because he cultivated in a better environment and Kate was unmotivated.

Even so, Shui didn't understand how great his accomplishment really was. After all, his body had experienced one hour while his mind had experienced 100. That means it didn't take him 90 hours for him to reach the second level in the Mortal Realm, but fifty-four minutes. Even if his mind was accelerated, allowing him to gain enough comprehension to reach the second level, the ability to absorb so much energy wasn't something that could be aided by the Library. If someone with worse talent entered the Library, there likely wouldn't be much difference in the ability to attract energy, but because the body was experiencing time slower, it would take longer to absorb the energy that was attracted. This was proof of Shui's exceptional will and talent.

'You won't have to worry Mom. I'm not a cripple anymore'

Once he was over his initial excitement, though still hyper, he asked, "Can I bring other people here?"

[Only those with the right qualifications can enter this space.]

"And what are those qualifications?"

[You are not qualified to know.]

Shui was honestly a bit upset at this response, but he moved onto his next question.

"Can I teach this breathing technique to someone else?"

[Nothing may be removed from the library. However, you may share the information you have gained, as long as you can bear the consequences.]

The moment 'consequences' was mentioned, Shui caught onto what the artifact spirit was trying to tell him. He had heard of breathing techniques before and was sure his clan had some, but the breathing technique he just used seemed to be of very high quality so he didn't want to reveal it carelessly. He trusted Aunt Lilia and her family, but not the rest of the clan.

While understanding that he had to be more careful in the future, Shui used his remaining time to learn more things.

...

After being sent out of the library, he was in a small cave behind the waterfall. He clenched his fists once and was sure, it wasn't a dream. He was now a cultivator, and much stronger than one at his level as well. In the library, he verified that he had indeed mastered the way of martial arts, but it blessed him with more perks than he expected.

Though in the eyes of the world, it was a minor path, mastering it was still difficult for cultivators at his level. By mastering the path of martial arts, he now had martial intent as well as an innate instinct for battle.

"Now that I've started this path, I can't let Mom down. I won't let anyone interfere with my freedom."

Shui left the waterfall and walked back to the clan. Before he left the Library, he started learning an aura restraining art to prevent his cultivation from being too obvious. Aura was the unique presence that a person exuded and was much more evident from cultivators. At his current level of progress, only those who were much stronger than him and actively tried to check would be able to find out his cultivation.

Though he cultivated in natural energy, his body only accepted the nature energy component due to his lack of strength and compatibility issues. Even so, the nature energy inside him was purer than what was in his surroundings so he decided to only cultivate in the Library. He wouldn't be able to train effectively since his body experienced time differently, but his cultivation didn't suffer as much from that.

After leaving the waterfall, he thought more about his future. Now that he had the Primordial Library, there was no reason to worry about boredom or ignorance. Not only could he browse 100 hours worth of books in one hour, he didn't even feel much hungrier than before he entered the Library. Naturally, he planned on further experimentation, but for the time being he believed what the artifact spirit had said.

However, wasting the rest of the day was unacceptable. Since the concentration of energy in the Library was much higher, it would be a waste to cultivate outside, still, there were other things he could do.

Instead of going to the shack, Shui went to Aunt Lilia's place. Though he would still live in the shack, he would make more frequent visits to their home from now on. Like most of the houses in the clan, the one in front of him was made of a pale brown material known as sckihal ore. This ore was used because the Heaven Clan owned a large deposit of it, and it could easily be used to make buildings.

After knocking the white wooden door at the entrance, Shui waited for around three seconds before the door opened.

"Oh, Shui! Please come in."

"Thank you."

By now, Shui had changed his wet clothes and bandages along with his previous expression. On the day of the funeral, Shui's face and mind were completely blank and invoked a sense of powerlessness, but now he was back to normal. Though he missed his mother, he knew that he couldn't mourn forever. That wouldn't make her feel better, instead he had to prove that he could live freely.

Lilia's house was the same as always, after the entrance was the living room. There was a wide cushion and a chair on either side of it.

"Aunt Lilia, where's Kate?"

"Oh, that girl shut herself in her room. She said needed to get stronger and went into seclusion in order to breakthrough to the second level in the Mortal Realm."

"Oh."

While giving a casual reply, Shui thought about how Kate would feel if she knew that he was already at the second level. Though he thought about that, he already made the decision to conceal his cultivation for now. After all, he had the Primordial Library so he didn't need to rely on the clan for his cultivation. Mostly anyways.

"Aunt Lilia, how can I make money?"

When Shui asked such a question, Lilia felt her heart almost stop beating from fright.

Nervously, she asked, "Why do you want to make money? Don't you know your Uncle Bartos and I will take care of you?"

"I know that but, I just want to prepare for the future. I can't stay here forever after all."

The reply that Shui gave wasn't a lie, but it skipped certain parts. In truth, he wanted to make money so he could fund his cultivation journey. Even if he had the best environment and the knowledge, there were still other resources that he needed to get.

However, Lilia didn't know this. Instead, she thought he was planning on leaving the clan as soon as possible. She knew this little boy was very perceptive, so he had obviously seen that the clan members hated him and was trying to leave. Of course, she didn't want him to go, but she also knew he couldn't stay in the clan forever. Furthermore, if she couldn't introduce him to a good job, he might end up in some shady business.

While Lilia was desperately searching for a way to keep Shui in the clan for longer while giving him a good job, Bartos came home. Bartos was a straight-faced, tall and muscular man with tanned skin, wearing a simple vest over his broad chest.

"Shui. Uh, you hungry?"

Shui knew that Bartos was acting awkwardly because he didn't know how to treat him since his mother's funeral was only yesterday. However, he couldn't allow his Uncle Bartos to feel like that around him, he already owed him and Aunt Lilia too much.

"A little bit."

While trying to maintain a smile on his face, Shui looked up at him. Though Bartos wasn't very perceptive when it came to people's emotions, he could sense that Shui was trying to be considerate, and that almost made him chuckle.

'Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?'

The smile seemed to infect him and made a small one pop up on his face as well.

"Okay, I'll make something quick."

Just as Bartos was about to step into the kitchen, Lilia, now certain of what to do, pulled him back.

"No, I'll do it. Why don't you tell Shui about your job instead?"

When he looked at this wife of his, he knew she had some hidden agenda but he didn't resist. He sat on a chair and told Shui to sit on the cushion before starting the conversation.