"Ah! A VIP card from the Ten Petal Company! Of course, that will work!" the man exclaimed, a bright smile spreading across his face. "The Ten Petal Company is one of our major patrons and contributes significantly to the library's upkeep. All VIP cardholders have unrestricted access to the entire library. Additionally, please take back your Immortal Stones—you don't need to pay with this card."
"That's convenient," Lin Mu remarked, pocketing the returned stones.
With the formalities completed, Lin Mu ventured into the library's vast first floor. Rows upon rows of shelves stretched as far as the eye could see, each laden with books, scrolls, and various manuscripts.
"This will keep me busy for a while," Lin Mu thought, a small smile gracing his lips as he delved into the treasure trove of knowledge.
Starting from the first row, he quickly scanned the books, searching for those he hadn't seen or read before.
However, his excitement quickly waned as he realized something disheartening.
"Huh…" he muttered. "I already know all these."
He moved to the next shelf and scanned its contents, only to find the same. One by one, he went through the shelves, discovering they were filled with common books and scrolls he had encountered in other places, most recently at Doumen's Book House.
In just fifteen minutes, Lin Mu had scanned the entire first floor without finding a single book worth reading.
"Guess it is a public library. I should've expected this to happen," Lin Mu said to himself, a tinge of disappointment in his voice. He promptly moved on to the second floor.Here, the situation was slightly better. Most of the books were familiar, but there were several that were new to him.
"There we go," Lin Mu murmured as he began reading.
He spent an entire day on the second floor, immersing himself in the new material. While the new books made up only about ten percent of the floor's content, it was still more than what he had found at Doumen's Book House. Thanks to his quick reading speed, he managed to cover a significant amount in a short period, as many of the books didn't require thorough reading.
Unbeknownst to Lin Mu, a couple of individuals had started observing him. They kept their distance, watching him quietly. Occasionally, one of them would leave every few hours and return later, ensuring that at least one of them was present at all times.
By the third day, Lin Mu had finished reading everything on the second floor and proceeded to the third floor.
"Hopefully, there's more unread material here," he thought optimistically.
The third floor was as vast as the previous ones, with the same number of shelves. However, it contained more content, thanks to the inclusion of jade slips alongside books, scrolls, and manuscripts.
The presence of jade slips significantly improved Lin Mu's reading speed. He could scan through them much faster and even read multiple slips simultaneously by splitting his Immortal Sense. Additionally, unlike at Doumen's Book House, there were no restrictions on transcribing the contents.
"This is a public library, after all. Such practices are expected," Lin Mu reasoned.
He shifted his focus from merely reading to transcribing, intending to study the material later at his own pace. With an upcoming journey and the uncertainty of his next opportunity to access a library, Lin Mu wanted to make the most of his time.
"They said the next Teleportation Array will take a few months to activate, but we still need to account for travel time," Lin Mu thought.
This was one of the reasons Daoist Chu and Monk Hushu had chosen to split up—they had ample time before they needed to regroup.
Interestingly, the third floor, despite requiring a fee, had more visitors than the first two floors. The common material on the lower floors didn't appeal to most, but the more specialized content on the third floor drew a crowd.
Lin Mu's observers had also followed him to the third floor, continuing their silent surveillance.
He spent five days meticulously transcribing and reading on the third floor before moving on to the fourth.
The fourth floor was notably different. It had fewer materials, but their rarity was significantly higher.
"Guess this floor contains more specialized content," Lin Mu observed.
To his surprise, the floor didn't just have general books—it also housed cultivation techniques and skills!
"Interesting… To think they keep these open for public use," Lin Mu mused.
Most of the techniques and skills were of relatively low grade, but considering the nominal fee of a hundred low-grade Immortal Stones, it was an incredible deal. Typically, even the lowest-grade cultivation techniques sold for at least fifty to sixty mid-grade Immortal Stones.
'Rolling Tiger Fist, Twin Qi Reflux Technique, Rising Pillar Technique…' Lin Mu read through the techniques and skills, transcribing them as he went.
Some techniques were familiar to him, but others were entirely new. While they weren't particularly useful to him, he hoped to gain insights from their principles.
It took Lin Mu just two days to finish the fourth floor, thanks to the limited number of jade slips. With this floor completed, he moved on to the fifth floor.
His swift progress surprised many, including his silent observers. The fifth floor was restricted and not often accessed by visitors.
"Dammit, what do we do now?" one of the observers whispered to his partner.
"What else? We wait here. He's bound to come down at some point," the second replied. "For now, go and report to the clan. It seems we're not dealing with a commoner, considering he has access to the fifth floor."
On the Fifth Floor, the number of shelves reduced even more and only jade slips were present here now. Of course cultivation techniques and skills were still the majority though a few of them seemed to contain various records.
One such record caught Lin Mu's attention.
'The Profound Forests of the Jui World.' Lin Mu's eyes lit up seeing it.
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