While Felix and Xue were getting some food, the Thousand Seasons Elder Kane was leaving the sect to investigate a report of a recently opened cultivator’s tomb.

The whimsical elder smiled as he strode through the air on streams of air. I know Elder Harold thought we should remain around the Sect but I can't sit still when there is a treasure to be found! Rare tomes, herbs, treasures. Oooh, it always gets my blood boiling. I don’t understand how Rong can sit there and lecture all day. This brother needs treasure!

After he was a few hundred kilometers from the sect, the elder's self-indulgent fantasy was interrupted by an exclamation from below. He glanced down to see a rather odd scene. A young boy drenched in blood was standing in front of a giant bear with only a knife in one hand.

The elder paused, then slowly descended to watch the child behind the cover of the trees.

"Yes, more exp for me." said the child, raising his fist in the air.

The child then just walked off. Impressed by the strength of the child, the elder decided to follow in secret.

What a good seedling. Perhaps the child has a unique physique or special bloodline? He might even be younger than eight years old! I will get extra credit if I recruit him.

After a while, the child found another animal. A small rabbit with a horn on its forehead. Without a word, the child shot forward in a surprisingly fast motion and slit the animal's throat. To Elder Kane's great disturbance, the child didn't spare the dying animal more than a glance and kept walking.

Is the child deranged? I have heard of descendants of unfathomable powered experts being powerful but this wanton slaughter… is a little disturbing.

After a few more kills, the child stared off into space with a manic grin on his face. The child waved his hands about. After a few motions, the surrounding spiritual energy rushed toward the child and the elder could feel the child ascend a rank in cultivation.

How can this be!? Thought elder Kane. He sent his divine sense over the child. By the Dao! This child just went up to Qi Gathering 6. All he has done is to kill animals. What kind of demonic bloodline is this?

Kane decided that this child was much more important than the treasure he was looking for and decided to continue his secret observation. He did, however, begin sending messages back to his fellow elders at the Sect.

Felix and Xue viewed many of the Sect’s main facilities over the day. They had not descended to the lowlands where according to Xue most of the training facilities lay. However, there was one last facility she wanted to show him on the other side of the mountain. The journey was one of the more mortifying moments of Felix’s existence so far. About halfway around the mountain, Xue finally got sick of Felix's slow speed and just picked him up in a princess carry. Before he could offer protest, they began moving along the path at a blistering speed.

Felix's protest died on his lips as he realized that if he was dropped at this speed, things would not go well for him. By the time they made it to the other side, Felix was just glad to be standing on his own to legs.

"Well, we are here." Felix looked to see that this portion of the mountain had a relatively large sheer cliff. There was a fissure from the bottom of the cliff to about halfway up its length. A tiled path lead into the fissure with crystals lighting the walls.

They walked into the fissure and a few minutes later Felix gasped as they entered a massive chamber. It must have been at least twenty stories high. Seated right in the middle was a ten-story tower. Its relatively austere structure was offset by the myriad of symbols that were scrawled across its surface. Xue smiled at Felix's expression.

"Impressive isn't it? The Hall of Knowledge is one of the most heavily protected places in the sect. Apparently, the Grand Elder pulled in a debt from a very talented formation master he had saved once to secure it. It is one of the few places in fact that the Elders are very strict. It is not a place for messing about."

The two of them stopped when they found Elder Shen guarding the entrance. The elder’s dark eye was glancing occasionally at Xue as she walked up. Seeing the Elder, Xue rolled her eyes and quickly pulled Felix past. Felix was honestly not sure how to respond to this shameless monk.

Finally getting past the elder, Felix got his first good look inside. The floor was massive, yet it felt cramped as the shelves were packed. Books, scrolls, and what looked to be pieces of Jade were shoved into every nook and cranny. At first, it looked like chaos, but Felix saw that there were labels and numbering system adorning all the shelves.

"I thought that the Sect foundation was still considered shallow?” Asked Felix. If this is shallow, how many books must an ancient Sect have?

Xue glanced up from a book she had pulled out from a bag at her waist. "Don't be impressed by the number of books here. This is the Miscellaneous section. The next level is just as bad as this one. They contain every single cultivation and martial technique that the elders have found over the years but don’t qualify as sect worthy manuals. I heard Kane found most of the good manuals but Elder Harold is a bibliophile who refuses to not get a new book as soon as he finds one." She gestured toward the surrounding walls. "The end result is all around us"

They walked to the second floor and it was much like the first. Felix grabbed a book off the shelf and its cover displayed a cartoonish rendering of a man reaching into a pocket.

[Picking Pockets for Beginners (Technically a Manual)]

[Power: Trash]

[Comprehension: Beginner (0/5)]

[Stage: Technically a Manual]

Felix couldn't help being a little dismayed. Even if the system had high standards, to be labeled at the stage of only technically being a manual seems… pretty awful. Shaking his head, he placed the book back on the shelf. It would take a long time to find something worth learning in all this rubbish. He looked at Xue and asked "Why do we even keep all these manuals if they are so bad? Surely Elder Harold would just keep them with him if they are so worthless."

Xue shrugged "I heard from elder Rong that they can actually serve as an inspiration even if they are not that profound. He said that sometimes thinking from a new perspective is the first step to an epiphany. I have never found such inspiration from these books but what do we know. We are only babies on the journey after all. Perhaps I will find inspiration here at a later date."

Felix gave a thoughtful nod and followed Xue up the stairs. The next level gave off a much statelier air. Everything seemed crisped and organized.

"This level contains cultivation manuals recommended by the elders.” Said Xue. “The next level is Martial techniques. The fifth level has utility techniques. The sixth level has manuals on spiritual attack and defense skills. The seventh has manuals for professions. The final three levels apparently contain books too dangerous for the lower levels. Things such as fragmented manuals or the sect's most important manuals. You apparently need an Elder to even get past the protective formations."

Felix looked over apologetically at Xue. "You do not need to stay here while I look around. I want to go over as many as I can before I decide on what to begin cultivating. It will probably not be my only day here.

“Ah yes, your chance to cultivate something else.” Then Xue shook her head. "Don't worry, I have a manual I need to look at anyway. You will have to get here on your own from here on out. For now, I will be on the fifth floor. Just get me when you want to go back."

After watching Xue's retreating figure walk up the stair, Felix turned back to gaze at the shelves.

Time to see what this system can do!