"So, which one do you want?" Ember stacked a few books and asked Chongyun.
Seeing his conflicted expression, Ember directly tossed all the books in his hands over, making Chongyun fumble to catch them.
Actually, Ember just found the books too heavy and didn't want to hold them.
It took Chongyun a while to organize the ancient and heavy books in his hands. He casually flipped through a few pages, and what met his eyes was a complex and unique special magic circle.
At the center of the magic circle was a Burning hand, and behind the hand were clear and profound complex patterns.
Burning—Prayer from an ominous prophecy. It can cause instant flames to erupt from the hand. It can be immediately chained after other actions.
Ash Flame is a taboo of the Golden Tree—
A Prophet who believed in the Golden Tree, yet glimpsed the flame, was thus exiled from their homeland.
"Burning, basic flame Prayer. Beginners should diligently copy and practice this Prayer's sigil, and then..."
"Clap!" Chongyun slammed the large book shut. He furrowed his brows. Although the methods of casting and principles of "Burning" described in the book were completely different from conventional techniques, in Chongyun's view, this was simply a technique from another land.
However, such techniques are secret traditions within Liyue. No, not just Liyue; within The Seven Nations, such special powers are taught in secret. What circulates among the public are merely some body-tempering methods or self-defense skills.
To control extraordinary power, one either needs a family inheritance or must endure countless hardships to find a master and learn.
Most who publicly claim to teach immortal arts or Exorcists' techniques are swindlers.
But is Ember a swindler? Chongyun glanced at Xingqiu, who was gesturing about something, now immersed in his book again.
His close friend, though often playing tricks on him, had undeniable martial skill. Xingqiu's title as the Guhua Sect's Senior Disciple was not self-proclaimed.
That Xingqiu could be so engrossed showed that the book's insights into the concept of "martial arts" had reached a certain depth.
"Senior, this... I can't accept this," Chongyun tidied the books in his hands and handed them back to Ember.
"Hmm? Is there something wrong? I don't remember there being any. I checked several times," Ember said, flipping through his own series of cultivation books.
It seems those guys inside him are getting worse; they can't even compile a book properly, and they used to call themselves gods!
Yes, these books in the cultivation series were not written by Ember—is he the kind of person who would write books?
These were all ways Ember found for the few idle guys inside him to pass the time.
For example, the chief editor of the "Nine and Ten Scholar Cultivation Manuals" in Xingqiu and Dugu Shuo's hands was the Deep, with Ember as the chief reviewer.
And for the books on magic, Prayer, and sorcery in Chongyun's hands, the chief editor was Frenzied Flame, and Ember was still the chief reviewer.
Although Ember couldn't write books, his knack for finding flaws was top-notch.
Don't even mention substantive errors; even if a single character was wrong, it had to be sent back for a rewrite!
Because of this, Frenzied Flame and the Deep are now fluent in Teyvatian.
As for rot and First Flame, rot might be able to write a "Super Biology" book, but First Flame... it would be a miracle if it didn't burn everyone else's manuscripts.
"No, Senior, the book shouldn't have any errors," Chongyun scratched his head. Actually, even if there were errors, he wouldn't be able to spot them.
"Then why don't you want it? I don't think you're very strong either?" Ember closed the book and let out a sigh of relief. He almost suspected that one of them, him or Chongyun, had vision problems.
"Uh..." Ember's single sentence choked Chongyun. While he certainly wasn't a powerhouse, it was a bit much to say it directly!
Taking a deep breath, Chongyun solemnly said to Ember, "Senior, these things are secret teachings; I shouldn't accept them!"
"What?" Ember almost thought he misheard. This was the first time his act of kindness had been rejected.
"I cannot accept them. Please save these for your future disciples, Senior!" Chongyun pushed the books in his hands back again, and also snatched Xingqiu's.
Though he felt some resentment, Xingqiu didn't say anything. After a deeper look, he also realized the extraordinary nature of the books.
Such things are usually only seen after becoming a disciple or joining a sect. He had read so much for free, he should be content.
"It's the same if I leave them for future generations; the stronger you become, the happier I'll be," Ember tucked the books back into their arms.
Hearing this, Chongyun stroked the thick books in his hands, puzzled. "Senior, why do you want to do this?"
With more strong people around, even if Ember was strong himself, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing, would it?
"Well..." Ember stroked his chin. How should he put it?
If he were to be truly serious, perhaps it could be attributed to a habit formed by past experiences?
Originally, Ember thought he could sleep in the small wooden box until he died. But a bell rang, waking him from his grave.
He later learned that it was time to burn firewood. However, there was no good firewood left in the world, so the kindling that had been burned once before had to be pulled out and burned again.
What drove him to despair was that he wasn't among the kindling that was pulled out. Ember was purely woken up by the noise.
What drove him even more to despair was that all the kindling combined was still not enough to burn! In the end, Ember could only step in himself.
The result was that he seized the flame, Burning, Burning, what the hell was there to burn!
"Perhaps because I am a Great Hero?" Ember said, as if joking. He had no intention of recounting those old stories.
Even if Ember told them, he estimated that the two of them wouldn't understand, so it was better to explain it in a way they could understand.
"And a somewhat tired Great Hero," Ember added with a yawn.
"A somewhat tired Great Hero?" Xingqiu pondered for a moment. Was there such a Great Hero?
"Yes. When you two become stronger, many things won't require my intervention. At least, not everything will require my intervention," Ember said, chuckling a few times.
"Is that so?" Chongyun finally took Ember's books back after hearing this. His eyes gleamed, lost in thought.
"Hehe, Senior, isn't this just saying that you want us to perform more acts of chivalry?" Xingqiu wrapped an arm around Chongyun's neck and chuckled.
While they might not be considered Great Heroes, they certainly had the reputation of being heroes.
Moreover, Chongyun's reputation in this regard was even greater than Xingqiu's. The reason was that Xingqiu's identity as the second young master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild was too dazzling, overshadowing his other identities.
Some people would even speculate about the motives behind Xingqiu's 'chivalry' because of this identity.
Thinking of the occasional rumors he heard, Xingqiu felt a bit envious of Chongyun.
Chongyun came from a family of Exorcists, and thus bore the responsibility of vanquishing evil beings.
However, due to his extremely rare Pure Yang Body, Chongyun himself couldn't see evil beings. Moreover, he was often mistaken for a swindler because he would simply sit somewhere and the evil would be vanquished.
At this thought, Xingqiu, who had been somewhat envious of Chongyun, suddenly felt much better. In a way, they were fellow sufferers.
"Performing acts of chivalry?" Ember looked at Xingqiu and Chongyun before him. He hadn't expected these two youngsters to have such a hobby.
"Yes, performing acts of chivalry," Xingqiu nodded.
"Vanquishing evil beings, and moonlighting as a chivalrous hero," Chongyun still didn't forget his primary duty.
"Chongyun, oh Chongyun, you should just accept your fate! You can't even see evil beings, so how can you vanquish them? You're just performing acts of chivalry!" Xingqiu immediately retorted, exposing his friend.
His words were actually not wrong. Most of Xingqiu and Chongyun's acts of chivalry happened en route when Chongyun heard about an evil being in a certain place and rushed there.
Truth be told, there were far more villains than evil beings.
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