Once Mu Qinlian left, Wu Huang continued with his duties. Little by little, the large pile of books shrank until only a few remained, which he finished reviewing without any setbacks. He also took the opportunity to consult a few general texts before finally withdrawing from the Vault of Knowledge.
"See you next week, young Wu Huang."
"See you later, Elder Mo."
Wu Huang said goodbye to the guardian of the Vault of Knowledge and returned to the servants' residence.
"The head of servants must be attending to his own duties, so he won't be back until noon," he murmured as he walked toward his room.
Since he was a servant with a certain track record, unlike the others, he had his own room. Although it was small compared to those owned by outer disciples, it was still much better than sleeping in a shared room with numerous servants.
"Luckily they gave double the normal amount. Even though it was double the effort, it's still better than managing the mine," he murmured as he put a portion of the reward into a bag. Inside, numerous spirit stones could be seen.
"It's almost full... have I accumulated that much?" he wondered as he took out the stones and counted them carefully. When he finished, he could not help but be surprised by the small fortune he had gathered.
"Should I spend half on buying an interspatial ring?" he questioned himself. The amount was enough for a servant to live for quite some time without worrying about anything. Of course, that was something he would worry about later.
He set the bag aside, sat on the bed, and held a spirit stone in his hand. He breathed calmly and, slowly, the energy of the stone began to be absorbed, flowing into his body. Gradually, the glow disappeared, leaving behind a common rock that soon crumbled into gray ash.
Within his mental world, the energy flowed toward his dantian; however, a large part of it changed direction and was drawn toward another place in his consciousness. That inner space was not empty at all. Besides himself, another existence inhabited it.
"I am feeding you well, so stop bothering me," Wu Huang said in his thoughts, fixing his inner gaze on that presence.
It was the Heavenly Book, his Martial Spirit, which floated in the void of his mind while silently devouring the diverted energy. As if responding to his complaint, the book glowed faintly, and words of light appeared before his spiritual eyes.
"You want more? And what reason are you giving me to do so?" he replied mentally, frowning.
The words changed on the floating pages.
"Evolve? You are the manifestation of my own soul; you should know better than anyone that forcing things won't work with me," he said without interest.
As if already expecting that answer, the words in his mind transformed again.
"Secret techniques? I know your current limits. That is nothing more than the compilation and improvement of low-level arts I have already seen. I do not intend to fight or get involved in conflicts, so they are not of much use to me. Now stop bothering me and stay quiet."
With that, he withdrew his attention from his mental world. Back in physical reality, Wu Huang sighed heavily.
How can a Martial Spirit be so demanding and annoying? If it weren't so damn useful for recording everything in the Vault of Knowledge, I would have reduced the Qi support I give it even further long ago...
Even so, he knew he could not cut off the supply completely; being something that was born with him and tied to his soul, doing so would be equivalent to crippling himself without gaining anything in return. After settling that, he continued to meditate for several hours.
Finally, he exhaled deeply.
"My foundation is perfect; advancing to the next stage should not be problematic," he murmured as he let himself fall onto the bed with a certain laziness.
He let his body sink into the softness of the mattress and closed his eyes, trying to enter the world of dreams.
However, it was still too early and sleep did not come. Finally, he opened his eyes and focused his mind on his inner world, waiting for a moment... but nothing happened. He frowned, understanding the situation.
"Heavenly Book, don't be like that and show yourself already."
There was no response in his consciousness.
"Telling you to 'stay quiet' wasn't meant for you to take it so seriously either..." he added, trying to smooth things over with his own spirit. However, the book remained completely motionless in his inner world.
Wu Huang sighed once more.
"Fine... I will increase the tribute by half a spirit stone more, alright?"
The moment he finished speaking mentally, the connection with his Martial Spirit was forcefully re-established. Wu Huang clicked his tongue and projected his consciousness to "open" it in his mind.
"If it weren't for all the knowledge you store, I would have cast you aside by now..." he muttered to himself.
The Heavenly Book contained cultivation techniques, pill recipes, talisman designs, and much other knowledge that Wu Huang had meticulously gathered during his time in the Vault of Knowledge. Its content was comparable to almost everything available on the first floor of the sect's vault. The higher levels housed knowledge he did not yet have access to and, in truth, did not interest him much either.
At first, he had accumulated that knowledge with the intention of growing stronger. However, the more he understood the dangerous world of cultivation, the clearer it became to him that the chaotic path to transcendence was not for him. Over time, he ended up abandoning it almost completely. That did not mean he stopped cultivating. After all, cultivation improved his health, cleared his mind, and protected him from diseases. Although he was not seeking immortality, those practical benefits were more than enough.
But deep down, even that mattered little to him. As long as he had enough money and resources not to work for the rest of his life, it was enough... even if it meant living a long and peaceful life as a simple mortal.
"Luckily, there are also all those novels and comics I read in my previous life that you archived..." he murmured calmly.
Immediately after, using the interface of his Martial Spirit in his mind, he chose a random novel from Earth and began to read peacefully in his mental space. Although he already knew it completely, it was still slightly exciting to reread it and understand many details that had previously been left half-finished or not fully developed.
"This cultivation world is desperately lacking in entertainment methods..." he complained in a low voice as he turned the mental page.
He spent the rest of the day that way, until some loud, physical knocking on his room door pulled him out of his peaceful immersion in the book.