"Soil Texture Analysis"
"How to Survive by Eating Dirt during Disasters"
"Ten Most Useless Inventions in the World"
Rows and rows of search results arrayed on the surface of a white sphere—these absurdly named books once again became Yang Yu’s source of happiness.
He casually selected a few, checked their locations, and, with Iyas, headed down a spiral staircase to the shelves to find books that intrigued him, then sat down in the reading area for a while.
The titles of these books seemed funny, but the content inside was incredibly serious. Still, somehow, seeing someone seriously analyze them made Yang Yu want to laugh.
After skimming a few pages and satisfying his curiosity, Yang Yu slowly closed the book and shifted the conversation to becoming a Star-level Member,
"The knowledge here is exceptionally intriguing; you should study more.
Being as clever as I am, I don’t need to learn all this. I need to take care of some important matters concerning how quickly we can obtain the knowledge we need. You just stay here and read, eat when you’re hungry and don’t wait for me.
Well, this is also to see if you can fend for yourself. The library atmosphere is much gentler than outside, providing more room for error."
Iyas responded somewhat annoyed, "You don’t need to instruct me like a child. Bai Jin goes to study while you look for ways to become an Advanced Member of the Library—I understand that. After learning from you so long, I can very well live on my own."
Despite saying this, Iyas just didn’t want Yang Yu to worry about her while he attended to matters he was passionate about.
The longer Iyas followed Yang Yu, the more she realized how foolish her initial plan to directly save her brother was.
Having lived in the Elf Village previously, she had no understanding of the rules of the Human World. Had Yang Yu not helped her face reality, she might have died without even knowing how.
Iyas always kept her brother’s situation close to her heart. She wanted to urge Yang Yu to hurry, but seeing him tirelessly working, she knew she couldn’t add more burden to his shoulders.
So far, all the obstacles they encountered on the road had been efficiently handled by Yang Yu.
Iyas asked herself, if she were to lead, could she accomplish half of what Yang Yu did?
Perhaps, she would just flail around like a headless fly.
The more Iyas learned from Yang Yu, the more ignorant she felt.
Instead of running around with Yang Yu, she believed that staying in the library and learning everything she could about the Human World without any gaffes would be more helpful.
After learning so much, taking care of herself should surely be manageable. In fact, as a competent Elf Warrior, handling small tasks should naturally come to her without causing any trouble for him.
After receiving Iyas’s affirmative response, Yang Yu, still uneasy, gave her a few more reminders.
Like "If you encounter any danger, call for help loudly—you’re so beautiful, surely many would think of a hero saving a damsel," "Don’t act alone and don’t carelessly eat or drink anything given by others in case it’s drugged," "Just stay in your room and rest at night; don’t wander around." He reiterated these points several times.
At that moment, Yang Yu turned into a father, reluctant yet wanting to let his daughter go to school alone.
There was no helping it, after all, the world was too chaotic, and without enough warnings, Iyas could easily have been deceived by a bad man and taken on a spontaneous trip.
The nanny development plan hadn’t even started when the person was gone. Crying and fainting in the bathroom wouldn’t solve anything, but rather, one had to think about how to make the scumbag who duped Iyas pay a price.
That would certainly require a lot of brainstorming.
Of course, Yang Yu also had the option to take Iyas along with him, which would ensure she wouldn’t be abducted.
But Yang Yu believed that growth must be accompanied by growing pains to be profound.
Experiencing loneliness, getting brutally beaten down by society, only then could one realize their weaknesses and strive for improvement.
After convincing himself, Yang Yu opened his heart and let Iyas live her own life, letting her see what the scenery looked like alone versus what it looked like with others.
Yang Yu emphasized this a lot, and Iyas was getting a bit annoyed, saying with a face full of grudges, "Stop treating me like a child, by age alone I’m older than you."
Previously, Yang Yu wasn’t interested in Iyas’s age, so he never inquired about her exact age.
Now that Iyas brought it up, Yang Yu became interested in her actual age,
"Oh? Really? How old are you now?"
When it came to the subject of age, Iyas didn’t avoid it, "Including this year, this is the seventy-sixth summer of my life."
How can you say seventy-six like you’re eighteen?
Moreover, saying you’re seventy-six but still acting like a naive young girl, truly, it’s a life misspent.
Yang Yu could understand the tone Iyas used but couldn’t help but make a few sarcastic remarks.
For a long-lived race, being seventy-six years old really is just like playing house; it’s understandable that Iyas wouldn’t take it seriously, and as for her naïvety, that’s entirely the fault of being confined in a secluded village.
Imagine a seventy-six-year-old elder always trapped in a mountain remote from the world; they would also appear ignorant and short-sighted.
The depth and weight of a person’s words are unrelated to age, depending only on their knowledge and experience.
In past societies, where information was limited, the longer people lived, the more they saw and experienced, hence the saying, "Disregard the words of the elderly at your own peril."
In Yang Yu’s era, it was extremely easy to access information with constant emergence of new things. A mentally-sound youth could easily surpass an elder in terms of insights and experiences, often producing more valuable and constructive thoughts.
Although Iyas had lived for seventy-six years, being isolated in the Elf Village with a long lifespan, she lacked awareness in regards to knowledge and age, so it seemed somewhat acceptable for her to act like a typical young girl.
Well, such a setting didn’t really need to be scrutinized. After all, aren’t there vampires who’ve lived for hundreds of years and still act like young girls, or legendary masters who, despite centuries of life, still don’t understand basic management?
With this thought, Yang Yu no longer cared about Iyas’s actual age; in his eyes, she was still a village girl who had just started out, and had a long way to go if she wanted to ride the waves of the era.
Yang Yu was not in a hurry at all; these kinds of things couldn’t be rushed, as forcing development was definitely not something one should do haphazardly.