Chapter 22 – The Library
[What is the purpose of your visit, young disguiser?]
Miaomiao had a chill running down his spine when a cold voice echoed in his mind. It was like someone was speaking directly into his brain and could read his thoughts.
Embracing his nervousness and his fear, Miaomiao followed Qi Hong's instruction, "I-I wish to access the core library, senior!"
[Who gave you the permission?]
"Umm."
Miaomiao wanted to smack his head. He forgot to ask Qi Hong's name. He only knew that she had a twin sister, and she was an elder who took care of outer disciples.
As if the statue could read his mind, the Lady Justice Statue lowered the measurement scale. The metal scale made clinking noises while it hung right in front of Miaomiao.
Each circular measurement platform was 1 meter in diameter, which was wide enough for a grown man to stand on. However, both platform's strings looked as thin as thread. They wiggled and wavered as if they were alive.
[Stand on the scale. If you speak the truth, the scale will not tip and I shall bring you to the core library. If you lie, the scale will tip and I shall send you to the underground dungeon.]
Miaomiao hesitated. He was afraid that the platform might break or the strings would snap if he stepped on it.
'This is not the modern world. Throw away your logic, Cat Meow-meow!'
The young master slapped his face with both hands to boost his confidence. He then leaped onto one of the platforms. When his feet landed on the thin metal platform, the scale didn't move. Surprisingly, it was as firm as a mountain.
[You're an honest man. You shall be granted access to the core library. You have 10 minutes to browse the books, scrolls, and manuals. However, you can only choose one.]
Miaomiao's consciousness faded while he was standing on the scale.
"Hmm?"
When Miaomiao's eyes opened again, he found himself floating in a place similar to his Isolate Training room.
"Wait. Wasn't I standing on that scale? Why am I here?"
Miaomiao scratched his head, confused why his skill activated.
*RUMBLE*
The white room trembled and turned dark. Stars, planets, suns, moons, asteroids, colorful gas, and many unknown strange rocks replaced the walls, ceiling, and floor. Then, Miaomiao couldn't control his body as there was no gravity.
Now, Miaomiao was floating in space.
"The hell!?"
Fortunately, Miaomiao could still breathe, speak, and move. The space temperature was warm, which hinted to him that this phenomenon might be an illusion.
"Okay. Deep breathe… Deep breathe."
Miaomiao kept his head cool and stopped panicking. He looked around to explore where he was. Of course, he hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to be in the core library.
[Touch the star that responds to your existence.]
The instruction from the statue lady echoed in this mysterious space, giving Miaomiao a hint of what he had to do.
However, Miaomiao wasn't satisfied. He had expected a place with hundreds of bookshelves where he could browse several books, not the magical gambling space that he had to pick a skill randomly.
"Can I see the books first?"
[All manuals, scrolls, and books here are sentience. They can tell if you are capable of learning their techniques or not. You should search for a star that calls for you and try to get there in time.]
[You have 9 minutes and 30 seconds remaining in this library.]
Miaomiao wanted to refute, "This isn't how a library supposed to be," but he kept his mouth shut. Since this was Silver Phoenix Sect's secret vault, tight security was to be expected. Miaomiao couldn't complain.
The white-haired young master waved his arms and his legs as if he was swimming. He flipped his body around, trying to locate the nearest star, but he didn't have to move far as many stars reacted to his existence.
Orbiting around Miaomiao were colorful hand-sized balls, which represented miniature stars. A white sun, a neutron star, a blue sun, a red sun, a brown planet, an ocean planet, a glacial planet, and a black hole rotated and circled around Miaomiao's body as if he was the center of the universe.
Without the need of searching, eight sentient manuals responded to Miaomiao. Each of them blinked and flashed their unique color, trying to get Miaomiao's attention.
Curious, Miaomiao extended his hand and poke the black hole.
*NOM!*
As if the black hole had transformed into a Pacman's mouth, it bit Miaomiao's finger.
"OUCH! WTF!?"
The black hole drank a drop of Miaomiao's blood. In exchange, something entered his mind. He heard the archaic voice of an old woman.
[Vampiric Touch. You can drain your opponent's Qi by simply touching them. The drained Qi can be used to heal your injuries or strengthen yourself!]
"…Wow."
The voice briefed Miaomiao about the content of the black hole manual's technique.
"How convenient. What about you?"
Miaomiao turned towards a miniature white sun. However, the black hole refused to release his finger. It continued gnawing him as if it was telling him, "Don't ignore me!"
"Let me check the others and I'll make a decision after that, okay!?"
The mini black hole still bit him and continued sucking his blood.
"Ah, fine. I'll use another finger to touch the other-"
*NOM!*
*NOM!*
*NOM!*
Before Miaomiao could use his other fingers to touch the other mini-planets around him, all 7 stars copied the black hole's action and bit his fingers.
[Water Manipulation. You can control all liquid and transform them into a weapon of your liking, including your opponent's blood! This is a deadly technique against blood users.]
[Primordial Yin. Convert your Yin Qi into Ice Element skills. You can clad your body with Yin Aura to protect yourself against Ice Element skills or summon ice magic to attack your opponent from any angle.]
[Stem of Yin-Yang. By cultivating this technique, your body can attract Yin or Yang Qi from the surrounding environment to strengthen your cultivation base. Once mastered, you can gather at least 1,000 strands of Qi per hour!]
[Yang Fire. You can convert your Yang Qi into Fire Element skills. The fire can be freely manipulated, and you can coat your weapons with Yang Fire Aura.]
[Eternal Youth. Convert your Yin Qi into life span and maintain your youthful appearance at will! By mastering this technique, you can obtain eternal youth or make the others young as well!]
[Dual Flame. Combine Yin Qi and Yang Qi to create one of the legendary primordial flames! This skill can burn, freeze, or be used as grenades, depending on circumstances.]
[Eternal Pleasure. During sex, this skill can forcefully make your sex partner continuously orgasm. If your partner is a man, he will keep ejaculating. If your partner is a woman, she will climax non-stop.]
Every technique was interesting. Each had their own usage and advantage, but Miaomiao could only choose one.
'Eh, what a waste. I want to learn everything, but I can only pick one. What should I pick? Doraemon System, what should I do? Can you copy these skills so that I can learn everything?'
Miaomiao closed his eyes and bit his lower lip, feeling bitter that he couldn't learn them all.
"…"
"…"
Getting chided by the system, Miaomiao got frustrated and ashamed. He slapped his face and adjusted his mindset again.
'Okay, let's see. Right now, I don't have any offensive or defensive technique. I don't have a proper cultivation technique, but I have the system. So, I don't need that Stem of Yin-Yang right now. Eternal Pleasure and Eternal Youth is also a no-go.'
Miaomiao eliminated non-offense or non-defense skills from the choices. Now, he had to choose one of the five interesting skills, Vampiric Touch, Yang Fire, Water Manipulation, Primordial Yin, or Dual-Flame.
'I have no ranged attack skills, so Yang Fire, Water Manipulation, Primordial Yin, or Dual-Flame should be the remaining choice. But if I want to be specialized in close-combat, Vampiric Touch can boost my combat strength more than other complex skills. Still, the other four skills have less restriction…'
Again, Miaomiao couldn't decide if he should cover his range weakness or boost his close-combat skill. He fell into deep thought and recalled the sparring match in Isolation Space.
[You have 5 minutes remaining in this library.]
The statue warned Miaomiao that he didn't have a lot of time left, but he didn't pay attention to the voice. He was simulating previous sparring matches he had with Qing Yong's clone, Xu Xiuying's clone, and the beggar child.
[You have 1 minute remaining in this library.]
Miaomiao opened his eyes as he made the decision.
"Give me the Dual Flame!"
The miniature blue sun that had been busy nibbling Miaomiao's middle finger released a high-pitch voice. It flew around Miaomiao and dove into his forehead, merging with him.
Seeing that Miaomiao chose another manual, the rest of the miniature planets bit his fingers harder, punishing him for ignoring them. These small planets and suns seemed upset.
*NOM!* *NOM!*
*NOM!* *NOM!*
*NOM!* *NOM!*
"OW, OW, OW!! WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL!?"
*NOM!* *NOM!*
*NOM!* *NOM!*
*NOM!* *NOM!*
"OW! STOP IT! I'M SORRY, I ONLY HAVE ONE CHOICE!!"
*NOM!* *NOM!*
*NOM!* *NOM!*
*NOM!* *NOM!*
These little balls didn't stop. They wanted Miaomiao to change his mind and choose them instead. Something inside Miaomiao attracted these living manuals, and they didn't want to part with him.
[*Sigh*]
Even the lady statue was troubled because of these little beings.
[Calm down, you hags. This disciple won't go anywhere any time soon. He will be back to inherit your legacies in the future. In the meantime, release him, or else.]
*Whimper*
Seven little Pacmen stopped gnawing Miaomiao's fingers. They released a soft sad voice.
[I'm so sorry, junior. The rule is the rule. I cannot allow you to take more than one skill at a time. However, when you have enough contribution points, you may return here to choose another legacy.]
Miaomiao's consciousness faded again.