6: Chapter 6: The Power Within Books and the Finding of Hidden Gems

In the days that followed, Ye Qing settled into a routine life, moving between two points.

Every day, he left before dawn to head to the Library Pavilion.

He began his day's work amidst Old Liu's eternal, unchanging napping posture.

He cleaned with extreme diligence, his use of the Dust Removal Technique becoming increasingly proficient, to the point where he could control the breeze to only brush away dust without disturbing the pages.

When not cleaning, he read with insatiable hunger.

Starting from the most basic 'Analysis of Five Elements Spiritual Roots,' to 'Illustrated Guide to Common Herbs,' 'Identification of Low-level Ores,' and then to 'Introduction to Basic Talismans,' 'Elementary Formation Diagrams'...

He was like a parched sponge, frantically absorbing the foundational knowledge of this Cultivation world.

The existence of the space within his body made his memory and Comprehension Ability far exceed that of an ordinary person; although he could not recall everything at a glance, once he understood the content he had read, it was difficult to forget, and he could draw inferences from what he had learned.

For example, when reading the 'Illustrated Guide to Common Herbs,' not only could he remember the appearance and medicinal properties of the herbs, but by combining it with his perception of Spiritual Qi, he could vaguely judge their growth environment, the timing for harvesting, and even potential possibilities for mutation.

When reading the 'Introduction to Basic Talismans,' those complex talismanic trajectories and the key points of Spiritual Qi infusion became clear and organized under the transcendent Comprehension Ability brought by the space; although he lacked Materials to practice, he could deduce and simulate them in his mind, already achieving a resemblance in form.

One afternoon, Ye Qing was tidying up a corner bookshelf that was piled with old sundries and rarely visited.

The shelves were mostly filled with dilapidated, illegible animal skin scrolls and bamboo slips, or obscure, unwanted miscellaneous books.

According to the rules, these also needed to be cleaned regularly.

Ye Qing cast the Dust Removal Technique; a breeze brushed past, kicking up faint dust.

Just as he was clearing a stack of scattered bamboo slips tied with hemp rope, his fingertips accidentally touched a broken piece of bamboo on top.

Hum.

From the space within his body, a trace of an extremely faint, yet clear and unmistakable palpitation came.

It was much weaker than when facing a Low-Grade Spirit Stone, and not even as strong as absorbing the roots of weeds, but it was real.

Ye Qing's movements paused; his face remained calm as he continued to clean, but his gaze fell upon that bamboo slip.

The bamboo slip was dark in color, its edges rotten, and the carvings blurred; it seemed to record some crude breathing and meditation technique, which had long been replaced by more perfect Cultivation Techniques, and thus it was ignored by everyone.

What attracted the space was not the bamboo slip itself, but a trace of 'meaning' remaining on it, which was almost imperceptible.

That was the mental mark inadvertently branded over the years as multiple Cultivators read and contemplated it, or what could be called an extremely thin 'remnant of Divine Sense.'

"So, it's not just tangible energy and matter... the space can even absorb this kind of intangible, formless mental mark?"

Ye Qing was surprised in his heart and tried to guide it with his consciousness.

That trace of 'meaning,' weak to the extreme, was quietly extracted and absorbed into the space within his body.

The gray mist at the edge of the space seemed to ripple imperceptibly; the extent of the expansion was almost negligible, but what was fed back was a wisp of extremely cooling, comforting sensation that went straight to his Divine Soul.

His spirit was invigorated, and even his perception of the surrounding Spiritual Qi became half a point sharper.

"Good stuff!"

Ye Qing's eyes brightened slightly, but he immediately suppressed the excitement in his heart.

He calmly cleaned that stack of bamboo slips carefully, then pretended to flip through them casually.

Sure enough, on several other ancient bamboo slips or animal skins that had been smoothed by handling, he also discovered similar, extremely faint 'meanings.'

He followed the same method and quietly absorbed them.

The accumulated cooling feedback made him feel refreshed all afternoon, and the efficiency of his reading and understanding of the classics seemed to have improved slightly.

"Does this count as... finding a treasure?"

Ye Qing looked at the pile of 'trash' in front of him, as if he had seen a small, unexcavated Ore vein.

Although the 'meaning' remaining on each piece was pitifully weak, the quantity was huge!

Moreover, this kind of absorption was intangible and formless, almost impossible to be detected, making it much safer than absorbing tangible energy and matter.

He steadied his mind and did not rush.

When cleaning every day, he would 'visit' this corner along the way; a steady stream of small gains was the long-term plan.

Time passed quietly amidst this fulfilling routine of 'sweeping the pavilion, reading books, and scavenging.'

A month later, Ye Qing's Cultivation reached the third level of Qi Refining as a matter of course.

There were no Medicinal Pills, no closed-door hard training, and not even a deliberate attempt to break through the barrier.

It was just the daily absorption of the pure energy fed back by the space, combined with the correct Qi-guiding method, and the improvement in his state of mind brought about by reading the classics; everything happened naturally.

When he broke through, he was cleaning a dead corner behind a bookshelf; the fluctuation of his Qi was imperceptible, and not even Old Liu, who was napping at the door, was disturbed.

The third level of Qi Refining was still at the bottom in the Outer Sect, but among the Utility Disciples, it was considered an upper-middle level.

At the very least, casting those few basic small Spells was easier, and they lasted longer.

The space within his body, under this month's 'nourishment,' had also quietly expanded to one and a half zhang square.

The black soil in the center was now the size of a small half-room, its color dark and shiny, the soil finer, and the thin layer of Spiritual Qi mist on the surface had also solidified a bit.

The energy fed back was becoming more and more pure, even carrying a trace of a peculiar, nourishing coolness for the Divine Soul, making his thinking increasingly agile.

On this day, Ye Qing was tidying up that pile of 'trash' in the corner as usual.

When his fingertips brushed over a broken jade pendant that was covered in dust and wedged under the leg of a bookshelf, the space suddenly sent out a suction force several times stronger than before!

Ye Qing was shocked, but his movements were not disturbed in the slightest; he continued to clean, casually sweeping the broken jade pendant along with the dust into the dustpan.

This jade pendant was only a small half-piece, with jagged edges, turbid jade quality, full of cracks, and completely lusterless, like trash that had been discarded at will.

If it weren't for the intense reaction from the space, Ye Qing wouldn't have given it a second glance.

He finished cleaning with a calm expression, dumped the trash into the designated waste bin, and then, taking advantage of the opportunity while dumping, quickly picked up the broken jade pendant and hid it in his sleeve.

The whole process was smooth and flawless.

During the lunch break, Ye Qing returned to his temporary resting room in the side courtyard.

After closing the door, he finally took out that half-piece of broken jade and examined it carefully.

The jade pendant was grayish-white, with a rough texture; the carved pattern was difficult to recognize due to the damage, and he could only tell that it seemed to be a corner of some cloud pattern.

He injected Spiritual Qi, but there was no reaction.

He probed with his Divine Sense, but it was empty.

No matter how he looked at it, this was a piece of broken jade that had lost all Spiritual Qi and was worthless.

But the craving of the space within his body could not be faked.

Ye Qing did not hesitate anymore, gripped the broken jade, and sank his consciousness into the space.

This time, without needing him to guide it, the suction force from the space was exceptionally active and strong.

The broken jade in his palm trembled slightly, and then a trace of energy, extremely weak but of such high quality that it shocked Ye Qing, was slowly extracted.

This energy was not pure Spiritual Qi, but instead carried an ancient, obscure, and spatial fluctuation!

The broken jade became gray and fragile at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally, with a 'poof,' it turned into a pinch of fine grayish-white powder and fell from between his fingers.

And that ancient energy absorbed into the space did not directly merge into the black soil as usual.

It was like a gray, solid stream that went straight into the chaotic gray mist at the edge of the space.

Boom!

Ye Qing felt his consciousness shake.

The small world within his body underwent an unprecedented change!

The gray mist at the edge churned and surged violently, as if it were boiling water.

The gray mist retreated backward at an astonishing speed, and the boundaries of the space expanded rapidly!

One and a half zhang... two zhang... three zhang!

It continued to expand until it was nearly five zhang in radius, and then the speed of expansion slowed down.

The black soil in the center of the space also expanded accordingly; it was now the size of more than half a room, the color of the soil was deeper, and it faintly shimmered with an extremely faint, indescribable glow.

More importantly, Ye Qing could clearly feel that the 'barrier' of the space seemed to have become more stable and thicker.

If it had previously felt like a thin bubble, it now had the texture of a 'membrane.'

The energy fed back was even more majestic and pure, and it contained a trace of an extremely subtle, mysterious spatial attribute, giving him a vague, almost instinctive perception of the space within a zhang around him.

It was as if, even with his eyes closed, he could 'see' the trajectory of floating dust and the direction of air currents within this range.

"What is the origin of this jade pendant...? How could it contain such pure spatial attribute energy?"

Ye Qing was shocked beyond measure.

Just half a broken, seemingly useless piece of jade contained energy and brought about spatial growth far exceeding the sum of all the weeds, medicinal dregs, discarded Talisman paper, and even Low-Grade Spirit Stones he had absorbed before!

"It seems that in the future, I must pay more attention to those things that look ancient, broken, and inconspicuous... especially those that might be related to special attributes like 'space' or 'time.'"

He silently noted down this experience.

The space expanding to five zhang brought more than just an increase in area.

Ye Qing tried to integrate his consciousness more deeply with the space and found that his thinking speed and Comprehension Ability seemed to have improved another notch.

When reading those difficult classics, the parts that originally required repeated pondering could now often be grasped more quickly.

"The space expands, the feedback energy is purer, and it even leads to an all-around improvement in my Cultivation speed, Comprehension Ability, and even Divine Soul perception... This is the greatest value of the Golden Finger."

Ye Qing understood in his heart.

Simple energy absorption is only an accumulation of 'quantity,' while this all-around implicit improvement is a leap in 'quality.'

He carefully cleaned up the jade dust on the ground, leaving no trace.

Then, as usual, he picked up a copy of 'Miscellaneous Talks on Southern Wilderness Yao Beasts,' leaned against the window, and read quietly in the afternoon sun.

Outside the window, tree shadows swayed, and cicadas chirped in waves.

No one knew that in this small resting room, inside the body of a Utility Disciple, a crucial 'evolution' had just been completed.

And no one knew that this seemingly ordinary afternoon had laid another solid cornerstone for the steady development path of a certain future 'Old Six.'