15: Chapter 15 Third Life, Reborn as the Boss of the Opponent's Family (Part Two)

Chen Shi gasped. This older brother was terrifyingly formidable; at sixteen, he was already in the Iron Skin Realm and could even fight across two minor Realms. This child must not be allowed to live.

Ah? He's my own brother, so never mind then.

"Big brother is so amazing. If only I could be as amazing as him," Chen Shi said with a look of yearning, suppressing the shock in his heart and putting on the performance expected of a 13-year-old child.

"Hahahaha, Shi'er, you will be just as amazing as your big brother," Patriarch Chen Lie said, rubbing his head and laughing again.

"Then when will I be able to see big brother? It's been a long time since he came back," Chen Shi asked, looking up.

Patriarch Chen Lie pondered for a moment and sighed. "The times are not peaceful. To ensure nothing goes wrong, the Old Ancestor has decided to wait until your big brother reaches the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm before letting him leave the Sect for training."

"Oh." Chen Shi sighed, feigning disappointment, and excused himself from his father.

After leaving, he ran towards the Library Pavilion.

He couldn't wait to go to the Library Pavilion to look up what happened after his previous life; now he had finally found the opportunity.

Soon, Chen Shi arrived at the entrance of the Library Pavilion.

It was a quaint-looking pavilion, four stories high, sitting on a three-foot-high bluestone foundation.

Two collateral Disciples of the Chen family in the Stone Skin Realm were on guard at the entrance. Seeing Chen Shi approach, they immediately bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Second Young Master."

Chen Shi nodded slightly and pushed the door open to enter.

This was his first time entering the Library Pavilion. Before his eyes were rows of tall nanmu bookshelves, packed full.

The shelves were neatly arranged with miscellaneous writings and tales of the strange, but more numerous were the intelligence dossiers on the local customs, commerce, defense, and even the movements of various families in Pantie City and its subordinate villages and towns over the recent years.

The wall lighting consisted of glass gas lamps modeled after palace lanterns. The bronze lamp stands were carved with intertwined lotus patterns, and the lamp bases emitted a faint scent of kerosene mixed with machine oil, which was almost imperceptible, suppressed by the sandalwood incense filling the room.

Yes, over the past few years, Chen Shi had gradually discovered that this world might not be a purely ancient one; steam technology existed here.

In his previous life, while in Hansha Town, there had been faint traces of it, but he had overlooked them because they were too scarce.

As he walked deeper inside, he saw many Chen family stewards along the way, reading or updating dossiers by the bookshelves. Upon seeing him, they all bowed respectfully.

Soon, Chen Shi walked to the section for Hansha Town dossiers. His footsteps paused slightly, then he continued on to the second floor.

The second floor also had rows of nanmu bookshelves, though they were a bit more sparse. This floor contained various Body Tempering Realm Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills collected by the Chen family.

He even saw complete sets of the Liegu Palm, Houshan Fist, and Thunder Sprint Leg, ranging from basic stance training to the Peak of the Stone Skin Realm. However, he only glanced at them briefly before continuing to the third floor without hesitation.

In his previous life, he had died unexpectedly from a sneak attack with a blade, which gave him a great obsession with blade techniques. This time, he had specifically asked his father for the token, intending to learn a blade technique.

At the entrance to the third floor, Chen Shi saw a white-haired old man leisurely lying on a recliner reading a magazine. The words "Sword," "Fairy," and "Mortal World" were vaguely visible.

However, judging by how the old man hurriedly put the book away upon hearing movement, it probably wasn't a proper book.

Chen Shi secretly despised him. You old shameless thing, how old are you to be reading such things? I don't even read them.

Well, it's definitely not because I'm only thirteen and afraid it will affect my physical development!

On the surface, however, he respectfully called out, "Great-Uncle," and then handed over the token.

"Ahem, ahem, it's Shi'er," the old man coughed tactically twice.

Then, without changing his expression, he hid the book and carefully examined the token.

After confirming it was correct, he tossed the token back and asked, "Shi'er, what are you going to the third floor for? That place only has Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills for those above the Iron Skin Realm. Don't be overly ambitious."

Chen Shi respectfully took the token, his voice crisp and filled with the naive yearning of a child: "Great-Uncle, I've recently broken through to the Ox-Skin Realm and was thinking of learning a Martial Skill to defend myself, so I can go out and train."

"The ones I saw on the second floor were all just fist and foot techniques, and I wasn't very satisfied, so I wanted to come to the third floor to learn a blade technique."

"But I heard that according to the Dynasty's prohibition, blade techniques are only allowed to be learned by official Martial Artists who are in the Iron Skin Realm or above. I wonder if I can be taught one?"

Great-Uncle laughed heartily, his tone filled with a hint of arrogance: "The Dynasty's prohibition? That only restricts those peasants; it has no power over our Chen family."

"Shi'er, as a direct descendant of our Chen family, you can naturally learn it."

"Do you have any target in mind, or would you like Great-Uncle to recommend one for you?"

"Thank you, Great-Uncle," Chen Shi said, feigning surprise upon hearing this.

"Hahaha, say no more, say no more." Then, Great-Uncle led Chen Shi into the third floor of the Library Pavilion.

Compared to the first and second floors, the third floor only had a few bookshelves, appearing much more spacious.

But as the saying goes, rarity increases value. The bookshelves on the third floor were a deep, rich color like purple jade, with fine, woven-like grain. A faint, calm fragrance lingered in the air, mixed with the scent of paper and ink.

This was sandalwood! Purple sandalwood worth a thousand gold!

Chen Shi clicked his tongue inwardly. Good heavens, truly good heavens. Was the Chen family actually this powerful? He wanted to be the boss even more now.

At this moment, Great-Uncle's introduction began: "The third floor contains various Yellow-grade Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills collected by our Chen family. The blade techniques include the sword, saber, staff, and spear. You may choose one."

"Oh, wow, there are so many types. But what is this 'Yellow-grade' classification? Is it for those above the Iron Skin Realm?"

He asked when he didn't know, so Chen Shi asked in confusion: "Great-Uncle, what does this 'Yellow-grade' mean? Among these blade techniques, which one is the strongest? I want to learn the strongest one!"

Great-Uncle stroked his beard and smiled, then introduced: "The region we are in is called the Tianwu Dynasty. It values martial arts above all else. Every Breakthrough in a major Realm is a leap in life. Within the capital, there are Martial Kings in the Platinum Viscera Realm who guard the nation."

"Below that, every major provincial city has a Martial Monarch of the Yinsui Realm sitting in town, watching the changes of the world and overlooking the mortal Realm."

"And the powerful Martial Masters of the Copper Bone Realm in the county cities, along with us Martial Artists of the Iron Skin Realm, together constitute the Metal Martial Dao. Everything below that is but a mortal body."

"Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills are naturally the same. From high to low, they are divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Each grade is divided into four ranks: Low, Mid, High, and Peak, corresponding to the four stages within each major Realm."

"Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills of the Body Tempering Realm are naturally considered unranked."

"Our Chen family relies on the Spirit Sword Sect, and we even have an Old Ancestor of the Copper Bone Realm in the Sect, so naturally, the sword techniques are the strongest."

Chen Shi suddenly realized, and at the same time, he was secretly shocked. He didn't expect the world to be so vast; it seemed to be a high-martial arts world.

High-martial is good; only in a high-martial world can one go further.

It's just that Platinum Viscera, Silver Marrow, Bronze Bone, and Iron Skin—it sounds like traditional Body Refining cultivation, but there's something vaguely wrong with it.

"Thank you, Great-Uncle, for clarifying. I wish to learn the sword technique," Chen Shi said, suppressing the doubts in his heart and bowing to the old man in thanks.