Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 240: The Library

“For the last time,” Shol said, pulling open the trapdoor in the corner of Jack’s kitchen, “you do not have a cellar.”

“Well, I want one. I’ve always dreamt of having my own cellar.”

“Have it elsewhere.”

“You know what? I think I’ll just turn my cultivation chamber into one. Fist Wine. Fist Beer. I’ll call it…Fistables.”

“You’re out of your goddamn mind. Just put the Dao Magnet inside so we can get going.”

“Fine.”

Jack snuck into the empty cultivation chamber and placed the magnet at the very center. Its effect wasn’t pronounced at first—but, when Jack focused on his Dao perception, he noticed a subtle flow of Fist Dao towards this place. “Impressive,” he said. “It works.”

“Of course it does.” Shol crossed his arms with pride. “The Dao Magnet is an artificing wonder, a highly sought-after resource that factions can only afford for their best disciples. In fact, it was invented so recently that it isn’t even Inspectable yet.”

“Really?”

“It’s more complicated than it sounds. Now. The most efficient way to use this thing is to let it gather the Dao for around triple the time you spend cultivating. In other words, you should only cultivate one every three hours for maximum efficiency. The Dao concentration that a magnet produces peaks at around sixteen hours in, so most people just cultivate for eight hours a day, and spend the rest of their time doing other things.”

“Hmm. So I can spend the day training and the night cultivating, right? Immortals don’t need to sleep.”

Shol threw him an odd stare. “You can. But, as you’ll come to realize, training and cultivating are both exhausting.”

“No problem. I have a planet to save; the least I can do is tolerate some exhaustion.”

Shol’s eyes twinkled. “We’ll see about that,” he said, then changed the subject. “Now that we’ve settled the issue of your cultivation chamber, we can proceed. Follow me.”

They flew away again, Brock riding Jack’s back as usual. Their next destination was a pyramid of white stone set on the back of the mountain, surrounded by a silent, calm garden that reminded Jack of the Center Moon’s guest lounge. Many people sat on benches throughout this garden, reading books or relaxing. A few greeted Shol as they flew past.

“This is the library,” Shol explained as he landed in front of the pyramid. “It contains all sorts of skills, visions, and knowledge that the master has unearthed throughout her life, as well as books on history, the System, the B-Grade factions of our galaxy, and other important stuff.”

“Other important stuff?” Jack raised a brow. “You don’t sound well-versed.”

“I am not. While history is important, I will have time to immerse myself in it after reaching the C-Grade. For now, strength is my most important goal.”

“Not a family?”

“Don’t go there, Jack.”

The change in mood was sudden and abrupt. Jack realized he’d misspoken. Something told him he’d accidentally hit a painful point—and he resolved to be more careful from now. Five hundred years could give anyone a lot of wounds.

“Sorry,” he said.

“The library is a place you will frequent,” Shol continued explaining like nothing had happened. “Each personal disciple is allowed to borrow three items every year—and I say items, because there is more to this library than books. Since this year will be extremely important for you, given your planet’s situation, I would suggest waiting a bit longer before making your selection. However, you can still peruse the library and see what it has to offer.”

“Can Brock borrow books, too?”

Shol turned to look at the brorilla, who gave him his best wide smile—not because he could read, but because he wanted to help Jack.

“He is not a personal disciple, so no,” Shol shot them down. Seeing their disappointed expressions, he added, “But don’t get ahead of yourselves. The master set the three item rule not to limit you, but to help you. A novice in a thousand skills is no match for a master in one.”

“Hmm,” Jack said, nodding. “That was wise. Could you use the same wisdom to help me pick the best…items? Whatever those are?”

“I can, and I will.” Finally, Shol cracked a smile. On his middle-aged face, it looked almost mischievous. “How about you tell me more about your Dao and Class as we explore the library?”

“Sure thing.”

There were no guards in front of the pyramid, so they entered freely. They were welcomed by a forty-foot-tall open space whose slanted walls were covered in five levels of books. There were no platforms to stand on, however; anyone wanting to access a book higher than the first level would have to fly.

“The higher up you go, the higher the level of the items,” Shol explained, hovering an inch over the ground. “The first level is meant for mortals. The other three are meant for early, middle, and late immortals respectively. Nobody will stop you if you try to access a level above yours, but it is usually ill-advised.”

“I see,” Jack asked, looking around. The pyramid was made of white stone, both on the inside and outside, and had no openings besides the entrance. There was no furniture except for the bookshelves and a lonely chair by a corner, and it was also completely devoid of people. “But, if there are no guards here, who is to stop me from taking more than three items?”

“Your dignity,” Shol replied, frowning. “Stationing guards here would imply that any of the disciples our master hand-picked could be vile at heart—which would be an insult to the master’s insight.”

“I see. Pardon me for asking,” Jack said humbly.

Shol’s hard face mellowed. “But, well, accidents happen. We may not have guards, but we do have a librarian.”

A man appeared right in front of Jack. He did not walk there, teleport, or anything like that; he simply popped into existence. There had also been no indication of him beforehand—no smell, no sound, no breeze of breath or an errant glance of Shol. Even Jack’s Dao perception, which came as natural as breathing, hadn’t picked up the slightest sign that there was an invisible man standing right before him.

Most people in Jack’s situation would have jumped back or frozen at the surprise. Not Jack. Before his brain had even registered what was happening, his fist was already hurtling forward, seeking to punch a hole through this man’s chest.

Shit, he realized at the last fraction of a second, but it was too late. Everything had happened instantly. He had no time to stop it.

A hand wrapped gently around his fist. And, just like that, it stopped. There had been no impact; its momentum was just extinguished without resistance. It was like a tremendous force suppressed Jack’s body and Dao, wiping away all hints of the attack even after it had begun.

Jack stood frozen, fist outstretched and still in the other man’s grasp.

This was a thin, stick-like old man. A white mustache extended from either side of his mouth, while his lips were drawn into a kind smile. Long white hair hung to his shoulders, and he wore an orange gown that looked extremely comfortable. When he spoke, his voice was smooth and pleasant to the ears.

“I apologize,” said the old man, laughing lightly. “I admit, I expected a calmer approach, but this remains my fault for surprising you. Please accept my apology.”

He let go of the fist, which Jack retrieved slowly. He gazed at the man before him in shock.

Human (Earth-44), Level 249

Faction: Exploding Sun (B-Grade)

Only now did Brock recover from the shock. “Bro!” he exclaimed, pointing at the old man. “Not cool.”

“I should not have tried to show off,” the old man replied, still smiling. “I am sorry, little brorilla.”

Brock mimed that the only thing little around here was the old man’s genitalia. Thankfully, the man didn’t seem to get it.

“Okmer!” Shol exclaimed, laughing. “I should have warned you. Jack has been through a lot; his battle instincts are well-honed.”

“No harm, no problem.” The old man laughed too, wrapping Shol in a hug. With his stick-like body, he looked like a child compared to the hard-faced, strong-looking Shol. “How have you been, my friend?”

“Excellent. More than excellent, in fact. The master just accepted my only disciple as her disciple!”

“Oh!” The old man’s eyes flashed. “Is it this young warrior? It is an honor to make your acquaintance, my friend.”

“This is Okmer,” Shol introduced the old man, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “A deacon like me, and the librarian of our estate. He is also a personal disciple of the master, like most immortals around here.”

“I’m Jack, and this is Brock,” said Jack, reaching out for a handshake, which the old man readily accepted—as gentle as his grip was, Jack did not forget about the ease with which his strike had been neutralized. “Sorry for punching you. I was just surprised.”

“No problem at all.”

“Jack here was going to peruse the library a bit, see what he could find,” Shol said. “How about he tells us about his Dao and Class, and we see if we can help him out? Are you okay with that, Jack? Okmer here is a trustworthy, knowledgeable individual.”

Jack considered it. As Shol had explained shortly before, withholding his personal information from this old man would mean insulting his master’s insight—therefore, he couldn’t refuse. Not that he really wanted to, either. If this guy wanted to harm him, a little secrecy wouldn’t save him.

“I cultivate the Dao of the Fist,” he explained. “My current Class is called Cosmic Fist, and I believe it is space-themed, though it gave me no Dao Visions. It is also a King Class. My signature skill is Meteor Punch, which does exactly what it says.”

Okmer whistled. “A King Class! We don’t see those often, do we, Shol?”

“Not really, no,” Shol replied quickly.

“Well then, we should find you skills of the appropriate rarity! Before that, however, let me reciprocate your trust. I cultivate the Dao of Suppression—that is how I was able to suppress your attack so effectively, or how I was suppressing my presence before.”

Jack’s eyes brightened; he appreciated this. “I see. Thank you for trusting me with this information.”

“No problem. Now; items.” Okmer got into excited librarian mode. “If I may be so blunt, do you feel that your current skillset is missing anything important? The library has a lot of things, ranging from Dao Visions that can help you develop additional Daos, to D-Grade elixirs that can greatly augment your attributes, to Ancient artifacts and weapons, to Dao Skills. Books, too, as you can see.”

Jack considered it. He had enough attacking power from Meteor Punch. Space Walk gave him mobility, while defense was probably his greatest asset. Additionally, he also had an aura skill that could help both against strong enemies and groups of weaker ones. As for the technical parts of his fighting, those were handled by Iron Fist Style, his constant sparring against Copy Jack, and his many life-or-death battles so far.

He really wasn’t missing much, as he always tried to work on his weaknesses.

“I guess…some sort of cheap mobility?” he finally decided. “I already have a mobility skill, but it’s exhausting, so I can’t use it freely in battle.”

“Mhm. Any other specifications?”

“Make it space-oriented or fist-oriented, if possible.”

“I was just telling Jack that it’s better to wait a bit before making his selection,” Shol quickly jumped in. “When I mentioned helping him, I meant ideas, not just handing him the best thing.”

“Waiting is one thing, and delaying is another,” Okmer replied, his eyes shimmering. “Let’s take a look at what we have here, and if anything catches your eye, you can take it. What do you say, Jack?”

“That sounds good.”

“Excellent! Wait here.”

Okmer floated into the air and started rushing from shelf to shelf, gathering an assortment of items. Only a few seconds later, he landed and presented Jack with three items—only one of which was a book.

“This is a manual on all things space,” Okmer explained, raising a thick, leather bound tome. Its cover was black with white letters and the image of a galaxy in the background—its title spelled, “A Scientific Introduction to the Universe.”

Jack nodded.

“This,” Okmer raised a brown statuette of a woman in a running pose, “is an imprint of a movement-based Dao Skill. It is similar to what you described—it simply allows the user to dash in one direction. It has a short range and doesn’t involve teleportation or anything complex, but it gets the job done, even for low immortals.”

“Hmm,” Jack hummed, cupping his chin. “You keep mentioning Dao Skills, but I thought they couldn’t be taught? That everyone had to form their own Dao Skills that correspond to their Dao?”

“Correct,” Shol explained. “They cannot be taught, but we can record someone demonstrating a skill. By watching it many times and meditating on it, you may be able to develop a skill that operates on similar principles, just based on your Dao. Consider it a form of Dao Vision.”

“Oh!” Jack exclaimed. He’d actually gotten a Dao Vision like this when he broke into the E-Grade. Back then, he’d seen a man with scars on his chest release a mental aura that decimated an entire city. After meditating on it, he’d eventually developed Brutalizing Aura, his own version of that skill.

The skill that Okmer had described sounded useful, just…a bit basic.

“What about the last item?” he asked.

“This is actually the one I thought of first,” Okmer said, raising the item. It looked like a snow globe, except pitch-black inside and filled with glittering stars. “It’s a Dao Vision related to the Dao of Space. By meditating on it, you can achieve that Dao or something similar, which would synergize well with your Class.”

Jack’s eyes widened in excitement. This sounded intriguing. However, he maintained some doubts.

“I thought my Dao was cemented when I formed my Dao Tree,” he said. “That I could no longer get new Dao Roots.”

Old Man Spirit had said so, and Old Man Spirit was an unimaginably powerful and ancient being. He couldn’t be wrong.

“Correct,” Okmer said. “However, a Dao Tree doesn’t make you blind to everything else in existence. You may be unable to form new Dao Roots, but you can still comprehend Daos and use them to create new Dao Skills or improve your existing ones. Plus, the more points of view one conquers, the wiser they become—and the faster they will advance in their Dao.”

“So I can understand a new Dao and use it with my skills, just not add it to my Dao Tree?”

“Precisely. It will never be a core pillar of your power, not unless you reach the C-Grade and let your Dao branch off, but it can make you stronger and wiser. Plus, it lets you expand your Class to its full potential—which, given its rarity grade, should be tremendous.”

“Hmm.” Jack hummed again, but he was already convinced. Now, he was just running it through his mind to make sure he had no objections left. “Okay. I am convinced. I will get this space Dao Vision.”

“Excellent!” Okmer smiled.

“Have you thought this through, Jack?” Shol asked him. “Once you’ve decided, you cannot change your mind until next year.”

“I have,” Jack replied. “Getting even a bit of insight on the Dao of Space can help me unlock the potential of my Class. Plus, many of my skills are already space-themed: Meteor Punch, Space Walk… I get the feeling this is the direction I must go in.”

Shol nodded. “Very well. If you are certain, then go ahead. You have two more items to pick, anyway.”

“Great!”

Jack received the ball and put it in his pocket—these new robes had some, unlike his previous attire.

“You will have more time to peruse items later,” Shol said. “For now, there is one more place I have to show you. See you, Okmer.”

“Take care, Shol! And it was nice meeting you, Jack and Brock.”

“Likewise.” Jack smiled.

“Goodbye, bro,” said Brock.

They exited the pyramid, once again taking to the air. They hadn’t flown ten feet, however, when another group of flying immortals approached them.

“Brother Shol!” their leader shouted. She was a tall yet short-haired ginger in wide clothes. Appearance-wise, Jack would estimate her to be around forty—though her real age was probably in the hundreds.

“Melia,” Shol replied, smiling. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty fine! Auburn and I were just going for a little spar in the cloud field.”

“What a coincidence! So were we.”

Jack nodded at this Auburn, who nodded back. She seemed like a kind, energetic individual, with orange-ish robes and hair, small nose, and wide eyes. She was also young—looking less than thirty, though her actual age could be anything.

Jack scanned them both.

Human (Earth-44), Level 201

Faction: Exploding Sun (B-Grade)

Human (Earth-44), Level 178

Faction: Exploding Sun (B-Grade)

“These are Jack and Brock,” Shol introduced them. “My former disciple who just got accepted by Master Huali, and his extraordinary spiritual companion.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Jack said.

“The pleasure is all ours—though I suspect you already know our names,” replied Melia, beaming at him. She then glanced at Shol, and the two of them exchanged a look that Jack didn’t quite decipher. “I don’t know if Brother Shol told you already, Jack,” she said, “but it’s customary for new personal disciples of our master to spar against a more experienced disciple when they first visit the cloud field. Brother Shol himself is far too strong for a spar to have any meaning, as am I, but you and Auburn are relatively close in level. What do you say? Wanna give it a go?”