Chapter Five: The Strange Increase in Knowledge

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Liu Shuyue walked briskly for a long distance before finally slowing her pace. She looked back, and the mysterious shop was already beyond a distant hill, barely visible through layers of trees as a faint cluster of light.

The shopkeeper did not follow her.

Perhaps, as he said, this transaction was a fair trade, but she still could not let her guard down.

The moment she understood what she had gained, Liu Shuyue realized her initial judgment had been completely wrong! What did it mean to exchange four abilities for one? Had she known that “Extensive Knowledge of Past and Present” was such a treasure, she would have willingly traded even more abilities for it!

She had seen another segment of history—an immense and magnificent history! Within it, countless figures had established various dynasties, their rise and fall unfolding like a grand and turbulent painting, far more complex than she had imagined, and far beyond what she had learned.

She found it hard to comprehend how such a vast increase in insight and experience could be ranked as an ordinary eighth grade ability. Moreover, its description was completely misleading: “You think you can learn lessons from it, but actually you cannot.” Yet many people within that history explicitly stated the opposite—for example, using history as a mirror to understand rise and decline, or later generations remembering the teachers of the past... She had to admit, either the shopkeeper was careless and had mislabeled the ability, or he was deliberately testing her.

Now, it seemed likely the latter was true.

A one-month return policy?

She would never return this ability in her lifetime.

Liu Shuyue had not revealed everything.

Since her enlightenment, a question had lingered in her heart. Since the Lotus Cloud Sect’s purpose was to assist the monarch in governance, why did the sect’s library rarely record the past assistance given to disciples? Logically, whether their achievements were good or bad, they should have been faithfully documented—good deeds to emulate, bad ones to warn against—but she had found nothing of the sort. When she asked her master, he only smiled without answering, or the elders of the sect seemed indifferent to all disciples who left the mountain, as if the world’s changes had nothing to do with the Lotus Cloud Sect.

With her pace, it would take at most a month to travel from Kunlun to the capital of the Great Qi Kingdom, but she had already delayed for nearly half a year on the road.

During these six months, she passed through more than ten towns, witnessing many scenes unseen within the sect and learning things never taught in books. Logically, with the sect disciples’ assistance, the dynasty should be flourishing and the people prosperous, yet everywhere she saw was the opposite. Bandits roamed freely in small towns, official roads and villages were abandoned, with only a few major cities faring slightly better.

No matter how she inquired, she could find no news of the previous generation of disciples who had left the mountain, which she simply could not understand.

The sect opened its gates once every hundred years, and cultivators generally lived beyond that age barring accidents. Even if the disciples who left the mountain perished halfway, there should have been abundant records and achievements left behind.

Yet there were hardly any legends about immortal disciples among the common folk.

Liu Shuyue was almost certain the previous disciple had failed.

Perhaps, as the sect elders had hinted with counterexamples, that person had fallen prey to worldly desires, forgetting their original purpose, or had become too involved in court politics, straying from the sect’s true intent.

She couldn’t verify this with the authorities, as it would shake the image of the Lotus Cloud Sect as all-knowing helpers.

If the previous disciple failed, what would become of her?

After all, every disciple learned the same things as her, and their talents were only equal or superior. If the predecessor had no achievements, would she also follow in their footsteps?

This string of worries and confusion made it difficult for her to travel with peace of mind.

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At this moment, Liu Shuyue was no longer as anxious as before.

She had already received guidance from countless “ancestors” and witnessed many political struggles, knowing how to keep true to her heart and fulfill her duties. It was as if she glimpsed countless futures for herself, and had the chance to choose the best among them.

What a miraculous ability!

Her master had told her to always keep a calm mind like still water, yet Liu Shuyue couldn’t help but lift the corner of her mouth in a smile.

She had definitely come out ahead!

Judging from this, the shopkeeper wasn’t really “taking advantage of the vulnerable.”

But just thinking about the young shop manager’s constant fake smile throughout the transaction made her snort in dissatisfaction. Everyone here was gifted and refined—why speak with such petty merchant-like bitterness? Why not just lay the abilities out openly and proudly introduce them?

And… the shop’s name, “Spicy Hot Pot,” was also strange.

Not only was it unrefined, it felt almost vulgar.

Could these three characters carry some hidden meaning?

“Spicy Hot Pot… Chen Xuan…”

Liu Shuyue silently repeated the words. To which faction did you belong? The wild gods of the mountains or the mystical overseas sects? Which world did those historical stories come from?

If she had the chance to meet again, she would definitely ask.

...

...

After cleaning the bloodstains, Chen Xuan let out a long breath.

He was truly the shop manager now.

This feeling, both ethereal and real, lingered in his heart. If not for fear of disturbing neighbors in the dead of night, he would have closed the door and shouted at the top of his lungs. Trying to vent while restraining himself, he felt like an actor pretending to be normal in a bizarre dream.

But regardless, facts were facts.

He took two deep breaths to calm himself.

Since he was the manager, what should he do next?

“Oh right… check the inventory.”

Chen Xuan tossed the rag into the sink, approached the bar’s computer, and maximized the inventory window.

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The overview displayed ability inventory count: [4], with available ability providers: [1]. The “1” still represented Chen Xuan himself; Liu Shuyue’s name did not appear.

“Looks like the number of abilities and providers don’t correspond one-to-one,” he pondered. “Once abilities are traded, do they become ownerless? And since I’m the manager, can I act as a temporary provider anytime?”

Then can I use these abilities?

He opened his own tab and dragged the ability “Alchemy” from the inventory into it.

Instantly, a flood of information surged into his mind, causing him to grunt softly.

It really worked!

The swelling pain came quickly and faded just as fast. Moments later, Chen Xuan felt a wealth of new knowledge in his brain—how to distinguish ordinary herbs from spiritual herbs, how to refine them into pills. Undoubtedly, these were the skills Liu Shuyue had learned, now belonging to him.

The inventory count dropped to 3.

But what did that matter? Since he was the manager, he could participate in trades anytime. Giving abilities to himself cost nothing! If abilities were currency, it was like freely withdrawing from the shop’s funds with zero interest.

Besides, abilities were much more tangible than money!

He eagerly tried to drag other abilities but found he couldn’t—his page only had four slots, like an Excel sheet, but he couldn’t add or remove entries.

So he could only have four abilities at once?

Was this true for everyone, or did it vary by person?

Chen Xuan immediately thought the latter was more likely.

It was simple—Liu Shuyue had traded four abilities at once. If the limit was four, it wouldn’t make sense for her to sacrifice all four just to gain “Extensive Knowledge of Past and Present.” Judging by her reaction, trading four abilities was somewhat unpleasant but still acceptable, and she didn’t regret losing those four much. This meant she had far more trading chips than just those.

After all, she was a cultivator; he was an ordinary person.

Chen Xuan accepted this easily. Four it was. Since the limit couldn’t be increased, he could at least adjust the contents. He dragged “Special Appetite” and “Exceptional Sleep” entirely into the inventory, then dragged “Clear Mind Technique” and “Spirit Sword Art” onto himself. All these operations succeeded.

A cold chill rose from his feet, quickly spreading through his entire body—he immediately understood the effect of the Clear Mind Technique: a passive skill, like internal energy in martial arts films, once learned it operated on its own, strengthening the body and complementing other abilities.

He also realized that even beginner-level cultivation techniques required strict aptitude. If he tried to learn the Clear Mind Technique conventionally, it might take over a decade with no results. But ability trades bypassed this threshold, forcibly grafting the ability onto the body, allowing mastery and free use.

It was as if Liu Shuyue’s memories and experience of practicing Clear Mind Technique transferred to him as well.