zero to hero in the martial arts library
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“From today onward, you will be in charge of Area A on the third floor.”
The clerk mechanically threw Ye Xiao a work permit which marked the beginning of working in this new life.
Ye Xiao thanked him and turned around to make his way to the third floor. As the clerk watched him leave, he shook his head slightly.
“What a pity. The young man is extremely handsome, but his divine soul has yet to awaken. Such a waste.”
Ye Xiao had not heard the clerk’s words. At that moment, he was receiving the memories of his current body.
Ten minutes ago, he had died from a serious illness. In the blink of an eye, he had transmigrated to a parallel world.
The civilization of that world was similar to that of his previous one. The only difference was that the current one was a world of martial arts.
The revival of martial arts had caused humans to mainly focus on cultivation. Through cultivation, regular people could become immortals like in the novels he read in his past life. Their lifespan would extend and they could fly through the vast sky.
However, the prerequisite for achieving great success in cultivation was to awaken something called the divine soul.
Obviously, the Ye Xiao in that world had yet to awaken his divine soul. He could only practice some mediocre martial arts and was destined to become a laborer.
What a piece of trash!
However, Ye Xiao soon felt relieved.
He could not gain any great achievements in the martial arts path, which also meant that he would not face any great danger.
In his previous life, Ye Xiao, who had been tormented by illness and pain, desperately wanted to live.
Living was more important than anything else.
The library he will work at provided food and accommodation. Moreover, the monthly salary was 3,500 yuan and the entire library was air-conditioned 24 hours a day. There was also a nice fragrance in the air.
“Is this Area A?”
Ye Xiao was rather satisfied with his job.
Every city had its own martial arts library which recorded many cultivation techniques developed by martial artists in detail for the younger generation to borrow.
The cultivation techniques at the bottom level were relatively low-grade, so they could be borrowed and read at will.
The top level’s high-quality cultivation techniques were guarded by elite martial artists, thus ordinary people were not permitted to enter.
The area that Ye Xiao managed contained basic cultivation techniques. There were plenty of them on the first and second levels so naturally, very few people ventured to the third level which allowed him lots of free time.
However, at that moment, a sharp pain pulsed in his mind, and a book that emitted a faint golden light appeared.
Ye Xiao could not help but be startled. Through the memories of his previous self, he quickly understood what that was.
“I’ve awakened my divine soul?”
The awakening was quite timely.
However, Ye Xiao was not overly excited.
Having already lived for a lifetime, he had long since learned that everything came with a catch.
Martial arts did not require much to be of good use. As long as one could protect themselves一that would suffice.
There were many martial artists in that world. He was not invincible. If he were to be a martial artist, he would surely die.
Since he had nothing to do, Ye Xiao studied the mechanisms of his divine soul. By communicating with his divine soul in his mind, he easily understood the details behind it.
“By viewing cultivation techniques and then storing them in the divine soul’s Golden Book, then the Golden Book will cultivate them itself. There is no limit to the number of techniques that can be stored. If you cultivate the same type of cultivation techniques, you can synthesize a higher grade of that cultivation technique and continue to cultivate it. However, you cannot re-record cultivation techniques derived from the same basic cultivation technique.”
“It seems to be very powerful.”
His divine soul could cultivate itself. He only needed to read a cultivation technique once and the subsequent problems will be solved. It was very suitable for a laid-back individual like Ye Xiao.
Ye Xiao also understood that the cultivation techniques from the same basic cultivation technique could not be recorded.
Many cultivation techniques were actually variations derived from a basic cultivation technique. Some unscrupulous martial artists with enough talent could buy a basic cultivation technique and earn a high copyright fee from the cultivation techniques that were derived from it. It was very similar to the pirated and plagiarized cultivation techniques in his previous life.
After understanding the foundation of his divine soul, Ye Xiao immediately began to search for cultivation techniques from the bookshelf.
His reading was fast and his comprehension abilities were strong. In addition, cultivation techniques were unlike thick novels. Instead, some cultivation techniques only consisted of a few pages within pamphlets.
As morning turned to noon, he had read a total of 25 cultivation techniques!
Unfortunately… Only four cultivation techniques were recorded into his divine soul’s Golden Book which were two saber techniques, one sword technique, and one strike manual.
The other 21 books were all plagiarized.
In actuality, those four books were also plagiarized versions. However, the Golden Book would give priority to the first cultivation technique derived from a basic cultivation technique of the same type and extract the basic cultivation technique from within them.
Ye Xiao could not help but feel a little helpless. Those people were too shameless.
Then, he looked at the Golden Book. There were four pages filled with cultivation techniques. Moreover, there was a cultivation progress bar at the bottom that was increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. That lightened up his mood.
He could even feel that the cultivation in his body was slowly increasing.
“Not bad. From the looks of it, I should be able to advance to a second-grade martial artist very soon.”
The ranks of martial artists were divided into Houtian and Xiantian.
The Houtian realm was divided into one to nine grades.
The Xiantian realm was also divided into one to nine grades.
However, those within the Houtian realm would be known as martial artists. As for those in the Xiantian realm, they were called grandmaster, great grandmaster, and divine grandmaster according to their advancement every three grades in the realm.
It was said that reaching the grandmaster rank was already quite amazing!
In the city where Ye Xiao was located, there were more than 100,000 new graduates from each batch of martial arts academy, and among those people, it was considered normal for ten of them to step into the Xiantian realm after cultivating for decades or even close to a hundred years.
Thus, the grandmaster rank could be said to be held by one in ten thousand martial artists.
Thus, there was no need to mention how difficult it was to cultivate to the upper ranks.
Then, the clock struck 12 o’clock. Ye Xiao stretched and ended his reading.
It was time for lunch.
The food in the canteen was not bad. After all, the library was also a municipal office. There was also a subsidy for meals. A bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup was only worth five yuan. It was extremely cheap!
Ye Xiao narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“Looks like I’ll be having some good meals from now onward.”
He ordered a meal and sat in a corner to savor it while quietly listening to the conversations of his colleagues. That way, he was able to get to know more about the situation around him.
At a table not far away, a few male colleagues were picking at their food as they grumbled.
“D*mn, the work in the library is really not meant for humans. I’ve been assigned to the logistics department and have been carrying books for the entire morning. I’m so tired that I can’t even straighten my back.”
“That’s not too bad. At least you can still have a break. I’m in a much worse situation than you. I stood guard at the door and was not given a single break一I had to hold my pee for half a day.”
“Sigh! Stop complaining. It’s just our luck since we haven’t awakened our divine souls. After practicing for more than ten years, we’re still first-grade martial artists.
“We can only wait and see if we can advance to the second grade after practicing for a few more years.
“After that, we still have a chance of joining the army or a hiring company.
“When the time comes, we’ll definitely be able to obtain a soul condensing pill. There’s still hope for us to awaken our divine soul.”
“What are you thinking about? Even after training for more than ten years, you’re still a first-grade martial artist. It’s hard to say if you’ll even be able to advance to the second grade in this lifetime. Even if you do, you’ll be at least thirty years old. You’d be just an old dog. Which company would want you? You’d better work hard if you’ve got dreams like that.”
Ye Xiao sighed inwardly. It seemed like in the world of martial arts, it was even harder to make a name for yourself than in his previous life.
He reckoned that if he wanted to cultivate to become a grandmaster, it would take quite a few years.
Forget it. As a good-for-nothing, laying low would do.
Just as that thought appeared in his mind, a pop sound emitted from within his body. In an instant, Ye Xiao felt that his strength had exponentially increased.
That caused Ye Xiao’s hand, which was holding up vegetables to his mouth, to involuntarily pause.
He…. Advanced?