The next day, when Nalan Ruoshui saw Chen Nan again, she was shocked. She realized that the man standing in front of her seemed to have become a different person. Chen Nan's appearance was still ordinary, but his faint smile and deep eyes... seemed to have gained an indescribable charm.
"Have you regained your strength?"
"No, why would you ask that?"
Nalan Ruoshui said, "I feel something has happened to you. You seem to have a different aura about you. Could it be that your power has been restored?"
Chen Nan was startled and quickly restrained his power, laughing, "How could that be?"
Nalan Ruoshui regained her composure and said, "Perhaps it was my imagination. Alright, let me continue with your acupuncture."
This acupuncture session lasted for an hour. After Nalan Ruoshui left, Chen Nan quickly circulated his internal energy throughout his body, but the effect was far less than the first time.
He opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and said, "It seems there really are no shortcuts in martial arts!"
From then on, Nalan Ruoshui came almost every day, but not always for acupuncture. Sometimes she would strike acupoints all over Chen Nan's body in hopes of activating his internal energy. Gradually, the two became more familiar with each other, and Nalan Ruoshui was no longer as indifferent as before, occasionally chatting with him.
Chen Nan learned from the conversation that although Nalan Ruoshui was a member of the Qishi Mansion, she rarely lived here and usually stayed at home. Her father was an official in the court, and his position was not low. She and Chu Yue were childhood friends, so she was able to frequently visit the Royal Library, where she learned most of her medical skills.
When Nalan Ruoshui mentioned the royal books, Chen Nan's eyes lit up. He knew there must be many precious ancient books there, perhaps even records from ten thousand years ago. Thinking of this, he was extremely excited.
"Miss Nalan, you are truly a prodigy. The majority of your superb medical skills are self-taught. It is truly admirable."
Nalan Ruoshui said calmly, "Actually, it's nothing. Anyone can do it as long as they are willing to work hard."
Chen Nan sighed, "I just can't do it. I'm a country bumpkin who doesn't even know how to read. How could I possibly learn those things from books?"
Nalan Ruoshui asked in surprise, "You...you can't read?"
"I am an orphan, abandoned in the deep mountains. A kind old hunter found me and adopted me. Due to poverty, I never went to school to learn to read and write. When I was sixteen, my adoptive father left me, and from then on, my world was shrouded in darkness..."
"Besides raising me and giving me the warmth of a family, my adoptive father also taught me some martial arts. But how much strength could a sixteen-year-old boy have? When I was hunting in the deep mountains, I was terrified and had to run away from the claws of wild beasts time and time again... In winter, the snow was knee-deep, but I had no shoes to wear, so I could only shiver in the cold wind in my thin clothes in the simple hut..."
"Without warmth, without food... I could only pray to God that the snow would stop soon... During the long winter, sometimes I would only be able to eat once every six or seven days, and that was only because kind neighbors saved up their own food rations to give to me..."
"Due to hunger and cold, I fell ill. Once, the neighbors, who hadn't seen me leave the house for a long time, rushed into the simple hut left by my adoptive father. I had been unconscious for many days at that time. The neighbors said that I kept calling out, 'Mom...Mom...' But I knew that I would never have a mother in this life, only an adoptive father..."
Chen Nan wiped away his tears and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Nalan, I'm sorry you had to see this. I was just too excited and couldn't control myself..."
Nalan Ruoshui's eyes welled up with tears as she softly said, "I should be the one apologizing. I'm the one who reminded you of your painful past. I'm sorry, I didn't know you had such a difficult past."
"It's nothing. My difficult past makes me cherish the happiness I have now even more."
Women are inherently kind, and Chen Nan's "tragic past" filled Nalan Ruoshui's heart with a bitter taste. She said softly, "Young Master Chen, would you like to learn to read? I can teach you."
"Really?" Chen Nan was overjoyed. This was what he had been hoping for, but he also felt somewhat ashamed that he had used a lie to gain sympathy.
"Of course it's true. From now on, I'll give you acupuncture in the morning and teach you to read in the afternoon." At this moment, Nalan Ruoshui's face was no longer as calm and indifferent as usual, but instead had a beautiful smile.
Chen Nan never expected that this beautiful woman, who appeared aloof and possessed an ethereal quality, would have such a captivating smile.
Women are naturally kind and compassionate. Nalan Ruoshui was moved by Chen Nan's "unhappy childhood". In the days that followed, she changed her previous indifference and carefully treated his body, trying her best to restore his strength. At the same time, she taught him to read and write.
Chen Nan felt ashamed and had more respect for the beautiful woman.
More than half a month has passed, and Chen Nan's "condition" has not improved, which greatly surprised Nalan Ruoshui. She searched through all the medical books, but still couldn't do anything.
Chu Yue visited several times during this period, and each time she comforted Chen Nan, telling him not to worry.
The little princess had secretly visited a few times, and each time she wouldn't miss the chance to make things difficult for Chen Nan. However, perhaps feeling guilty, she didn't go too far. Even so, the little devil still gave Chen Nan a lot of headaches. But seeing how sneaky she always was, Chen Nan was very puzzled. Later, after hearing Nalan Ruoshui's story, he learned that the little devil was hiding from the old witch who studied magic.
The old witch once wanted to take the little princess as her apprentice, but the princess absolutely refused, insisting on becoming the disciple of the martial arts master Zhuge Chengfeng. The old witch was furious about this and almost challenged Zhuge Chengfeng to a duel. However, she didn't give up on the idea of taking the little princess as her apprentice, and every time she saw her, she would try to reason with her, appealing to her emotions and logic. The little princess became afraid of this and would always sneak around whenever she came to the Qishi Mansion.
After hearing Nalan Ruoshui's words, Chen Nan burst into laughter. He never expected that this wicked little witch would also be afraid and suffer setbacks. It was truly a strange thing.
A faint smile appeared on Nalan Ruoshui's lips. For such an indifferent woman to smile, one could imagine that the little devil must be "infamous" in the capital.
One day, the little princess's master, Zhuge Chengfeng, suddenly returned severely injured, causing an uproar in the cultivation world of the capital. Chen Nan was also shocked. He had witnessed the unparalleled cultivation of this grandmaster-level martial arts expert, whose skills were close to the Dao. The earth-shattering battle between Zhuge Chengfeng and the giant snake was still fresh in his memory.
Zhuge Chengfeng did indeed see the legendary Qilin in the Luofeng Mountains. Countless cultivators frantically rushed towards the Qilin, all wanting to tame the divine beast. Even those who knew it was hopeless stepped forward, hoping to help kill the divine beast and obtain a scale or claw to use in alchemy.
Zhuge Chengfeng observed coldly. He knew the power of the divine beast was far beyond what ordinary people could handle. Even a sacred serpent that had failed to transform into a dragon had already given him a hard time, let alone this legendary divine beast. As he expected, the Qilin divine beast remained calm in the face of the attack from hundreds of people. It opened its mouth and spewed out a vast expanse of flames. The temperature of the flames was terrifying, and the first group of people who rushed forward were burned to ashes.
Zhuge Chengfeng intended to leave, but the Qilin had its sights set on him. The divine beast could also sense the powerful figures among the crowd. It harbored deep hostility towards these intruders who had entered the ancient cave and awakened it. It charged towards Zhuge Chengfeng on its feet amidst raging flames.
The battle between Zhuge Chengfeng and the divine beast was incredibly fierce. Countless people who came for the Qilin suffered collateral damage, some pierced by towering sword energy, others burned to ashes by raging flames, and countless others met untimely deaths. In the end, Zhuge Chengfeng was no match for the beast and fled, escaping the Luofeng Mountains amidst immense danger.
Only one or two out of ten people managed to escape the perilous situation, causing a huge uproar across the continent. Many more highly skilled cultivators ventured into the Falling Wind Mountains, hoping to tame the Qilin as their mounts. In particular, the dragon knights of the Western Continent, upon hearing of this, showed far greater interest in the Qilin than in the dragons, and dozens of powerful dragon knights set off from their respective countries toward the Falling Wind Mountains.
Zhuge Chengfeng only briefly recounted the incident, but one can imagine the danger involved; that battle must have been far more intense than the one against the giant serpent.
The little princess was extremely dissatisfied with this matter. Pouting, she muttered, "What a pity I didn't see such a good show! It's rare for the old man to make a fool of himself, and I didn't even get to see his awful appearance. Sigh!"
After returning and giving some instructions, Zhuge Chengfeng hurriedly left to heal his wounds in seclusion. If he were to hear his beloved disciple's complaints, he would surely be so angry that he would vomit blood again.
After that, the Qilin incident caused a stir on the continent for more than a month, with countless cultivators returning empty-handed. The matter only came to an end when the Qilin disappeared from the Falling Wind Mountains.
Since Chen Nan's family's profound martial arts reached the third level, he could leave at any time. But now he was in no hurry. In addition to receiving "treatment" every day, he devoted himself to learning the common language of the mainland.
Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. His skills still showed no signs of "recovery." However, he had mastered the commonly used writing system in mainland China very well, which greatly surprised Nalan Ruoshui, who had not expected him to have such a talent for writing.
Chen Nan frantically read all kinds of history books, official histories, unofficial histories... he read them all.
Whenever he thought of the Cemetery of Gods and Demons, a tremor ran through him. He had been resurrected from that ancient cemetery, and he was deeply concerned about its past, eager to know all its secrets. Chen Nan had an unusually strong feeling that the earth-shattering secret unknown to anyone ten thousand years ago had not been lost to history, and would one day be revealed.
He tried to find clues about historical events from 10,000 years ago in historical records, but he was disappointed. All kinds of historical materials were limited to major events within the last 5,000 years and could not be traced back to 10,000 years ago.
Nalan Ruoshui was surprised by his interest in history and couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Chen, why are you so fond of history? There are so many poems and essays in the Qishi Mansion, how come I've never seen you read them?"
Chen Nan smiled awkwardly and said, "Well... while poetry and prose have a profound and evocative atmosphere, cultivating one's character, I still feel that history is more relatable and evokes a sense of awe. Before, I was illiterate and hadn't read many books, so I never knew that the continent had such a magnificent past—the rise and fall of a powerful empire, the prosperity and decline of a great nation... five thousand years of trials and tribulations, five thousand years of splendor and glory... it's truly moving and awe-inspiring!"
A strange look flashed in Nalan Ruoshui's eyes, and she smiled, "Young Master Chen seems to have gained a lot, it appears!"
Chen Nan felt ashamed. He hadn't expected that his rambling would turn into such a seemingly insightful reflection.
"You've only been literate for two months, yet you're already able to read the entire history of the mainland. It's truly admirable!" Nalan Ruoshui praised with a smile.
Seeing that Nalan Ruosui was in a good mood, Chen Nan spoke up about what he had already planned: "Miss Nalan, I have read through all the history books in the Qishi Mansion. May I go with you to the Imperial Palace's archives?"
Nalan Ruoshui looked at him with surprise and said, "Are you really that interested in history? The palace's archives are very heavily guarded. I was only able to get in because I'm good friends with Princess Yue. If I bring someone else, it will probably be difficult. However, we can try. If Princess Yu can accompany us, things might be easier."
The mere mention of the little devil gave Chen Nan a headache, and he quickly shook his head, saying, "No need, I'd rather stay at the Qishi Mansion and read poetry and prose."
"It's alright, I'll go see Princess Yu tomorrow."
"No, no... I absolutely refuse to read any more. Reading so much history has given me a headache."
"Hehe..." Although Nalan Ruoping was not usually cold and aloof, she rarely smiled. At this moment, her radiant smile was particularly captivating, like rippling spring water, stirring ripples in one's heart.
Chen Nan was momentarily lost in thought when Nalan Ruoshui's next words interrupted his reverie.
"Don't worry, I will never go to Princess Yu. If I were to go, I would go to Princess Yue. Princess Yu is notoriously difficult to deal with, and I don't want to cause trouble for myself."
Chen Nan chuckled dryly and said, "I didn't expect the little princess to be so famous. I thought I was the only one who had a headache dealing with her."
That night, Chen Nan lay in bed recalling his experiences over the past two months. It all seemed like a drama; he had actually become a reclusive master in the Chu Kingdom. His greatest gain during these two months was learning the common writing system of the continent, and he had completely integrated into this society.
The next day, Nalan Ruoshui smiled and said to Chen Nan, "Princess Yue has already spoken with the staff of the library. After I finish acupuncture for you, you can come with me."
Overjoyed, Chen Nan followed Nalan Ruoshui out of the Qishi Mansion after the acupuncture treatment. A dozen warriors guarded a luxurious carriage. Nalan Ruoshui invited him to get in, and Chen Nan thanked her. They enjoyed the intoxicating fragrance along the way and soon arrived at the imperial city.
Within the forbidden grounds of the imperial palace, civil officials dismounted from their sedan chairs, and military officials dismounted from their horses; apart from members of the royal family, no one enjoyed special treatment. Inside the palace, halls and pavilions rose and fell in a magnificent and imposing manner. Following Nalan Ruoshui, Chen Nan turned left and right within the palace, arriving outside a grand hall.
The person in charge here was a Hanlin scholar in his forties. Since Chu Yue had informed him in advance, he didn't say much.
The hall was filled with books, but they were arranged in a pleasing, orderly fashion, row upon row, column upon column.
Chen Nan skimmed through the ocean of books, passing through poetry, divination, and medicine... and went straight to the section marked "History." Looking at the nearly ten thousand books inside, he felt dizzy. How could he possibly read all of them? There were just too many!
He patiently searched through the sea of books, only reading the first page of each one. If the content was about the past five thousand years of history, he would simply "return home".
In the days that followed, Chen Nan and Nalan Ruoshui traveled back and forth between Qishi Mansion and the Royal Archives every day, where he spent his days tediously flipping through history books.
One day, Chen Nan casually pulled a book from the bookshelf. He opened it and saw that it was in modern font. Without thinking, he put it back where it was. But the words "Cultivation Ranks" on the cover caught his attention, and he withdrew his hand halfway through reading it.
He opened the book, intending to skim through it, but soon he was deeply captivated. It was a book about the ranking of cultivators' strength. While cultivators, magicians, Eastern martial artists, and Western martial artists each had their own standards, to compare their strength, they were all divided into five ranks from lowest to highest. However, even the lowest rank mentioned were among the most powerful; those who reached higher ranks were all incredibly strong, and ordinary masters were simply not included in the book's classification.
Through the book's introduction, he gained a certain understanding of the strength of advanced cultivators on the mainland today.
Cultivators are the most mysterious beings. Because they rarely make a move, the classification of their strength is quite controversial, with their cultivation stages simply divided into: Foundation Establishment, Qi Nourishment, Sublimation, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul. However, the book's annotations suggest that there may be even higher realms above these, with legends saying that their highest realm leads directly to the Immortal Path, but no one has ever seen such a person make a move.
Magicians can be classified according to their strength as: quasi-magicians, intermediate-level magicians, advanced-level magicians, grand magicians, and archmages.
The cultivation stages of Eastern martial arts practitioners can be divided into: refining essence into qi, the innate realm, sword qi emerging from the body, refining qi into spirit, and spirit condensing qi. The book also mentions that some individuals have surpassed these five stages, possessing unimaginable and unparalleled power, almost godlike.
Western martial artists are categorized by strength as follows: Swordsmith, Sword Master, Sword Leader, Sword Saint, and Sword God. In addition, there is a special type of cultivator among Western martial artists—Dragon Knights. These powerful martial artists combine with the might of dragons, possessing terrifying destructive power. They are categorized by strength as: Earth Dragon Knights, Flying Dragon Knights, Wyvern Knights, Giant Dragon Knights, and Holy Dragon Knights.
Different types of cultivators are divided into five ranks, making their strength comparable. Generally speaking, those at the same rank are roughly equal in strength. However, cultivators and mages clearly have an advantage over martial artists. When their opponents are weaker or lower in rank, they can utilize their specialties to directly manipulate the energy of heaven and earth, launching wide-range attacks and indiscriminately targeting multiple opponents.
If we were to categorize martial artists into ranks according to the book's description, the vast majority would be excluded from the ranks of expert-level masters. While everyone can cultivate martial arts, the vast majority cannot reach advanced levels; only a small percentage can attain the rank of expert-level master.
Although cultivators and mages have high physical requirements, resulting in a small number of them, most of them are high-level experts. Clearly, a cultivator's physical condition is closely related to their future achievements. Overall, the number of high-level experts among the four types of cultivators is roughly the same.
Chen Nan closed the book and breathed a sigh of relief, finally understanding the power levels of cultivators in this world. However, he believed that the highest realm of cultivators was definitely not limited to the fifth level. As far as he knew, his father Chen Zhan's cultivation had already far surpassed the fifth level of Eastern martial arts cultivation, the realm of Divine Condensation and Qi Solidification.
He objectively assessed his own strength level. His family's secret technique had reached the third level, and he was just able to unleash sword energy outside his body. He could barely be considered a third-level cultivator, which was already a true master on the continent.
Chen Nan found this book by chance and found it very helpful.
Over the next few days, he met a strange old man in the library. The old man was unusually old, with cloudy and lifeless eyes, no teeth, wrinkled skin like a crumpled piece of paper, and a few dozen sparse hairs on his bald head.
When Chen Nan first saw the old man, he was startled, thinking that some vengeful spirit had risen from the coffin. Out of politeness, he always smiled and greeted the old man when he saw him, but never spoke a word.
One day, Chen Nan was idly flipping through history books when an old voice suddenly sounded behind him: "Young man, you seem to enjoy history quite a bit."
Chen Nan was so startled he almost jumped up. The strange old man, like a ghost, silently appeared less than a foot behind him. He secretly blamed himself for being too engrossed in his book.
"Yes, I like it, but there don't seem to be any particularly ancient books here. The earliest one only dates back five thousand years."
"Oh, you like reading ancient books? Are you able to understand the text?"
"Yes, I have some knowledge of ancient scripts, and I can understand most ancient books." He raised the book in his hand and said, "Look, this is script from four thousand years ago. Although it is more complicated than the current script, it is still decipherable." Chen Nan was not lying. He was indeed quite sensitive to scripts. In addition, the current common script of the continent evolved from the ancient script of the original Immortal Fantasy Continent. By comparing the two, it was not difficult for him to distinguish these scripts that were in the intermediate transition period.
Chen Nan had a strange feeling, as if he saw a green light flash by in the old man's cloudy eyes.
The old man asked, "Why do you like reading ancient books?"
Chen Nan said, "I am more interested in ancient myths and legends, and I would like to learn something from ancient books."
The old man chuckled, which Chen Nan found incredibly chilling.
"Young man, if you can truly understand ancient books, I'll take you to another library. That's where the real ancient documents are located, far older than the books here."
Chen Nan was overjoyed, and at the same time began to speculate about the old man's identity. He could tell that the old man was no ordinary person, otherwise he would never have led him into another library so casually.
After passing through the front hall, the two walked towards the back hall. The back hall was exceptionally quiet. Pushing open the heavy door, rows of bookshelves appeared before Chen Nan's eyes, filled with ancient and weathered books.
From the moment Chen Nan stepped into the ancient library, he sensed a subtle and unusual fluctuation. The fluctuation was like a trickle of water or a gentle breeze, almost imperceptible and elusive.
"Holy crap! Could it be that the ancient books here have all come to life? How could they be generating such fluctuations?" Now that the restrictions within Chen Nan's body have completely disappeared and his spiritual senses have been fully restored, his perception of the outside world is far more acute than that of ordinary people.
The old man seemed oblivious and said, "Look, this place is full of ancient books, most of which are priceless rare copies. If you can understand them, this place is undoubtedly a treasure trove."
"Treasure?" Chen Nan asked, puzzled.
The old man said, "Among these books are many works on martial arts, magic, medicine, poisons, and so on, many of which are lost secrets. The royal family sent special people to organize and compile these ancient books, but they could only translate a small portion of them. I wonder how profound your knowledge of ancient languages is. If it surpasses that of the scholars in the Hanlin Academy..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chen Nan buried himself in the pile of books.
For several days, he immersed himself in ancient history, which greatly surprised Nalan Ruoshui. When she inadvertently learned that Chen Nan could understand ancient books, she was astonished and her mouth dropped open. When Chen Nan presented her with a medical classic he had compiled from ancient texts, Nalan Ruoshui exclaimed excitedly, "Heavens! The Medical Sage's Manual! Am I dreaming?" She happily hugged Chen Nan.
Feeling that soft body, Chen Nan was intoxicated. He reached out to hug Nalan Ruoshui, but her delicate body quickly pulled away, a soft laugh echoing in the distance. From then on, whenever Chen Nan saw Nalan Ruoshui's smile, his heart would race.
"Should I find another medical book today, organize it, and give it to her?"
"Kid, what are you gushing about? Look at your pathetic self, it makes this old man ashamed to be a man like you." The old poison monster leaned over the courtyard wall, peeking out, and delivered a timely blow.
"You old geezer, you're spying on me again! It's so perverted and disgusting. Watch out, or I'll buy a string of firecrackers, light them, and throw them into your yard." As they became more familiar with each other, Chen Nan and the old witch gradually started joking around, and later they would tease each other whenever they met. However, he never dared to joke with the old witch. The old witch kept switching between his east yard and backyard, which terrified him.
"You dare! If you light firecrackers, I'll make you suffer seven steps to your heart's breaking, ten steps to your soul's breaking, thirteen steps to your body's flesh rotting away, and fifteen steps to your bones turning to dust."
"Damn it, you perverted old man." Chen Nan felt a chill and quickly walked out of Qi Shi's mansion. Nalan Ruoshui didn't perform acupuncture on him today, saying she wanted to carefully study the "Medical Sage's Manual" before treating him.
When Chen Nan arrived at the ancient book repository, the old man was already there.
"Young man, you're quite good. It seems you really have some knowledge of ancient writing and can actually understand those ancient books. Today, this old man will need to trouble you with something."
"Oh, please tell me, sir. If there's anything I can do to help, I certainly will."
The old man took out a yellowed old book from his pocket, placed it on the table, picked up paper and pen, and began to copy it. In no time, the entire page was filled with his writing.
"Could you please translate the contents of this paper for me?"
Chen Nan took it and looked at it. The sentences were completely incoherent. He said, "Old man, these sentences don't make sense. You didn't copy them incorrectly, did you?"
The old man said, "Just translate it, don't worry about whether it makes sense or not. Can you translate three articles for me every day?"
"Sure, no problem." Chen Nan thought to himself, "This old guy is really suspicious. He actually broke down the sentences and made me translate them, and he's keeping it so secret. What kind of book is this?"
His previous goodwill towards the old man vanished completely, realizing that this strange old man had been after him from the start, his real purpose being to get him to translate the book.
According to Chen Nan's estimation, the writing on the paper was from six or seven thousand years ago. It consisted of only a few dozen characters, but it contained words that evoked Chen Nan's sensitivity, such as "god" and "corpse," which made him even more curious about the book.