Since he couldn't find many shield techniques in the lightning section, he checked another section. The fire technique section was no better than the lightning one, while the earth technique section was full of defensive techniques. Strangely, there weren't many defensive techniques that created a floating shield. Instead, most shields were connected to the ground or covered the user's body in a layer of earth.

After searching further, he found an earth technique that seemed a perfect fit: The Stepping Stone technique. This technique materialized a flat stone beneath the user's feet and could serve as a stepping stone. While this technique was suitable, it was an earth technique, and Liu Xing primarily used lightning techniques. Using earth techniques required more effort and more qi for him. Still, with his gun, utilizing this technique was likely manageable, so he kept this technique in mind for now.

He browsed again, and in the wind section, he found the Air Step technique. It was classified as a movement technique because each step the user took increased their speed. Seeing this, he grinned. While the Stepping Stone technique also suited him, this technique was much cooler! If he had to choose based on coolness alone, he would pick this technique without hesitation. He placed the book on the Air Steps technique down, making a mental note of its location. If he didn't find a more suitable technique, he would purchase this one later.

Liu Xing glanced at the window nearby. Looking through it, he could see green mountains illuminated by the soft glow of the morning sun. It seemed he had spent more time than he intended on browsing techniques.

"Should I browse for a mobile cultivation method or information about the Water Nation first?" he muttered. His original plan was to research cultivation methods first, but he didn't feel like it right now. Reading about fascinating techniques all night long had made him want to explore a completely different topic. "Alright, let's find information about the Water Nation first," he decided.

Liu Xing looked around. This library was huge, so Liu Xing assumed that there was a section for geography or politics. He browsed here and there, passing by the medical book section and the fascinating illusion technique section. After a few moments, he finally found an area where the shelves were filled with maps. Sure he was in the right place, he began to examine the books and scrolls around him. The first book he picked up happened to be about the Phoenix Empire.

Holding the book, Liu Xing paused to think. He wanted to learn about the Water Nation, but with his duel against Shen Ye later and his accidentally picking up a book about the Phoenix Empire, he felt as if the world was leading him to learn more about Shen Ye and his family. Finding a table, he sat down and began to read.

The first chapter detailed the history of the Phoenix Empire: its founding, its founder, and then it progressed to the present day. One key piece of information in this first chapter was the existence of three hundred provinces within the Phoenix Empire. Reading about three hundred provinces in this book, he wondered about the sheer size of the Phoenix Empire. Indonesia, where he had lived most of his life, had thirty-eight provinces and was the largest country in Southeast Asia.

"Doesn't China only have twenty-two provinces?" Liu Xing muttered to himself.

He vaguely recalled learning that information when he briefly considered learning Chinese. Though he wasn't certain his memory was accurate. "How many states does America have? At least forty, right?"

Still, assuming countries like China, America, or Indonesia, with fewer than fifty provinces or states, were already vast, how large was an empire with three hundred provinces? Could the entirety of Asia fit within this empire? Liu Xing blinked several times, trying to grasp the scale of this world. He sometimes forgot how immense this world was—likely hundreds of times larger than Earth, perhaps even bigger than the sun from his old life. Shaking his head, he stopped pondering the scale and focused on the book.

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The Phoenix Empire had been a small nation in the past, but it expanded rapidly when the Shen clan took control. It was believed the Shen clan possessed a Phoenix bloodline and exceptional command over fire. The book claimed a single member of the Shen clan could contend with a thousand cultivators of the same realm.

"That's obviously an exaggeration."

If every Shen clan member were that powerful, they wouldn't have become a vassal of the Purple Moon Sect. The Purple Moon Sect would have become the Phoenix Empire's vassal instead.

"It seems this book is written by a Phoenix Empire loyalist." Which meant Liu Xing needed to read this book with a healthy dose of skepticism.

He continued reading, and while he found the book interesting, it offered nothing directly beneficial to him. Half the book was devoted to praising the Phoenix Empire's greatness, while the other half delved into interesting places, legends, or commodities within each province. While the legend of a buffalo that cultivated until it could challenge the Phoenix Empire was intriguing, he decided reading this book was a waste of time, at least for now.

Returning the book to its shelf, Liu Xing browsed until he found a book about the Water Nation. This book was titled "Seven Wonders of Water Nation." He grabbed it, but decided to browse for more books first. In the span of several minutes, he found several more: a history of the Water Nation, a bestiary of local spirit beasts in the Water Nation, a novel set in the Water Nation, a book about the Ye clan of the Water Nation, and even a recipe book. He decided this was sufficient for now, especially when he spotted another intriguing book next to the recipe books. The book was gray, appeared old and brittle, and was quite thin compared to the books surrounding it. What caught Liu Xing's attention was its title.

"Statue Summoning Technique," he read.

Liu Xing knew that this library was not the most organized. Sometimes he would find history books on shelves full of techniques, probably from some disciple who was too lazy to return the book to the right shelf, but the opposite was unheard of. Discovering this technique here was like finding a lion among sheep.

"What are you doing here?" Liu Xing picked up the book and opened the introductory chapter. However, with his left hand full of other books, when he opened it using only his right hand, he inadvertently opened several pages at once. He expected to see the words shifting and swirling like a busy ant colony, but when he saw the words remained still, his eyes widened. This book was not encrypted!

"Is this real?" Liu Xing whispered.

To test his theory, he opened a random page in the book. When he still saw unmoving words, his heart began to race. It truly was an unencrypted book!

He checked his surroundings, and when he saw no one nearby, he decided to place all the other books on a random shelf and conceal this technique inside his robe. The book felt rough against his skin, a constant reminder that it was real. He tried to calm his racing heart. He felt both excited and anxious. What did this mean? Every other technique in this library was encrypted to ensure disciples worked hard to earn sect points. It was one of the sect's methods to motivate their disciples to grow. After all, no one became strong by simply sitting idle. Every cultivator needed experience, both in life and in battle. Therefore, freely accessible techniques were not expected to exist in this library.

He considered several reasons why this book might be unencrypted. The first was that it didn't belong to the library. Someone might have placed it here intentionally, perhaps an elder or an older disciple who had mastered the technique and decided to pass it on through the library in secret.

"There's also that story," Liu Xing muttered.

There were old stories about this library. Some of them were strange, such as the library being a girl who fell in love with the sect Patriarch and turned into a library out of devotion, or the Library being a sentient spirit beast. A common thread in these stories was that the library had a mind of its own. Stories of disciples finding unencrypted books weren't unheard of, nor were stories of disciples who, no matter what book they chose, found that it contained the same short story about a man who crapped his pants, as if the library was mocking them.

But he had always considered these stories to be urban legends, until he discovered this unencrypted book.

"Is a sentient library actually a thing in this world?" he muttered to himself.

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