I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 238 - 236: Book Collection Pavilion
Three months before her eighteenth bone age, Li Xing successfully advanced to the Organ Tempering Realm. Feeling light-hearted, she took a rare vacation and returned to Datang to spend a few days with Li Yi and Anna.
Five days later, Li Xing packed her bags, bid farewell to her family, and arrived in Tiayi City. She was constantly bothered by the origins of the three-eyed insect but received no further information, so she had to investigate herself.
The largest and most authoritative library on the Qianyuan Continent is the Book Collection Pavilion at the Heaven-Reaching Tower. Hence, Li Xing appeared once again in the main hall on the first floor, glaring at Chu Hui with black eyes contrasting white.
"Hey, hey, good morning, senior!"
Chu Hui snorted indifferently, rolling his eyes. "What are you here for again?"
"I want to check up on some information in the Book Collection Pavilion."
"Ten thousand star coins per hour, no discounts, no change. Even a second overtime costs for a full hour!"
Chu Hui quickly laid out all the rules, causing Li Xing to feel both amused and helpless. The old guy bore quite a grudge against her.
"Alright."
"Eh?"
Li Xing’s agreeable response left Chu Hui feeling awkward. "Young girl, have you changed your character, or won the lottery? You suddenly don’t care about spending money!"
"I care, but since you said no discounts, my caring won’t help; I can only sell off what I have to scrape together the money."
Word had it that she was quite wealthy, so why would she need to scrape together a mere ten thousand? She was just teasing him!
Chu Hui’s eyebrows furrowed enough to kill a fly. He activated the Transmission Array, signaling Li Xing to move quickly.
With the flashing light of the Transmission Array descending, Li Xing found herself at the center of a massive building. The structure of the Book Collection Pavilion resembled the inner chambers of a nautilus shell, extending dozens of gigantic corridors from the center, arranged circularly.
On both sides of each corridor, from bottom to top, are shelves filled with books of various materials, at least sixty meters high, densely packed.
Many people like Li Xing, who had paid to enter and search for information, stepped on silent elevators, cautiously floating in front of the giant shelves, flipping through books. Most books here are very old, and if damaged, they would likely owe their life savings for repairs.
Li Xing thought about it. As Yang Zhou said, the three-eyed insect’s genes were ancient. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that this species first appeared and she happened to kill one.
In the near ten-thousand-year history of Qianyuan Continent, surely someone else must have witnessed it, maybe even captured such three-eyed insects like she did.
Li Xing intended to search through ancient records, hoping to trace this insect, and perhaps find special studies by scholars that documented its habits and characteristics.
She took an elevator and began looking under the insect catalog. The information there was recorded on animal skins, wooden scrolls, silk, and white paper, but none on Jade Scrolls.
Even though Li Xing’s Divine Sense had reached Nascent Soul Stage, she could only, like everyone else, hold the non-Jade Scroll volumes and flip through them page by page.
The only advantage she had over others was her extremely fast page-turning speed, like checking for concealed money between pages, quickly flipping several pages and moving on to the next book.
This uninhibited way of reading drew frequent sideways glances from those around her, who showed disdainful and angry expressions—another one of those family descendants, thrown around money to look cultured!
Unwittingly, Li Xing had spent three whole days in the Book Collection Pavilion, during which she thoroughly searched every book in the insect catalog without finding a thing. Afterwards, she skimmed through the "Ancient Biology" section, still discovering nothing.
Three days of continuous looking and reading would tire anyone, even Li Xing.
The cultural history of the Qianyuan Continent spanning ten thousand years was almost entirely stored in this grand and impressive structure, with books counted in billions. It was extraordinarily difficult to find even the vaguest hints she sought amidst this ocean of books.
Li Xing sighed and activated the Transmission Array to return to the main hall.
As Li Xing appeared, Chu Hui thought he might have made a timing mistake, quickly pressing the time indication sound on his light brain.
Chu Hui was shocked. "Hey, is my light brain broken, or is your brain broken?"
"Hmm?"
That single sentence brought Li Xing back to reality. She looked up and dumbfoundedly at Chu Hui, not understanding his meaning.
Chu Hui pointed at the time on his light brain and said, "You stayed for seventy-six hours and three minutes; you need to pay for seventy-seven hours!"
"Oh, okay." Li Xing’s listless demeanor made Chu Hui bewildered.
Given Chu Hui’s understanding of Li Xing, she would definitely have left exactly on the dot, not staying a second longer! Yet now she had stayed three minutes over, not only accepting that but agreeing to pay for a whole extra hour. Chu Hui felt uneasy.
"What’s wrong with you, are you ill?"
"No, I’m fine."
Li Xing’s eyelashes were soft and dense, slightly curled like a baby’s, giving her gaze an innocent look when mixed with eye contact.
Chu Hui had to admit, when Li Xing wasn’t in a fit, she was indeed adorably charming; no wonder Yun Yi liked her.
"So why are you downcast? Didn’t find what you’re looking for?"
Li Xing nodded.
"Tsk, you’re distressed over such a small matter? How will you manage as the Family Head Mother later! Come, tell Uncle Ninth what you’re seeking; let me guide you!"
"Actually... I don’t even know what I’m looking for."
Chu Hui: "..." He lamented his unnecessary worry, and needless meddling!
Seeing his displeased expression, Li Xing hurriedly explained: "Please don’t be upset, senior. I’m trying to find the records of an ancient creature. The problem is, apart from what this creature looks like, I know nothing else, making it tough to be sure if there’s a relevant record in any history or where to find it."
"I see." Chu Hui rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a while, then said to Li Xing:
"Alright then, take my token and go to the Book Collection Pavilion again. There’s a non-open area in the back, where a Tower Guardian manages the books. Ask him. He’s been in the study pavilion for over twenty years, reading books daily, perhaps he knows which major heading under which such creatures might be recorded."
Li Xing’s eyes suddenly lit up. Thanking Chu Hui, she stepped into the Transmission Array again, her figure disappearing from the hall.
Chu Hui chuckled, thinking this lively demeanor was rather preferable, closing his eyes to continue meditating.
With Chu Hui’s token as an access pass, Li Xing smoothly navigated through talisman arrays into the non-open area. She stepped onto her flying device to meticulously search, eventually finding the Tower Guardian at the top tier of a row of shelves.
The top shelf had been cleared out to make a space that could accommodate an adult lying down. The man sat cross-legged within it, focused on reading a silk scroll.
The man’s clothes were greasy, his hair unwashably matted together for years, and his right arm was amputated at the shoulder, unkempt stubble covering his face like a beggar. Had it not been for the long robe’s style matching Chu Hui’s, Li Xing would not have dared to recognize him.
Li Xing raised her flying device to level with the man, clearing her throat. "Senior?"
"Shush!" The man raised his left hand, shaking it towards Li Xing, but his eyes didn’t leave the scroll for even half a second.
Li Xing noticed his fingernails were half an inch long, filled with black grime, struggling not to succumb to her impulse to cast a dust-cleaning spell.
"Uh—senior, it’s Senior Chu Hui who sent me looking for you." Li Xing displayed Chu Hui’s token before the one-armed man.
The one-armed man finally lifted his head lazily, glancing at Li Xing.
