The Technique Pavilion was far smaller than the Royal Library. After a quick medallion check and another rules lecture, Jing wheeled Fu Anwen inside, though he'd already started thoroughly examining the building and memorizing books as soon as they'd arrived within sensing range.

  There were three floors above ground plus two basement levels that all contained shelves full of books, along with a third, hidden basement level underneath the other two that only contained one small bone resting on a pedestal. Even with his ability, Fu Anwen couldn't tell how to access the hidden basement level. He guessed that the bone was probably more valuable than anything else in the building, but he had no idea why it was so important or what benefits it could offer him, so he decided to ignore it for now.

  The first floor of the Technique Pavilion, unlike the Royal Library, didn't have separate reading rooms. Instead, there was a single rge table in the center of the room that every visitor had to share.

  After grabbing a random book, Fu Anwen headed over to the central table with Jing.

  The ground floor contained introductory books for both martial arts and immortal cultivation.

  For martial arts, there were Body Refining arts and Internal Energy arts covering Entry Level, Third Rank, Second Rank, and First Rank. There were also various low-level movement skills, weapon skills, and miscelneous skills.

  For immortal cultivation, there were assorted Body Refining and Qi Refining techniques, along with a wide variety of skills that could grant those who learned them the ability to control flying swords, create spiritual rain for farming, craft medicinal pills with alchemy, and much more. The diversity of skills was far higher for immortal cultivation than it was for martial arts.

  The second floor contained the same types of books as the first, but covered Foundation Establishment level materials for immortal cultivation. The first basement level was the same, but for martial arts skills and techniques at the Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, and Supreme Grandmaster ranks. There were far fewer books on these levels than there were on the first.

  The third floor and second basement levels were both unusual.

  For martial arts, which were on the second basement level, there was a copy of Fu Tianchen's very thick book containing his thoughts and specutions about the Martial God rank. The only other Martial God materials were five very brief booklets covering some general experiences and advice from five martial artists who had reached the Martial God rank.

  In addition, there were hundreds of signature arts and skills from various martial arts sects that were located in the Fu Kingdom. Fu Anwen could only assume that giving a copy of these techniques to the royal family was a requirement for operating a sect within the Fu Kingdom's territory.

  The third floor was the highest level of the immortal cultivation section. In addition to a section containing the signature techniques of the Fu Kingdom's immortal cultivation sects, there were also seven jade tablets. According to the bels beneath the jade tablets, they contained three Golden Core cultivation techniques, a sword skill, and one inheritance each for alchemy, formations, and bcksmithing.

  Fu Anwen had read about jade tablets before. They were a type of storage device that could contain and quickly transmit rge amounts of information. Unfortunately, accessing them required spiritual sense, which usually wasn't developed until the ter stages of Foundation Establishment.

  For now, at least, these jade tablets and the bone located in the hidden basement were equally useless to him.

  The books on the the ground level were an odd mix, with some containing only a few simply written pages, while others consisted of dozens of densely written, highly detailed chapters filled with very specific details and illustrations. Without having practiced martial arts, Fu Anwen had no way of knowing if some skills were simply more difficult to learn, or if the more basic books were just so sloppily written that nobody would ever be able to master the skills they described.

  Just as he'd guessed, his mental catalog, having absorbed hundreds of authors worth of writing styles from the Royal Library, was already up to the task of fully replicating most of the books. Only a few books on the first level contained parts that he was unsure about, but even those only had one or two questionable bits.

  While the upper floors and basement levels had a much lower quantity of books, they didn't take any less time for Fu Anwen to work through with his new book-scanning ability. Most of the higher level books were far more complicated than those located on the ground level, especially when it came to specializations like alchemy, bcksmithing, and formations.

  Some of the techniques were also ridiculously complex.

  The book containing the martial arts skill [Cloud-Leaping Steps] consisted of nearly one thousand highly detailed pages that painstakingly expined which leg to move when, which muscle to exert force with, the correct pathway to circute inner energy at any given moment, and so on. He could easily see a martial artist spending a decade or more just trying to grasp the basics of such a complex skill.

  Still, with Fu Anwen's powerful new ability, these books were all quickly memorized. Gncing through the few books on the ground floor that could help improve his mental catalog also allowed him to fill in the bnks on most of the tricky books on the other levels. By then, there was nothing missing from any books that seemed all that important.

  As he read through the many books on immortal cultivation, something he found interesting was that the term 'immortal cultivation' itself was a bit misleading. Cultivators were just as mortal as everyone else. They simply gained a longer lifespan as their cultivation increased, though even a powerful Golden Core realm cultivator could only manage to live for about five hundred years.

  If it was even possible for cultivators to become immortals, they'd first need to reach a realm of cultivation far beyond Fu Anwen's current level of understanding.

  With his work complete, Fu Anwen asked Jing to push him home in his wheelchair.

  Today had probably been more productive than every previous day of his life combined. All he had left to do now was devote time to fully comprehending the many books that he'd spent the day memorizing, then finalize his pns for the upcoming move to Big Tree Vilge. Memorizing wasn't the same as truly learning and understanding, after all.

  In his opinion, the next two weeks couldn't pass fast enough.

  The future was brighter than ever!

  ~-o-O-o-~

  When Fu Anwen woke up the next morning, his thoughts were flying so fast that it was almost making him dizzy. Whatever it was that had been causing his mind to constantly function faster and more smoothly ever since the Awakening Ceremony, its effect was unbelievable.

  He still thought that the warm feeling that had been circuting inside his body was somehow responsible. As of this morning, however, the warmth, which had been steadily decreasing over time, was finally completely gone.

  If he ever got a chance in the future, he'd have to do some research on that rge orb he'd touched during the Awakening Ceremony. None of the books he'd read in either the Royal Library or the Technique Pavilion had mentioned the orb, but all of his recent changes seemed to have started right after he touched it and the warm feeling started flowing through him.

  "So, are you heading back out to do more reading today?" Fu Anwen's mother asked him over their breakfast of five-berry pancakes drizzled with melted butter and honey. His pte, as usual, was stacked high.

  He shook his head, "I'm just going to stay home and rest for now, but I'll go back out again before we leave."

  Fu Qingyu looked sad, possibly about how often her son had to rest these days, but she didn't say anything else about the topic.

  Fu Anwen hated that he had to keep making his mother think that he was still suffering, but his acting would only st for two more weeks. After that, they'd be free, or at least no longer directly under the eyes of the king or any powerful Fu family elders.

  After eating breakfast, he returned to his room and id back down in his bed to continue his studies. He'd already formed the outline of some pns, but none of them could be finalized until he fully understood all of the new information from the newly read thousands of books.

  ~-o-O-o-~

  Barely two days ter, Fu Anwen finished comprehending the general knowledge from the Royal Library's books. By the fourth day, he had a solid understanding of the martial arts and cultivation books from the Technique Pavilion, though he wouldn't be able to use most of them for now. He'd need to wait until his body matured first.

  His pns for his new life in Big Tree Vilge were soon finalized, and another four days ter, he'd even managed to customize the martial arts techniques necessary for accomplishing his immediate goals.

  His new absurdly fast thinking speed was unbelievably efficient. He estimated that his former self from one week earlier would have taken many years to scour through the knowledge contained within the books. Even then, some of the cultivation techniques would have remained beyond his understanding.

  It wasn't that he was more intelligent now. At least, he didn't feel any smarter. He could just rapidly bash his lightning-fast thoughts against any problem now, distilling what would previously be years of contemption and analysis into a mere hour, allowing him to quickly struggle his way through any difficult subjects.

  In fact, most of the st day had been spent purely on studying formations, which were the most advanced of all the cultivation methods he'd read by far. Hundreds of years of collected wisdom discussing mortal activities like farming or cooking could be fully comprehended and reorganized into a clear and easily understood guide in a matter of minutes, but a single formation concept could take him hours to puzzle through.

  All that time and mental effort was more than worth it, though. A properly constructed formation using techniques at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm, once powered by the natural spiritual energy floating in the air, was capable of pulling people into illusions, forming impenetrable barriers, and even killing enemies.

  Once he protected his new home with a formation, even the most powerful cultivators or martial artists from the Fu Kingdom wouldn't be able to harm him or the people he cared about.

  His pns were extremely detailed and comprehensive. As long as he had a chance to fully implement them, it would be unlikely for any problems to arise, at least with the strength of the powerful beings living in nearby kingdoms.

  One bit of information that had excited him when he'd learned it was that no known cultivators in the Fu Kingdom had a spiritual sense that could delve deep underground.

  The strongest living elder of the Fu family was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. Even if there was a hidden powerhouse somewhere on the pace grounds, they wouldn't be above the Core Formation level. After all, if there was a Nascent Soul senior in the family, the nd he was standing on right now would be called the Fu Empire, not the Fu Kingdom.

  Of course, it was possible that a powerful Fu family expert had chosen to remain hidden, but that was extremely unlikely. They would be passing up on countless resources by not upgrading the Fu Kingdom to an empire, which was no different from giving up on their own life and future for a cultivator.

  A Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense could reach a distance of up to one thousand feet away, while a Core Formation cultivator's could stretch out ten thousand feet. However, unlike Fu Anwen's sensing ability, which was always active, using theirs quickly burned through their spiritual energy. A cultivator's spiritual sense would only be active when they needed it.

  Even though it was unlikely for a cultivator to be using their spiritual sense at any given moment, Fu Anwen still wouldn't take risks. He had no way of knowing when one of those 'necessary' moments that a cultivator's spiritual sense was active was occurring.

  From Fu Anwen's perspective, the most important aspect of a cultivator's spiritual sense was that it was almost entirely stopped by solid surfaces! While he could always sense within a huge sphere that passed right through all objects, or at least through every material his ability had interacted with so far, the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator could only pass through one foot of earth, while a Golden Core cultivator's could only pass through five.

  'The treasure buried beneath the pace grounds is all mine!'

  ~-o-O-o-~

  "Aunty Jing, take a left here," Fu Anwen called out while being wheeled along a path on the outskirts of the enormous royal estate. There had been a map of the pace grounds in the Royal Library, so he'd long pnned out the perfect route to take in order to most efficiently search underground for buried treasure.

  For the past three days, he'd been escorted just about everywhere by his mother's maids. Was moving around where he might catch the eyes of his siblings or any other vilins risky? Of course! Was the risk worth it? Judging by the fact that he'd barely stopped smiling for three whole days, it was hard for him to say that it wasn't.

  Thousands of gold coins!

  Tens of thousands of silver coins!

  Hundreds of Luminous Pearls!

  Six gigantic Luminous Pearls that glowed brightly like tiny suns!

  In addition, there were five jade tablets with unknown contents, assorted gems, and various items including rings, neckces, and cups made of gold, many of which were encrusted with even more gems.

  He'd even found a sword that glowed with a faint light. While he couldn't use the proper methods to check how strong it was due to not being a cultivator, his newfound knowledge of treasures and bcksmithing allowed him to estimate that it was a spiritual weapon suitable for cultivators in the Foundation Establishment realm.

  While he'd found many more items than those, most of the buried treasure had already fallen victim to time.

  Shockingly, every single one of the treasures he'd picked up had been buried underground for at least three hundred years!

  What these Fu ancestors had done was no different from throwing their wealth into the garbage. It was absolutely shameful.

  'Don't worry, ancestors. This filial descendant will made sure to use your treasures wisely,' he silently pledged to his long-dead benefactors.

  With a smile so wide that it threatened to split his face in half, Fu Anwen continued his exploration of the pace grounds.

  ~-o-O-o-~

  Unfortunately, there weren't any further significant finds after that. All he'd seen were more coins, a bit of jewelry, and some rotten goods.

  The Luminous Pearls were the best find, at least for his current pns. All of them had been stored in the same ancient chest that seemed to have been at least thousands of years old judging by the condition of the long-decayed boxes buried alongside it. However, unlike the other old containers, that chest had still looked brand new.

  Fu Anwen still kept to his old ways and left the container behind, though, only snatching away the contents. That should hopefully prevent the ground from colpsing above the now-missing treasures, which would draw unwanted attention.

  While he didn't know if his idea would work, he wanted to turn his inner space into an area that could support life. Intuitively, he knew that he could blink himself into the space, but a mouse he'd blinked inside from deep underground had started dying right away.

  Based on how the mouse had acted, Fu Anwen's best guess was that the air inside his inner space wasn't suitable for living creatures.

  According to one of the cultivation books he'd read, animals and pnts each breathed in the air that the other one breathed out, which meant that he needed to get some pnts growing inside his inner space if he wanted to be able to breathe the air. Pnts also needed light, which could be provided by the Luminescent Pearls, and water, which there was plenty of deep underground.

  He pnned to pick up some pnts once he left the pace, then pull in some more animals a few days ter to see if the air situation inside had changed.

  As long as he could breathe in there, his inner space would probably be the safest hiding pce in the world.

  But an inner space he could live in wouldn't only be useful for hiding.

  Fu Anwen had recently theorized a blinking ability that was the culmination of his st few days of experimentation in his inner space. After blinking himself into his inner space, he felt like he should be able to instantly blink himself back out anywhere within his sensing range.

  He even thought that he might be able to blink anywhere within his outer sensing range while remaining inside his inner space, which would essentially blink the inner space to a new location. If that was possible, it would allow him to travel in complete safety as long as he didn't meet any powerful beings who could detect his inner space.

  'Only two more days left before we leave!' Fu Anwen excitedly thought while lying in bed that night.

  All the packing would be finished by the next evening, and they'd leave at sunrise on the following day. The trip to Big Tree Vilge would then st for about two months by carriage, assuming no trouble cropped up.

  'Two more days, and my pns can finally begin.'

  His fists clenched with excitement.

  'I can't wait!'

  It was a long time before he finally sank into sleep that night.