Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Chapter 198: Chapter 131: The Third Time

Seeing that the expression on her face suggested she wasn’t hiding anything, Li Chang’an knew he probably wouldn’t get any crucial information out of the Empress.

So he simply changed the subject. “I have received such a generous stipend from Your Majesty, so it is only natural that I should help alleviate some of your burdens. Is there a Library Pavilion in the Imperial Palace? I could take up a post there. That way, I wouldn’t delay my cultivation, and I could still be of service to Your Majesty!”

In any world, knowledge is always the most precious asset monopolized by the ruling class.

Therefore, any reasonably stable dynasty would place great importance on the security of its Library Pavilion.

Li Chang’an had proactively volunteered to guard the Library Pavilion.

The Empress hesitated slightly, but she ultimately nodded in agreement. “The Library Pavilion is a vital area of the Imperial Palace. In the past, it has always been guarded by my uncles and other Clan Relatives. However, since you have shown such sincerity, my dear subject, I will permit you to guard the first three floors. You may also borrow any of the books on those three floors!”

She believed in trusting her people completely or not at all.

Besides her own trust in him, Su Ying’s willingness to let Li Chang’an—an official who had just entered the Imperial Palace—access the Library Pavilion was also due to the terrifying talent he had displayed at the Martial Arts Examination.

A master of the Innate Realm before the age of ten.

Given a little more time, becoming a Grandmaster would be as simple as eating and drinking.

It was even entirely possible for him to take another step forward and become the next Martial Arts Mythology.

The situation facing the Li Yang Imperial Family could only be described as perilous—like a stack of eggs.

They urgently needed someone who could carry the banner for the Imperial Family.

As long as Li Chang’an was loyal to her and to Liyang, Su Ying could tolerate most of his requests, so long as they were within the rules.

After seeing Su Ying off, Li Chang’an returned to his new residence within the Imperial Palace.

After being led on a tour of the mansion by the servants and familiarizing himself with the layout, Li Chang’an dismissed them and began to settle his mind, sitting cross-legged to cultivate.

Just as Empress Su Ying had said, Li Chang’an had already broken through to the Innate Realm.

Although he was still some distance from the Grandmaster Realm, his strength was already not to be underestimated.

However, Li Chang’an was still not satisfied with his cultivation speed. ’After all, according to my predetermined fate, I’ll encounter a Cultivator in my fortieth year.’

’Ten years have already passed, yet I still haven’t built up enough of a foundation.’

Of course, this couldn’t be blamed on Li Chang’an.

Whether it was cultivation or anything else, the initial stage was often the most difficult.

In the first ten years, Li Chang’an had to face various objective difficulties beyond his control, such as his young age, low starting point, and slow cultivation progress.

But as he grew older, these objective difficulties would gradually lessen, and Li Chang’an’s rate of progress would gradually accelerate.

Especially after entering the Imperial Palace through the Martial Arts Examination, Li Chang’an’s fate had stepped onto a new level.

[Ding! Defying Fate successful!]

[At the age of ten, you have escaped the fate of a street beggar. You took the initiative to win the Martial Arts Examination, becoming the triennial Martial Champion Scholar, and joined the Liyang Dynasty, becoming a hot new favorite under the Empress.]

[Rebirth evaluation has increased. You have received an additional 20,000 Rebirth Points!]

After spending three days familiarizing himself with his new residence, Li Chang’an headed to the Library Pavilion. The Empress had clearly informed the members of the Imperial Family in advance.

When Li Chang’an arrived at the entrance of the Library, an old man soon guided him into the pavilion.

Looking at this old man, Li Chang’an was inexplicably reminded of the Six Ancestors from his second life.

Unfortunately, the old man did not have a high cultivation. He was merely a Martial Artist who had just entered the Inner Qi Realm, and certainly not the Six Ancestors from his second life.

The layout of the Library Pavilion, however, was very similar to the one from his second life.

On the first and second floors, most of the books were on various topics like history, biographies, and the Four Books and Five Classics.

Only the third floor housed a number of Martial Arts Secret Manuals, but they were all of a relatively low level.

The truly core Cultivation Techniques were on the higher floors.

In this life, Li Chang’an was a Foreign Minister, and he had only just entered the Imperial Palace. No matter how much the Empress trusted him, it was impossible for her to let him guard the Library Pavilion above the third floor.

That was one of the lifelines of the Empire.

It could only be guarded personally by a Grandmaster from the Li Yang Imperial Family.

Li Chang’an was, of course, mentally prepared for this.

He wasn’t picky.

After all, as long as he had books to read and could make full use of his Heaven-defying Comprehension, he had nothing to be dissatisfied about.

Time always passed quickly in the Library Pavilion.

Li Chang’an was not in a hurry to look at the Martial Arts Secret Manuals on the third floor, because they were not high-level and held little attraction for him.

He spent more time reading the history books in the Library Pavilion.

He couldn’t get information about Cultivators from people like the Empress and the Demoness, so he would have to search for clues in the history books.

After all, people could lie, but the information in books would not. Even if books could lie, by reading several and cross-referencing them, he was bound to gain something.

According to the information revealed in the original timeline, the Cultivators who entered this world had a clear goal: to refine the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

’From this, it’s clear the Cultivators most likely know this world exists, and they’ve probably been here more than once.’

’If they’ve been here before, they must have left traces.’

The importance of these traces to Li Chang’an was self-evident.

…

The various history books in the Library Pavilion were as vast as a sea of smoke.

They were also dry, tedious, and difficult to understand.

Li Chang’an had already sped up his reading as much as possible, but it still took him a full year to read through the entire three-thousand-year history of the Liyang Dynasty and the dynasties before it.

According to the history recorded in the books, Li Chang’an did not find any historical information that explicitly mentioned Cultivators.

But this did not mean that Li Chang’an had truly gained nothing.

On the contrary, although he hadn’t found precise information on Cultivators, he had found more than a hundred suspected traces of their appearance.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Cultivators had actually appeared over a hundred times in three thousand years. After all, if the frequency was really that high, the Cultivators would have likely been exposed long ago.

These hundred-plus instances were just what Li Chang’an thought were probable. The reality of the matter would require further screening and verification through other means.

He put down the book and rubbed his eyes.

Li Chang’an reached out and caught a pigeon that was looking around at the window.

A letter was tied to the pigeon’s leg.

The letter was from the Martial Champion’s Mansion in Chun’an County.

…