A few paces from the registration center, Lin Jie stopped and turned, an eyebrow raised. “Why are you still following me?” Wang Feng blinked, confused. “Aren’t we going to class?” “You are. I’m not.” A look of betrayal crossed Wang Feng’s face. Lin Jie had been the one to insist they get an early start. Why was he backing out now? “Library,” Lin Jie said flatly. “I don’t have to attend classes anymore. The instructor gave me a pass. You, on the other hand… are you trying to get your parents summoned by the school?” The words hit their mark. Wang Feng’s face fell, and muttering something under his breath, he turned and ran, his hands shielding his expression. It was true. Lin Jie had been granted an exemption from all his classes, even cultivation. The instructors had personally approved it. Wang Feng had not. As a third-stage Origin cultivator, Lin Jie was already considered to have met his potential. None of the teachers expected him to get into a prestigious war academy, so no one would push him to cultivate further. Watching Wang Feng’s retreating figure, Lin Jie shook his head with a small laugh. Their fathers were old friends, and he and Wang Feng had grown up together, as close as brothers. Still, Wang Feng’s boisterous energy could be draining at times. Lin Jie was a familiar sight at the library. He often spent entire days there, and over the years, he’d struck up a comfortable friendship with the librarian. “Lin Jie, you’ve already mastered over ten languages. You should give yourself a break. Why are you still studying so hard?” the librarian teased as he walked in. Here at Beihe Youth Sage, Lin Jie was a minor celebrity. Most students struggled just to master the required divine, devil, demon, and common tongues. The mental strain was immense. Yet Lin Jie relentlessly pursued even the most obscure dialects. Lin Jie just smiled without offering an explanation and made his way to the third floor. With classes in session, the library was a sanctuary of silence, nearly empty save for a few teachers engrossed in research. Students were a rare sight. Most of them would rather endure bitter cultivation than spend their time deciphering arcane scripts. To the youth of this generation, any problem that could be solved with force wasn't worth thinking about. The teachers glanced up as Lin Jie passed but didn't disturb him. Everyone was absorbed in their own world of text. Lin Jie returned the courtesy, moving silently down a familiar aisle toward his most frequented bookshelf. After a moment of searching, he pulled out a massive, heavy volume. It was a copy of the Myriad Race Compendium. Over the centuries, humanity had compiled everything they knew about other races into these volumes, an encyclopedia of potential friends and foes. The Myriad Race Compendium wasn’t a single book, but an entire series. Lin Jie had no idea how many volumes existed in total; the most sensitive information was restricted to a select few. Beihe Youth Sage possessed thirty-nine of them, each detailing a different race: their appearance, habits, customs, languages, unique cultivation methods, combat styles, and even guides on how to hunt them. But that wasn't what Lin Jie was looking for today. He flipped to the title page, to the full-page illustration of the race in question. The name “ox-faced fish” was misleading. The creature in the drawing was a powerfully built, ox-like beast with the scaled tail of a serpent and a pair of feathered wings sprouting from its back. The name, the text explained, came from its amphibious nature. It was equally at home on land and in water, though it was significantly more powerful in its aquatic environment. Its wings, like a chicken’s, were useless for flight, serving only to grant it explosive jumping power. Flesh of the ox-faced fish can expel toxins, an excellent antidote. Native to the Azurewood Realm, a world of mountains and rivers. They hibernate in winter and are most active in summer. Caution is advised when entering the Azurewood Realm in summer, as the danger level increases exponentially. A neutral power on the Myriad Realms Battlefield. Do not engage without reason or explicit orders. Lin Jie skimmed the text. He’d read it all before, though he had never attempted to learn the ox-faced fish language. It was notoriously difficult and obscure, spoken by a race that wasn’t even dominant in the Azurewood Realm. He wasn't here for the text. He was here for the picture. Was this it? Lin Jie muttered, the memory of the previous night’s nightmare still fresh. Was this the creature that was hunting me? When he was younger, he’d dismissed the nightmares. But as he got older, he’d started to analyze them, to search for patterns. What were these things that pursued him through his sleep? Did they even exist? Over the years, everyone had come to see him as a hard-working genius, a prodigy who had mastered eighteen languages through sheer diligence. The truth was, the nightmares were his only motivation. He studied the myriad races to identify his tormentors, and learning their languages became a necessary tool for deeper understanding. “The dream was too blurry,” he whispered to himself. “I can’t be sure. But the monster last night… it had wings. And I think it bellowed like an ox.” It was impossible to be certain, but in the past, he had successfully matched several dream-monsters to races in the compendium. He was sure he was on the right track. The monsters in his dreams were real. They were the myriad races. More than ten years. Over four thousand nights. He had been hunted by thousands of different creatures in his sleep. The sheer diversity of them all but confirmed they couldn't be mere figments of his imagination. “The myriad races,” Lin Jie smiled bitterly. “You certainly hold me in high regard, to come after me even in my dreams.” He was just a normal human. Why would they bother? At the thought, he gritted his teeth. He didn’t know them. He’d never even seen one in person. So why did they haunt him? What twisted satisfaction could they get from torturing an ordinary boy? “But why is this happening at all?” He couldn’t understand it. He could almost accept it if he’d had some encounter with them, some reason for their enmity. But he had never once set foot outside Beihe City. His only connection to these monsters was through the pages of these books. How could that be enough? Having confirmed his suspicion about the ox-faced fish, Lin Jie slid the heavy book back into its place. Some questions were best left alone for now. He turned from the bookshelf with another purpose in mind. A short walk brought him to a different part of the library: the Origin Section. This area housed materials related to the first stage of cultivation, the Origin Realm. For humans, the journey began with the Origin Codex. Before a cultivator opened their nine core acupoints, they were unable to consciously sense source qi, but the energy was everywhere. By absorbing this ambient energy, one could gradually open the nine acupoints and step into the Mighty Force Realm, where true physical cultivation began. Origin the acupoints was a slow, methodical process, one that cultivators began in childhood and advanced one small step at a time. Cultivation was a world ruled by the law of the jungle, where geniuses could soar. Greater talent meant faster progress. Lin Jie knew all this. He knew the Origin Realm was not a stage to be rushed, that progress was passive and couldn't be forced, not even with hard work. And yet, he still had to look. He needed to find a way to accelerate his cultivation, to see if there was a method he’d missed. But after a thorough search, he found nothing. He frowned. If the information wasn’t here, he likely wouldn’t reach the fourth-stage before the entrance examination. “Lin Jie, what are you looking for?” A quiet voice broke his concentration. A short-haired girl reading nearby had looked up, her curiosity piqued. They weren't classmates, but they were both library regulars and had become familiar with each other over time. Lin Jie offered her an apologetic smile, realizing he’d disturbed her. “Sorry. I’m looking for anything on increasing the speed of Origin cultivation, but I can’t find a thing.” “Increasing the speed of Origin?” the girl murmured, then her brow furrowed slightly. “There are methods, but they aren’t recommended for humans. The Origin Realm is the bedrock of your cultivation. Origin the nine acupoints is the process of laying that foundation.” “This is a realm where stability is everything,” she continued, her tone serious. “There’s a reason it’s called the Origin Realm—it’s where you open the very source of your power. I thought you were applying for the cultural research academies? This isn’t something they test. Don’t tell me you’re actually trying to rush your cultivation.” A hint of worry entered her voice. “You can’t mess with your foundation. It’s incredibly dangerous. Even if you succeed without crippling yourself, it will negatively impact all your future progress.” Lin Jie smiled. “I know. Don’t worry, I’m not that foolish. I just wanted to see if there was a safe method. If there isn’t, there isn’t.” The girl considered this for a moment, then pointed to a dusty bookshelf in the corner. “There are a few books over there about cultivation acceleration. But some of the methods they record are… extreme. Lin Jie, you can’t attempt any of them. It could kill you.” She leaned forward slightly. “During the early years of the Jianhong Calendar, some humans tried these methods out of desperation. The world was a much more dangerous place back then. But none of those seniors ever reached the apex of cultivation. Most of them died young, their foundations shattered from what they did in the Origin Realm.” “Thank you. I understand,” Lin Jie said, nodding. He knew her as Qian Mei, one of the top students in the final year’s first class. Like him, she was a library regular and was said to have mastered many languages, though he’d never been nosy enough to ask how many. She was likely also aiming for the cultural research academies, which explained her lack of concern for her own cultivation level. Lin Jie didn't say anything more. He walked over to the corner Qian Mei had indicated and began to scan the spines of the old, forgotten books. Origin Acceleration Method. My Opinions on Origin. Importance of Foundations…

Chapter 3: A path walked alone