Chapter 109: The World

Ye Jun knew he wasn’t using his system to its full potential, that was why he always tried exploring. Even then, he was surprised to see the attribute bubbles floating around a few disciples.

Trying to contain his excitement, Ye Jun straightened up and went towards a young man who was too engrossed in reading that he didn’t even check his surroundings.

Ye Jun passed by him and picked up the attribute bubbles.

[Reading +2]

[Reading +2]

’What the hell!’ Ye Jun was left speechless. ’It really is true.’

Without wasting any time, he continued walking and passed by all the disciples who dropped the Reading attribute bubbles. He did pretend as if he was looking for some particular book, so that no one got suspicious.

[Reading +3]

[Reading +4]

[Reading +7]

He was farming attributes.

However, that wasn’t the end as he also got a few attribute bubbles which he did expect from the Scripture Hall.

[Comprehension +2]

[Comprehension +1]

Unfortunately, they didn’t drop anything else. But he was very happy with his gains, especially since they helped him in understanding how the system worked.

Stopping before a tall wooden shelf, Ye Jun thought, ’So, the attributes are dropped when someone is actively performing something. And attributes will be related to that action.’

That much he already knew, but this confirmed it further.

’So I can gain attributes of everything that can be considered an action. If it can be performed, then its attributes can be dropped. But whether it drops or not likely depends on the individual’s strength too.’

It wasn’t like this was the first time he saw someone reading in this world, but no one else gave Reading attribute bubbles, so clearly there were some limits.

’Or is it because they are reading deeply?’ he wondered. ’I will have to check it later on.’

That opened up a lot of opportunities. There were so many attributes he could pick up that the possibilities seemed endless.

He shook off those thoughts for now, since there was another objective for him to come here. He wanted to learn more about the world, so he chose the first floor.

Ye Jun barely knew about anything outside Bright Star City, most of which was learned through others. So, first came knowledge.

“Are you looking for something?”

Ye Jun flinched hearing the voice and turned around, only to see a middle-aged man standing there, a short beard on his angular chin. It suited his otherwise bald head.

’The manager,’ Ye Jun guessed and smiled. “I was looking for some general knowledge books, Senior. I want to learn more about this world.”

“Then, you are in the wrong section,” the manager said. “This is about the Spirit Veins already across the world. So, do you want to learn geography or history?”

“Both!” Ye Jun answered, before adding, “I will start with geography, as it might help in understanding history better.”

The bald man nodded and said, “Follow me.”

He took Ye Jun seven blocks down and stopped before a bookshelf twice his size. Thick and thin, new and old, all kinds of books were there.

“You can start from the upper left…” The manager gave him some suggestions on how to read before going back to his position.

Left alone, Ye Jun picked up the top-leftmost book. Thick with yellowish pages and a leather cover. It even smelled ancient. The title ’Basic Understanding of Xuanwu by Rin Immortal’ was written on its cover.

’Immortal?’ Ye Jun rolled his eyes. ’I bet he died at sixty.’

He found a table nearby, sat on it and spread open the book before him. Then, he began to read it and found it much easier to understand even though many times, the author used difficult words.

Ye Jun blinked in mild surprise. ’Woah! The skill is already helping me.’

Pleased with it, he continued reading for hours. The book was thick enough that it took that much time to complete.

It told him a lot about the world and broadened his horizons.

For starters, the Xuanwu world was massive. Too massive, actually, that the sheer size shocked him. It was as if he had transmigrated to Jupiter, except this wasn’t a gas giant but a proper cultivation world.

Its main landmass was a giant continent on which the Xuanwu Empire was located.

There was also a map attached, so Ye Jun could imagine the world better. Stretched from east to west were the Black Wind Wildlands, so vast and great that they separated the North from the South entirely.

Only Bright Star City connected the two regions.

In the northern part of the Black Wind Wildlands, Ulankar was located. A mountain range that stood out among the vegetation-filled rolling hills that surrounded it.

It was technically an independent nation, but it was surrounded by the Empire from all sides, and the Empire also claimed that the mountain range belonged to them.

Going south, he found the central lands filled with greenery and plains. He ignored the mundane parts and focused on many locations that were important for him.

Secret realms like the Weeping River controlled by the Northstar River Sect, the Five Elemental Secret Realm controlled by the Five Elemental Sect, and much more like these.

’The sects took the name on which they are based.’ Ye Jun thought. ’It is similar to White Gale Pavilion.’

Then, he found the Eternal Golden City, the capital of the Xuanwu Empire and also the place where the imperial family resided. They were so far away from him, yet they controlled almost everything that happened around him.

Even the Song Clan was under them, serving the throne as the Northern Ward of the Empire.

Many sects surrounded the city. Some small, some big. But all of them were orthodox sects, unlike other places where the book described both unorthodox and orthodox sects.

Most of the important places for cultivation were controlled by these sects, or the nobles who were granted an emblem by the throne.

There was so much in the book that Ye Jun had to filter out. He completely ignored the eastern, western, and southern parts. For now, he only needed the north and central lands since they affected his future the most.

After studying about the culture and people of the central lands, which was quite interesting to him, Ye Jun went back to studying the north and also found some history on it.

The entire north was controlled by the Saint of Endless Frost, Patriarch of the Song Clan and also the Northern Ward. Under the Song Clan were three great sects, one of which was the Heavenly Frost Palace. The other two were the Almighty Sword Sect and the Seven Lotus Saint Sect.

Then, there were multiple vassal sects under these sects, many more clans who governed multiple cities and counties. Ye Jun tried his best to remember it all.

’Can I get the memory attribute?’ he wondered, feeling a headache looking at so much information. ’I guess not. Maybe I can get memory attributes.’

Finally, he closed the book and picked up another book. ’Northern History by Omni Dragon.’

’What kind of names are these?’ he wondered. ’At least they sound cool.’

He opened the book and found, to his relief, that it was significantly thinner than its predecessor. The author, Omni Dragon, apparently believed in brevity.

The first few pages were dense with dates and names of long-dead patriarchs, wars fought over land that no longer existed under those names, and alliances sealed with marriages that ended in more wars.

’So many things happened here.’

Ye Jun skimmed through most of it, pausing only when something caught his attention.

One thing did.

The Black Wind Wildlands hadn’t always been wild, according to the author.

According to the book, in ancient times, the region was inhabited. Thriving, even. Multiple cultivation clans had carved out territories within it, building cities that reportedly rivaled the Eternal Golden City in grandeur.

Then something happened. The author was frustratingly vague about what exactly, and everything collapsed. The clans were wiped out overnight. The land itself seemed to reject habitation afterward.

Spiritual beasts flooded in, the climate turned hostile, and the vegetation grew thick and wrong in ways that even seasoned cultivators found difficult to survive.

Only Bright Star City survived, though the book didn’t explain why.

’Interesting,’ Ye Jun thought, leaning back slightly. ’So the city I grew up in is essentially a scar left behind from whatever disaster happened. Is it related to my dream?’

He made a note of that.

The later sections of the book covered the Song Clan’s rise, which was, frankly, less interesting. Politics, power grabs, strategic marriages. The usual.

He read it anyway, since knowing who held power and how they came to hold it were two very different things, and the latter often told you far more about a person’s weaknesses.

Mostly though, it was because he might need it when he would visit them.

By the time he closed the second book, the light filtering through the Scripture Hall windows had turned dim.

Night had fallen.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep