Once Mu Qinlian had left, Wu Huang continued with his duties. Gradually, the large pile of books was reduced to just a few, which he finished reviewing without incident.
He also took the opportunity to consult some general texts before finally leaving the Vault of Knowledge.
"See you next week, young Wu Huang.""See you later, Elder Mo."
Wu Huang bid farewell to the guardian of the Vault of Knowledge and returned to the servants' residence.
"The head servant must be attending to his own duties, so he won't return until noon," he murmured as he walked toward his room.
Being a servant with some seniority, unlike the others, he had his own room. Although it was small compared to those of the outer disciples, it was still far better than sleeping in a shared room with numerous servants.
"Luckily, they gave double the usual. Although it's twice the effort, it's still better than managing the mine," he murmured while placing part of the reward into a bag. Inside, numerous spiritual stones were visible.
"It's almost full… have I accumulated this much?" he wondered, carefully taking out the stones and counting them.
When he finished, he couldn't help but be surprised by the small fortune he had gathered.
"Should I spend half on buying a storage ring?" he questioned himself. The amount was enough for a servant to live for quite some time without worrying about anything.
Of course, that was something to consider later.
He left the bag aside, sat on the bed, and held a spiritual stone in his hand.
He breathed calmly, and slowly, the energy of the stone began to be absorbed, flowing into his body. Gradually, the glow disappeared, leaving behind an ordinary rock that soon crumbled into gray ash.
Inside Wu Huang's mental world, the energy flowed into his dantian; however, a large portion changed direction and was drawn elsewhere.
That inner space was not empty at all. Besides him, another presence dwelled there.
"I'm feeding you well, so stop bothering me," said Wu Huang, fixing his gaze on the presence.
It was the Celestial Book, floating in the void while silently devouring the diverted energy.
As if responding, the book glowed faintly, and formless words appeared before him.
"Do you want more? And what reason do you give me to do so?" he replied, frowning.
The words changed.
"Evolve? You're my martial spirit; you should know better than anyone that wouldn't work on me," he said disinterestedly.
As if expecting that response, the words transformed again.
"Secret techniques? I know your limits. That's nothing more than gathering and refining low-level arts I've already seen. I have no intention of fighting or getting involved in conflicts, so they're useless to me. Now stop bothering me and stay quiet."
With that, it withdrew from his mental world.
The Celestial Book dimmed slightly, as if feeling rejected.
Outside his mental world, Wu Huang sighed.
"How can a martial spirit be this annoying? If it weren't useful to the Vault of Knowledge, I would have reduced the support I give it long ago…"
Still, he knew he couldn't cut it off completely; doing so would be like crippling himself without gaining anything in return.
After dealing with that, he continued meditating for several hours. Finally, he exhaled deeply.
"My foundations are perfect; advancing to the next stage shouldn't be a problem," he murmured, letting himself drop onto the bed lazily.
He let his body sink into the softness of the mattress and closed his eyes, trying to enter the dream world.
However, it was still too early, and sleep did not come.
Finally, he opened his eyes and extended his hand, waiting a moment… but nothing happened.
He frowned, understanding the situation.
"Celestial Book, don't be like this, come out already."
There was no response.
"The 'stay quiet' thing wasn't meant for you to take it so seriously either…" he added, trying to ease the situation. However, the book remained completely still in his inner world.
Wu Huang sighed once more.
"Fine… increasing it to half a spiritual stone is okay."
Barely had he finished speaking when the Celestial Book appeared in his hand.
He clicked his tongue and opened it.
"If it weren't for all the knowledge you store, I would have left you behind already…" he murmured.
The Celestial Book contained martial techniques, cultivation methods, pill recipes, talismans, and much other knowledge that Wu Huang had gathered during his time in the Vault of Knowledge.
Its content was comparable to almost everything available on the first floor of the vault. The upper levels held knowledge he did not yet have access to and, in truth, did not care about.
At first, he had accumulated that knowledge intending to strengthen himself. However, the more he understood the world of cultivation, the clearer it became that the path to transcendence was not for him. Over time, he almost completely abandoned it.
That did not mean he stopped cultivating. After all, cultivation improved his health, cleared his mind, and protected him from disease. Even though he did not seek immortality, those practical benefits were enough.
But deep down, even that mattered little to him. As long as he had enough money to avoid working for the rest of his life, that was sufficient… even if it meant living as a simple mortal.
"Luckily, all those novels and comics I read in my previous life are here too…" he murmured calmly.
Immediately after, he chose a novel at random and began reading quietly. Although he already knew it completely, rereading it was still slightly exciting, allowing him to notice many details that had previously been incomplete or underdeveloped.
"This martial world lacks proper entertainment methods…" he complained softly while turning the page.
He spent the rest of the day like that, until knocks on the door pulled him out of his immersion in the book.