Chapter 3 ; Gaining Knowledge

  Once he returned home, Shui Yuhan quickly opened one of the books he borrowed from his

  grandfather. It was a book about the continent and it was the easiest to read among other books for

  him.

  Surprisingly, he was able to understand the content of the book although he did not know how to read

  just a while ago. He did not notice how absurd his learning speed was.

  He flipped through the pages and read with earnest expression.

  “…So I’m living in a massive supercontinent known as the Dawn Continent.” He mumbled as he read a

  line about the continent.

  According to the book, Dawn Continent was surrounded by an endless ocean. There were many experts

  that tried to cross it to find other continents, yet none returned so far with good news. What they got

  was a warning about the numerous beast hiding in the depths and that travelling far from the vicinity of

  the Dawn Continent using a boat was simply impossible.

  After the continent, the book also mentioned about the numerous sects and empires whose name he

  didn’t bother to remember. But he was interested in the concept of sects, institutions that teaches

  about the way of cultivation and provides various resources essential for it. A sect was made for

  different purposes, but they were mostly used by powerful states to find and nurture talented

  individuals that could be of use.

  “Hmm?” Shui Yuhan read something that interested him. “Alchemists, a profession that refines the

  essence of herbs and transform that essence into pills or potions, which can then be used for various

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  things from healing wounds to increasing cultivation level. “He looked up and contemplated.

  ”Sounds like a high salary profession.”

  As a person from Earth, the first thought that come to mind when someone spoke of alchemist are;

  metals, immortality, and philosopher’s stone. Now instead of transforming metals, alchemist transforms

  herbs instead.

  Shui Yuhan thought that it would be an ideal profession as it was always in demand. But as he reads, he

  was disappointed and his idea of becoming an alchemist flew away. To become one, it takes a decade of

  learning and training. Not to mention the expensive resources that would be used for that, as well the

  need for a mentor.

  ‘Well, I’ll just stick to collecting herbs like my mom.’ He thought to himself ‘I wonder what my father

  does as a job. He seems busy as well.’

  Time passed unnoticed when he was reading the book. Before he knew it, two hours had passed. After

  reading that long, he now had a solid understanding about the Dawn Continent. He learned about the

  famous landmarks around the continents and about secret dimensions scattered in the land. He also

  read a bit about mythical creatures and a brief information about legendary places such as the Sky Island

  rumored to appear once every twenty years. Lastly he read about bloodlines. Although the book barely

  touched the subject, he knew that bloodlines plays a very important role in cultivation.

  “Bloodlines huh. I wonder if I have one as well.”

  Although he learned so much, he still did not know which region the village was located and he still have

  no clue about the cultivation realms. Closing the book, he took another one and started to read it. This

  time, it was all about herbs.

  He read and memorized the illustrations and descriptions of each herb depicted in the book. By the time

  he finished the whole thing, he could recall most of the content. But he got dizzy and fell on his crib

  when he eased his accumulated stress from focusing too much.

  As he fall asleep, he didn’t notice a pungent gas rose up from his body. After the pungent gas was

  expelled, Shui Yuhan’s skin turned softer and whiter than it already was.

  When Shui Yuhan woke up, it was already morning. His mother carried him to be breastfed. It was the

  usual thing after his rebirth, but he noticed something different. When he gazed at his surroundings, it

  was as if the world transformed. It was much clearer and more colorful. When he focused, he could

  even see the tiny dust floating it the air even without sunlight reflecting through them. That doesn’t end

  there, as he noticed that he had become agile. If he were to try, he could easily walk now like an adult.

  His mother took him to the backyard. There, he saw his father training with a sword. His father swung

  the sword too fast that it turned into a blur. ‘As expected, a combat oriented profession’ Shui Yuhan

  thought as he watched his father. But then he noticed another thing. ‘That sword, it’s too slow and

  predictable.’

  He knew the sword was fast, and that something happened to him that made his perception rise to a

  supernatural level. ‘Just reading a book made this much change?’ He thought jokingly ‘Then maybe I

  should read more books.’

  “Oh looks like Yuhan is interested.” His father, Shui Xieren, stopped swinging his sword and turned to

  them. Wiping his sweats, he said “I will soon train you to use a sword but you’re not yet at the right

  age.”

  After that, his father left to the village and his mother entrusted him to his grandfather, Yan Yimu, at the

  library before she goes collecting herbs to sell.

  It was already dark when he returned home. In his room, he opened the third book titled “Way of

  Cultivation”. Shui Yuhan smiled. He was excited to try cultivating and shatter stones with his fist. He was

  from Earth after all, where mystical things like splitting the ocean apart and flying in the sky without the

  aid of technology were mere fictions.