Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

Seeing that Lin Xiao had seemingly gathered a large haul, Jiang Youfu was both surprised and impressed.

"Wow, Brother Xiao, you found so many books so quickly! That's amazing! I'll go and look for more!"

Saying this, he carefully placed the Brief History of the Northern and Southern Spiritual Realms on top of the towering pile of books that Lin Xiao was holding, making sure they wouldn't topple over, then hurried back to continue his search in the area where he had been browsing earlier.

Lin Xiao: …

Finding it cumbersome to carry so many books, Lin Xiao decided to store them temporarily in the storage ring gifted to him by Elder Liao. However, he discovered that these books couldn't be stored in the ring.

After thinking it over, he placed the books on the ground instead of putting them into his private storage space. Since he didn't know what kind of restrictions might have been placed on these books, he didn't want to risk triggering any trouble by forcibly storing them. It was better to follow the rules of the shop, considering he was here to buy books, not steal or cause a commotion.

To his surprise, Elder Liao, who usually had something to say about everything Lin Xiao did, had been unusually silent since they entered the shop. Lin Xiao realized that the elder hadn't spoken a word since they walked in, perhaps out of respect for the shop's territory.

With his hands now free, Lin Xiao continued browsing for more books.

To him, the prices of the books here were quite reasonable. Jade slips were generally priced between five and ten spirit stones each, while traditional paper books were even cheaper, ranging from one to three spirit stones each.

Although these prices might seem like a waste of money to cultivators who grew up in the cultivation world, where such knowledge was common, for Lingxian Sect, this knowledge was invaluable. They were sorely lacking in basic information about the cultivation world.

Even though they had Elder Liao and Liu Chun to provide them with occasional insights into the cultivation world, those were just fragments of knowledge compared to what people who grew up here knew. Having books would make a huge difference.

Books are the true repositories of human wisdom, after all.

With that in mind, Lin Xiao was prepared to spend a significant amount of spirit stones tonight.

However, as he continued to explore the deeper shelves, he realized that even his preparedness might not be enough.

The further back he went, the more expensive the books became.

Lin Xiao didn't waste time reading the content but instead walked straight to the back of the shop. There, he found that the books, whether traditional paper or jade slips, were uniformly priced at a staggering 500 spirit stones each.

He quickly checked to see what kinds of books warranted such high prices, only to find that they were all advanced manuals on cultivation techniques, spells, and the Four Arts of cultivation.

Relieved, Lin Xiao thought, at least I won't feel bad about skipping these.

After all, Lingxian Sect wasn't in dire need of these advanced techniques. They were already making good progress with the foundational books they had.

Even Liu Chun, who was exceptionally skilled in creating talismans, hadn't yet fully mastered everything in the Basic Guide to Talisman Crafting.

Comforted by this thought, Lin Xiao decisively turned back and continued searching through the more affordable sections.

As he kept adding books to the growing pile on the ground, Jiang Youfu eventually returned, looking excited as he carried several more books.

"Brother Xiao, why are there so many books piled up on the floor here?"

Still absorbed in the book he was reading, Lin Xiao replied casually, "Oh, these are all the ones I'm planning to buy."

Jiang Youfu: ???

He looked down at the massive pile of books from top to bottom, left to right. There were at least a few hundred books there!

No wonder Brother Xiao loves reading so much!

Thinking this, Jiang Youfu carefully moved some of the books aside to clear a path for himself, then walked over to stand next to Lin Xiao and began reading over his shoulder.

[Later, the top disciple of Tianxuan Sect said, "We discovered this first, so naturally, it should belong to our sect. You'd better leave quickly."

Li San, furious, thought: "I'd rather destroy it than let these ungrateful people have it!"]

Lin Xiao, deeply engrossed, tried to turn the page but found that he couldn't. The free preview had ended.

So, he immediately added the book to the pile at his feet and turned to find Jiang Youfu staring at him with wide eyes.

Lin Xiao: …

"Uh, Youfu, I've just realized that we don't have to limit ourselves to buying only historical books. As long as a book seems useful, we should buy it. Many of the unspoken rules, common practices, and stories of the cultivation world might not be recorded in official histories."

Jiang Youfu's eyes lit up in understanding.

"Got it, Brother Xiao!"

With that, he quickly ran back to the shelves he had been browsing. He had seen several interesting books earlier but hadn't dared to pick them up. Now that Brother Xiao had given the go-ahead, he couldn't wait to grab them!

Several hours later, when the two of them finally met up at the shop's exit, they were both using their telekinetic abilities to levitate massive piles of books.

Together, they had cleared out about a third of the shop's cheaper books.

Perhaps the shopkeeper hadn't anticipated anyone coming in and buying so many books at once, so the shop didn't have any containers or bags to carry them. They had to move the books themselves.

When they reached the exit with their piles, they noticed that the small sign near the door had changed from "Five spirit stones to exit without purchasing; pay for the books if you buy" to "Total: 1,300 books, price: 5,122 spirit stones".

Over 5,000 spirit stones…

Lin Xiao looked at the massive pile of books in front of them, his heart aching a little.

But thinking about how their sect would finally have a proper library once these books were added, he suppressed his pain and paid the 5,000-plus spirit stones.

He had to admit, the shop was pretty stingy. The exit didn't open until he had deposited the last spirit stone into the slot.

Once the payment was complete, the sign changed again to read: "Purchased books may be taken by the customer. Thank you for your patronage."

Seeing this, Lin Xiao tried storing the books in his storage bag, and to his relief, they were now allowed inside.

After storing all the books, he and Jiang Youfu finally stepped out of the shop and into the night.