Reversing the Milky Way

So-called spirit beasts are mostly evolved from normal herbivorous wild animals that have evolved and mutated after spending a long time in places with high concentrations of spiritual energy. They can also be said to be a divergence of a species.

However, some spirit beasts are born and raised by nature. These spirit beasts have a long lifespan, and the lowest level is at least an intermediate spirit beast. They can directly absorb and use spiritual energy from birth. There are even records that among the rare high-level spirit beasts, there is a special type of spirit beast. They are the most mysterious existence in this world. They are formed entirely from spiritual energy and can carry consciousness with a rock body. They are slow-moving but have immense strength.

Some rare mythical beasts even use lightning as a medium to travel through the clouds, moving as fast as lightning and instantly covering thousands of miles away. To this day, only a few individuals have seen what they are, but they never reveal it to outsiders.

Looking at the introduction in the "Illustrated Compendium of Spirit Beasts of the Fire Cloud Kingdom," Bai Cheng couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that the knowledge taught in this school is really common sense. Things that are too far removed from the realm of ordinary people are probably unnecessary because the instructors feel that these books are just placed in the library for interested students to come and read."

Bai Cheng skimmed through it. The highest-ranking spirit beasts recorded were mid-level spirit beasts of the fifth rank. All the spirit beasts were marked with their locations, descriptions, and images. He didn't know if this meant that spirit beasts in the Fire Cloud Kingdom were only of the fifth rank or that the records only went up to the fifth rank. However, according to Lin Tianyong from the spirit beast shed at the academy, it was probably the latter. As for spirit beasts of the fifth rank and above, they were probably not accessible to ordinary people and therefore were not included in the records. Or perhaps the compilers omitted them to hide the information about the spirit beasts. This was also possible, since fifth-rank spirit beasts were already incredibly expensive, and the prices of anything higher were unimaginable.

After looking at it for a while, he decided to look at some other books. On the bookshelf next door, he was surprised to find a book called "Illustrated Compendium of Monsters of the Fire Cloud Kingdom". Its cover had long since faded and looked dull. It was covered with a thick layer of dust, the edges of the pages were yellowed, and some parts were even damaged.

Bai Cheng immediately became interested. He wanted to know what the difference was between so-called demonic beasts and spirit beasts. He then picked up the book, gently blew away the dust, and began to read.

Monsters are mostly the product of ferocious and wild beasts cultivating into spirits. Most of them feed on spirit beasts. Where spirit beasts appear, monsters are likely to appear as well. Monsters and spirit beasts have a very long history. They have existed on this continent for thousands of years. After thousands of years of evolution, high-level monsters have continued to evolve. They have even evolved to be able to walk upright on two legs and have developed advanced intelligence, forming races.

Through evolution, the higher the level of the monster, the more it resembles a human in appearance. Some monsters that have cultivated for thousands of years can even transform into a complete human form, making them indistinguishable from humans based on appearance alone.

Thousands of years ago, the demon race and the monster race joined forces to attack the human race. In the end, the strongest human race fought with all their might to kill the strongest demon race member, but they were no match for the strongest monster race member. In the end, they sacrificed their lives by burning their souls to perish together with the strongest monster race member. This great battle was so fierce that the sky darkened and the sun and moon disappeared. The battle lasted for three whole months in the heavens, and the aftershocks shattered many continents.

In the end, most of the powerful members of the three races perished in this great war. The human race's population was reduced by half, while the demon and monster races suffered even greater losses. Later, the demon and monster races took the initiative to lead their small numbers of people to other continents.

After reading through the contents, Bai Cheng was secretly surprised. Although his worldview had been changing, this was still a world of cultivation. What he had come into contact with so far was only the tip of the iceberg. Thinking of this, Bai Cheng continued to flip through the pages. However, to his surprise, the number of monsters recorded in the so-called "Fire Cloud Kingdom Monster Atlas" was not large, and the highest level of the atlas was only at the level of Dust Demon.

"It seems that these are all the demonic beasts discovered within the territory of the Fire Cloud Kingdom. The previous books were all brand new, and the contents on them must have been concealed by someone. This book looks quite old; it must have been written a long time ago." Thinking of this, Bai Cheng slowly closed the book and slowly recalled what he had seen.

"It seems that coming to the library to look up information was an extremely wise choice. There is so much knowledge here that I couldn't access before, and it will also make it easier for me to understand this world more quickly." Afterwards, Bai Cheng looked around and found that there were far fewer students in the library. It must be that the lunch break was almost over. Bai Cheng then put down his book and left the library.

Before the afternoon class started, Bai Cheng specifically sought out Zheng Tianzhuang to explain his intentions. Zheng Tianzhuang expressed his understanding, as he also preferred students to cultivate on their own, since fewer people meant an easier workload for him. Therefore, after obtaining the instructor's permission, Bai Cheng continued to browse the books in the library.

Many books weren't very important to Bai Cheng; he just needed to read them a few times and remember them. However, some books were more important to him. Besides the newly issued "Record of Spiritual Herbs," the illustrated manuals of spirit beasts and demon beasts from the Fire Cloud Kingdom on his bookshelf were also extremely important. He had also discovered books on talismans and elixirs, which were quite valuable. Even the books on forging techniques held great interest for Bai Cheng.

However, he couldn't stay in the library forever to memorize all this, otherwise he wouldn't have time to cultivate. Thinking of this, Bai Cheng went to the front desk of the library. Zheng Wensheng was lying on the chair behind him with his eyes half-closed, looking as if he were asleep.

Bai Cheng approached him, intending to speak, but Zheng Wensheng spoke first: "Is there some problem you don't understand?" As he said this, his eyes remained closed, as if he had already sensed Bai Cheng's arrival.

"Excuse me, sir, since these books cannot be taken out of the library, could you please tell me where they can be sold?"

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's words, Zheng Wensheng calmly replied, "Most of these books are unique copies from the academy, collected by several generations of academy principals. Many of them are books you can't buy outside."

After hearing this, Bai Cheng pondered for a moment, "It seems that I can only make a copy of these books first. However, most of these books have illustrations, which I cannot completely copy. I wonder if there is anything like a printing press here."

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng asked, "Is there anything that can be used to make rubbings of books?"

After saying this, Zheng Wensheng, who was lying in the chair, slowly opened his eyes, then sat up and looked at Bai Cheng, saying, "You're quite interesting as a Body Refinement student. Most of the other students come here to browse the books, but you want to make copies of them. Actually, if you can enter the cultivation academy, these books are given out for free. You're just a student in the early stage of Body Refinement, you have a long time ahead of you, why are you in such a hurry?" After saying this, he lay back down in the chair and closed his eyes to rest.

Hearing this, Bai Cheng thought to himself, "It's not that I'm not in a hurry, but I've already decided to join. I just want to get in touch with this content as soon as possible. It seems I can only make a copy myself first." With that thought, Bai Cheng turned to leave the front desk.

Just then, Zheng Wensheng, who was lying on the chair, spoke up again: "One silver coin for each rubbing of a book."

Bai Cheng stopped when he heard the sound, turned around and exclaimed in surprise, "What? One silver coin a book? Holy crap, that's expensive!"

After hearing Bai Cheng's exclamation, Zheng Wensheng responded, "You should know that there are some things here that you can't find outside, or even if you can find them, they might not be cheaper than here. In addition, I also sell some simple talismans and pills here."

After listening, Bai Cheng understood. It turned out that the person in front of him was also a merchant from the academy. It seemed that he also had some things that could be bought in the market. Thinking of this, Bai Cheng asked, "Do you have Body Tempering Pills here?"

Upon hearing that business had come his way, Zheng Wensheng immediately sat up from his chair and said, "Body Tempering Pill, fair and square, five silver coins each."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng subconsciously asked, "How much does it cost to buy Body Tempering Pills here?"

Zheng Wensheng was taken aback when he heard Bai Cheng say this. He usually sold the pills, and this was the first time he had ever bought them back. After all, the Body Tempering Pill was not cheap, and only people with fire-attribute cultivation physiques could refine it. However, it was obviously impossible to buy it back at the selling price. After thinking for a while, Zheng Wensheng said, "As for buying it back, the highest I can offer is three silver coins per pill."

After hearing this, Bai Cheng exclaimed, "This is too cheap. I might as well sell it to someone else."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Wensheng perked up and explained, "Hehe, sell to someone? Putting aside the quality of your pills, even if you dared to sell them, no one would dare to buy them. The herbal medicine shops in Wuling Town are all established brands, and they are all stores with unified management and certification from the Supervisory Office to prevent counterfeit goods from running rampant. If you buy inferior pills there, you can report it to the Supervisory Office. So, the herbal medicine shops in the town only sell genuine products, and people prefer to buy medicine from certified herbal medicine shops. If you want to sell pills, even if you sell them for three silver coins, it's not certain that anyone will buy them. Besides, you're only at the early stage of Body Refinement. Where would you get Body Tempering Pills? Without someone to guarantee your safety, it will be very difficult for you to sell them."

After listening to Zheng Wensheng's words, Bai Cheng realized that he had been careless. He hadn't even thought of such a simple thing. It seemed that the Supervisory Bureau was also acting as the Market Supervision Bureau. If that was the case, then he might not be able to sell his products.

However, he doesn't have that much money right now. If he doesn't want to waste time cultivating, selling the Body Tempering Pills he won is probably the fastest way to make money. As for the efficacy of these pills, they're probably not as good as the waterfall in the cave, so he probably won't need them. As for the spiritual herbs inside, Yu Qing'an once said that it's best not to sell them; if someone discovers them, it will be a disaster.

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng said to Zheng Wensheng, "Since it's one silver coin per book, I'll make copies of six books first." After saying that, he took out the most important books for him from the bookshelf: the illustrated guide to spirit beasts and demon beasts of the Fire Cloud Kingdom, the illustrated guide to basic talismans and pills, and then the illustrated guide to basic forging and ores. He then placed them in front of Zheng Wensheng and said, "I'll use two Body Tempering Pills to exchange for the copies of these six books, and I require that the contents be exactly the same."

Zheng Wensheng looked at the six books in front of him and said, "Okay, pay first."

Bai Cheng was slightly embarrassed when he heard this and said, "Well, I didn't bring it today, I'll pay you tomorrow."

Hearing this, Zheng Wensheng looked up at Bai Cheng and then asked, "In that case, what's your name? Which class are you in? If you don't come, I can still find you."

"My name is Bai Cheng, and I am a student in the beginner class of Body Refinement."

After saying goodbye to the librarian of the school library, Bai Cheng stayed in the library until almost the end of the school day in the late afternoon before leaving.

This time, he arrived at the school gate early to wait for Yueling. He couldn't admit that he was slow this time. Then, he noticed the big tree in the schoolyard and slowly walked over to it.

The giant tree was surrounded by a neat ring of massive stones, forty meters in diameter, giving it a solemn feel. Bai Cheng then slowly placed his hand at its roots. This was the second tallest tree he had seen in this world; standing beneath it, his eyes were filled with its dense greenery.

In the upper part of this tree, the dense branches and leaves resemble a huge hemisphere, tightly wrapping the entire trunk. Each leaf is also quite large. Although it is late autumn, it still looks lush and green, without any signs of yellowing.

Just as Bai Cheng was lost in thought, touching the tree roots, a bird's cry came from above. This sound was unlike any other bird call; it was loud and piercing, echoing throughout the entire school. Then, Bai Cheng saw the branches above him rustling, and then a huge figure burst forth. The figure quickly reached Bai Cheng's side, flapped its wings, and landed steadily, a powerful gust of wind kicking up a cloud of dust around Bai Cheng.

After the dust cleared, Bai Cheng looked closely and realized it was the same skylark from yesterday. Then he saw Su Lingyue jump down from the bird's back, her long blue dress swaying in the wind.

"Professor Su, what's going on?"

Su Lingyue looked at Bai Cheng and replied, "In my spare time, Xiao Qing would take me to various places to collect herbs."

"Xiao Qing, is this its name?" After saying that, Bai Cheng looked at the Cloud Chaser next to him. Yesterday in the spirit beast shed, the Cloud Chaser was lying down and he couldn't tell how big it was. Now he saw that the Cloud Chaser was over four meters tall and its wingspan was eight meters.

At this moment, Su Lingyue replied, "That's right, I saw that its feathers were mostly blue, so I named it Xiao Qing." After saying that, Su Lingyue raised her hand and touched Xiao Qing's huge body. As if it understood her meaning, Xiao Qing lifted its leg and wandered around.