「The next day.」
Qin Yang woke up early.
He bought two youtiao and a bowl of sweet tofu pudding on the way.
It was a simple solution for today's breakfast.
Arriving at the library, Qin Yang went straight to his workstation.
The first floor of the library, Area 1.
The Jiangcheng Martial Arts Library had three floors in total, and the first floor was divided into eight areas.
The first floor housed some of the most basic Martial Arts Secret Manuals.
The higher the floor, the more profound the Martial Arts recorded.
However, Qin Yang didn't have permission to go up to the second floor.
His job was to manage his own little patch of turf.
The upper two floors were naturally guarded by the library's powerhouses.
Rows of Martial Arts Secret Manuals lined the neat shelves.
As a librarian, Qin Yang could, of course, read these basic Martial Arts Secret Manuals at his leisure.
Now that he possessed the cultivation of a Half-step Innate, Qin Yang planned to pick a Martial Arts to practice seriously.
That way, if he ever ran into trouble, he would have some ability to protect himself.
Returning Yuan Palm Technique
Tiger Roar Saber Technique
Luo Family Spear Technique
...
After scanning the secret manuals on the shelves, Qin Yang finally picked up a Sword Dao Secret Manual titled "Qingfeng Sword Technique".
The library had many Martial Arts Secret Manuals.
But Qin Yang understood the principle of not biting off more than you can chew.
He wasn't greedy; he only chose one basic Swordsmanship.
As for why he chose Swordsmanship?
No reason. It's just cool!
As a cheerful young man, Qin Yang naturally harbored a Swordsman's dream in his heart.
Who wouldn't want to roam the world with a sword?
Although he currently lacked the power to roam, that didn't stop him from choosing Swordsmanship.
'With no woman in my heart, my sword draw will be divine.'
But Qin Yang didn't have a sword, and he couldn't practice with one in the library anyway.
So, he could only squat silently in a corner and focus on memorizing the Sword Techniques from the manual for now.
The original owner of his body had no experience cultivating Martial Arts. So, despite possessing a Half-step Innate cultivation, Qin Yang was still a Xiaobai.
However, his Half-step Innate cultivation did give him a significant advantage.
At the very least, these basic Martial Arts weren't too difficult for him.
Not until noon did Qin Yang stretch his back and close the manual in his hands.
Because it was time to eat.
The library had its own cafeteria. The food was great and very cheap.
Qin Yang got a plate of braised pork for less than three yuan.
The main draw was that it was a great value.
"Sigh, when will days like this ever end?"
"Being stuck in this library every day, I feel like I'm going to get depressed."
While Qin Yang blissfully ate his braised pork, his colleagues in the cafeteria looked completely listless.
"What can we do? Our talent is just no good. We're destined to be wage slaves for life!"
"Just cultivate hard. Maybe if we can break through to the Postnatal Third Realm, we can find a decent job."
"Postnatal Third Layer? With my trash talent, I'll probably be thirty by the time I get there. I'll probably only be able to get a job as a security guard then."
"Sigh, it can't be helped. Who told us to be born with such poor talent? It's the life of a wage slave for us!"
Listening to his colleagues' complaints behind him, Qin Yang shook his head.
'It seems this world is even harder to get by in than my previous one.'
The strong are revered, and without power, one is doomed to be at the bottom of society for life.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Qin Yang.
He had no grand ideals or ambitions.
Having food to eat, water to drink, and living a good life was enough.
Even though he had become a master at the Half-step Innate level, Qin Yang had no intention of changing jobs.
He thought staying in the library was perfectly fine.
First, he had no interest in making money.
Having toiled for decades in his past life, now that he was reborn, he just wanted to live a stable life and "lie flat."
Second, according to the system, this was a Fantasy World.
Having read countless novels in his previous life, Qin Yang naturally understood how terrifying the Combat Value of a Fantasy World could be.
'If I go out and fool around, an Innate Powerhouse might just pop out of nowhere and kill me, right?'
'The outside world is too dangerous. It's better for me to stay put in this library.'
A life of fighting and killing was not what Qin Yang wanted.
Third, his golden finger was too unreliable!
Qin Yang still hadn't figured out what was going on with this golden finger.
He'd obtained his Half-step Innate cultivation in a completely baffling way.
Even if he went outside, he had no way of becoming stronger.
Although the system had raised Qin Yang's cultivation, his trash-tier talent hadn't changed one bit.
His speed of absorbing the Power of Stars was still as slow as a tortoise.
Although he had already reached Half-step Innate and was only half a step away from the Innate Realm...
...Qin Yang knew in his heart that with his talent, crossing that half-step would be incredibly difficult.
'Forget it. As a piece of trash, honestly lying flat is the best way to go.'
Qin Yang couldn't be bothered to think about it. After finishing the braised pork in his bowl, he went straight back to his workstation and continued reading.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
Qin Yang's days consisted of reading and eating.
Life was exceedingly peaceful.
After its last appearance, the system had gone silent again, as if it had never existed at all.
If not for the fact that Qin Yang possessed the tangible cultivation of a Half-step Innate...
...he would have started to doubt whether the system was even real.
Qin Yang had even tried slaughtering other small animals in an attempt to reawaken the system.
But it all ended in failure.
Helpless, Qin Yang decided to just ignore it.
He would just honestly go to work and read every day.
'This stupid dog of a system, I'm better off without it!'
Qin Yang believed that even without the system...
...he could still "lie flat" just fine!
Of course, besides "lying flat," Qin Yang also gradually became familiar with his colleagues at the library.
The original owner of his body had a somewhat withdrawn personality, even suffering from low self-esteem, and didn't like interacting with people, which resulted in him not being very popular.
But over the past month, thanks to Qin Yang's efforts, his colleagues' impression of him had finally improved significantly.
Some of the female colleagues, in particular, would often sneak glances at him, and had privately given him the nickname "Library Hottie."
Qin Yang couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Being handsome is also a burden..."
"Qin Yang, reading again?"
"Let's go, it's time to eat!"
A figure suddenly appeared beside Qin Yang and gave his shoulder a hard slap.
Qin Yang, who had been engrossed in his book, jumped in fright and shot the person an annoyed glare. "Can't you give a guy some warning?"
This person's name was Xia He. He was the administrator for Area 2 on the first floor of the library and was one of the male colleagues Qin Yang was relatively close to.
If one could say Qin Yang was forced by circumstances to come "lie flat" at the library...
...then Xia He had done so willingly.
It was said that his family was well-off and his parents were quite wealthy, making him something of a rich second-generation kid at the library.
But because his talent was too low and he was the sole heir of the family...
...his parents didn't want to see him go out adventuring, so they could only let him live off them.
"Hehe, next time for sure, for sure."
Xia He chuckled, draping an arm over Qin Yang's shoulder, not seeming to mind at all.