“Accumulating points is very important if you wish to become more powerful. You can exchange the points for elixirs, weapons and many other things,” said Vert.

“Sounds like everything needs to be exchanged with points,” said Zephyr.

“Yeah, almost. It’ll be hard for you to level up if you don’t have any points. There are many ways to earn points. The most common is through completing quests. The more difficult the quest is, the more points you'll get.”

Zephyr acknowledged Vert’s help with a nod. After that, Vert once again reminded him of the important things, he even mentioned that The Library was a place to visit, after sharing, he left. The Library held all The Boundless Academy’s martial arts skills. Some of the techniques were really powerful and could only be accessed with points. One would have no choice but to get the weaker techniques if they did not have enough points for the more powerful ones.

‘I should go there and have a look,’ thought Zephyr. His Seven Slash skill had become obsolete, so he planned to learn a new sword skill. He went straight to The Library after changing into his uniform which was embroidered with the Supreme Peak’s flame emblem.

Zephyr had no trouble finding his way to The Library for his fellow initiates were more than happy to point him the way when they saw him wearing the Academy initiate’s uniform. The square outside was packed with The Boundless Academy’s initiates and apprentices talking amongst themselves. Each of them exuded powerful energies and it was common to find an Agility of level five scattered around. These people were here for The Library as well.

On the opposite end of the square was a tall building guarded by four powerful skilled fighters. They stood at the entrance unmoving with a cold expression on their faces. Their aura made Zephyr tremble slightly. When he was near the entrance, he could feel a terrifying force suppressing him from all sides.

The four guards looked at Zephyr. “Supreme Peak’s Academy initiate? Prove it,” said one of the guards serenely.

“Here’s my ring,” said Zephyr. He injected a shred of his true energy and immediately the ring gave out a crisp sound. The ring would only give out the crisp sound if the true energy injected matched its owner’s blood. This meant that it could be lent out or faked. This security measure was the perfect way to confirm one’s identification.

“You may enter.” The four guards nodded at Zephyr as he went in.

“How is it possible for a Strength of level nine to become an Academy initiate?” muttered one of the guards when Zephyr was well out of earshot.

Once inside, Zephyr found himself to be overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of The Library. There were shelves filled to the brim with books as far as his eyes could see. An old man sat next to the entrance, he woke up from his nap when he sensed Zephyr’s presence.

“Are you new?” asked the old man evenly.

“Yes, sir!”

“Ok, here are the rules. Each of the books here can be borrowed with points. You can read the introduction before borrowing them. You need to register with me first if you only wish to browse. If you really wish to study, you’ll have to go into the Enlightenment Room for two hours, of which you’ll need points to access that as well. Prohibition has been put on the books so don’t even think about forcing your way through them. Remember, you have a time limit of two hours. You’ll need to pay with more points if you want to extend the time.”

Zephyr nodded his head faintly. Two hours were more than enough for a fighter of his caliber. He walked towards one of the shelves and picked out a book. He was not surprised when the Prohibition prevented him from flipping through the pages. He was sure he would be swallowed up should he forced his way through.

Gold Crush. A super-powerful attack that requires extensive training. Once attained, the fighter would be able to crush gold with their own bare hands.

Ultimate Divine Fist. A force to be reckoned with. Uses a lot of true energy. Only fighters with a deep reservoir or true energy should undergo this training.

Green Cloud Finger. Very tricky, powerful, and difficult to learn. Requires a fighter with a strong soul.

The skills found in the Library were indeed more powerful than what could be learned from outside The Boundless Academy. However, Zephyr had no interest for none of them had attained the grade he wanted. Martial art techniques could be divided into three grades — Heaven, Earth, and Mortal. Each of the grades was then further divided into High, Medium, and Low. It was a shame that most of the skills in The Library did not even reach the minimum of Mortal Low.

After going through more books, Zephyr discovered none of the skills had attained a grade at all. “There’s no way I won’t be able to find a graded skill in a library this big!” Suddenly, he saw a string of numbers written on one of the books.

Heavenly Water Fist. A powerful water attack. Required points, 2,000.

The number of points needed shocked him. “This many points for a non-grade skill?” The corners of his lips began to twitch. No wonder Vert kept on stressing the importance of accumulating points. His 1,000 points now felt like a drop of water in the vast ocean. “How much would a graded skill cost?” he wondered out loud.