That night, Yu Lie sat quietly in his meditation room, carefully pondering the words of She Shuangbai.
After confirming that the likelihood of being deceived was minimal, he began to consider the preparations he could make.
Alongside this, he spent most of the night studying the Beast-Taming Pill, memorizing the materials needed to concoct it before finally resting.
The next morning, Yu Lie left the Poisonous Mouth and returned to his private residence in the town to fetch a few items.
Then, he headed straight for a particular place.
This place wasn’t a shop or a tool workshop in the town, nor was it the Ghost Street, which only opened at night.
Soon, two stone cranes came into view.
After bowing to them, Yu Lie stepped into the Library Pavilion.
As a mid-level Dao Child, the first and second floors of the Library Pavilion were now freely accessible to him.
Yu Lie wasn’t there to exchange for cultivation techniques but to use the various books on these floors to fill in gaps in his knowledge and to see if there were any records about the "Great Military Review."
The first and second floors were bustling with Dao Children, and Yu Lie even recognized a few familiar faces.
However, the Library Pavilion prohibited loud noises, so everyone simply nodded at each other before disappearing among the bookshelves.
From dawn until dusk, Yu Lie stayed in the Library Pavilion, spending the entire day there without returning home to cultivate.
Yet, sitting in a corner at a wooden table, he wore an expression of enlightenment, clearly having gained much and looking spirited.
Yu Lie was currently caressing the cover of a book titled "Eighteen Years of Observations in Blackwater Town." It was placed among the travelogue and observation books, its style ancient and worn, clearly having been there for many years.
After searching through the first and second floors of the Library Pavilion for most of the day, Yu Lie found the content of this book particularly intriguing.
It recorded the observations of a certain Dao Child in the town over eighteen years, detailing various aspects of the town.
Although much of it was veiled and didn’t reveal too much, Yu Lie could still glean a lot of information from between the lines.
For instance, regarding the "Great Military Review," which She Shuangbai hadn’t explained in detail, the author hinted that the key to this event wasn’t about completing tasks like gathering herbs or mining.
The area within a thousand miles of the town had already been thoroughly explored by Dao Disciples and Dao Officials from nearby towns.
The so-called dangerous or deadly places for Dao Children were likely known to Dao Disciples, who might have intentionally left them or even created them.
Of course, the author of the book only speculated on this point, leaving it to the reader to judge its validity.
Yu Lie pondered this and thought to himself: "If both the author of this book and She Shuangbai’s descriptions are correct, then the upcoming 'Great Military Review' is all about 'military review' and 'training.' The town is forcing mid-level Dao Children to risk their lives not to obtain herbs or ores but to temper them!"
His eyes gleamed: "In such training, skills like finding herbs, identifying them, hunting beasts, or locating ores are secondary. Even the tasks assigned by the town are secondary. The key is to survive this training and to become accustomed to bloodshed!"
Life in Blackwater Town was harsh, but it had its own rules.
As long as Dao Children didn’t deliberately break taboos, they might not live comfortably, but they usually weren’t in mortal danger.
Half a year ago, Yu Lie and the landlady of the miscellaneous courtyard were perfect examples—one "idling away" and the other a pure mortal, yet both were alive and well.
Only when one left the town’s boundaries did the wilderness become rampant with beasts and demonic creatures.
Even so, within a hundred miles of the town, true demonic creatures were rare, with only tigers, wolves, and minor demons causing trouble, and there were still villages and hamlets.
Yu Lie concluded: "She Shuangbai is right. In such an event, the most important thing is to preserve one’s life!"
Moreover, there was something She Shuangbai hadn’t mentioned, which Yu Lie now knew from the book: the area for Blackwater Town’s Great Military Review overlapped with those of nearby towns! It was common knowledge that if Dao Children encountered others from their own town in the wild, as long as they covered their tracks well, killing and looting were trivial matters.
If they encountered people from other towns, it was even worse!
In the observation records Yu Lie held, the author even made a definitive statement: "Once outside the town, no one can be trusted, not even blood relatives... Other towns have those skilled in skinning, who can wear human skins and move, and those skilled in seduction, who deliberately harm people from our town."
This made Yu Lie frown deeply.
He had originally thought of gathering people like Radish Head from the Poisonous Mouth to form a team during the "Great Military Review," thinking that the more people they had, the easier it would be to move around outside.
But now it seemed that relying too much on others could backfire, giving enemies an opportunity to strike.
Furthermore, Yu Lie was a mid-level Dao Child, while Radish Head and the others were still low-level.
After completing a few tasks, they could retreat back to the town and resume their daily lives, while mid-level Dao Children like Yu Lie could only return when ordered by the town’s overseer.
Yu Lie furrowed his brow, tapping the cover of the observation records, racking his brain for what else he could prepare besides buying talismans: "Once outside the town, it’s uncertain whether I can still buy pills, so I must prepare more! Clothes, food, even tents—all need to be prepared..."
For a moment, Yu Lie couldn’t help but feel grateful for his storage blood artifact.
Compared to other Dao Children, he could carry much more without hindering his movements.
But a more critical issue arose: apart from using talismans to subdue a demon once, killing a bandit once, and slaying the poisoned Du Liang once, Yu Lie had no experience in combat.
At the Dao Child stage, since they couldn’t cultivate spells, Dao Children mostly relied on martial arts, weapons, and crossbows to fight.
Yu Lie was still young and had been focusing on his foundational cultivation, leaving him little time to delve into martial arts or combat techniques.
Apart from a single technique of exhaling to kill, his martial skills were mediocre at best.
Yu Lie was well aware of this.
If he encountered an enemy in the wild, even if his physique was stronger, if he ran into an experienced Dao Child or one who had spent years hunting and gathering herbs, he could easily be outmaneuvered and killed!
"Poison, pills, talismans, armor, parrots... I need to prepare everything I can!"
In Yu Lie’s mind, ideas on how to quickly improve his survival skills and combat abilities flooded in.
But before he could sort them out, a chilling sensation washed over him.
Yu Lie immediately looked up, scanning the vast second floor of the Library Pavilion.
The nearby tables were empty, and the few Dao Children sitting around were doing the same as him—standing up and quickly heading downstairs.
Yu Lie also extinguished all his thoughts, hurriedly got up, returned the observation records to their place, and rushed downstairs.
It was time for the Library Pavilion to close, and those who lingered would face the consequences!
Once outside, the chilling sensation on Yu Lie’s body disappeared, and he let out a sigh of relief.
Instead of heading home, Yu Lie made his way to the Ghost Street.
The Library Pavilion’s closing time coincided with the Ghost Street’s opening.
However, before going to the Ghost Street, Yu Lie hesitated slightly and headed to the Dao Registry Office.
Although the office was closed, as a mid-level Dao Child, Yu Lie easily entered and had someone call out Old Yu.
When the two met, Old Yu was slightly taken aback to see Yu Lie.
The old man had a toothpick in his mouth, likely having been snacking and lazing around before clocking out.
"Oh dear!" Old Yu tossed the toothpick and immediately clutched his lower back, grimacing at Yu Lie: "Young Master Yu, take it easy! You’ve got an iron body, but this old man’s bones can’t handle going to the tea house every other day. Even if I could, my wallet couldn’t!"
Old Yu’s loud voice immediately drew the attention of others in the Dao Registry Office, and the staff all turned to look at Yu Lie.
Yu Lie, whose face wasn’t as thick as Old Yu’s, quickly waved at him and said, "Who said anything about going to the tea house? I have serious business to discuss with you today!"
Old Yu’s eyes lit up: "Serious business?" He immediately straightened up, no longer clutching his back, and motioned for Yu Lie to follow him.
They entered a dimly lit room, where Old Yu carefully closed a door and said smugly, "This place is a blind spot, even the ghost soldiers can’t see here. Young Master Yu, even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you."
Hearing Old Yu’s suggestive words, Yu Lie’s face darkened again.
But since he was in a hurry to go to the Ghost Street, he didn’t waste time and immediately whispered, "Old Yu, do you know about the 'Great Military Review'?"
Old Yu’s playful expression immediately turned serious at the mention of the "Great Military Review," and he stared intently at Yu Lie.
Since Yu Lie had chosen to inform him, he didn’t hold back and quickly shared what She Shuangbai had told him, omitting anything that might reveal She Shuangbai’s identity.
Although many people likely knew about it before him, it was better to be cautious.
If it weren’t for Old Yu’s outwardly flamboyant but inwardly cautious nature, and the fact that this matter concerned life and death, Yu Lie wouldn’t have brought it up.
After listening, Old Yu urgently asked, "The 'Great Military Review' has been moved up? Is it true? How sure are you?"
Yu Lie thought for a moment and nodded firmly: "About eighty to ninety percent sure." He then shook his head and added, "I suggest you prepare early, Old Yu. Otherwise, your old bones might not die in the tea house but out there in the wild."
However, to Yu Lie’s surprise, Old Yu wasn’t worried but instead overjoyed.
He slapped his thigh and exclaimed with delight: "Haha! It’s been moved up? That’s great news! I’ve been waiting for this!"
(End of Chapter)