Sanctum of knowledge

'If you fail, you will be thrown out of the sect,' Theo thought, coming back to his memories of the meeting that just ended.

He then released a long sigh, relieving himself of all the stress and tension that accompanied him thus far.

'I did it,' Theo put all of his current feelings into this single expression.

He walked upright. His clothes were no different from the robes of other disciples. Unless someone looked right at his face, they wouldn't be able to really recognize him.

And right now, Theo had time to figure out his situation.

"Sect Library is down this path," one of the five direct disciples of the sect elder guided Theo towards the only place he asked about before leaving Elder's quarters. "You will find the way," the guy added before giving Theo a peculiar look.

'I have to be some rare specimen in his eyes,' Theo thought.

Just like was the case with Paichi, Theo and Elder's direct disciples belonged to two different worlds. As such, after the passing of the momentary interest, the disciple turned around and left.

"Thank you for your help, senior," Theo's body bowed in half all on its own, following the force of habit ingrained into his flesh over the years.

'So even if I'm not aware of it, I should be able to pull out the same feats the original self of this body did,' Theo quickly took an observation of a point of interest before deriving a valuable lesson from it.

Then, Theo turned his head in the direction the disciple pointed him at.

The sect library didn't stand out amidst all sorts of architectural flowers that filled the premises.

It was a simple mansion on the smaller side, consisting of one main hall in the middle and two long wings stretching deep behind the building. The area behind the library, hidden between its wings, became one of the more popular cultivation spots, where the thoughts of all those who went there to study still lingered in the air.

'A place of deep thought,' Theo thought as the explanation of the place appeared in his mind. 'Or a place with an atmosphere good for studying and focus,' the young man quickly rationalized his findings.

And then he froze.

Not like Theo was moving, he stood in a place gawking in gaze at a pretty ordinary building.

But now, he realized one of the most important truths behind this world.

'No matter how you look at it, this place is hella primitive!' Theo thought.

That single realization was the kind of massive morale boost that Theo needed.

'They are all about mystic arts, herbalism, tea ceremonies, and all that crap!' Theo tightened his jaws, trying to hold back the excitement boiling in his soul. 'You can feel it in the damn air!'

Theo closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

'The start might be awful, but it's up to me to decide how will the future look like,' Theo thought, pulling his eyes down and locking them on the library's entrance.

"And that's where I will find the answers to my most pressing concerns," Theo muttered to himself.

His body slumped down.

He took his first step toward the library.

Theo's head lowered and his shoulders dropped.

Step by step, Theo got closer to the magnificent building. And with every step, his presence reverted back to what felt natural to this body.

'Shit, no,' Theo pulled himself together, snapping back to reality and straightening his pose.

'If there is anything the modern world taught me, save for critical thinking, then it is to fake it until I make it!' Theo encouraged himself, pulling his body back into a proper posture before covering the remaining distance and pushing the doors to the building open.

The interior of the library was just like one could imagine it when looking from the outside.

The central piece of the mansion consisted mostly of the reception hall right by the entrance, librarian seats in the two corners leading to the wing parts of the mansion, and a huge number of desks and chairs fitted in every last bit of the free space.

All the books, scrolls, and scripts within the sect's possession were held in either of the wings, on one of the massive shelves that went from one end to the other of each wing.

'If my memory serves me right, I should take a right,' Theo thought, allowing his body to operate on an instinct for a while.

His head lowered; his shoulders dropped down.

'So that's how I used to act,' Theo thought, acknowledging the fact before regaining control and fixing his posture once again.

Only by some miracle or due to the changes to Theo's appearance that came just from fixing his clothes and posture, the young man managed to reach the place he was looking for without anyone interrupting him.

Sadly, as this was one of the busiest parts of the entire building, there was no way Theo would avoid encountering at least a few of his oppressors.

'Well, since there is no avoiding it, let's just try to push through for as long as I can,' Theo decided.

And so, he stepped between other disciples, heading through the crowd towards one of the strangely depopulated shelves.

'No one is reading about the foundations?' Theo thought, weirded out when he pulled himself out of the crowd right at his destination.

The foundation, the first stage; the entryway to the world of cultivation.

Theo's mind operated quickly, filling all the gaps of knowledge Theo required to understand the situation.

'Is it because there is already the best way to train one's foundations?' another stray thought entered Theo's mind. It was pretty faint, making it something that Theo original self only heard about rather than knowing by heart.

'Well…' Theo hesitated for a second as he looked along the empty space beside the bookshelf.

The young man's eyes lingered for a second when he encountered a single disciple scanning the scrolls at the far end of the shelf.

The girl didn't pay Theo any attention, fully focused on the content before her eyes as she searched for some sort of particular piece.

'Well, whatever,' Theo thought, turning his eyes towards the books.

At first, all the letters were fully unfamiliar, appearing as nothing more but a bunch of weird pictures to Theo's eyes. Thankfully though, his mind quickly translated them into a speech he understood, replacing the letters Theo could see with letters he could understand.

"Physical basics of spiritual foundation," Theo whispered as he read out some of the titles that caught his eye.

"Manipulation of the spiritual foundation. Methods and warnings." Theo took a deep breath. "Spiritual Foundations for dummies, how to use the true method and what mistakes to avoid."

Theo closed his eyes.

In short, he had no idea about cultivation. Outside of some general clues that came from the novels he used to read in his original life, this topic was as foreign to him as South African cuisine.

'Well, if I don't know something, all I can do is learn,' Theo decided to cut his problems rather than allowing them to multiply on their own. And so, still unbothered by anyone, he picked up three books at random before carrying them away to one of the free seats.

'Now, what will you tell me about this world, dear book?'