Chapter 54: The Zhou Tian Can Who Has Learned to Think

The Lingzang Ge appeared unassuming from the outside, but inside, it was a vast space full of wonders.

Xu Xiaoshou scanned the area, seeing row upon row of at least several hundred bookshelves. Each one held either jade slips or ancient texts, amounting to at least a thousand volumes of Houtian Lingji.

"Tsk tsk, impressive!"

He trailed behind the group, turning into the entrance and reaching out to touch the first Houtian Lingji he saw.

It was an ancient text that could be flipped through, but it was protected by an array, allowing only the title and summary to be visible, not the contents.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't linger, picking it up for a quick glance before shaking it casually—nothing happened.

He shook it again—no reaction.

He set it down and moved to the second one.

The same thing occurred...

In contrast, the others in the group had already bypassed the first floor and were heading up the stairs to the second level.

Xiao Qixiu had made it clear: the first floor contained only Houtian Lingji, which they had no interest in.

With this rare opportunity to enter the Lingzang Ge without restrictions, they naturally wanted to go upstairs for the Xiantian Lingji!

Zhou Tiancan shared this mindset. He lingered at the back of the group and started up the stairs, but as he turned the corner, he caught a glimpse of no one behind him and stopped.

"Where did Xu Xiaoshou go? Could he still be trying to pick a Houtian Lingji on the first floor?"

Zhou Tiancan was puzzled and thought that if so, he should go advise him.

Looking over, he saw Xu Xiaoshou leaning against the bookshelf near the entrance, doing something unclear.

Zhou Tiancan squinted for a better look and nearly lost his footing on the stairs, almost tumbling down.

What the heck!

What was this guy doing?

Shaking ancient texts???

Zhou Tiancan was completely baffled. Xu Xiaoshou was really bold!

He had barely entered and was already ignoring Xiao Qixiu's words. At this rate, the guardians would be rushing over to confront him in no time!

With a face full of exasperation, Zhou Tiancan quickly walked over and grabbed Xu Xiaoshou's restless hand. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Houtian Lingji, of course!"

"Is that what you're doing?" Zhou Tiancan's voice rose in frustration. "You're destroying ancient texts! When the guardians get here, you're done for!"

"Shh!"

Xu Xiaoshou hushed him quickly. "What do you know? These ancient texts are protected by arrays, so they won't get damaged. But you yelling like that—is that asking for trouble?"

Zhou Tiancan shrank back. "Well, you still shouldn't be doing that. Better safe than sorry—if you actually break one..."

"There's no way it'll break!"

Xu Xiaoshou waved him off and glared. "And how did you end up here? Why aren't you upstairs looking for Xiantian Lingji?"

Zhou Tiancan was so annoyed he almost laughed.

Oh, so you know the good stuff is upstairs, but you're still down here shaking texts around...

Hang on!

His thoughts stalled, and he started pondering.

This guy clearly knows the best things are on the upper floor, so what's he doing here?

Unless...

"I get it!"

He recalled his earlier conversation with Xu Xiaoshou and put on a look of sudden realization. "You have some inside track?"

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

"What inside track? This is called sifting for gold in the sand!"

"Tch!" Zhou Tiancan scoffed. "What gold is there on the first floor? You're more like picking sesame seeds out of crap!"

Xu Xiaoshou paused mid-shake, thinking, What the hell—picking sesame seeds out of crap?

Do you have experience with that?

"Oh well, since you're here, I'll teach you a thing or two!"

Xu Xiaoshou sighed, feeling utterly helpless toward these clueless people from this world. But given that this guy had come to warn him out of goodwill, a little guidance wouldn't hurt.

He pressed Zhou Tiancan's head down and whispered, "Listen up—the truly top-tier Lingji won't be out in the open."

"Only by picking through them like I am can you find those overlooked treasures!"

Zhou Tiancan gave him a look that said he didn't buy it for a second. "So, shaking ancient texts around will just shake out treasures?"

"Who knows..."

Xu Xiaoshou stretched and smiled mysteriously. "Things like gold pages, ancient maps, or fragments of scrolls—they're usually hidden in these seemingly ordinary texts."

"How do you know that?"

"Heh, read enough books, and you know everything."

Zhou Tiancan saw how confidently Xu Xiaoshou spoke, making it seem plausible, but still...

Was this method really workable?

"Believe it or not!"

Xu Xiaoshou rolled his eyes and stopped explaining, going back to shaking the texts on his own.

Zhou Tiancan glanced at his back, his eyes drifting through the ceiling to the second floor, lost in thought.

After a moment, almost on impulse, he reached out and touched a text on the bookshelf.

"Anyway, we have three hours. I'll search for an hour and a half—if nothing turns up, I'll head upstairs!"

"Yeah, that's the plan!"

He nodded firmly, then looked back at Xu Xiaoshou, as if seeing some mysterious glow.

This guy might not be reliable, but he's taken down all those who were supposed to be the favorites. Maybe...

Is this his secret to winning?

Zhou Tiancan's eyes widened as the idea grew. He felt like he was uncovering the path to Xu Xiaoshou's success.

"Swish swish swish."

He shook one text after another, but nothing happened...

See!

Success isn't that easy!

Zhou Tiancan's eyes lit up.

Keep going!

"Swish swish swish."

Still nothing.

"Another failure..."

"Great! This must be the grind on the road to success, just like Grandpa said!"

"So, thinking things through is the shortcut to success. No wonder Grandpa always told me to think more!"

On the first floor of the Lingzang Ge, a burly young man rubbed his hands, eyes gleaming with excitement, and reached for the next text.

...

Meanwhile,

Xu Xiaoshou had already gone through several bookshelves, but with his "perception," he noticed Zhou Tiancan starting to search the areas he had already covered, which made him dizzy with frustration.

He hurried over. "I've already searched this spot!"

"Maybe you missed something."

Zhou Tiancan didn't even look up, his hands kept shaking without pause, thinking to himself that nothing would stop him from succeeding!

Xu Xiaoshou's face darkened. You make a good point...

"But we don't have that much time!"

He pointed to the far end of the floor. "Go search the other side and work from there. We'll cover more ground—if you find anything good, share it."

"Uh..."

"That does make sense." Zhou Tiancan stopped, thought for a bit, and decided to take the suggestion.

"Remember, the weirder the thing, the better. If you flip to a blank page, you're almost at god level!"

"A blank page?" Zhou Tiancan looked enlightened, clenching his fist. "Got it!"

"And don't just stick to the bookshelves. Check those dusty corners and any texts used as table legs—if you find one, show it to me first!"

This...

You even thought of that?

Zhou Tiancan hesitated, realizing these must be the hidden gems people talk about!

As expected of a champion's mindset...

He swallowed hard, suddenly feeling that following Xu Xiaoshou's lead would definitely pay off!

Once Zhou Tiancan walked away, Xu Xiaoshou continued rummaging through every nook and cranny, leaving no stone unturned.

Zhou Tiancan might not find anything worthwhile, but he was different.

Knowing himself well, Xu Xiaoshou was aware that his talent—taking three years to master just the first move of "White Cloud Sword Technique"—was exceptionally poor. So, he wasn't banking on cultivating those Xiantian Gongfa.

Instead, he focused on practical Lingji that didn't demand high talent—ideally, something even below Houtian level would be perfect.

As for those powerful skills, he'd leave them to his passive system.

And as for fragments...

Those were worth hunting, even if the chances were slim, because that's how it always played out in the books he'd read.

You never know!

He glanced back at Zhou Tiancan and, truth be told, placed even higher hopes on him.

There was a saying, after all...

Yeah...

Fools have fool's luck!

Who knows? This guy might just stumble upon some rare Gongfa!