This black iron ore was a common ore in the Warrior Continent. Black iron can be extracted from this ore. However, black iron wasn't as popular in the Warrior Continent as the other metals. This was because it only had one redeeming quality, it was very heavy!
Black iron refined from black iron ore was ten times heavier compared to ordinary iron. But despite this, black iron wasn't stronger than ordinary iron. It can be said that it was a weak metal. In the Warrior Continent, black iron was only used to add weight to a weapon.
However, the qualities of black iron ore and black iron were different. Black iron ore can be said to be one of the hardest materials in the continent. When not refined into black iron, the hardness of the ore was no less than steel and iron. It was only after it was refined into black iron did the hardness change. It was one of the mysteries in the Warrior Continent.
This black iron ore was the best material to be made into a city's wall. There were even weapons that had black iron ore added to them.
At this time, a young man carrying a red greatsword on his back was seen heading towards the city. The man looked very ordinary. His clothes were also the most common warrior clothing, his greatsword was the only unique thing about him.
Naturally, this person was Zhao Hai. The city's guard only looked at Zhao Hai and didn't make any action. In the Warrior Continent, it was very common to bring your weapon along. Here, it would be very strange if you didn't have a weapon on you.
Zhao Hai looked at Shangwu City's walls and his eyes couldn't help but sparkle The s.p.a.ce didn't have this kind of ore, he needs to get one for the s.p.a.ce. This was what Zhao Hai was thinking about as he entered the city.
Upon entering, Zhao Hai looked for a restaurant first and ordered several small dishes. He poured himself some wine and drank alone, n.o.body paid any attention to him. However, Zhao Hai's ears were listening to the conversations around him.
The reason Zhao Hai entered Shangwu city was to acquire information. He also needed to collect some of the continent's martial arts manuals.
Upon listening to the drivel coming from the surrounding Warriors, Zhao Hai knew that staying here any longer was useless. However, he was able to get some tidbits here and there. For example, manuals were common in the continent. Additionally, there were bookstores in each city. One could see basic training manuals from these bookstores. As for the more profound methods, one needed to acquire them from dojos or from some powerful families.
These powerful families and dojos were the most important groups in the Warrior Continent. In the continent, there weren't such things as kingdoms. Each city were either managed by a powerful family or a dojo. The army defending the cities were subjects of these two groups.
As the name suggests, powerful families were great clans in the Warrior Continent. These great clans had their own unique martial skills. These unique skills shouldn't be underestimated. It was said that each of these unique skills were very formidable.
As for the dojos, they were inst.i.tutes for practicing martial arts. They were just like schools where Warriors learn martial arts. In each city, it didn't matter if they were commoners or members of influential clans, all of them would study inside a dojo. Because of this, dojos had become rooted into the society.
Getting to know about these information was already quite good, so Zhao Hai paid the restaurant before leaving and heading towards a bookstore. There were a lot of bookstores in the city. However, the bookstore with the most complete collection of martial arts related books was the Central Bookstore. Naturally, Zhao Hai didn't delay and headed towards this bookstore.
Shangwu City's central bookstore was very popular. It was the highest building in the city. The building was divided into ten floors. The first five floors was where one could buy and sell basic martial arts manuals.
As for the sixth-eighth floor, this was where Warriors can acquire the rarer manuals. One could also sell unique manuals in these floors. As long as the bookstore's attendants find the book good, then they would give a very good price for it.
And as for the ninth and tenth level, this was where people could only borrow books. However, not anyone could borrow books here, and not anyone could go up these floors. There were barriers guarding these floors. One needed to break these barriers if they wanted to enter.
Zhao Hai arrived at the central bookstore. Upon seeing the huge structure, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic. This place was truly huge, they wouldn't lose to some large-scale malls back on Earth.
Zhao Hai calmed himself down before entering the bookstore. When he went in, he couldn't help but gawk. The first floor of this bookstore was full of ten meter tall shelves. There were rows upon rows of bookshelves. These shelves went from floor to ceiling, making one feel that they were propping the entire floor up.
Up and down these shelves were warriors choosing or reading books. The place looked extremely busy.
After sweeping a glance at this floor, Zhao Hai didn't stop and continued going upstairs. He continued up until the eight floor without any problems. Naturally, he was met with the barrier to the ninth floor. However, how could this barrier stop Zhao Hai? He was able to swiftly enter the ninth floor.
There weren't a lot of people on the ninth floor. Moreover, this floor was different. There weren't as many bookshelves here compared to the other floors. In between bookshelves, there would be areas to rest and read.
Zhao Hai explored the ninth floor. He also had Cai'er control a blood needle to fly from shelf to shelf, recording the name of the books. When Zhao Hai got the book he wanted to read, he proceeded to the resting area to read.
The books that Zhao Hai wanted to read were introductions to high-level martial arts. Besides these, there were also records of miscellaneous stuff about the Warrior Continent. Such books were rarely seen in the Warrior Continent.
The reason Zhao Hai chose to read these high-level manuals was because he wanted to understand the martial skills of the continent. As for the records of miscellaneous events, he wanted to see if there were any information about someone ascending.
Zhao Hai wasn't only reading, he was also releasing blood needles in order to scan all the books inside. Cai'er would then sort them out and divided them into categories. After all, the Warrior continent was a holy place for Warriors. Zhao Hai wanted to see to what degree their martial arts had reached.
After staying for a while on the ninth floor and waiting for the needles to finish their scan, Zhao Hai proceeded to enter the tenth floor.
He needed to head to the tenth floor personally. These two floors had barriers that would definitely detect the blood needles. If he had the needles fly to the tenth floor themselves, then it might produce an unwanted result.
Zhao Hai only stayed at the tenth floor for a short time. After scanning each book, he proceeded to leave the bookstore. Shangwu City was a huge city, there were a lot of people who entered here every year. Because of this, n.o.body would pay special attention to Zhao Hai. And even if the powerful families take note of him, by the time they receive information, Zhao Hai would already be inside the s.p.a.ce.
In the central bookstores of every city, local families would have informants planted inside. As long as someone had the qualifications to enter the ninth and tenth floor, these informants would immediately send word back to their families. One had to know that people who pa.s.s the barriers to the ninth and tenth floor were considered experts. Seeing an unknown expert entering the city, it was natural for these people to pay attention.
Zhao Hai was unaware about these. The time he spent on the bookstore was very short. While these people were still looking for more information about him, he was already inside the s.p.a.ce.
After returning, Zhao Hai immediately looked for Cai'er and asked, “Cai'er, how many books did we get? And what kind of books were they?”
Cai'er quickly replied, “We have various books numbering more than 10 thousand. There were about ten thousand books on martial arts while the miscellaneous books numbered a thousand.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Good, then please reorganize these books for me. If there are low-level manuals mixed in, deal with it accordingly. If you see useful books, then make copies of it and send them to the Academies. But focus on high-level manuals and miscellaneous information. See if they have anything we need.”
Cai'er nodded before she left to process the books. As Zhao Hai sat down, Meg gave Zhao Hai a cup of herbal tea before saying, “Young Master, will you go to the Mage Continent tomorrow? Or would you take us out to play around?”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “I'll get more books tomorrow. I don't have time left to play around. You can go out and play yourselves. I want to use the remaining days to look for books about ascending.”
Laura, who was on the side, said, “Brother Hai, there's no need to waste too much time on these matters. Just abduct a high-level warrior and turn them into Undead. You do the same at the Mage Continent. This would make things quicker.”
Zhao Hai just bitterly smiled, “It's okay. I just want to ascend, I don't want to kill people. I need to look for information about ascending in the Mage and Warrior Continent. This way, I can make a perfect decision as to where to ascend.”
