By the time Alex finally closed the book in his hands, he could feel a dull stiffness spreading through his shoulders and neck from sitting in the same position for so long.
He leaned back slightly and glanced toward the windows of the library, only to realize that the sky outside had already become completely dark.
More than ten hours had passed since Alex first stepped into the building, yet the passage of time had barely registered because he had been so deeply focused on reading.
During those ten hours, Alex had not only finished the book titled "About the City", but had also gone through several other books that seemed useful for someone who knew almost nothing about the world.
The quiet atmosphere of the library had allowed him to concentrate completely, and for a long time, he had been absorbed in page after page of information without paying much attention to anything happening around him.
The first and most basic thing Alex learned was the name of the city.
Greenheart City.
The name made perfect sense after he learned the reason behind it.
According to the books, the city had been built in the middle of a vast forest that stretched for an almost unimaginable distance, with trees covering the land in every direction.
From above, the surrounding forest supposedly resembled a giant green heart, with the city positioned within it like the center of that enormous area of greenery.
However, the forest surrounding Greenheart City was not simply beautiful scenery that people could admire from a distance.
It was dangerous.
The deeper someone traveled into the forest, especially toward the northern regions, the more dangerous the beasts became, and some of those creatures possessed strength far beyond ordinary humans.
Some beasts were only slightly stronger than normal animals and could be handled by inexperienced cultivators, while others possessed terrifying strength and strange abilities that made them extremely dangerous.
The forest was therefore both a source of wealth and a place where people could easily lose their lives.
Hunters, cultivators, and herb gatherers regularly entered the forest to search for valuable resources that could be sold for money or used to improve their cultivation.
Magical beasts could provide valuable materials, while rare herbs could be used for medicine, cultivation, and various other purposes that Alex had only begun to understand.
Because of that, Alex had spent most of his reading time learning about the beasts and herbs that could be found throughout the forest.
However, had he managed to learn everything?
The answer was simple.
No.
A huge NO!
The more Alex read, the more he realized just how enormous the amount of knowledge actually was. Every book seemed to lead him toward another subject that required even more explanation.
Each page mentioned creatures he had never heard of before, plants with strange properties, different methods of gathering resources, and regions within the forest that he could barely pronounce.
There were simply too many species.
Too many varieties of herbs.
'Even if I sat here and read nonstop for months, it probably still wouldn't be enough to memorize everything.' Alex thought, slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information he had encountered.
Realizing this, Alex decided to change his approach rather than wasting his time trying to memorize every piece of information available.
Instead of learning everything immediately, he focused only on the most common beasts and herbs for the time being, especially those that people encountered frequently in the forest surrounding Greenheart City.
More importantly, these were the creatures and plants considered manageable for cultivators at the lower levels, making them far more relevant to Alex's current situation.
For someone at his current strength, deliberately searching for powerful beasts would simply be reckless, especially when he still knew very little about the forest.
So Alex carefully read through the sections describing common species, paying attention to their appearance, habits, usual habitats, and the methods people commonly used to hunt or avoid them.
When it came to herbs, he focused mainly on plants that could be easily identified and sold without requiring extensive knowledge or exposing himself to unnecessary danger.
Still, one thing continued to remain in the back of his mind.
The strange plant he had encountered earlier in the forest.
Alex had quietly searched through several books, flipping through pages whenever he encountered sections discussing unusual herbs or rare plants that might possibly resemble the one he had found.
Yet no matter how many volumes he checked, he could not find anything that looked like the strange plant he remembered.
At first, the failure bothered him quite a lot because the plant had behaved strangely, briefly glowing despite appearing ordinary.
However, after going through book after book without finding anything useful, Alex eventually decided to stop wasting time searching for it.
'There are too many books here.' he thought while sliding another volume carefully back onto the shelf.
'If it's recorded somewhere, it might be in another book.'
Finding that particular plant could take far more time than he could afford to spend inside the library.
And time, at the moment, was not something Alex could afford to waste.
Because there was another problem that he could no longer ignore.
His money.
The coins he had obtained were slowly disappearing, and although each individual expense was relatively small, the total amount was becoming significant.
Every meal he ate, every small service he used, and even the entry fee for the library were quietly reducing the amount of money he had left.
The expenses did not seem serious when considered separately, but together they were steadily draining his limited resources.
Sooner or later, the coins would run out.
And when that happened, things would become much more difficult for him.
Alex stared at the pages of the book in front of him for a moment, but his attention had already shifted toward his current situation.
'I can't rely on what I have forever.' Alex thought, realizing that he needed a reliable way to earn more money.
If he wanted to survive in this world, he would eventually have to return to the forest and gather more herbs.
As for fighting monsters, that was still not a good option for him because his current cultivation was too low and his knowledge of the beasts was still limited.
With that decision made, Alex returned the books to their proper shelves and walked toward the front desk of the library.
The same woman who had taken his entry fee earlier was still sitting behind the desk, quietly managing the library while several other people continued reading.
Alex approached her and paid the additional silver coins required for the many extra hours he had spent inside the library.
After completing the payment, Alex thanked her briefly before stepping outside and making his way back toward Heaven Palace.
The evening air was cool against his face, and the streets were considerably calmer than they had been during the daytime.
As Alex walked through the quieter streets, he suddenly remembered something important and decided to check his status.
'I've accumulated enough energy…'
A small spark of excitement immediately appeared in his chest when he realized what that meant.
'Another breakthrough.'
The thought of becoming stronger was enough to make Alex quicken his pace, and he returned to Heaven Palace as quickly as possible without drawing unnecessary attention.
Once he reached his room, Alex entered, closed the door behind him, and immediately walked toward the cultivation mat.
He sat down cross-legged, straightened his back, and took a deep breath before slowly calming his thoughts.
"System, breakthrough," Alex said firmly, knowing exactly what he wanted.
Alex crossed his legs properly and closed his eyes as he waited for the system to begin.
Almost immediately, the energy within his body started moving.
But this time, something was different.
During his previous breakthroughs, the energy had surged violently through his body, almost like a raging river forcing its way through narrow paths.
Those breakthroughs had been rough and intense, leaving Alex with the distinct feeling that his body was struggling to contain and control the enormous flow of energy.
Now, however, everything felt completely different.
The Qi moved smoothly.
It was gentle and controlled.
The energy circulated through his meridians like a calm stream, steadily gathering strength without encountering any noticeable resistance.
Alex remained completely still as the minutes passed, focusing only on the movement of energy inside his body and allowing the process to continue naturally.
The longer the process continued, the more stable the flow became, and Alex could clearly sense the Qi moving through his meridians.
About half an hour later, the moment finally arrived.
A subtle yet unmistakable shift occurred within Alex's body, almost as though an invisible barrier had quietly given way.
His cultivation advanced.
He had stepped into the Third Stage of the Foundation Realm.
A faint notification immediately appeared within his mind.
~Phew~
Alex slowly opened his eyes and released a long breath that he had not realized he was holding throughout the final moments of the breakthrough.
A light sense of relief spread through him as he felt the newly increased strength flowing naturally through his body.
'That took longer than before.' Alex thought while considering the amount of time the breakthrough had required.
His first breakthrough had taken only a few minutes.
The second one had lasted around seven or eight minutes.
But this time…
At least thirty minutes had passed.
Alex sat quietly on the cultivation mat for a moment, thinking carefully about the difference between his previous breakthroughs and this one.
His cultivation was clearly advancing, but each new step seemed to require more time and energy than the one before it.
Even so, the longer process had not been unpleasant. In fact, the breakthrough had felt considerably more stable than his previous experiences.
Alex looked down at his hands for a moment, sensing the slightly stronger flow of Qi moving through his body.
A faint smile slowly appeared on his face.
He had grown stronger again.