Yes, Lin Jie was a transmigrator who had transmigrated from Earth over to this vast country named Azir.
There were countless other transmigrators out there in this vast cosmos, but in certain aspects, he was a unique one because his transmigration was, to a certain degree, voluntary.
It all started from Teacher Lin's hobby.
It is common knowledge that youngsters nowadays have weird quirks, ranging from OCD, claustrophobia, all the way to the need to read every single line of text on a shampoo bottle.
Lin Jie was a compulsive book collector. His greatest wish was to collect all the printed books in the world. Regardless of whether he could finish reading all of them, just the thought of having all those hardcover books arranged neatly in shelves was enough to make him hard…
Needless to say, it was impossible for him to take on such a great undertaking on his own. Just China alone had over ninety thousand new books printed every six months. Assuming that each book cost 45 RMB, it would take him a hulking 4 million RMB to purchase all of them! It was financially impossible for him to collect all of the books in China, let alone all of the books in the world!
And this was merely the monetary aspect of the problem.
There were other obstacles such as obtaining out-of-print books, or books that were outright banned. Searching and collecting all these books would require unimaginable time and effort, if even possible at all.
In other words, this was nothing more than Lin Jie's pipe dream.
But it all changed one day when Lin Jie unknowingly discovered a shortcut—a ritual that could realize any wish as long as he paid the price.
Admittedly, Lin Jie was indeed skeptical about the ritual, but he still conducted it out of curiosity and made the wish of obtaining all books in the world.
As soon as he made his wish, he vaguely heard a gentle muttering that he couldn't comprehend. With a short blink, he suddenly found himself in another world, standing before an abandoned bookstore.
There was an inexplicable thought in his mind that told him that his dream of obtaining all of the books in the world could be fulfilled if he entered the bookstore, but the price he had to pay was to never be able to return to Earth anymore.
This was a no-brainer question. The lonesome Lin Jie pushed the bookstore's door open and entered without any hesitation.
Three years had passed since, and Lin Jie had already gotten used to living in Norzin City.
There wasn't much Lin Jie needed to get used to as the technological level in this world was similar to Earth in the 80s and 90s. Language, too, wasn't much of a hindrance as both English and Chinese characters were used here due to historical reasons.
Nevertheless, there were still some differences such as the strange names and crazy hair colors that were common here. Besides these, Lin Jie had also heard rumors of ‘inner world’ and ‘extraordinary beings’ existing in this world, though he had yet to seen any thus far.
Even up to this point, he still hadn’t really felt the price he had to pay for his wish.
And in truth, all of this didn't matter to Lin Jie as he was content with his current life. The bookshelves would be refreshed everyday, and he could easily conduct manual searches and refreshes himself too. With endless books to read and customers he could mess... dole out chicken soup to, there was nothing else he could ask for.
"I've recently reached a bottleneck in my research," Wilde remarked with his raspy voice. "I found a new direction thanks to you loaning Devil's Language out to me two years ago. However, I need more clues and documents on similar languages."
Is it some sort of inside joke amongst academics to call a proper book the Devil’s Language?, Lin Jie wondered as he walked over to the counter and wrote the word ‘Returned’ in one of the columns.
"Am I right to say that you wish to borrow a similar type of book?" asked Lin Jie as he tapped the pen on the counter top.
"The previous book was too profound for me. It felt like a small part of a whole. Do you have something more detailed… It would be best if it has the context of the language too. The previous book had too many influences from other languages and all sorts of customs, making it very complex. I need to better understand the meanings within," muttered Wilde.
After two years, he had finally found clues regarding forbidden curses in that book. This could very well be an opportunity for him to ascend to Supreme-rank!
Magicians were adept at crafting spells through the power of languages and characters. Black magicians utilized verbal languages in chanted curses, whereas white magicians made use of characters to inscribe sigils.
As a top-notch black magician, Wilde had already mastered most basic incantations. What he needed now was to draw out his inner soul's potential to spur a breakthrough. In other words, he needed to find the voice of his own soul.
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A black magician's final calling was to create a language that belonged solely to himself!
That was the path he had to take to reach Supreme-rank.
"Is that so... Please wait a moment while I find something suitable," replied Lin Jie.
Wilded nodded and went to browse the shelves behind him.
Old Wil's request makes sense. Even though the languages in this world are similar to that of Earth, the differences in culture and customs still leads to some degree of divergence as these are two different worlds. It would be difficult for him to thoroughly understand Chinese culture. I should find some books with a more general research scope for him.
Lin Jie’s forefinger slowly skimmed through the bookshelf before suddenly coming to a halt.
While Lin Jie was choosing a book, Wilde gazed out at the gloomy downpour outside the store as he thought about the past.
It was two years ago, when he was in the midst of escaping after being defeated by Joseph, that he stumbled upon this bookstore and met Lin Jie. Lin Jie offered him guidance and pointed another path out to him.
Even to this date, he couldn’t stop his heart from racing and his body from trembling whenever he thought about the book that contained the language of devils, as well as the amazing mysticism and power infused in it.
A sensation akin to a first love!
It reminded him of the time when he first witnessed the power of a magician while he was still a student.
"Die."
All it took was a single word from his aged teacher to extinguish the life of the beautiful bird fluttering before them.
Amazement and shock!
These were Wilde's first thoughts as his goals and beliefs became conviction!
The present day Wilde was a far cry from the egoistic person he was a few years ago. And this change was brought about by this selfless, all-knowing bookstore owner.
Wilde had never asked about Lin Jie's past or identity, but in truth, he already had an answer in his heart.
He's definitely a reclusive scholar of the Truth Union!
He even suspected Lin Jie to be the fabled Supreme-rank great sage who possessed the key to the Truth Shrine… However, this was nothing more than a conjecture he came up with, and he had never sensed any changes in the aether coming from Lin Jie either.
Wilde cast his thoughts aside upon seeing the young man pull out a book from a shelf. "You've found it?"
Lin Jie cleared his throat and handed the book over with a smile. "It might sound presumptuous, but my gut feeling tells me that this book is right for you. To be honest, I'm quite confident in my research in this field..."
"?"
The slight embarrassment coming from Lin Jie puzzled Wilde. He received the book from Lin Jie and took a glance at its cover. Lin Jie's eyes also followed his gaze toward the printed title and author.
Ceremonies And Customs
Lin Jie