Chapter 43

In the depths of time and space, the inverted flow caused Xun Yi's Yin spirit to fall into a pitch-black land. In the darkness, he continued to sink, and after an unknown period, he arrived at a platform. The platform was entirely carved from red jade, and two books floated above it. The one on the left was yellow, and the one on the right was red. These were among the greatest masterpieces of the Heavenly Court.

"Are these the legendary Earth Records and the Book of Vast Holiness?"

Knowledge signifies civilization, one of the most precious treasures in the world. The Heavenly Court, which has held the power of the world for many years, gathered all the knowledge from the ancient, primeval, and Flame Emperor eras into a single book under the advocacy of the Flame Emperor. This book recorded the wisdom of all people from the beginning of the universe to the present and was called the "Book of Vast Holiness" by the Flame Emperor.

Promoting the holy path and passing it down through the ages, this is the convergence of the wisdom of all beings, which was further developed and expanded during the eras of the Yellow Emperor and the Dragon Emperor. It recorded all the techniques and secrets of these eras and served as the library of the Heavenly Court.

The other book, the Earth Records, is the history nurtured by the earth itself. The earth has always carried all things, silently observing every word and action in the world since the ancient battle of heaven and earth. The joys and sorrows, the changes of the world, are all recorded in the Earth Records. This is another divine book of the Heavenly Court, a record of the universe's own history.

Legend has it that when the Flame Emperor saw the people living in peace and the gods in good health, the Heavenly Court had no more goals. He proposed to the gods to jointly create the first holy book of the universe. This book would record the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, the laws of nature, the changes of human civilization, and the wisdom of the gods. Unfortunately, before the book was completed, a great chaos from another world occurred.

In the end, only the Earth Records were extracted from the earth, and the wisdom of all beings was gathered to refine the remaining pages of the Book of Vast Holiness. The most important part, the true understanding of the laws of heaven, was not yet recorded.

However, these two books have brought prosperity to the Heavenly Court in recent ancient times. With the divine legacies recorded in the Book of Vast Holiness, new great wisdom has been continuously developed.

The Yellow Emperor was able to end the era of divine shamans and enter the era of divine separation, not only because of inspiration from another continent but also due to the significant contribution of the Book of Vast Holiness. This book recorded the legacies of the great gods of the divine shaman era, allowing the Yellow Emperor to successfully simplify the divine and shamanic legacies of his world into the art of cultivating qi. The so-called Dao of Immortals, Confucian Dao, and Martial Dao all derived from the shamanic Dao in the Book of Vast Holiness.

Xun Yi reached out and placed his hand on the Book of Vast Holiness: "The City God of Longchuan County requests entry to the Heavenly Court Library!" With a swoosh, the City God's seal pulled him into a boundless and radiant space.

In this bright and splendid world, countless stars shone freely, their dazzling light representing the light of wisdom, the crystallization of the wisdom of countless divine beings. Each star contained the wisdom summarized by countless predecessors.

"The Book of Vast Holiness, truly the source of wisdom of the Heavenly Court." A sense of reverence arose spontaneously, but Xun Yi remembered his purpose. He sought the library corresponding to the Great Zhou Dynasty and flew to a bright yellow star.

This star was the sedimentation of all the wisdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty over a hundred years. From the cultivation methods of the gods of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the popular stories and novels in the market, everything was recorded here. Even the private correspondence of officials during the dynasty's struggles had projections here.

If you want to keep something secret, you must not do it at all. Under the supervision of the Heavenly Court, how many things could remain hidden? This was the material for future historical compilations.

Xun Yi and others saw the true form of the monster, but no one knew its identity. They temporarily withdrew, and Xun Yi came to the library to look up books, hoping to find a more convenient way to subdue it.

Entering the star, the scene before him changed, and a palace appeared, filled with rows of bookshelves. At the entrance, an old man with a white beard was dozing. He was a literary god, and the scent of books emanated from him, forming book shadows and the light of wisdom around him.

"Senior, the City God of Longchuan County requests to borrow books." Xun Yi bowed respectfully, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.

Before coming, Judge Wen and others had specifically instructed him not to offend the librarian in the library. Not only was this library the domain of the literary god, but simply immersing oneself in books to learn various divine techniques and spells made one's divine powers far superior to others.

Among the various positions in the Heavenly Court, the sweeper of the Heavenly Palace and the librarian were not people to be easily offended.

It is said that in the era of the Yellow Emperor, a supreme divine being once held the Book of Vast Holiness and was the librarian of the main library. By comprehending the great paths of previous generations, he eventually attained enlightenment and became the current Supreme Divine Being, with three thousand disciples and his own world.

Also in the era of the Yellow Emperor, there was a sweeper of the Cloudy Sky Divine Court during the Flame Emperor's era. He attained enlightenment in the Heavenly Palace and established the Three Elements Law, becoming the current Three Elements Divine Being.

"Several supreme divine beings have once served as librarians. I wonder what level this literary god is..." Xun Yi mused, and suddenly the old man spoke lazily, "I'm not of high rank, just a Sage realm."

"Sage? The Sage realm?" Xun Yi was stunned and bowed again. The Sage realm in the path of literature, also known as the Vast and Ancient, is equivalent to a divine being, worshipped by the people with eternal incense.

There are only three people in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty who have achieved the Sage realm through the path of literature and ascended to heaven. Could one of them be here?

"Xun's little brat?" The old man opened his eyes and looked at Xun Yi. "Hmm, still the path of virtue? Although you're only at the first heaven, your foundation is solid, and you have more potential than the city god's power granted by external forces."

The old man reached out and grabbed a token from Xun Yi, looked at it, and said, "This is the token of the City God of Longchuan County, so you can enter. But wait a moment."

The old man made Xun Yi pause. Xun Yi stared at the golden line at his feet. At the counter, there was a golden line, and on the other side was the library. However, the golden line contained mysterious divine power, and Xun Yi, standing on this side, couldn't even think of taking a step.

"This is the Word Spirit Binding Spell, 'Drawing a Circle to Confine.' If you study the path of literature, you will also understand this spell." The old man casually took out a book and handed it to Xun Yi, "Is this written by you?"

Xun Yi took it and saw that the book was called "Qingxiao Anthology." Qingxiao was the pen name Xun Yi used when writing popular stories.

He flipped through it and saw all the poems and songs he had written from childhood, including the new stories he had compiled. Among them was "The Mountain Ghost," which he had just started writing.

"The Mountain Ghost" tells the story of a woman who was abandoned in the wilderness and, after her death, turned into a mountain ghost, seeking her memories from her lifetime. Currently, Xun Yi had only written the part where the mountain ghost was persuaded to leave the mountain and travel. In the past two days, he had gained a lot of inspiration from his activities in the divine path.

"Yes, it's written by me." Xun Yi couldn't help but ask, "Do you even have unpublished stories here?"

"The Book of Vast Holiness records all the classics from the beginning of the universe. As long as you write, it will be naturally included in the Book of Vast Holiness. However, popular stories from the market, due to their shallow content, are classified as the lowest grade and have little value for reading. Their only use is to fill the library and to counter the wisdom god of another continent."

The Book of Vast Holiness is a holy book for inheritance and education, as well as a supreme divine weapon. By infusing the wisdom recorded in the Book of Vast Holiness into a divine being's mind, even the god of wisdom and soul among the nine great god kings would find it difficult to withstand the baptism of this wisdom storm.

The previous god of wisdom was driven mad by the literary god using the Book of Vast Holiness and is still confined in a forbidden area of another continent.

"The stories you wrote have been borrowed from the library, and according to the rules, you should receive a share of the profits." The old man flipped through the "Qingxiao Anthology" and stopped at a certain page, "Why didn't you finish 'Xiangjun'?"

Xun Yi scratched his head, "It was my first novel, and I couldn't continue after halfway, so I stopped and planned to come back to it later." When he wrote "Xiangjun," it was because he was inspired by the scenery of the Xiang River during his youth. Later, due to family issues, he lost the motivation to continue.

"Oh." The old man responded and silently took out a jade tablet to record Xun Yi's identity information, "A few days ago, Lord Xiangjun came to the library and complained. He said that a mortal wrote a novel about him and wanted to use this opportunity to strengthen his faith. However, the author stopped writing halfway. Lord Xiangjun said that if he doesn't see the continuation within three years, he will invite the author to the Xiangjun Mansion or, after the author's death, confine his soul in the Xiangjun Mansion to write novels for a lifetime."

Xun Yi's mouth twitched, and he felt a chill, "No way! I just left a story unfinished; I can't have offended a god, right?"

"It's not that. If your story doesn't reach the gods, there's no problem. But gods also need to pass the time." The old man smiled, "So they use novels for entertainment. Some divine beings, with nothing to do, use their ability to create worlds to manifest the content of novels as destinies in small worlds, thus gaining faith and incense. Creating followers from the main characters of novels is much easier than enlightening mortals."

Using the worlds described in novels for creation is easier than creating worlds directly. Many divine beings deliberately search for novels in the library to create their small worlds.

Moreover, some gods hire novelists to promote their names and write their stories. At first, everyone knows it's a novel. But after ten years, a hundred years, it might become a legend and a myth for future generations to believe.

"Lord Xiangjun is the master of the Xiang River in our Great Zhou Dynasty. It's said he has a connection with the former Emperor Shun. He was about to take action when he saw someone praising Xiangjun. But the author stopped, so you can imagine how angry he was."

If not for someone protecting Xun Yi, Xiangjun would have already taken him to the water palace.

"Remember a few years ago, an author who liked to leave stories unfinished and spent his days in pleasure. A thunder god who was following the story, unable to see the next chapter, directly struck him dead."

Xun Yi was stunned, and the old man handed him a white jade card with "Qingxiao" written on it.

"According to the rules, the Book of Vast Holiness is managed by the literary god. You, as an author, have the potential for the path of literature. So as long as your books are read by divine beings, you can receive a library access card."

"Several of your books have been read by several divine beings, and one of them, with nothing to do, transformed into a mortal to support your bookshop, buying a hundred copies of your novels."

Xun Yi's heart stirred, thinking of a major customer at his bookshop.

"Is it him? So, I need to accumulate good karma and finish 'The Mountain Ghost' and 'Xiangjun'?"

Xun Yi looked down at the card, and the information spontaneously entered his mind. This was his access level in the Great Zhou Library, the lowest, allowing him to read books of two stars or lower.

"Don't underestimate two stars. Most novels and popular stories are rated one or two stars. Even poems, songs, and officials' private letters are this level. However, if you want to read private letters, you need to reach four stars. If you reach five stars, you can read the secrets of the Great Zhou imperial family without any restrictions."

Xun Yi, being from a noble family, immediately understood the importance of this reading card. If he could read the secrets of the Great Zhou imperial family, then the content of the imperial examinations...

"Completely possible." The old man, with the mind of a sage, could sense Xun Yi's thoughts and smiled, "If you really reach the five-star level, not only this library, but you can also extract the cultivation methods of divine beings from other libraries. The Maolin Sword Technique in your family is marked as five stars in the library. The Twelve Flower Laws you learned are marked as seven stars. If you reach the supreme level of nine stars, you can read the cultivation methods of the eleven divine emperors."

"Premise is the star level." Xun Yi wasn't that foolish, "If I'm not mistaken, it's similar to my path of virtue, and the higher levels are hard to accumulate, right?"

"Exactly. The higher the level, the harder it gets. Currently, there are no more than ten people with nine-star access in the library. Even supreme divine beings can't read books casually."

"Alright, you have something to do, right? Go ahead!" The old man gently pushed Xun Yi into the library.

Entering the library, Xun Yi heard the old man shout from behind, "To search for a type of book, just shout out the keywords."

"Strange beasts, plague." Xun Yi said the two words, and the densely packed bookshelves reorganized and reduced. Finally, over a hundred bookshelves stood before Xun Yi.

Xun Yi pondered, "Body like a water buffalo, one eye, white head, and snake tail." Instantly, the bookshelves reduced again, leaving only twenty.

Books like "Commentary on the Classic of Mountains and Seas," "Spectra of Strange Beasts," and "Comprehensive Guide to Plague Beasts" were listed.

Taking a step, Xun Yi reached out to grab "Comprehensive Guide to Plague Beasts."

Suddenly, his fingers touched warm skin, and another hand reached for the same book. At the same time, a man appeared in the area.

Meng Han was also searching for books in the library and, like Xun Yi, was about to grab "Comprehensive Guide to Plague Beasts." Just as he grabbed the corner of the book, a halo appeared on the other side, and Xun Yi was teleported from the library hall to the bookshelf area.

"You—"

Both withdrew their hands and looked at each other.

The books in this area were all related to plagues, and the surroundings were dark, with eerie laughter echoing.

Looking into Meng Han's bright eyes, Xun Yi couldn't help but think of the cave in his dream. The most vivid memory from the dream was Meng Han's eyes.

Seeing each other and recalling the recent dream, Meng Han scratched his head, "You're also looking for 'Comprehensive Guide to Plague Beasts'?"

"Um." Xun Yi took the book, "Could it be that we're looking for the same thing? White head and snake tail?"

"One-eyed buffalo?" Meng Han blinked, feeling a connection.

Xun Yi smiled, "If it's convenient, can we look together?"

Meng Han nodded.

Both took the book and sat on nearby chairs to read.

"Fēi Beast, an ancient demon beast. It looks like a buffalo with a white head, one eye, and a snake tail. The goddess Lìmǔ mixed the blood of the fly buffalo and the poison of the earth snake, set nine layers of curses, and created the ancient plague aura. It dries up water, dies in grass, and when it appears, there is a great plague in the world."

The next line pointed out its weakness: "Because it is mixed with the poison of the earth snake, it can be killed with snake techniques. In ancient times, there was a magical bird called Yùn Rì, which liked to eat the Fēi Beast. The male is called Yùn Rì, as large as an eagle, with a long neck and a red beak. The female is called Yīn Xié, resembling a pheasant with feathers of five colors."

"Where can we find this ancient magical bird?" Xun Yi shook his head and continued reading.

"Single-eyed buffalo, its weakness is in the eye and nose. Because the Fēi Beast is highly venomous and skilled in spreading plagues, it can be shot with a golden arrow."

An arrow? Meng Han silently calculated his archery skills: "With the help of that guy, my range is within a mile, and I can achieve a sure kill. But the Fēi Beast is alert, and if it focuses on defense, it might dodge."

Both pondered, and Xun Yi suddenly said, "I saw you a few days ago in Qinglong City. During this time, only Miaoxian County in Qinglong City had a plague. Are you looking for this book because of Miaoxian County?"

"Exactly, and you?"

"Um. So, can we work together?"

Both smiled, discussed, and returned the book.

Walking to the entrance, they handed in their reading fees with their cards. Just as they were about to leave, the old man suddenly spoke.

"You're dealing with the Fēi Beast. Don't you want the help of the Yùn Rì bird?"

"You have it?" Xun Yi asked.

Suddenly, the old man, who had a dignified and scholarly appearance, looked a bit sleazy and took out a stack of cards.

"The Yùn Rì bird has been refined into a spirit card, and I have a sales point here. Ten divine coins per pack, and I guarantee that among these fifty packs of spirit cards, there is definitely a Yùn Rì bird spirit card."

"Boy, I see you have a unique bone structure and deep good fortune. Want to take a chance?"

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Bookworm's Tea Room

Hmm, those who have read "Dream Butterfly World" should see something familiar in this chapter.

After "Taihao" was completed, I planned to start a new book on the divine path. But to practice, I used this chapter's concept in "Dream Butterfly World." After all, I really like the divine path Jiang.

Today is the second day of the second month, the Dragon's Head-Raising Day,