Chapter 1581: Various Secret Records
Demon Absolute King was a fanatic when it came to studying books and scrolls. To house his collection, he had specially built a cave realm. Hearing that Zhang Ruochen wanted to read books, he was delighted, as if meeting a kindred spirit, and enthusiastically led him to the Fragrant Garden Cave Realm.
"Important secret scrolls and forbidden techniques and sacred arts are all sealed within formations. As for the other books, young brother, feel free to browse them at your leisure."
Demon Absolute King gave a smile and a brief instruction before hurrying off, citing urgent matters. He left only Yanzi in the cave realm to accompany Zhang Ruochen.
The Fragrant Garden Cave Realm was similar in size to the "Yanzi Palace Cave Realm" where Zhang Ruochen was staying, with a diameter of a hundred miles. It housed hundreds of halls and pavilions of various sizes, containing who knew how many tens of thousands of books.
Zhang Ruochen did not want outsiders to know what he was reading, so he asked Yanzi to wait for him outside the cave realm.
"Myriad Realms Book Hall."
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the plaque of an ancient hall, then stepped inside. Before him lay a sea of books, and a faint scent of books wafted into his nose.
Inside the ancient hall stood small sandalwood plaques, each a foot long, inscribed with the names of various major worlds.
"Western Buddha Realm."
"Paradise Realm."
"Soul Realm."
"Ruiya Realm."
"Guanghan Realm."
...
It wasn't just the existing eight thousand-plus subordinate mortal worlds of the Heavenly Court; even those major worlds that had already perished had their own dedicated bookshelves, storing a vast number of books of all kinds and varieties.
"Not good."
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed sharply as he recalled Demon Absolute King's strange behavior in the Sacred Martial Arena that day.
Clearly, Demon Absolute King had been studying the origins of the treasures Zhang Ruochen had sold. With his experience, the origins of those treasures probably couldn't be hidden from his eyes.
If he could discern the origins of those treasures, would it still be difficult to guess Zhang Ruochen's identity?
Zhang Ruochen immediately felt a chill in his hands and feet, a strong sense of crisis rising within him.
He had still underestimated those old monsters who had lived for over a thousand years. They had lived for so long that their experience and knowledge were beyond what a young man like him could match. They could probably identify the origin of any item they picked up.
"If they intended to harm me, they would have acted long ago. There's no reason to wait until now without any action. The Thousand Petal Realm probably isn't part of the dark scheme."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes shifted continuously. He first calmed himself down, trying to maintain his composure, and thought to himself, "As long as the Thousand Petal Realm has no connection to the dark scheme, they probably wouldn't dare to move against me easily. A cultivator ranked first on the Sacred Merit Ranking is no ordinary saint. If something happens to me, it would certainly draw the attention of gods."
Once his mind was completely calm, Zhang Ruochen no longer had any worries. He released his spiritual power, turning it into thousands of spiritual power tentacles, searching for books related to the "River of Time" and "Time-Space Agate."
Before long, he found the books he wanted to read on a shelf dedicated to time and space.
These books, of course, were not sacred texts on cultivating time and space, but rather secret records related to time and space.
With Zhang Ruochen's current spiritual power intensity, he could finish reading an entire book in an instant, remembering everything and storing all useful information firmly in his mind.
"The River of Time is a legendary river. Following its current downstream leads to the future; going upstream leads to the past."
"Only by passing through the Gate of Time can one see the River of Time. No cultivator knows exactly where the Gate of Time is. Some only speculate that the Gate of Time is in the Time Divine Temple, because the sacred shops run by the Time Divine Temple sell water from the River of Time."
Zhang Ruochen was deeply shocked. The River of Time actually existed, and one could cross it to go to the past and future. This was completely unimaginable!
However, the records about the River of Time were also just the author's speculation.
According to the book, no cultivator had ever personally claimed to have seen the River of Time. It was all just legend. Even the water from the River of Time sold by the Time Divine Temple had not been confirmed to have been taken from the River of Time.
Next, when he saw the records about Time-Space Agate, Zhang Ruochen became quite excited.
It was said that the origin of Time-Space Agate was an ancient place in the universe called "Sea Stone Star Dock." That place was mysterious and unpredictable, full of dangers. A god who controlled time had once fallen there.
It was a fault zone of time and space, and according to legend, the birthplace of the universe.
Not only Time-Space Agate, but also Time-Space Crystals could only be found at Sea Stone Star Dock. Every year, a large number of beings went there to search for treasures. Finding any time-space ore was a huge fortune.
"If I have the chance, I must go to Sea Stone Star Dock."
As a cultivator of time and space, Zhang Ruochen also felt a longing for that mysterious and unpredictable ancient place in the universe.
Over the next three days, Zhang Ruochen entered a frenzy of reading, supplementing his knowledge and increasing his understanding of the Heavenly Court and its various subordinate mortal worlds. He read several thousand books each day.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen wanted to find books related to the "Truth Esoterica," but he found nothing.
"Let me look for records from a hundred thousand years ago. Maybe I can find out why the Kunlun Realm suffered its calamity. And what is the 'dark scheme' that Moon God mentioned?"
Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power tentacles to search for related scrolls, but after half an hour, he found none.
There were quite a few books related to the Kunlun Realm, but none recorded what had happened in the Kunlun Realm a hundred thousand years ago.
It seemed that Demon Absolute King either hadn't collected those truly important books, or they were all sealed within formations, inaccessible to ordinary cultivators.
Zhang Ruochen came to a bookshelf marked with the words "Kunlun Realm" and pulled out a book.
The book recorded some of the top figures from the Kunlun Realm who had fallen a hundred thousand years ago. Each of them was said to have had a great reputation in the Heavenly Court.
"Xumi Saint Monk, Dragon Lord Jiwang, Yunshen Daozhu, Biluo Kongchengzi, Ten Calamities Wen Tianjun..."
Those names listed alongside Xumi Saint Monk must have been incredibly powerful beings. Even if they weren't as strong as Xumi Saint Monk, they probably weren't much weaker.
Zhang Ruochen felt extremely puzzled. Since those powerful figures were once titans of the Kunlun Realm, why had he, as a native human cultivator of the Kunlun Realm, never heard their names or legends?
Was it his own ignorance? Or had some force deliberately erased the information about these titans, making them disappear from historical records and diminishing their influence?
As Zhang Ruochen was deep in thought, the corner of his eye caught sight of the opposite side of the bookshelf. A pair of eyes was staring at him.
He had been lost in thought, but he had still allocated some of his spiritual power to remain on guard. How could an ordinary cultivator get so close to him without him noticing at all?
The other party's spiritual power was quite strong, probably even stronger than his.
Zhang Ruochen was indeed quite startled, but when he saw those eyes clearly, his shock grew even stronger. They were incredibly beautiful eyes, clear as two divine pools, with long, curled eyelashes. They were neither seductive nor alluring, carrying no worldly aura, yet they possessed a soul-stirring charm.
Even with Zhang Ruochen's fifty-fifth-level spiritual power, he lost focus for a moment.
By the time he regained his composure, the eyes behind the bookshelf had disappeared. Zhang Ruochen immediately went around the bookshelf to chase after them, but he saw no one.
"Am I seeing ghosts? No, even a Ghost King probably isn't faster than me."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and returned to the bookshelf. He sniffed lightly and caught an incredibly enchanting floral fragrance. The scent was very unique. It was clearly a floral fragrance, but he couldn't identify which flower it was, as if it were a blend of a hundred different scents.
"The person is gone, but the fragrance lingers."
He was certain it hadn't been an illusion. Someone had indeed been reading across from him, and he hadn't noticed at all.
Zhang Ruochen went to the spot where the owner of those eyes had been standing. He searched carefully, then took a book from the shelf and sniffed it lightly. "The fragrance is stronger here than on other books. This must be the book she was reading."
When he saw the cover of the book, Zhang Ruochen was stunned again.
On the cover were four words: "Sky-Connecting Divine Wood."
The books on this shelf were almost all related to the Kunlun Realm. Finding a book about the "Sky-Connecting Divine Wood" wasn't strange.
What was strange was why that person had been reading "Sky-Connecting Divine Wood" here.
Driven by intense curiosity, Zhang Ruochen opened the book.
"The Sky-Connecting Divine Wood was born together with the Kunlun Realm. It is a being that cultivated the Way of Life to the highest level and is also the longest-living being on record."
Just this first sentence made Zhang Ruochen hold his breath as he quickly flipped through the pages.
At the end of the book, Zhang Ruochen found another important piece of information: "The Undying Bird cultivated alongside the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood and created the 'Nine Transformations of Life and Death Art,' allowing it to undergo nirvana and achieve immortality."
Zhang Ruochen slammed the book shut. The first thing that came to his mind was Xiao Hei, who claimed to be an Undying Bird.
"Is Xiao Hei a disciple of the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood? That doesn't seem right. With Xiao Hei's personality, how could it be a being capable of creating a peerless cultivation technique? Perhaps the Undying Bird that inherited the true teachings of the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood is Xiao Hei's ancestor."
However, another doubt soon arose in Zhang Ruochen's mind. "Since the 'Nine Transformations of Life and Death Art' was created by the Undying Bird, why did it appear in the imperial palace of the Holy Bright Central Empire?"
"And since Xiao Hei knows that I passed the 'Nine Transformations of Life and Death Art' to A Le, why has it always pretended to know nothing? As an Undying Bird, Xiao Hei couldn't possibly not know about the 'Nine Transformations of Life and Death Art.'"
Zhang Ruochen felt that Xiao Hei's past words couldn't be trusted at all. It must have hidden many things from him.
Leaving the Fragrant Garden Cave Realm, Zhang Ruochen's thoughts were chaotic. Sometimes he pondered the secrets of the Kunlun Realm, sometimes he considered whether to first buy Time-Space Agate and water from the River of Time, and sometimes the image of those beautiful eyes from across the bookshelf flashed through his mind.
He didn't know how much time had passed before he suppressed all his thoughts. "When Xiao Hei arrives in the Truth Heaven Domain, I'll slowly question it. First, I'll go buy the Time-Space Agate and the water from the River of Time. I need to increase my strength a bit more."
Unable to control his emotions, Zhang Ruochen let out a few loud laughs toward the sky before stepping out of the Hundred Flowers Palace.
"Whoosh"
Shang Feng, one of the seven senior experts of the Hundred Flowers Palace, appeared like a white-robed scholar, ghost-like, at the gate of the Hundred Flowers Palace. He looked in the direction Zhang Ruochen had left and muttered to himself, "Where is this kid going? Let me follow him and see. Maybe I can confirm his identity. Shang Zi has offered a high price for this information. I really hope you are Zhang Ruochen."
...
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