Once her emotions had sufficiently calmed, An Fei released a hearty sigh, expelling the vestiges of her frustration and anger with the breath of air.
Shaking her head several times, the girl looked back at the book with the black cover cruelly discarded onto the ground, the <Eternal Sanctum>.
Once the mindless fury had receded, cold reasoning splashed heavily onto her shoulders, a sinking feeling churning within her stomach.
Unlike the previous instances of which she had not a single inkling of a plausible answer, the girl was clearly cognizant of the problem glaring at her.
If, as it most probably was as usual, the statement written in the book was true, then An Fei was facing a massive, immediate crisis.
For there were innumerable objects possessing the spiritual essence of a mortal world in the Shattered Star Continent.
Even in the study of the Flowing Wind Residence, the artefacts and items now deemed toxic, the girl could name several from a single thought.
Thirty-four cultivation and martial arts techniques that she and the maidservants had obtained from the Pagoda of Sun and Moon.
One technique forced into her possession by the Elder Luo of the Three Lotus Sect, the <Heavenly Secrets>.
…and the countless, plethora of items and artefacts Wei Xuan was probably going to pass into her possession into the future if she cultivated.
“This is really difficult, ah…” An Fei sighed, lightly smacking the fabric cover with her left hand, a sense of helplessness rolling off of her body.
Was she supposed to cease cultivation before she had even taken the first step? Furthermore, there wasn’t an actual objective, a conclusive reason for her to engage in cultivation.
Would dusting her hands after failing to succeed in a cultivation or martial arts technique, adopting a weak-minded personality, pass by the watchful eyes of Wei Xuan?
Although he still doted and pampered the little girl just as he had done before, his gaze at times would often become cautious, especially if she woke after a long period of slumber.
However…
An Fei couldn’t forget that on the first encounter of this mysterious crystal realm, she had taken a bite or two from a stalk of celery growing in one of the medicinal gardens.
The plant was indeed emanating a vibrant light akin to those she observed in the either the library of the Pagoda of Sun and Moon or the Archive of Time, which was a clear indicator that she had already crossed that taboo.
[Consumption of spiritual qi or residue within the Sanctum of Time and Eternal Peace].Given how the light radiated from a stalk of celery far surpassed that of the books she had received from the elders of the Three Lotus Sect, even of the <Heavenly Secrets> technique, the girl was mostly certain that she was now quartered in the direct midst of the condition mentioned within the <Eternal Sanctum>.
Locked in place within the accursed restrictions that could decide her life or death regardless of her choice.
In that case, then she could only bite her teeth and do her utmost to avoid interacting with any item releasing a colored, abnormal light within the Shattered Star Continent.
Furthermore, discover a method of dissuading Wei Xuan before he forced pills down her throat…
Sighing for the umpteenth time, An Fei grit her teeth and opened the <Eternal Sanctum> on her lap, scouring the book for as much information as she could obtain.
Much to her delight and bitterness, not a single page within the book was empty, instead containing an amount of information that she would not be able to absorb without a significantly long period of time.
…the book was much thicker than her arm, after all.
Furthermore, its overall size wasn’t that far from comparing with her torso…
–
“Cultivation is defined as the enhancement of the body and soul, forcing consecutive breakthroughs onto the self to achieve a higher echelon within the Realm’s natural order.
There are many methodologies that attain similar results, including forced absorption of the Realm’s subsidiary worlds’ cores and essence reserves to assimilate into the body of the self, establishing a gradual increase in the faith of a subsidiary entity, or…”
Within the seventeenth Archive of the Sanctum of Eternity, a soft voice could be heard reciting a long string of information.
The melodious voice belonged to the figure of a young, beautiful girl who was lazily reclining in a comfortable chair, a heavily disproportionate book propped up by the armrests.
“The <Eternal Sanctum> follows the final approach, to directly access the natural bindings on the Realm’s structures to grant the soul unsurpassable authority within the echelon.
Utilizing the attained reservoir of divine essence and authority over the Realm’s order, the practitioner can directly enhance their body and soul without repercussion or limit.”
Her immediate surroundings illuminated by a soft, golden radiance that didn’t cast a shadow regardless of where she turned, An Fei continued to read the <Eternal Sanctum>. She had been reading for several hours already, and was shocked to find that her eyes didn’t feel the slightest bit strained.
“The Realm is comprised of divine essence that is molded and bound by various layers of the Divine Script, the language of the Forefather utilized to create the Realm from nothing. Divine essence is at its root, mere intention given form by the Divine Script. Utilizing the functions of information at its peak, one can create from nihility with a single world, or erase fundamental concepts without disrupting the natural order of the Realm…”
…creating from nothing, how was that possible? Even to transmute an object of higher purity, wasn’t an exchange of equivalency required for the final product to even manifest…?
The girl grumbled to herself, massaging her temple with her free hand.
As she stared at the small script that covered the page from top to bottom without wasting any space, An Fei could feel the fundamental knowledge she had acquired over the years, become shattered and ground to dust by the <Eternal Sanctum>.
“All inhabitants of the Realm’s main world are immutable beings, immune to cessation and time. Time, death, decay, and termination are all adjutant concepts established following the stabilization of the Realm… and are able to be manipulated by any inhabitant allotted the necessary authority and reserves of divine essence by the Realm… How is that even possible?”
Immortality?
Unable to be killed, with an infinite lifespan??
An Fei gaped in surprise and astonishment, the dull, scarlet eyes widened as they glared at the book. Moments later, a heavy doubt sank in, but the girl pursed her lips before continuing to read.
Questions could be asked later, only when the reader had grasped sufficient information to even make a valid question.
Otherwise, she might as well be a blind monkey scolding the Creator about a nonsensical concept such as ‘sight’.
“Souls birthed and forged within the Realm are attributed with the Realm’s natural laws; due to the Realm’s creation lacking the concept of decay and cessation, all inhabitants birthed within the Realm similarly possess those attributes. However, the authority of divine essence, utilization of the Divine Script, or the grant of immortality is withheld from any abnormal immigrant.”
“Inhabitants of the Realm, upon sufficient development, can establish subsidiary entities under their denomination and authority. These entities are known as mortal realms, and are naturally subject to the concepts of time, decay, and death; the Realm’s attributes of immortality and divine essence are not inherited by mortal realms…”
“Only within mortal realms is the primary methodology of direct absorption of the world’s essence and core feasible, but is acutely toxic for inhabitants of the Realm to engage in such practices…”
At that moment, the girl marked the page she had just finished reading, before placing the book onto the right armrest.
Standing up and stretching her body with a mightily yawn, An Fei swept her gaze across the rows of books surrounding the platform.
She didn’t know how long it had taken to read a few pages of information within the <Eternal Sanctum>, but it was indeed far too much for her to absorb within a short amount of time. The small characters, though dull and relatively easy to read, did not remain for long within one’s memory.
She had reread the short passage numerous times, but all she could remember was a short summary.
The short summary was nonetheless more than sufficient to completely awe her soul, and at the same time, demoralize her knowledge and intellect.
An Fei felt quite miserable, as if she had spent the majority of her life learning the wrong concepts and information with a blind faith. If the concepts described within the <Eternal Sanctum> were true, then she, no, the entire Shattered Star Continent, the planet Earth that housed the country of China, and every other human were living their lives in a glass cage.
The information was described in a form remarkably difficult to refute, and the girl felt the premonition that what she had read, could not be the byproduct of a maniac’s warped imagination.
However, the deeply rooted knowledge accumulated over sixteen years continued to doubt the <Eternal Sanctum>’s statements, refusing to accept a single iota from the black book.
A cage as small as a speck of dust, and fully under the whims of an immortal being. How terrifying would that be?
After all, humans were mortal.
