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[Scene: Sealed Library Entrance – Third and Fourth Riddles]
The air turned dense. Ethereal dust floated in the torchless dark as the final glyph rings hovered before Max and Lian Yue. The third riddle, suspended in silvery light, curled across space:
"I am the absence of light, yet not shadow.
I end beginnings and birth silence.
I dwell in all things that end.
What am I?"
Max's eyes burned faintly as his Origin Eyes adjusted to the shifting symbols.
"Death," he said firmly.
The third ring spun and locked in place with a deep thrum, like a gong struck in another world.
But the final riddle… it didn't appear as text.
Instead, it manifested as a vision—a scene playing in midair:
A lone figure walked through a burning world, untouched by flame. Stars wept in the sky. The ground cracked with ancient scars. At the figure's feet, corpses — not of people, but of concepts: Time. Hope. Memory.
"What do you see?" Lian Yue asked, her voice tense.
Max's lips tightened.
"A man who survived after everything ended."
The voice of the sanctum whispered within his mind:
"What remains after death, after time, after silence?"
Max whispered,
"Will."
The final ring turned slowly, almost reverently.
And the gate opened.
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[Scene: Entering the Sealed Library]
The stone split without noise, revealing a chasm of swirling ink and stars.
They stepped through—and the world inverted.
A domain of suspended scrolls, floating books, translucent monoliths, and memory crystals as large as houses stretched before them. Nothing stood on the ground. There was no ground. Knowledge floated in a sea of soft, eternal twilight.
In the center hovered a broken statue—a man holding a scroll in one hand and a dying flame in the other. His face was missing.
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[Scene: The Library's Consciousness Speaks]
As they stepped deeper, the library felt them.
A faint glow pulsed in the air, forming letters that scrawled across the sky above them.
[ACCESS GRANTED: CHILD OF ASCENSION]
[INTENT: NON-HOSTILE]
[AWAITING QUERY]
Lian Yue stepped closer to a memory crystal, its glow reflecting off her eyes.
"This place is… alive."
Max turned slowly, eyeing the statue.
"Or haunted by something that once lived."
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[Scene: Ancient Lessons – The Three Paths of Cultivation]
Max approached a glowing obelisk. As he placed a hand on it, a projection formed in the void:
Three figures appeared.
• One bathed in heavenly light, cloaked in robes of law.
• One surrounded by primal chaos, reshaping reality with every breath.
• One silent, sitting in meditation beneath a tree of collapsing stars.
A voice echoed:
"Three great roads: Law, Force, Void."
"Few walk more than one. Those who do—break the world."
Max's Origin Eyes throbbed. His vision expanded, seeing subtle threads of interconnected meanings.
"They're warning us," he said quietly. "This is the result of… choosing everything."
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[Scene: New Enemy Watches from Afar]
Unknown to Max and Lian Yue, back at the entrance of the sanctum, a figure in black and crimson knelt before the opened gate.
His silver mask glinted faintly.
"He's entered it," the voice rasped. "The child from the prophecy…"
From his palm, a blood sigil flared. A second figure stepped forward, dressed in dark feathers and bone ornaments.
"Shall I go?" she asked.
The masked one replied coldly,
"Not yet. Let him taste wonder. Then we will offer despair."
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[Scene: Max's Vision Pain – Origin Eye Upgrade]
Back in the library, Max clutched his head in sudden agony. His eyes flared violently, streams of violet light pouring out.
Lian Yue caught him just as he staggered, blood dripping from his eyes.
"Max!"
His vision blurred—then sharpened into clarity.
Everything was different. His eyes now saw intent, origin, and decay—even on enemies one whole Major Realm higher than himself.
A new line of script appeared before his mind's eye:
[ORIGIN EYE: LEVEL 2 AWAKENED]
[TRAIT UNLOCKED: TRUTH PERCEPTION – See through minor illusions, intent, spiritual corruption]
[LIMIT: 1 Major Realm above current cultivation]
Max opened his eyes, shimmering galaxies swirling within his pupils.
"I can see… the echoes of creation."
⸻
[Chapter Close – The Path Ahead]
As the memory crystals around them pulsed and the sanctum's wisdom unfolded, Max turned to Lian Yue.
"This place isn't just a library. It's a gate to something far more ancient."
She nodded, stepping beside him.
"Then we walk through together."
Unseen to them, the broken statue smiled slightly—its lips curved, though it had no face.
The gate had only just begun to open.
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End of Chapter 14