[Scene: The Inner Sanctum Library – Archive of Forgotten Origins]
As the colossal doors sealed behind them with a quiet thrum, a shifting silence settled over Max and Lian Yue. Before them stretched a boundless hall, arched high above by glass-like ceilings that shimmered with the constellations of a long-forgotten sky.
The air inside was heavy—not with dust or time, but with thoughts. Echoes of memories, trapped within suspended glyphs and floating crystalline tomes, orbited the central spire.
A staircase made of overlapping energy bridges spiraled up toward the pinnacle.
"Is this truly… a library?" Lian Yue murmured, instinctively lowering her voice.
Max's Origin Eyes glowed faintly. "Not one of books. This place is a living record."
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[Scene: First Imprint – The Truthbearer's Memory]
A pulse of light shimmered ahead.
From a glyph orb hovered a faint image: a man cloaked in ancient robes, his face partly obscured by ethereal blur. He stood atop a battlefield of shattered heavens, speaking in a language neither of them understood—yet somehow, the meaning echoed inside their minds.
"The Origin is not a point, but a path… Eternal Ascension is no destiny—it is the rebellion against endings."
Max flinched. His eyes burned, forcing him to kneel.
[Warning: Origin Eyes synchronization breaching memory compression threshold]
[Adjusting perception layer… complete.]
He gasped. The man in the memory—had no face. Only a blinding, shifting eye.
"That… is the same as the eye on the gate," Max muttered. "Whoever sealed this place… is still watching."
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[Scene: Lian Yue's Concern – A Fracture of Trust]
She knelt beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Max… you're pushing your eyes too hard."
He nodded slowly, still breathing heavily.
"It's like they're trying to show me everything. Even things that shouldn't exist anymore."
She glanced around warily.
"Places like these aren't meant to be opened. What if we've already triggered something we can't undo?"
A heavy pause.
"Then we'll face it together," Max finally said, steadying himself.
She looked at him a moment longer, and for the first time, offered a small nod—one of mutual resolve.
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[Scene: Discovery of a Forbidden Tome]
They climbed the central spire, the shifting staircases leading them past thousands of floating memories. Most were locked or indistinct. But near the halfway point, a single crimson tome hovered near the edge, chained by spiraling laws.
Max reached toward it—and the tome reacted.
[Authority Detected: Origin Eyes – Access Limited]
[Unlocking Partial Entry…]
The tome opened to a single glowing page.
"The Fifth Pillar of Samsara: Rebirth Through Devouring. Those who awaken this path shall see the world not as it is, but as it once was, and might yet be."
Max's breath hitched.
"Samsara… again. Why does it keep following me?"
"You know that word?" Lian Yue asked, startled.
"Only vaguely. My dreams… and now this."
She frowned. "The Samsara Cult was erased over two centuries ago. Nothing remains of it."
Max's fingers clenched the edge of the platform.
"Then why does it feel like I remain?"
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[Scene: The Whispering Vault – Another Threat Awakens]
As the page dimmed, a ripple passed through the spire.
Dozens of locked memory glyphs began glowing—then shaking violently.
[Unauthorized Insight Detected]
[Defensive Guardian Protocol Awakening…]
From deep below the spire, something stirred. A soundless howl, like cracking stone mixed with a heartbeat, echoed upward.
Max stepped back. "Something knows we're here now."
Lian Yue unsheathed her dagger, eyes scanning the vault.
"We need to decide—do we keep ascending, or retreat?"
Max turned, gaze hardening.
"We climb."
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[End Of Chapter 24]
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