The demonic beast watched Ye Xuan and the other two walk towards the ancient city. It did not stop them.
Its gaze, however, stayed fixed on Ye Xuan the entire time.
Leave?
Of course it wanted to leave. It had been trapped in this wretched place for who-knows-how-many years. It had nearly forgotten its own name!
Far, far too long!
Here, there was not the slightest freedom. If even the smallest chance appeared, it would seize it and escape!
Yet it still feared. Although the Cosmic Spirit had not emerged from its cosmic realm again, the beast was terrified of it!
It was simply too powerful!
In the distance, Ye Xuan’s group had reached the city gate. Two statues stood before the gate, each several zhang tall, one hand gripping a spear, the other a shield.
The little elf started forward, but Ye Xuan suddenly pulled her back.
The little elf looked puzzled. Ye Xuan stared at the statues. “Step back!”
Without hesitation, the little elf retreated behind him.
Ye Xuan fixed his eyes on the statues. His palm opened, and the Azure Profound Sword appeared. At that instant, one statue snapped its eyes open and charged, thrusting its spear straight at Ye Xuan!
Ye Xuan’s expression stayed calm. He stepped forward and delivered a single thrust of his own!
Sss!
His sword pierced the spear, instantly shredding it. But right then the statue roared, and countless spear shadows exploded from its body!
Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes, swung his blade, and a wave of sword light surged out!
Bang!
In a flash, the countless spear shadows were destroyed. The tremendous force also hurled the statue backwards into the city!
At that moment, the second statue opened its eyes. It glanced at its companion. When the first statue finally stopped, its body cracked apart and crumbled to the ground.
Gone!
The surviving statue withdrew its gaze, looked at Ye Xuan, and immediately made a welcoming gesture.
The little elf blinked. “I thought there would be a fight!”
The statue said nothing and maintained the inviting pose.
Ye Xuan glanced at it, sheathed the Azure Profound Sword, and led Qin Guan and the little elf into the city.
Once the three had entered, the statue’s eyes slowly closed again and it resumed its silent guard.
…
After entering the city, Ye Xuan surveyed the surroundings. Everything was deathly quiet. Within the city stood only six towering pagodas, each tens of thousands of zhang high, piercing straight into the heavens.
Ye Xuan turned to the little elf. She pointed at one of the pagodas. “That tower is filled entirely with books, loads and loads of them, all collected by the Cosmic Spirit!”
Ye Xuan and Qin Guan exchanged a glance, then walked towards that tower.
Ancient texts that might record the knowledge of countless lost civilisations were what they cared about most!
The only way to learn about those earlier eras now was through records like these.
When they reached the entrance, Ye Xuan once again stopped the little elf and Qin Guan. He stared at the gate. Mysterious runes covered its surface.
The little elf’s face changed the moment she saw them. “Cosmic Runes! That guy left them behind! I knew it wouldn’t let us take its treasures so easily!”
Ye Xuan stepped up to the gate. Instantly, the runes flared crimson, and a terrifying aura swept through the area!
Ye Xuan remained calm. His palm opened, the Azure Profound Sword appeared, and he stabbed straight at the runes!
Boom!
In a single instant, the runes turned to ash!
The little elf’s eyes went perfectly round. “That’s it? It’s broken?”
Ye Xuan winked. “Impressive, right?”
The little elf nodded furiously!
Ye Xuan laughed heartily. “Let’s go!”
He stepped inside. The moment they entered, Ye Xuan and Qin Guan were greeted by walls of ancient books, densely packed. The tower had at least tens of thousands of levels, and every level, as far as the eye could see, was filled with nothing but books!
At this sight, both of them were visibly moved.
There were simply too many!
Qin Guan walked over and picked up one volume. She frowned; she could not understand a single character.
The little elf quickly piped up, “I know them! I understand the writing of many eras!”
Qin Guan smiled, walked to the little elf, and gently pressed two fingers between her brows. Instantly, a flood of textual information poured into Qin Guan’s mind.
A few moments later, Qin Guan withdrew her hand. The little elf’s face had gone rather pale.
Qin Guan softly rubbed the little elf’s head. “Sorry about that! I didn’t realise you were so weak.”
The little elf rolled her eyes.
Qin Guan smiled again, produced a stick of candied hawthorn, and offered it to her. The little elf looked curious. “What’s this?”
Qin Guan said earnestly, “Candied hawthorn, the most precious delicacy in the entire Milky Way galaxy. Try it, it’s delicious!”
Ye Xuan was instantly speechless.
The most precious thing in the galaxy?
Little Guan was learning some bad habits!
The little elf took the stick, gave it a lick, and her eyes lit up. “Wow!”
She licked it again.
Qin Guan asked seriously, “Good, isn’t it?”
The little elf nodded hard. “So good, really so good! Thank you, Big Sister Qin!”
Qin Guan laughed. “You’re welcome!”
She produced another stick and handed it over. “One more as a reward!”
The little elf hurriedly accepted it. “Big Sister Qin, you’re the best!”
Ye Xuan shook his head; he could hardly watch any longer.
Qin Guan looked at the little elf with open affection, gently rubbed her head again, then turned to Ye Xuan. “Let’s take a look.”
She walked over and pressed her fingers to Ye Xuan’s brow.
Boom!
Countless streams of textual information instantly flowed into his mind.
Moments later, Qin Guan withdrew her hand and passed him the ancient book she had been holding. Ye Xuan glanced at it, and his expression grew grave. “This is…?”
Qin Guan said in a low voice, “A foundational technique from the previous era. Although it’s only basic, its cultivation principles are completely different from those of our current era!”
Ye Xuan said solemnly, “Tell me, which system is better, theirs or ours?”
Qin Guan sat down and carefully read through the book. After a while, she closed it and said, “Their cultivation methods have unique strengths. Ours are not bad either. But if we absolutely had to compare, theirs are slightly superior!”
Ye Xuan fell silent.
Why had the Cosmic Spirit kept all these?
He genuinely could not understand.
At that moment Qin Guan spoke softly, “I need to read and master every single book here, then fuse the knowledge of past and present to create an even stronger system of cultivation. That way, the martial civilisation of our Guanxuan Universe will advance far further in future! Of course, this will take time. Otherwise, even if these texts reached our universe, most people there wouldn’t understand them. Moreover, many of these techniques were created for the physiques of people from that earlier era; some would be unsuitable for us now. Forcing cultivation could lead to qi deviation!”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly. He was about to speak when the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from higher up the tower!
Ye Xuan’s eyes instantly narrowed…
