Chaotic World Book

The so-called method of leaving had to be found in the Heavenly Book, obviously because this page of the Heavenly Book dealt with light.

The previously seen mirage over Tianya Island, after all, reflected the scenery of the Heavenly Vault, one of the most typical effects of light.

Including blocking the prying of the blind and the ultimate teleportation here, everything relied on the distortion of light—this last teleport had made Zhao Changhe doubt whether it was related to space. It turned out that teleportation of this kind could be managed with related arrays without the need for high-end spatial laws. This page of the Heavenly Book had nothing to do with space; it was all about light.

But knowing it was light and being able to use it were two different things.

Zhao Changhe had already tried using light, having learned the Water Mirror Technique, so he was not starting from scratch, which meant understanding was not a huge barrier.

Sometimes, Zhao Changhe felt that he indeed had some kind of destined fortune, which was not entirely guided by the blind. For instance, the blind had indeed hinted that there was a Heavenly Book to be taken here, but she had never mentioned what kind of nature this page of the Heavenly Book had. And this particular page being related to light was coincidental, as he had been learning from San Niang about the reflection of light in water, which San Niang had deduced through the Sea Emperor's water people constructing crystal cores; all these connections had nothing to do with the blind. If she had influenced what San Niang perceived from the crystal cores, that would be truly unbelievable; this was entirely "Heaven's mysterious will."

Zhao Changhe's mind entered the Heavenly Book, and his first sensation was that the vegetation here had become much more lush. The Heavenly Book was continuously displaying new martial arts, new species, and new features according to his experiences, and at this moment, being at Azure Dragon's Edge, where the essence of vegetation was most vigorous, the vegetation in the book also changed accordingly, introducing many special species. The blind had hinted at objects with special soul-destroying effects, which need not be slowly searched for on the island but could be introduced by the Heavenly Book to cheat.

This was not urgent, knowing how to get out was what mattered.

Zhao Changhe nevertheless first looked up at the sun and moon in the illusory landscape of the Heavenly Book.

Indeed, the Heavenly Book had always been daytime in the past, but now upon entering, it had started to cycle between day and night.

For a moment, Zhao Changhe even felt perplexed, wondering if the step-by-step changes in the displayed illusions of the Heavenly Book were due to new pages being added, or due to changes in his own perception?

Previously, he had never considered the need for mountains and natural scenes in the illusions, and the scenes were very simple, with a figure demonstrating martial arts. After obtaining the second page, the Page of Nature, mountains and natural scenes began to appear, but he had already known it to be the Book of Nature before that, so when he entered the illusion, he naturally thought in that direction. So, was the illusion changing because of the Book of Nature, or because he had figured it out himself having known it was the Book of Nature?

Before obtaining the Book of Life, he had never considered that the scene would require living creatures running around, but after receiving the Book of Life, birds and beasts started to appear. Similarly, this time, he had never thought the sun and moon in this place needed to rise and set when fixed daytime brightness was enough. Now, knowing it was the Book of Light, there came the rise and fall of the sun and moon, the alternation of day and night.

As before, what the illusion showed was inherently there, but how it changed depended on his mind; if he wanted flowers to bloom and fall, they would bloom and wilt, now if he wanted day to turn to night, it would turn night, and if he wanted to restore day, it would restore.

Zhao Changhe gazed upward, continuously observing the transitions between day and night, thinking this must be the ultimate form of "Light Manipulation," but it was a pity it could only be actualized within the illusion.

Now it seemed exceedingly distant from reaching this level; even knowing the essence of light, he could not utilize it himself—the Heavenly Book's every item was related to martial arts, not just displaying richer VR content, but something to draw corresponding martial arts techniques from, to think about how to use it.

With a thought from Zhao Changhe, the shining sunlight shifted from invisible light to a spectrum of colors. A rainbow spectrum shot out from the sun, falling into the water, which was the Rainbow Bridge above Tianya Island.

Zhao Changhe could clearly see the refraction process of this spectrum on the water surface—angle, details, final landing point, display location, all crystal clear.

He analyzed and reconstructed the surrounding environment of Tianya Island, the path, and the landing point of light; leaving depended on this.

And by mastering it, he also understood light.

For some reason, at this moment, the thought that crossed Zhao Changhe's mind was: Once I understand, I'll teach you the Spring Water Sword Technique in reverse.

...

While Zhao Changhe studied light, Xia Chichi studied the Azure Dragon Technique.

San Niang sat meditating nearby for a while, recovering some of her injuries, and then opened her eyes.

The man was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, his expression serene.

She languished with her gaze upon the man's face for some time, then it fell on his hands. Originally, he wore only one ring, but now there were two.

San Niang frowned, both rings had originally belonged to her—one from Xuanwu and the other from her father. It was truly peculiar, how could it be that his fate and hers were both so intertwined with rings?

That meant, with him in the picture, one could give up on fingers, huh?

I haven't used fingers either, besides, it's worn on his hand... Asking him to give up fingers? That wouldn't do, foreplay was still necessary.

She didn't know what on earth her father had arranged within, whether there were logs or other more personal items inside, not passed on to his daughter, but rather to an outsider. Just now, she was too shy to bring it up, as if demanding it back seemed like asking for a divorce...

Now, taking advantage of his meditation, a quick peek shouldn't hurt, right...

San Niang stealthily moved closer, reaching out to touch his hand and resting it on the ring, her mind cautiously probing inside.

The contents of the ring were more modest than imagined, hardly befitting an emperor— making sense, as in Penglai, Sea Emperor didn't need money. Besides the elixirs, there was also an early-life sword, with decent material but considered rather ordinary by present standards, seemingly serving only as a memento, uncertain if it was a token of any trust from Penglai.

The rest were all books. The books recorded various lifelong learnings: cultivation techniques, boxing techniques, saber techniques, qinggong, even a set of archery. Archery was incredibly rare, rarely practiced by martial artists of the Central Plains, simply because it wasn't as convenient and portable as Dark Weapons. Zhao Changhe had a fondness for archery but used it only a few times. Typically, it was only used in the military, where archery served to practice strength and accuracy, not a system of techniques? Only a top-tier martial artist like Sea Emperor, who engaged in long-term naval battles, could craft a unique bow skill.

This was the entire inheritance of a martial artist, nothing more. In the last moments of life, Sea Emperor had completely returned to the essence of a martial artist, with no thoughts for dominion over the state.

No wonder he hadn't left it for her, fearing she, as the Venerable of the Four Symbols Sect Xuanwu, would refuse his legacy. Turning it down would certainly look bad... Worry and hesitation filling her heart, she handed it to her man, always a roundabout solution.

San Niang somewhat regretted peering in now, it merely added to her melancholy.

While her spirit was immersed in the ring and she stewed in her sadness, she failed to remain vigilant of her surroundings.

Not far off, a head peeked from behind a tree, stammering, "Venerable, you, while he's meditating, sneaked a touch of his hand?"

San Niang "snap" jumped up, "Didn't you see that I'm trying to steal the ring? Does stealing a ring sound like just touching?"

Xia Chichi watched her suspiciously for a long while before saying "oh."

San Niang forcefully composed herself, "Why are you so quick? Have you comprehended something?"

Xia Chichi hesitated, "I've comprehended quite a bit, but encountered a bottleneck I can't break through."

"What bottleneck?"

"Growing wood needs water, standing wood needs soil. I feel to break through, I still need to integrate with the water element, hence I came to ask the Venerable..." Xia Chichi said, "I've always used Bing Po, attempting to grasp the essence of the water element through the sharpness of the frost, but I haven't found the way. When you brought back the Ancient Sword Dragon Emperor, I didn't ask for it because of this... huh? The sword Zhao Changhe used in the fight, was it not the Dragon Emperor? Why would the Dragon Emperor be with Changhe?"

San Niang's heart fluttered in panic again, asking for guidance is fine, but why bring up such suspicions... fortunately speaking of the Dragon Emperor was a guilt-free matter, "The Dragon Emperor had been lent to him at Huiji to avoid owing him a favor. What about it, do you think it should rightfully be your sword that you're unwilling to give?"

"My sword is his sword."

"… Xia Chichi, do you think I'm that easy to speak to, is that it?"

"No, not at—"

"Regarding the matter of the water element, you are extremely weak and need to start from the basics... Fortunately, there is good material here." San Niang threw a book over, "This is the Dragon King's decades of insights on the heart of traversing water, his understanding and analysis of the water essence is incredibly profound. Reflect on it well... hmm, copy it ten times, it should aid in understanding."