Lord Shenxiu

"So that's how it is..."

Old Li thought about Zhong Shenxiu's performance and couldn't help but believe, "In terms of translation's faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance... the master indeed surpasses us by more than a notch. However, the more one reads such great texts, the more dangerous it becomes."

He gently advised a few words, but seeing Zhong Shenxiu was resolute, finally led him to a bookshelf.

"The tomes here should contain the content the guest desires, but please be very careful."

Old Li warned once more, silently observing from the side.

Moreover, Zhong Shenxiu even sensed some inexplicable power also lurking here, suppressing some of the inherent malevolence contained within secret volumes.

This arrangement was inevitable for Tingchao Pavilion; otherwise, the second floor would have long been a mess of demons running amok.

After all, above this world's texts, there certainly is power inherent!

Zhong Shenxiu looked at the shelves and saw some ancient books sparsely placed—most were a dozen volumes, some with ancient designs, others quite modern, presumably written by later generations.

At the bottom of the shelves, there were also some scattered fragments of pages, all imbued with a profound aura.

"Please feel free to choose, honored guest."

Old Li said with a smile.

Interpreting the great texts is a process that really consumes one's spirit—even the best Deciphering Master would be lucky to translate one page a day.

When it comes to the Earth Department manuscripts, decades might pass, and several generations might perish before even one page gets translated—it's not unusual.

Therefore, he wasn't in the least worried that Zhong Shenxiu would try any tricks.

'What a pity, you don't know that I don't have a single piece of treasure note on me, I came intending to freeload!'

On the way here, Zhong Shenxiu had already heard from Jiang Kun that the currency used in the Cultivation World was not silver coins, but 'treasure notes' issued by Zhengyi Dao.

Only he didn't have a single note on him...

Zhong Shenxiu casually picked up a large tome with a purple cover, seemingly tanned from some kind of wild beast's hide, and opened the first page.

"This is a classified tome from the Profound Department—[Spirit Mysterious Strategy], which talks about the experiences a cultivator had while dreamwalking to a place."

Old Li explained beside him.

But Zhong Shenxiu glanced at it and quietly recited in his mind:

[I see myself as if entering a realm, above with three heavens' primal palaces, below with camps of seven souls, seeing five metal people in the middle... those that use the soul to capture the spirit...]

'This seems to be a spell of cultivation, likening oneself as a vast world, with various journey experiences as a cultivation method, eventually transforming into a "Spirit Demon"—a dream creature, feeding on dreams.'

Zhong Shenxiu shot Old Li a sidelong glance, having already guessed that these Deciphering Masters couldn't be relied upon but didn't expect that picking a book at random, they managed to classify it incorrectly.

'Wait... this seems to be a rare chance, but it's useless to me.'

He looked at the other books again and couldn't help rolling his eyes.

This Tingchao Pavilion is just putting on airs, managing to misclassify even half the time!

'From this, it's evident that the manuscripts and cultivation methods these Deciphering Masters translate are bound to have many errors and omissions; those who dare to cultivate them are true warriors.'

With a touch of disappointment, Zhong Shenxiu looked towards the center of the bookshelf.

There, conspicuously, was another black ancient book, its surface heavily bound with fine silver chains.

"The guest isn't interested in anything?"

Old Li, without a hint of realization about his place already being freeloaded endlessly, instead secretly chuckled, thinking that Zhong Shenxiu had only glanced in passing and probably hadn't even translated the ancient tome's title.

Unaware, however, was Zhong Shenxiu, whose memory rivaled an ordinary person with photographic memory, memorized after a single glance.

"What is this tome? Why is it even sealed?"

Zhong Shenxiu asked with curiosity.

"This volume..."

Old Li's expression changed, "This volume belongs to the Earth Department, and it's a tome our pavilion acquired from overseas... it took six Deciphering Masters, all of whom went insane or lost their lives, just to translate a name... but ultimately, it was verified to be merely a 'Records of Anomalies,' without any cultivation methods, but involving too profound a level, even mentioning the taboo names of a few Great Ones, whose mention would cause instant death... it was only upon later discovering the dangers, that we lost a dozen more Deciphering Masters..."

"Indeed, it's written by a Great One..."

As Zhong Shenxiu sensed it closely, he discerned that this black tome was certainly extraordinary; the writer was likely comparable to the present Fang Lang, who had reached the Corpse Dissolution Immortal Position.

"I wish to take a look, how about that?"

"There's no objection, but if something happens to you, honored guest, it must not be counted against this pavilion."

"Naturally!"

Zhong Shenxiu readily agreed, watching Old Li take out a talisman from his bosom, set it alight, and send it onto the shelf.

Swish! Swish!

Those silver chains, like living little snakes, automatically retreated.

Zhong Shenxiu picked up the black ancient book, feeling a slight prickling sensation as his fingers brushed over it.

Strands of ominous chill attempted to spread through the book, bringing with them curses of misfortune, weakness, and disease.

But under the protection of the Corpse Dissolution Immortal Position, all of these vanished.

When Zhong Shenxiu saw the cover, he couldn't help but smile.

This time, the Deciphering Masters hadn't translated it wrong; it was indeed a 'Records of Anomalies.'

He casually opened it only to see a line of great text, transformed into a fierce mental assault, entering Fang Lang's sea of consciousness.

Crash!

Fang Lang's spirit sea trembled slightly, immediately rendering the impact as nothing more than a wave smashing on a reef, shattering with a roar, revealing streams of information:

[There are nine realms in the cultivation of the Profound, after which the Dao Sect calls them 'Great Saints,' and demons call them 'Great Evils'!]

[There are ten great evils in the world, their emergence brings great chaos to mankind; they are the Heavenly Demon, the Great Demon, the Calamity, the Misfortune...]

[One of the 'ten great evils,' the 'Da Gun' of the East Sea, also known as the 'Child of Sea Disaster,' 'Master of Sea Monster,' dwells in the Hidden Dragon Court, causing torrential rains and thunderstorms, ocean shipwrecks...]

[The second of the 'ten great evils,' the 'Elephant Master' of the Great Wild Swamp, also called by Western people the 'Mountain Lord,' 'King of Mountains,' reaches thousands of feet, bringing earth disasters...]

...

'The author of this book should have been a cultivator with tremendous mana, surveying all demons worldwide, even classifying them...'

'The reason for this book's great peril has also been found.'

'Such as the Great Evil Demons like [Da Gun], [Elephant Master], which have a perceptive ability; their true names even written here, just asking to be invoked, isn't it courting death?'

'However, saying it's not a cultivation book is also somewhat wronged, considering so many true names are presented... one could accidentally conduct a successful ritual, gaining Divine Skills and soaring in one bound, just uncertain of the price—perhaps mutation of the body, aberration of the spirit, or even both?'

Zhong Shenxiu flipped through the pages quickly, which in Old Li's eyes was completely useless.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhong Shenxiu was forcibly memorizing all the contents of this secret book.

His reading speed was a verse a glance, unafraid of contamination, quickly reaching the last page.

On this page, in letters of blood, a prophecy was ominously inscribed:

[The source of Great Evil—Supreme!]

['Supreme,' unutterable, unrecordable, unimaginable, a single thought brings error, a single notion brings fallacy…]

['Supreme' emerges, mankind runs rampant!]