Chapter 662: Enlightenment of the First Era

"Hmm?"

Raising his hand, he saw golden light traces radiating outward from the terrifying cracks. Xia De turned his head to look at the shrine again in surprise, only to find that the shrine on the pile of books was gone. Replacing it was an old gentleman wearing a grey robe, with white hair draped over his shoulders, almost completely merged with the white beard on his chin.

He wore a grey pointed wide-brimmed hat on his head. Even though he was sitting on a pile of books that wasn't very high, the top of his head was still higher than Xia De's. His left hand leaned on a long staff, while his right hand held a smoking pipe in front of his mouth.

Because Xia De had just leaned forward to look at the shrine, when he turned his head again, he was almost face-to-face with the old man. Before Xia De could react, the old man suddenly widened his eyes and shouted:

"Ah!"

Because it was so sudden, Xia De was startled and took two steps back. If Miss Olanode hadn't come over in time to support him, he would have almost fallen into the campfire.

"Hahaha~"

Holding the pipe, the grey-robed old man laughed out loud:

"Truly interesting, the person who summoned me this time is truly interesting."

He put down the pipe and looked at the four people while leaning on that long staff. He was clearly just sitting on the pile of old books, yet it was as if he were sitting on a throne in the clouds. He laughed, then took another puff of the pipe:

"Since this shrine has finally been touched, it means that this library, which shouldn't have existed in the first place, is finally going to be completely destroyed. So, mortals, before the destruction, are you willing to help me collect a few books?"

He looked at the four in turn, his tone of voice like an old farmer sitting on a field ridge, asking a neighbor for help with the harvest:

"Gadis Library, the taboo library, the knowledge and history of the First Era are not allowed to be known by mortals after that. The destruction of this library is because they tried to learn the secrets of the First Era. And now, it is time to reclaim and record those forbidden books buried here. Three books, yes, three books are needed. Bring them, and I can grant you three wishes."

"Any wish?"

Xia De asked immediately.

"Oh, no, of course not. I cannot grant you power for combat, but as the Guardian of the Library, I have a lot of knowledge you are interested in. Of course, I can only grant you knowledge that is not taboo."

Xia De swallowed his saliva:

"For example, knowledge to enhance time perception, used to perceive the truest time?"

"Of course."

Xia De nodded and turned to look at the witches. They clearly were not prepared to face a god here, but they also heard the conversation between the god and Xia De. Miss Olanode and the Zhalas witch both nodded to Xia De, so Xia De asked again:

"God, may I ask, what books are you looking for?"

"The forbidden book 【Nameless Sacrificial Book】 describing the power of the sun, the forbidden book 【Ye Ge Scroll】 describing the mysteries of death, and the forbidden book 【Threaded Text】 describing the history of the First Era."

The god answered, exhaling white smoke. The white smoke did not dissipate; instead, it formed the cover styles of three large books in the cold air. The surface of the first book had a huge sun emblem, the second was wrapped in chains, and the third looked like rock material, with traces similar to conch fossils on the surface.

Even if they were unwilling to face the god, the witches still raised their heads along with Xia De, carefully observing in the firelight. And those book cover styles, just by looking at them once, were immediately deeply imprinted in their minds.

"Mortals, each of these three books has infinite power for mortals. I will not forbid you from opening them in advance to view, but you must bear the price yourself."

"God, will you always be here? How should we hand the books to you?"

Xia De actually wanted to ask whether this god would leave after he left. If He didn't leave, then the safety of the three witches wouldn't need to be worried about.

"You think sacrificing three books can unfold a complete god-summoning ritual? No, no, what you see now is just the power I have left in the shrine..."

Xia De's eyelids twitched.

"... summoning a projection of me. Otherwise, why let you go find those forbidden books instead of me taking them myself? Oh, child, including this time, I can appear three times to answer some questions about those forbidden books. As for when you intend to hand the books to me, that is a decision for you to make. If there is nothing else this time, then..."

"God, please wait a moment!"

The Zhalas witch suddenly said. The god's gaze fell upon her, and even a high-tier witch was very uncomfortable:

"It is like this, we have already obtained the forbidden book 【Threaded Text】 that records the history of the First Era."

She reached into the pocket of her long skirt and then took out a stone slab. That pocket definitely couldn't hold such a large book; it must be spatial power.

And the style of that stone slab, although exactly the same as the book cover the god just showed, didn't look like a book no matter how one looked at it. And truly seeing the traces of the threads on the surface, Xia De actually felt his consciousness as if it were about to be sucked into it.

Simple and heavy; this was Xia De's first impression of this book. He was quite interested in the knowledge recorded in it, but he also knew that with his current power, it was not enough to read the knowledge about that initial era.

"It is indeed this one. Look, it is still in a sealed state. Don't you intend to study the content of this book?"

The god asked with a smile. Miss Becky Samuel shook her head slightly, and seeing that her companions did not object, she stuffed this book to Xia De.

Xia De calculated that he was about to leave, so he seized the time to hand the book to the god in front of him.

The light of the campfire crackled behind him, and his entire shadow was cast onto the stone slab in front of him. The stone slab was exceptionally cold and exceptionally heavy.

This was a feeling hard to describe. Holding it, it really felt like holding a piece of history, a piece of lost history. The sensitivity of his soul made Xia De perceive more information, and holding this piece of lost history in his hand, he felt as if he really saw an ancient scroll unfolding before his eyes.

Xia De did not intend to explore what power this forbidden book recording the history of the First Era had. But when a stone slab appeared in his hand, it was hard for him not to look down.

And truly just one glance, the mottled cracks on the surface of the stone slab, the ancient runes in the twisted threads, and even the weight of the stone itself were all transmitting information to him—a very complex piece of information.

【Old God.】

This was a word in an unknown ancient language. The meaning that only needed four sounds to express in the Sixth Era was so complex in that unknown language. So much so that just by knowing this word, Xia De felt a pain even greater than when "She" stuffed a whole set of Delarion language into him at the beginning.

"No, can't keep looking."

He forcibly closed his eyes, and a gentle whisper sounded in his ear:

【That is an ancient story, that is the initial story, that is the story about the origin. When you stand in the distant present and look at the scroll covered with yellow sand and dust, the brilliant and gorgeous ancient civilization is trying to tell you their secrets. Outlander, this is your first contact with the story of the First Era, this is the initial "Enlightenment."】

【You have obtained the sorcery, Ancient Sound. When you touch those items of the First Era, you can safely obtain one piece of information related to it; one item is limited to one time.】

The radiance of enlightenment flickered within Xia De's soul. This was a sorcery related to the core spiritual rune 【Time and Space】. And when the new power generated by enlightenment stabilized, the stone slab belonging to the First Era in his hand immediately told Xia De information he did not know.

【The time of the First Era was exceptionally long. When the initial era ended, the thirteen Old Gods did not depart.】

Before Xia De could think about this information, the old man in front took the heavy stone slab from Xia De's hand. Afterward, a phantom-like bookshelf appeared beside Him, and the god inserted the stone slab in his hand into the gap of the bookshelf, and the bookshelf then disappeared:

"Very good, in this way, the recording of the first book is completed."

He touched his pipe out of the air again, ignoring the expression on Xia De's face:

"One book, one wish. Make your wish. Knowledge, or power related to the library. This is just my projection, without much power, so don't be too greedy."

The campfire crackled, and the wind and snow outside the door were still astonishing. The old man exhaled a puff of smoke again, and a huge shadow swayed on the wall behind him, but the appearance of that shadow didn't look like a human image no matter how one looked at it.

Recovering from the information about the First Era, the god's sentence "without much power" in front made Xia De think of the young man wearing a clown hat in the toy store.

It had already been 25 minutes since Xia De came here, and he didn't have much time left. Therefore, he said sorry to the god in front, suppressed the information about the Old Gods he had just obtained in his heart, then turned and walked to the side of the campfire to discuss the wish with the three witches.

"This wish is for you to make; that book was found by you, it has nothing to do with me."

Although he really wanted to know the way to enhance time perception, Xia De still stated his attitude.

The young girl with Red Dragon bloodline, while carefully sizing up the scars on Xia De's body, said softly:

"Teacher, please don't consider my attitude. I came out this time just to gain experience with you."

This was said to Miss Olanode.

So the two high-tier witches looked at each other, and finally, the witch of the Zhalas Society spoke first:

"This book itself was the purpose of my coming to the Dead Silence Valley. Since it was found by me, then for the first wish, why don't I come up with an idea—let the god help you learn this gentleman's sorcery—Silent Moonlight. He is only Third Tier and can already let our power recover slowly, and aren't you Thirteenth Tier?"

Last time Xia De saw Miss Olanode in the Thousand Trees Forest, she was Twelfth Tier.

"Blaine, you perform this sorcery. No matter how long the blizzard lasts, or even if Black Snow comes, we won't have to be as embarrassed as we are now. At least, this can help us escape."

Miss Becky Samuel's suggestion was very good. Such a wish was not too excessive, and essentially it was letting Miss Olanode obtain power, which was beneficial to others as well.

So this proposal was passed. The golden-haired witch wearing round-framed glasses signaled for Xia De to speak.

"Why is it me again?"

He asked in a low voice.

"Isn't it very obvious, sir?"

She took the initiative to grab Xia De's wrist again, and this time Miss Olanode did not object. The Zhalas witch then smiled and pushed Xia De to turn and face the old man on the pile of old books. After she let go of Xia De's wrist, she observed her own palm behind Xia De by the light of the campfire:

"Truly interesting."

Xia De heard this sentence coming from behind him.

He described the first wish of the three people to the god. The god nodded in agreement, but after taking a puff of the pipe and exhaling the smoke, the blue eyes on the aged face sized up Xia De in front of him again:

"This power is very unusual. In my current state of appearance, I cannot directly let the mortal over there learn it, but I can transfer your power to her."

Xia De raised his eyebrows, which meant that at the cost of losing his sorcery 【Silent Moonlight】, he would let Miss Olanode learn this sorcery:

"May I ask, is this process reversible?"

Miss Olanode took the initiative to walk to Xia De's side, standing behind his side. The main entrance of the Gadis Library ruins was actually very spacious, and the shadows of the two were entangled together because of the campfire, reflected on the wall with peeling murals.

"If you make another wish, this is of course reversible."

The old man holding the staff said with a smile, and urged:

"Make a decision quickly, young people, I am about to leave." ===== CHAPTER 663 =====