Chapter 183: Chapter 178: Four Great Dynasties
The mont Mu Chen laid eyes on the black book, he felt a terrifying Spiritual Power emanating from it. Qing Lei, of course, sensed it as well. His eyes were locked onto the book, his body was tense, and beads of sweat dotted his pale face.
Mu Chen’s expression hardened. He asked, "Mo Qing, where did you get this book?"
Mo Qing was taken aback. She looked at Mu Chen and Qing Lei in confusion and said, "What’s wrong with this book? I think I got it last year from an old man in black while I was traveling with my fath... Father. He said it contained so very interesting stories..."
Mu Chen shook his head. "Mo Qing, listen to . This book is definitely not a good thing. Keeping it with you will only lead to unimaginable disaster."
Startled by Mu Chen’s words, Mo Qing hastily threw the book to the ground. "I... I really didn’t know," she said in a panic. "Is... is this black book cursed or sothing?"
Mu Chen and Qing Lei both shook their heads. Mu Chen, however, picked up the book. "There’s no curse on this book, but it contains an extrely powerful Spiritual Power," he explained. "If I’m not mistaken, this book has so kind of hallucinogenic effect. In other words, soone has placed an Illusion Technique on it. If the reader’s Spiritual Power isn’t strong enough, their mind could be controlled by the person who gave you the book."
Qing Lei nodded. "That’s right. As a Dark Attribute Martial Artist, my Spiritual Power is much stronger than that of a martial artist with a normal attribute. That’s why I can also feel the fluctuations of Spiritual Power from this book."
"Alright, you all should head to the Demon Castle for class. As for the contents of this book, I can try to decipher it." Behind Mu Chen’s closed eyelids, his Purple Sky Demon Pupils spun rapidly. ’An Illusion Technique? Before the Purple Sky Demon Pupils, even the strongest Illusion Technique is useless!’
Mo Qing said anxiously, "You shouldn’t try to read it! Since there’s an Illusion Technique on it, what if sothing happens to you?"
Mo Qing’s panic made the others’ hearts clench as well. Mu Chen shook his head, instantly enveloping them with his powerful Spiritual Power. "I’ll be fine," he said. "My eyes are special. They’re immune to any Illusion Technique, so I can see through all of them."
"Immune to any Illusion Technique?" Ye Shuangshuang’s jaw dropped. They all instantly recalled his combat state that day in the Demon Beast Prison when he had opened his eyes. He had been like a Demon God descending—so violent, so savage.
"Yes. I need you to keep this a secret for . Now you should understand why I always keep my eyes closed. The reason is that my eyes are just too conspicuous. Until I’m strong enough to protect myself, I will absolutely not open my eyes." Mu Chen completely trusted Mo Qing, Ye Shuangshuang, Little Tiger, and Qing Lei. He trusted his own judgnt of people, and he also trusted the judgnt of the Shattered Star Lock Chain.
"So that’s why." Qing Lei looked at Mu Chen seriously. "Thank you for trusting us. We didn’t hear a thing today. In that case, you should take this book and decipher it. To be honest, I’m also very curious about what’s written in a book that’s been placed under an Illusion Technique."
Mu Chen smiled. "I will. I’ll tell you what’s inside when I’m done. For now, your mission is to get to class at the Demon Castle, or you’ll be late."
Seeing Mu Chen turn to leave, Mo Qing called out, "Mu Chen."
"Hm?"
"Be careful."
"I will."
In that brief exchange, everyone seed to notice sothing, but no one pointed it out. They just watched the tall, slender teenager’s retreating back with a faint sense of loss.
Ye Shuangshuang said, "In the end, we can’t keep up with him. One day, he’ll stand at the pinnacle of this continent and beco the world’s overlord..."
A slight smile touched Qing Lei’s lips. "If we can’t keep up with him, then let’s chase after him. I believe he’ll be waiting for us at that pinnacle, because... no matter what he achieves in the future, he’ll always be our Brother Mu Chen."
...
Mu Chen, who had already left, naturally didn’t hear their conversation. His mind was completely occupied by the black book. Right now, he just wanted to find a quiet place to properly decipher its contents; he had a feeling it wasn’t so simple. After thinking it over, Mu Chen decided to go to the Library Pavilion, as it would be the quietest place at this ti of day.
The doors to the Library Pavilion were still open. Mu Chen walked in quickly. When he glanced at the counter, he saw, just as he’d expected, the administrator, Elder Mu, fast asleep in his usual posture. Mu Chen smiled faintly, found a random spot near the back, took out the black book, and began to flip through it.
The mont he took out the book, Mu Chen instantly released his Kan Realm Spiritual Power, enveloping himself tightly. The instant this Spiritual Power erupted, the sleeping Elder Mu at the front desk opened his eyes. They were eyes that revealed wisdom and depth, completely devoid of the grogginess and daze of soone who had just woken up.
’Late Stage of the Kan Realm. Tsk tsk, just how many unknown secrets is this kid hiding? Wait, that book!’ Elder Mu spotted the book Mu Chen was about to read. In a flash, he appeared beside Mu Chen and, with a SWISH, snatched the book away.
Mu Chen was stunned. Soone had actually managed to approach him silently, even with his Spiritual Power spread out, and snatch the black book from his hands.
Mu Chen quickly looked up and saw that the person was none other than the administrator, Elder Mu. After quickly flipping through two pages, Elder Mu asked sternly, "Kid, is this book yours?"
Mu Chen nodded. "Elder Mu, this book is indeed mine."
Elder Mu sneered. "Kid, you’ve got so nerve. Do you have any idea what’s in this book?"
Mu Chen nodded again. "I do. An Illusion Technique has been placed on it. And judging from the fluctuations of Spiritual Power, it’s a type of Illusion Technique that can control a person’s mind."
"Oh?" Elder Mu let out a soft sound of surprise. "You could actually tell it was an Illusion Technique, and even tell that it was a mind-controlling one? You keep surprising , kid. But if you knew it had an Illusion Technique on it, why would you still try to read it?"
Mu Chen certainly wasn’t going to tell Elder Mu, whom he had only just t, about his Purple Sky Demon Pupils. He said, "My Spiritual Power is a bit stronger than the Illusion Technique placed on this book, so I figured I wouldn’t be affected by it."
"Figured you wouldn’t be affected? Heh heh, kid, you sure think highly of yourself. It looks like I need to have a little talk with you." Hearing this, Elder Mu chuckled and plopped himself down on the seat opposite Mu Chen. He continued, "Why did you want to read this book?"
Mu Chen said, "Because I have a feeling the contents of this black book aren’t so simple. Plus, books don’t usually record Cultivation and Battle Skills. They’re either sothing like a minstrel’s journal or a dicinal scripture, so..."
"So you wanted to know what was written inside," Elder Mu finished for him.
"Yes." Mu Chen nodded and said no more. From what he could sense, the old man before him seed like an ordinary person, but the more soone seed that way, the more extraordinary Mu Chen felt they were.
Elder Mu stared at Mu Chen for a long ti. Seeing that his expression didn’t change in the slightest, he sighed and said, "Kid, you shouldn’t read this book." With that, Elder Mu clenched his hand, and the entire black book turned into countless motes of dust that scattered onto the floor.
Mu Chen’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t say anything. He knew Elder Mu would definitely give him an explanation.
Seeing that Mu Chen remained silent, Elder Mu nodded in approval. "Your temperant is not bad. You really can’t read this book. However, I’ve already read it long ago. I can tell you the general gist of what’s inside, but I can’t tell you the whole thing."
Mu Chen asked in surprise, "You’ve already read this book?"
Elder Mu pursed his lips. "This old man has lived for so many years, what kind of book haven’t I read? I’ve read the books on these first six floors eighty tis, if not a hundred. They’re all morized up here. The book you were holding isn’t anything special, really. There are several copies of it on the sixth floor of this Library Pavilion. Yours is just the first volu."
"The first volu? There are more volus of this book?" Mu Chen asked, surprised.
"Of course. This black book is actually a type of book used by missionaries. It’s similar to a brainwashing scripture," Elder Mu said.
"A brainwashing scripture?" Mu Chen was confused. What was a scripture? He felt like he’d never heard of such a thing.
Elder Mu chuckled. "Looks like you have your weaknesses after all, kid. Not enough life experience, eh? So, how much do you know about the various powers on the Extre Martial Continent?"
Mu Chen rubbed his nose. "I only know about the few empires around the Xuanling Empire, two rchant guilds, and the Huayang Sect..."
"..." Elder Mu looked at Mu Chen speechlessly, then shook his head. "I can’t bla you. After all, this information isn’t written down in any public books. Let
get you up to speed. With your talent, it won’t be long before you co into contact with these powers anyway."
Hearing this, Mu Chen’s interest was imdiately piqued. Elder Mu smiled. "First, let
tell you about the continent’s lower-tier powers."
"Lower-tier powers?" Mu Chen repeated.
"Yes. The so-called lower-tier powers are the very common ones, like the hundreds of empires of various sizes on the fringes of the Extre Martial Continent. They are the most humble existences on the continent. Of course, our Xuanling Empire is the humblest of the humble—basically, an insignificant presence."
Mu Chen frowned slightly at Elder Mu’s bluntness, but the old man just pursed his lips. "Don’t look at
like that. I’m stating an objective fact. I’m a citizen of the Xuanling Empire, too."
"Moving up from there, you have the Four Great Dynasties! The Fla Dragon Dynasty, the Sacas Dynasty, the Ice Emperor Dynasty, and the Luowei Dynasty! Our Xuanling Empire is at the very bottom of the Fla Dragon Dynasty. You could say the Dynasty offers us no support at all. In fact, the taxes they collect from us are countless tis higher than from other empires! If it weren’t for our Empire’s border with the Demon Beast Forest, we probably would have been annexed by other empires long ago."
"The Four Great Dynasties..." Mu Chen murmured. "Are the Dynasties very strong?"
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