The Ashes Library

Staring at her phone screen, Lingxin gently bit her lip.

Listening to the voice message Bai Xiaodu sent once more, she couldn't help but bounce her leg.

He was good-looking, had a nice voice, and was just so cute. Anyone could tell from one listen that he was the kind of pure, innocent boy who had never been in a relationship and would blush if you so much as touched his hand.

She really wanted to...

It was completely different from the bustling city.

Training in the military camp was a daily grind, where the only real challenges were large-scale deployments to clear out mutant beast nests or wipe out hidden enemy strongholds.

This was designed to maintain the army's combat readiness, and there was no denying the necessity of it all.

But it was incredibly boring, suppressing every bit of human nature.

If one wanted something fun, legal, and compliant, the only option was 《Myriad Worlds》, a game co-developed by the military for combat training.

Because she had been playing it frequently after training recently, Lingxin had even been praised by her superior for her diligent training and thorough testing.

But what was the actual situation? Only her roommate knew.

Calming herself down, Lingxin earnestly picked up the book in her hands. The title written in bold letters on the cover read: 《100 Dating Tips and Techniques》.

Beside her, Vervia was taking massive bites out of a piece of yak beef jerky. Her icy-blue eyes stared blankly at Lingxin before turning to try and decipher the book's title. After reading it out loud, Vervia suddenly shook her head as if choking on her food, the white dragon horns on her head emitting a faint chill.

“Sister Ling!?”

“What? I'm studying. Don't disturb me.”

“Why are you reading that kind of book?”

“Nonsense, I'm learning, you silly dragon. Just watch my moves and execution in a bit.”

Lingxin clenched her long, slender fingers into a fist, her expression radiating absolute confidence.

But Vervia's heart skipped a beat, a look of sheer awkwardness spreading across her face.

“Dating techniques? Moves? But... we're in a female barracks.”

Because she had a terrible memory, Vervia had memorized her family's warnings dozens of times before joining the military.

One of those warnings was to be extremely careful of roommates acting strangely, especially those with long, slender fingers who were overly enthusiastic.

Looking at it now, Lingxin, who had been acting bizarrely for the past few days, fit that description perfectly!

Lingxin blinked, not quite understanding her train of thought.

“What's wrong with a female barracks? Dating doesn't care about time or place. Besides, training is over now. You're free, and I'm free.”

Vervia's body shuddered violently, and she instinctively shrank back into the corner of her bed.

Lingxin found this even stranger, so she climbed down from her bed to check if Vervia had a fever.

After all, this dragon was a total airhead. On their very first day in the dorm, she had eaten so fast and furiously that she bit off half the pot to "supplement her iron intake."

“What's wrong with you?”

“Stay back!”

As Lingxin's tall, slender figure cast a shadow over her, Vervia suddenly acted like a wild stray cat on the street, planting all four limbs on the bed and directing her instinctual, defensive anger at the unfamiliar feeder.

Seeing her like this, Lingxin had no choice but to stop in her tracks.

“What on earth is wrong with you, Vervia?”

The white dragon girl's face showed a few moments of inner conflict before settling into firm resolve.

“Even if you make me delicious extra meals every day, I will never submit! I only like handsome, well-built male beastkin! Stop harboring delusions about me!”

“But... but...” Vervia paused and lowered her head. “If you really have needs, I can sneak over, knock out someone from the room next door, and bring them back for you. Then I'll leave so you can slowly enjoy—”

Accompanied by a fierce whip kick, Vervia let out a scream as she was launched in a straight line from her bed, slamming directly into the door.

The entire dragon seemed to stick to the door for a second before slowly sliding down and collapsing onto the floor.

With stars spinning in her eyes, Vervia was hauled up by her dragon horns, her face forced upward.

Half of Lingxin's face was shrouded in shadow, her exquisite features radiating an unspeakable, terrifying aura.

Vervia trembled in fear.

Lingxin spoke slowly.

“Yesterday, you clogged the toilet again. That makes three times this month. I had to stand outside the door, listening to your roars and the shockwaves echoing from inside the bathroom, feeling like a helpless husband whose wife was in difficult labor, desperately holding a plunger and disinfectant while trying to save the day.”

“And if I'm not mistaken, the underwear you're wearing right now hasn't been washed in a full two weeks—it's literally reeking. I still haven't forgotten the first time I kindly helped you wash your dirty clothes. I ended up having to apply anti-inflammatory and antibacterial cream for half a month and almost had to get an IV drip. Do you know the sheer despair of washing clothes only to find your hands getting itchier and itchier?”

“Do you honestly think I would have any sexual desire toward someone like you?”

Vervia mumbled in protest.

“This is body fragrance. I'm a female dragon, so wearing it a bit longer is perfectly fine.”

“Fragrance my ass! I'm female too, you think I can't smell it? It's stinky!”

Pressing a hand to her forehead, Lingxin was practically dizzy with rage.

She pulled out her phone, opened the Lele platform, and navigated to Bai Xiaodu's profile picture. “Look. Him. When I said I was going to show off my moves, I meant on him. Got it? Now go play by yourself.”

“Oh.” Realizing Lingxin wasn't after her, Vervia nodded happily.

As if remembering something, her expression suddenly turned guarded again.

“You're not going to make me open my mouth and shake my head again this time, are you?”

Lingxin sneered.

“Of course not. We just met not long ago, so I'll send him a little gift to let him know my goodwill, and then I'll play the role of a caring, kind, and gentle older sister. With a bit of casual physical contact here and there, a little virgin like him won't stand a chance.”

“And don't worry about me asking you to spend money anymore. Believe it or not, I can easily make him willingly spend money on me instead. When that happens, I'll double the meat in our meals.”

“Double meat?!”

Swallowing the saliva pooling in her mouth, the white dragon girl stood up and cheered.

Tipping her chin up, Lingxin nodded proudly, basking in Vervia's adoring gaze.

“Watch me work.”

Quickly putting on her virtual helmet, Lingxin's consciousness gradually drifted off.

...

Leaning over his desk, Bai Xiaodu stared intently at the few dungeons he had carefully selected, which might be related to the Mage Emperor.

The historical dungeons in 《Myriad Worlds》 were extremely well-made, but most of them were miniatures of large-scale battles. Small but exquisite ones were few and far between.

Ultimately, Bai Xiaodu locked his gaze on a map called the Ashes Library.

【Amidst chaotic, disorderly crimson and endlessly expanding flames, the wicked thoughts of heretics are born here. Through deliberately engineered wails and terror, they are stealing spells and knowledge that rightfully belong to humanity.】

This was an unpopular map, with very few reviews left by players.

Yet, surprisingly, quite a few of them mentioned the Mage Emperor.

“Sigh...”

The one who had left this eye-catching comment was an avatar that Bai Xiaodu was very familiar with.

It was none other than Lingxin's account.

With just this single glance, Bai Xiaodu was certain that Lingxin definitely knew about this piece of history.

Without further hesitation, he began searching for related guides.

To his surprise, not only was this map small, but its mission was also highly unusual.

Most gameplay styles involved constantly setting up new objective locations, pushing players forward continuously until triggering a boss battle.

But the description here stated it was an interception battle.

The strength of the controlled characters was capped at Rank 0.9, and it was restricted to two or more participants.

At the start of the game, one member of the team would be locked in a cage. The other players not only had to find a way to rescue them but also had to stop a certain ritual from taking place.

The guides detailed the prison break methods and the boss's skill set.

But without exception, they all noted that if the player being rescued died, there was no point in continuing—they could just exit the game immediately.

The more Bai Xiaodu read, the more intrigued he became.

He couldn't think of any other explanation for such a massive disparity in strength besides promoting from a transcendent apprentice to an official transcendent.

If that were truly the case, it would be equivalent to making the entire process of an apprentice promoting to a transcendent open to all players.

This didn't quite align with the United Federation's usual style.

Of course, the world was just a giant makeshift stage, and this map was relatively new.

It was highly likely that some transcendent staff member didn't think it was a big deal and just casually threw it in.

What exactly was the deal with this game, 《Myriad Worlds》?

A faint smile played at the corners of Bai Xiaodu's lips.

Whatever. As long as it benefited him, he could just play it without any worries. It wasn't like he would be held responsible.

Happily putting on his virtual helmet, Bai Xiaodu selected the map from the search bar and clicked to create a room.

“Your account clearance is insufficient. Please upgrade your account.”

The electronic prompt popped up.

The smile froze on Bai Xiaodu's face.

Damn it, the moment something actually beneficial to the public is involved, those Federation censors immediately become sharp-eyed as thieves.