The Truth Library was a neutral force founded jointly by the Great Sage and several other ancient worthies.
The entire library was somewhat similar to Chen Xu's floating city, though it was considerably smaller. It likely utilized internal spatial arrays to fold the space within.
This was a secret realm isolated from the myriad worlds, a miracle created by multiple ancient worthies in the past. Compared to it, Chen Xu's Undead Network was simply not worth mentioning.
In this secret realm, Daoist laws were absent, time was stagnant, and causality did not exist; only truth was prominent.
The library's massive doors remained tightly shut, as it was not yet time for it to open.
However, the open space in front of the library was already packed with transcendents from across the myriad worlds, representing a vast array of different races.
Since the Truth Library strictly prohibited fighting, it presented a rare and wondrous sight: dragons and humans, griffins and white snakes, all coexisting in the same space in perfect harmony.
Unfortunately, Chen Xu arrived a bit late. There was no more room on the ground below, so he had to hover in the air and wait for the library to open.
Watching this scene, Chen Xu felt a touch of nostalgia, unable to help but think of his past life.
Back then, he was just a carefree university student who would wait outside the library every morning with his breakfast, just like this.
He hadn't expected that after his youth had passed and he had begun a second life, he would still find himself waiting for a library to open.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before the library's doors swung open.
They were two massive, heavy stone doors carved with the Sage's signature motif: a pair of eyes that seemed to contain all the things in the world.
“The time has come. The Truth Library is now open. This opening period will last for ten years. May you all wash away your confusion in the ocean of truth and reap the harvest of knowledge.”
A highly mechanical voice echoed from within the doors. Upon hearing it, the transcendents closest to the stone gates began to file into the library.
“That must be the legendary Axiom Core,” Chen Xu guessed as he heard the voice.
“The Axiom Core? The one handcrafted by the Sage that's said to be able to calculate everything just through the turning of its gears?” Thor added in a whisper. Ever since he learned he would be accompanying Chen Xu to this legacy site of the Sage, he had been frantically brushing up on his knowledge of the Truth Library.
The Axiom Core was one of the Sage's many miracle creations. It was said to be composed entirely of gears, and that the rotation of the gears within its body could predict everything in the world.
But legends were, after all, just legends. Passed from person to person, person to beast, and beast to beast across different worlds and races, the truth of the matter was inevitably prone to exaggeration.
The Axiom Core had never performed for outsiders, so everything remained a matter of public speculation.
The crowd below moved quickly, surging into the library in an instant.
Only then did Chen Xu descend and walk inside.
Once he crossed the stone gates and entered the library, the space suddenly opened up.
From the outside, the library looked only a few hundred meters tall, but once inside, Chen Xu looked up and found that he couldn't see the top or the boundaries with his naked eye.
In this mysterious library, the space seemed alive, automatically generating new areas according to one's perception.
Chen Xu's soul perception quickly expanded to the size of a galaxy, yet even so, he still couldn't detect the library's boundaries.
Suddenly, the previous mechanical voice came from above, but this time, Chen Xu could hear a hint of urgency in it.
“Honorable Lord of the Undead, please cease your perception immediately! Do not continue to expand your range!
“The library's resource loader has spiked to 70% in an instant. If you expand any further, it will trigger the forced restart mechanism, which will eject every living being from the building!”
Hearing this, Chen Xu retracted his perception and looked up at the strange mechanical construct overhead.
The areas he had previously perceived now became blurred.
“Honorable Lord of the Undead, I am already aware of your intent. Please follow me. The Sage's legacy items are kept in a special room.”
The gears on the Axiom Core's body turned. A gear that looked like a head rotated inward, then turned to the other side before flying upward.
Chen Xu followed it into the air, feeling much as he had back in the Balance School's library.
“Are you the Axiom Core?”
“I am, Lord of the Undead. I am the Axiom Core, one of the Great Sage's thirty-five miracle creations.”
Having received a definitive answer, Thor poked his head out and asked a question.
“Is it true or false that you can predict everything in the world through the turning of your gears?”
“Those are merely the exaggerated claims of the public, Astral Behemoth Thor.
“I am simply one of the Truth Library's administrators, responsible for normal reception duties and the cleaning after closing.”
Seeing that the Axiom Core actually knew who he was, Thor crawled completely out of Chen Xu's sleeve and straightened his upper body with a bit of pride.
“I didn't expect that even you would know the great name of Thor, the Astral Behemoth!”
Chen Xu was also somewhat surprised. It was one thing for the Axiom Core to identify him; his status as the Lord of the Undead was practically a household name across the myriad worlds thanks to Heaven's propaganda.
But Thor was different. Ever since creating the six special worlds, this Astral Behemoth had been hiding in the Sea of Spirit, trying to rectify his mistake.
He wanted to help Fantasy ascend again to prove that he, who could create the six special worlds, could also save them.
Since then, he hadn't appeared in the public eye. If the Axiom Core knew this, did it truly possess the god-like predictive power of the legends?
“Of course. Your Excellency Thor single-handedly masterminded the ritual that brought the six special worlds into existence. Even the Sage was amazed by it.
“However, the ritual seemed to be somewhat imperfect, causing each of the six special worlds to develop different defects. These defects are quite fatal.
“The Sage once intended to help the six worlds, but he was delayed by other matters and didn't make it in time.”
Hearing that his deeds had received the Sage's recognition, Thor's tail began to spin wildly, and his mouth pulled into a grin he couldn't close.
Chen Xu ignored Thor and continued his questioning.
“You said just now that you know why I've come?”
“Yes. Since Your Excellency Thor has come with you, it means you have already learned about the ancient transcendent system of rituals from him.
“Naturally, you would then think of the Mother of Hell and learn of her insanely horrific ritual.”
As it spoke, the Axiom Core seemed to intentionally grind its gears to produce a sizzling sound, heightening the terrifying atmosphere.
“You've known about the Mother of Hell's ritual for a long time?”
“Of course. This is the Truth Library, and we are the creations of the Great Sage. Under his day-and-night influence, we are quite keen in our observations of the myriad worlds' developments.
“The Mother of Hell has made no attempt to hide her actions. On the contrary, she makes no secret of her goals.”
Chen Xu was puzzled by this.
“Then why has no one come forward to stop her?”
“Lord of the Undead, if there were a Dao Lord whose past record involved facing dozens of other Dao Lords simultaneously without being defeated—and even severely wounding several of them—would you go looking for trouble with such a being?”
Rate on N.U.
