By the time he returned home, it was already past midnight. As soon as he entered the rear courtyard, he saw the maid Xiao Huan hopping toward him. It turned out that Chen Xuan had never gone to sleep and had been waiting for news from him.
Xiao Huan led him to Chen Xuan's boudoir. Chen Xuan had already changed into a light silk undergarment, and only then did Chen Luo realize that his previous habit of looking only at her face had been incredibly shallow. Even though undergarments in this era were straight-cut clothes with absolutely no form-fitting design, a good figure could still make them look tailored...
Yes, perfectly snug!
Although he repeatedly reminded himself that this body belonged to his younger sister, subjectively speaking, Chen Luo was still a Blue Star man who had transmigrated less than a day ago. When a stunning beauty suddenly appeared in front of him, he needed some time to adjust.
"Young Master, why have you been staring at Miss? Would you not recognize her just because she went blind?"
Xiao Huan's Death Question rang out beside Chen Luo's ears.
Chen Luo shot Xiao Huan a glance. This girl's face was quite pretty, but below the neck...
She was still just a child!
"Xiao Luo, you're here? How did things go?" Chen Xuan had long grown used to Xiao Huan's unfiltered remarks and did not take offense. Supporting herself against the edge of the bed, she tried to stand, but Chen Luo hurried forward, caught her, and helped her sit back down.
Xiao Huan's interruption had cleared Chen Luo's head somewhat. He stopped thinking about all that nonsense and recounted everything in a few words. When she learned that the Tiger Demon had been slain, Chen Xuan also let out a sigh of relief. She grasped Chen Luo's hand and said softly, "Thanks for the effort..."
Chen Luo's face instantly flushed. He quickly withdrew his hand without making it obvious and said, "It was nothing, nothing. I... I'll go to sleep first. You should rest early too... I'm going..."
With that, he turned and ran.
He ran all the way back to the study in one breath. After gulping down a large mouthful of cold water to suppress the turmoil in his heart, Chen Luo finally took a careful look around the study he occupied.
Looking at the various classics arranged neatly on the bookshelves, Chen Luo realized that his deceased bargain-bin father might actually have been no simple man. After all, Elegant Script classics could be considered the most precious treasures in this world. Chen Luo examined the shelves carefully and found that they contained not only Confucian scriptures, but also Daoist collections. There were even several Buddhist sutras...
"What a waste of such excellent educational resources..." Chen Luo sighed. In this world, reading also required talent. That talent was called "Comprehensive Reading." Only those who awakened the "Comprehensive Reading" talent could finish reading classics and turn their contents to practical use. Otherwise, it was like asking an elementary school child to read a college calculus textbook: they might recognize all the words and letters, but once they were strung together, they would have no idea what they meant. This talent was not rare, but neither was it common. Compared with the enormous population of humanity in this world, one in a hundred was a fair estimate.
And Chen Luo belonged to the ordinary people who had not been selected.
"After all, I have a different soul now. Maybe I can do it?" Chen Luo mused. He casually took a classic from the shelf and opened it. At first glance, everything seemed fine, but after reading only one line, he felt the Elegant Script on the page twisting and warping nonstop. A dizzying sensation surged into his mind.
Chen Luo hurriedly closed the book and calmed the nausea in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he opened it again and forced himself to look. This time, Chen Luo felt as if his gaze had been drawn into a vortex. His eyelids gradually grew heavy...
When he opened his eyes again, Chen Luo found himself standing in the Dream Flower Sea.
"Did I... fall asleep?" Chen Luo was stunned. "This thing sure is effective as a hypnotic."
Chen Luo finally understood. After changing souls, not only had his reading talent failed to awaken, it seemed to be even worse than that of his former man-child self!
"But is this the Dream Flower Sea?" Chen Luo looked around. The last time he had obtained Brief Biography of Zhong Kui, he had been floating in midair, watching the wondrous sight of the Dream Pen Blooms from above. He had only been able to see the clusters of flowers at the very top. Now that he was standing among them, each enormous brush resembled a towering tree. Calling this place the Dream Flower Forest seemed more fitting.
"Greetings, my lord..." Zhong Kui's voice came from behind him. Chen Luo turned around and saw Zhong Kui standing in the Flower Forest at some point, bowing to him.
"Zhong Kui? You can enter this Flower Forest too?" Chen Luo asked in surprise.
Zhong Kui nodded. "I was born from this Flower Forest, so naturally I can enter it."
Chen Luo suddenly understood. Then he thought of something and asked, "Since you were born from this Flower Forest, do you know what benefits this Flower Forest has for my cultivation?"
Zhong Kui furrowed his brows and thought hard for a moment before replying, "I am merely an inconspicuous piece of writing in this vast Flower Forest. If literature is divided into nine grades, I am only a work of the Low-Tier Books! Fortunately, my lord summoned me, and with the recognition of Heaven's Will, I was able to take physical form. As for matters concerning my lord's cultivation, I have no idea either. I suppose my lord will have to realize it for himself."
"However, I do possess some innate understanding of this Flower Forest. Perhaps I can offer my lord some inspiration."
Chen Luo grew interested. "Go on."
Chen Luo walked forward with his hands behind his back. Zhong Kui followed close behind, continuing, "First, this Book Sea Flower Forest is connected to my lord's soul, so it naturally shares a connection with my lord's thoughts. For example, when my lord was troubled by the Tamed ghost, you summoned me..."
"Second, books have divisions between the shallow and profound, and Book Spirits likewise differ in strength. Although I do not know how my lord should cultivate, there is no doubt that only after cultivating to the corresponding level will my lord be able to bear the power of certain books manifesting in the real world."
Chen Luo frowned. "You mean that I have to reach a certain level before I can unlock the corresponding books?"
Zhong Kui was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "My lord's phrasing is somewhat novel, but that is indeed what I mean."
After thinking for a moment, Zhong Kui said, "According to my innate inheritance, the books in this Book Sea Flower Forest can roughly be divided into three manifestation levels."
"First level: joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness; love, hate, affection, and enmity. The myriad states of humanity and the countless phenomena of the world all exist between the pages and lines of the books in this Flower Forest. Take me, for example. Although I possess the body of a god and ghost, I was also transformed from a human and granted the ability to devour ghosts by Heaven's Will. Therefore, I belong to this level as well."
Chen Luo nodded. Put plainly, this was a "low-martial world." Even extraordinary beings like Zhong Kui did not gain their powers through cultivation. Rather, their abilities were born after Heaven's Will recognized them and bestowed them with rules. A similar book immediately came to Chen Luo's mind: the transformation into butterflies in The Butterfly Lovers. That was the same.
"Second level: flying through the heavens and burrowing into the earth; demons, spirits, and monsters. In the books of this level, immortals descended into the mortal world, while demons, monsters, ghosts, and strange beings also existed. It rather resembles this world."
"So that means the Xianxia World..." Chen Luo thought about it. It seemed that books such as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and Legend of the White Snake belonged to this level.
"Third level: roaming freely through the Three Realms, with gods, Buddhas, and immortals standing side by side. The books of this level vaguely surpass this world. Within them, the Dao Ancestor sits atop the Thirty-Three Heavens; carefree immortals travel to the ends of the earth and the heavens; and the Buddha's light illuminates all realms. Their lifespans equal Heaven's, and they remain undying through countless tribulations."
"Right, that has to be Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods..." Chen Luo laughed despite himself. But if he truly unlocked that level, and if he could summon the Three Pure Ones on the left and the Tathagata on the right just as he had summoned Zhong Kui, what kind of scene would it be if he took a trip through this world's Daoist and Buddhist sects...
Yes, the future was bright, but the road—he had yet to find it!
"Those three levels are too much of a mouthful. Let's call them the 'Red Dust Realm,' the 'Xianxia Realm,' and the 'Carefree Realm'..." Chen Luo said casually. He had not expected that the instant his voice fell, the entire Flower Forest would shake violently. If Zhong Kui had not supported him, Chen Luo would almost have fallen to the ground.
Before Chen Luo could ask Zhong Kui what had happened, a magnificent voice rang out from the horizon—
"Red dust tempers the human heart!"
"Ascending to immortality carries the spirit of chivalry!"
"Who shall attain true carefree freedom?"
"From Heaven and Earth, one breath scatters!"
"Chen Luo, Lord of Flower Forest, has realized his own path of cultivation. From this moment onward, the myriad books of the Flower Forest shall take this path as their boundary and stand divided along their respective ways!"
Chen Luo was stunned. Realized his own path of cultivation? What did I realize? I only came up with some names. At most, a few corresponding books appeared in my mind... Wait, this voice—isn't it the same voice that recited poetry the first time?
Chen Luo hurriedly looked at Zhong Kui. "Old Zhong, who's the voice-over?"
Zhong Kui gave a bitter smile. "The speaker is the Spirit of the Secret Realm. The reason books from beyond this world like us can exist in my lord's sea of consciousness and manifest beneath Heaven and Earth is entirely thanks to the protection of the Spirit of the Secret Realm!"
Oh, the system!
Chen Luo nodded. He was familiar with that. Still, this system seemed a little too chuunibyou—and prone to self-delusion...
"My lord, look..." Zhong Kui pointed toward the Flower Forest. The previously chaotic forest had suddenly formed three avenues. Two of them were shrouded in mist, while only one avenue was clearly visible, with flower trees swaying gracefully on either side.
Chen Luo was blessed with sudden insight. He instantly understood that the books on both sides of the clear road were books of the Red Dust Realm, while the roads concealed by mist led to the books of the Xianxia Realm and the Carefree Realm.
Just then, ten butterflies formed from flower petals flew out from the avenue and circled around Chen Luo.
Zhong Kui's face lit up. "My lord, Low-Tier Books are plain and unremarkable, Mid-Tier Books exude the fragrance of wondrous texts, and High-Tier Books reveal their spiritual resonance of their own accord. These are ten High-Tier wondrous texts. Since my lord established a Dao Realm for the myriad books, they have come to pledge themselves to you. However, with my lord's current abilities, you can only choose one to manifest between Heaven and Earth!"
Isn't this a free SSR at the start? Chen Luo grumbled inwardly. So I had to clear a story segment before I could pull?
Chen Luo glanced again at Zhong Kui's ferocious face and thought, I thought I'd already used up my freebie on you!
Chen Luo looked at the ten petal butterflies dancing around him. Although Zhong Kui had said that these Book Spirits were High-Tier Books, they were still only at the level of the Red Dust Realm. Books like Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods were not in the Gacha Pool yet!
He drew a deep breath and pointed at one of them. The instant his finger touched the petal butterfly, it transformed into a ray of light and shot into Chen Luo's mind.
A wondrous text unfolded in Chen Luo's mind. He sensed it slightly, and delight appeared on his face. So it was this book...
Collections are precious indeed, while recommendations are priceless. If monthly tickets are involved, I want all three... This newcomer's new book humbly asks for collections, recommendations, and monthly tickets...
Before you continue