Whatever She Saw and Thought Was Jiang Chen

Now that they had a chance to grow stronger, not a single member of the Human Race wanted to miss it.

They all wanted to become stronger as soon as possible.

The scene of Jiang Chen confronting the Grand Pure Sage on Shouyang Mountain had left such a deep impression on them that it was practically etched into their souls.

Their own weakness had left them utterly despairing.

They craved power more than anything.

"Thank you, Human Emperor!"

"Also, Senior Houtu of the Wu Clan has spent the past hundred years guiding the young members of the Human Race in cultivating their physical bodies. In that time, more than thirty thousand of our youths have accumulated the Hundred Thousand Extreme Realm!"

"That child Shi Huang hasn't disappointed us, either. He understood the profound meaning in the book from the very beginning and became an immortal on the spot. Now he's grown more and more invincible, having reached the peak of the Mystic Immortal realm! He's also comprehended that supreme art of Self-Transformation and Freedom, allowing him to battle Grand Unity Golden Immortals! Among the Human Race, only you, Human Emperor, and Xuanyuan have inherited this wondrous art!"

The few of them briefly recounted the changes the Human Race had undergone over the past century. Then they bowed to Jiang Chen once more before heading straight for Shouyang Mountain.

Aside from Xuanyuan Shi, whose cultivation had remained stuck at the Mystic Immortal level because of the Great Art of Self-Transformation and Freedom, the others had all reached the Golden Immortal realm over the past few centuries.

At their level, making further progress required not only a great opportunity but also a suitable place to seek enlightenment.

After all, this wasn't their first time comprehending the profound meaning in a book... Having learned several techniques from earlier books, they now faced constraints when trying to grasp techniques from other books.

They needed to draw upon the laws of Heaven and Earth, as well as the Human Race's fortune and ancestral land.

Jiang Chen watched them leave and smiled faintly.

He murmured to himself, "Let's see just how great a surprise the Human Race can bring me, now that its Great Destiny has been returning for nearly five hundred years..."

"Big Brother!" On a small hill, Houtu gazed at Jiang Chen with bright, lively eyes and a graceful figure.

"Houtu... Thank you for looking after the Human Race these past hundred years..." Jiang Chen walked over, sincerely grateful.

"Big Brother, you give me too much credit..."

Houtu smiled gently, then turned to Jiang Chen with a puzzled look.

"Big Brother, I just heard many members of the Human Race mention that there's a Great Dao Library in their minds, along with a new book. They said it was a transcendence method bestowed by you?"

"Mm..." Jiang Chen nodded readily.

This was common knowledge among the entire race. There was no way to hide it, and no need to.

"Just now, a new book appeared in my mind, too. It's called A Leaf Covers the Sky. At first, I thought some Sage's Means from beyond the Heavenly Chasm Great Abyss had made its way into the Human Race Forbidden Zone. I never imagined it was your doing, Big Brother."

"So this is the power of the Lord of the Human Dao?"

Houtu looked enlightened, setting aside the doubts and concerns she'd had before.

Jiang Chen froze, his expression stiffening.

A new book had appeared in Houtu's mind, too?

Huh?

Well... that made sense.

He'd said that he was placing the new book in the Human Race Forbidden Zone.

And Houtu was there, too.

But... Houtu had spent nearly five hundred years in the Human Race Forbidden Zone. More than three hundred of those years had been spent traveling across the Human Race's lands with him, witnessing its ruined remains and burying its ancient history. Then she'd spent over a hundred years guiding the young members of the Human Race.

Even so, he didn't regret letting her glimpse the new book.

At the same time, Jiang Chen felt curious.

What would a Quasi-Saint comprehend from the profound meaning within the book?

Jiang Chen grew more curious by the moment.

"Houtu, give it a try, too. See if you can glimpse some kind of Dao principle in the book..."

"But... isn't this a secret of the Human Dao? Big Brother... I'm a member of the Wu Clan..." Houtu was curious about the secrets of the Human Dao, but she still had her reservations.

"Since we've sworn brotherhood and the people of the Human Race have all borne witness to it, you're practically half a member of the Human Race. It's fine..." Jiang Chen waved a hand as he replied.

"Then this younger sister thanks you, Big Brother!" Houtu inclined her head in a small bow to Jiang Chen.

If the rough-and-tumble members of the Wu Clan learned that their beloved little sister had shown such respect to a member of the Human Race, they'd probably be hopping mad.

Chapter 45: Whatever She Saw and Thought Was Jiang Chen

"Did the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin return to ancient times, or did it arrive at the Other Shore among the stars?"

"Ascend the road to heaven, stride forth to the song, and cover the sky with a snap of the fingers..."

Houtu quieted her thoughts and gradually settled into the book. She didn't begin reading right away, instead fixing her gaze on its cover.

The blurb caught her attention at first glance.

Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin...

Using nine true dragons as beasts of burden was truly imposing.

If this had happened during the Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin Calamity, the Dragon Clan would have dragged the person who wrote this book out and tortured them ten million times over.

Yet Houtu was even more curious about what sort of person could truly reach such heights that nine true dragons would serve as their beasts of burden.

And what was inside the Bronze Coffin?

Was it someone as mighty as Pangu, the father god of her Wu Clan?

Or was it some immensely powerful object?

Could it compare to the Heaven-Opening Axe and the Creation Jade Butterfly?

Whatever it was, it had to be incredibly powerful!

"Big Brother, what's inside the Bronze Coffin?" Houtu asked, briefly lost in thought as she turned to Jiang Chen, who was sitting beside her.

Surely only Jiang Chen, the author of such a grand and magnificent tale, could know what was really inside.

"If you still don't know after you finish reading, I'll tell you..." Jiang Chen didn't answer.

He didn't know how best to explain it.

The Bronze Coffin had no description for now. It was a secret.

But he had once slept inside the Bronze Coffin, been pulled along by the nine dragons, and traveled through the Book World.

He had lived through the lives of every sage and emperor.

It was a wondrous and profound matter, not easy to explain in a few words.

Perhaps only by truly transcending above all else could one touch upon its mysteries.

"Alright..." Houtu's face was peerlessly beautiful. Without the mist of Chaos shrouding her, she was flawless. Now, as she smiled faintly, her pure expression was enough to overwhelm anyone's heart.

She seemed to embody everything that stood in opposition to the darkness in the world: the very essence of pure goodness.

Then Houtu began to steady her mind, preparing to immerse herself in the Book World.

She opened the first chapter.

The bodies of nine true dragons, pulling a Bronze Coffin, appeared out of the Book World and leaped into Houtu's eyes.

The next moment, Houtu felt as though she had fallen asleep inside the Bronze Coffin. She didn't know where she was being taken. There was no beginning, no road ahead, and no end in sight.

Then a vast, ancient world unfolded before her like a scroll.

Houtu was briefly dazed.

What was she seeing?

Everything around her was in ruins. Her whole body was cold, and she was hungry and tired. She seemed to have no memories.

No, she did have a memory. There was only one person in it.

She called that person "older brother."

Older brother?

Was it Big Brother?

Houtu's cheeks flushed. Why would she think of Big Brother in the Book World?

"No! I can sense it somehow. Big Brother's aura is inside that Bronze Coffin!"

As a Quasi-Saint, Houtu had extraordinarily powerful perception even within the Book World. She could almost discern the truth with a single thought.

Yet a faint mist lingered around her in the book, as though it didn't want her to see the truth too soon.

What was the truth?

Houtu had become the little girl in the book.

Her hair was tied into two little buns, and she was only three or four years old. Her clothes were riddled with patches and terribly ragged.

But the little girl, like Houtu, was utterly good, with a pair of limpid, crystal-clear eyes. They were exceptionally pure!

She was impossible not to love...

There was someone in the little girl's memories...

A figure gradually appeared before Houtu's eyes, too.