The Puzzle of History

Inside the Tower of Antiques, amidst rows of bookshelves bearing the marks of time, Ling Yi held a brown animal-skin scroll, gazing intently at the hastily written characters on it.

"Storm Douluo - The Legend of Si'erwen" is a personal biography of a titled elder of the Spirit Hall more than 700 years ago.

This is the original, unique copy. Apart from the Spirit Hall, there won't be another copy like it anywhere else in the Douluo Continent.

This biography records the more than seventy years of experience of a Soul Master named Si'erwen, from the time Martial Soul Awakening at the age of six to the time he became Titled Douluo. Although there are many embellishments and personal subjective opinions in it, it vividly shows Ling Yi the culture, geography, politics and other aspects of the Douluo Continent more than seven hundred years ago.

Because the entire book, apart from a little praise of Si'erwen himself, does not involve any unspeakable secrets, "Storm Douluo - The Legend of Si'erwen" is classified as a humanities and history book and is placed on the first floor of the collection tower.

The six-story storage tower houses almost all the written records of the Spirit Hall over thousands of years, except for some top-secret documents. These records range from recent paper records to more recent animal hide records, and even further back, metal and stone carvings.

The first layer is basically the human history of the Douluo Continent. The second layer records the information of various Soul Beast that are as numerous as stars in the sky on the Douluo Continent. The third layer contains all the information of Martial Soul and bloodlines recorded in the history of the Spirit Hall. The fourth layer contains some unclear and unverifiable myths and legends, and the books are the rarest. The fifth layer and above are not open to the public. Apart from the Pope and titled elders, only Cardinal Musos can go up there by exception.

Under Musos's introduction, Ling Yi roughly understood the information about the first four floors of the Collection Tower. He was also told that he could freely browse the books on these four floors, but he must not damage any of them.

As for the time, the Spirit Hall is very generous. Musos said that even if Ling Yi spends a year or two reading it, it won't be a problem. Usually, not many people are willing to read these dry and boring books. With Ling Yi here, the collection tower will be more popular.

Indeed, the enormous collection tower occupies more than 3,000 square meters on each floor, with each subsequent floor only slightly smaller. The height of each floor is more than eight meters, and the six floors together cover more than 15,000 square meters! In such a large space, most of the time, apart from Musos, who stays on the first floor, and the Soul Douluo who is always cultivating with his eyes closed at the stairwell between the fourth and fifth floors, it is difficult to find a third person.

Of course, while he said that, Ling Yi wasn't foolish enough to believe that there were only three people in the Tower of Treasures, including himself.

At least, when Ling Yi was first led up to the fourth floor by Musos and greeted the Soul Douluo named Zhang Ji, for a moment, a feeling of being spied on surged into Ling Yi's heart.

Although this feeling was fleeting, and ordinary people might not even notice it, and some Soul Master with strong perception might even mistake it for an illusion, Ling Yi, who could use his mental power to retrace his entire experience in a "Superego State," was absolutely certain that at that time, someone at least Titled Douluo- level being had secretly "looked" at him.

Ling Yi was absolutely certain that the source of that 'gaze' came from the sixth floor of the Collection Tower!

Putting everything else aside, with Zhang Ji, a Soul Douluo, guarding the entrance to the fifth floor, it's only natural and reasonable to send a Titled Douluo to oversee the sixth floor.

Given his current weakness, Ling Yi was well aware of his limitations and did not speculate about what kind of information might be stored on the fifth and sixth floors of the Collection Tower.

Thinking about it is useless and will only increase your troubles. It's better to move all the books in the lower four layers into your mind Sea of Consciousness first.

Ling Yi understood a principle from his previous life: gold that is out of reach is not as good as copper that is in hand.

Just like that girl from the art academy, even though she had a roommate who was even more beautiful and had a better figure, Ling Yi always focused his attention on her. This made her extremely satisfied, both openly and secretly, and she allowed Ling Yi to unlock more knowledge.

It just goes to show that even young women have a competitive spirit. Otherwise, when the two broke up peacefully, the young woman's roommate wouldn't have been there for Ling Yi immediately, helping him get over the heartbreak.

Let's get back to the main topic.

Although Musos was somewhat surprised that Ling Yi didn't immediately go to the second and third floors to look at the information about the Soul Beast and Martial Soul, he didn't say anything. In any case, the first four floors were open to Ling Yi Ling Yi, and it was his personal choice to decide which part to look at first.

Musos, now middle-aged, no longer possessed this curiosity, but someone in their teens lacked such self-control.

"Brother Ling, why don't you go up and look at the information on those Soul Beast? What's so interesting about these biographies? They're just full of self-aggrandizement..."

A clear, melodious voice, like that of a nightingale, rang in Ling Yi's ears, 'awakening' him from the contents of the animal-hide scroll in his hand. Ling Yi turned around and saw a stunningly beautiful face, still somewhat childish, yet already possessing the beauty to captivate a nation.

Her light burgundy, slightly wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her features were exquisite and almost flawless, her skin was like cream, her pink lips were pouting, and she tilted her head slightly. Her bright, starry eyes blinked at Ling Yi with a hint of curiosity and inquiry.

Bibi Dong Bibi Dong, fourteen years old, is innocent and kind-hearted, naive and inexperienced in the Bibi Dong.

Who could have imagined that decades later, in the original timeline, this little girl with her head tilted like a kitten would become the true number one person in the Douluo Continent, the His Holiness the Pope the Spirit Hall, the first Empress of the Spirit Empire, and the new Rakshasa God, igniting a war that swept across the entire Douluo Continent? If it weren't for the shameless power-ups of the Divine Realm above, Bibi Dong would have undoubtedly achieved the feat of unifying the continent, ending the thousands, or even tens of thousands, years of division and fragmentation that had plagued the Douluo Continent.

Coming from an ancient race that has upheld the idea of "unification" for thousands of years, Ling Yi wholeheartedly approves of the unification of the continent.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Ling Yi would side with the [Spirit Empire] represented by Bibi Dong, even though His Holiness the Pope is very nice in terms of looks and figure, and the little fox Hu Liena and the little Angel Qian Renxue are also very nice.

In Ling Yi's view, the war between the Spirit Empire and the protagonist's allied forces in the original work was essentially just a power struggle between a religious regime and a feudal aristocratic system, and neither side could be considered righteous.

We can make this assumption: after the Spirit Empire wins the victory, and after Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue ascend to the Divine Realm, Hu Liena, as the Holy Maiden, takes over the power of the empire.

Hu Liena is a powerful figure among Titled Douluo- level beings, but compared to other Titled Douluo in the Empire, she doesn't possess the overwhelming advantage that Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue, the two deities. Even with the help of the new Rakshasa God and the new Angel God, she became Level 99 Peerless Douluo, just like Qian Daoliu, the Grand Elder of the Spirit Hall's Judgment Hall back then. But there's never a shortage of geniuses in this world.

Not to mention, we are all veterans who fought together to build this empire. Do you Hu Liena, have the ruthless nature to massacre veterans?

Some might say that Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue could have learned from Old Zhu and cleaned up the empire beforehand, resolving any unstable factors and leaving Hu Liena with a "clean" empire.

Unfortunately, this is the Douluo Continent, not the glorious civilization of the Yanhuang.

To put it bluntly, Ling Yi Ling Yi doesn't just look down on Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue; he looks down on the entire Douluo Continent!

Therefore, if the final outcome is as expected, the [Spirit Empire] will inevitably embark on a new path of decay.

Ling Yi always felt that instead of finding a perfectly functioning political, military, economic, and social system, it would be better to give Zheng Ge an elixir of immortality.

It's not that I'm superstitious about Brother Zheng, but compared to the filth and darkness that arises from human grouping, Ling Yi prefers to let a sufficiently powerful individual become the Weiyi leader.

After all, an individual's desires are clearly visible and relatively easy to satisfy, but the desires of a group often breed more evil.

Of course, it would be best if Ling Yi himself were the one in charge.

After all, the idea that everyone is equal above oneself and that there is a strict hierarchy below oneself is a desire that has been rooted in the hearts of the vast majority of people since the birth of human social groups.

As Ling Yi looked at Bibi Dong, a variety of thoughts raced through his mind, his thoughts extending infinitely, imagining all sorts of possibilities regarding past lives, present lives, and the main plot of the original work. Yet, he responded immediately.

"Whether it's information on Soul Beast, Martial Soul spirit bloodlines, or these cultural and historical aspects..."

Ling Yi waved the animal hide scroll in his hand and said, "To me, they're all the same."

"The same?"

Bibi Dong opened her large, bright eyes wide, looking at Ling Yi with some surprise. "How can they be the same?"

"Studying about Soul Beast allows you to make the best choices when selecting Soul Ring, maximizing your strength. When you encounter a Soul Beast Soul Beast, you can also quickly identify its weaknesses and find ways to deal with it."

"Understanding your Martial Soul is beneficial in many ways. Firstly, it helps you understand the characteristics of your own Martial Soul, which is advantageous for Martial Soul development. Secondly, it allows you to know your enemy and yourself when encountering other Soul Master, increasing your chances of victory..."

Bibi Dong spoke earnestly, raising her snow-white chin with a hint of smugness on her face.

Looking at Bibi Dong Bibi Dong said amazing? Praise me! Praise me!", Ling Yi smiled slightly, raised the animal skin scroll in his hand again, opened it, pointed to a section of content, and said, "Look here—"

Not receiving the praise she expected, Bibi Dong pouted slightly, a little upset, and stared intently at the text Ling Yi was pointing to.

[... In mid-August of 1889 in the Douluo Calendar, we encountered a bear-like Soul Beast with dark golden fur in the Star Dou Great Forest. Despite being only Hundred-Year Soul Beast, its claws easily broke through Quentin's Fifth Soul Skill defense—the Armor of the Black Tortoise!]

Fortunately, at the crucial moment, I used my Fifth Soul Skill, unleashing a storm of wind blades to attack the bear's head, blinding it and sounding the horn for final victory.

Will put away the bear's carcass. He had originally wanted to try the bear meat, but Will took out some roasted snake meat from his bracelet, which was much more delicious, after all, it was a thousand-year-old Phoenix-Tailed Cockscomb Snake...

After reading this, Bibi Dong blinked, then looked at Ling Yi with an expression that said, "That's it?"

Ling Yi smiled, closed the animal hide scroll in his hand, and took a new animal hide scroll from the third-to-last shelf of the bookshelf next to him.

Then, he opened the scroll titled "The Strong of Corgi City," turned it to the middle part, and pointed to a section of it.

"If you weren't so pretty, I wouldn't be doing this boring thing with you!"

She muttered something Bibi Dong herself and rolled her eyes in annoyance, but driven by curiosity, she patiently looked up.

[... In the year 1899 of the Douluo Calendar, Will Smith defeated the former city lord Nobo with absolute power and became the city lord of Corgi City. His right claw Soul Skill, capable of tearing apart everything in the world, ruled Corgi City for a full thirty years!]

Upon seeing this, the intelligent Bibi Dong frowned slightly, her gaze lingering on the 'Right Claw Soul Skill '.

Just then, Ling Yi took down a new animal skin scroll from the other bookshelf.

Opening the app in the same way, and flipping to the same section, this time before Ling Yi even point, Bibi Dong shifted her gaze to it and began to examine it inquisitively.

[... In the year 2077 of the Douluo Calendar, Earl Hizaki Smith, with the strength of a Soul King Rank, defeated Fallen Soul Master of the Soul Emperor level, protecting XX Territory. The people believed that no crisis was insurmountable before the Earl's all-encompassing hand...]

"So?" Ling Yi looked at Bibi Dong, whose little face had turned serious, like a little adult, and asked with a warm smile, "What are your thoughts?"

Hearing Ling Yi's voice, Bibi Dong snapped out of her thoughts and eagerly asked, "Brother Ling, is the ' Will ' in the first volume the same as the ' Will Smith' in the second volume?"

"Then, what is the relationship between 'Hisaki Smith' in Volume 3 and ' Will Smith' in Volume 2?"

"Douluo Calendar 1889, Douluo Calendar 1899, Douluo Calendar 2077."

"The first two are ten years apart, and the last two are nearly eighty years apart. So, is 'Hizaki Smith' a descendant of ' Will Smith'?"

The more she spoke, the brighter the light in Bibi Dong's eyes became, until finally, a captivating blush appeared on her delicate face, and she exuded an indescribable excitement.

"Hehe~"

Ling Yi closed the animal hide scrolls in his hands one by one, then put them back in their original positions. Looking at the scrolls, which were located in three different places on two bookshelves, he looked at Bibi Dong and asked with a light laugh:

"How does it feel? Like playing a jigsaw puzzle on a 'historical scroll'?"

"Mmm!" Bibi Dong nodded vigorously, her eyes shining as she looked at Ling Yi's incredibly handsome face, still feeling excited about discovering a little-known piece of history.

It has to be said that Bibi Dong at the age of fourteen is really naive. Just this little trick is enough to make her so happy.

You know, in my past life, I accompanied that girl from the Chinese Literature Department to the library, and the two of us played games like historical word chain and poetry word chain, connecting two historical events separated by hundreds or thousands of years to find a cause-and-effect relationship, and piecing together the contents of different poems, and the artistic conception was not out of place.

In comparison, Ling Yi understood why Yu Xiaogang, an "ordinary person" who was not good at speaking and whose looks and abilities were not particularly outstanding, could win Bibi Dong's heart so much.

The lack of basic education makes the people on the Douluo Continent seem exceptionally "simple and honest"?

Thinking of this, Ling Yi also thought of those people who had been influenced by his personal charm over the years.

"It's not that my tea skills have improved, but rather that this place hasn't been properly instilled with the art of tea," Ling Chacha thought to herself.

"Dong'er, how well do you know about the information on Soul Beast?" Ling Yi asked. "A bear with dark gold fur and indestructible claws—is there any record of that?"

To be continued tomorrow, goodnight everyone~

Finally, happy birthday to Miss "Just Like Snowflakes Between My Eyebrows"!!!

May time change, but you remain the same. Wishing you gentleness yet strength, kindness yet a sharp edge.