A House of Gold in Books

The Ancient One, who had been drinking tea in her sanctum, suddenly felt the earth tremble. At the same time, a terrifying force erupted not far away.

Her soul left her body in an instant. The Ancient One passed through the walls and saw the source of the eruption.

It was a handsome young man. He was the only one left standing in the training grounds, his expression looking somewhat startled.

Around him, the ground had split open, and everyone lay on the ground clutching their chests and groaning.

Among them were The Ancient One's prized disciples—Kaecilius and Mordo!

"Was it him?"

For some reason, The Ancient One found the young man familiar, yet she was certain she had never met him before.

"The Ancient One."

Kaecilius and Mordo saw The Ancient One in her astral form. Enduring the searing pain in their organs, they struggled to their feet. "We are very sorry to have disturbed you."

"What happened?"

The Ancient One glanced at the handsome young man. "Who is he?"

"He is a newly recruited Mage Apprentice."

Mordo was responsible for recruiting Mage Apprentices this year. He knew about Zhang Yang, a young man with spiritual talent surpassing purple and spiritual power beyond that of a Temple Mage despite never having trained before. He had even planned to pay special attention to Zhang Yang.

But he had not expected such a huge surprise from him on only the second day after the assessment.

Yes, a surprise.

Although Zhang Yang's actions had injured dozens of Mage Apprentices, and both he and Kaecilius had suffered internal injuries, Mordo had no intention of blaming Zhang Yang.

He even felt that Zhang Yang was a natural-born mage.

He had summoned magical energy through mere movements and caused such devastating damage... he was simply a genius unlike any seen before!

"A newly recruited Mage Apprentice..."

The Ancient One looked at Zhang Yang. She had thought she would be able to see more, but she failed.

She could not see through Zhang Yang's future, nor could she see through his past.

The profound magic of time... had failed on him!

The Ancient One had only seen such a situation in those dimension lords who had transcended time.

She was certain Zhang Yang was human. There was no doubt about that. But... had his power already surpassed time itself?

A question arose in The Ancient One's heart, but she did not voice it. She merely nodded to Mordo and Kaecilius. "Kaecilius, send all the injured Mage Apprentices for treatment. Mordo, come with me."

"Yes."

Mordo and Kaecilius lowered their heads and answered in unison.

Afterward, Mordo followed The Ancient One's astral form to the Ancient One's Sanctum, while Kaecilius used magic to send the Mage Apprentices to the treatment room one after another.

Zhang Yang stood nearby, watching the scene unfold awkwardly.

He had not expected a tiny grain of magical power to create such a spectacle.

"I need to control the power better."

Zhang Yang made a decision. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never use more magic than the thickness of a strand of hair.

It was not entirely for the sake of others. It was more for his own survival.

A grain of magical power had already cracked the earth. If he used a little more, would he collapse a mountain?

With a body no stronger than an ordinary person's, could he survive beneath a landslide?

What nonsense.

"You..."

While Zhang Yang was still feeling awkward, Kaecilius had already arranged for the other injured apprentices and called out to him. "You... what was your name again?"

"Zhang Yang."

Zhang Yang did not know Kaecilius in his normal state. He assumed he was just an ordinary mage.

"You are very talented."

Kaecilius looked at Zhang Yang with admiration. "Would you like to join me? I can give you the best guidance."

"I..."

Zhang Yang did not know who this mage was, nor did he want to casually choose his mentor. Just as he was about to refuse, a voice came from afar. "I should guide him instead."

"Mordo?"

Hearing the voice, Kaecilius turned around and glared displeasedly at the returning Black mage. "You will guide him?"

"Are you worthy?"

Faced with Kaecilius's challenge, Mordo merely said softly, "This is the Sorcerer Supreme's decision."

"The Sorcerer Supreme's decision?"

Kaecilius was unwilling, but he knew Mordo's character. Gritting his teeth, he eventually lowered his head. "She decided to make a stiff like you his mentor?"

"Yes."

Mordo walked up to Zhang Yang and Kaecilius and nodded lightly. "Leave the rest to me."

"Humph!"

Kaecilius arrogantly turned and left, leaving Zhang Yang full of question marks as he looked at Mordo in confusion.

"The gathering time for new apprentices is in the afternoon."

Mordo came to Zhang Yang's side and said, "If you do not wish to keep resting, you can visit the library. It will be of some help for the upcoming lessons."

"Thank you, Mage Mordo."

Zhang Yang nodded to Mordo. After asking for directions to the library, he left directly.

"What the hell is all this?"

In Kamar-Taj's library, Zhang Yang looked at the Book of the Setting Sun before him, which he could not understand at all, and rubbed his temples.

"Ding, task triggered."

"As a mage, what should you do when faced with a magic book you cannot understand? Study it! Carefully read the Book of the Setting Sun, Cosmic Compendium, Supreme Codex, and Key of Solomon. Reward: Super Comprehension!"

"Huh?"

The system's voice sounded beside Zhang Yang's ear, and a new task appeared on his retina.

Unlike before, this time there was no need to choose.

"Study it!"

The task had been given, and the reward was right before his eyes. Gritting his teeth, Zhang Yang decided to study it!

Sitting cross-legged beneath the bookshelf, Zhang Yang forced himself into a focused state and began reading seriously.

Gradually, he entered a strange state. In that state, he easily understood the Book of the Setting Sun, which had originally been obscure and difficult to comprehend.

The book described the ancient gods that had once appeared in the universe. They had been powerful, evil, twisted... and had ruled the entire world.

Later, they were overthrown and driven from their thrones by a group calling themselves the New Gods.

The surviving ancient gods hid in other dimensional spaces throughout the universe, barely clinging to life.

Cosmic Compendium, on the other hand, told the story of what happened after the New Gods overthrew the ancient gods. They divided territory among themselves and took on their own names.

Heaven, Hell, the Nine Realms, Olympus... based on where they resided, they began dividing up believers.

But the number of believers had always been limited. No one knew who struck first, but the New Gods began fighting to seize believers.

For a time, the entire world was filled with flames and smoke of war. Their battles disrupted the balance of the universe.

Thus, they received treatment similar to the ancient gods.

The Supreme Codex detailed the treatment received by the New Gods.

Someone among mortals discovered that as long as certain words were spoken according to specific rules, they could control a powerful force.

Ancient mages called this language "spells."

Through exploration, they mastered spell after spell and gained great power.

Under the leadership of a man named Agamotto, the mortals' resistance began.

Relying on "spells," they defeated the immensely powerful New Gods and drove them out of the current dimension.

Heaven, Hell, Olympus... aside from the Nine Realms, which had long since left the current dimension and occupied the World Tree, all were driven out.

To prevent the New Gods from returning, the people led by Agamotto who had mastered "spells" established an organization.

With Mount Everest, the backbone of the world, as its base, it honored Agamotto as the Sorcerer Supreme. This was Kamar-Taj.

The first three books were about history and the origins of Kamar-Taj, while the Key of Solomon taught people how to unlock their sealed power.

It was like a key. Once one understood it, one could open Solomon, who possessed countless treasures.

After closing the Key of Solomon, Zhang Yang shut his eyes and carefully reflected on his insights.

After a long while.

"Ding, task completed. Reward obtained: Super Comprehension."

The moment Zhang Yang opened his eyes, the system prompt sounded by his ear. The knowledge he had already memorized underwent earth-shaking changes in his mind.

From the Book of the Setting Sun, he learned the names of all the ancient gods. Even merely speaking their names could grant powerful strength.

Of course, that power carried extremely potent side effects. If one's spirit was not strong enough, one would be assimilated into a monster.

From Cosmic Compendium, he learned the names and secrets of nearly every dimension. If he wished, he only needed to learn Kamar-Taj's most basic Portal spell to travel to other dimensions and become the ruler of those without masters.

From the Supreme Codex, he obtained every method of casting, every spell, Kamar-Taj had possessed from its founding to the present—even those that had not been passed down.

From the Key of Solomon, he learned how to use his own will to communicate with the multiverse and draw upon its power.

Four basic magic books had transformed Zhang Yang completely.

He closed his eyes, and his will split into three thousand seeds that silently entered other dimensions.

He did not need these dimensions to provide him with power, but he was quite interested in their special properties.

For example, Heaven's holy light, Hell's soul fire, the Dark Dimension's dark energy, the Crimson Universe's bodily enhancement, the Eye Demon's enhancement of spiritual power... and so on.

In other words, he was now standing at the same starting line as the Sorcerer Supreme... at least when it came to drawing power from the Dark Dimension.

"Just as expected."

As Zhang Yang picked up the books from the floor and returned them to their places, he sighed. "There truly is a house of gold in books... the ancients did not deceive me!"

After Zhang Yang left the library, The Ancient One, who had been observing him in astral form the entire time, appeared and took out the four books he had read.

The Ancient One looked at the books in her hand. They had originally been nothing more than basics for Mage Apprentices, but she had witnessed Zhang Yang's performance just now.

Even she could not understand and comprehend the contents of all four books on her first reading, much less put them directly into practice.

She had only one phrase to describe Zhang Yang's performance.

"Genius..."

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