Amid the stacks of books.
The Book of Tear Stains, a real Bigmouth, was holding forth to a group of book anomalies, proudly boasting about the stories of tears it had recently collected.
Every time the Book of Tear Stains recounted another story, the surrounding books cried out in amazement. They were a perfectly attentive audience.
Chen Miemie tried to blend in, but his conspicuously unusual physique was quickly spotted by the books. They immediately surrounded him.
“Hey, Light-Spot Person, where’s your book? You may be powerful, but you can’t just refuse to read. ”
Chen Miemie hurriedly protested, “I’m listening to the Book of Tear Stains tell stories right now. Listening attentively to a story is also a new form of reading. You can’t reject new things.”
The books immediately split into two factions. One believed Chen Miemie was merely making excuses and trying to argue his way out of it.
The other faction, led by the Book of Tear Stains, was strongly in favor of the idea of listening to stories. Chen Miemie’s praise had made it feel thoroughly pleased with itself.
The Book of Tear Stains flew over to Chen Miemie. “You have excellent taste, and you’re a smooth talker too. You’re clearly a man of refinement.”
Chen Miemie indicated that he still had not heard enough. “Do you have any more stories you’ve collected recently?”
“No more. Expanding a book’s contents isn’t that easy.”
“Then this really isn’t nearly enough to listen to. How about this? I’ll give you an idea. There are sixteen sealing sites across the city, and every one of them is facing a desperate situation. You can go interview them one by one. You’re sure to make a huge haul.”
The Book of Tear Stains was overjoyed. A single tear appeared on its cover; crying was how it expressed happiness.
“You’re such a good person. I’ll go right now.” With that, the Book of Tear Stains immediately flew away.
Once the Book of Tear Stains was gone, Chen Miemie, having lost his strongest supporter, hurriedly left as well. Otherwise, the other books might force him to read.
On the rooftop.
Orange, Persimmon, and Peeling Paint’s discussion had reached an impasse.
Normally, a single order from Orange would have been enough to make Peeling Paint obediently withdraw.
But now, Orange and Persimmon truly had no way to resolve the problem.
Witches might be proud, but they were not fools.
If there really was no hope at all, then even if Orange had to die here, she could not fail to consider the future of her race before her death. She had to leave behind a possible way out, a spark to keep alive.
Peeling Paint was one such spark.
As time passed, their progress eventually reached sixty-seven percent, and then stopped advancing altogether.
Even Persimmon lowered her head deeply, burying her face as she whispered, almost inaudibly, “Stop. We’ve already lost.”
Orange rose into the air and looked down at the entire city, its orange-colored veins flickering in and out of sight. She let out a soft sigh.
“Stop? Then half the people in the city will be left homeless. Where could they even go?”
She descended onto the rooftop, her long white hair falling limply around her.
“Is this really the only way?”
The three witches on the rooftop fell silent.
Peeling Paint did not press her any further. It simply waited quietly for Orange to act.
Persimmon’s entire body was tense as she tried to think of some way to turn the situation around at the very last moment.
Orange had always been decisive, but this time, she raised her hand and lowered it three times in succession, unable to sever the core of the sealing formation.
“We’ve come to help.”
A voice familiar to Persimmon rang out.
Persimmon suddenly raised her head and looked toward the source of the voice, astonished. “Withering Poems!”
A group of book anomalies appeared in the sky, flying in formation like a flock of migratory birds. They came from afar in a long, orderly line.
“It’s us. Our power also belongs to the reading system, so we can use it to construct the seal.”
Withering Poems led the group, and several hundred books landed on the rooftop.
Peeling Paint was stunned on the spot. “You—you all! This seal is meant to seal you away, and you’re still willing to contribute your strength?!”
Withering Poems answered in a calm voice, “The Book of Tear Stains recorded your efforts. Those stories themselves can become a book. We were born in this city too, and we don’t want to see it fall into chaos.”
Peeling Paint staggered back two or three steps, muttering repeatedly under its breath, “Impossible. This is impossible. Why? This means losing our freedom. That’s absolutely impossible.”
Persimmon seemed to realize something all at once. She brought up a set of data and exclaimed softly:
“So far, not a single person in the entire city has died at the hands of a book anomaly. At worst, people have only been injured! How did you manage that? What about your passive effects?”
Withering Poems fluttered its tiny wings and answered the question in the same calm tone.
“Perhaps a passive effect is an uncontrollable instinct inherent to anomalies. But books are crystallizations of wisdom and reason. We are book anomalies, and in this world, there is always some reason capable of rising above instinct.”
The three witches were speechless.
If nearly a thousand anomalies being born overnight was a miracle belonging to [Mystery]…
Then nearly a thousand anomalies mobilizing hundreds of millions of books to celebrate throughout the entire city without a single death was a miracle of reason—a miracle among miracles.
After a long while, Persimmon asked tentatively, “So you can control yourselves? Can we live together from now on?”
Withering Poems swayed from side to side twice.
“Of course not. Unless we receive the favor of the sun and moon, we are anomalies, and anomalies have passive effects. That is a law of the world, and no one can defy it.
“We can only restrain ourselves for a short time. Even now, after half a night, a small number of books are already on the verge of losing control. They are enduring it with great difficulty, and quite a few books have been asking me whether the seal is finished yet.”
Orange asked her first question. “Why would you rather lose your freedom than leave this place? Anomalies usually prefer the world outside the city.”
“If I’m not mistaken, the three of you are witches. Didn’t you also prefer staying among your original race before this?
“We are books, and this place is the [Library]. It is our homeland and our home. It is our past, our present, and our future.
“The reason we restrain ourselves from harming people is that we do not want to disrupt the order here.
“For the [Library], books alone are not enough. There must also be people. Only people can continue reading, and then write new books.
“If we destroy the order and drive the people away, there will be no readers and no new books. That would be the death of the [Library].”
The three witches slowly bowed in a gesture of respect.
“Thank you for your help.”
Beneath the radiance of the Eternal Moon,
and under Chen Miemie’s watchful gaze in the distance,
896 book anomalies arrived at sixteen locations. Lining up, they began channeling their power and constructed the seal that would imprison themselves.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
