" The shockwaves finally stopped, and Hong mumbled, "Huh."
The smoke from the explosion made it hard to see the sky where Hong Zhou was.
Curious, he descended and noticed something suspicious.
"Hmmm, this is a Japanese phrase: 'Kore wa watashi no kenkyū desu'," he remarked.
"It means 'This is my research' in Japanese. I remember those days when I used to read other languages just for fun." A smile spread across Hong Zhou's face as he moved forward.
Step. Step. Another step.
"What kind of nonsense is this?" he thought, frustrated.
"Japanese people always have to complicate things!"
It was clear to him—it had to be an underground tunnel.
Hong Zhou looked left and right to make sure no one was following him. He saw nobody in sight—not even any demonic wild beasts. The only thing visible was the burnt corpses scattered around.
To prevent anyone from following him inside, he used his true qi to lift some corpses and block the entrance as he entered.
"Haaa! Who turned off the lights?" Hong exclaimed, realizing it was too dark.
First, he ignited a fire in his hand using his true qi, then searched for a wooden stick to make a torch.
"Eruka!" he called out.
He began walking slowly and cautiously, ready to dodge or defend himself if traps lay ahead.
After walking for half an hour, he saw some white lights ahead and ran to see what they were.
"Fireflies? How could they survive for forty years?" he wondered aloud, but no one was there to answer.
"Wow!"
It was a library—an extensive library filled with various kinds of books.
"Hmmm, did a librarian reincarnate into this world? I wonder how he managed to end up here."
The oak shelves were worn and covered in dust. He gently removed one of the books and began to read.
"Hmmm, this one is titled 'The Structure of Dao.' How did he even come up with all this?" Hong Zhou was impressed.
Just as he was reading the first book, the astral archive activated itself, creating a new book in his mind. He closed his eyes to explore it.
"I expected the astral archive to do this, but this is just incredible," he said, a smile spreading across his face.
"Okay, let me process this. This is actually real! The Japanese man from Earth wasn't crazy."
'If this is possible, then with the use of the astral archive, I can create something similar for myself.'
Unaware of how much time had passed in the outside world, Hong Zhou immersed himself in reading. Some of the books he explored were out of this world, written in languages the astral archive allowed him to understand.
Though there were more than ten thousand books in the library it only took him four days to finish reading ten thousand books.
Unexpectedly, all the materials he needed were present in the library. The Japanese man had collected two of every material necessary for the system in case of failure.
"Haha… I'm going to create a system. However, this also involves some rituals and incantations. No wonder the Japanese man failed; another part of his failure was that he lacked a cultivation base. It makes sense now why there are still two materials left. Well, there's nothing I can actually do about it, so let's follow in his footsteps and succeed."
He lifted a large stone with both hands. "So this is the philosopher's stone; this thing is unexpectedly heavy."
He started drawing rune symbols with his true qi, each with a different meaning. One represented source, the second origin, and the third eternal. It took him three months to finish drawing these runes because of the durability of the philosopher's stone.
"Phew! I know cultivators at the end of bone tempering can survive for a year or two without food, but I would love to have a decent meal right now," he said.
Soon enough, the stone was ready for activation, but he felt nervous and began to question himself. "What if I die like last time? Or what if I die from exhaustion? Is it really worth it?"
"What's the point? I've come halfway through this; I can't let myself be bothered by failures. I bet the Japanese guy would beat me up if I failed."
He started pouring his true qi into the philosopher's stone, which endlessly absorbed his energy. Whenever he felt tired, he would drop the stone and sit in a cross-legged position to replenish his true qi.
As he poured his true qi into the stone, he felt it absorbing another type of energy from the world. The stone began to shrink in size. He continued pouring in his true qi until the rune labeled "source" glowed with a purple transcendent energy.
After two months, the other two runes also began to glow with transcendent energy. The philosopher's stone had now shrunk to the size of a marble, and the first step in creating the system was complete.
Next, he drew a circular array and placed the philosopher's stone in the middle. He surrounded the array with five hundred excellent-grade spirit stones.
Spirit stones served as currency in the Asura continent and were also used for cultivation. They were graded as low, high, and excellent. One high-grade spirit stone was equivalent to one thousand low-grade stones, and one excellent-grade spirit stone was equal to ten thousand high-grade stones.
"This was the advice from the astral archives; it wasn't part of the Japanese man's theory. It's time to perform the incantations," he said.
Hong Zhou closed his eyes and settled down in the center of the array, then began chanting the incantations suggested by the astral archives.
"Above the heavens and beyond the heavens,
Outside time and void,
Breath of Nothing, Form of Air.
Beyond the Seen, Within the Unseen.
Spirit Shrouded, Mortal Eyes Miss.
Veil of Shadow, Embrace the Void.
The Universe Whispers, My Soul Listens.
With Unbound Will, My Presence Fills All Space, and Knowing Dawns.
All Things Known, Understanding shall he achieve.
Mind Unveiled, Secrets Revealed.
Beyond and Above strength.
I am Here, There, Everywhere Now."
Just as he finished his incantation, an earthquake shook the world far and wide. A monumental event occurred: a golden light burst from the sky in the form of thunder, striking the very tunnel he was in, and the philosopher's stone began merging with his body, enveloped in golden light.
"Aaaaah… the astral archive said nothing about thunder strikes!"
Fortunately, he was prepared. Before sitting down in the center of the array, he had already performed a shield spell on himself, anticipating that an explosion might occur upon failure.
The shield spell was a technique he learned from the celestial sect. After countless modifications, he was confident that nothing could break through it.
Unfortunately, the golden thunder represented the law of the world, the very foundation that made up the universe. The pain from the thunder strikes was so intense that he thought he might die.
He saw his life flash before his eyes, and the agony intensified every minute until he finally passed out.
Cultivators worldwide dared not approach the heavenly thunder, fearing they would be erased upon touch.
"What is that?"
"The world is shaking."
"I think it's the heavenly tribulation."
"Whoever is going through that has no hope; that's the thunder of the heavens."
"Heaven is punishing the cultivator."
"Maybe it's a demonic cultivator trying to break through."
"May the heavens have mercy on his soul."
Cultivators from different sects developed various theories about the earthquake and the golden heavenly thunder they witnessed.
After five days of constant strikes in one location, the heavenly thunder finally ceased, and the world returned to silence.
[ Ding .. ]
[ System successfully created]
[ System detects that the master is heavily injured]
[ System requests permission to heal the master using lifespan]
...
[ No response; system forcefully heals the master by sacrificing ten years of lifespan, allowing the master to survive]
The injuries that seemed beyond hope began to heal. The damage was severe enough to leave Hong Zhou crippled for life, but it healed within seconds.
[ Ding…]
[ System seeks to combine with the Sage of Astral Archives]
[ System detects no response from the creator]
[ System combines with the Astral Archive as it benefits the creator]
[ Combination successful]
Hong Zhou woke up with a big yawn. "I slept well. What happened?"
"Yeah, I remember—I was struck by lightning. Stupid Archive, you didn't tell me I'd be hit by thunder from the world. I could have been killed."
The echo of his voice returned to him, as if all living things on the mountain had been silenced or killed.
He turned to survey his surroundings. All the bookshelves that held the knowledge of the Japanese man had been burned, along with the materials.
He looked up and saw a large hole. He jumped up toward the hole since the path to the exit was blocked, and he was too weak to break the stones.
"Well, I guess I failed, but it was still worth trying."
He felt disappointed with his failure and the amount of time he dedicated to creating the stone.