Chapter 768: Book Mountain

Novel:

The information about the Eighth Tribulation of the Essence Soul deeply impacted Meng Chuan, leading to a flood of thoughts. He even wondered if he could succeed if he faced the same eighth tribulation as 'Peacock Palace Lord'.

It would be difficult.

But without attempting it, who can know success from failure? Meng Chuan, having achieved the Essence Soul Eight-Tribulation Realm, was equally confident in himself.

"You have nearly a century to prepare," Dragon Ancestor said, looking at Meng Chuan. With a wave of his hand, a map of the spacetime domain appeared before them, marking a location. "This is 'Book Mountain'. Anyone about to undergo the Eighth Heavenly Tribulation can enter it once."

"Book Mountain?" Meng Chuan asked, looking at the location marked on the spacetime domain map with confusion.

Dragon Ancestor nodded. "Book Mountain was established by me. It houses countless ancient texts – texts from our universe, texts from other universes... innumerable. I've traded with other Eight-Tribulation Realm cultivators and conquered many universes; over ninety percent of the texts I've collected are stored here."

Meng Chuan was astonished. Given Dragon Ancestor's immense power, over ninety percent of the texts he had collected were stored in this one place?

"Those who are about to face the Eighth Heavenly Tribulation can enter once, and all texts are available for perusal. If the tribulation is failed, that's the end of it. But if it's successfully overcome, you must collect texts worth at least 'one billion units of value' and place them in Book Mountain," Dragon Ancestor explained. "With consumption and replenishment, Book Mountain's collection can grow, which also serves as the foundation of our universe."

"Thank you, Dragon Ancestor," Meng Chuan said, bowing respectfully upon hearing this.

Successive generations of descendants went to Book Mountain to read the texts. The more precious the text, the greater the reading restrictions; a single original copy might turn to dust after being read only three to five times.

Dragon Ancestor had made the greatest sacrifices and contributions, planning for the long-term future of the entire universe.

"If you are willing, you can contribute more texts in the future," Dragon Ancestor said with a smile. "Once you become an Eight-Tribulation Realm cultivator, all texts in Book Mountain will be freely available to you. Currently, Book Mountain holds ninety-six Eternal-level inheritances, one thousand five hundred and six Eight-Tribulation Realm texts, over a million Seven-Tribulation Realm texts, and hundreds of millions of texts below the Seven-Tribulation Realm. Because many of these were directly acquired from other universes, most texts below the Eight-Tribulation Realm follow rules from those other universes and are not applicable to our own."

Meng Chuan understood.

Eight-Tribulation Realm texts, created by powerful beings at that level, are based on the fundamental rules of time and space, making them comprehensible in all universes.

Seven-Tribulation Realm texts, on the other hand, pertain to fundamental origin rules. Since the 'origin rules' differ across universes, a text that can be cultivated in one universe might be uncultivable in another. This applies even more so to texts below the Seven-Tribulation Realm. Although there appear to be hundreds of millions of such texts, it's likely that Dragon Ancestor and others simply swept up entire repositories of texts from other universes and deposited them directly into Book Mountain.

"Ninety-six Eternal inheritances?" Meng Chuan noted, his attention caught by this detail.

The existence of over a thousand Eight-Tribulation Realm texts didn't surprise him.

After all, even Seven-Tribulation Realm grandmasters could collect such texts, and Eight-Tribulation Realm grandmasters lived for vast durations. Meng Chuan found it normal for Dragon Ancestor alone to have collected a thousand, and for regular Eight-Tribulation Realm cultivators to contribute a few dozen wasn't difficult.

But Eternal inheritances... ninety-six?

"Eternal beings are the pinnacle existences of the endless spacetime, and they are generally willing to pass on their knowledge to descendants," Dragon Ancestor explained. "However, their inheritances aren't necessarily profound in every aspect. For example, 'Void Atlas' was left by an Eternal being, but it only expounds on spatial rules. There are also texts that solely discuss temporal rules, or array formations. Many merely delve into a small branch of knowledge because the endless spacetime is so vast that even Eternal beings find it difficult to cover everything."

Meng Chuan understood.

"The value of Eternal inheritances lies in their ability to explain profound concepts simply and clearly," Dragon Ancestor continued. "Among the ninety-six Eternal-level inheritances in Book Mountain, the six most brilliant can guide cultivation to the peak of the Eight-Tribulation Realm."

"Knowledge is the path to Eternity," Dragon Ancestor said with a smile. "Spend more time in Book Mountain during the century before your tribulation; it might help you overcome it."

After speaking, Dragon Ancestor turned and departed.

"Thank you for your guidance, Dragon Ancestor," Meng Chuan said, bowing repeatedly. After pondering for a moment in the garden, he immediately dispatched an Essence Soul Avatar to 'Book Mountain'.

Dragon Ancestor stood in the dim void, watching Meng Chuan's Essence Soul Avatar depart for Book Mountain.

"I am about to undertake the next universe creation," Dragon Ancestor mused internally. "A new universe requires an Eight-Tribulation Realm being to perform 'creation'. This creator god... Meng Chuan is the most suitable candidate."

Creating a universe, a universe at its nascent stage, holds infinite possibilities.

Dragon Ancestor was willing to grant Meng Chuan the 'authority of creation'. This would allow Meng Chuan to control the rules of an entire universe, where his words would become law under the 'highest operating rules', enabling him to create! He could shape the entire universe according to his will, and if any mistakes were made, he could destroy it and start anew.

Creation... is extremely difficult. One must at least fully master the rules of time and space to even attempt it.

For an Eight-Tribulation Realm grandmaster, it was also a rare form of training.

Creating a universe was no easy feat and demanded a tremendous price. Throughout his long existence, Dragon Ancestor had only created two universes: he served as the creator god for the first, and he entrusted the second to the Phoenix Ancestor. For the third, he intended to let Meng Chuan take on the role.

"Don't disappoint me," Dragon Ancestor thought with anticipation. Meng Chuan's foundation was exceptionally strong, his potential limitless; he could truly become a powerful companion to Dragon Ancestor.

Book Mountain was located within a hidden spacetime.

It stood hundreds of zhang tall, undisturbed by any living beings for a long time. The black-robed, white-haired Meng Chuan only sensed its location after Dragon Ancestor's guidance. Without any hindrance, he successfully arrived.

Meng Chuan looked up.

This floating small mountain had no flora or trees, only vast quantities of texts placed upon it.

The texts came in various forms: crystals, metals, leaves, paper, animal hides... diverse materials carrying different inheritances, written in countless scripts. Even by merely looking, Meng Chuan faintly sensed the immense wisdom contained within these texts. His Essence Soul seemed to perceive the very presence of the beings who had penned them.

"These texts are wisdom itself."

"Texts from different universes embody the wisdom of those different universes." Meng Chuan reached out and picked up a piece of jade nearby. With a brief scan, at his level of cultivation, he could discern all the spiritual imprints contained within the writing, understanding the intent of the original author.

"'Mortal Realm, Monster Realm, Demonic Realm, Origin Realm...'" Meng Chuan read, looking at this cultivation method from an alien universe. It was a very strange system: one first transformed oneself into a monster; once a monster, ordinary beings could hardly cause any harm. Beyond that lay the even more terrifying Demonic Realm. Further advancement involved merging with the origin of a star, achieving immortality as long as the origin remained. After that, by completely refining the star's origin, one would become a star life... In this cultivation system, one's true form would grow progressively larger: a star, a galaxy, a small universe.

"It feels a bit like a Chaos Being; their bodies just grow larger and larger," Meng Chuan mused, setting down the text. This particular text described a true form that could at most resemble a galaxy, equivalent only to the Seven-Tribulation Realm, and had not fully comprehended time or space.

"I only have a century to prepare; I must make the most of my time."

"The Eternal-level inheritances offer profound insights, directly addressing various domains; I must peruse all of them."

"I can also quickly glance through the Eight-Tribulation Realm texts."

"As for the Seven-Tribulation Realm texts, while most are from alien universes, they are still origin-level texts, representing a multitude of cultivation paths."

"Since this heavenly tribulation will avoid what I excel at, I should try to read through as many crystallized forms of wisdom from different paths as possible. The more I read, the more I can draw inspiration from them... and it will be easier to find breakthroughs when encountering unfamiliar directions." Meng Chuan understood this clearly. With a plan in mind, he began his cultivation in Book Mountain.

The ninety-six Eternal-level inheritances varied in profundity, and some were even incomplete.

Meng Chuan quickly perused them. He spent more time comprehending those that were easy to grasp, while for the overly difficult ones, he merely noted them down to avoid wasting time. He spent over three years reading through all ninety-six inheritances.

Subsequently, for the one thousand five hundred and six 'Eight-Tribulation Realm texts', he limited his Qianyuan Mountain Essence Soul Avatar to one day of study per text, which took him a little over four years.

There was no other way.

The remaining time before the tribulation did not allow him to meticulously delve into any single profound art. Furthermore, for the Essence Soul's Eighth Tribulation, the more deeply one specialized in something, the more likely the tribulation would avoid testing that area. Therefore, in preparation for the tribulation... Meng Chuan pursued broad knowledge. At the Essence Soul Eight-Tribulation Realm, even a single day of comprehension was enough to cultivate an alien universe's system to the Fifth or Sixth Tribulation Realm level.

After that came the vast number of Seven-Tribulation Realm texts, almost all from alien universes. Meng Chuan absorbed the wisdom of different paths from various universes.

While his Essence Soul Avatar read in Book Mountain, his Qianyuan Mountain Essence Soul Avatar fully devoted itself to comprehension.

This was because even at one-tenth the time flow of Qianyuan Mountain, it was still over three times faster than his home universe.

In the blink of an eye, sixty years passed reading in Book Mountain.

"That's enough," he decided.

Although some Seven-Tribulation Realm texts and a massive number of texts below the Seven-Tribulation Realm remained unread, Meng Chuan stopped.

Spending sixty years out of the century before his tribulation in Book Mountain was already quite significant.

"Though I haven't visited other universes, I've witnessed the diverse landscapes of many through these texts," Meng Chuan mused. He had absorbed the crystallized wisdom of various universes from the numerous books, feeling a sense of fulfillment. At the very least, his breadth of knowledge was vastly greater than before he came to Book Mountain.

"Next, it's time to slay a Chaos Overlord," Meng Chuan thought.

He had a plan: he wanted to kill a Chaos Overlord before his tribulation and seize its innate talent.