Chapter 769: Meng Chuan's Goal

The information about the eighth Yuan Shen Tribulation impacted Meng Chuan deeply. His mind raced with thoughts, even wondering if he could succeed if he faced the same eighth tribulation as Peacock Palace Master.

It would be difficult.

But without experiencing it, who knows whether one will succeed or fail? Meng Chuan, having become an eighth-level Yuan Shen lifeform, was also full of confidence in himself.

"You have almost a century to prepare," Ancestor Dragon said, looking at Meng Chuan. With a wave of his hand, a map of spacetime appeared before them, with a location marked. "This is 'Book Mountain'. Everyone who is about to undergo the eighth Heavenly Tribulation can enter it once."

"Book Mountain?" Meng Chuan looked at the marked location on the spacetime map with a puzzled expression.

Ancestor Dragon nodded. "Book Mountain was created by me. It houses countless ancient texts—texts from our universe, texts from other universes... innumerable. I have traded with other eighth-level tribulation experts, and I have also conquered many universes. Over ninety percent of the texts I collected are stored in Book Mountain."

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

"Those who are about to undergo the eighth Heavenly Tribulation can enter once, and all texts are available for perusal," Ancestor Dragon explained. "If one fails the tribulation, so be it. But if one succeeds, they must collect texts worth at least 'one billion square units' and place them in Book Mountain. With consumption and replenishment, Book Mountain's collection can grow continuously, and this also forms the foundation of our universe."

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

As generations of successors visit Book Mountain to read the texts, the more precious a text, the stricter the reading limit. An original copy might turn to dust after only three to five readings. Ancestor Dragon has made the greatest sacrifices and contributions, and he is also planning for the long-term future of the entire universe.

"If you are willing, you can contribute more texts in the future," Ancestor Dragon smiled. "Once you become an eighth-level tribulation expert, you can also freely access the texts in Book Mountain. Currently, Book Mountain contains ninety-six Eternal-level inheritances, one thousand five hundred and six eighth-level tribulation texts, over a million seventh-level tribulation texts, and hundreds of millions of texts below the seventh-level. Because many of these were directly taken from other universes, texts below the eighth-level tribulation almost exclusively follow the rules of those other universes and are not applicable to our own."

Meng Chuan understood.

Eighth-level tribulation texts are created by eighth-level tribulation grandmasters. They are based on the rules of time and space, making them comprehensible in all universes.

Seventh-level tribulation texts are based on fundamental rules. The 'fundamental rules' differ across universes, so what can be cultivated in one universe may not be cultivable in another. Not to mention texts below the seventh-level tribulation, which, despite numbering in the hundreds of millions, were likely entire archives of texts that Ancestor Dragon and others had "cleaned out" from other universes and simply transferred to Book Mountain.

"Ninety-six Eternal inheritances?" This caught Meng Chuan's attention.

He wasn't surprised by over a thousand eighth-level tribulation texts. After all, even seventh-level tribulation grandmasters could collect them. Eighth-level tribulation grandmasters have extremely long lifespans; Meng Chuan found it normal for Ancestor Dragon alone to collect a thousand copies. It wouldn't be difficult for a typical eighth-level tribulation expert to collect a few dozen copies and contribute them.

But Eternal inheritances... ninety-six copies?

"Eternal beings are the peak existences in the boundless spacetime, and they are also willing to impart knowledge to future generations," Ancestor Dragon explained. "However, their inheritances aren't necessarily profound. For example, 'Void Atlas' was left by an Eternal being, but it only explains spatial rules. There are also texts that only explain temporal rules, or texts about formations. Many of them only cover a small branch of knowledge, because boundless spacetime is so vast, even Eternal beings find it difficult to explain everything."

Meng Chuan understood.

"The value of Eternal inheritances lies in their ability to explain profound concepts in simple, easy-to-understand ways," Ancestor Dragon said. "Among the ninety-six Eternal-level inheritances in Book Mountain, the six most brilliant ones can be cultivated to the peak of the eighth-level tribulation realm."

"Knowledge is the path to Eternity," Ancestor Dragon smiled. "Spend more time in Book Mountain during the hundred years before your tribulation; it might help you overcome it."

After speaking, Ancestor Dragon turned and departed.

"Thank you for your guidance, Ancestor Dragon," Meng Chuan immediately bowed. After pondering for a moment in the garden, he instantly sent a Yuan Shen clone to Book Mountain.

Ancestor Dragon stood in the dark void, watching Meng Chuan's Yuan Shen clone travel towards Book Mountain.

"I am about to undertake the next creation of a universe," Ancestor Dragon mused to himself. "A new universe requires an eighth-level tribulation expert to perform 'creation'. This creator god... Meng Chuan is the most suitable for this role."

When a universe is created and is in its nascent stage, it holds infinite possibilities. Ancestor Dragon was willing to grant Meng Chuan the 'authority of creation'. Meng Chuan would then be able to control the rules of a universe. Under the 'supreme operating rules', his words would become law, allowing him to perform creation! The entire universe could be created according to his will, and if there were any mistakes, 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 qualify to attempt it. For an eighth-level tribulation grandmaster, it is also a rare form of tempering. Creating a universe is not easy and requires a huge price. Over his long lifespan, Ancestor Dragon had only created two universes: the first time he served as the creator god himself, the second time he yielded the role to Ancestor Phoenix, and for the third time, he intended for Meng Chuan to take on the role.

"Don't disappoint me," Ancestor Dragon thought with high hopes. Meng Chuan's foundation was truly excellent, his potential limitless, and he was fully capable of becoming a powerful companion to Ancestor Dragon.

Book Mountain is located within a hidden spacetime.

It is several hundred zhang tall. For a long time, no living beings had disturbed it. Meng Chuan, with his black robe and white hair, only sensed its location after Ancestor Dragon's guidance. Without any obstruction, he successfully arrived.

Meng Chuan looked up.

This floating small mountain had no flowers, grass, or trees, only a vast quantity of texts. The texts varied greatly: on crystal, metal, leaves, paper, fur... various mediums. They recorded different inheritances and used a myriad of scripts. Just by looking, Meng Chuan subtly felt the countless wisdoms contained within those texts. His Yuan Shen seemed to sense the figures of those who had written them.

"Texts are wisdom."

"Texts from different universes represent the wisdom of those different universes." Meng Chuan reached out and picked up a jade stone beside him. With a slight perception, at his current level, he could discern all the spiritual imprints within the written words and understand the author's intent.

"'Mortal Realm, Abnormality Realm, Demonic Realm, Origin Realm'..." Meng Chuan looked at this cultivation method from another universe, which was a very bizarre system. First, one transforms into a monster, after which mortals can hardly harm them in the slightest. Further on is the even more terrifying Demonic Realm. Going even further, one merges with the origin of a star, achieving immortality as long as the origin exists. Beyond that, one completely refines the star's origin, becoming a star-lifeform... In this cultivation system, the true body grows increasingly vast: star, galaxy, miniature universe.

"It feels a bit like a Chaos creature; the body becomes increasingly colossal," Meng Chuan mused. He put down the text in his hand. This text at most allowed one's true body to resemble a galaxy, only equivalent to the seventh-level tribulation realm, and hadn't fully comprehended time and space.

"I only have one hundred years to prepare; I must make the most of my time."

"Eternal-level inheritances, being foundational and directly pointing to different domains, must all be reviewed."

"Eighth-level tribulation texts can also be skimmed through."

"Seventh-level tribulation texts, though mostly from other universes, are still fundamental-level texts and represent a vast number of cultivation paths."

"This Heavenly Tribulation will avoid my strengths, so I will try to examine the crystallized wisdom of as many different paths as possible. The more I see, the more I can draw parallels... and it will be easier to find breakthroughs when encountering unfamiliar directions." Meng Chuan was well aware of this. Having made his decision, he began his cultivation in Book Mountain.

The ninety-six Eternal-level inheritances varied in profundity, and some were even incomplete. Meng Chuan skimmed through them. He spent more time comprehending those that were easy to grasp, and for those too difficult, he merely noted them down to avoid wasting time. He spent over three years to finish reviewing these ninety-six inheritances.

Next, for the one thousand five hundred and six 'eighth-level tribulation texts', each was limited to one day of comprehension for his Qianyuan Mountain Yuan Shen clone, taking a little over four years in total.

There was no other way. The time remaining before the tribulation didn't allow him to meticulously study any single profound art. Furthermore, for the eighth Yuan Shen Tribulation, the deeper one delved into something, the more likely the tribulation would avoid testing that area. Therefore, in preparation for the tribulation... Meng Chuan aimed for broad knowledge. At the eighth-level Yuan Shen realm, even a single day of comprehension was enough to cultivate an alien universe's system to the fifth or sixth level tribulation realm.

Following that were the vast quantities of seventh-level tribulation texts, almost all of which were from other universes. Meng Chuan experienced the wisdom of different paths from various universes. His Yuan Shen clone read in Book Mountain, while his Qianyuan Mountain Yuan Shen clone dedicated all its effort to comprehending. This was because even with one-tenth the time flow rate of Qianyuan Mountain, it was still over three times faster than his home universe.

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

"That's enough," Meng Chuan decided.

Although he still hadn't read some seventh-level tribulation texts and a massive number of texts below the seventh-level, Meng Chuan stopped. Spending sixty out of the hundred years before his tribulation in Book Mountain was already quite significant.

"Although I haven't traveled to other universes, I have witnessed the diverse landscapes of many," Meng Chuan sighed, feeling a sense of fulfillment from having absorbed the crystallized wisdom of various universes from the countless books. At the very least, his horizons had broadened immensely compared to before he came to Book Mountain.

"Next, I need to kill a Chaos Lord," Meng Chuan thought. He had a plan: he wanted to kill a Chaos Lord and seize its talent before his tribulation.