129: Chapter 129 The Entrustment of the Old Gods

Sara closed the blank parchment booklet on her lap.

She stood up. The hem of her gray robe brushed against the gnarled roots, making a very faint rustling sound.

She handed the booklet to Drogon.

There was no title on the cover of the booklet, only a minimalist drawing of a weirwood tree—its roots and branches perfectly symmetrical.

This was the oldest symbol in the faith of The Old Gods, predating the Seven-Pointed Star and the dragon crests of Old Valyria.

The lines were drawn with charred weirwood charcoal, each stroke extremely light, yet perfectly proportioned.

“The Old Gods began writing the forbidden book of evolution eight thousand years ago.

It is not yet finished. But in recent decades, the pages have been appearing slower and slower—the blood of The Old Gods in the bark is almost depleted. The will of The Old Gods has become extremely weak, too weak to actively intervene in this world anymore.

I translated it for sixty years, but most of what I translated was burned in the fire at The Citadel's secret vault.

Only this summary remains. The Old Gods asked me to hand it over to you. Not because you inherited the Storm Ancestor Dragon Bloodline—but because you are the current host of the Evolution shard.

Only you can continue reading the remaining content on the pages.”

Marwyn was behind him.

His voice suddenly became extremely quiet, as if he were afraid of waking some sleeping behemoth.

“What Sara means is—this summary is not the relic itself.

The original copy of the forbidden book of evolution is the relic you need to recover.

The original book cannot leave the weirwood roots—once it leaves the root System of The Old Gods, it will weather into ash.

So The Old Gods want you to take this summary away, and then record the contents of the original book into your own System.”

A System pop-up appeared. White text.

“Current Status of the original copy of the forbidden book of evolution: Attached to the weirwood roots in the secret vault of The Citadel, cannot be physically removed.

However, the host can touch the pages of the original book to allow the System to perform a full scan of the Evolution Law observation records on the pages—after scanning, it will automatically convert into the 'Evolution Law Knowledge Base' module in the System database.

This module can provide Evolution direction references when the host's Bloodline achieves a Breakthrough at 5,000 and 10,000 points, and provide The Old Gods' Karma observation data as tactical support when fighting against the Heavenly Dao Arbitration Tribunal.

Would you like to scan?”

“Scan. At the same time, scan Sara's sixty years of summaries as well. She spent sixty years writing it—it shouldn't just exist in a paper booklet.”

Drogon pressed his palm against the weirwood bark cover of the original copy of the forbidden book of evolution.

The surface of the bark was icy cold, but there was still a very faint pulsation inside—beating in sync with the Bloodline in his palm through the bark. The System began a full scan—the pages flipped rapidly under his touch, and thousands of The Old Gods' observation records flooded into the System database in the form of the ancient tongue of The Old Gods.

The handwriting shimmered in the air, and every page turned brought a very faint rustling sound.

The dark red writing on the pages surfaced from the bark fibers, was captured by the System, and then faded away, the entire process being dozens of times faster.

The scan lasted for about three minutes. As the final page turned, the last section of content being generated emerged on the page.

The writing was not yet fully formed, still slowly seeping out from the bark fibers—it was the last writing of the blood of The Old Gods on the bark fibers, each stroke seeming to use up the very last bit of strength.

The color of the writing was fainter than any page before it, almost transparent, flickering and dying out in the air.

A System pop-up appeared.

“The final section of the forbidden book of evolution—Unfinished · Writing in progress—Observation Subject: No. DK-0001.

Observation Time: Second Era · Present. Observation Content: This Dragon Clan individual has simultaneously inherited the Old Valyria Dragon Lord Bloodline and the Storm Ancestor Dragon Bloodline.

The integrity of the Evolution shards in its body is higher than all previous hosts. Prediction—When the Bloodline achieves a Breakthrough of 10,000 points, the Evolution shards will completely undergo Fusion with this individual, at which point 'Evolution' will become a complete concept independent of the Law of Karma.

Warning: The Heavenly Dao Arbitration Tribunal has noticed the Karma anomaly in the lower plane. One of The Three High Judges will personally intervene when this individual's Bloodline achieves a Breakthrough of 5,000 points.

The Old Gods' suggestion—Find and awaken at least one still-living First Era Ancestor Dragon before the Breakthrough of 5,000 points.

Storm Devourer was the last one executed. The whereabouts of the other four Ancestor Dragons are unknown. The roots are still searching.”

Sara slowly sat back down on the tree roots as the scan finished. Her grayish-white pupils were half-closed, and her voice had returned to its raspy calmness, but with an added layer of exhaustion from completing a sixty-year mission.

“You have taken most of The Old Gods' observation records from the past eight thousand years.

The will of The Old Gods is already too weak to sustain the continuous writing of this book.

The words on the pages will not appear again. My translation mission is also over. Marwyn—take him out.”

“Aren't you coming out? The secret vault mission is over.”

“I have stayed in this secret vault for sixty years. What is there for me out there? The roots of The Old Gods are here. I will wait here for the last page to finish writing itself. Then, I can rest.”

Before dawn. Oldtown harbor. The Honeywine shimmered with gray-blue waves in the morning mist.

Drogon stood on the harbor pier. In his full human form.

There were two more things in the leather bag on his back—Sara's summary booklet and the copy of "The Marriage System of Old Valyrian Dragon Lords, Volume IV" he had bought from the book-selling woman.

The weirwood tree symbol on the cover of the booklet was extremely faint in the morning mist.

Marwyn did not come to see him off.

But he had an apprentice deliver a small wooden box: inside was a brand-new Glass Candle, along with a scribbled note. The ink on the note was not yet completely dry—

“For Melisandre. Her old candle wick needs to be replaced. Also: the Dragonglass Lamp in The Citadel's secret vault lit up by itself after that book stopped writing. The Old Gods have probably left.”

A System pop-up appeared.

“Citadel relic recovery complete. Current progress: 5/5 completed. The host has obtained the full scan of The Old Gods' observation data from the forbidden book of evolution + Sara's sixty-year summary booklet.

Tracking interference function of the weirwood fossil—By scanning the residue of the blood of The Old Gods attached to the pages, the host has automatically obtained the 'Whisper of the Old Gods' passive: In full human form, you can consume a tiny amount of Bloodline energy to completely block the tracking signal of the Chronos Dragon for a short period of time—about thirty minutes per use.

This passive must be actively activated, with a cooldown of approximately twelve hours. Note: The effect of this skill comes from the protection of the residual will of The Old Gods, and its frequency is mutually exclusive with the tracking System of the Dragon Senate.”

“The Night King was created by The Old Gods.

The Old Gods handed the observation records to me, which means—it wants me to solve the problem of the Others for it.

It's not just about fighting the Night King, but also recovering the possibility of preserving the Evolution shards in the ice.

This matter is bigger than the iron throne. I'll go back and tell Daenerys first. Then, off to King's Landing—Tyrion still owes me a drink.”

He boarded a smuggler's ship returning to Dragonstone. The sails slowly rose in the morning mist. Behind him, the beacon fire atop the The Hightower flickered in the mist—a rhythm that the sacred fire of Oldtown had kept unchanged for thousands of years, but tonight, the flame leaped a few inches higher than usual. No one noticed. Only a gray cat on the harbor pier looked up, the light of the sacred fire reflected in its pupils.