37: Chapter 37: The Shadow Sect Members Who Carried the Train Through the Night, and the New Rules of the Scripture Pavilion

The wind stopped.

Above the Cloud Break Mountain Range, the terrifying pressure that seemed about to split the firmament was forcefully wiped away by an invisible giant hand, vanishing completely.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Nor was there any gruesome spectacle of flesh and blood flying.

The Founding Ancestor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Ji Wushuang, who was rumored to have long since achieved Ascension or passed away, his 'Hand of Truth' capable of crushing the entire Southern Wilderness, was finished under Li Mo's line of red annotations—'Finished.'

【This story is purely fictional】.

These six words were an ultimate imperial decree, negating the entire logic of Ji Wushuang's existence from the root of Karma.

"Hic—"

Mid-air, the 'Starry Sky Iron Book' (Little Black), which had swelled to the size of a small mountain, let out a world-shaking burp.

On its pitch-black cover, a golden, dragon-shaped pattern faintly appeared.

That was what it had just swallowed: the unique 'Imperial Dynasty Luck' and 'Plot Karma' belonging to Ji Wushuang.

The entire scene was dead silent.

The Disciples of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, the Confucian Scholars of the Jixia Academy, and those Loose Cultivators who had traveled from afar were all frozen in place, mouths agape, yet unable to utter a single sound.

What just happened?

That sweeping Servant took out a brush, wrote a line of text in a tattered book, and then... that Founding Ancestor who had suppressed an era was gone?

This did not conform to the common sense of the Cultivation World!

This didn't even conform to logic!

"Is it over?"

Chu Linger poked her small head out from behind Li Mo, still clutching the broom in her hand, her large eyes filled with shock and confusion.

"Cousin, that big villain... did you write him to death?"

"Hush."

Li Mo put away the spring and autumn brush and casually stuffed the dragon vein heavenly book back into his embrace, shamelessly spouting nonsense.

"What do you mean, write to death? That was the Ancestor Master manifesting!"

"I was summoning a deity just now! Summoning a deity, understand?"

He turned around, facing countless stunned gazes, and instantly switched his state.

His body swayed violently, and he cleanly plopped down onto the ground, panting heavily, feigning exhaustion and collapse.

"Aiyo... I'm exhausted... The Ancestor Master's morning temper is too strong..."

While acting, he quickly winked at Dugu Yun in the distance.

Dugu Yun was still trapped in the shock of that miraculous scene, but the instinct of an old Jianghu veteran allowed him to instantly catch the signal.

In a flash of inspiration, he coughed loudly.

"Ahem!"

Dugu Yun coughed violently, forcibly suppressing the surging waves in his heart, gathered his Qi, and shouted loudly: "Did you see that! This is the foundation of my Heavenly River Sword Sect!"

"Although the Ancestor Master has traveled far, his Divine Thought remains here!"

"Whoever dares to offend my Sect, though far away, will be punished!"

This shout exploded like a thunderclap, finally bringing everyone back to their senses.

"The Ancestor Master manifested?!"

"My heavens! That strike just now, was it the legendary immortal technique—Words Become Law?"

"Too terrifying! The Heavenly River Sword Sect actually hid such a trump card!"

The various forces that had been stirring restlessly completely changed the way they looked at the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

It was no longer the greed of coveting fat meat.

It was the fear of gazing upon a primordial giant beast dozing off.

On the platform.

Su Qianqian stood quietly, the light veil on her face already soaked with cold sweat.

She possessed the Eye of True Sight.

What she saw was far more numerous and terrifying than what others saw.

In that instant, she saw no Ancestor Master, nor did she see any immortal technique.

She only saw a hand.

A hand holding a brush, reaching down from a higher dimension—the 'Narrative Layer'.

That hand lightly drew a line, directly smearing away Ji Wushuang, that powerful existence, from the great book called 'Reality'.

This was not a Spell.

This was... modifying the rules.

Su Qianqian's delicate body trembled uncontrollably.

She looked at the Servant who was slouched on the ground, shamelessly letting a little girl pound his legs.

The light in her eyes changed from initial curiosity to deep awe.

Finally, it transformed into a trace of fanatical worship.

In her eyes, all of Li Mo's disguises had lost their meaning.

What Servant?

What Foundation Establishment Stage?

That was clearly a Saint walking the Mortal World, using heaven and earth as paper and all living beings as ink!

"Senior Brother..."

Su Qianqian steadied herself and slowly walked in front of Li Mo.

She no longer used that probing tone, but respectfully performed the ritual of a Disciple and bowed deeply.

"Su Qianqian of the Jixia Academy has received instruction."

"Senior Brother's stroke today has made Qianqian understand what it means for the Dao to be 'outside the book'. The previous knowledge-action seal was Qianqian looking at the sky from the bottom of a well."

Li Mo looked at the Saintess before him whose attitude had completely reversed, and his heart sank.

This was bad.

This woman seemed to have wildly over-imagined things.

"Cough, Junior Sister Su is too polite."

Li Mo forced a dry laugh. "Actually, I'm just a..."

"Senior Brother need not say more."

Su Qianqian raised her head, her eyes clear and firm.

"Qianqian understands."

"Great sound is faint, great form is shapeless. Since Senior Brother chose to enter the Dao through 'sweeping', he has his own supreme true meaning. Today's events, Qianqian will truthfully report to the Academy. From now on, the Jixia Academy will never dare to show the slightest disrespect to your Sect again."

Having said that, she bowed once more and abruptly turned around.

She led the still-dazed Disciples of the Academy and decisively boarded the golden ship.

"Go."

Her voice was cold, yet carried an undeniable decisiveness.

"Return to the Academy and seal the mountain for a hundred years."

"If we do not comprehend Senior Brother's stroke today, our Jixia Academy... swears not to emerge from seclusion!"

The golden ship roared, turning into a streak of light and flying away.

Li Mo opened his mouth, and in the end, could only helplessly scratch his head.

"What is all this..."

He only wanted to scare people away, not scare them into self-isolation.

...

At that very moment.

In the inconspicuous shadow where Su Qianqian had just stood.

A shadow, almost merged with the darkness, was trembling madly.

He was the Shadow Sect's gold-medal assassin, 'Shadowless,' the last hidden move planted by Sima Changfeng beside Su Qianqian.

He had witnessed everything that just happened.

But what he saw was different from what Su Qianqian saw.

As an expert in manipulating shadows, he perceived the terror of 'rules being tampered with' even more clearly.

It wasn't an illusion... it wasn't Spiritual Energy...

He truly altered 'reality'!

Shadowless's Dao Heart was collapsing inch by inch.

For an assassin, the most terrifying thing isn't that the target is too strong, but that the target simply doesn't play by logic.

The stealth technique you painstakingly cultivated for three hundred years, and the other party just draws a line with a pen, writes 'No Shadow Here,' and you directly vanish from the world?

What's the point of playing this game!

Run!

He must run!

Run overnight!

"This Heavenly River Sword Sect is absolutely not a place for humans! There lives a monster who can modify the world!"

Shadowless didn't even bother reporting to headquarters. He directly burned his vital blood essence, transforming into an invisible black thread, fleeing madly in the direction away from the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

He swore that in this life, the next life, and the life after that, even if he had to shovel manure in the Mortal World, he would never set foot in the Cloud Break Mountain Range again!

...

As the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Jixia Academy retreated, this crisis capable of destroying the Sect ended in an almost absurd manner.

Night fell.

The Heavenly River Sword Sect was immersed in the revelry of surviving disaster.

Only the Scripture Pavilion remained excessively quiet.

Creeeeak—

Li Mo pushed open the pavilion door, and a scent of aged ink washed over him.

"It's finally over."

He let out a long sigh, feeling like his entire skeleton was about to fall apart.

Although the final 'Author's Declaration' borrowed the power of the dragon vein heavenly book, it had almost drained all of his Mental Energy.

"Cousin, you were so cool just now!"

Chu Linger excitedly circled around him. "With that stroke, that bad guy just disappeared! I want to learn too! Can you teach me how to write that character?"

"Learn my foot."

Li Mo impatiently tapped her on the forehead.

"That's a forbidden technique. Using it once shortens your life by ten years. Do you want to turn into an old granny?"

Chu Linger immediately covered her mouth in fright and shook her head desperately.

"Alright, go to sleep. We have to wake up early to sweep tomorrow."

After sending Chu Linger away, Li Mo carried the stuffed and sleeping Little Black and walked to his familiar spot on the second floor to sit down.

The moonlight outside was like water.

Li Mo took out the dragon vein heavenly book from his embrace.

The original Xuanhuang-colored pages now looked somewhat dim.

Forcibly rewriting the Karma of a Founding Emperor was a huge drain even for this supreme treasure of heaven and earth.

"It seems I can't use this trick again anytime soon."

Li Mo stroked the pages, thinking to himself.

However, this time, he had turned misfortune into a blessing.

"Ding!"

【Detected that the Host has successfully rewritten 'High-Level Reality'.】

【Entry [Truth Tampering (Incomplete)] has gained a large amount of experience and is evolving...】

【Congratulations to the Host, you have obtained a new ability: [Local Setting Fine-Tuning].】

【Ability Description: You can permanently modify some non-fatal physical rules within a specific range (e.g., the Scripture Pavilion). For example: setting 'No Loud Noises Allowed in This Bookshelf Area,' and any sound made here will be automatically silenced.】

"A Domain-type skill?"

Li Mo's eyes lit up.

This was simply the Administrator Privilege tailored for him!

With this, he could truly transform the Scripture Pavilion into an impregnable safe house.

"Let's try it first."

Li Mo excitedly picked up the spring and autumn brush, wrote a line of text on a sheet of Xuan paper, and slapped it onto the main beam of the Scripture Pavilion.

【Setting One: In the Scripture Pavilion, no littering or urinating everywhere (specifically targeting a certain mouse).】

In the corner, Squeak, who was preparing to find a place to relieve itself, suddenly froze.

It discovered in horror that its sphincter muscles were locked tightly by an invisible force; unless it ran out of the Scripture Pavilion, it was completely unable to release!

"Squeak Squeak!!!" (Are you a devil?!)

Squeak tucked its tail and shot out the door like a gray shadow, heading straight for the outhouse in the back mountain.

"The effect is quite good."

Li Mo nodded with satisfaction.

However, just as he was preparing to add a second setting, an unexpected change occurred.

Buzz—

The entire Scripture Pavilion trembled once without warning.

It wasn't an earthquake.

It was a tremor originating from the depths of the Soul.

Li Mo stood up abruptly, his gaze sharp as electricity, sweeping across the surroundings.

"What's going on?"

That feeling was fleeting, almost like an illusion.

But Li Mo knew very well that after possessing [Dragon Spotting] and [Truth Tampering], his perception would never be wrong.

In that instant, the Scripture Pavilion... seemed to have 'come alive' for a moment.

Not figuratively.

But truly... possessing a characteristic called 'life'.

Rustle rustle...

A faint sound of pages turning came from a corner on the bottom floor.

Li Mo held his breath, activated Void Walker, and silently floated down.

It was the Area C, where miscellaneous books were stored.

At that moment, it was empty.

But the books on the shelves were moving on their own.

A book titled 'Postpartum Care for Sows' was laboriously squeezing itself out from the bottom shelf, then jumped next to the book 'Overbearing Prince Falls in Love with Me,' the two books sticking closely together in an intimate posture.

And in another corner.

The pickle jar used to contain the remnant Soul of the Old Ancestor of the Blood River had cracked open at some unknown time.

No black smoke emerged from it; instead, there came a spine-chilling sound of... reading.

"Man's beginning... nature is good... nature is good... delicious... truly delicious..."

It was the voice of the Old Ancestor of the Blood River.

But he seemed... insane.

Or rather, assimilated by something even more bizarre.

Li Mo stood in the shadows, watching this scene of demonic chaos, the hairs on his back standing on end.

On the System interface, the preview line regarding the next volume's plot was flashing with a faint red light:

【Warning: Due to the Host frequently using 'Rule-based' powers, the curtain of reality where the Scripture Pavilion is located has thinned.】

【The Gaze of the Abyss has deepened.】

【Strange Tales... are beginning to breed.】

"It seems that after driving away the bandits, I've attracted something more troublesome."

Li Mo gripped the spring and autumn brush in his hand, but the corner of his mouth slowly curved into a maniacal smile.

"Strange Tales?"

"In this Scripture Pavilion, I am the biggest Strange Tale."

"Since you all want to play, then I will play with you thoroughly."

He raised his brush and wrote the second setting of the night in the void:

【Setting Two: After midnight, all books must go to sleep. Those who don't... will be used as kindling.】

Whoosh—

A gust of cold wind blew past.

The books that were moving wildly on the shelves instantly stiffened, then neatly fell down, daring not to move an inch further.

Even the reading voice from the pickle jar abruptly stopped.

Li Mo blew on the ink at the tip of his brush and turned to go upstairs.

"Good night, everyone."

"Tomorrow will be another day of peace."

The night deepened.

The Scripture Pavilion stood quietly under the moonlight, like a dormant giant beast.

And in the invisible depths of the shadows, countless peering eyes were quietly opening.