501: Chapter 501 Insufficient Permissions

"You look very nervous. Are you uncomfortable with my appearance, or are you confused by the difference in my emotional expression compared to last time?"

Cang Tian sat back on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking quite relaxed.

"Both... I guess."

Zhou Yan really wanted to retort, but he had seen too many strange things today, and his threshold for surprise had been raised quite high.

Thinking back carefully, it seemed that every time he thought he had finally accepted this world, a bunch of bizarre things would pop up, and they always appeared in the middle of his daily life, ruining a perfectly good day for no reason.

"If you have anything to ask, ask it quickly."

"Once you're done asking, it'll be my turn to speak."

"Of course, if you're not ready, you can wait for me to finish before asking, but your remaining time might not be enough to finish even one question."

"At least if you ask first, I can estimate if the remaining time is sufficient."

Zhou Yan calmed his mind and asked.

"What exactly is going on with this appearance of yours? Does the Human Ancestor really look like this?"

Cang Tian shook his head.

"Insufficient permissions. No comment."

Zhou Yan continued to press.

"Then what about the Immortal Realm? How many Immortals are actually left in this world?"

"Insufficient permissions. No comment."

"What is inside the river of time?"

"Insufficient data, pending update."

"Dammit, you're messing with me on purpose, aren't you!"

Zhou Yan was about to grab Cang Tian by the collar, regardless of the other's seniority or high status.

But his hand grabbed only thin air.

Cang Tian dissolved into particles and vanished from the spot, leaving only a book in Zhou Yan's hand: "On How to Soothe an Infuriated Person."

"I apologize for not meeting your expectations and causing you anger."

"However, I am not good at comforting people. You can comfort yourself by flipping through that book."

"That book is quite effective at solving such problems, with a 37.5% approval rating."

"Don't look at the low probability; given the massive base number and the countless unreasonable people, achieving an effect nearly one-third of the time is already quite remarkable."

Zhou Yan turned around to look at the second floor. Cang Tian was now leaning on the railing, looking down.

Seeing this, Zhou Yan couldn't help but have veins pop on his forehead. He felt an overwhelming sense of frustration that one only gets when dealing with an AI.

"You won't say this, you won't do that, you..."

Before Zhou Yan could finish, Cang Tian interrupted him.

"According to my analysis, while the previous questions overlap with what you actually want to ask, they were most likely just a buildup for your subsequent questions."

"Your frustration is merely directed at my response logic."

"If my response were more benevolent, or if I used some linguistic techniques, perhaps you wouldn't be angry."

"Unfortunately, my design intent does not allow me to have emotions, so I can only speak plainly."

"So, I hope you stop testing me and just say what you have to say. After all, time is running out for both of us."

Zhou Yan threw the book onto the table and sat on the sofa, feeling somewhat dejected.

He was thinking, wondering if he should reveal his background to such an AI-like being.

He knew that the actual scale of this world was very high, but he wasn't sure what role a Transmigrator played in it.

Lv Yang wasn't a fool. To risk his life to expose Zhou Yan's background to his face, he must have had some other motive.

He at least needed to know what a Transmigrator meant to this world, and what the New Era and Old Era were.

But if he really asked, how would Cang Tian see it? How would the Mahayana cultivators see it?

As far as he knew, currently, no one besides Lv Yang knew his identity.

But...

Zhou Yan looked up at Cang Tian, specifically at the pair of Jialijian walking shoes he was wearing.

Oh boy, he almost couldn't hold it in. Why couldn't he have chosen a more serious brand?

Zhou Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he continued his questioning, not intending to waste the remaining time.

"Do you know Meng Zhang?"

"I do. The third generation Azure Dragon Divine Lord of the East." Cang Tian vanished from the second floor and reappeared in front of Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan's eye twitched.

Good grief, he seems to know even more than I do.

Only a small table separated the two. Cang Tian sat on the single-seater sofa opposite him, looking at Zhou Yan peacefully, waiting for his next question.

"Why did you say I was Meng Zhang before?"

Zhou Yan still didn't directly bring up the matter of wanting to know about Transmigrators.

Although it was simple—all he had to do was ask—he still couldn't get past that mental hurdle. He could only use another question to stall for time and create a buffer.

"Correction: During your last visit, your cultivation was low, and many things were difficult to understand, so your thoughts were entirely subjective."

"I only mentioned that you could currently be defined as Meng Zhang. I don't know what you heard or thought at the time, but that is indeed all I said."

"And the reason I said that was because your inherent identity is that of an Outworlder."

"When an Outworlder attempts to trace their origin, they can naturally be defined as another established existence."

"Wait, did you just say something incredible?"

Zhou Yan suddenly sat up straight and looked at Cang Tian.

Good grief, I hadn't even said it yet, and you just pointed it out. Doesn't that make all my agonizing just now look like a joke?

Cang Tian looked at the suddenly upright Zhou Yan, picked up the book on the table again, and held it up.

"Do you need this book now?"

"To hell with your... sigh, I mean... tsk." Zhou Yan was at a loss, scratching his head and rubbing his neck, not knowing how to describe his feelings.

But seeing this, Cang Tian's reaction was very indifferent.

"Alright, I understand what you mean."

The book flew from his hand back to its original position. Then, Cang Tian rested both arms on the armrests, crossed his hands, and said in a calm tone.

"Would you like to query terms related to Outworlder, Otherworldly Demon, Transmigrator, Little Biscuit, Outsider, Visitor from another world, etc.?"

Zhou Yan was about to say yes, but he quickly reacted.

"Hey, did some weird adjective just get mixed in there!"

"Very well, querying for you now."

Cang Tian didn't answer Zhou Yan and started the query on his own.

As Zhou Yan tried to lean in closer, he soon felt a gust of wind. The previously silent library was suddenly filled with a gale.

The books on the shelves, on the floor, and on the tables all began to tremble, their pages flipping violently.

Eventually, some obscure words gathered together in front of Zhou Yan.

[Outworlder (General term for related similar events) Access Record Summary]

[First Record: (Insufficient Permissions)]

[Second Record: Qin Yulian]

[Related Data: Last descendant of the Primordial Human Race, Mother of Lu Wu (Insufficient Permissions)]

[Third Record: (Insufficient Permissions)]

[Fourth Record: (Insufficient Permissions)]

[Fifth Record: Xu Jiahao]

[Related Record: Human Race, ██ (Insufficient Permissions)]

...

The string of text was very long, but most of it was useless—it was either just a name or simply 'insufficient permissions'.

What was even more ridiculous was that after the eighth entry, everything was 'data deleted'.

Looking at this, Zhou Yan's face scrunched up.

"What's all this? What even is this?"

Cang Tian waved his hand, dispersing the text, and then spread his hands.

"As you can see, the relevant information does exist, and with your special status, you indeed have the right to view it. However, your current permissions are insufficient, and subsequent content has been lost due to force majeure. This is everything I can show you for now."

"I wonder if you are satisfied."

"Satisfied... very satisfied." Zhou Yan spoke through gritted teeth, but what else could he say?

This guy wasn't like his own AI assistant that he could curse at whenever he wanted.

Setting aside the consequences of whether Cang Tian would get angry if he cursed at him, even if he didn't, Zhou Yan would probably faint from exhaustion first.

In just this short time, Zhou Yan already felt his head starting to ache. It wasn't from anger, but rather that same mental confusion he'd felt before.

"Based on what you just said, is it true that only Transmigrators—or 'Outworlders' as you call them—can learn these things from you?" Zhou Yan seized the key point and asked.

Cang Tian gave an answer quickly.

"As you can see, I am merely a library. Although I can communicate, my essence remains unchanged."

"Different identities have different permissions, and what can be known from me naturally differs as well."

"I only fulfill my duties, so you need not worry about any information being leaked because of your conversation with me. After all, I am just a library."

After hearing this, Zhou Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He could see now that it was useless to ask Cang Tian questions. His cultivation was too low to communicate for long, and those permissions were very mysterious; Zhou Yan couldn't get what he wanted right now.

"Fine, it seems I won't get much more out of you. You go ahead and say what you wanted to say."

"Very well."