Facing an Ancient God for a Year

At this moment, the space between the fourth floor and the fifth floor of the library was elevated to an inconceivable extent.

The gap in the middle seemed like a chasm, especially with the red moonlight streaming in, which resembled a massive mural on a cathedral wall, both sacred and eerie.

Of course, the greatest problem was that everything around could be seen at a glance.

Within this vast area, all things appeared to have suffered from the strike of a two-dimensional foil, collapsing into a blend of gray silhouettes that adhered to the surface of the surrounding walls, revealing no evident path upward.

“This is a bit different than what I imagined!”

Fu Qian frowned.

“That’s not surprising.”

“Nightmares are filled with distortion and death; one must not assume things based on everyday understanding, or else you will quickly be killed by your own mistakes.”

“Got it, thanks for the reminder.”

“Then, according to your not-so-assumptive opinion, how should we go up?”

…

The Interlocutor, who had just been speaking confidently, suddenly fell silent and only after a while did he begin to speak.

“With this height, even if your body were in the early stages of fusion, it would be impossible to jump up there.”

“Although the Worm of Erosion poses some risks, it is your reliance for survival.

If you hadn’t engaged in that reckless action earlier, you could have thought of a way by furthering the fusion to enhance your strength.”

“As it stands, if it’s really not possible, we might have to give up.”

“I’m beginning to worry about your future.”

Fu Qian listened seriously to the Interlocutor’s analysis and let out a sigh.

“Is this the expertise you’ve worked hard to explore? Posting it on the forum wouldn’t even make it a fine post! What have you been busy with all these years?”

“Mocking me is pointless; since you think I’m so incompetent, you might as well use your own smarts to find a way up.”

The Interlocutor seemed to have adapted to Fu Qian’s style and didn’t get easily provoked by his words anymore.

“It’s not easy to say if there’s a method, but there are indeed some ideas.”

To everyone’s surprise, Fu Qian truly stepped forward and began to explore the surroundings meticulously, even deliberately using the Interlocutor’s left hand.

After a long while, he snapped his fingers.

“Found it.”

“Where’s the path? I didn’t see it.”

The Interlocutor clearly was a bit skeptical.

“The answer is actually in what you just said; Nightmares are filled with distortions, and we can’t take anything for granted.”

“So, we can simplify the problem. Normally, what do we rely on to get to a higher floor?”

“Stairs?”

“Correct. If we don’t get bogged down in the details, the act of going upstairs essentially needs three elements—upper floor, lower floor, and stairs.

With these three things, we can accomplish the task.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

The Interlocutor replied subconsciously.

“But at a glance, there are no stairs here.”

“How can there not be?”

Fu Qian pointed forward.

“Aren’t these it?”

“Even the ones on the wall count?”

The Interlocutor sounded genuinely surprised.

“Why shouldn’t they count? Distortion is not the same as shattering; I’m more inclined to think that the things inside have taken a different form instead of having completely disappeared.”

Fu Qian pointed at the silhouette of the stairs in the shadows.

“It took me a long time to find this continuous one, not interrupted by any other objects in the middle.

Therefore, I sincerely believe this path is passable.”

“Nonsense, there is also a continuous one on the left wall!”

The Interlocutor finally couldn’t help but retort.

“You can see quite far, can’t you!”

Fu Qian chuckled.

He knew it was still a staircase, of course; his saying so was simply to observe the other’s reaction.

As it turned out, even in his current state, the Interlocutor’s observational skills were still quite sharp.

The person behind him couldn’t pretend to be deaf and mute anymore.

“It’s a pity, if you had observed a little closer, you would have realized why I didn’t choose the other side—the middle section is locked.”

…

After Fu Qian finished speaking, he didn’t wait for the Interlocutor’s response and carefully stepped onto the stairs, gauging his position.

A surprising scene unfolded.

His whole body walked onto the stairs with simple lines, his entire body at a ninety-degree angle to the wall, with no sign of falling off at all.

He walked upwards step by step; considering the large glass curtain walls in between, it looked almost as if Fu Qian was walking on moonlight.

And until Fu Qian stood steadily on the fifth floor, the Interlocutor hadn’t made a sound.

“I always feel that by coming in with me today, you should have learned a lot.”

However, Fu Qian wasn’t modest, bragging unabashedly while he surveyed his surroundings.

“I hope you can appreciate the importance of combining theory with practice even more.”

…

“This place is clearly under the influence of that power.”

The Interlocutor seemed to have no interest at all in continuing the conversation with Fu Qian, and simply said to himself.

“I can see that.”

Fu Qian, too, showed mercy where mercy was due.

In fact, a large part of his recent experiment was merely for his own amusement, like a child with a peculiar condition.

Compared to the floor below, the fifth floor at first glance seemed much more normal; all arrangements appeared to be in their proper state.

However, what was eye-catching were the bright yellow cracks that seemed to spread everywhere in the darkness.

“It really does look like a tree, these are the roots that have struck down.”

With a sigh, Fu Qian didn’t ask for the Interlocutor’s opinion and continued upwards.

The cracks became increasingly dense.

By the time Fu Qian ran to the top, he seemed to be in the midst of a golden ocean, enveloped in the light of wisdom.

“There’s nothing here.”

The Interlocutor finally spoke, providing a calm analysis.

“Along the way, we haven’t encountered any other obstacles or attacks; it appears this tree is merely an illusion and hasn’t caused any harm.

It feels unlikely that this is a key location.”

“It does seem that way.”

Fu Qian agreed with the Interlocutor’s deduction, looking up at the thick branches spreading in all directions.

“Shall we withdraw?”

After the lessons learned prior, the Interlocutor’s remarks were clearly more conservative, reducing the chances for Fu Qian to mock him.

“Before we go, we should at least say hello to an acquaintance.”

As he spoke, Fu Qian actually began walking along one of the branches.

This branch seemed both real and illusory, passing through the dome and extending outside to form a golden waterfall.

Fu Qian, walking on it, similarly passed through the dome.

And after turning a corner, a low sobbing sound came through.

A slender figure was clinging to the side of a branch, hanging upside down in mid-air.

Her entire body had melted and deformed into a boneless, gelatinous mass, with tendrils extending outwards.

From the clothes wrapped around her body, one could almost deduce she was the previously escaped Liu Yi.

“How are you doing?”

Fu Qian stood atop the true pinnacle of the school and asked her.

“I’m so scared.”

Indeed, it was Liu Yi’s voice that responded.

This person slowly lifted her head, revealing sharp teeth scattered throughout her mouth as she spoke.

“They’re all so scary!”

“It’s okay, you’re pretty scary yourself.”