Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 471 - 470: An Old Man from the Holy Mountain?

Chapter 471: Chapter 470: An Old Man from the Holy Mountain?

Princess Rose gasped and, with a "snap", she hurriedly closed the book and gazed earnestly at the air in front of her, as if it hid an enormous diamond weighing a pound that might drop out at any moment.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Richard approached, and then quickly moved away. It turned out that Richard had suddenly remembered something and walked over to a nearby bookshelf, picked up a book to glance through for a few moments before walking back.

Princess Rose’s eyes sneakily watched him, glancing once, twice, thrice, to make sure Richard had indeed moved off, paying her no attention. She took a deep breath and reopened the book.

"I did not see, I did not see, I did not see," Princess Rose murmured to herself, covering her face with her hands, then peeking through the gaps between her fingers to scan the contents of the book.

The text was repetitive and voluminous, and the sections that were blank left much to the imagination, as they entered Princess Rose’s vision.

Unable to help herself, Princess Rose’s body tensed up, and she unnaturally shifted, as if finding a more comfortable position, while the temperature of her cheeks rose steadily.

One page, two pages, three pages...

Princess Rose felt her entire face about to catch fire, her mouth parched, and her breath hot. But like one who had tasted the forbidden fruit, she couldn’t stop herself; she kept turning the page, and then another...

That night, she was lost in her reading, unable to extricate herself.

Until the end, Princess Rose did not know how many pages she had read, only feeling the text dancing before her eyes, as if Elizabeth Jona and her many lovers were about to walk right out of the book. She leaned weakly against the bookshelf, her eyelids drooping together, her head resting on the bookshelf, she dozed off into a sleep, entering a dreamscape filled with vibrant colors.

...

Elsewhere, Richard was completely unaware and unconcerned with what Princess Rose was doing, as he was busily perusing one book after another in the library.

Calculating the time in his mind, his browsing speed increased, flicking through pages at almost ten lines at a glance. If he detected that the content of a book had no potential connection to the information he was seeking, he unceremoniously tossed it aside for the next one.

In this manner, Richard completed one bookshelf, then another.

During this process, he did come across some information about the once great Black Spirit Empire, but to him it was too little and of little use. Moreover, there was no mention of the secrets of the Black Spirit King in the books.

He needed to continue browsing, searching until he found what he wanted.

Finally, Richard arrived at a bookshelf near the edge of a wall.

At a glance, Richard saw that the books on this shelf were notably ancient and robust, their covers giving off a metallic sheen.

He pulled out one of the books and found it unusually heavy. Tapping the cover, he saw the entire book vibrating slightly—the book actually had a metallic shell, apparently treated specially against corrosion, leaving no traces of rust.

"This doesn’t seem like an ordinary book."

With this thought in mind, Richard slowly turned the first page. As soon as his eyes landed on it, he couldn’t help but squint because right in the center of the first page was a familiar emblem!

A black triangle, a circle inscribed within, a vertical line splitting both the triangle and the circle.

The symbol of the Black Spirit Empire!

Richard’s gaze grew solemn as he took a deep breath, preparing to turn the page.

Just then, a coughing sound echoed from behind him.

"Cough, cough!"

Upon hearing the sound, Richard’s eyes narrowed abruptly, his muscles tensed, and his entire body became highly alert, ready for battle.

The reason for this reaction was that he could tell that the cough was raspy and aged, not at all coming from Princess Rose, who was also in the library.

So who could it be?

Richard swiftly turned to look behind him, only to see a yellow-clothed elder who had appeared without notice.

The elder’s face was lined with wrinkles, his hair and beard white with age, looking well over seventy. His hands hung feebly at his chest, the backs covered with brown age spots.

"Young man, are you well?" the Yellow-clothed Elder greeted him expressionlessly, showing neither joy nor anger.

Richard’s guard did not relax as he asked, "You... who are you?"

"Me?" the elder answered, "I come from the Holy Mountain."

"The Holy Mountain? What Holy Mountain?"

"Heh, what Holy Mountain?" The elder seemed to hear the most incredulous thing, "What do you think should be the Holy Mountain? Across the entire East Coast, even the whole world, there is only one Holy Mountain, and I come from that one and only, ancient, eternal, sacred and inviolable Holy Mountain!"

Richard’s eyes narrowed to slits, not wanting to engage in excessive discussion about a secret place with the elder, saying, "Alright, you come from the Holy Mountain, I get that. So why are you here, what do you want?"

The elder chuckled lightly, "My purpose here is actually quite simple, and that is to stop your foolish actions."

"Stop my foolish actions?"

"Yes, stop your foolish actions," the elder nodded, "I come from the Holy Mountain, but I am also the Guardian of this library, you may call me... the Librarian. The existence of this library is more important than you can imagine, its true nature not even fully understood by the current Black Holy Mountain Kingdom’s King.

Many things are hidden here, many secrets. Some of these can be known to men, but others must never be known, sealed here forever.

Now, what you are about to read, are some of these secrets that must never be known to anyone. Therefore, you must cease and leave. Do you understand?"

Richard raised an eyebrow.

Not relenting, the elder continued with a serious tone, "I know you’re a capable young man, smarter and more outstanding than many. I believe your future is limitless, maybe all the East Coast cannot confine you.

But the smarter one is, the more they should know humility, the more they should know when to feign ignorance. Now is the time for you to be humble and feign ignorance. Because, there are some things that you are destined not to touch. Once you try to touch them, the price is simply unbearable!"

"What if I insist on touching, on bearing these things?" Richard asked while holding the book, "What if I definitely want to flip to the next page, to see the content?"

The elder’s expression turned icy, "I’ve told you, you shouldn’t do this. If you insist on doing so forcefully, you will receive an outcome you definitely do not want."

"Is that so? But I think backing away from something I’m most curious about is the outcome I least want," Richard stared back at the elder and without much hesitation, he flipped the page open, his body slightly bent, readying for combat.