The Jade Capital was a city that never truly slept. Its white marble walls were etched with protective formations that hummed in a low frequency visible only to those who knew how to look for the scars of the world. Xuan Ye walked through the secondary gates of the Royal Palace his head bowed and his hands tucked into the sleeves of a simple blue page's robe.
He was no longer the young master of the Xuan Manor. To the guards and the officials passing by he was a non-entity a mortal boy given a mercy job because the Third Princess had a passing whim of pity. This was his greatest armor. In a city where experts are everywhere they can sense a ripple in the Qi from miles away no one spared a second glance for a child who lacked a spiritual pulse.
He reached the Royal Library. It was a monolith of ancient stone and dark wood that stood near the shadow of the Ancient Twin Towers. The air inside was cool and heavy with the scent of old paper and the metallic tang of ink-stones.
"You are the new one," a voice wheezed.
An old man with a hunched back and a long wispy beard sat behind a desk of iron-wood. He was the Head Archivist and his eyes were clouded with cataracts but he moved with a precision that suggested he didn't need sight to navigate the millions of scrolls.
"Yes Master Archivist," Xuan Ye said with a polite bow. "I am Xuan Ye. I was told to report for duty."
"Xuan Ye... the one from the Northern Border," the old man muttered. "The girl in the white robes spoke of you. A survivor. Well survivor or not here you are just a pair of hands. Your job is to organize the lower archives. The records of the five hundred thousand nations. Most of it is useless trivia but the Royal Family demands order. Do not touch the jade slips in the upper floors. They are protected by arrays that will turn your blood to ice before you can even read a word. Do you understand?"
"I understand Master Archivist."
Xuan Ye was led to the basement levels. The air here was even colder and the shelves stretched into the darkness like the ribs of a dead giant. This was the graveyard of history the records of fallen kingdoms the lineages of common families and the maps of territories that no longer existed.
As the old man's footsteps faded Xuan Ye stood alone in the dark. He didn't light a candle. He didn't need one.
The Book of Fate manifested in his lap not with a bang but with a silent ripple in the air. The Transcendent Mortal Physique pulsated. His early vessel had already integrated the Eternal Life bloodline and the Jade Pillar memories. His internal strength was now so dense that the cold of the basement felt like a warm breeze.
"Hidden Paths," Xuan Ye whispered.
[Connection to 'Book of Hidden Paths' — 15%]
[Scanning localized data...]
[Detected: 4.2 million non-protected scrolls]
[Detected: 12 hidden compartments behind the Eastern Federation section]
Xuan Ye began to move. He didn't read the scrolls with his eyes. He walked past the shelves and allowed the ink of the Book of Fate to reach out like invisible feelers. Every name every dates and every map was being scanned and categorized.
He was looking for the gaps.
In the history of the Northern Empire the Thirty two Elemental Heroes were portrayed as invincible paragons of justice. But as Xuan Ye's authority over the Book of Hidden Paths grew he began to see the editing marks. He found records of a 33rd Hero who was erased from the scrolls three hundred years ago. He found the hidden trade routes between the Northern Empire and the Iron Soul Hegemony routes used for the illegal smuggling of Alchemy Pills that bypassed the Emperor's tax.
Most importantly he found the records of the low and mid tier sects within the empire.
The Xuan family is a mid-tier sect power in the Capital, Xuan Ye mused. The highest cultivation is the Patriarch of the xuan family
Which reach the Golden Core realm. But they serve the Royal Family which is backed by the thirty two Heroes who reach the Nascent Soul and some even reached the Soul Formation realms. And the Emperor... the Great Northern Emperor sits at the peak. His cultivation is almost unknown only that he is at least in the Void Refinement realm
He stopped in front of a shelf marked with the seal of the Holy Sanctuary of the White Lotus.
He remembered the girl at the waterfall. Lin Xue. Her bloodline had been the key to his evolution. But the White Lotus was not just a medical sect. They were the guardians of the center of the world. They co existed with the 6 Righteous Holy Sects and their power was rumored to be equal to the two Supreme Sects the sects are divided into ranks the lowest is low tier sects after it the mid tier sects after that the high tier sects and after that we reached the second highest rank the holy sects there is only 12 holy sects,six are righteous,and the other six are demonic, it doesn't mean they are demons they just practice demonic techniques after that the highest tier which is the supreme sects.there is only two known sects to reach this level one is righteous, and the other is demonic.
Xuan Ye touched a dusty scroll. The ink of the Book of Fate recoiled.
[Warning:Holy Sanctum Seal detected]
[Source: Void Refinement remnant soul]
Xuan Ye pulled his hand back. Even in the basement of a library the Holy Sanctuary left traps for the curious. If he had been a normal cultivator his hand would have withered away. But his Mortal Vessel was closed. The trap had no meridians to travel through so it simply dissipated against his skin.
"So the Sanctuary hides even its mundane history," Xuan Ye whispered.
He sat on the floor and closed his eyes. He wasn't just here to organize. He was here to build a database of every weakness in the Northern Empire.
If a Hero had a family he would know their names. If a Sect Leader had a secret debt he would find the record. If an Ancestor had a failed technique he would recover the draft.
Inside the Book of Fate a map was being drawn. It wasn't a map of geography it was a map of influence.
[Current Objective:Locate the resonance of the Ancient Twin Towers]
The towers were the true mystery. They were the anchors of the world. And if the Jade Pillar Ancestor had come from them then the towers held the secrets of the Ascension and Great Ascension realms the stages where men truly became gods and prepared to leave the Finite World for the Celestial Realm.
"I'm only twelve years old" Xuan Ye said to the darkness. "The world thinks I am a page.The Emperor doesn't know I exist."
He stood up and picked up a heavy ledger. He began to organize the shelves just as he was told. He was the perfect worker. He was diligent and quiet.
But every scroll he touched the information was being absorbed.Every history was being rewritten in his soul.
The Finite World was a universe of five hundred thousand countries the four great empires rule over it,but tonight the library was the only world that mattered.
Xuan Ye worked until the first light of dawn began to filter through the small high windows of the basement. He had scanned ten thousand scrolls.
[Mortal Vessel:100% (Complete)]
[Ink-Wash Heart: 2% Progress]
The next stage of his unique cultivation had begun The Ink was starting to replace the blood in his heart. It wasn't a change in color but a change in essence. His heart was no longer pumping biological fluid it was pumping the potential of reality.
He walked out of the library and back toward the page's quarters. He passed the training grounds where the Royal Guard was practicing. He saw a captain a 7th Step Qi Gathering expert shouting orders.
Xuan Ye smiled. It was the same cheerful mask he always wore.
"Practice harder Captain" Xuan Ye thought. Soon the ground you stand on won't belong to the Emperor anymore. It will belong to the Unwritten.
The game of the Jade Capital was moving into its first phase. And in the center of the world the White Lotus was about to realize that one of their flowers had been plucked.
Xuan Ye closed his eyes and felt the resonance of the other Anomaly Books in the distance. They were waiting. And so was he.