Chapter 1501: Chapter 1501: Final Reward

He Ao withdrew his gaze from the subtitles and looked at the blank stele in front of him.

His gaze swept over the stele, and the surrounding scenery rapidly changed, quickly becoming faint and dissipating, finally transforming into a grand city.

The dense crowd moved back and forth, and although He Ao suddenly appeared here, nobody paid attention to him.

It was as if he had always been here.

A cool wind blew in the sky, and He Ao lifted his steps, his figure flickering like a stream of light, passing through the crowd, through the buildings, and in an instant, he traversed the entire city, reaching the edge of the city.

The faint cool wind brushed past his cheeks, and he reached out his hand to feel the wind.

At the same time, ice crystals scattered from the sky landed in his palm.

Is it snowing?

He gazed at the ice crystals slowly melting in his palm.

[Reward Upgrade Successful]

Meanwhile, the system’s reward finally completed upgrading, albeit slightly later than before.

He Ao’s gaze shifted downwards, watching the system’s flashing subtitles.

[Congratulations on obtaining: Historical Contract]

[At the first moment of the universe’s birth, history began.

Time left traces in space, forming history.

All things in the world exist within history; they are the future’s past and the past’s future.

When the first intelligent life established civilization, history was recorded.

Thus, recorded history began.

But recorded history is often not entirely true.

The ones recording history cannot objectively and impartially record everything like machines. Once there’s omission and summarization, history becomes dressed up.

Living beings have stances, and stances influence impartiality.

No intelligent being can absolutely objectively record true history, even if they claim to be objective.

The same event may be recorded entirely differently in different histories.

Those who study history can only find the truth in the fragmented words of ancient books, but no one can attain the true truth.

If people can no longer define clearly what happened in history centuries ago, then what truly happened is no longer important.

As long as the living believe that event genuinely occurred in history, then it indeed did.

In recording history, civilization also shapes its own history.

However, history is not completely elusive; some unique individuals and powerful forces can see history.

Thus, the true history becomes even more enigmatic. People believe what they choose to believe, and the Great Being watches what they can see.

In everyone’s eyes, there is their own history.

But some always detest this uncertainty in history.

Ancient civilizations believe that at the core of the cosmos, there exists a book recording all events of the universe, possessing it enables knowing everything since the universe’s birth.

Thus some wizards banded together, beginning their search for the legendary Permanent Book in the depths of the universe.

They captured stars for fuel, guided by prophecy and sacrifice, wandering aimlessly.

They traveled through the Netherworld and hell, seeking directions from ancient spirits of the world.

After countless eras, one wizard finally received guidance from truth, reaching the deepest point of the cosmos.

They once again traversed the Netherworld and hell, delving into the depths of the universe, landing in the world’s underbelly, advancing in a void.

But ultimately, they were never heard from again.

Hundreds of years later, a frenzied wizard returned to reality; no one knew what they encountered deep in the universe.

Her companions vanished without a trace, and she herself transformed into a peerless beauty.

But she had gone mad; no one could communicate with her normally, unless you were willing to recount the history you knew.

She constantly sought people, asking them about the history they knew, recording every history narrated by individuals.

Someone asked her if she had seen true history, but she never answered, only silently documenting history.

No mortal, not even angels, could resist her beauty; hence, she always obtained the stories she desired.

Ancient angels, dignified kings, erudite scholars—all became her visitors, and she recorded the history espoused by each without discerning the truth.

She continued this for centuries, while civilizations rose and fell, kingdoms rose and decayed, till she herself became part of history.

She documented the history she ‘saw’.

Long after, on a tranquil night, playful children opened the door of a crumbling castle.

The mad ancient wizard had long passed away, leaving only an old worn book, glimmering with a faint brilliance.

The Historical Contract is a covenant of history; it faithfully records every history it undergoes.

The history recorded by the Historical Contract may not be true, but everyone will believe it to be true.

When the Historical Contract encounters false history, it can also discern the falsehood.

The holder of the Historical Contract can modify the recorded history to a certain degree.

The Historical Contract can bestow upon people captivating beauty, enchanting everyone, granting mortals the ability to influence history.

Note, any modification of history is unpredictable; when the holder tries to alter history, the future might not develop as the holder intended. The Historical Contract itself also exists in history, but any interference with history using it will lead to unforeseeable consequences.

Note, the Historical Contract is perpetually watched by invisible desires, the longer held, the higher the likelihood of attracting desire’s attention.

Note, the Historical Contract is intertwined with fate, and thus is observed by fate.

Note, the Historical Contract’s creation offended truth; any traces of it sensed by truth will bring unpredictable consequences.

Note, the Historical Contract is just a contract of history, not the true Permanent Book, but it still carries some essence of the Permanent Book. Those who attempt to touch history will also be watched by history itself.

Note, contact with hell’s powers will bring invisible changes to the Historical Contract, leading to unknown consequences.

Note, the birth of the Historical Contract conceals unknown secrets, which will invite unknown attention.

He Ao gazed at the densely packed item description.

The seven notes make it clear that while he hasn’t fully grasped how powerful this thing is, it is undeniably dangerous.

Among the seven warnings, only the first seems related to the book’s inherent ability.

The other six are all warnings about being ‘watched.’

The third note refers to the Witch of Desire, which is very certain.

The background story almost explicitly states that the senior sister deeply participated in this thing’s creation.

The surviving wizard most likely sought her help at the last moment to escape alive from the Cosmic Core region.

Otherwise, the physical transformation wouldn’t have occurred, nor would the system emphasize her becoming beautiful.

Moreover, this thing probably contains a lot of the old sister’s power, otherwise, it wouldn’t be said that the old sister is always watching.

The fourth point is fate. History and fate are interconnected; manipulating history will also affect fate, so being focused on by fate is reasonable.

However, He Ao now has a bunch of items related to fate on him, and his own abilities are all related to fate, so one more focus doesn’t make much difference.

The fifth point is ‘Truth’, and ‘Truth’ is, in most cases, another name for the God of Knowledge.

This time, He Ao surprisingly didn’t ask his good friend for help, yet he still inadvertently dragged his good friend into it.

However, the system’s description is quite interesting and slightly contradictory.

At first, it says that the wizards were guided by ‘Truth’ to the Cosmic Core area, thus getting the chance to touch on history.

From this perspective, the good friend should be pleased with the wizards contacting history? At least not averse, otherwise, they wouldn’t have descended the critical ‘revelation’.

But in the note, it also says that the birth of the Historical Contract angered the good friend.

Did something happen in between that changed the good friend’s mind?

Thinking of this, He Ao suddenly paused, thinking of another item.

The ‘Sky Curtain’ used as a fusion material.

The ‘Truth’ that initially descended the revelation might not be the real truth; it could also be disguised by a ‘false truth’.

If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder the good friend was furious.

But does that guy really have the guts to provoke any Divine Being and make enemies everywhere?

He Ao shook his head,

It seems like there are indeed not many people like himself who make a living with peaceful demeanor.

His gaze fell on the next note.

The sixth point is ‘History’, and it makes sense that something that steals the authority of history would be focused on by history.

The seventh point is ‘Hell’. Although there are materials related to Hell in the fusion materials, how does the Historical Contract seem like something associated with Hell?

The introduction said that when those wizards went to the Cosmic Core, they passed through Hell again.

Would they have stolen something when passing through Hell on their way?

The power carried by this Historical Contract seems pretty good, and a sufficiently strong material should be needed as the foundation.

According to the previous speculation about the Hell Scepter, the state of Hell’s master might not be good, being restricted in some place.

If Hell’s master had been missing long enough before these wizards went to the Cosmic Core.

Then it’s really possible these wizards might have stolen something while Hell was ownerless.

Although this speculation is a bit absurd, it’s not entirely impossible since they are wizards.

He Ao even suspected that when they stole it, the Hell master might not have been missing yet and they did it right in front of them.

Gathering his thoughts, He Ao looked at the last note ‘Please Note’.

This note is ‘Unknown’.

If He Ao’s speculation about ‘false truth’ is correct, then this unknown focus should be the Higher Being in this Copy World who secretly ‘created’ a Character Card for him.

Given this guy’s level of scheming, it’s very likely that he’s involved in this.

Of course, this unknown doesn’t specifically refer to this guy, it could also relate to other dangers, and He Ao’s guesses might not be accurate.

Still, involving at least six Higher Beings is quite intriguing.

Even during a hotpot meal, you don’t put so many dishes on at once.

Originally, there were three items, each related to a Divine Being.

Then after fusion, it became related to six Divine Being-level existences.

No wonder the system had to warn about the risks; the risks are indeed significant.

Yet, in this world, crises and opportunities always coexist.

Since it’s connected to six Divine Beings, it indicates that this thing is indeed very strong.

He Ao glanced again at the system’s item introduction; these notes didn’t mention ‘Venus’.

There was also no power related to Venus among the previous three items.

It seems that even though He Ao used the Embrace of the Beauty Goddess, involving Venus’ high-level powers, the system didn’t recognize Venus as being involved?

In the system’s judgment, is the Embrace of the Beauty Goddess merely a pure transcendent prop?

Only with subjective involvement from Divine Beings would related rewards appear?

As he gazed at the subtitles in his field of view, the scene around He Ao changed again, transforming into a desolate wilderness.

This is inside the Trapped Destiny Plate.

Inside the Trapped Destiny Plate lies an independent world, effectively isolating some transcendent connections and strong transcendent items’ escaping forces.

[Rewards have been issued; please check]

The system’s prompt also appeared accordingly.

Immediately after, He Ao’s hand felt a slight weight as a somewhat tattered small book appeared in his hand.

There was no terrifying pressure, no fierce power, and even this book was very light, with some creases on its cover as if it had circulated in the second-hand market for many years.

If it weren’t for the fact that as soon as he got this book, He Ao’s mind was almost blown away by ferocious contamination, he would really think the system issued the wrong thing.

Enduring the chaotic contamination woven in his mind,

This book is entirely dark in color, but its cover bears streaks of yellow flowing light, combining into complex and profound runes.

The intricate runes are hidden within the dark cover, faintly shimmering like gems buried deep in the Abyss, exuding a majestic and oppressive aura.

He Ao reached out his hand to stroke the book’s dark cover, the thick blackness like ink soaking into the paper, etching out deep and shallow patterns.

These patterns intertwined with the yellow brilliance, blending the majesty and oppression in the brilliance into an ancient and mysterious grandeur.

He Ao gazed at the yellow brilliance.

If he remembered correctly, isn’t the power of Hell’s master and demon yellow?

Might the foundation of this book truly be an item from Hell?

······

These wizards indeed have guts.

While stroking and observing the book, He Ao could also feel several intangible connections naturally emitting from this book, attempting to transcend time and space to connect with existences beyond endless spacetime.

However, as soon as these connections appeared, they were blocked by the Trapped Destiny Plate, cutting off the continuity of the connections.

There are indeed many contingencies left on this book.

If He Ao hadn’t obtained the Trapped Destiny Plate, he truly wouldn’t dare let the system upgrade the rewards with such ease.

He figures that if it were in the Main World, the moment he took out this thing, several friends might have appeared above his head.

The system indeed made a big deal this time.

Slightly inhaling, He Ao held onto the book’s cover, attempting to open it.