CHAPTER 1502: CHAPTER 1502: MATTERS OF THE HEART

Then, he did not open it.

He Ao’s arm applied slight force, but the whole book didn’t budge.

Then, he fell silent, carefully examining the old book in his hand that remained in its original appearance.

This book looked entirely like any normal book, with no differences; the pages were stacked together, appearing easy to open.

But unlike other extraordinary items, this book did not directly convey any additional information.

So He Ao couldn’t be sure if he was using the correct method to open it.

He glanced at the book again, then channeled the power of Super Memory to his fingertips, attempting to penetrate the book.

But as soon as his power seeped out from his fingertips, it seemed to flow directly into the air, passing through the book.

He Ao was momentarily stunned as he observed all this.

He tried to let the remaining bit of Divine Sense seep out to touch the book.

The result was that the Divine Sense directly passed through the book, leaving no trace.

He raised his hand, stroking the surface of the book.

The texture of the book’s surface was clear, the touch distinct; it was indeed in He Ao’s hand, with a definite ’substance.’

Yet, his extraordinary power couldn’t reach the book.

As if in the world of the extraordinary, this book didn’t exist at all.

Physically, it had a substance, but in mysticism, it did not.

He Ao carefully scrutinized the book in his hand; this book might be more troublesome than he imagined.

If the powers of Divine Sense and Super Memory couldn’t leave marks on this book, then he couldn’t imprint a Control Array, making it hard to control the book.

However, there must be a way.

The book likely still had a way to be contacted through mystical methods, just not in an ordinary way.

First, he had to find the special aspect of the book.

He Ao looked at the book in his hand, activated Super Memory, and gathered all his power in his arms using martial arts techniques.

Then he gripped the book with both hands.

Boom—

A sudden violent Wind Wave accompanied his motion, exploding between heaven and earth, sweeping across the wasteland with roaring gales.

The earth lifted like a thin veil, and sturdy trees, like the down of dandelions, were blown up, flying all over the sky.

He Ao controlled his power, holding the book in his hands.

He had actually controlled it very well; the storm between heaven and earth was just a slight leakage of air currents when he exerted force.

And this time, when he placed his hand on the cover, the entire book finally had a slight change.

If it were an ordinary book, the surrounding storm would have torn it to dust.

But at this moment, as He Ao grasped the book’s cover, it could only be slightly moved.

He wasn’t even sure if the sensation of movement was real or if he had truly turned the book.

However, he didn’t spend much time thinking about it and continued to apply force.

Thick muscular veins, like entangled dragons, bulged under his skin; that was the slight rejection generated with the body when the fierce power was activated.

Boom—

He Ao’s foot stepped on the ground, and thick cracks spread out instantly on the earth, extending to the horizon’s end.

And at this moment, the old book finally showed a slight ’vibration,’ and the tightly closed cover slowly lifted, opening a slit.

Seeing the slit, He Ao directly used martial arts techniques to abruptly apply force.

Boom—

The world seemed to resonate with a massive roar, or perhaps it was just the subtle rustling sound of pages turning.

The tightly closed cover was finally opened, revealing the inner pages of the book.

He Ao gazed at these pages; this was the first page of the whole book, but it was entirely blank, with nothing there.

He Ao looked ahead, only able to see the black cover he had opened, and nothing else.

And as He Ao pondered, lines of text suddenly appeared on the blank pages in his field of view.

Initially, these were twisted, deep lines, seemingly a kind of special hieroglyph.

Along with He Ao’s gaze, these twisted lines gradually straightened, shifted, changing into familiar Central Earth characters in He Ao’s view.

[He Ao obtained the Historical Contract]

[He Ao attempted to open the Historical Contract and failed.]

[He Ao forcefully opened the Historical Contract.]

[He Ao tried to find previously recorded content in the Historical Contract but found nothing.]

He Ao: ?

Accompanying his gaze at these words, vague images appeared in his mind.

These were He Ao’s attempts to open the Historical Contract.

As the images flashed through his mind, a new line of text emerged on the page.

[He Ao saw the history recorded on the Historical Contract for the first time.]

No, buddy, you remember everything.

He Ao looked at the emerging text on the page, attempted to turn to the next page, but suddenly realized the pages after the first had somehow merged into one, like a single entity, with no gaps.

Seeing the continuous emergence of text on the page, He Ao sighed and closed the book in his hand.

He looked again at the small book in his hand.

Apart from that fierce pollution, it showed no apparent extraordinary power.

Well, actually, there still was some.

He Ao sensed the power trying to infiltrate his body since he held the book.

He could clearly feel this power came from the Witch of Desire.

According to the system’s explanation, this power should enhance one’s looks and increase charisma.

But He Ao dared not accept this power; it belonged to the big sister, and he was almost certain it came with hidden tricks.

If he accepted the transformation from this power, he would likely be polluted and influenced by the big sister.

Moreover, if he accidentally contacted the big sister’s power in the future, an avatar might directly refresh in front of him, saying, ’Why do you have my scent?’

He glanced at the book in his hand again; aside from serving as a recording device, it showed no other powers.

The only power leaking out still carried the big sister’s hidden strength.

But looking at the system’s description, this thing didn’t seem that simple at all.

Moreover, this was He Ao’s first encounter with an entity-less item in mysticism.

Obviously, it hadn’t acknowledged He Ao yet, or rather, He Ao hadn’t controlled it, so it only manifested these divine phenomena.

He Ao rubbed his head.

The things that the system spits out are good, but none come with after-sales service. Each time, he has to find a way to control them himself.

And if he fails to control it and it escapes or brings disaster, the system probably won’t care either.

But this time, it truly challenged him.

Things that neither Divine Sense nor Super Memory can perceive, how is he supposed to depict a Control Array on them? Or, are there other control methods?

This item must have a mystical entity; it’s just not manifesting due to certain reasons. If he could find that reason or a way to make the mystical entity of this book manifest, he might have the chance to depict the Control Array.

Looking at the seemingly ordinary little book in his hand, He Ao sighed lightly.

The storm surrounding him suddenly subsided, the cracks in the earth sealed, the torn ground restored to its original state, and the trees floating in the sky fell back down, replanting themselves in the earth.

Boom——

Simultaneously, the ground beneath He Ao’s feet surged up, and a platform over a hundred meters tall rose beneath him.

At the top of this platform, in front of He Ao, giant stones pushed up from the ground and stacked together, forming a stone house.

He Ao gently lifted his hand, placing the little book onto the platform within the stone house.

Then he withdrew his gaze, standing atop the high platform, surveying the vast horizon around him.

The civilization within the Trapped Destiny Plate had long gone extinct, leaving this world a barren wasteland.

He lowered his head, glanced at the palm of his hand.

With his forceful use of Super Memory to turn the pages of the Historical Contract just now, the madness within him had encroached even more upon his Reason.

In the next instant, the scenery around him shifted and blurred, transforming into a magnificent city.

At this moment, he stood at the top of a towering skyscraper, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding high-rises.

The slowly setting sun cast a radiant glow from the Firmament, bestowing the bustling city with a faint golden sheen.

He Ao took a step forward, descending from the hundred-meter height into the bustling crowd below.

This place was Mote City, one of the largest cities in the Western Lands.

The surrounding crowd seemed oblivious to such a figure descending from the sky, continuing on their way, chatting, laughing, and playing.

He Ao mingled with the crowd, walking down the bustling street.

"Cold noodles for sale—delicious cold noodles—"

A clear shout rang out by his side.

Hearing this, He Ao was slightly taken aback and turned his head toward the source of the sound.

A man with the look of someone from Central Earth had set up a small stall on the old street, displaying various condiments and golden yellow cold noodles.

At the moment, a few individuals resembling those from Western Lands were standing by his stall, poking at their cold noodles with forks.

When the man noticed He Ao looking over, he raised a hand and laughed, speaking in Central Earth language, "Hey, handsome, want to try some cold noodles?"

He Ao walked over, looked at the stall, and said with a smile, "You’re selling cold noodles here?"

"Hey, business is business, no matter where it is," the man chuckled, "There are too many people selling them back home, so I came here for differentiated competition. These foreigners have never seen anything like it, so they all want a taste. So I’m not worried about business. Don’t worry, I’ve been making cold noodles for ten years, tastes really good."

"How much?" He Ao glanced at the sign on the stall, showing 30 per bowl in the language of the Yika Republic, and asked softly.

"Hey, don’t look at that, that’s for tricking foreigners," the boss chuckled, "For you, it’s five per bowl, a package deal price!"

He Ao looked at the boss, finding him an interesting person, and said with a soft laugh, "I’ll have a bowl."

"Sure thing," the boss raised his hand, picking up a big chopstick-full and starting to mix the noodles, "Watch closely now, it’ll be done in no time."

He mixed the noodles in a small iron bowl, continuously adding various side dishes. Occasionally, he’d flip the noodles in the bowl into the air before catching them back in the iron bowl, as if performing a juggling act.

Soon, his nifty actions also attracted quite a few onlookers.

A moment later, he finished mixing the cold noodles and served them in a disposable paper bowl, handing a pair of chopsticks to He Ao.

Simultaneously, he took out a payment code from his pocket, speaking quickly in Central Earth language to He Ao, "Five bucks, just give me five."

He Ao scanned the code to pay.

Before he even finished entering the payment amount, the boss had already pocketed the payment code.

Speaking loudly to the crowd using the language of the Yika Republic, he shouted, "Cold noodles, cold noodles, ancient food from ancient Central Earth, thirty-one a bowl, no haggling, they’re really delicious."

After paying, He Ao took his cold noodles and stepped back a few paces, letting more people crowd in.

Through the gaps in the crowd, he watched the boss performing his acrobatic-like motions, chuckling softly.

He unwrapped the disposable chopsticks and took a bite of the cold noodles.

A mild cold wind blew between heaven and earth, while the al dente, flavorful, spicy cold noodles burst in his mouth, stimulating his taste buds and palate.

Indeed, the noodles were well-prepared, as the boss hadn’t lied; he clearly had many years of experience.

The people around him came and went, some with smiles and others with worries.

They occasionally glanced at He Ao, who was eating noodles by the street, looking at the food in his hands, so different from the local cuisine.

In the distance, a barbecue shop billowed steam, and an elderly woman with various souvenirs moved through the crowd, peddling her goods.

The light cold wind brushed against He Ao’s cheek. He could feel that the madness that surfaced in his heart after using his power was beginning to subside slightly.

In fact, since returning from the dungeon world, his mental state was already much more stable than when he had just been promoted.

Even if his ritual was well-performed, his promotion was with an element of adventurous Swallow promotion, without complete Secret Medicine preparation.

At the beginning, he constantly felt his Reason was on the brink of collapse.

In that state, he couldn’t even think about promotion; even maintaining existence was challenging.

But after returning from the dungeon world, although the madness and distortion within him were still strong, he could now basically maintain Reason, without the oppressive feeling of impending collapse.

The reason was simple: it was because of his ’embodiment’ of the role in the dungeon.

Or, to put it another way, as he lived a life through Jess’s identity, he re-stabilized part of his Reason.

This sounded, at first, unrelated.

He Ao himself found it odd initially.

But as he delved deeper into understanding this situation, he gradually realized the core of maintaining Reason.

The core was not about identity and roles, but about ’acceptance’—acceptance of being human.

Or in other words, ’humanity’.

In his final battle with Di Man, He Ao used a child body to verify this ’hypothesis’ with the old director.

Of course, he didn’t directly ask the old director but subtly incorporated ’maintaining humanity’ into their conversation as a confirmed statement.

When he mentioned this term, the power of Super Memory did not sense any confusion or objection from the old director, making He Ao fairly certain his hypothesis was correct.

In combination with his experiences in the dungeon world, he gradually mastered the method Angels use to maintain Reason.

This was one of the most important pieces of Mysticism Knowledge he acquired this time.