The underground sealed world.
The umbrella-bearer stood by the river.
Behind him stood a long line of Deities.
Just like him, these Deities maintained their gazes on the river, not saying a single word in the darkness.
"He actually managed to run away."
"No, he didn't escape, he must have been summoned here by a technique, then dispelled the summoning right before his death …"
The umbrella-bearer recalled his battle with the black-clothed old man and showed an excited expression.
"He's clearly only a Death-type Occultism, but he managed to escape from my grasp, how interesting."
"Very similar to him in the past."
"Then, let's kill him."
The umbrella-bearer put the umbrella away.
Boom!
An intense gust of wind rose from his body, causing the river to swell several meters high.
"You think you're the only one who knows how to draw a card?"
The umbrella-bearer reached his hand out and lightly drew a card from the void of space.
A Card that gave off layers of colorful light appeared in his hand.
The Card depicted a divine palace, with lines of text appearing on each of the four seats in the palace.
[Two were killed, one was following an Occultism being who can foresee the future, the other was preparing to fight against me, hah, how arrogant]
[One of the Death-type Occultism beings was killed by me]
[The other was most likely killed by the King of Occultism, he pretended to be the Death God and fought against me once]
[Go, find him!]
The umbrella-bearer tossed the Card into the air.
The Card instantly turned into a streak of colorful light that shot into the sky and disappeared into the shroud of night.
"Not in this world?"
"It doesn't matter, you won't be able to escape."
After the umbrella-bearer said so, all the Deities behind him began to move.
They fused together one by one, turning into a crazily squirming ball of flesh that also grew larger and larger, exuding a presence that far surpassed that of any Deity.
The umbrella-bearer walked up to the ball of flesh and spoke: [When passing through the seal, most of you will die, but only a few of you will be able to escape the restraints of the Laws and survive]
[Go kill that guy, he isn't that strong right now]
[Bring his head back to me!]
Saying so, he put his hand on the ball of flesh.
Doong!
A dull sound of vibration.
The meatball rose into the air and flew high into the sky. It quickly cut through the night sky and disappeared.
The person holding the umbrella watched for a while, then suddenly walked towards the river.
"I'm not waiting anymore."
"Although it's only a quarter of the Law of Death, with my strength, it's not impossible for me to go to that place and awaken the armor."
He sank into the river and quickly disappeared.
…
The real world.
Liu Ping held the Imperial College Scholar token that the Emperor had bestowed upon him and flipped through various martial arts scrolls in the library.
"More than half of these things have been lost. Only one and a half moves are left. No wonder the sects were willing to hand them over to the royal family for safekeeping."
He sighed and unfolded a scroll of fist techniques. He carefully read through it for the time it took to brew a cup of tea.
He closed his eyes and thought for a moment.
"There are too many missing parts of this fist technique, and I can't complete it. However, I can use the fist decree and the first half to create an even better fist technique."
After saying this, he took out the Book of the Sea and calmed himself down, going through the entire fist technique in his mind.
The next second.
A figure suddenly appeared on the Book of the Sea. He quickly performed a complete set of fist techniques.
Lines of burning text appeared in mid-air:
[The fist technique you've derived is better than the original]
[The Book of the Sea will send this fist technique to a suitable place to continue its inheritance. Do you agree?]
"I agree" Liu Ping said.
He suddenly asked curiously, "This fist technique is considered top-notch in this world, where do you want to send it?"
An image appeared on the Book of the Sea.
Two young men had their parents killed by their enemies. They were chased all the way until they fell off a cliff. They were lucky enough to fall into a cave. There was a skeleton in the cave. The skeleton held a thin scroll of silk in its hand.
The two young men unfolded it and discovered this cultivation technique.
"Why did you choose them?" Liu Ping asked again.
A line of text appeared on the Book of the Sea of the Sea:
[Because this fist technique was created by their ancestor.]
Good.
That makes sense.
Liu Ping put down the Book of the Sea and picked up another incomplete scripture to read.
He was already a top-notch Combatant of the cultivation world. He had also learned knowledge of various civilizations in Eternal Night, met Divinities and Demon Kings, fought against prisoners and Occultism life forms. He only needed to take a few glances at these basic martial arts scriptures to complete them. Often, he would even be able to create new techniques and incantations for better techniques.
Time slowly passed.
Finally.
Liu Ping put down the last incomplete martial arts scripture and stretched his back: "I'll go to various sects later and see if I can complete a few more scriptures."
Suddenly, lines of burning text appeared in front of his eyes:
[You've completed all the martial arts scriptures that this world urgently needs]
[The power of the Law of Water has greatly increased]
[Your power of Occultism has also been strengthened to a certain extent]
[All data will be calculated after this war of destruction is over]
Liu Ping suddenly regained his senses.
That's right.
Regardless of what happens, this world will still end in destruction.
I can only change the process at most, but I can't change the outcome.
The process …
What can I do?
He fell into thought.
A few moments later.
He sighed: "If only there was a way to gather all the living beings in this world and leave this era with me."
If he could do that, the world would be destroyed even if it was destroyed.
But how would he do that?
That umbrella wielder wouldn't just stand by and watch him escape with his people.
In fact, he might not even be able to care about anyone else, he might even be defeated by it and become a part of it.
Liu Ping stood up and paced back and forth in his room.
More lines of burning text continued to appear:
[Your Occultism technique: First Grasp has cooled down]
[The replenishment you provided to the Law of Water has greatly strengthened the power of the Law of Water.]
[You may now draw an even more powerful Law of Water Card]
[Current number of draws: 1]
Liu Ping reached his hand out from the void of space.
A book with numerous shadows on it appeared in front of his eyes.
[Water Card: Sentient Echo]
Using this Card, you will be able to split the Book of the Sea into countless copies, allowing it to help living beings in this world grasp knowledge.
Liu Ping immediately tossed the Card out.
Bam!
The Card gave off a small noise.
At the very next moment.
Numerous copies of the Book of the Sea appeared in front of Liu Ping.
It had split into over a thousand copies!
The Book of the Sea excitedly vibrated and displayed two lines of text in front of Liu Ping:
[Will you allow my copies to fly to every corner of the world to help living beings?]
[When living beings receive help, their construction of the world will speed up, the power of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind will all rapidly grow]
Liu Ping thought briefly and said: "Of course I'm willing to let you go, but there's a problem"
[What problem?] the Book of the Sea asked.
[If someone asks for knowledge and you only tell them that knowledge, over time, this will cause them to lose their motivation and even develop a sense of superiority over others]
[Taking a step back, knowledge is actually an extremely precious thing, second only to secrets. It should be obtained through endless exploration and experimentation, yet we simply give it away to living beings]
[This will cause them to look down on knowledge]
The Book of the Sea went silent for a few moments before displaying another line of text: [You're right, is there any other way?]
[Let's do this]
Liu Ping deliberated for a moment and said, "If you want to obtain any knowledge, you have to pay a corresponding price. This price can be measured by wealth. After all, we're not demons who want living beings to sacrifice their souls or blood."
"Also, our intention is to let people feel the preciousness of knowledge, not to make things difficult for them."
"So, they can owe us money."
"But they must pay us back, and they must pay us interest."
After hearing this, the Book of the Sea immediately displayed a line of text:
[Perfect countermeasure, I'll start implementing it immediately]
Liu Ping nodded, closed the book, and said: "Okay, you can send your copies to every corner of the world. They will definitely speed up the development of civilization."
At the next moment.
The copies of the Book of the Sea all disappeared from his sight.
Only the original book remained in his hands.
A line of text appeared on the page:
[Your Excellency, does the Book of the Sea need to abide by this rule for you?]
Liu Ping narrowed his eyes and said: "There's no need for me. After all, I'm the one who shares knowledge. How can I charge for sharing knowledge? This will dampen my enthusiasm, understand? "
[Understood] the Book of the Sea replied.