Chapter 30
Elder Liu smiled and left. She brought books back a few moments later. She was fast. One of the largest books brought back was a documentation on the world and everything in it. I opened that book and it had over a million pages, which shocked me. The pages were within a smaller than expected space.
“You’re surprised at those books?” Elder Liu asked.
“I’m not sure how the pages turn like this and how there are more pages than the actual thickness.”
“Those are special manual books,” Elder Liu explained. “They are not like mortal books and require a cultivator who specializes in space arts to make. Since there is so much information in the world that putting it in a normal sized book is impossible, the pages are in a special spatial spell to fit in the book. The library at this sect is full of books like that, but the one you have has the most pages and far more than any else. Everything we know about the continent that isn’t a deep secret is documented in that book.”
This book will take years for me to go through. I should start skimming immediately. There is no table of contents in the front.
“This is difficult to look for what I want to find then.” I started flipping.
“It shouldn’t be,” Elder Liu said. “Place the book in front of you and say what information you’re looking for and it should find it for you.”
I put the book in front of me. “I want to read about the size of the world.”
The book suddenly flipped to a specific page which talked about the world and everything that had been discovered. This was like an internet search engine, but only for a specific book.
“This is convenient,” I said.
“It is. Now I must do my duties. The Sect Master will come after she has finished with pointers to spend time with you again. Enjoy yourself.”
Elder Liu left, and I flipped through the information about the continent. The contents were so amazing I felt flabbergasted over what I was reading.
The book stated that the size of the continent, if adjusted to the standards of measurement in my previous life, was the same width as the Milky Way galaxy. Over 100,000 light years across. The continent was so large that despite the exceptional powers of the cultivators, they still wouldn’t be able to fly from one end to the other without spending years traveling.
There were so many places undiscovered and so many lands that were unmapped. If I really wanted to run away… well, I wouldn’t be able to even go one light year let alone a hundred thousand.
I read further and found documented battles in between powerful cultivators on the continent. Their fights would often destroy everything around for tens of thousands of miles. On planet Earth, that would destroy an entire continent. On this continent it was merely a drop within an ocean.
The rules here were obviously different, and the same rules of physics and gravity on earth did not exist. There was apparently no end to the heavens and the book documents flying up continually would only be a journey with no end. Maybe that was what they called space.
Regarding the power of the Blossoming Flowers Sect, it was near the center of the continent which was where all the powers congregated. The center was where the rest of the round continent was equidistant, so resources traded could pour in from all directions. The further away from the center one went, the fewer cultivators there would be as almost all cultivators journey towards the center when they cultivate and become stronger.
The amount of information to take in was staggering, but eventually mom came to get me and spend time with me this afternoon.
“Ready to go son?” Mom called to me.
“Yes,” I answered. “Mom, are you really the most beautiful woman in the world?”
“If the legends about my Fate of Extreme Beauty are true, then yes,” mom said. “Are you doubting that fate?”
“No, it’s just I saw a map of the continent and this world is so large it’s hard to think about.”
“I see. Even the cultivators who live the longest, the dragon race, can’t see the entire continent living to their maximum cultivated life span. There are many mysteries in this world, but none of them are for you to worry about.”
“I know, I’m just a speck of dust in the desert.”
—
Risless returned home after spending the afternoon with her son. Her mood was much better than before. She felt happy she had a family with her son and though things weren’t perfect, they were better than before and improving day by day. Elder Liu was there having evening tea when Risless came by to see her.
“Sect Master, was your afternoon pleasant?”
“Very pleasant,” Risless answered. “I didn’t know my son had so many other sides to him. He seems to be very scholarly and can see the world from a unique perspective than most mortals. He isn’t locked to any point of view.”
“Your assessment of him is the same as my own,” Elder Liu said. “If you had known this about him, then perhaps you wouldn’t have had to go through all the funny business from before.”
“Please forget about that,” Risless begged. “I had so many emotions and I was desperate to be acknowledged by him. I won’t lie to him anymore, I might not tell him everything, but I won’t lie anymore.”
“I see,” Elder Liu said. “That’s a better improvement. At least you trust him more now. I’m waiting for the day where you trust him enough to tell him the solution.”
Risless froze up.
“I’m not ready to tell him the solution for the curse yet,” Risless said. “I’m improving my relationship with him now.”
“So you might tell him in the future?”
Elder Liu was hopeful in her questioning. This was a sensitive subject for Risless but a necessary one in order to go forward with the solution to the curse. The issue was that Dong Chen had shown aversion to it.
“I don’t know. I know his body reacts to mine when I make close contact with him but it could simply be because I wasn’t around much when he was growing up. I also don’t want to lose the precious relationship I have with him over something like this. I can’t bear the idea of him wanting to die if he finds out and hates the curse.”
Elder Liu sighed.
“Has he told you of his dreams lately?”
“Dreams?” The eyes on Risless face narrowed. “Did you do something to him? Did you put something in his room?”
“Yes I did,” Elder Liu said.
“You put something to manipulate his dreams in his room? Why would you do that?”
“It’s seeing if he’s willing to go along with the solution.” Elder Liu tried to explain herself. “It’s for the both of you I’m doing this.”
“The both of us? You shouldn’t meddle in my relationship with him! What if those dreams make him crazy, and he doubts himself? What if he thinks of it a huge taboo that he drives himself away from me?”
“He hasn’t done that, has he? Also, you don’t want me to meddle? You’ve been asking me to meddle with him the entire time, everything from telling him things you don’t want to say yourself and softening him up before you could get where you are with him today. You can’t blame me for meddling after all you’ve asked me to do!”
Risless paused after hearing Elder Liu’s scolding.
“I… I’m removing it tomorrow, or rather I hope you remove it tomorrow when you bring him breakfast,” Risless said. “I’m sorry Elder, I was insensitive and you’ve been a great help for me… It’s just I don’t want to manipulate him anymore. If he continues to have a reaction to me after the dreams stop then maybe I can consider trying to talk to him about it… it’s just I don’t want to lose him… I don’t want him not to be a part of my life…”
Risless had tears coming down from her eyes and rolling down the mask. She shook those tears off by swinging her head, then pulled herself together.
“I will remove it tomorrow,” Elder Liu said. “I’m sorry I meddled with him in that way. You’re right, he’s sensitive to manipulation, but if you tell him about the flower I placed in there, then he will question why such a thing is necessary and you’ll have to tell him about the solution. Are you ready to do that?”
“I’m… I’m not…” Risless said. “I might never be ready… and I hope he can forgive me, but it’s not something a mother can tell her child. A mother can’t tell her son that she wants to do that with him…”
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