Chapter 4: The Book of History
The cave was pitch dark. Li Xuan was unfamiliar with the path and bumped into the uneven cave walls several times, complaining under his breath, feeling very annoyed. The mysterious person cast a spell, and the road ahead became bright. They wandered aimlessly, not heading for the mountaintop but going downward into the earth.
After walking for a long time, the mysterious person stopped, while Li Xuan collapsed to the ground. The mysterious person said, "They're coming."
"Who?"
The rock walls twisted, and a large hole appeared on both sides of the mysterious person. Suddenly, two gigantic creatures leapt out. The mysterious person chanted a spell and detached from the creatures, appearing behind Li Xuan.
The narrow cave began to collapse, and the two huge creatures had disappeared without a trace. The mysterious person returned into Li Xuan's body. Li Xuan's body glowed green, growing lighter and lighter, and he grasped the ancient sword, slicing through the flying stones coming at him.
Finally, they escaped the cave. At the moment Li Xuan left, the cave entrance was sealed. Outside, there was a vast space; looking up, the mountaintop was invisible, and looking down, there was a deep valley. Li Xuan hovered in the air.
"Almost there! Just one more step!" Li Xuan laughed maniacally.
Li Xuan rode the sword down into the abyss, and below, there was dense vegetation. In this mountain, such a spectacle could still be seen. The mysterious person emerged from Li Xuan's body, and Li Xuan spat out a few mouthfuls of blood.
"Who exactly are you? What are you looking for?" Li Xuan said, clutching his chest.
"I already told you, when the time comes, you will naturally know who I am. You don't need to know what's hidden here. You just need to take care of yourself. With your current constitution, you are truly weak," the mysterious person said disdainfully.
"What benefit do you get from using me? Kidnapping? Extortion? Sorry, my family isn't rich, no money!"
"Money?" The mysterious person sneered, "Money cannot buy everything. Hide quickly, they're coming."
Two gigantic monsters emerged from the grass. Li Xuan recognized them as the same two from before. They approached the mysterious person one after the other. Li Xuan found a place that was both concealed and offered a wide view—behind a massive stone platform.
Monster A attacked the mysterious person from the front, swinging its huge fists toward him. Monster B struck from behind, but the mysterious person saw through it. Then, the mysterious person leapt with all his strength and, in midair, unleashed sword energy at Monster B.In an instant, dust and smoke rose, even affecting Li Xuan, who was hiding behind the stone platform. After the dust cleared, the mysterious man focused his eyes and said, "What!" Monster B was still perfectly intact. Just as the mysterious man was distracted, a huge fist swung toward him, heavily striking his chest.\ The mysterious man fell to the ground and looked at the sword: "How did I not think that this sword has yet to be unsealed! How careless of me!"\ Two monsters approached the mysterious man. Li Xuan thought that it would be best if he died, so he could go home, but then who would take him out? What about these two monsters? Li Xuan pondered back and forth; in terms of both size and strength, the difference was too great.\ "At this point, I can only barely give it a try, probably only unleashing about three-tenths of its power."\ The mysterious man raised his sword and recited the mantra: "Seven-Star Sword Formation, I offer my spirit, open the gate of heaven, destroy the evils of hell, Xuanyuan Sword, strike swiftly!"\ The ancient sword circled above the two monsters' heads, while six phantom swords appeared around it, also circling above them, forming a circle. The ancient sword was at the center. When the mysterious man chanted "strike swiftly," all seven swords fell simultaneously, piercing through the two monsters. After a burst of explosion and dust, only some scattered stones remained on the ground.\ "What are those things? I can't believe the world has such existence." Li Xuan ran to the mysterious man and asked.\ "Them? They are merely the giant rock beasts that guard the Book of History, only considered low-level beasts," the mysterious man said.\ "Just one low-level beast injured you like this. If it were a super-god-level one, wouldn't we both be dead?"\ "Those who cultivate see saving the world as their duty. Today, I can no longer tolerate this. Watch me cripple you!"\ Saying that, the mysterious man swung his sword at Li Xuan. The ground shook, and the stone platform rose, more than twenty meters high. The mysterious man walked toward the platform, and Li Xuan followed.\ The mysterious man leapt onto the stone platform and touched the carvings on its surface, which were marked with strange symbols. There were six square holes in the middle of the platform. The mysterious man took out the ancient sword, and a voice rang out: "Xuanyuan, you must think carefully. You cannot go against heaven."\ Only then did Li Xuan realize his name was 'Xuanyuan.' Xuanyuan inserted the sword into one of the holes, and the voice spoke again: "It seems I cannot stop you. Let heaven punish you."\ The stone platform descended, stopping only when its surface aligned with the ground. At this moment, the stone gate directly opposite Xuanyuan opened, and a stone dragon flew out. Li Xuan, seeing this, had nowhere to hide and fell headfirst into a pile of grass. Xuanyuan drew out the ancient sword to fight, but the sword had changed its form.\ "The seal is broken," Xuanyuan said, "Take this, Dragon-Falling Slash!"\ The green sword energy formed a dragon's head and flew toward the stone dragon. This time, Xuanyuan only used thirty percent of his power to destroy it. The stone gates on both sides also opened, and two more stone dragons flew out. Xuanyuan, full of vigor, hovered in midair to fight them.\ "I underestimated you, then I have no choice but to summon the Imperial Dragon Guardian, come out!"\ After slaying two stone dragons, Xuanyuan quickly dodged as a golden giant dragon descended from the sky, landing and transforming into a humanoid form, though it still looked like a dragon. Its massive body was about six meters tall.\ "This is… how could it appear here…" Xuanyuan was a bit surprised.\ "The Imperial Dragon Guardian was originally assigned to guard the gate from the human world to the divine realm. During the collapse in the Hongwu era, someone foresaw it and told the Heavenly Emperor that a thousand years later someone would steal the Book of Historical Events. So the Heavenly Emperor sent it to guard this place. I advise you to leave."\ "Even so, the Book of Historical Events must be mine. Whether it's the Imperial Dragon Guardian or even a Martial God from the divine realm, the result will be the same," Xuanyuan said confidently.\ Li Xuan sneaked to the stone gate and sighed, "If only I had an atomic bomb, a hundredfold attack, instant kill."\ The Imperial Dragon Guardian summoned a weapon from the ground — a sharp spear, its tip aimed at Xuanyuan. Its movements were swift, and Xuanyuan hadn't reacted in time. He hastily deployed a spiritual energy shield. The Imperial Dragon Guardian pierced the shield with the spear. Xuanyuan deflected it with his sword, but the dragon's strength was too great, rendering it ineffective. The spear sliced along Xuanyuan's arm, piercing it, and then the dragon struck him away with a palm.\ Xuanyuan held his injured right arm with his left hand, gritting his teeth, and thought, "Damn, my spiritual energy is draining bit by bit. At this rate, I might die under the Imperial Dragon Guardian's spear before even getting the Book of Historical Events."\ The Imperial Dragon Guardian did not attack again, but remained in place.\ "You'd better return to where you came from, Xuanyuan. In your current state, it would be lucky if you didn't die under the Imperial Dragon Guardian's spear.""Li Xuan sighed on behalf of Xuanyuan, thinking: Why am I in such a hurry? If he dies, it has nothing to do with me. That said, in cartoons, the main character should actually have a comeback. Li Xuan patted his head and thought: Comebacks usually don't have foreshadowing; they just happen.\ "Go. I respect you as a fellow strong one, so before my gun changes direction, leave here quickly." Dirlong's guard suddenly spoke.\ Xuanyuan stood up and laughed: 'Hahaha, we strong ones have a principle: we won't stop until our goal is achieved! Less talk, let's fight!'\ Li Xuan inexplicably grew nervous.\ 'Really ungrateful!'\ The mountains shook, rubble tumbled down the cliffs, and Dirlong's guard, now enraged, lifted his gun and gathered lightning at the muzzle.\ 'You can still change your mind,' Dirlong said.\ 'My mind is made up, come on.'\ Dirlong's guard fired the gun; the electrified weapon, like a thunder dragon, roared as it charged at Xuanyuan. Li Xuan shouted 'No!' but the gun had already pierced Xuanyuan's body, pinning him firmly against the cliff. The mountains fell silent again.\ Seeing this, Li Xuan seemed dazed, constantly muttering, 'It's over... everything is over.'\ Dirlong approached to pull out the gun. Xuanyuan's corpse turned into green mist and gradually vanished.\ 'Don't grieve, come with me quickly.'\ Li Xuan heard someone speaking inside him—that was Xuanyuan. It turned out that what had been stabbed was only a nearly perfect illusion. Li Xuan summoned the ancient sword and split the stone door with a single strike. Hearing the sound, Dirlong looked over, but Li Xuan had already sealed the entrance.\ 'Are we really letting them go just like that?' Dirlong said.\ 'History cannot be changed; they can only alter time.'\ Inside the museum, the curator looked out the window; people on the street were disappearing one by one, along with the buildings.\ 'Old friend, is that you?' the curator murmured to himself.
