Chapter 142: The Bell Keeper

[Book of Keys:
Aspect: Book (Born to crack secrets)
Description: In appearance, this is a yellowed book with a bronze key emblem on the cover. It contains some useless trivia about keys and some messy handwriting; clearly, many have mistaken it for an unremarkable book.
Effect: Consumes spiritual and mental energy to decipher forbidden script and various encryption methods.
Usage: Place the book next to the item to be deciphered, infuse it with spiritual energy, and silently focus on the content you wish to unlock. Once deciphered, the knowledge must be absorbed immediately.
Current Usage: 100/100 (Never used).]

Chen Qi checked the interface; the description was simple and plain, yet it represented a powerful effect.
He had his game character continue searching the secret base while transferring the Book of Keys into his hands.
Just as the text described, the book was quite dilapidated, its pages yellowed, resembling an antique from decades ago.
The contents within were also unremarkable, consisting of popular science regarding various types of keys.
The book concealed its power well.
If not for a player or someone with the ability to identify the value of items—an Aspect of the Shell—many would likely treat this as a discarded book even if they held it in their hands.
The method of use was to place it nearby and infuse it with spiritual energy.
Chen Qi’s Soul of Shadow retrieved the "Book of the Black Prison" from the shelf for him.
With nothing else to do, Chen Qi decided to use the Book of Keys to decipher the tome.
He placed the Book of the Black Prison beside the Book of Keys and attempted to channel a bit of spiritual energy into it.
As the energy flowed, the key patterns on the pages of the Book of Keys leaped out, transforming into translucent, ethereal keys that repeatedly pierced the cover of the Book of the Black Prison.
"This must be the deciphering process..."
Chen Qi watched the magical phenomenon before him, his heart racing with excitement.
Then, something unexpected happened.
As the keys were infused, the characters within the Book of the Black Prison seemed to detach from the pages, leaping out and rapidly spreading across the floor of the Traveler's Box.
After detaching, these black-red characters twisted and deformed, rapidly transmuting into the familiar Neo-Capital language.
In an instant, these black-red characters covered the ground.
"This is..."
Perhaps this was a unique ability of the Book of Keys.
At this moment, a line of text popped up in the game "New Sun."
[Reminder: Please receive the knowledge deciphered by the Book of Keys!]
The text translated by the Book of Keys would not persist for long; it would soon fade away.
Chen Qi exhaled, crouched down, and placed his fingertips on the Neo-Capital script on the floor.
Immediately, the characters crept from his fingertips up his fingers.
Chen Qi was startled—this was knowledge injection!
Images began to emerge in his mind, and words coalesced into the form of a book.
He had heard of this method on the forums; it was a way to increase one's store of knowledge.
Some books could inject knowledge directly into the mind, consuming mental energy to achieve rapid learning.
However, only a small number of Aspect of the Book players had encountered such knowledge injection, and ordinary people rarely obtained such items, so there were few posts about it on the forums.
As the text spread across his body, Chen Qi took a deep breath. He could feel a vast amount of complex and profound knowledge pouring into his mind.

Knowledge increased bit by bit.
It was knowledge about the edge of the Black Prison, knowledge about the Path of Black Fire!
Chen Qi gritted his teeth. He was not an Aspect of the Book player and lacked a natural resistance to knowledge injection; he had to remain vigilant against this process.
He could not afford to process too much information at once.
Chen Qi calmed his heart and remained clear-headed, trying his best not to comprehend or feel the knowledge for the moment.
Instead, he treated it like a fragment, a useless photograph, storing it in his mind as a memory shard to be accessed whenever needed.
"Hoo..."
The translated knowledge continued to pour in; it was painful yet strangely exhilarating.
A moment later, Chen Qi let out a long breath, feeling instantly invigorated.
As the knowledge injection concluded, the black-red characters gradually dissipated.
Chen Qi stood up and looked at the Book of Keys again; the keys on the pages had vanished.
At this moment, the game displayed another line of text.
[You have used the Book of Keys to decipher a forbidden book of extreme translation difficulty.]
[Book of Keys usage progress: 11%.]
Chen Qi exhaled. Under the influence of the Book of Keys, much of the Book of the Black Prison had been translated, though a few pages remained.
Even if the Book of Keys were completely exhausted, the remaining pages could not be translated.
But the vast amount of knowledge he had just gained was enough for him to use for a long time.
Chen Qi rubbed his temples, the tension in his mind fading into a sense of comfort.
He picked up some biscuits, fed them to the little donkey, sat in the rocking chair, and had the Soul of Shadow massage his shoulders.
Comforting...
He had to admit, the Soul of Shadow had excellent massage techniques, and the pressure was just right.
Chen Qi whistled:
"Little Lantern Fox, come here, time to eat."
"Coming! Master!"
The Little Lantern Fox, who had been sleeping in its pet bed, opened its eyes wide and trotted over, wagging its tail.
Chen Qi fed a Stone of Shadow to the Little Lantern Fox, petting its furry little head while internalizing the knowledge he had just gained from the Book of Keys.
He attempted to "recall" the knowledge of the Book of the Black Prison in his mind—it was a novel and marvelous experience.
Suddenly, Chen Qi’s brows twitched.
The moment he read it, he understood: he had only just begun to step into the study of the "Black Prison," and the moves he had mastered previously could only be considered "previewing."
Chen Qi calmed himself and slowly flipped through the book in his mind.
To his surprise, the opening content was not related to techniques, but to the history of the Neo-Capital.
Chen Qi examined this history.
It was the history of the founding of the Neo-Capital.
[Before the Neo-Capital was established, the entire world was on the brink of destruction.
The world was mired in despair, caught in the chaotic dance of the Four Revelations.
Countless puppets manipulated by spider silk fell from the sky; the cruel and powerful Blade Army trampled the kingdoms; the forever-hungry Foraging Grounds stained the world in a desperate green; the Styx torrent swallowed the surging seas, turning them into dead silence.

In such a world, most people stepped onto the path of madness, their beliefs completely destroyed.
The very concept of civilization ceased to exist; everyone became an extreme and terrifying lunatic.
Yet, in this time of destruction, there were still some in this world who held onto hope and did not succumb to madness.
At that time, humans who had not yet gone mad were rare, like a single flame in a gale-swept night—fragile, yet shining.
Among them, they studied history, researched greater powers, and sought the Path of the High Heavens.
Among them, a hero named the "Clock Keeper," after countless efforts, finally arrived at the edge of the High Heavens, reaching a brand new world.
When the Clock Keeper arrived, he knew he had reached the edge of the High Heavens—not one of the false high heavens, but an ideal divine realm.
If he continued forward, he could attain eternity.
However, the Clock Keeper did not venture deep into this magnificent high heaven; he had to return. In that broken world, many were still waiting for him.
He was born in the Neo-Capital, and he had to die in the Neo-Capital.
Because of this obsession, the Clock Keeper received the favor of the High Heavens on his return journey. When he returned to the Neo-Capital, he paid the price of his lifespan to obtain an object called the Seed of White Day Fire.]
[Besides the Clock Keeper, others who had not gone mad also reached the edges of other high heavens and returned, each holding an artifact obtained from the high heavens.
Every edge of the high heavens discovered meant a devastatingly powerful technique and a brand new system of sorcery.
It was these people who returned from the high heavens that reignited a flicker of hope in the world on the verge of destruction, pulling the collapsing world back from the brink.
Having mastered the powerful forces of another world, they gained the possibility of building the Neo-Capital, and under the leadership of the Clock Keeper, the Neo-Capital began to be built.]
[A burning flame rose from the sky, bringing light to a world mired in darkness and despair.
As the White Day rose, many humans hidden in the shadows flocked to the Neo-Capital.]
[To help humanity walk out of that apocalyptic age, the First Ones utilized these artifacts obtained from various high heavens and created the various districts.
To ensure people would no longer be lost in time or forget the laws, they built the White Day Clock Tower, conveying the laws through the tolling of the bell that penetrated the entire Neo-Capital.
To prevent people from becoming conduits for disaster, they established the Record Grounds of District 3, using forbidden script to seal techniques where souls reached the edges of otherworldly realms, preventing the spread of catastrophe.
To know at any time where disasters occurred, they created the Candle Eyes in the darkness and established the Catastrophe Information System to peer into the occurrence of Great Catastrophes at any moment.
...]
Chen Qi looked at the text; to resist the catastrophes, every district of the Neo-Capital had its own duties.
[As long as the Seed of White Day Fire could be ignited, the Four Revelations of catastrophe could be isolated by the White Day.
But a problem arose: the White Day itself required massive energy to operate. To extend the duration of the White Day's burning, simple aspect materials were far from sufficient; it had to rely on that legendary power—the power from the high heavens.]
[And at that time, to build the districts, the power they utilized was extremely limited; the energy of the White Day was far from enough.]
[The Clock Keeper could never solve this problem.
To build the Neo-Capital, they killed a large number of monsters that could resurrect and those who had gone mad, piling their corpses on the land of District 8 of the Neo-Capital.
These massive amounts of contaminated disaster monsters and sinners could not be dealt with; burning those monsters required consuming a massive amount of White Day energy.
And if they were not burned, but simply killed, it would attract even more terrifying things, potentially giving birth to even more horrific monsters.]
[And just at this moment of despair, a traveler returned from the edge of the high heaven known as the "Styx." He had successfully reached a new world and returned with a sacred object.
It was an ancient and long-standing place where many ancient monsters were imprisoned; its name was the Black Prison.
With the discovery of the Black Prison, the establishment of the Neo-Capital's District 8, the Black River Prison, officially began.]