93: Chapter 93 Forbidden Book Zone: Please Leave Your Brain at the Front Desk
As the Emperor of Great Zhou's imperial expedition transformed into an "imperial tour," the popularity of the Heavenly River Sword Sect exploded across the entire Cultivation World in just three days. The "Immersive Experience Park" outside the mountain gate was raking in gold daily, and even the old man selling tea eggs at the entrance (an outer Sect Elder in disguise) couldn't stop grinning.
But as the mastermind behind all this, Li Mo was currently standing in a newly opened section on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, wearing thick gloves and looking solemn as he... arranged books.
[System Prompt: Current area is a "High-Risk Cognitive Contamination Zone."] [Suggestion: Ordinary users should not stay in this area for more than three minutes, otherwise it may lead to a restructuring of one's worldview, IQ reset, or species mutation.]
This was the recently unlocked **[Restricted Book Area]**. Unlike the mild books on the first floor like "Basic Sword Techniques" and "Introduction to Alchemy," every book here emitted an eerie aura that made one's Sanity drop.
Li Mo carefully picked up a black-covered book whose cover was constantly writhing—"Illustrated Guide to Abyss Creatures: From Entry to Being Eaten." As soon as he touched it, a mouth full of sharp teeth cracked open on the cover, attempting to bite his finger. "Behave yourself." Li Mo skillfully tapped the spine of the book with the "Holy Sword of Physics" (an iron ruler). The book let out a wronged whimper and obediently closed its mouth.
He picked up another one—"Non-Euclidean Geometry and Space-Folding Yoga." The space around this book was distorted; looking at it for too long made one feel as if their arms were growing out of their legs.
"These are all good things." Li Mo neatly stacked these prohibited books, scavenged from "Little Black's Hometown" (the Abyss) or the "System Glitch Zone," onto the black profound iron bookshelves. "Since my Administrator Privileges are locked and I can't directly modify the code, I'll let the people of this world 'learn' some new knowledge themselves."
...
Half an hour later, a brand-new plaque was hung at the entrance of the second-floor stairs: [High-Level Mental State Trial Ground (Formerly: Restricted Book Area)] [Entry Rules:]
Ticket: 1000 Spirit Stones/hour (Includes medical insurance).
Before entering, please sign the "Mental State Liability Waiver."
It is strictly forbidden to ponder philosophical questions such as "Who am I?" or "Where am I?" while reading; violators bear all consequences.
As soon as the news broke, the Sect was shaken. Those big shots who had just gained insights from "road building" (actually just exhausted to the bone) were once again boiling with excitement.
"Have you heard? The Saint has opened a new map!" "Mental State Trial Ground? This must be something the Saint specially established to test our Dao Hearts!" "I heard it contains the ultimate secret to Ascension!"
The first to sign up was still that skeptical Senior Brother, Lei Wanjun. As the Sect's combat powerhouse, he always felt his Dao Heart was as solid as a rock. It's just reading books, right? Could it be scarier than being punished by Master to copy the Sect rules ten thousand times?
"I'm going too!" The Prime Minister of Great Zhou (still on vacation) also joined the fun. He felt that since the Emperor had realized the Dao of "laying low," as the Prime Minister, he had to follow suit and elevate his spiritual Realm.
Thus, the first "Reading Group" of five people, after paying the exorbitant ticket fees, marched onto the second floor with heads held high.
...
Fifteen minutes later.
The second floor of the Scripture Pavilion remained quiet, with no world-shaking sounds of fighting. There were only occasional muffled laughs, like a leaking rubber ball, or meaningless gibberish.
Li Mo sat behind the counter, drinking tea and watching the clock on the wall. "That's about enough. Can't make the first dose too strong, or they'll break easily."
He pressed a red button on the desk. [One-Click Clear: Forced Book Closing.]
The next moment, the door to the second floor opened. The first "Reading Group" walked out. Or rather, they crawled out.
Senior Brother Lei Wanjun was in the lead. His clothes were intact and his Qi was abundant, but his walking posture was very... abstract. His left foot moved forward while his right foot moved backward, and his hands were tracing circles above his head. He was muttering to himself: "Circles... aren't circular... the sum of a triangle's interior angles doesn't equal 180 degrees... parallel lines intersected... I saw it... I saw the butt of the world..."
The Prime Minister, following closely behind, stared blankly at his own palm. "I am the Prime Minister? No, I am a sprig of cilantro. I need to photosynthesize... Don't stop me, I'm going to sunbathe..." After saying that, he actually found a windowsill with plenty of sunlight and stood there stiffly, hands spread wide, with a peaceful expression.
The remaining three were even more pathetic. One was trying to lick his own elbow with his tongue (and was physically close to succeeding); one was playing rock-paper-scissors against the air and weeping bitterly because he lost; and another simply curled into a ball, claiming to be "Schrödinger's Cat," only feeling alive when no one was looking at him.
The crowd watching below was scared witless. "What... what happened?" "Qi Deviation? Or were they cursed?"
Daoist Qingxu was sweating profusely as he rushed over to support Lei Wanjun: "Wanjun! What's wrong? What did you see inside?"
Lei Wanjun snapped his head around, his eyes lacking focus, filled only with countless madly spinning geometric shapes. He grabbed Daoist Qingxu's shoulders, his tone as excited as if he had discovered a new continent: "Master! We were all wrong! The world is fake! I just saw it in a book... our world is actually a giant 'layered pancake'! And we... are the chopped green onions inside!"
Daoist Qingxu: "..."
Just as the whole place fell into panic, thinking this was a major medical accident, Li Mo walked down slowly. He held a small spray bottle and sprayed a few mists of cool water (actually just ordinary boiled water with a bit of menthol) onto the group of "mental patients."
"Sizzle—" Stimulated by the coolness, Lei Wanjun and the others shuddered. The madness in their eyes gradually receded, replaced by an extreme fatigue and... an indescribable sense of clarity.
"Whew..." Lei Wanjun let out a long breath, as if exhaling all the turbid air of his life. He felt his internal state. His cultivation hadn't increased, but his Divine Sense... had actually condensed more than twofold! The Bottleneck that had been stuck—"Clear Sword Heart"—actually felt as simple as one plus one equals two after experiencing that terrifying "worldview shattering and restructuring."
After all, he had seen crazy things like "parallel lines intersecting"; what did a mere sword Dao Bottleneck matter!
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior!" Lei Wanjun flopped to his knees, eyes brimming with tears. "This Junior... has enlightened! True strength isn't about how fast the sword is, but how big the brain hole... er, no, how big the heart is!"
The Prime Minister sunbathing nearby also came to his senses. Although he still had an urge to eat dirt, he found that his chronic insomnia of many years was actually cured! Those complex court calculations in his head now seemed like child's play. "Brilliant! Truly brilliant!" The Prime Minister gave a thumbs up. "This isn't a Restricted Book Area; this is clearly a 'Mental Remolding Room'!"
Watching this scene, the crowd's opinion instantly shifted. "Holy crap? You can become stronger after going crazy?" "I get it! This is finding life in death! Only by breaking the old logic can one establish a new Dao Heart!" "I want to go crazy too! I want to sign up!"
Seeing the long queue forming again, Li Mo satisfiedly put away his spray bottle. He turned to look at the glass jar behind the counter with the label [Please Do Not Tap or Feed]—inside was the shrunken Ghost King Wan Guku. Just now, this fellow had also "snuck" a peek at the books for a while. Now, this formerly ferocious Ghost King was huddled in the corner of the jar, tracing perfect circles on the glass with his finger, muttering: "3.1415926..."
"Seems the effect is good." Li Mo made a note in his small notebook: [Restricted Book Area Operation Insights: As long as I'm not embarrassed, the ones going crazy are others.] [Today's Earnings: Enough to expand three warehouses.]
However, just as Li Mo was preparing to close shop and count his money, the System panel that had been silent for a long time suddenly popped up a special task window. Unlike any previous task, this window was deep purple, carrying a hint of an ominous aura.
[Triggered Emergency Side Quest: The "Knowledge" That Ran Away From Home.] [Description: While organizing the Restricted Book Area, you accidentally missed a picture book titled "The Emperor's New Clothes (Conceptual Version) That Only Smart People Can See." The book has "escaped prison" on its own and fled to the outside world.] [Current Location: Great Zhou Dynasty, Imperial Study Room.] [Warning: This book has extremely strong "Mass Hypnosis" and "Conceptual Alteration" abilities. If not recovered, the Great Zhou Dynasty might become a "Nation of Nudists" overnight.]
The teacup in Li Mo's hand stopped at his lips. "...This is bad." He remembered that when the Emperor of Great Zhou left yesterday, he seemed to have casually picked up a colorful booklet from the corner of the shelf, saying he would take it back as a bedtime story for the young prince.
"Ling'er!" Li Mo immediately took out that copy of "five-year simulation" and began remotely calling his disciple who was doing summer homework outside. "Forget about those bandits and robbers, get to the Great Zhou Capital immediately!" "One of your Junior Brothers (that book) has caused trouble! If you're late, the Emperor of Great Zhou is going to perform performance art at the Grand Imperial Court!"