Xiao Chen and Li Jia sat motionlessly on either side of the coffee table. On the coffee table was a thick book with a layer of mysterious blue-black light flowing between the front and back covers of the book. Xiao Chen leaned back in his chair and stared at Li Jia. Li Jia, on the other hand, lowered his head in deep thought.
The several oil lamps in the room intensified the depressing atmosphere, and only the flickering light and shadows caused by the swaying flames made people realize that this was not a photo.
After a long while, Li Jia said, "I have made up my mind."
Xiao Chen said, "You have to think it over carefully. After all, there are great risks involved. I opened it when I didn't have the foundation for concentration, which caused mental instability. Although you now have the foundation for concentration, the degree of compatibility between the Fierce Wind Method and the Dead Sea Shadow Scroll is unknown. It may be worse than the Hanging Feather Method. Even if I preside over the ceremony, it may fail."
"You said that we, who come from this information age, have our own strengths in mental power. And I have a bottle of mind-focusing potion that Serinda brought from the treasure house at home." Li Jia said.
"That's just my guess. After all, there are only two samples, me and Mao Kai." Xiao Chen said.
"Maybe there are more than two. Are you sure Luo Ling didn't see it that day?" Li Jia said.
Xiao Chen scratched his chin with his fingers and said, "Whether she has seen it or not, as long as she doesn't say anything, I will pretend that it never happened. I believe she will make the best choice. The key issue is that no matter what Luo Ling does, she can't reduce your risk."
"You are such a troublemaker. First you tempted me with power, and then you talked a lot of nonsense about risks. Don't you know that making this choice is the most difficult thing?"
"This is the same as the informed consent form before surgery." Xiao Chen shrugged.
Li Jia waved her hands, as if to shake off the confusion in her heart: "Reading is my only strength. I can only hope that books will not let me down."
"We have a good attitude. I think we are halfway to success." Xiao Chen said with a smile, "Then let's get started. You enter, and I will come in later to preside over the ceremony."
Xiao Chen gently placed his hand on the big book, and the protective barrier set by Morey quickly dissipated, revealing the true appearance of the "Shadow Scroll of the Sea of Consciousness". Xiao Chen made a gesture of invitation, and then leaned back in his chair.
Li Jia first picked up a bottle of orange-yellow potion from the table. According to Serinda, the value of this potion could buy a house in the capital. He drank the potion in one gulp without hesitation, and a spicy and strange taste filled his mouth. After a moment, he felt that his spirit was particularly excited and his consciousness became more acute.
Li Jia made sure that the potion had started to take effect, so he slowly placed his hand on the cover of the book, remained still for a moment, and then slowly turned the pages, as if he was moving an extremely heavy stone.
"Why is there a Chinese name on it?" Li Jia asked curiously when he saw the title page.
"Perhaps this is the most fundamental secret of this world." Xiao Chen replied.
Li Jia didn't say anything more, but turned another page. A strong colorful light suddenly shot out from the book...
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Li Jia opened his eyes and found himself in a tunnel.
The tunnel seemed to be deep underground, with dry soil and gravel on the walls and ground. The tunnel was a little over two meters high and only about one and a half meters wide, a bit like the ancient tombs Li Jia had seen on TV. There were several torches on the walls on both sides, illuminating the ground under his feet. He found himself standing at an intersection, with three forks in front of him extending deeper into the ground.
These roads seemed very long, and there was no firelight in the depths of the roads. It was pitch black and there was no idea where the end was.
Li Jia doesn't like this place. It's closed and dull, and there's a weird feeling mixed with fear that keeps tugging at his nerves. Although, this feeling seems a little familiar...
Knowing that he was in the mental illusion created by the "Shadow Scroll of the Sea of Consciousness", he couldn't help but pinch his hand hard. It hurt, just like in the real world.
"You slow guy, how long will it take you to notice my presence?" A familiar female voice sounded behind him.
Li Jia was startled, but then he remembered that Xiao Chen had said that a book spirit would appear. He turned around carefully, but was stunned by the scene in front of him.
He saw Serinda.
Serinda stood in the tunnel wearing the dress he gave her, with her hands on her hips, looking at him with a half-smile. She seemed to have just taken a shower, her hair was still a little wet, loosely draped over her back, and there were some unwiped water droplets on her body, which, under the torchlight, were dotted on her white body like crystals.
Li Jia looked at Serinda from head to toe several times before stammering, "Why are you here, and wearing this dress?"
Serinda tilted her head and leaned closer to Li Jia, exuding a fresh and pleasant fragrance. She leaned forward to look at Li Jia, and said with a disdainful smile: "Hey, look, they sent another unsatisfied guy. Is your sweetheart the same as me now?"
"You... are not Serinda. You, are you a book spirit? But why did you become Serinda's appearance?"
"That's right." Shu Ling stood up straight and pointed at Li Jia's head. "Any image in your mind may become my appearance. Of course, the most likely appearance is the person you have been thinking about day and night. This is, um, a matter of probability."
"You, you mean, Serinda, the country girl, is what I've been thinking about?"
"Yes, you also like her when she just took a shower. You are dirty. I like the word "dirty", which describes you very accurately. The biggest benefit of helping you open your own sea of consciousness is that you can learn new things in your heads." Shu Ling covered his mouth and laughed.
"Is it fun for you to dress like this?" Li Jia asked somewhat embarrassedly.
"I am a soul without a body. Any form of existence is natural to me. It makes no sense to me to look like this or dress like that."
"But, it means something to me..." Li Jia said.
The book spirit tilted its head and said, "Could it be that... you think this dress is ugly?" It stretched out its hand and pinched the hem of the dress, as if it wanted to tear it off.
“No, no, no.” Li Jia waved his hands desperately, and at the same time felt a warm current rushing to his face. “I mean, you can become anyone, don’t use this image. You can become... well, for example, Xiao Chen, you know him, right? Or, Luo Ling, maybe you have seen her too?”
"Hypocritical human beings, you want something that you want even in your dreams, but you still pretend to be noble." The book spirit smiled evilly. This smile was so beautiful that it could not be described as stunning. "But I have to disappoint you twice. The first question is not up to me or you. When you opened the book, the Sea of Consciousness Shadow Scroll set my appearance. This is... part of your world, just like the tunnel you are in. You can gradually transform it, but you can't simply turn it into another world. As for the second question, don't ask me about other users. I can't do it. This is the most important rule that the creator of this book set for me."
"Creator? Who is the creator of this book?" Li Jia asked.
The book spirit shook his head and said, "With your current strength, I can't tell you this."
“Is this also a rule set by the Creator?”
"No." The book spirit grinned, "I don't think you are qualified. One of my masters told me that the weak cannot bear too much. I think the name of the creator will be a great burden to you."
"Okay, fine. Even a soul says I'm weak." Li Jia looked down and asked dejectedly, "So what do we do now?"
"Take a look at your world. I'll teach you how to become stronger in this world... or die." The book spirit put his hands behind his back and looked around, then sighed, "What a vast and tortuous underground world."
"Can you see where those passages lead?"
"Of course, you can think of me as a consultant who helps you shape this world. I naturally know a thing or two about your world. If you compare this world to the root system of a towering tree, you are just an ant standing at the root. The world illuminated by the torches in front of you is the spiritual power you can control, and those dark tunnels..." The book spirit pointed to the dark path, "are your huge subconscious."
"What should I do?" Li Jia asked.
"Take a torch, go forward and light up the roads." said the book spirit.
Li Jia took a torch from the wall and stood at the entrance of a tunnel. He tried to shine the torch into the cave, but unexpectedly a strong wind blew from somewhere with a whistling sound, and the torch was extinguished in an instant.
When Li Jia heard the shriek, he felt a pain in his head, and it seemed that all sorts of messy thoughts rushed into his head. He screamed, "Ah! What the hell is this?"
"That gust of wind is the embodiment of all kinds of distracting thoughts and negative ideas in your subconscious mind. Be careful, it may turn into other deadly existences to attack your spirit and shake your mind. But this torch is the positive emotions you can control, and they will naturally dissipate where the flames are lit." The book spirit sighed, "You may look harmless, but from this meditation space, it can be seen that your mind is so complicated and tortuous, and your dark side is so huge. This makes your practice particularly dangerous. They will become traps, forks in the road, and even monsters. I think you should think carefully about whether to continue."
Li Jia was silent for a long time, then turned to face the book spirit and said, "I know that I am not a person with clear thoughts, nor do I have a pure heart. I have a lot of sad things in my heart, a lot of unfair emotions, and all kinds of resentful thoughts. No wonder these dark passages look familiar to me, it turns out that they are the real me."