On the Seven Towers

Xiao Chen and Li Jia sat motionlessly on either side of the coffee table, on which 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, staring at Li Jia. Li Jia, on the other hand, lowered his head in deep thought.

The several oil lamps in the room added to the dull 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've made up my mind."

Xiao Chen said, "You have to think it over. After all, there are great risks involved. I opened it when I didn't have the foundation for concentration, which caused the instability of my mental power. 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, and 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 concentration 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 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 troublesome guy. First you tempted me with power, and then you said a lot of nonsense about risks. Don't you know that making this choice is the most difficult thing?"

"It's the same as the informed consent form before surgery." Xiao Chen shrugged.

Li Jia waved her hand, as if to wave away the entanglement in her heart: "Reading is my only strength. I can only hope that books will not let me down."

"Good mentality, I think we have succeeded halfway." Xiao Chen smiled, "Then let's start. You enter, and I will come in to preside over the ceremony."

Xiao Chen gently placed his hand on the big book, and the protective barrier set up by Morey quickly faded, revealing the true appearance of "Shadow Scroll 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 confirmed that the potion had begun to work, slowly put his hand on the cover of the book, and stayed still for a while, then slowly turned the pages, as if he was moving an extremely heavy stone.

"Why is there a Chinese name on it?" Li Jia saw the title page and wondered.

"Maybe 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 more than 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 land under his feet. This made him realize that he seemed to be standing at an intersection, with three forks in front of him extending deeper.

These roads looked very long, and there was no fire in the depths of the road. It was pitch black and there was no idea where the end was.

Li Jia didn't like this place. It was closed and dull, and there was a weird feeling mixed with fear, constantly fiddling with his nerves. Although, this feeling seemed a bit familiar...

Knowing that he was in the mental illusion built 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.

"Slow guy, how long will it take you to discover my existence?" 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 was standing in the tunnel wearing the dress he gave her, with her hands on her hips, looking at him with a smile. She seemed to have just taken a shower, her hair was still a little wet, loosely draped on her back, and there were some undried water droplets on her body, which were dotted on her white body like crystals under the torchlight.

Li Jia looked Serinda up and down several times before stammering, "You, you, why are you here, and wearing this dress?"

Serinda tilted her head and moved 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?"

"Yes." The book spirit 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 a, um, probability problem."

"You, you mean, Serinda, who looks like a country girl, is what I have been thinking about?"

"Yes, you also like her when she just took a shower. You are very dirty. I like the word "dirty", which describes you very accurately. The biggest benefit of helping you open your own sea of ​​consciousness is to learn new things in your head." The book spirit covered her mouth and laughed.

"Is it interesting for you to dress like this?" Li Jia asked awkwardly.

"I am a soul without a form. For me, any form of existence is natural. It is meaningless to grow like this or dress like that."

"But it is meaningful to me..." Li Jia said.

The book spirit tilted its head and said, "Don't you think this dress is ugly?" It stretched out its hand to pinch the hem of the dress, as if it was going 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?"

"Hypocritical human beings, you must pretend to be noble when you dream of something you desire." The book spirit smiled evilly, and this smile was expressed on Serinda's face, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as stunning. "But I will disappoint you twice. The first question is that this does not depend on me or you. When you open the book, the "Shadow Scroll of Consciousness" sets 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 set for me by the creator of this treasure book."

"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 the 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 can't bear too much. I think the name of the creator will be a great burden to you."

"Okay, okay. Even a soul said I was weak." Li Jia lowered his head and asked somewhat dejectedly, "Then what should we do now?"

"Take a look at your world and teach you how to become stronger in this world... or die." The book spirit put his hands behind his back and scanned the surroundings, then sighed, "What a vast and tortuous underground world."

"Can you see where those passages lead to?"

"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 this world is compared to the root system of a towering tree, you are now just an ant standing at the root of the tree. The world illuminated by torches in front of you is the mental 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." Shu Ling said.

Li Jia took a torch from the wall and stood at the entrance of a tunnel. He tried to shine the torch into the hole, but unexpectedly a strong wind blew from nowhere, with a whistling sound, and extinguished the torch in an instant.

When Li Jia heard the whistling sound, he felt a pain in his head, and it seemed that a mess of 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 thoughts 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. Where the flames are lit, they will naturally retreat." Shu Ling 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 and even monsters. I think you should think carefully about whether to continue."

Li Jia was silent for a long time, turned to face Shu Ling and said, "I know that I am not a person with clear thoughts, and I don't 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 make me feel familiar, it turns out that they are the real me."