Chapter 200: Slumber
Li Wen stood silently beneath the Bell Tower, the dim twilight of Amber City casting her shadow long. The Giant’s words still echoed in her mind – the Abyss of Dettor was formed from the remains of the Offspring of the Sun, and the “Impurities” wanted her to find The Emerald Tablet there.
“The others?” she looked up. “You mean…”
The Giant barely shook its head, not elaborating.
“With your current strength, you wouldn’t be able to reach that place through normal means.”
So, it had to be through abnormal means?
“I understand. Thank you for your reminder,” Li Wen said.
Even the Giant could not mention them, yet they were someone she could turn to for help. Perhaps, it could only be the one in the Temple.
Realizing this, Li Wen wasted no time and turned towards the Amber Temple. The last time she met Perfect Amber in the inner hall of the Amber Temple, the entity’s words were that she should seek it out after becoming a Witch. Now that she had completed Stage One of her promotion and embarked on The Path, she wondered if she met its requirements.
“Wait,” the Giant called out to her. “You haven’t told me when you intend to fulfill your promise.”
Li Wen stopped, not even turning her head. “When I return here next time, perhaps when I come back from the Abyss of Dettor.”
“Are you sure you want to go to a place like that?” The Giant’s voice betrayed a rare ripple of emotion. “Even Saints and demigods dare not venture there lightly.”
“Of course,” Li Wen replied without hesitation. Without the Original Text of The Path, she would never have hope for promotion. She would never reach the position of the Twilight Pillar, let alone confront Doomsday Twilight.
After a moment of silence, the Giant sighed. “Indeed. As one favored by destiny, even the Original Text of Twilight has acknowledged you. What is there that you cannot do? Go. I will wait for you to return alive and fulfill our agreement.”
Li Wen said no more and walked along the familiar black stone path towards the Amber Temple. The city remained deathly silent, only her footsteps echoing on the deserted streets. When she arrived before the Temple, the bronze gate that had once been tightly shut was now open, as if awaiting her arrival. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The interior of the Temple was brighter than she remembered. Amber light permeated from all directions, illuminating the entire corridor as if it were twilight. Li Wen looked around, but saw no sign of the Daughters of Amber—not even the special one, “Livia,” from last time.
In this eternal stillness, where else could they have gone? Li Wen couldn’t figure it out and gave up thinking about it.
Passing through the corridor, the door to the inner hall was also open. Li Wen stood at the entrance and saw that the heavy gray curtain still hung there, only it was more transparent than when she had visited before, with a figure faintly visible behind it.
“You are here,” Perfect Amber’s voice came from behind the curtain, still cool and ethereal. “Faster than I imagined.”
Li Wen bowed slightly. “Your Excellency Witch.”
“No need for formalities.” The figure behind the curtain seemed to stir. “I can feel that The Primordial Codex of Ending has merged with you. If that is the case, then you are the proxy of the Twilight Pillar in the Mortal Realm, although your power is still so weak. So, why have you come now?”
Li Wen’s fingers unconsciously brushed the edge of her cloak. She stared directly at the translucent curtain, her voice colder than the Temple’s atmosphere. “I want to know the safe path to the Abyss of Dettor.”
“For The Emerald Tablet?”
As expected, Perfect Amber knew the promotion conditions for The Path well, and its words also indirectly confirmed that “Impurities” had not lied; The Emerald Tablet was indeed in the Abyss of Dettor.
Li Wen breathed a slight sigh of relief. She was not afraid of not having a way to reach the Abyss of Dettor, she only feared that The Emerald Tablet was a ruse and that it was not in that cursed place at all, despite her efforts, she would ultimately gain nothing.
“The promotion of The Path requires the Original Text, and The Emerald Tablet is the transcription of the Original Text of Creation, an indispensable item for me.”
The figure behind the curtain was silent for a long time. Amber light flowed slowly through the air. when Perfect Amber spoke again, its voice carried a subtle distortion. “The Emerald Tablet is indeed the transcription of the Original Text of Creation, the copy of the Book of Formation, but its birth is far more complex than you imagine.”
“In the era when Eternity still existed, the old Sun split into three forms. They were born as the most revered deities, endowed with various responsibilities, one of which was the Original Text called the Book of Formation. A mortal king, sage, and wise man—Hermes, through various means, deprived and killed that offspring of the Sun, usurping the authority of creation. But even though that deity had fallen, they still clutched that Book of Formation in their decaying hand, for they were an inseparable entity from the beginning.”
“So Hermes transcribed a copy of the Book of Formation, which is The Emerald Tablet, as a substitute, and exchanged it from their hand for the Book of Formation… As a transcription of the Book of Formation, The Emerald Tablet indeed possesses the same power and status as the Original Text, and can serve as material for the promotion of The Path. However, Hermes was able to exchange the Original Text from that corpse because, at that time, they already held the authority of creation. The Emerald Tablet was the Original Text that only they could write. Apart from them, no other pillar could have a second Original Text coexisting.”
“The current Emerald Tablet is held by that person’s corpse, just as the Book of Formation was at that time. Under such circumstances, how can you snatch that book from their hand? — Though the ancient offspring has fallen, their corpse still breathes to this day.”
Perfect Amber’s icy voice echoed in the Temple. Its meaning was clear: the difficulty of this matter lay not in safely reaching the Abyss of Dettor, but in how to snatch The Emerald Tablet from the corpse of a former deity and return alive.
The difficulty of this was somewhat exaggerated, as even that sage seemed to only be able to obtain it through exchange, using The Emerald Tablet to trade for the Book of Formation.
Li Wen was not despairing at this situation. On the contrary, after brief consideration, she made her decision.
“I understand. Please tell me the method to reach the Abyss of Dettor.”
After a long silence, Perfect Amber chuckled softly, and the curtain suddenly parted to the sides. Li Wen instinctively took a half-step back—what appeared before her was not the altar she had expected, but a distorted void. In the center of that void, a palm-sized amber floated, encapsulating a withered leaf within it.
“Take this,” Perfect Amber’s voice came from the void. “This is the first grown branch of the Twilight Tree. Consume it, and you can sneak into the dream abyss of that deceased deity. Only then will you have a chance to obtain The Emerald Tablet. But remember—you can only complete this objective within this Temple. Whether you succeed or fail, you have only one chance.”
The curtain closed, and the amber fell into Li Wen’s hand. Its cold touch sent a shiver through her. She gripped the amber, feeling the faint pulse emanating from within. It was like a miniature heart, beating rhythmically in her palm.
With the key item in hand, Li Wen did not immediately swallow the amber. Instead, she looked up at the entity behind the curtain:
“Last time… you said to come see you when I became a Witch. What was it for?”
A light laugh came from behind the curtain, and the voice spoke with certainty, “What I want to tell you is… Li Wen, you will surely succeed. For this is destined from the beginning.”
Li Wen’s heart was profoundly shaken. Only now did she realize that the entity behind the curtain was indeed an avatar of a deity.
She suppressed all other thoughts and swallowed the amber.
In a warm, peaceful atmosphere like a mother’s embrace, she drifted into slumber.
