Echoes of the Past

Chapter 35 Times have changed, old things

In the library of the governor's residence, dust slowly rose and fell in the slanting rays of the afternoon sun.

Nan'an was engrossed in browsing through the books and scrolls among the tall bookshelves.

The sound of footsteps grew louder as they approached, and a light, cheerful melody drifted into his ears.

Hearing that somewhat familiar voice, Nan'an lifted his head from the book.

The bookshelf formed a natural partition, temporarily blocking the view of visitors.

Through the narrow gaps between the books, Nan'an caught a glimpse of a figure in the uniform of the Tearfire Academy, stuffing several books back into their places.

Seemingly sensing the gaze, the other person turned their face, their eyes meeting Nan'an's through the gap.

"Oh, Elder Nan'an."

With just the word "old," Nan'an knew that Coralina knew his identity.

The news spread much faster than he had imagined; the "anecdotes" about him punching Ariel and breaking her teeth were probably already flying around the Double Crown City.

Clara leaned half her body out from the other side of the bookshelf, her long, jet-black hair cascading down like a waterfall.

The afternoon sun poured in through the high window behind her, outlining a fuzzy golden edge around her, and the dust particles suspended in the beam of light seemed to shimmer with tiny sparkles because of her.

The scene has a beautiful feel, reminiscent of special CGs in dating sims, enough to make a naive young man's heart race and his face turn red.

Nan'an reacted calmly, comparing the records on the scroll and in the book, and gave a soft "hmm".

Clara walked to the opposite side of Nan'an, stood on tiptoe across the bookshelf, and tried to look at him at eye level.

"That old man really knows how to have fun! He sent Suiyue out to eat and drink while he enjoyed himself here all by himself?"

Nan'an doesn't find it enjoyable to devour the social and humanities books that appeared after the Black Mist Era... Hmm?

His gaze inadvertently swept over the bookshelf where Corella had just returned the books.

With a slight movement of his feet, he walked around the bookshelf, stood in front of the row of books, and casually pulled out the outermost one.

The book has a dark red leather cover and no title.

The first thing I saw when I opened the book...

Wow, amazing! They even have this kind of book collection!

Keywords: elf, tentacles, nest.

The illustrated picture book features a rather rough and freehand style of illustration, but the accompanying text is rich in detail and unfolds layer by layer, making it captivating.

It is by no means cheap, poorly made literature; its exquisite and meticulous writing, progressing from simple to profound, is truly amazing.

Nan'an then pulled out another book.

The good news is that it's pure love.

The bad news is that it's a fencing skills guide, which, if read, could lead to a report by Lucifer about the mysterious Southern and Northern Dynasties history.

Next book...

Well, there's even a QQ space! The Yellow River's waters flow down from the sky.

Nan'an no longer wanted to explore. He gently rubbed his temples and suddenly began to doubt his original intention in entering this library.

Before his transmigration, Nan'an was an old gentleman who built a NAS to store all kinds of resources. He was an omnivore, and his inventory was comparable to the Gate of Babylon.

These books were nothing more than scraps left over from his previous life to him, and were hardly awe-inspiring.

The core issue is that, in the Gray Star era, such publications would never have appeared openly in the public library area of ​​the governor's residence, much less have been so systematically categorized and collected.

Street vendors would casually pull out a scroll of "meat dishes" that bards could only enjoy for an extra fee; such things were commonplace here.

Back then, Nan'an managed to trick two SSR-level adventurers into temporarily joining her party and helping out by using storytelling excerpts and offering free meat dishes.

What happened in the hundreds of years since he died?

Surely it couldn't be that a major wave of various movements and ideologies emerged in the later stages of the Gray Star era?

"Uh..." Clara had followed him around at some point. She glanced at the extremely serious "Atlas of Metallurgy and Forging Minerals" in Nan An's hands, then looked at the row of bookshelves with their drastically different styles in front of him. A look of surprise flashed across her face, which quickly turned into solemn respect. "Senior, you... you actually came here specifically to consult professional books?"

if not?

Nan'an wanted to ask, "What else?"

To be honest, Nanan couldn't sense any shame in Clara's expression when facing forbidden knowledge.

In her mind, and perhaps in the minds of many people in this era, the contents of that half of the bookshelf were probably just an ordinary category in the classification of knowledge, like "Mineral Atlas".

Nan'an pointed to the back row of mysterious resources crammed full of books and asked, "Why is that?"

"Well..." Clara blinked, recalling what she had heard in class, and began to explain, "According to the literature and history teacher, it was probably after the black fog spread. The long-term oppression, despair, and high-pressure atmosphere of uncertainty made people urgently need a way to vent and escape reality, so this kind of work was once very popular underground."

"Around the 154th year of the Black Mist Calendar, after many debates, the Senate gradually relaxed the strict restrictions on related publications. As long as the content did not touch certain bottom lines, such as promoting extremely dangerous ideologies, they were generally allowed to be published and circulated."

"There are even public creative competitions now, with pretty generous prizes. If you're ever interested, you can submit your work and give it a try. I bet some people will be curious about the writing and art style of Gray Star Era."

Nan'an Fu'e.

That makes sense. When faced with sudden and dramatic changes, bewildered creatures will indeed desperately seek "pleasure" out of the instinct for the continuation of their species, and reproduce wildly.

The population explosion he heard about from Suiyue was for this very reason.

Most remarkably, the several magical crops that appeared after the black fog spread were able to support the population explosion, perfectly preventing a food crisis.

After a few seconds of silence, Nan'an sighed, "Don't touch Suiyue."

"Wow, Senior Nan'an is even possessive of his food! But you're just a Heroic Spirit. Summoned creatures only have temporary bodies."

"Don't get me wrong, I just don't want to wake up one day to find artificial rain falling next to me."

This overly trendy and straightforward metaphor left Corella stunned for a couple of seconds.

The moment she understood its meaning, she felt no shame at all. Instead, as if she had learned some valuable knowledge, she nodded solemnly: "I see... The predecessors of the Gray Star era described such things so subtly and exquisitely. I have learned a lot."

Nan'an suddenly felt relieved.

After being resurrected, Suiyue, Huoya, and Pilian came into contact with him; they were probably among the few normal people in the Black Mist Era.

Is someone like Corella the mainstream type for Nora?

"Don't worry, I definitely won't touch your dishes, senior." Coralina glanced at the jellyfish statue that was shimmering on her collar. "We'll discuss the literary works of the Gray Star Era with you another time. We're off to do some free medical consultations now. Goodbye."

"Free medical consultation?"

"That's right." Coralina peeked through the crack in the door and said, "We're treating ordinary people in Kren and preparing affordable medicines. Don't worry, the cost will be covered by those girls, not by the Kren people themselves."

"You don't sound like you have much money?" Nan An retorted.

Clara waved her hand dismissively: "Our family has fallen on hard times."

After patiently looking through the books for a while longer, Nan'an sighed, thinking of the "rolling torrent" right across the bookshelf. He then greeted the butler and had all the books he wanted to read packed up.

Suiyue, who was dozing off in the public area, was shaken by Nan'an and woke up with a drooling sound.

"Not watching anymore?"

"The reading environment isn't good, let's go back to the deep cave and continue our studies," Nan'an said. "Let's go, let's go to Lianshui."

……

……

Almost at the same time that Nan'an and Suiyue left the city of Keren, on the trade route not far from Keren, the Living Eclipses, disguised as merchants, also received the news they had been waiting for.

“Pirion is going to receive guests from the Twin Crowns,” Morton licked his chapped lips, the charred wound on his right shoulder still throbbing. “Our informants have confirmed that most of the city’s guards have been deployed to the surrounding mountains and forests, searching for us like idiots. The area around Kren is relatively empty.”

"That monster... and that minotaur woman, have already left Kren." The Eclipse, who was in charge of surveillance, rushed over and reported in a low voice, "The direction... is Sickle Water Canyon."

"Scythe Water?" Morton and Mara frowned simultaneously.

That area is now a focus of attention for both Solize and Onze.

Within the high walls surrounding the canyon, not only are elite "Mistbreakers" venturing in and out of the black mist day and night to conduct research, but even the "Radiant Owl," the Anze Empire's counterpart to the "Erlu," has been spotted.

Mara looked toward Almahern, who was resting with her eyes closed under the shade of a tree not far away.

"The area around Linshui is heavily guarded; we... are probably not suited to operate there."

"Quickly finish this." Elmarhern stretched. "Who would have thought we were right here, with a view of the city of Kren? Even the patrolling guards and knights have let their guard down, haven't they? Intercept him before he ventures deeper into the Scythe River and clashes with those troublesome Fogbreakers. If we're quick enough, the Scythe River guards won't have time to react."

Morton and Mara exchanged a glance, both seeing the hesitation in each other's eyes.

"And..." Elmarhern seemed to see through their thoughts, her voice becoming even softer and more seductive, "Haven't you been eyeing those guys from Twin Crown City? Those ladies from the Tearfire Academy don't have any particularly strong guards around them, you know."

Finally, Morton let out a heavy breath, the last hesitation in his eyes replaced by ruthlessness: "Go!"

……

……

On the road leading to Lianshui Canyon, the air ahead of Nan'an seemed to freeze without warning.

In the middle of the road, on the previously empty ground, a dense, tangible shadow spread rapidly, like ink dripping into clear water.

The moment the familiar vine-like skirt came into view, Nan'an shielded Suiyue behind him.

"Elmar Hen, how dare you show your face here?"

Almahern covered her mouth and chuckled, "Nan'an, do you really think the people of Kren City can frighten me?"

"Don't you find it laughable to say that? If your Aging Eyes are truly that powerful and fearless, why not form a team to conquer any of the city-states of Solize, defend your territory, and establish a force belonging to the Living Eclipse?"

Nan'an scoffed, "You're like homeless stray dogs, constantly wandering and fleeing. Isn't that because the power of the Living Erosion has its limits, leaving you unable to go up or down?"

After only two sentences, Nan'an killed the conversation.

At first glance, it seems that the Living Eclipse possesses powerful divine nightmare energy, capable of easily dealing with lone, weak mages.

However, if she faces hordes of mages, or even ordinary soldiers, and her abilities are insufficient to instantly resolve the surrounding troubles, she will be trapped in a siege and face certain death.

Low-level mages can still struggle a little with magic in similar situations, but the underlying code of the Living Corruption is the power of the Nightmare God.

If you're not capable, you're not capable.

This is why most living erosions possess some form of magic, which helps them escape and roam freely.

Almarhen chose to study shadow magic, which is easy to escape from.

"As a summoned creature, don't you think your mouth is a bit too rude?"

"Wow, you're getting anxious, that's so classic, this reaction is really hard to watch, I'm laughing so hard I'm numb."

Nan'an's unreasonable five-word speech was delivered without much intonation, but Elmar Hearn stared at the smile that he was trying to suppress at the corners of his mouth, and the subtle expression on his face that was somewhere between pity, sympathy, and mockery...

I'm furious!

For some reason, she was extremely angry, wishing she could pin Nan An to the ground and tear his mouth apart.

"No, I can't act impulsively... I'm not like those fools; my goal is to test his capabilities!"

"senescence!"

No matter what, Almahern couldn't take it anymore.

The look on this guy's face makes you want to punch him first.

Despite the demonic gaze, Nan'an remained fearless and charged forward.

As before, the Nightmare Power inherent in the Eye of Aging vanished silently, without causing a ripple.

Almahern received no direct feedback whatsoever. He only felt that the approaching Nanan was like a giant black hole, and any gaze directed at him could not escape the invisible and intangible suction force and turned into nothingness.

A single skill can make you successful anywhere; the familiar element-driven glimmer outlined the rapidly moving silhouette of Nan'an.

The distance of nearly 20 meters was compressed to zero in one breath, and the fist appeared directly in Almahern's face.

"you!"

Before she could even utter a curse, an unreasonable punch sent her flying.

Just like when they first met, Almahern's body flew backward like a cannonball, crashing through the slender, graceful trees along the way, before finally stopping after striking a towering tree and sending leaves flying everywhere.

"cough!"

Almahern coughed up a mouthful of blood and coughed violently.

Even while inside the black mist, Nan'an's strength seemed unusually exaggerated and incomprehensible. Now that he's out of the black mist, the power of his punches is even greater.

What the hell? It's only been a few days, how did he manage to do that!

"Get started!"

Almahern couldn't help but shout.

She had intended to have people like Mara Morton help test Southampton's limits, treating these inferior Eclipses as disposable tools to be used and discarded—deep down, she didn't believe these small fry could win.

Things got out of control.

If these people don't distract her, she'll...

"vomit!"

Nan'an's powerful punch landed squarely on his abdomen.

With the same angle of attack and the same abdominal strike, Almahern was hunched over in one punch.

Why?

He seemed completely ordinary, as if he only knew the Element Drive move, but it was impossible to dodge or defend against!