Both the library and the archives should originally house the historical texts of the Black Wood Tribe.

·

Reading the history of the Black Wood Tribe made Chen Yan feel as he did when he read the history of unknown tribes’ tribal eras on the first level.

The way Black Wood Tribe’s texts are recorded is quite reminiscent of those tribes.

A simple and primitive way of life, simple culture, ancient and mysterious religious practices...

The recorded contents also seem somewhat mundane, such as hunting, rituals, conflicts with other tribes, major events involving the tribe’s chief or leader, the birth of powerful offspring, and so on.

However, it is abundantly clear that within the Black Wood Tribe’s history, even the ancient history, there exists the "extraordinary."

Historical records detail struggles between the Black Wood Tribe and the Demon Race, such as defeating a Great Demon or hunting exotic beasts.

Chen Yan finished reading all the leather-bound records in this cabinet in less than seven days.

After finishing, he discovered a problem: these collections were only a small portion of the Black Wood Tribe’s history.

The history of the Black Wood Tribe is older than the Ghost Race; it existed before the Ghost Race was founded.

However, this cabinet’s history lacks two crucial things.

The first is about that gigantic Weltree!

How did the Weltree, from being a massive colossal tree, get struck by Heavenly Dao’s lightning catastrophe and turned into a scorched mountain peak?

This record does not exist.

The second is the founding of the Ghost Race, the eighteen tribes jointly respecting the ancestor and co-founding the Ghost Race, is also not recorded.

The second omission is easily understood; after reading, Chen Yan realized that this cabinet of documents chronicles eras before the Ghost Race was established.

It has not yet recorded when the Black Wood Tribe participated in founding the Ghost Race.

But...

Afterward, there is nothing more.

·

This left Chen Yan somewhat perplexed.

The Black Wood Tribe’s own collections, its historical text archives, are this slight and fragmentary, just a lonely small cabinet.

In contrast, the "unknown tribe’s" historical civilization filled a full eight floors!

It doesn’t make sense.

Fortunately, when Chen Yan finished reading the last document he had, as he just put the document back into the cabinet, the side door of this level’s hall slowly opened.

Chen Yan turned around and saw that old crazy man wobbling in with a loose gait.

"Where did you come from?" Chen Yan frowned at the old man, "I came down layer by layer from ground level, now I’ve reached the bottom layer, but I haven’t seen you here. Where do you usually live?"

The old man merrily came to Chen Yan: "Seeing me, the question you most want to ask is where do I usually live?"

Chen Yan tugged at the corners of his mouth and smiled, "Alright, there’s something else I’d rather know."

The old man extended his left hand, opening it in front of him: "Bring out something tasty."

Chen Yan looked at the old man’s hand; his knuckles were large, skin rough, and even the nails carried black dirt.

This old fellow seemed quite scruffy, wearing a ragged garment that seemed freshly unearthed, marred with indescribable stains.

Chen Yan sighed and pushed the stone table forward: "Wait, I’ll see what I can find."

·

Chen Yan brought out a stove, lit a fire, poured in some prepared hotpot base, added water, and began to boil.

He then prepared some lamb, cutting it strip by strip with a knife.

Finally, he threw a handful of Yunnan mushrooms into the broth — bought from a fresh supermarket, non-toxic and edible.

While the hotpot hadn’t boiled yet, Chen Yan took out a large pack of Harbin red sausages, a bag of spiced peanuts, and opened a can of draft beer.

"Eat these first; once the pot heats up, you can dip the meat."

Chen Yan poured the old man a glass of beer, and the old man glanced at the sausages, taking one and biting a piece off.

"Not bad." The old man nodded, taking a large swallow of beer and exhaling deeply.

His gaze shifted, and suddenly he asked, "I’ve always wondered, I’ve never seen the delicious things you bring out; now... in the Domain Realm, is food made like this now? The characters on these vessels, I’ve also never seen."

Chen Yan’s eyes flickered: "How long has it been since you went out?"

"..." The old man pondered for a moment and shook his head: "So long I can’t recall."

"Then don’t ask, as long as there’s food to eat."

The old man laughed heartily, nodding: "Yes, as long as there’s food to eat."

"About the top eight floors, that unknown tribe’s history... Why does it end at the last level?"

Chen Yan asked the question he was most curious about.

"I don’t know." The old man shook his head, "Either hidden away or destroyed."

Chen Yan frowned, "Why hide it or destroy it? And, hiding it... isn’t this place hidden enough? Putting it here is already like ’hiding it,’ right? If not here, where else could it be hidden?"

"Perhaps because even here it can’t be kept hidden. Placing it here still worries it might be discovered," the old man said, his gaze beginning to flicker.

"Afraid of it being discovered by whom?" Chen Yan promptly asked.

The old man didn’t speak; his left hand, initially holding the bitten sausage, tossed the remainder into his mouth, then used that greasy hand to point upwards.

This gesture made Chen Yan’s heart shudder!

"But this place is already very concealed." Chen Yan couldn’t help but sigh, "The time flow here is different from the outside world, almost like an independently existing spatial world. Still, is it unable to hide from... it?"