Chapter Sixty-Two: The Book of Truth and the Great Whirlpool

“Ask a question?”

The Golden-haired Little Dragon Daughter tilted her head, appearing a bit confused, while Princess Nitira, seated opposite, was momentarily taken aback before quickly becoming quite nervous.

“Miss Vilyric! The cost of the Book of Truth is random and mandatory; what if it does any harm to the Little Dragon Princess…”

“Oh, relax, relax, I know what I’m doing ~”

Vilyric waved her hand, signaling the princess not to panic, and gently stroked her pet’s supple long hair while smiling softly like a caregiver.

“That’s right, just ask questions! You can ask it anything. Xiao Guang should be able to sense how extraordinary this thing is, right?”

After all, although she seemed like just a childish little girl, this divinized body actually held a higher status than the Little Dragon Daughter herself and was the key foundation for her future deification. She had temporarily lost some memories and common sense, but that didn’t mean she had turned into an idiot.

On the contrary, she was smarter.

Just like certain cultivation stories about first and second transformations, or a remarkable divine weapon being reforged; even though one had to start over from scratch, the starting point was entirely different, and so would be the achievements to come.

This could be observed from how she used to struggle to address Vilyric correctly in various situations but could now flexibly call her “Sister” instead of “Master.”

Sure enough, the Little Dragon Daughter quickly nodded as if it were nothing.

“It must be a rule artifact; I feel its aura is somewhat familiar. Too bad it’s just a split body, and the power is pitifully little. Otherwise, it would be great for a meal.”

“Eh!? Little, Little Dragon Princess…”

With a pitiful expression as if startled, Princess Nitira exclaimed, and Vilyric hurriedly intervened.

“Ahem, that’s someone else’s property; we can’t dismantle or eat it. Only the wealth that drops from true enemies is fair game. Otherwise, don’t go around pillaging others just because you have power, got it?”

“Got it, sister! You’ve already said something similar five times!”

The Little Dragon Daughter put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back, her short cute dragon horns brushing the priestess’s chin, and she wiggled her bare little feet in dissatisfaction as if to say, “Don’t treat me like a bad child!”

But soon she redirected her gaze, eyeing the Book of Truth quietly lying on the table. After pondering for a moment in a pretend thoughtful manner, she casually said, under the tense watch of Princess Nitira,

“Then… how about a recipe that makes fish even tastier? Although those guys are decent enough, I’m getting a bit tired of eating it for so long.”

As if responding to her specific request, the formerly blank pages of the book gradually began to glow.

Shadows of light traced patterns on the white pages, but they weren’t any words; just a pure form of information, seemingly comprehensible only to those who sought truth.

Although Vilyric couldn’t decipher what was being written, the Golden-haired Little Girl sitting on her lap quickly seemed to grasp something.

“Oh, oh… so that’s how it works! I completely understand now!”

No one knew exactly what she comprehended.

The process of revealing the truth lasted about several dozen seconds, and it appeared that after meeting certain conditions, the irregular text and light on the pages dispersed again, returning to their original blankness.

“Is that it?”

Xiao Guang nodded slightly.

“Yes, sister! I now know how to cook the fish better! But… hmm, how should I say it, that’s just theoretical knowledge. In practice, I’ll likely run into quite a few troubles.”

“And the cost?”

Vilyric asked the most concerning question.

“The cost?”

The Golden-haired Loli gently poked her lips with her plump little finger and thought for a moment.

“It probably took a little bit of my energy before, um… besides that, nothing else.”

“Oh, I see…”

The Priestess probably figured it out.

The cost this book required was divine power.

Just like equipment needing energy to function, the power of the Book of Truth isn’t limitless. If the rule serves as its core power furnace, to keep it running, one naturally needs to add fuel.

Situations like with Nitira, who earned special recognition, might allow the Book of Truth to consume its reserves to assist, but normally, that wouldn’t be the case.

In other words, this book might possess some degree of sentience, but it certainly isn’t excessive; it resembles a question-answering machine that strictly adheres to certain rules. As long as you can pay the price, it will answer your questions.

Ordinary beings cannot afford the costs to drive the laws, so the Book of Truth can only squeeze energy out in rather damaging ways. But for gods who already have control over the laws, it seems to pose little challenge.

The reason for letting Xiao Guang test instead of Vilyric herself was that observing provides a clearer perspective, with the option to intervene at any time. Additionally, the pet’s current body barely skirted the threshold of divinity conceptually, while her real power was still weak compared to the Priestess’s complete divine spark.

Since even the little dragon daughter, whose divine spark was only a shape, could easily utilize the book, it showed that the Book of Truth was indeed just a relatively ordinary artifact and not some secret left behind by the God of Truth. It was more like a product of some fragmented truths naturally congealing under certain environmental influences.

A bit valuable, but not particularly useful for Vilyric.

It was easy to guess it couldn’t possibly display the high-level information she truly needed, so it was best not to try; if something went wrong, she couldn’t explain it to Nitira…

Just as Vilyric was about to say something to the still slightly anxious princess—who seemed to hold a considerable degree of respect for the Little Dragon Daughter, similar to Miss Le Qiao Qiao—the thick black-covered book suddenly emitted a pulsing light as if it were breathing!

“Hm?”

The Priestess paused slightly, but Nitira reacted faster, pointing at the distance towards the ocean.

“It’s the Great Whirlpool, Miss Vilyric! It appears that the hull is gradually entering the influence range of the Great Whirlpool, and the Book of Truth is warning us of danger. But don’t worry, we are just skimming the edge of our planned route. Even if the Great Whirlpool is currently active, it couldn’t possibly affect this side hundreds of kilometers away too much.”

“Really? This thing actually has an automatic warning function… The Great Whirlpool.”

Is this reaction really just a simple warning?

Putting the Golden-haired Little Girl down and allowing her to dash eagerly toward the kitchen while Vilyric scanned her surroundings with an extra-sensory perception.

Indeed, the energy elements in the air were being pulled noticeably in a fixed direction, causing the magic density nearby to exceed twice that of the normal environment, even affecting this place, which was still hundreds of kilometers from the Great Whirlpool…

Curious, I wondered what sort of scene the true center would present.

   

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