Chapter 2- The Tower of Primordial Era

Juanxiu stood in front of the towering structure, staring up at the massive, otherworldly doors that seemed to be made of an undulating material. It shimmered in the light, reflecting the colors of the sky.

But as he reached out to touch it, he discovered that it was solid as steel, impossible to break through. The music he had been following was definitely coming from inside, but he couldn't figure out how to get in.

He noticed that the doors were covered in intricate symbols and patterns, written in a language he couldn't comprehend. The symbols seemed to come alive, dancing before his eyes.

Suddenly, he heard a strange, unfamiliar voice. Though he couldn't understand the words, he could sense the meaning behind them, as if it was speaking directly to his mind.

"Who are you?" the voice asked. "What is your lineage?"

Juanxiu was startled by the question, and he hesitated for a moment. He didn't know what to say, or how to answer. But before he could speak, a beam of light shone down on him, enveloping him in its warmth and radiance. It seemed to be coming from the door itself, as if it were alive and aware.

"You are a halfling from the Seventh Sanctum," the voice said, after a moment of silence.

Juanxiu was surprised by the revelation. He had never heard of the Seventh Sanctum before, but he felt a strange sense of familiarity as he listened to the voice. It was like a distant memory, a knowledge that he had always known but had somehow forgotten.

"What is this place?" he asked, his voice shaking with excitement.

"This is the Tower of the Primordial Era," the voice replied. "It is a place of great power and knowledge, guarded by the divine keepers. It contains wisdom that has been lost in time; from the Creation of the Universe, the Battle of the Gods, to the war of the light and darkness that separated the continent. It is a place where the secrets of the universe are kept, and where the knowledge of the ancients is preserved. Only those who are tasked to protect it are allowed to enter the tower."

As he stood in front of the Temple of the Primordial Era, trying to figure out a way to enter, a Gu Zheng appeared in front of him out of nowhere. It was a beautiful instrument, with intricate carvings on its wooden body and gleaming strings that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight.

Juanxiu had never played this instrument before, but as he listened to the strange music that seemed to be coming from all around him, his hands moved as if they had been expertly playing the Gu Zheng for centuries.

His fingers flew across the strings, plucking out a melody that was both familiar and strange. He could feel the music flowing through him, guiding his movements and filling him with a sense of purpose and direction.

The music seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, surrounding him in a cacophony of sound that was both exhilarating and terrifying. And as he played, the music that he was hearing and the sound of the Gu Zheng seemed to become in sync, like they were part of a larger, more complex melody.

After a while, the doors of the temple began to glow with a strange, otherworldly light. A pathway appeared, leading Juanxiu inside. He knew that this was his chance to enter the Temple of the Primordial Era, and he stepped forward, determined to uncover its secrets.

As he walked down the pathway, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and wonder. The air was filled with the scent of exotic spices and fragrant flowers, and the walls of the temple were adorned with intricate carvings and paintings that seemed to come to life before his eyes.

As soon as Juanxiu stepped inside the Tower of the Primordial Era, he was enveloped in a dark light that seemed to swirl around him and enter his mind. Suddenly, he was filled with a basic knowledge about the building and its many sections. He could see the layout of the temple in his mind, as if he had been there before. He could sense the power of the artifacts and relics that were kept within its walls.

He was in awe of all the knowledge that lay within. He saw a massive library filled with rows of shelves containing the history of long-lost times. He discovered the botany section where the rarest of plants were preserved in glass cases that had a mysterious glow. In the smithy, he saw rows of different metals, each one radiating a unique energy. The alchemy section was also filled with ancient tomes that held recipes for divine potions and elixirs, each one more powerful and mysterious than the next.

The voice echoed in his mind. "This is a place where all the knowledge and secrets of the ancient world are kept. But access to this information is limited based on the mental capacity of each visitor."

"What do you mean? Can't I explore all of it?" Juanxiu asked, disappointment creeping into his voice.

"Unfortunately, not yet," the voice explained. "The tower has the ability to understand the limits of each visitor and will only impart information that can be handled by their brain and body. For now, you can only access the basic knowledge."

Juanxiu sighed. "That's frustrating. I'd love to learn more about the library section and the ancient tomes in the alchemy section."

"I understand, Juanxiu," the voice said. "As you gain more knowledge and experience, you will be able to access more advanced information. But for now, I suggest you start with what you can access and work your way up."

"Thank you," Juanxiu said. "I'll do that."

"Of course," the voice said. "And remember, this place is filled with power and mystery, so be cautious and never stop learning. What would you like to learn?" the voice asked Juanxiu.

He thought for a while, considering his options. Despite his desire to explore the many secrets of the Tower of the Primordial Era, he knew that his ultimate goal was to find a way to clear his clan's land of poison. If he could do this, then his family would be able to own hundreds or even thousands of acres of land, enough to grow crops and survive.

"I want to learn how to cleanse my clan's land of poison," Juanxiu said, his voice firm and determined. "Is there a way to do this within the temple?"

A hole suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and something that looked like a seed dropped from it.

The voice was silent for a moment, as if considering his request. Then it spoke again.

"Consider this as a welcome gift. This is a seed of the Acrimony Eradication Tree," the voice said. "It feeds on the poison in the land, and its roots can crawl across hundreds of acres. Once it has consumed enough poison, it will bear a poisoned fruit that is powerful enough to kill a god. However, someone must consume this fruit within 100 days, or the toxins will be released back into the air, with even greater potency."

Juanxiu looked at the seed in his hand, considering the risks and challenges that lay ahead. It was a risky plan, but he knew that it was the only way to save his clan's land. He was also puzzled that the voice talked as if this seed on his hand was so trivial when it can solve his family's predicament.

"I understand the risks," he said.

The voice was silent for a moment, as if considering his words. Then it spoke again.

"Very well," it said. "Then come with me, and I will show you the way to the alchemy section of the temple. There, you will learn how to cultivate and care for the Acrimony Eradication Tree, and how to prepare the poisoned fruit for consumption."

A Short Background:

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘳𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴.

𝘛𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘳𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘳𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘌𝘳𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴.

𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦.