**Chapter 35: The Grave of Books**
The **Scripture Pavilion** was a tomb.
It was a massive, windowless tower of black stone that pierced the clouds of the Middle Sector. There were no guards at the entrance. There didn't need to be. The sheer pressure of the array surrounding the tower was enough to crush a weak cultivator's lungs.
Kaelen walked up to the entrance.
A stone tablet stood by the door.
**[Entry Fee: 1,000 Merit Points per hour.]**
**[Death inside is not the Academy's responsibility.]**
"Expensive rent," Kaelen muttered.
He scanned his token. *Beep.*
**[Balance: 31,000 Points.]**
The stone doors groaned open.
Inside, it was silent. Not the silence of peace, but the heavy, suffocating silence of a predator holding its breath. Thousands of floating bookshelves drifted through the air like ghosts, moved by invisible currents.
Viper shivered. "I hate this place. They say the books here have souls. If your will is weak, the techniques will hijack your brain and turn you into a vegetable."
"Sounds like they need to be disciplined," Kaelen said, walking past the rows of common Earth-Tier manuals.
He didn't stop at the ground floor. He headed for the stairs.
The stairs led down.
Into the **Forbidden Section**.
A barrier of red light blocked the stairwell.
**[Restricted Area. Top 50 Rank Required.]**
Kaelen looked at the barrier. Then he looked at Viper.
"Do we have a rank?"
"No," Viper whispered. "Please don't smash it. The Library Enforcer is an automaton from the Ancient Era. It doesn't feel pain."
Kaelen tapped the barrier with his finger. It sizzled.
"I have 30,000 points," Kaelen shouted at the empty air. "I'm buying a ticket!"
He placed his hand on the barrier.
**"System. Bribe it."**
He channeled the Merit Points from his token directly into the array. It was a crude method—overloading the verification slot with pure currency.
*Ding.*
*Ding.*
*Ding.*
The array flashed. Usually, it checked for a specific Qi signature (The Rank Token). Kaelen just shoved raw energy (Points) into it until it glitched.
**[Transaction Accepted. Priority Guest.]**
**[Cost: 5,000 Points.]**
The red barrier flickered and vanished.
Viper's jaw dropped. "You... you just bribed a millennia-old security system?"
"Everyone has a price," Kaelen stepped onto the stairs. "Even a door."
***
**The Basement.**
The air here was cold. The shelves weren't floating. They were chained to the walls.
The books here were **Heaven Tier**. Techniques that were forbidden because they were too dangerous, too evil, or simply incomplete.
Kaelen walked down the aisle. He could hear whispers.
*"Pick me... I grant eternal life..."*
*"I can burn the world..."*
*"Feed me your blood..."*
The manuals were trying to seduce him.
"Noisy," Kaelen grunted. He flared his **Demon Foundation** aura.
The whispers stopped instantly. The books sensed a predator.
Kaelen scanned the titles.
* *Blood-Drinking Sword Art.* (Trash).
* *Soul-Severing Palm.* (Weak).
* *Ten Thousand Poison Body.* (Already have better).
He reached the end of the aisle.
There, sitting on a pedestal made of cracked bone, was a single, heavy tome. It was bound in grey leather that felt suspiciously like dragon skin.
It didn't whisper. It didn't glow.
It sat there like a rock.
Kaelen picked it up.
**[The Nine-Fold Collapse.]**
**[Author: The Mad Titan.]**
Kaelen's eyes narrowed. "Titan?"
He opened the first page.
*"To destroy a mountain, you strike it. To destroy the space the mountain occupies, you fold it."*
*"This technique does not use Qi to cut. It uses mass to distort gravity."*
*"Warning: Requires body strength of 100,000 lbs. If you are weak, your own arm will implode."*
Kaelen smiled.
"Found you."
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him.
Heavy footsteps echoed on the stone floor. *CLANK. CLANK.*
Kaelen didn't turn around.
"You're big," Kaelen noted.
"**PUT. IT. DOWN.**"
The voice sounded like grinding gears.
Kaelen turned.
Standing behind him was the **Library Enforcer**.
It was a ten-foot-tall golem made of obsidian and gold. It had four arms, each holding a different weapon. Its single eye glowed with a red, murderous light.
**[Entity Analysis]**
**Name:** Guardian Unit 01.
**Power Level:** False Core Formation.
**Objective:** Eliminate intruders.
"I paid the fee," Kaelen held up the book.
"**RANK. INSUFFICIENT.**" The Golem raised a massive obsidian axe. "**THEFT. DETECTED. PENALTY: DEATH.**"
Viper screamed from the stairs. "Kaelen! Run! That thing is indestructible!"
Kaelen looked at the massive axe descending toward his head.
He didn't dodge.
He tucked the book into his robe.
Then, he raised his bare hand.
"Let's test the ribs."
*CLANG.*
The obsidian axe hit Kaelen's forearm.
Sparks flew. The floor beneath Kaelen shattered into dust.
But Kaelen didn't move.
His arm didn't break. The **Titan Plating** in his chest resonated, extending a golden forcefield over his limbs.
The Golem paused. Its logic processor couldn't understand why the intruder wasn't split in half.
"**ERROR. TARGET. DURABILITY. EXCEEDS. PARAMETERS.**"
Kaelen grabbed the axe blade.
"My turn."
He stepped in.
He didn't use a fancy technique. He used a headbutt.
*CRACK.*
His forehead met the Golem's obsidian face.
The Golem staggered back.
Kaelen followed up. He grabbed two of the Golem's four arms.
"You have too many limbs," Kaelen growled.
He pulled.
**Strength: Max.**
**Leverage: Perfect.**
*SCREEECH-SNAP.*
He tore the stone arms out of their sockets.
Oil and sparks sprayed everywhere. The Golem flailed, trying to rebalance.
Kaelen spun around and kicked the Golem in the chest.
"**Sit down.**"
*BOOM.*
The massive construct flew backward, crashing into a shelf of forbidden manuals. The shelf collapsed, burying the Enforcer under a pile of evil books.
Kaelen dusted off his hands.
"Indestructible?" Kaelen scoffed. "It's just rocks."
He looked at Viper, who was staring at him like he was a ghost.
"We have the book," Kaelen said. "And I think I just voided the warranty on their security guard."
He started walking toward the stairs.
"Let's go. I have some reading to do."