At the moment, it was as if the youthful immortality leaf was placed right before his eyes; information surged into his mind from the stone slab. However, the amount of information was very small, consisting entirely of fragmented sentences.
“So that’s it, it really is one-third.”
But instead of disappointment, Xia De’s face showed even greater excitement. Although the information was incomplete, from the broken sentences, Xia De could confirm that the Knowledge within the stone slab itself was definitely related to enhancing Time Perception.
“Mia, I didn’t choose the wrong target. This is what I want—a way to enhance Time Perception and obtain the most accurate temporal information!”
He excitedly picked up the clearly reluctant Mia, his heart pounding faster, blood rushing to his brain. His thoughts immediately branched out, with various possibilities constantly being presented and then discarded. Whether the sixth epoch was truly the sixth epoch, and whether the present was truly the present, might not matter to others. But for Xia De, who could travel through past times, this was extremely important.
With a light touch of his finger, the stone slab flew slightly backward, but quickly stopped, hovering in the air at the same level as Xia De’s eyes. Mia, who had been waiting for an opportunity, quickly slipped from Xia De’s hands, landed on his lap, then swiftly leaped up onto Xia De’s shoulder, and then with a sudden jump, actually “grabbed” the flying stone slab, standing there with astonishing Balance.
“Meow~”
The orange cat looked at Xia De proudly, and Xia De smiled back at Mia. Reaching out his right hand towards the stone slab again, Mia jumped back down his arm onto his lap.
Stroking Mia, Xia De looked at the stone slab in the air again:
“I thought the stone slab would turn into Ashen Remains after giving me the Knowledge, but it’s still here.”
He touched the stone slab with its silver corner guards again, but the stone slab did not transmit Knowledge to Xia De a second time, indicating that its mission of “transmitting Knowledge” had been completed.
“Why wasn’t it damaged?”
Xia De was a little confused. He had encountered many Old God, but whether they represented Miracle or blasphemy, those deities would never allow items they created to appear where they shouldn’t. Since the stone slab transmitted Knowledge but wasn’t damaged, it meant the stone slab was still useful.
“Why did the 【Grey-Robed Sage】 leave it to me?”
With a gentle tap on the side of the stone slab, it immediately spun smoothly in the air. Silver light particles still drifted around, and Xia De could fully imagine what a pretty work of art this would be in the lightless long night.
“It can’t just be giving me a lamp, right?”
He took the stone slab and put it back into the box, but no matter what, having a “divine artifact” left behind by an Old God that bore him no ill will was a good thing. Perhaps when Xia De found all three stone slabs, the secret of the stone slabs would be fully revealed. Any interference in the sixth epoch by the Old God who departed in the fifth epoch must have a reason.
Since the God of Vampires plotted for a thousand years just out of boredom to obtain fine wine, perhaps the guardian deity of the Library was truly just giving Xia De a pretty work of art, or perhaps...
“Is it possible that transmitting the Knowledge to enhance Time Perception was secondary, and giving me the three miraculous stone slabs was the Old God’s primary purpose?”
“She” chuckled:
【Quite possible.】
“By touching the stone slab, can you feel anything special?”
Xia De closed the box.
【Miracle elements, very pure Miracle elements.】
“How pure?”
【As pure as the silver moon.】
Xia De nodded, carried Mia and the box to the basement, and placed the stone slab with the four 1-shilling print plates.
Before leaving, he glanced at the four “gifts” taken from the gift box:
“What would happen if I, as Gray Headed Eagle, gave these four print plates to Princess Margaret?”
This was Xia De’s self-amusing thought before leaving the basement.
It was past ten o’clock when he finished dealing with the Time Stone Slab. Mia was unwilling to go out with Xia De, so Xia De went alone to the University District to visit Professor Manning.
Unlike Professor Drake, who was crippled in both legs, Professor Manning was in excellent spirits and physical health, so he wasn’t home every day. This morning, when Xia De arrived at 17 Cat Tail Lane in the thick fog, knocking on the door yielded no response.
Fortunately, he had anticipated this situation. After waiting a while longer to confirm that neither Professor Manning nor the servant was present, he took out his notebook, intending to write a note and slip it under the door.
However, before Xia De could finish writing, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder:
“Oh, Xia De!”
He turned his head to see a smiling Yiluna behind him.
The seventeen-year-old girl standing in the fog wore a white ruffled collar shirt with two rows of silver decorative buttons on the chest, covered by a warm brown women’s coat. A black silk scarf was tied around her neck, and she carried a brown plaid handbag; this was quite formal attire.
The hazy light of Friday morning penetrated the thick fog, and the gray world seemed to gain more color because of her presence. Every time Xia De saw Yiluna, he had to marvel at how she truly seemed like the protagonist of this world:
“Oh, good morning. Yiluna, what are you doing here?”
“I am currently Miss Bei Ya Si, a nominal detective, entrusted by Leedweich Field to investigate a theft case here.”
Yiluna pointed to the police badge hanging on her chest. She still remembered that she used this identity the first time she visited Xia De’s home:
“Professor Terris Manning, yes, 17 Cat Tail Lane. Xia De, are you also here to find this Old Professor?”
“Yes, Professor Manning is an old friend of mine, but he’s not home.”
Xia De shook the notebook in his hand; the note was not yet finished.
“It’s alright. I made an appointment for an 11 AM visit before I came, so the Professor should be back soon,” Yiluna said, curiously looking at the closed door. She had never known that Xia De also knew such an old gentleman.
Xia De nodded:
“It’s still about ten minutes until eleven, let’s wait together. But, what kind of theft case is it that even the Creation Church has to get involved? I just thought the Professor was fine.”
He felt he shouldn’t speak ill of others behind their backs, besides, the Professor merely had some unique hobbies.
He put his notebook back into the inner pocket of his coat, turned his back to the wall of Cat Tail Lane, while Yiluna held her handbag with both hands, standing by the lamppost and watching Xia De. On the street outside them, the gray fog seemed to have solidified, and in this winter day with a sudden drop in temperature, only the fleeting figures of pedestrians could be seen.
No one could disturb them, and Yiluna liked this atmosphere very much:
“It’s related to a relic. Some time ago, the Creation Church notified all churches in this diocese that a humanoid relic related to theft had appeared in the city. To this day, no one has ever seen its true form; it is an invisible person.”
---Author’s Note---
PS: Guess what the three stone slabs are for. If you guess correctly, an extra chapter will be added. Of course, the answer will be revealed at the end of this volume. The author promises that by the end of the volume, Xia De will learn the truth about the sixth epoch’s time.
After all, it’s a volume about knowledge and wisdom, and it’s time for Xia De to learn those stories.
