002 Butterfly

The Alaiye notebook did not merely record matters concerning Roland; even the logic of the book itself was bizarre.

It held that everything in the world was but a thread of thought from the God of Foolishness. And by the logic of this book, every person could be a butterfly — this was the Law of Folly.

There was much content like this. After paging through it for a while, Roland shut the book with sweat beading on his brow.

He said, “The Alaiye notebook is absolutely a wicked book. It may well have come from some cult. If I study it too much, nothing good will come of it.”

“But I have no choice but to study it...”

“Today is the last day of the deadline....”

After steadying his mind, Roland turned the book before him to the first page.

He remembered that the main text here was normal content, about contemplation.

The first line on the first page read “The Alaiye Notebook,” and within the main text there was a passage that went like this:

“...Among the traditionalists, wizards are accustomed to contemplating wind, fire, thunder, and lightning, imagining themselves as part of the elements in order to obtain magical power and transform themselves.”

“In some schools, wizards are accustomed to contemplating the earth, the sun, moon, and stars, imagining themselves as the sun, moon, and sea of stars in order to gain magical power and transform themselves.”

“Both are wrong.”

“The path of the wizard is the path to godhood!”

“On the road to godhood, why contemplate the elements? Why contemplate the sun, moon, and stars?”

“We should contemplate God!”

“Or rather, contemplate the self that will become a god in the future!”

“Alaiye, the God of Foolishness, the indescribable supreme lord of all things, the one true god of the world.”

“Through the efforts of our family across generation after generation, we have already glimpsed the full form of that true god!”

“Next, let us begin with a broad explanation of Alaiye, and begin to contemplate Him, to correct your perception, to discover that you are Alaiye...”

This part was actually still rather “normal” — at least compared with what followed, it had not yet driven him mad. It could barely be counted as within the bounds of normality.

Below it, however, was written:

“Below is a description of Alaiye’s situation:”

“—A name is only a title; Alaiye has countless names.”

“Yesterday, He believed His name was Butterfly. Today, He believes His name is Roland...”

“Roland”

“Realm: Apprentice Wizard Trainee (bottleneck)”

“Abilities mastered: Beginner Valeria Swordsmanship (97/100), Apprentice Potionmaking. Trainee (38/100), Telepathy I (67/100), Light Spell I (83/100)”

“Background:

“As Alaiye, although you know yourself very well, we have still provided a rough description in order to prevent you from forgetting who you are — the general circumstances are as follows (Roland’s life experience before transmigration)...”

Roland shut the book with an ugly look on his face.

After thinking for a moment, he muttered inwardly: Could this be some kind of system or something?

When others read the ancient god’s language, they see the ancient god’s language. But when I read the ancient god’s language, what I see is Chinese displayed by the system?

Because the content in the book is system content, I can see my life experiences, personal attributes, prompts, and so on in the book.

But that still does not explain the book’s strange logic.

After some thought, Roland said inwardly: So there is a second explanation.

That is, when I looked upon the ancient god’s language, my mind was even more stimulated. Thus, while reading the book, I hallucinated and saw these words.

Roland felt that this explanation, while somewhat reasonable, still left a third answer.

The third answer seemed the most absurd of all — that I really am a sliver of Alaiye’s thought.

My former self is my self of the past.

I myself am my present self.

And the god Alaiye is the future divine form I am now condensing.

Suddenly, a new line appeared in the book.

“Congratulations, you have entered the door!”

“Your thoughts have taken a great leap forward; realm value +3”

“Current realm: Apprentice Wizard Trainee (100/100)”

“Explanation: Your realm has reached a bottleneck and could not break through through comprehension alone. But your insight into the lower world has sparked your understanding of potionmaking.”

“Potionmaking +3”

“Current: Beginner Potionmaking (41/100)”

“You have enlightened yourself! Swordsmanship +3”

“Current: Intermediate Valeria Swordsmanship (0/100)”

Roland’s expression turned most peculiar.

This book says that as long as one contemplates one’s future divine form, one can increase one’s power.

Did I really just grow stronger?

Roland looked at his own palm with an utterly strange expression — and saw that calluses had appeared there!

Clenching his fist and swinging his arm, Roland discovered that both his strength and agility had improved dramatically!

Just now, when potionmaking had improved, Roland had still suspected that those words were merely an illusion.

But the calluses on his hand proved that this book could truly increase his power.

The Alaiye notebook is indeed a wicked book, but it is also truly useful.... If one’s sanity is high enough, then by studying this book continuously, one can become very strong.

But it is also terribly easy to go astray.

So this is the heretical path?

Roland shook his head and decided not to think further. He had no other solution for now and could only rely on the content in the book to break the deadlock.

Contemplation techniques cannot help me break through the bottleneck at all right now, unless I have a potion.

By memory... I had previously been studying how to use a potion to break through the bottleneck.

Roland looked at the moving plant on the table.

This is Manhatos Grass. As long as it is cultivated for years under special conditions, there is a certain chance of producing a special fruit.

After eating that fruit, even someone without magical potential will awaken magic power.

If I eat its fruit, I will surely break through the bottleneck.

If one fruit is not enough, then two. If two are not enough, then three.

But the key is that the specimen before me is only an ordinary Manhatos Grass casually gathered from the mountain.

It needs at least ten years of cultivation before there is any chance of producing that special fruit.

Putting down the Alaiye Contemplation Method in his hand, Roland took up a potionmaking book on the table.

My former self, or rather, the other me in this parallel world, had been studying how to force-ripen it so that it would produce the special fruit with one hundred percent certainty overnight.

He was a genius, with astonishing talent in potionmaking.

But he failed.

And yet I feel that I can try once more.

Roland opened the Alaiye Contemplation Method again to a certain page. “I remember there was a spell recorded in here. I can use it to give it a try.”

This secret art was easy to find, because the book was only a fragment and mainly focused on teaching contemplation theory and magical theory; there was not much else recorded within it.

“This secret art is certainly no ordinary magic... but I can only use it for now.”

Soon, Roland found the section on the secret art in the book. It was written as follows:

“Most people who understand magic know that the essence of magic is equivalent exchange.”

“They are all wrong.”

“A smaller group, more knowledgeable about magic, believe that the essence of magic is to distort the things of the surface world at the lowest possible cost — so-called twisting reality.”

“They, too, are wrong.”

“Magic lies in breaking false cognition and discovering the essence of the world. Delve deeply into the essence of the lower world and shatter the illusion of the surface world.”

“For example — you cast a polymorph spell and become a butterfly. It is not because of equivalent exchange, nor because you have twisted reality. It is because you were always a butterfly, and have discovered that you are a butterfly.”

“True magic does not require incantations, nor does it require magical power — it exists only in a single thought.”

“Spell: ... (incantation) ...”

Roland frowned and said, “Setting aside the mad façade of the Alaiye notebook, the core of this notebook is extreme idealism. As long as one’s imagination is rich enough, one can use the magic within it to distort reality... for example, turning a broken wine cup into a divine artifact.”

“This book is the wickedest of wicked books! The most forbidden of forbidden books!”

“The magic in this book is also the most forbidden of forbidden arts!”

Roland set about studying the spell. He intended to use it to force-ripen the herb before him and help himself advance.