Old Wang Meets Old Wang (First Update)

"Only one day?"

Ancient One realized that she had encountered more unexpected events today than she had in the past hundred years.

Every book in this library was protected by magic. Copying, pirating, transcribing, photographing, and scanning were all absolutely impossible.

Magic books were not novels. No one could skim through them at ten lines a glance.

They could only read one word at a time and remember however much they could.

And it was not just words—there were also many complex diagrams and rituals. Ordinary people would get dizzy from a single glance. How could they remember them?

Even those so-called "memory masters" could never finish reading the entire library in a day. They would not even be able to flip through all the books.

Stealing?

That was even more impossible. The moment any book disappeared, she would immediately notice.

After thinking it over, she felt there was only one possibility:

Master Wang actually wanted to search the library for certain specific knowledge or spells. Everything before this had merely been preparation for this step.

If that was the case, then it was not unacceptable.

She could treat it as befriending this mysterious fellow. The benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

Perhaps she could even use this matter to uncover some of Master Wang’s secrets.

After living for so many years and being trapped on this tiny Earth, it counted as a small amusement to relieve her boredom.

"Fine."

Ancient One nodded slightly, then reminded him, "The books here are all precious. Do not damage them… Wang!"

Before she had finished speaking, a stern, old-fashioned fat man approached. "I’ll be watching you! If I find missing pages, damaged covers, or an entire book gone, I’ll make you regret coming into this world. I mean what I say!"

"I’m sorry, but I have other matters to attend to and cannot stay here with you."

A trace of apology appeared on Ancient One’s face. "Please make yourself at home. And do not forget to treat books kindly… A gentleman’s word?"

Old Wang answered without hesitation, "Odin himself could not catch it."

Ancient One: "…"

She turned and left, while Old Wang looked at Wang the Fatty.

They said that when one Old Wang met another Old Wang, their eyes filled with tears. This man was not only a fellow countryman and Chinese, but even shared his surname. They had to become close.

But what was this?

Wang the Fatty kept a straight face, staring at him as if he were a thief without even blinking.

Was that really necessary?

You looked even more like a Pandaren than I did, yet you had none of a Pandaren’s adorable charm. How could you face pandas like that?

"For someone who has never studied magic, you can start with the general fundamentals, such as this one. How is your Sanskrit? Or other languages?"

Though Wang the Fatty was stern and old-fashioned, he was actually quite reliable. He took the initiative to help Old Wang choose a book. "The books here are written in hundreds of languages from around the world. A mage is first and foremost a linguist. I speak seven languages, while the Sorcerer Supreme is proficient in nearly every script, including cuneiform and oracle bone inscriptions… What are you doing?"

"Reading."

Following the order, Old Wang took books down from the first bookshelf one after another, placing them all on the table until they formed a small mountain.

His hands moved incredibly fast. Even getting out of the single life had not affected his performance; he had never stopped training.

With the meditation cloud summoned by Zen Flight, along with the Cloud Grasping Whip and a True Qi giant hand, he did not even need a ladder. In the blink of an eye, he had moved down every book on the entire shelf.

"The Book of Sight, Cosmic Compendium, Supreme Codex, Key of Solomon… Put them all back! Read them one at a time!"

Deep down, Wang the Fatty was still quite fond of this younger clansman he had just met. He appeared cold on the outside, but was warm-hearted within.

He truly hoped that Little Brother Wang could stay at Kamar-Taj and study properly. Even if he only had one day, he could not waste it.

Magic changed Fate. If people did not believe that, so many would not have come to Kamar-Taj.

Seeing Little Brother Wang acting so restless, he felt that he should fulfill his duty as an elder brother and scolded him with a stern face.

"Although these books are not particularly profound, they are still not for beginners. They will do more harm than good. If you do not understand Sanskrit, I can find you books in simplified Chinese or American English. If you still do not understand, you can ask me… What are you doing?!"

He stared fixedly at the table. The hundreds of books were gone. The table was empty.

Where were the books?

Where was that huge stack of books?

"A faint spatial fluctuation… You know magic? Where did you hide the books? The Mirror Dimension? A pocket universe? A spatial fragment? Temporal suspension? A time island?"

Old Wang clenched his fists, and two magical round shields appeared. His gaze turned dangerous. "Hand over the books right now, or I won’t let you off!"

"Clansman, don’t get worked up."

Old Wang pointed at the table. "Look, they’re all there."

Wang the Fatty froze.

Were they not all there?

But they really had vanished for a few seconds.

And during those few seconds, there had been an extremely subtle shift in time and space. Though faint, it could not escape the eyes of Old Wang.

So what exactly had happened?

"As long as the books are still here, isn’t that enough?"

Old Wang smiled, waved his hand, and all the books flew back to their original places. "Relax. There won’t be any missing pages or oil stains… They haven’t even been opened."

Wang the Fatty watched Old Wang suspiciously.

A young woman spends the night at your house and you say nothing happened? Do you take me for a virgin?

He hurriedly checked the books.

Strange. It seemed they really had not been touched, nor had they been swapped.

Then what the hell had you been doing?

Old Wang ignored him and continued taking books.

Cold as ice on the outside, laughing happily on the inside.

Just now, he had opened a Time-Space Channel and redeemed all the knowledge contained in the books, obtaining 0.1 grams of Azeroth Blood.

Knowledge had value, and each book was worth a different amount.

These were all ordinary magic books, so their value was not high. An entire bookshelf’s worth did not even amount to one-eighth of the Darkhold.

But there were simply too many books!

There were more than a hundred such bookshelves in the entire library.

Most importantly, there was also the restricted section!

He had not been certain before, but now it had been proven: the magic on these books could prevent copying, photographing, and electronic scanning, but it could not stop the law powers left behind by the many Titans within the Heart of Azeroth.

In that case, there was no need to waste time on these ordinary books.

Old Wang strode straight toward the restricted section.

Ancient One left the library and soon arrived in another room.

This room had three doors, each leading to one of the Three Sanctums in New York, London, and Hong Kong. They were of vital importance.

Suddenly, the three doors opened in succession, and three mages walked in.

They were the guardians of the Three Sanctums, veteran Mystic Masters on the same level as the traitorous Kaecilius.

"Sorcerer Supreme."

Seeing that Ancient One had already arrived, the three hurriedly saluted her.

"Kaecilius attempted to seize the Darkhold and previously read the Book of Cagliostro. I fear he found a ritual for communicating with the Dark Dimension and is trying to contact Dormammu."

Ancient One said gravely, "His purpose in coming to Kamar-Taj was to revive his wife and child. The dead cannot return to life, but Dormammu may already have deceived him into believing that the Dark Dimension’s power can resurrect the dead and grant humanity immortality, without him understanding what that truly means."

"The Book of Cagliostro is still here. We can strengthen its defenses. He has no accomplices and cannot break in."

Daniel said, "He is too weak. Without the power of the Book of Cagliostro itself, he cannot conduct the ritual."

"Kamar-Taj is not the only place with mages. There are many throughout the world."

Ancient One shook her head. "Kaecilius will seek out those people. As long as he has enough manpower, he can conduct the ritual even without the Book of Cagliostro. We must find him as soon as possible, and we must also monitor the other mages scattered outside, relying on the power of the Three Sanctums. We must monitor the Dark Dimension as well, and Dormammu. You are responsible for the former. I will handle the latter."

"We will," the three quickly said.

"I’ll leave it to you all." Ancient One nodded.

The three had only just left when another person entered.