An Zheng’s Manuscript contained no secrets; it was more like a diary.

And almost all the dates were in January.

[January 3rd, 4997 A.D.]

"Some of the known Divine Spirits in the world all achieved their status from mortal bodies."

"But their true path to Divinity Ascension remains unknown..."

"The Ninth Level might not be the true endpoint. Or perhaps Divinity Ascension has other requirements."

[January 6th, 4997 A.D.]

"The path to Divinity Ascension may not overlap with the path of Upgrading. Perhaps there is another road to godhood."

"I have embarked on a journey to find the path to Divinity Ascension."

...

[January 16th, 5005 A.D.]

"I have found it."

"I believe I have discovered the Mage’s path to Divinity Ascension. I am overjoyed."

[January 30th, 5005 A.D.]

"This path is completely different from what I imagined... To deny the Root Source? Why must a Mage deny the Root Source? The Root Source we have painstakingly pursued our entire lives—in the end, we must deny it?"

"No, I cannot accept such an outcome."

...

[January 4th, 5012 A.D.]

"I am only one step away from reaching the final Root Source."

"But the years of attempts have eroded my Spirit so much. Can I still maintain my sanity?"

[January 19th, 5012 A.D.]

"I think I have glimpsed it... the ultimate form of the Root Source."

[January 28th, 5012 A.D.]

"No!"

...

[January 9th, 5018 A.D.]

"I met an unprecedented magical genius in Ainwa."

"Perhaps he is the one who can witness the Root Source."

[January 20th, 5018 A.D.]

"My time is running out. I have more important things to do. At the very least, I must leave my research behind."

’Damn this Forgotten Moon. What important thing did I forget?’

[January 30th, 5018 A.D.]

"I wish I could write everything down, but why?"

Many pages in this manuscript were blank.

There were large gaps between the different entries.

[January 2nd, 5020 A.D.]

"Deny the Root Source... How can I deny the truth I’ve spent my entire life proving? It is so perfect, so real! To this day, I cannot believe my proof is false. It is so perfect it’s without a single flaw."

"Why is denial a condition for Divinity Ascension? Does the path of a Level 9 Mage run contrary to the requirements for becoming a Magic Divine Being?"

[January 25th, 5020 A.D.]

"No!"

"I failed again!"

[January 30th, 5020 A.D.]

"I’ve thought of another possible path... a second Root Source."

[January 10th, 5025 A.D.]

"No, I can’t do it... The first Root Source is too deeply ingrained in my mind. I cannot accept any explanation for a Root Source other than it."

"Everything has been negated. I shouldn’t have realized it so late."

"The time to create a second Root Magic should have been much earlier—the earlier, the better!"

"Moreover, the second Root Magic must be a theory that contradicts one’s first Root Magic."

[January 30th, 5025 A.D.]

"I can already see the end of my life. This body can no longer do anything."

"Heh, it seems on the path of a Mage, one wrong step leads to an irreversible Abyss."

...

The manuscript ended there.

It was less a manuscript and more a diary.

A diary written only during the Forgotten Moon.

A large amount of content seemed to have been deleted from this diary. At least, from the looks of it, the diary’s layout was extremely strange.

If one were to compare the blank lines with the format of the known entries...

One could surmise that there should have been a diary entry for every single day of the Forgotten Moon.

But in the end, all that remained were records from specific dates in specific years.

’Was it caused by the Forgotten Moon?’

’Does the Forgotten Moon itself delete records? Or did An Zheng delete them himself? Or was it Iz... or someone else?’

Lu Cang flipped through the manuscript. There were no secrets within it.

In other words, there was no hidden information inside. The information was truly gone, not concealed by some mechanism that required a special method to trigger.

Lu Cang frowned.

’Pursue the Root Source, yet also deny the Root Source.’

’What an absurd Profession.’

’A second Root Source?’

’Does this mean I have to create my own second Root Magic?’

’Iz showed me this, which probably means I can now be promoted to a Level 4 Mage.’

’But the decision of whether or not to get promoted is up to me.’

"Grasp the second Root Source, the earlier the better."

"Easy for him to say... Just grasping one Root Magic is already enough to fry my brain."

"And it even has to be contradictory."

"Is this asking my left brain to fight my right brain?"

Lu Cang felt mentally exhausted.

After a full day of decryption and studying, he now had to process this information right before bed.

He’d rather not have known.

If he hadn’t known, he could have become a Level 4 Mage with a clear conscience. But now that he knew... Ugh, he’d think about it after he woke up.

’After I Upgrade my Decryption Scholar to Level 2 tomorrow, maybe I’ll find some extra insight for all this riddle-like thinking about the Root Source.’

’The Source becomes all magic, all things, and All Transformations.’

’Its opposite, then, must be the sole constant.’

’Still, I’m lucky. At least I have a direction.’

...

He awoke from a deep sleep, his mind refreshed, and met up with Kumironi at the Promotion Hall.

Arriving at the Promotion Hall once again,

Lu Cang, with his excellent memory, recalled the general appearance of the staff from his last visit and noticed that the people here had been completely replaced.

’Looks like a batch of them was purged.’

This time, Kumironi didn’t converse with anyone either.

She directly obtained permission to open the secret room.

Outsiders could only see Kumironi lead a gray-robed man of about her height, who was wearing a mask, into the secret room.

After entering the secret room, Lu Cang deactivated his Flesh Reshaping.