Build an ancient-level power in the nightmare world

"This one, and this one."

The bookseller pointed expressionlessly to the two old books in front of Chris.

"Can I take a look?" Chris asked again.

"You can only read two pages," the stall owner said indifferently.

Upon hearing this, Chris carefully picked up one of the books and began to read it.

He quickly finished reading two pages. The book was about basic knowledge of occultism, and to his surprise, it was a handwritten copy.

He then flipped through the second book.

This is a book about astrology, also a handwritten copy.

Chris put the two books back in their place and glanced at the other books on the stall again.

"Are all the books here handwritten?" Chris asked.

"Which printing factory do you think would take this kind of business?" the stall owner asked, still looking annoyed.

Chris remained silent for a moment after hearing this.

The burly stall owner had told him that astrology was considered a superstitious practice and had been banned by the Im Empire decades ago.

It seems there's some kind of anti-superstition bill.

Since it's a bill, it's likely that more than just astrology will be banned.

Chris glanced at the books on the stall again; in a sense, all the books on this stall were banned.

"How much are these books?" Chris asked.

"This book, which records various common knowledge, costs 5 silver crowns, and this book on astrology costs 15 silver crowns," the stall owner said in a cold tone.

So expensive?

Chris's eyes widened slightly when he heard the offer.

He had expected the books to be expensive, but he hadn't anticipated they would be this pricey.

After he transmigrated, he visited several large bookstores. The thick professional books on engineering and art cost only about 5 silver crowns each.

The world does indeed price knowledge highly.

But this astrology book, which looked less than half a centimeter thick, cost him 15 silver crowns, which was really beyond Chris's budget.

The books were printed on relatively thick paper, and he estimated that this astrology book probably only had a dozen or so pages of content.

"Is there anything wrong with the content recorded in these books?"

Chris didn't shy away from the stall owner. Since the price was so high, it was reasonable for him to ask a few more questions, just to be on the safe side.

He dared not be careless when it came to things related to the occult.

"Heh." The stall owner chuckled lightly, asking with a hint of mockery, "What do you mean by 'there's a problem'?"

"If you follow the instructions in the book to perform certain rituals, and then see things you shouldn't have, and end up going blind, going insane, or dying, is it the book's fault?"

"Attempting to draw certain runes resulted in attracting unknown entities for various reasons, leading to misfortune. Is it a problem with the book?"

"Or, if you show off these books around and get noticed by the police, ending up in jail, is that also a problem with the books?"

The stall owner asked three questions in a row, and Chris frowned slightly. These questions were clearly a quid pro quo.

"What I want to know is whether there are any omissions, errors, or deletions in the content recorded in the book compared to the original. After all, these books are handwritten copies," Chris asked again.

The polite smile that had been on his face gradually disappeared, and for the first time at this gathering, he showed a hint of displeasure.

The thin, gray-haired stall owner, upon hearing Chris's persistent questioning, suddenly grinned and said, "The original?"

What is the original version?

"Does a book have to be credited as an expert in mysticism at the end to be considered an original?"

"I can only say that the contents of these books are generally safe."

"I can't guarantee anything else, and I don't even have the so-called original version."

After saying that, the stall owner stopped talking, picked up the nearest book, and began to read it by himself.

Seeing this, Chris's displeasure gradually faded.

He had actually thought about what the stall owner was saying.

The reason I asked the extra question was to hear how the other person would respond.

Without official or church backing, the books held by ordinary occult enthusiasts certainly cannot guarantee anything.

But for Chris, the fact that these books could be displayed and sold here was enough to prove that they were safe.

Based on his experiences in lucid dreams, there are likely at least two officially affiliated Extraordinary organizations in Rom alone.

If any dangerous knowledge were to spread from here, given the limited abilities of ordinary people, something bad would probably happen very quickly.

This will inevitably attract the attention of these official extraordinary organizations.

The other party followed the clues to this place, so it's impossible for this stall owner to continue setting up a stall here, and it's even uncertain whether this gathering can continue to exist.

Seeing that the stall owner seemed to be in a bad mood, Chris didn't continue talking to him and got up to walk towards other stalls.

Compared to when he came in, there are now significantly more stalls on both sides of the alley.

Chris took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time: 8:46.

In this city where there isn't much nightlife, it's already quite late.

It looks like this gathering might really go on until late at night.

So Chris wasn't in a hurry to buy the books at that stall.

He suffered a loss on his first shopping trip here because he overcharged, and now he realizes he should have compared prices at three different stores.

In his previous life, he didn't have much experience shopping in physical stores and wasn't good at bargaining.

At this moment, he even began to recall the scenes from his childhood when he went shopping with his mother and the other party bargained for the same price.

Chris walked on, and his pace gradually slowed down.

An indescribable feeling welled up in my heart.

He was actually starting to miss home.

Having been in this world for over a month, he was still dissatisfied with his life there.

Especially in the first week or so after he transmigrated, his longing for life on Earth would often well up in his mind.

But life goes on, so he deliberately tried not to think about those things during that time.

Just now, recalling his childhood memories, the feeling of a wanderer adrift in a foreign land suddenly welled up in his heart, and he even felt his eyes slightly warm.

But soon, the image of the key took shape in his mind.

Although it was just an experiment, he actually managed to use the power of the key to dispel the homesickness in his mind.

The unpleasant feeling in his heart vanished in an instant, and his heart returned to peace.

Chris stopped in front of a stall that also had some books on display, except that this stall had other things besides books.

He lowered his head slightly, his gaze fixed on a book with no information on its cover, while in his mind he was reviewing how he had just used the key to dispel the homesickness in his heart.

The effect of the key in his mind was truly beyond his comprehension.

Chris originally thought the key could only dispel negative emotions, but he didn't expect it could even instantly calm complex emotions like homesickness.

He began to wonder if the key's true purpose was to allow him to maintain absolute rationality in any situation.

Although Chris was able to activate his clairvoyance, he did not know how to use it to observe changes in his own spirituality.

He tried to activate his spiritual vision when looking in the mirror, but he didn't know if it was because ordinary mirrors didn't work or because he lacked the necessary rituals, he couldn't see his spiritual state in the mirror's reflection.

Surely he can't be without any spirituality?

At this moment, Chris guessed that the purpose of the key in his mind was likely to forcibly smooth out all the abnormal fluctuations on his spiritual level.

Not only negative emotions, but also feelings of nostalgia, joy, and excitement can be soothed instantly.

If that's the case, then he naturally possesses an advantage far exceeding that of ordinary people in the study of the occult.

Just as Chris was pondering this, a light, slightly upturned young woman's voice reached his ears.

"This book records several simple occult rituals. If you're interested, you can pick it up and flip through it, but you can only look at a maximum of three pages."