Chapter 395: The Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path

Chen Ling’s mouth hung open involuntarily...

He looked at the disc in Ning Ruyu’s hand, his mind shaken.

"Then that one just now..."

"That was a French movie from before the Great Cataclysm, about a chef realizing his self-worth. I just used the power of the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path to materialize it," Ning Ruyu explained. "However, the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path can only materialize scenes and props, not living creatures... You can think of it as a universal 'stage'."

Everything from just now was a materialization of a movie??

Things that had once been filmed and only existed on screens were all recreated in the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path?

Chen Ling was a director by trade; no one knew better than him what this meant... Materializing a fake "performance" into reality? Even sci-fi novels wouldn't dare write that, right?

"And these on the shelves... are they all like that?"

"All of them."

Ning Ruyu released the "Le Chef" disc, and it automatically flew toward one of the wooden shelves, sliding into a gap on one of the levels.

"Movies are 'opera,' TV shows are too, as are all 'performances' captured using electronic media. Throughout human history, whether filmed by teams or individuals, whether commercial or non-commercial, all visual 'operas' are collected in this area... So far, the number exceeds three trillion."

"Fortunately, the era of flourishing electronic media only lasted about a hundred years, and film and television technology regressed after the Great Cataclysm, so the number of works decreased sharply... Otherwise, the number of these 'operas' would be even more terrifying."

Ning Ruyu couldn't help but sigh.

Chen Ling’s gaze swept across the endless wooden shelves, the shock in his eyes not fading in the slightest... Before the Great Cataclysm, he had learned in university that there were about 250,000 registered movies in human history. Even adding TV shows and a series of other audiovisual works, it definitely wouldn't reach a terrifying number like three trillion.

According to Ning Ruyu’s statement, even a "funny" or "roleplay" video he shot casually with his phone counted as a performance and would be collected in the visual opera area... By that calculation, the number of three trillion might even be conservative.

"Did you all organize these?" Chen Ling couldn't help but ask.

"Us? How could that be..." Ning Ruyu shook his head. "These are all the power of the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path. It’s like a massive museum that automatically classifies and stores all these 'operas'."

"With such a quantity of 'operas,' even just for the visual area, the six of us wouldn't be able to finish organizing them in hundreds of years."

Chen Ling walked among these wooden shelves, his gaze sweeping over countless disc cases. One familiar name after another came into view:

"Titanic," "Home Alone," "The Grandmaster," "Dying to Survive," "Infernal Affairs," "Manchester by the Sea"...

At this moment, Chen Ling felt as if he were no longer standing among endless discs, but standing amidst the stars... These stars contained all the spiritual crystallization of modern human civilization—the elegant, the vulgar, the longing, the artistic, the popular, and the non-mainstream.

Here was condensed the spiritual civilization of an era; they were like stars shining, brilliant and luminous.

"Can all of these be materialized?"

"Of course." Ning Ruyu smiled. "When we have nothing to do in the Ancient Treasury, we pick a few to 'screen.' In the future, Junior Brother, you can join us."

Chen Ling’s fingertips brushed over these discs, and he couldn't help but speak:

"This place... is indeed completely different from the Ancient Treasury of the Military Path."

"There are fourteen Ancient Treasuries in the world, and each has its own characteristics. This is normal, but the principles are all similar... they are all about 'collection' and 'storage'," Ning Ruyu explained.

"For example, the Ancient Treasury of the Military Path stores almost all medium and large-scale wars since the birth of human civilization. There are levels inside where even a Ninth-Rank would perish if they entered. It’s considered one of the most dangerous Ancient Treasuries."

The last time Chen Ling entered the Ancient Treasury of the Military Path, it was because Aurora City had set the scope in advance, and he only operated in that tiny trial area. Strictly speaking, he hadn't been able to go deep inside at all...

If he used the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path as an analogy, he had only seen one wooden shelf before turning around and leaving... while deeper inside, there might be thousands upon thousands of such shelves.

"The visual area tour is over, let’s head inside."

"Inside?" Chen Ling was stunned. "Then where are we now..."

"At the front door."

Ning Ruyu said as if it were a matter of course. "How many years has human civilization existed, and how many years has visual technology existed... This is still far from the core area of the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path."

Chen Ling was stunned for a long time, then smiled helplessly and followed behind Ning Ruyu.

The two passed through several wooden shelves. Ning Ruyu reached out and brushed through the void, and a curtain was pulled open from nothingness, revealing a mysterious long corridor behind it.

"In the Ancient Treasury of the Opera Path, it’s impossible to walk out of any area on foot. To shuttle between different areas, you can only rely on 'curtains'."

Ning Ruyu said as he led Chen Ling into the corridor,

"When Master returns, he should give you this authority."

Hearing this, Chen Ling was a bit confused. "Isn't the Ancient Treasury a materialization of the Divine Path? Can its authority be mastered by humans? And can it be exchanged at will?"

Chen Ling had always thought that the Ancient Treasuries were products of heaven and earth, not man-made. When he was in the Ancient Treasury of the Military Path, he hadn't seen anyone who could master the authority there... If someone could really obtain the authority there and fully master the Ancient Treasury of the Military Path, then the newcomers who went for trials wouldn't have met with disaster.

Ning Ruyu fell into a brief silence.

"Humans cannot fully control the authority of the corresponding Ancient Treasury... but we are the exception."

"Why?"

"You will understand in the future."

Ning Ruyu seemed unwilling to talk more about this topic. After leading Chen Ling through the corridor, he pulled open another curtain and stepped into it.

After Chen Ling followed him in, he found that the structure here was similar to before, with wooden shelves neatly arranged in a spacious area, though the quantity seemed far less than the visual area just now.

Most importantly, what was placed on these shelves were no longer discs, but cassette tapes, and deeper inside, there were vinyl records.

"This is the audio area, storing performances that were not saved as visuals, only sound," Ning Ruyu said slowly. "Most of what’s here is storytelling, crosstalk, traditional opera, and musical performances... Compared to the previous area, the era of civilization carried here is much older."

"But because technology wasn't widespread in that era, not everyone could leave their voice behind, so the quantity is much smaller compared to the previous visual area."

Chen Ling walked among these wooden shelves. The works here were somewhat unfamiliar to him; after all, this wasn't his era. Perhaps his grandparents' generation would be more familiar with these.

Ning Ruyu didn't stay in this area for too long, but briefly took Chen Ling for a tour before pulling open the curtain again to enter the next area...

After stepping through this curtain, Chen Ling saw the scene before him and stood frozen in place.