Tang Xi pushed the door of the tower with some hesitation. The moment she did, a wave of information flooded her mind, like a river breaking through a dam. For a few moments, she stood frozen, struggling to absorb and ahe data p into her sciousness.

  As she regained her posure, a fasating truth emerged: the tower was a testing site for the Tang family, a high-ranking cultivation, whose core teiques and most precious resources were stored there. It ce of power and legacy, but also of responsibility and expectation.

  'I expected more information... something more specific,'— she thought with slight disappoi. However, she quickly pushed the frustration aside. It was a start. If the tower was ected to her, it might be the key to unlog deeper secrets about her lineage and biological parents.

  The fact that a high-level transmission matrix had beeo send her far from where her family resided only reinforced her suspis. The Tang family must be a powerful and iial entity, with a long history araordinary cultivation prowess. Despite the lingering doubts, Tang Xi decided to focus on the present and explore what the tower had to offer.

  With steady steps, she ehe structure, her eyes sing every detail. The tower seemed much rger on the ihan it did from the outside—a on phenomenon in structures created by skilled cultivators. The space was vast, with walls adorned with a symbols glowing softly in silvery hues. At the ter of the octagonal room rested a talent-measuring crystal on a pedestal.

  Tang Xi frowhe tower, with its graerior, held only a simple crystal? Her skepticism grew but was soon overshadowed by a strange and familiar sensation. The crystal seemed to call to her, as if it had a sciousness of its own.

  She took a few hesitant steps toward the orb at the ter of the room, her heart rag. Distant memories overwhelmed her, and she recalled the first time she had undergoale. On that occasion, others' expectations had turned into disappoi and s when she was deemed a waste.

  Her steps faltered for a moment, but Tang Xi shook her head, pushing aside the painful memories. —"None of that matters anymore," — she whispered to herself, her voice firm.

  Determined, she reached out toward the crystal. As her fiouched the cold, smooth surface, a pulsing energy coursed through her body. It felt as though the crystal robing every aspect of her being, examining not only her talent but also her past, her emotions, and her potential.

  Tang Xi took a deep breath, summoning all the ce she had. As she touched the crystal for the test, she felt its cold, smooth texture under her fingers, and a flood of memories surged through her mind. For a brief moment, she was transported back to the day she had faced those judgmental gazes, the venomous murmurs, and the veiled ughter that cut deeper than any bde.

  Back theance had faltered, her shoulders slumping uhe weight of humiliation. But this time was different. This time, she refused to be defined by past failures or others' opinions. Straightening her posture, she lifted her , her eyes fixed on the crystal before her.

  The imagined murmurs faded. She was no lohere to seek approval. She was there to uhe truth about herself.

  As she activated the crystal, it began to shiensely. First, a vibrant green color domihe ter, filling the room with a sense of vitality and strength. However, before she could grasp its significe, the green tly overpowered by an intense and menag red.

  Then followed solid and deep brown, radiant gold, and finally, tranquil and mysterious blue. Each color occupied a fifth of the crystal, just as she remembered. The infamous "five roots of waste"—a bination that had branded her as someoh no promising future in cultivation.

  But something was different. This time, the colors shimmered unusually, as if they had a life of their own, much like whearlight energy had merged with them. A pulsating energy emanated from the crystal, filling the room with an almost overwhelming force. Before she could pos meaning, the crystal began to emit a blinding light sht that she had to close her eyes to shield herself.

  When she reopehem, the world around her had ged.

  She was now in a vast library, unlike any she had ever seen. T shelves stretched as far as her eyes could see, all filled with jade scrolls and books that emitted a soft, mysterious light. The ceiling was illuminated by noal pearls, casting a warm glow over the space, and the air seemed charged with knowledge and power.

  Tang Xi immediately reized what it meant. Jade books were used to store high-level teiques, requiring special preservatioo the iy of their energy. Before her y a colle of wisdom and power that few could even dream of.

  She snapped out of her thoughts, fog on a nearby shelf. Her heart raced as she reached out to take one of the books, eager to uhe secrets within her grasp. However, before she could touything, a shining object appeared in the distand flew toward her.

  Without warning, the object struck her forehead, shattering into brilliant fragments before she could react. A forceful sensatio over her, as if she were being expelled from the pce.

  In the blink of an eye, she was outside the tain, standing before its door.

  Tang Xi took a deep breath, trying to trol the frustration rising within her. She stared at the imposing tower ahead, her fingers lightly toug the door that had just expelled her. Determined, she tried to open it again, but it remaiubbornly sealed.

  After several failed attempts, she stepped back, the structure as if expeg it to reveal its secrets somehow. With a resigned sigh, she decided to give up for now. Her frustration gave way to curiosity and respect for the mystery she had just witnessed.

  As she reflected on what had happened, a strange sensation rippled through her mind—a subtle yet persistent pulse. Without warning, the world around her seemed to spin, and in an instant, she found herself ba the safety of her meditation chamber.

  Sitting oon, Tang Xi closed her eyes, fog on that peculiar sensation. It felt as if something was calling to her, hidden deep within her mind. As she delved into her introspe, a flicker of light sparkled ihoughts, and an image began to form.

  Suddenly, a jade book emerged in her sciousness. Tang Xi could almost feel its texture, as if it were truly in her hands, but it was something beyond the physical. It was a maion of pure knowledge and power, pulsing with energy that seemed to transd mortal uanding.

  Then, as if etched in fire, a name echoed in her mind, den with an a oppression that made her catch her breath: "Harmonic Matrix of Chaos."

  The words carried an aura so ahat their presence was overwhelming. Tang Xi recalled feeling something simir—but much stronger—in the past, when she was still in her inal universe, surrounded by the desote aura of aehat seemed to have witnessed tless eras of destru ah.

  Intrigued, she tried tanize her thoughts. The brilliance of the crystal striking her forehead returo her memory, and the brief vision she had seen in the library became clear.

  —"It must have been a jade scroll..."— she murmured to herself, her eyes widening with realization. That dazzling brilliahat impact that had expelled her, likely taihe knowledge of this a book.

  Her heart raced with the realization. Even without fully accessing the library, something from it now resided in her mind. What, after all, was the Harmonic Matrix of Chaos?

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