Chapter 114: Chapter 104: Today is Also a Day Full of Hope
Sword Flower University, ditation Building.
No sooner had Sonia’s consciousness returned to her body than she couldn’t help but collapse on the ground, exhausted. It took a great effort to prop herself up against the wall and gasp for air. Soul fatigue reverberated throughout her body, and soon enough, beads of sweat cascaded like a river down her cheeks and collarbones, slipping into the depths of her dress like pearls.
She was exhausted.
It was still dark outside, and this was the first ti she had left the Void Realm so early. Yet, Sonia even found herself criticizing her own retreat as being too slow.
Just a mont ago, a full eight knowledge creatures had pursued her and the Observer for more than an hour in the Sea of Knowledge. No matter how far or how fast they fled, the knowledge creatures relentlessly chased them, even when the Observer deliberately crashed into the territory of other knowledge creatures, the pursuers did not hesitate!
And the result of the Observer’s actions was the increase of their pursuers from eight to nine.
...
Technically, they had no reason to be so afraid, as they were only Silver Mages—worst case scenario, they would rely lose their first blood in the Void Realm. After all, mages must ultimately face death in the Void Realm, it was just a matter of how often.
They could persist until the formation of their Silver Wings before dying, which placed them among the most exceptional in the history of all mages. If there were a “Ranking of Mages for the Latest First-ti Death Experience,” Sonia felt she would at least make it into the top hundred, without claiming a spot in the top ten.
However, the mont they realized they were surrounded by knowledge creatures, Sonia suddenly stumbled upon a piece of forbidden knowledge, and during their escape, the Observer shared the ‘poison’ that it brought with it.
“Exile Secret Poison”
“Secret Poison Details: When a mage lingers in one place in the Void Realm for too long, his scent is detected by the surrounding knowledge creatures, provoking their hostility and being seen as a provocation to the natives. The Void Realm is the ho of the knowledge creatures, they do not allow invaders to settle here and vow to chase and kill those with ‘settling tendencies,’ devouring the souls of the invaders entirely.”
“Number of people infected with the poison: 31”
“Degree of poison enhancent: 31%”
“Current effect of the poison: Easier to detect surrounding knowledge creatures (the effect becos negative at 51% enhancent; a significant benefit is obtained when reduced to 10%).”
Sonia then realized why the school’s professors always said ‘you must not linger in the sa place in the Void Realm for a long ti’ was taboo, but no one could tell the reason, despite mages being the most inquisitive people—because it was a Secret Poison.
Unlike the Vortex Secret Poison, which has a high intrinsic value and thus knowledgeable people might be willing to share with friends and family even at the risk of poisoning themselves.
On the other hand, the Exile Secret Poison was aningless. Now that Sonia knew the truth about the Exile Secret Poison, she would rember ‘never to linger in the sa place for too long’—but the school had already taught them this point of knowledge!
Therefore, those who know about the Exile Secret Poison have no incentive to spread it, and naturally, the infected are few and far between, with most probably lingering too long by accident, thus unluckily contracting the poison.
Furthermore, given Sonia’s and the Observer’s harrowing experience from the night before, most people who knew about this Secret Poison likely ended up being devoured by knowledge creatures imdiately.
It’s worth noting that she and the Observer had just managed to toss off their pursuers with the help of a small boat braving the waves before barely making a tily escape from the Void Realm.
Sonia couldn’t even begin to imagine the despair of a lone mage, capable only of swimming, upon realizing that he is surrounded by several knowledge creatures.
What’s most terrifying is the ‘quantitative change’ of knowledge creatures which leads to a ‘qualitative change’ in mage deaths.
As ntioned before, a mage’s death in the Void Realm cos with serious consequences, because when a mage’s consciousness returns, his soul is still lingering within the Void Realm. The knowledge creatures seize the opportunity to take a big bite, causing soul damage to the mage.
However, after being bitten by a knowledge creature, a mage’s soul also becos lighter, and the return speed increases, so the loss is not too severe.
This was why Sonia and the Observer were frantic in their escape—they were not being pursued by one, but hunted by nine knowledge creatures!
Just one bite from each of these creatures would be enough to completely consu both of their souls, potentially leaving nothing left to share.
This is exactly why ‘lingering too long in the Void Realm can lead to death’: the mage is devoured bit by bit by knowledge creatures, leaving the soul unable to return to the body. Eventually, if the body waits too long, it will mistakenly believe that the soul has abandoned it, resulting in a spontaneous demise.
Due to this sudden incident, they couldn’t explore tonight. After throwing off their pursuers for a while, they had to exit the Void Realm directly. It could be said that apart from slightly increasing their faction realm, this night’s efforts were essentially in vain, and they even suffered a net loss—having one ‘Vortex Secret Poison’ was already botherso, and now with an added ‘Exile Secret Poison’, Sonia felt like her mind was becoming increasingly impure.
Although the number of people infected was small, and the effect of ‘Exile Secret Poison’ was currently beneficial, if the poison spread further, it would inevitably transform into a negative effect.
Regardless, it was good to be alive. Just monts ago, Sonia had almost thought she and the Observer were going to die in the Void Realm.
Sonia took a deep breath and left the ditation Building.
The night sky twinkled with stars as bright as daylight, the most prominent among them being the ‘Deficient Moon Star,’ resembling a moon with a segnt missing and shining with deep blue light, illuminating the paths within the school.
According to the lunar calendar, the teorologists would replace the moon star with the ‘waning moon star’ tomorrow… Sonia suddenly beca curious about what the Blood Moon looked like on the Observer’s side. Was it also managed and changed by the teorology Office like the Moon Stars of the Kingdom of Stars?
Suddenly, the night sky burst with a seven-colored halo, startling Sonia. Looking closer, she realized it was commotion emanating from the direction of the white tower.
Again, classified as a warning area and gathering mages from all over Jiale City, Sonia vaguely sensed that the ‘Void Turbulence’ looming over the white tower was extrely important. But given her current lowly status, she simply couldn’t access such high-end information and could only look from afar, speculating whether a group of professors were having a wild festivity inside.
Back in the dorm room, Sonia moved lightly, not making a sound to disturb her roommate. Without hot water late at night, she took a shower with cold water, stood on the balcony to catch the breeze, and waited for her hair to dry naturally.
She tapped her Miracle Bracelet, bringing up the light screen, wanting to check out the new series starring Dedarose.
There was a full-body mirror on the balcony as well. Catching a glimpse of herself, Sonia suddenly adjusted her posture and combed her hair, scrutinizing her appearance from every angle.
“What are you doing in the middle of the night?”
Adelle, who hadn’t been asleep and had been hiding under the covers watching series, poked her head out and asked Sonia curiously.
Sonia looked towards Adelle and thought for a mont before asking, “Would you consider a pure, cute girl with a good figure?”
Adelle blinked, “You are, but you still fall a little short compared to .”
She stretched out her hand and made a ‘little bit’ gesture with her fingers, indicating the gap wasn’t all that wide.
…
…
Shattered Lake Prison.
Ash suddenly rolled off the bed, the cold floor as if touching a panicked soul, slightly easing the tumultuous emotions after the escape.
When he got up from the floor, he realized he was drenched and went to take a hot shower. Although ordinary dorm rooms didn’t have bathtubs, hot water was still supplied around the clock—denying hot water would be considered abuse by human rights organizations.
Leaning against the pristine white tiles and letting the water cascade over him, Ash turned on the light screen to sort through the gains of the night.
Indeed, there were gains tonight. Although to others, the ‘Vortex Secret Poison’ might seem a pure burden, within “Aurora’s Mage Manual,” the ‘Vortex Secret Poison’ had triggered a new change.
‘You have been infected with “Vortex Secret Poison”.’
‘”Vortex Secret Poison” has enhanced the Final Observer’s sensory abilities for Knowledge Creatures in the Void Realm, resulting in changes to the Void Realm Map.’
‘Note: The Void Realm Map has been updated. Now you can discover Knowledge Creatures within your observation range on the Void Realm Map and obtain brief information.’
Earlier in the Void Realm, when Ash opened the map, he noticed slight changes in the surrounding 24 cells. Most were still “pointless” or “negligible,” but a few cells revealed more information:
‘Mist Fish Dragon, worth the visit’
‘Blast Fish Dragon, a bit troubleso’
‘Umbrella Bird Dragon, a bit troubleso’
Just the nas of Knowledge Creatures appearing, but for Void Realm Exploration, it was a massive breakthrough!
Before this, Ash could only rely on map hints to make rough estimations about whether the area contained Inheritance Island or a Knowledge Creature habitat. Generally, “worth the visit” indicated mostly Inheritance Islands, and “a bit troubleso” referred to Knowledge Creatures, with occasional misjudgnts, but it was still better than blindly bumbling about.
With the areas inhabited by Knowledge Creatures now marked, the other unmarked but still potentially combative areas were naturally Inheritance Islands!
Moreover, while Ash was inexperienced with Knowledge Creatures, the Sword Maiden had read the “Knowledge Creature Atlas.” From just the nas, she could deduce the corresponding monsters’ faction, approximate combat power, and even specific weaknesses, specifically targeting those Knowledge Creatures vulnerable to their abilities!
They could even hunt Knowledge Creatures known for dropping swordsmanship Treasure Beads, like the ‘Fish-Slicing Dragon’ or ‘Umbrella Bird Dragon’, to feed the Sword Maiden’s swordsmanship Realm and help her advance to the Two-winged Gold level!
As long as the Sword Maiden reached the Ti Continent, Ash could pull the sa trick, sneaking onto the Ti Continent by exploiting the Sword Maiden as a shortcut.
Just as he beca a Silver Mage in the Sea of Knowledge, Ash could advance to a Golden Mage on the Ti Continent, even if none of his Magic Faction reached the Gold level, and even if he hadn’t cultivated for a single day—climbing up by simply clinging to the Sword Maiden’s coattails—ntioning it would probably infuriate other mages.
With Ash’s exploration skills and the Sword Maiden’s knowledge, as long as they didn’t trigger a taboo death wish like earlier, their future exploration of the Sea of Knowledge would be smooth sailing, without any danger!
But all of this was predicated on Ash surviving, leaving this prison, obtaining freedom.
Turning off the shower overhead and grabbing a towel to wrap around himself, he walked to the sink. Looking at his drenched reflection in the mirror, water dripped from his hair to his gaunt shoulders, sliding down his collarbone.
“Damn, starting to like this world a bit.”
His cheeks tilted up as he smiled faintly, “Today is another day filled with hope.”
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