CH 146

During the day, it was theoretical knowledge class.

Unlike the soft and simple knowledge he had learned in the academy before, the burly male, Qiu Qie'er, and the black-robed woman, Purihila, took turns imparting to them the hardcore truth about the world, fire, and souls.

Rode only now realized how much effort and sacrifice the humans of Thalorian had put into pursuing knowledge and truth related to survival.

They crazily sought the truth of history, trying to find answers to survival and avoid destruction.

They crazily sought any means that could help them survive, even if the hope was slim.

It was precisely because of this extraordinary environment that research on physics, mathematics, and conventional weapons still had a foundation.

It was precisely because of this that there were countless schools in the royal city, with everyone seeking the path and truth that could save the world.

Although there was only one Academy of Firebearers, the Academy of Knowledge was flourishing everywhere.

At night, it was combat class.

Soren, the instructor who was a superior knight, may have looked clean and elegant, but he was actually very irritable.

He trained everyone like a mad dog.

Especially Rode.

Now, he either ran laps or was beaten by the rotating wooden stakes.

Of course, this was not punishment, but training in the basics of physical combat—activating and strengthening spiritual energy.

The monsters had very high physical strength, and their spiritual energy was always in a defensive and offensive state. To engage in close combat with the monsters, one needed the same super strength and defensive ability.

Therefore, it was necessary to use turbulent spiritual energy to enhance oneself, gaining super speed and strength, and to use static spiritual energy to defend against high-intensity attacks. These were essential skills.

In Soren's eyes, Rode only scored 1 point in using spiritual energy when escaping, and all his other abilities were zero points.

No different from a beginner.

This made Soren, who was known for his expertise in monster combat and close combat, extremely dissatisfied. He almost roared every day in the training ground, almost turning into a roaring emperor.

"I've said it a hundred times! The turbulence of spiritual energy should be as natural as breathing. Are you panting from using spiritual energy?"

"Awaken your spiritual energy the moment you exert force! What can you do with spiritual energy if you haven't exerted force?"

"You only start strengthening your spiritual energy halfway through exerting force? Do you want to tickle the monsters?"

"Don't keep your spiritual energy defense open all the time! Are you just a target that can only take hits?"

When Soren said these words, it was the most painful moment for Rode.

Because the rotating wooden stakes would occasionally extend a stick, and he needed to activate his spiritual energy defense in the instant the stick hit him, to withstand the attack.

"Invincible Starting from Sacrificing Ancestor"

As long as Rode was half a second slow in reacting, he would be hit hard on the head, arms, or thighs by the stick.

This was a real heavy blow.

Although the physician who treated external injuries was standing by, the mental pain couldn't be healed.

Moreover, as the mistakes increased, Soren not only did not slow down the speed of the rotating stakes, but even accelerated it.

Rode could only cover his whole body with spiritual energy and open his spiritual energy defense.

But every time he did this, Soren would stop him, saying that the only consequence of doing so was becoming an ineffective target and transferring the risk to his teammates behind.

So.

After one session, Rode would have to endure hundreds of hits. Although his whole body was in pain, there was not a single trace of injury.

After combat class ended, the other students could rest.

But not Rode, he still had a language class.

Surprisingly, the teacher of the language class was Professor Bince, who had once explored the sewers with him.

Thanks to the sewer map he had given, Rode's journey in the sewers afterwards went very smoothly.

Although Rode no longer went to the sewers now, he was still very grateful to him.

And Professor Bince had a very good impression of Rode and greatly admired his persistence in language and his study of ancient and obscure languages.

Their discussions were very pleasant, and they could even be called kindred spirits.

Although Professor Bince was a historian, his research on language was very deep.

Here, without understanding language, one could not study history. Historians were not just old scholars searching through piles of old papers. Besides directly studying documents and artifacts, many scholars even had to follow exploration teams or expeditions to personally investigate ruins.

With his help, Rode's understanding and mastery of the language system increased rapidly.

Soon, Rode understood that whether it was the common language or various ancient languages, they all belonged to the same language family.

As long as he traced along the line, many languages and their variations could be understood, and the Dream Language was no exception.

This was fantastic!

Rode felt that in just a few days, he would be able to unravel the secrets of the Dream Language.

Time always flew by when one was busy.

The special training was very difficult, but the rewards were also great. After going through so much, Rode finally set foot on the right fast lane and raced forward.

About ten days later, Rode's language ability finally broke through the bottleneck and reached a new realm.

He finally understood why he could never understand more complex Dream Language. Besides the complex grammar structures that could overlap with each other, the structure of the characters could also have different meanings.

Rode could guess some simple words and phrases because they were difficult to have other meanings.

But for a complex sentence, it could have thousands of meanings.Rode's language talent was highly appreciated by Professor Bince. He told Rode that the monster group in the ruins of the royal city found in the middle layer of the sewer had been cleared, and the excavation work of the ruins was proceeding in an orderly manner. If Rode was interested, he could join the Gray Exhaustive Excavators and participate in it.

Rode politely expressed that he was currently undergoing training in a secret branch.

Professor Bince didn't mind and only said that Rode could come find him anytime if he was interested.

After finishing the last class of the day, Rode returned to the dormitory, entered the dream, and took out the Book of Knowledge to get to work.

This was like relieving years of constipation all at once.

The stiff words that used to be like old feces instantly flowed freely.

Rode was extremely excited and wanted to bury his head in the Book of Knowledge and work hard.

After about three hours, Rode finally finished translating all the texts related to the invasion, but the smile on his face disappeared.

The translated text was written on the white paper beside him. Rode checked it twice to confirm that there were no major ambiguities.

The white paper read:

Dream Invasion:

When a new owner arrives in the dream, the invasion begins. This is the instinct of the Source.

The invasion varies greatly depending on the time and the spiritual world environment.

It varies greatly depending on the corruption state of the soul.

It becomes stronger as the dream influences the spiritual world.

It becomes stronger as the world falls into darkness.

---

The original text is much longer, and this is the core content that Rode extracted.

It completely revealed that Rode's beautiful dream was shattered, and his crisis was far from over.

Especially the last sentence reminded him of a certain sentence from Professor Quicher's first class -

"The world is accelerating its slide into the abyss of darkness."

Doesn't this mean that the monsters he will encounter in the future will become stronger and stronger?

The Monument of the Apex had been silent for so many days, but in reality, the invasion had not been interrupted. Instead, a stronger invader was about to arrive?

A strong chill rose along Rode's spine, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

In the following days.

Rode really hoped that his translation level was not enough and that there were errors.

But unfortunately, no matter how he studied, he couldn't find any fatal translation mistakes or omissions.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

He even separated the original text and had Professor Bince translate it, but the overall meaning remained unchanged.

Professor Bince also became very interested in this text and urgently asked Rode where he found it. If its source could be confirmed, it might be added to the history books.

Rode had to make up excuses to get through it.

On the fifteenth day, the worst happened.

The invasion surface on the Monument of the Apex was no longer empty.

Blood-red words once again covered the surface, faintly shining as if symbolizing some kind of terrifying unknown.

Warning!

Warning!

Warning!

The disaster of the River of Eternal Death has awakened.

The invasion will come after forty-four sunsets.

---

Rode's heart sank into icy water.

He still vividly remembered the last invasion, where hunting down a Red Spirit almost depleted all his luck, and he barely managed to kill it.

There was no doubt that the disaster of the River of Eternal Death would be much stronger than the Red Spirit.

No.

I have been stagnant at this stage for too long. [Righteous Execution] is still not full. I need to hurry up and hunt monsters.

I also need to prepare the [Resurrection Stone] and [Wooden Puppet].

If I continue to practice slowly like this, I will be done for.

Rode thought to himself.

However.

During the training period, there were tasks assigned. The secret branch was suitable for personnel to grow in battle, and the training was only to help them better digest the gains from battles.

But Rode had the second lowest combat power among them, with a huge gap compared to others, so Instructor Soren never assigned him.

As expected.

The next day, Rode's request was rejected.

Soren said that with his current physical combat skills, he couldn't even defeat his grandmother lying in bed.

Although Rode repeatedly explained that his abilities were strong, Soren firmly disagreed unless he could defeat any of the other students.

If it was a life-or-death duel, with all his summoned creatures and various means, Rode might not necessarily lose.

But on the training ground, with a distance of ten yards between them and limited space, Rode had no way to fight.

The other person would disarm him in a second, and he would have no moves left.

Later, Rode came up with a solution.

He found the red-haired girl in golden armor.

She was the only person among the top special students that he could have a conversation with.

"I'll give you a hundred silver coins. Can you pretend to lose to me later?"

The shining Valkyrie smiled and patted his hand. "No, Valkyries never admit defeat."

"One thousand silver coins."

"Okay."

However, in the actual combat practice, Rode, who couldn't use killer moves, was too weak. Even with the Valkyrie holding back, he still lost the match after a Pacific Ocean's worth of effort.

Because it was too fake, Soren declared the match invalid, leaving Rode half-dead with anger.

The girl raised the silver ticket in her hand. "The money won't be returned, but I can promise you one favor. You can find me if you need anything in the future."

Rode felt extremely dejected.

Now he was no longer as ignorant as before. [Righteous Execution] required a strong soul.

And monsters with such souls were not allowed to exist in the [Safe Zone]. Once they appeared, the Military Combat Department would immediately form a hunting team to eliminate them.If he were to venture out alone, not to mention the difficulty of finding his way in the vast darkness, it would be extremely dangerous to encounter anything without intelligence and logistical support.

Several more days passed, and there was still no turn of events.

Just as Rode was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, a group of people suddenly arrived at the secret branch base, which brightened his eyes.