Cultivation Method

After Canossa left, Rein was once again alone in the room.

He looked at the few items left on the bed, a hint of anticipation appearing on his face.

He had already used the Mind Core to record the text on those beast-hide sheets written in Ancient Monkell Script, so it did not matter whether he actually obtained them. As for their contents, the complex magic arrays made it obvious that they were some kind of Tier 1 Spell.

They were of little significance to him, an advanced physical-path surgeon.

But he was very interested in the intelligence scroll and the Gene Origin Power Cultivation Method.

After breaking the wax seal on the scroll, Rein carefully read the intelligence auctioned off by the Thornbird Merchant Guild.

"So, more than half a year ago, while the City of Radiance was opening up an unknown fog zone, they discovered a place called the Ashen Forest."

As Rein read, his expression gradually turned solemn.

Just as the auctioneer had said, an extremely rich coal deposit had indeed been discovered there. Furthermore, many ruined ancient-script structures had been found in the forest, including temples, altars, and city walls.

The intelligence speculated that the place might be the ruins of a large city left behind by the Monkell Civilization tens of thousands of years ago.

However, there was also a troublesome problem.

The forest was home to "barbarians," venomous insects, and a large number of High-tier Demonic Beasts.

"Barbarians?"

Reading the description in the intelligence, Rein guessed they might be some primitive human tribal group.

They lived in treehouses built among the giant trees of the deep forest. They had their own unique language and writing, and their civilization was not particularly underdeveloped.

But they were a human community completely without Steam Machinery, with almost no industrial development. Most of their weapons were some kind of specially enchanted stone tools.

Moreover, those "barbarians" were not to be underestimated in battle. Their strong men were covered in strange totems, tall and burly, and had companion demonic beasts. There were also priests wielding staffs who could cast strange spells.

"A war of resource plunder."

Rein muttered under his breath. He was not unfamiliar with such situations.

It felt somewhat like when people in his previous life discovered the American continent, then began a series of resource plundering campaigns and conquests.

In the eyes of Westerners at the time, the natives of the American continent had been uncivilized "barbarians."

He immediately guessed the Thornbird Merchant Guild's purpose.

This was likely the most astonishing coal deposit discovered in human history over the past several centuries.

To develop that rich coal mine, they would inevitably have to clear out those barbarians described in the intelligence as "very unfriendly." There were too many barbarians for a single merchant guild to handle, so they could only attract large numbers of wilderness hunters to gradually nibble away at them.

In any case, those mineral resources would ultimately need to pass through merchant guilds like theirs.

At worst, their profits would be a little thinner. But only through mutual cooperation could they make the pie bigger.

This kind of war of resource plunder was destined to bring slaughter and bloodshed.

But in this cruel world, there was nothing much to say about it.

Still, after reading the intelligence, Rein had no intention of getting involved.

"There are powerful barbarian priests comparable to Fifth-tier Transcendents? Tsk, tsk. Can't afford to provoke them."

Muttering to himself, he set down the intelligence scroll.

He suddenly thought of the airship that had crashed from who knew where, mentioned in Baron Morin's notes.

On this continent shrouded in fog, no one knew how many human civilizations existed.

Perhaps, in the eyes of those people aboard the airship, the two great empires of the Ice Ridge Wasteland were merely "barbarian nations" as well.

Rein stopped paying attention to the intelligence.

Instead, he picked up the Gene Source Power Cultivation Method manual, the Holy Shield Knight Breathing Method, his eyes gleaming.

After humans broke through their first Gene Lock and gained strength far beyond that of ordinary people, the fundamental reason was that Gene Potions opened the body's "breathing throat."

After advancing to the Transcendent realm, the body could "breathe" in the elemental energy between heaven and earth to increase its own Gene Source Power.

As time accumulated, a Transcendent's body would grow stronger and stronger.

Elemental energy was everywhere, like rain falling from the sky. How much one could drink with an open mouth depended entirely on how big that mouth was.

A Gene Source Power Cultivation Method, meanwhile, was like a funnel, making absorption far more efficient.

Different Cultivation Methods formed funnels of different shapes, causing the nature of the source power within a Transcendent's body to differ as well.

This Holy Shield Knight Breathing Method focused on strengthening the body. The sea of energy it formed was vast and unceasing, making it very suitable for strength-oriented Transcendents.

Rein carefully read through it once, and the Mind Core scanned and stored it as well.

With this Breathing Method, his Gene Source Power cultivation would probably be more than twice as fast as its previous natural growth.

But cultivating Gene Source Power was a process that required steady accumulation over time. Even the Mind Core's dream training could not help with that. He could only breathe, meditate, and cultivate slowly.

Over the following days, Rein did not leave his room again.

Every day, aside from meditating and cultivating, he dissected corpses. The twentyfold time distortion in his dreams let him practice dissection skills without pause, and he had nearly mastered all the basic techniques an entry-level surgeon needed.

Finally, ten days later, the train arrived at its terminal station, Andohar Province.

Rein got off the train together with that beautiful lady.

To his surprise, this wealthy woman, who seemed to be some Countess, had very few attendants.

There was a stern old butler in a tailcoat, a freckled maid, a plump middle-aged woman who was the cook, and a middle-aged shield knight who seemed to be a bodyguard.

Then the group of six transferred to an intercity train and arrived at Twilight City three days later.

They then followed a caravan trafficking firearms and reached Shining Gold Outpost before the Alkolon Mountain Range five days later.

It was roughly like taking a train, then a car, then switching to an ox cart.

Rein followed this wealthy lady and experienced the true comforts of high nobility.

Even under harsh conditions, they still enjoyed the most luxurious comforts possible. Food, lodging, transportation—anything money could buy had to be the best.

Storage rings, priceless treasures in the eyes of ordinary people, were practically one per person in their group. Even Aunt Susan, the cook, wore one. And rather wastefully, she used it to store chicken, duck, fish, meat, and seasonings.

That stern old butler, Benjamin, seemed to be a jack-of-all-trades who could arrange everything in advance.

The freckled maid Sandora often made mistakes and got scolded, always wearing an aggrieved expression.

Rein also noticed that everyone in the group seemed to regard Madam Vanessa with almost servile reverence. Other than necessary work-related exchanges, they never dared make casual conversation with her, nor did they dare meet her eyes.

Yet this alluring Countess was clearly quite kind.

At least, that was what Rein thought.

He guessed that the concept of social class in this world was deeply etched into people's minds. That gap in status felt impossible to cross.

As a result, whenever the beautiful lady grew bored, the person she most often sought out was him, the young doctor she had only known for a few days. At mealtimes, he was also the only one who dared sit at the same table as the Countess.

They chatted and flirted a little, making the journey less dull.

Rein had once suspected that he might have fallen into a trap someone had arranged.

Could this stunning lady possibly not know Ymir at all, but instead be an enemy? Had she gone to such lengths to approach a minor doctor like him merely to pry information about that powerful figure from him?

But the truth was that even he did not know Ymir's identity. No matter how eloquent she was or how persistently she pressed him, she could not get anything out of him.

Moreover, the Countess had never shown the slightest intention of gathering intelligence. Their daily conversations were always lighthearted topics, and she never brought up Ymir.

That was why Rein completely put his concerns aside.

But after spending more time with her, Rein discovered that this beautiful woman, charming to the bone, did not seem to be as uninhibited as she appeared.

Even with a mask on, her charm could not be concealed, and they often encountered noble gentlemen who approached her along the way.

Yet their interactions remained purely courteous.

Rein never saw her act overly warmly toward anyone. He even felt that, in the eyes of this proud Countess, she had never truly looked at any man.

So the seductive manner she displayed was all directed at him?

Rein, who had never removed his mask, did not think he had the qualifications to catch her eye. Even if she were looking for a lover, those young nobles who had approached her earlier were no less handsome than he was.

That was what puzzled him the most.

Therefore, Rein tried his best to avoid being alone with the Countess, who affected his concentration on cultivation.

Instead, he preferred asking Uncle Sam, the shield knight, about warrior combat techniques.