Rumors

"We need to collect more data before we can make a judgment," Xiao Yi replied.

Simply relying on the Great Knight Owen's remarks could not add much to Xiao Yi's database, so the results of her analytical calculations were no different from before.

After the public lecture ended, Duke did not leave the Spirit Society immediately.

The third floor of the Spirit Society housed a library. It contained quite a few books on cultivating the Spirit Sea, Blood Sea, and Qi Sea. Of course, it had no Meditation Method, Blood Tempering Method, or Breathing Method—only books analyzing the essentials of cultivation.

Only the Spirit Tower had a collection of Meditation Methods. Perhaps some great lineages had them as well, then reproduced them with special machines.

Blood Tempering Methods and Breathing Methods, meanwhile, were precious "products" that had to be purchased with money.

Duke applied for a library card, preparing to borrow a batch of books from the Spirit Society.

He had only recently learned that the Spirit Society also had a library. As long as one applied for a library card and paid a small fee, one could borrow a large number of books from its collection.

It was far more cost-effective than buying books.

After all.

No matter how profound a book was, Duke only needed to read it once and have Xiao Yi collect it into her database. There was no need to read it repeatedly for comprehension, so there was no need to buy the books and take them home for study.

"If I'd known sooner, I could have saved at least fifty Silver Dragons on books!"

Duke took out his Spirit Dragon Card and paid fifteen Copper Dragons, borrowing five books from the library.

The borrowing fee was one Copper Dragon per book per day.

All five books were quite thin, and he could finish them in a day. After all, his previous life had trained him through countless webnovels, and reading ten lines at a glance had become instinctive.

By nightfall, he had indeed finished all five books.

"Xiao Yi, after collecting so much knowledge about cultivating the Blood Sea, can you calculate whether you can help me open my Blood Sea now?" Duke asked mentally while teasing the Long-Haired Mongoose, whose eyes had not yet opened.

Xiao Yi replied, "After systematic calculations, Xiao Yi judges that even if opening the Blood Sea fails once, there will still be a possibility of opening it a second time. However, Xiao Yi still needs more knowledge related to the Blood Sea. It would be best if Master purchased a Blood Tempering Method, allowing Xiao Yi's system to understand the entire Blood Sea cultivation process and then formulate an opening plan."

"Buy a Blood Tempering Method... That won't be cheap." Duke felt a pang of pain.

His Spirit Dragon Card account currently held ten and a half Gold Dragons, thanks to Mr. Robney's final sponsorship. At least two and a half Gold Dragons had to be set aside for the various expenses of Little Sam's Card Shop.

In other words, he could only take out eight Gold Dragons to buy a Blood Tempering Method.

"Eight Gold Dragons should be enough to buy an ordinary one."

To catch a wolf, one had to be willing to part with the child. Duke was not the sort to hesitate endlessly. For even the slightest possibility of opening his Blood Sea, he made up his mind without a second word.

The next morning.

He rose early and shook awake the Long-Haired Mongoose cub, which was still sleeping soundly. Spirit Beasts were powerful, so their cubs had much longer growth periods than ordinary beasts.

"Chirp, chirp." The little cub could already make faint cries.

Its eyes were about to open as well.

Duke placed the nipple against the little cub's mouth and muttered, "I hope you'll be able to open your eyes by the time I get back... I heard that when a Spirit Beast opens its eyes, it can recognize its master. In any case, you'll recognize me as your master from now on. If I open my Blood Sea, we'll form a contract at the first opportunity... If I can't open my Blood Sea, I'll find you a good knight."

After feeding the Long-Haired Mongoose cub until it was full, Duke prepared another bottle of formula and left it in the box.

The route between Snakehead Town and Chen Jiao City only had two Black Beetle Car trips, one in the morning and one at noon, so he basically had to spend a night away every time before he could return.

After making these preparations, he stuffed the box back into the ceiling.

That way, even if someone broke into his room, it would be difficult for them to discover that he was raising a 2-Ring Spirit Beast cub there.

Toot-toot-toot!

The Black Beetle Car sounded its horn and trundled slowly along the route.

"Have you heard? A mercenary group entered Emerald Sea Valley and discovered a Spirit Spring. They say it's even a Medium Spirit Spring!" someone chatted on the car.

"Is the news reliable?"

"I don't know. I have a relative in the Black Snake Family's patrol Knight Team. He was the one who told me. This news should only be known within the Black Snake Family, right?"

"If they really found a Medium Spirit Spring, they might launch another small-scale Pioneer War. But the Black Snake Family doesn't have a 3-Ring expert. With only two 2-Ring lords, I'm afraid they aren't qualified to launch a Pioneer War."

"But the Black Snake Family could sell the news. Then Snakehead Town wouldn't be located at the very frontier anymore, and the pressure of defending it would drop sharply. The lineage could devote itself fully to development."

"Who knows?"

It was merely a rumor, and after a few exchanges, the discussion died down.

Duke, however, sank into thought. He was a transmigrator, and the original Duke he had replaced was an orphan left behind by the previous Pioneer War to conquer the Black Snake Lair.

He had asked quite a few people about it and learned a great deal about the war to conquer the Black Snake Lair.

It had begun nearly thirty years ago. Quite a few people had come from Chen Jiao City and several surrounding cities, hoping to get a share of the spoils from the Pioneer War.

Some people had indeed made fortunes and earned merit.

But far more people had been buried in the earth around Snakehead Town.

At the time, this place had been the lair of a 5-Ring Spirit Beast—the Multi-headed Black-necked Snake—which had occupied a Medium Spirit Spring. After the Multi-headed Black-necked Snake was destroyed, the newly ennobled Black Snake Family built Snakehead Town above the Spirit Spring.

Duke's parents had gone to the newly established Snakehead Town to make a living during that period.

Unfortunately, the dangers in the surrounding area had not yet been completely cleared.

The couple had been bitten to death by invading Spirit Beasts, leaving behind the infant Duke. He was adopted by the town's welfare institute until the age of ten, and only then was the Pioneer War to conquer the Black Snake Lair officially declared over.

Over the next five years, Duke was thrown out by the welfare institute and drifted through several factories as a child laborer.

He could not eat his fill or dress warmly, yet he had to perform exhausting, backbreaking labor.

If he did not work, he did not get to eat.

When he was almost unable to catch his breath under the strain,

he happened to see that Little Sam's Card Shop was hiring apprentices. Duke ran over to apply, and kindhearted Old Sam took him in as an apprentice. He worked there for a year and a half.

"Pioneer War... I wonder how many more people will be buried in a foreign land." Duke shook his head.

There was no way he would participate in a Pioneer War, even if someone beat him to death.

Of course, part of him was actually looking forward to it. If a Pioneer War really broke out, Snakehead Town would definitely become a frontline supply transfer station. By then, the Card Repair Shop's business would surely skyrocket.

After a long, jolting, groggy ride, he finally arrived safely in Chen Jiao City once more.

Billowing black smoke was blown toward the outskirts of the city by a constant wind-element spell. Even so, Chen Jiao City did not reveal a clear blue sky. Under the sunlight, dust particles could be seen filling the air.

The sprawling factories brought vigorous life to the city, but they also brought it heavy pollution.

Duke did not delay at all. He bought two simple flatbreads from a roadside stall, gnawed on them while boarding a tram, and hurried toward the nearby Knight Monastery.

Blood Tempering Methods were the Knight Monastery's exclusive monopoly business.