Experimentation and Research

The boy awoke from his slumber, rubbing his bleary eyes as he gazed out the window of the humble room.

Dusk was deepening, the sunset glow fading into the distance.

Staring at the dim, lingering clouds on the horizon, Ye Chen remained lost in thought for a long while before realizing that it had already been dark before he went to bed, and now that it was sunset again, did this not mean he had slept for an entire day?

Ye Chen tidied himself up and walked to the prayer hall, where he found Lyle sitting quietly before the statue as usual. Upon asking, he learned that he had actually been lying in bed for three consecutive days—far more exaggerated than he had anticipated.

"No need to be alarmed. After all, you only awakened your Auling Power a few days ago. Going through two high-intensity real-combat sessions in a row would naturally place a heavy burden on your body."

Lyle sat on the bench, his tone calm as he explained.

"But it was all worth it, for real combat is the most efficient form of training. After a day of fighting and three days of rest, the compatibility between your body and your Auling Power must have improved significantly."

Ye Chen nodded. After waking up this time, he had indeed felt the active, flowing Auling Power within him the moment he stirred. Its abundance far exceeded what it had been before, making his physical body feel much stronger.

"Now, it is time for you to learn General Spirit Art, and this will be your final Hunter lesson. Once you have mastered the most basic General Spirit Art, we will proceed to the third trial, after which you will be able to leave this Eternal Winter Hidden Domain."

Ye Chen listened silently to Lyle's words, his fingers curling into a tight grip.

"Spirit Art is an advanced method of utilizing Auling Power, and it is divided into Innate Spirit Art and General Spirit Art."

"Innate Spirit Art is obtained automatically by everyone after experiencing a Labyrinth Nightmare. It manifests different abilities based on one's spiritual essence—like your blood. Everyone can basically only possess one set of this type of art; it is easy to enter, but difficult to master."

"General Spirit Art, however, is a skill system that any Sensor who has experienced a Labyrinth Nightmare has the chance to learn. It has a high threshold, consists of a vast and complex variety of types, and is difficult to enter, but easy to master."

"What I require you to learn now are the most basic General Spirit Arts. Come find me once you have retrieved the contents of this scroll."

After saying this, Lyle handed Ye Chen a white cloth handkerchief.

Ye Chen took the handkerchief and examined it closely, discovering a strange rune printed on its surface in blue ink. It faintly emitted a peculiar force field, causing the Auling Power flowing within him to surge and fluctuate as if drawn to it.

The boy returned to his room, curiously inspecting the thin handkerchief before gripping it tightly, channeling his surging Auling Power through his fingertips onto the surface of the cloth.

He then discovered that the strange rune instantly absorbed all of this energy, and the rune itself quickly began to glow.

Ye Chen was both surprised and delighted, waiting quietly.

However, the glow of the rune lasted only a moment before fading away. The room fell into silence; nothing else happened.

Ye Chen scratched his head in confusion and channeled his Auling Power toward the strange rune once more.

This time, he specifically increased the volume of his Auling Power input, but aside from extending the duration of the rune's glow for a brief moment, Ye Chen still achieved no results.

"Huh?"

His thirst for knowledge thoroughly ignited, the boy began to try various things with the handkerchief. Yet, even when he squeezed his internal Auling Power until almost nothing remained, the handkerchief showed no change.

Ye Chen propped up his chin, feeling somewhat unwilling, but since his power was exhausted, no matter how reluctant he was, he had no choice but to go to bed with a sense of frustration.

The dawn of the second day arrived. A good night's sleep restored the Auling Power in Ye Chen's body to its original state, granting him the capital to continue exploring the mysterious handkerchief.

However, Ye Chen was like a gambler; it didn't take long for him to squander his newly acquired power, and the handkerchief remained unmoved.

"This doesn't work. That doesn't work either."

With his chips spent, the boy sat on the edge of the bed, staring intently at the small handkerchief that had wasted so much of his time and effort. He began to rack his brain, constantly changing his methods to find the key to unlocking the mystery of the handkerchief.

As dusk fell, Ye Chen knew he had to give up for the day. He performed some simple physical training before climbing back onto the wooden bed, replenishing his Auling Power through sleep.

It seemed that this energy derived from dreams could only be replenished through dreams.

On the third day, Ye Chen made a bold attempt: he channeled all the Auling Power he had accumulated throughout the night into the white cloth handkerchief all at once.

This adventurous idea finally led Ye Chen to a major discovery: the brightness of the light emitted by the rune on the handkerchief varied depending on the rate of Auling Power input per unit of time.

These differences were very subtle, and it was only when Ye Chen poured all his Auling Power in at once that he could observe the change in the rune's brightness.

At the same time, Ye Chen noticed that the moment the rune was at its brightest was not when the rate of Auling Power input was at its highest.

The haze gradually cleared, and the path ahead became clear. Understanding what he needed to do, the boy rested for a night to replenish his experimental materials. On the fourth day, he immediately set to work recording the precise value of the Auling Power input rate required for the rune's brightest moment, and attempted to maintain that peak brightness.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, when a nervous Ye Chen fed his Auling Power into the white cloth handkerchief at a precise speed, steadily and orderly, and caused the strange rune to bloom with a high-intensity light for a full three seconds, the rune finally underwent a brand-new change beyond just glowing.

In an instant, a circular array filled with obscure characters appeared above it. At the same time, a black shadow, far larger than the handkerchief, emerged from thin air in the center of the array and descended toward Ye Chen.

"Ugh!?"

Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise, quickly reaching out his arms to catch it.

Feeling the lightness in his palms, he inspected the mysterious object that had emerged from the thin handkerchief, only to discover that it was a pure black cloak engraved with golden patterns.

The boy stared in astonishment at this treasure from the void, the corners of his mouth quickly curling upward due to the joy he could not hide.

After five full days of groping in the dark, he had finally solved the puzzle of the handkerchief and achieved a decent result.

Just as Ye Chen was about to report his success to Lyle with the joy of a solved mystery, his fingertips, which were pressed against the cloak and inadvertently emitting Auling Power, suddenly felt a distinct vibration.

Following that, the cloak floated up, detached itself from the boy's hands, and, as if it had suddenly gained life, hovered slowly in front of him.