Gilan awoke from her sleep and opened her eyes.
Those eyes reflected the Cross-Sword Bonfire, and the torrential rain outside the window.
The faint flame seemed to struggle and resist in the storm, but it gradually dwindled and became precarious.
He sat on the edge of the bed, silently holding his head, and bent over.
After a while.
Beneath his disheveled blond hair, his eyes were half-closed, like two deep pools.
'Climbing to the second-tier Origin Rank " Foundation " requires allowing the spirit to accommodate more cosmic elements, making the spiritual essence more complete.'
'The upper limit of spiritual capacity cannot be directly increased; it can only be achieved through the enhancement of Gnosis, which in turn drives spirituality to rise.'
' The Iron Thorn Meditation Method has reached the highest proficiency level, " Twelve Thorns." Using it to hone Gnosis is extremely efficient. With consistent daily practice, I believe one will soon reach the required level.'
'But the process of absorbing cosmic elements is still too slow; it can't keep up.'
To use a vivid analogy, this process is like a wooden bucket filling with water.
Refining Gnosis is like forging longer planks to build a larger bucket, representing a greater capacity for spirituality. However, the efficiency of absorbing cosmic elements remains constant; the water flows gently, and the time required to fill the bucket is still very long.
'Therefore, I must find a way to quickly gather the mysterious ingredients for the " Wick Potion," refine it, and consume it to accelerate the absorption of cosmic elements.'
Gilan's thoughts raced.
Only by taking a two-pronged approach can we climb to the second level as soon as possible.
Only in this way can the Kingdom Brand be solidified, allowing the friends dwelling by the Cross-Sword Bonfire to survive.
He clenched his fists, staring blankly out the window at the rainy night.
"Tomorrow, I'll go find the black market dealer..."
*
*
*
late at night.
Gilan was wide awake.
He sat cross-legged on the bed and silently practiced the meditation technique once.
In my mind, I visualized a black iron sphere rotating and writhing.
Suddenly, twelve ferocious spikes burst forth.
boom!!
Thanks to the intense pain in his heart, it superimposed on the phantom pain of the " Twelve Thorns " once again, recreating the scene in the hotel.
The surrounding environment seemed to stand still, and all the pain was left behind.
Gilan fell into a detached, detached state of observation, watching her own body suffer torment behind closed curtains.
His sense of pity grew stronger.
But this time, Gilan did not stand idly by.
Without hesitation, he rushed towards himself, desperately trying to regain control of his body and forcefully break free from that feeling of floating.
"Ho!!"
As soon as Gilan returned, she was overwhelmed by pain.
His eyes were wide open, and veins were bulging on his face.
But the next second...
But his face contorted, revealing a maniacal laugh.
Gilan didn't faint from the pain; on the contrary, she seemed to enjoy the pain!
The phantom pain deep within his body, mind, and even soul overshadowed the pain in his heart, bringing him a brief moment of peace and solace.
he...
I've actually come to enjoy the intense phantom pains brought on by meditation!
Gilan gritted her teeth, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
He opened his mouth wide again and let out a silent, maniacal laugh.
a long time.
Wait until the meditation practice is complete.
Gilan trembled all over, her muscles twitched, and tears streamed down her face.
He vaguely sensed that his own Gnosis had increased slightly.
"Huff..." Panting heavily, Gilan picked up a handkerchief from the bedside table and wiped the secretions off her face. "Good, good..."
After a short rest, he immediately opened his mind and exposed his spirituality to the "vision" of the cosmic elements.
Gilan leaned against the headboard and closed her eyes.
But in his spiritual vision, crimson light spots floated and moved around him, coming at the sound of his voice, and then fell like rain, entering his body.
The fire element continued to gather and merge into his spirituality, further coloring the spirituality that was originally emitting a faint red glow...
The scarlet glow grew even more vivid and dazzling.
After a while.
Gilan has finished her spiritual practice.
He didn't want to waste a single second, so he dragged his tired body out of bed.
After fiddling with the projector at the base of the wall, he unfolded the rolled-up screen and hung it on the opposite wall.
With a burst of colorful light twisting in his palm, a reel of black film appeared and he placed it on the projector.
After inserting the Mercury Battery, Gilan flipped the switch.
Click.
Hiss...
The nearly new projector started running, its oscillating shuttle spinning, and a beam of light from the lightbox shone onto the screen.
Gilan didn't stand on ceremony and simply sat down on the ground.
But instead of watching the film immediately, he rubbed the sapphire ring on his middle finger with his thumb and whispered in a hoarse voice:
" Vivi."
Whoosh!
A tiny figure flew out of the ring.
"Master, Vivi is here."
A succulent little figure flapped its wings and hovered in front of Gilan, responding with a playful laugh.
Gilan extended his index finger and patted the familiar's head.
He plans to conduct an experiment.
While watching The Rongdeng Great Plague #2, he realized he couldn't bring Vivi from the ring into the movie. But he hadn't yet tried having his familiar watch the movie with him.
According to the principles of film viewing, those with sufficient Gnosis can feel immersed and enter the world of a film True Film Reel. Demons generally possess higher Gnosis and thus meet this requirement, but as spirits, it is unknown whether they can descend into the world of film.
"Come on, let's watch the movie together."
Gilan pointed to the curtain.
In the movie scene, a horse-drawn carriage slowly approaches the town from a distance.
This is exactly the opening scene of the film " Black Lake ".
"Yes, Master."
Vivi, looking adorable, flew to sit on Gilan's shoulder. Her two slender, long legs swayed back and forth, her hands supporting her chin, her dark, bright eyes intently gazing at the curtain.
One person and one familiar, and that's how the movie began.
After a brief moment of disorientation.
Gilan blinked and found himself sitting on the metal bench of the public carriage. Turning his head, he saw the small figure still sitting on his shoulder.
"Master! We came in together!"
Vivi looked around curiously, then exclaimed to Gilan with delight.
Gilan did not respond, but she did give a faint smile.
He thought to himself:
'It seems my guess was right.'
As the carriage moved along, the girl sitting opposite spoke up:
"Thank you so much for accompanying me on this long journey to ' Fayelan ' to find my parents."
"You're welcome," Gilan replied casually.
As usual, the female lead, Fima, took out a bottle of sparkling water from her backpack and handed it to Gilan.
"Have some water, this is..."
Before Fima could finish speaking, Gilan uncapped the bottle and drank it down.
Glug, glug.
"Burp." He finished the whole bottle of apple juice sparkling water in one gulp, let out a burp, and said, "It tastes good, thank you."
Now that Gilan is Spirit Mystic, protected by the Mind Kingdom, she won't suffer any negative mystical effects, let alone this beverage with its low lake water content. Even if she drank the lake water directly until she was full, she wouldn't be affected by any negative mystical influences.
The lake water is currently of no benefit to him.
The benefit is increased Gnosis.
Although the improvement was extremely slight, Gilan accepted all offers.
When Fima saw him drinking so heartily, she was taken aback at first, then covered her mouth and laughed.
A moment later.
The public carriage stopped in front of the Black Lake Inn.
Gilan, however, flipped over and leaped directly from the two-meter-high back seat, landing steadily on the street. Then, to Fima's astonishment, he turned and walked along the other side of the street.
Without turning his head, he said:
"You stay at the hotel first, I'll go check out the local Tourism Bureau."
"Ah... okay." Fima looked confused.
Gilan walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, thinking to himself that he only had one Mercury Battery left and he needed to get as many Mystery Points as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Of the three rolls of True Film Reel he had, < Black Lake > was the easiest, but it contained quite a few Mystery Points. The Lake God Cult and the Prisoner Monster no longer posed any threat to him at this stage.
So...
Unleash a massacre!
Brute force to clear the game!
Gilan's eyes were indifferent.
Climbing to the second level of the " Path of the Flaming Sword " can only be done through meditation and potions.
Meditation once a day is necessary; it can't be rushed. The mysterious ingredients needed for the potion won't be found anytime soon.
But we can't just stand still.
So he decided to first collect Mystery Points from the film and upgrade his Body Tempering Technique to the fourth stage as soon as possible.
With strength, things become easier.
"Master, there are people spying on us in the alley to the left, behind the second-floor window of the general store, behind the door of the red brick house to the right, on the second and third floors of the clothing store, and on the rooftop."
At this moment, Vivi, who was sitting on Gilan's shoulder, flew up and flapped her wings towards him.
"Okay." Gilan grinned.
He gently raised his hand, and a ferocious axe seemed to slide out of his sleeve, falling into his hand accompanied by colorful light.
Ding!
Clang!
Gilan suddenly lunged forward, leaping and pushing off the wall to easily climb onto the iron frame signboard of the grocery store on the left. He then smashed through the window with a bang and rushed into the second-floor room.
Amidst the gasps of astonishment from passersby.
Inside the room, a stubble-bearded man, his bloodshot eyes glaring, had his forehead brutally smashed open with an axe!