Buying Cultivation Insights

After killing two Mermen in quick succession, the air around them reeked of their fishy stench.

Molly stood at the doorway, the hand gripping her knife still trembling violently.

Charles's heart pounded like a drum.

But he had no time to think. He rushed to the door, stuck his head out, and looked outside.

There were no other Mermen in the nearby corridor, though he could hear Mermen farther away.

Charles looked back at the bloodstained room and knew they definitely could not stay there.

Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed Molly and dashed into a nearby empty room whose door had already been smashed open by the Mermen.

He pulled Molly behind the broken-open door and crouched with her in a corner.

Their original room contained corpses and the smell of blood. Charles did not dare gamble on whether a Merman might enter to investigate.

On the other hand, the Mermen might not bother checking a room whose door had already been smashed open.

The two of them huddled in the cramped corner. Molly was so frightened that she clung tightly to Charles.

All she could smell was the scent of Merman blood staining Charles's body.

At that moment, Charles felt nothing remotely alluring. His light armor blocked everything out.

Besides, he was incredibly tense, both ears straining to listen to the sounds nearby.

He could hear Mermen moving around, their guttural babbling, and even battles breaking out in other rooms with smashed-open doors.

Charles had won his gamble. No Mermen came to inspect this room with its broken door for the time being.

Not even their original room was opened and searched by any Mermen.

That allowed Charles to relax slightly.

The disturbance caused by the Mermen had subjected the entire ship to a terrifying assault.

The whole ordeal lasted at least over an hour.

As the fighting in the ship's upper cabins gradually subsided and fell silent,

a long horn call sounded from the depths of the sea.

At the sound of the horn, the Mermen around them seemed to have received a signal to withdraw.

Guttural Merman cries rang out everywhere, accompanied by the sounds of many Mermen moving swiftly.

Before long, splashes of bodies diving into the water reached their ears.

More than ten minutes later, the ship had become completely silent. There was no sound at all, only dead stillness all around.

Charles slowly released Molly from his embrace, carefully shifted his body, then poked his head out.

It was still pitch-black outside, and there was nothing left around them.

Charles pulled his head back in and tried to shut the door.

Though the Mermen seemed to have left, who knew whether they might come back for another attack?

But the bolt had been smashed apart, and the door could not be locked at all.

Charles turned to Molly and whispered, "We need to return to our original room. We can't stay here."

In the darkness, Molly nodded repeatedly without saying a word.

Holding his sword, Charles slowly stepped out of the room. As he passed through the corridor, he could clearly feel a sticky sensation beneath his feet.

It was obviously the slime left behind as the Mermen moved around.

After returning to their original room, Charles dragged the Merman corpses to the doorway, wiped the blood from the floor with Molly's blanket, then tossed it outside as well.

Only after shutting the door did Charles finally let out a long breath.

He said quietly, "We're finally safe!"

Molly sat on Charles's bed nearby, and only then could she no longer hold back her soft sobs.

She was not crying solely because of the terror of that night. The friends she had originally formed a team with were probably all dead by now.

After she finished crying, she said blankly, "Where's my blanket?"

Charles waved a hand dismissively. "I don't know. I didn't see it either. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Don't disturb me while I recover."

Once everything had quieted down, Charles noticed that his Wu Duo Duo Mall had changed.

His Soul Coin balance, which had originally been zero, had now become 2 Soul Coins.

The hand holding his sword tightened involuntarily as he mused, I killed two Mermen, so I gained two Soul Coins.

Soul Coins really can only be obtained by killing and plundering souls!

He had no time to consider the implications behind it. All he wanted now was to shop as quickly as possible.

He opened the merchant listings in Wuduo and found the second merchant:

Isata Academy Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice: Wood

Although Charles was interested in Wood's other products as well, he simply could not afford them now.

His entire fortune consisted of only two Soul Coins, plus a 49.9 Soul Coin hundred-billion subsidy coupon.

There was no need to hesitate. If he was buying, he would buy the most expensive one.

This Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice cultivation insight should include the Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice portion, right?

Even if it did not, it was no problem. He absolutely could not waste the coupon money. If he could not buy the right one, then he would buy the expensive one!

Charles directly placed an order for Wood's Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice cultivation insight: 50 Soul Coins.

"Ding!"

"Product order successful!"

"Merchant is shipping!"

The next moment, 0.1 Soul Coins were deducted from Charles's balance, and the coupon vanished at the same time.

Then clumps of chaotic knowledge began appearing in Charles's mind.

His head suddenly felt intensely swollen, as if his brain were about to grow larger.

Charles, who had been resting against the bed, hurriedly supported his head with one hand, shut his eyes tightly, and endured the pain of knowledge suddenly being forced into his mind.

His head hurt terribly, yet his thoughts gradually became clearer. The knowledge that had initially seemed disordered was slowly being sorted out into something Charles could understand.

In the darkness, Molly had already drifted into a drowsy sleep.

But Charles quietly opened his eyes and wiped away the faint trickle of blood from beneath his nose.

His eyes were filled with nothing but joy.

This purchase had been worth it. In his mind, he now had Wood's cultivation insights for the Second-Rank, Third-Rank, and even Charles's current stage.

Though these cultivation insights could not directly improve Charles's strength, they were equivalent to placing a cultivation guide right in front of him.

They could not grant Charles all the experience outright, but they were like a set of notes. As long as he studied them carefully, they could accelerate his cultivation. (Note 1)

With the cultivation experience of someone who had succeeded, Charles could at least save a great deal of time in his future training.

The doubts and confusion he had encountered during cultivation before were now mostly understood.

But there were still some difficult points that even Wood had not figured out.

Charles pondered for a moment and quickly understood the reason.

Wood himself was only a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice. Even on this ship, he was not at the top of the food chain.

On the true Wizard Continent, he probably amounted to nothing at all—a mere nobody.

Like Charles, he was a beginner on the path of wizardry.

Wood did not truly know much more; he simply knew more than Charles did.

If Charles wanted more detailed cultivation insights, he could probably purchase products from stronger wizard merchants in the future.

But for now, Wood's were enough. With these insights, he could guarantee that he would become a Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice within a few days!

Note 1: Cultivation insights and meditation method insights were realizations and notes. The spells and meditation methods that needed to be learned still had to be learned.

It was like a student having only notes without textbooks to refer to—they would not be very useful.