Chapter 396 : Chapter 396

Chapter 396: Crude Research on the Reverse Summoning Spell

Of course... the result of trying was nothing but wishful thinking.

After casting the spell, I couldn't even perceive the Teleportation Markers.

It seemed that ordinary Teleportation Spells couldn't cross worlds.

So why was that?

And... why could the Summoning Spell cross worlds for teleportation?

Was a Summoning Spell inherently more powerful than simple fixed-point teleportation?

Unfortunately, no one was here to answer these questions for me.

Everything had to rely on myself.

Putting aside these unrealistic doubts, I started going through the contents of my Memory Bookshelf Spellbook.

I knew that I hadn't fully understood the creation of that Spellbook using the rune at the time, but I would understand it eventually, and that eventual time was now.

I was forced to understand it now.

And this time, without the Dream State to offer infinite chances for trial and error, it was even harder.

Even if I used the Nightmare Spell to enter a dream and try, it would be useless, because the dream here did not anchor to reality, so the dream would not adhere to the actual physical and transcendent laws of reality.

Any attempt would be meaningless.

In a dream, I could destroy a planet with a single Fireball.

Did that have any reference value in reality?

Definitely not.

However, repeatedly observing the Academy Head's process of completing the spell and constantly scrutinizing the underlying principles was the only thing I could do now.

But my persistent desire to take a shortcut made me constantly wonder if there was any other method to help me while I was reviewing my memory.

For example... the Earth Vein System?

The Portable Earth Vein Operating System that Teacher Ji Niang gave me was currently collecting dust in my Storage Equipment.

I took it out and started it up.

A light screen immediately appeared in front of me.

If the start-up succeeded, it would be a major victory!

If only I had understood the principles of this Earth Vein System properly back then.

Then I wouldn't be completely clueless now, reduced to relying on sheer chance and praying for the system to work here.

It felt like a person with a mobile phone transmigrating to another world and checking to see if they could connect to the internet.

If Teacher Ji Niang or the Academy Head saw this, they would probably laugh at me.

But the Earth Vein System relied on the Earth Vein to operate.

Since every world has an Earth Vein, I naturally had to give it a try.

I waited for the system to boot up.

The process was long, but at a certain moment, I zoned out.

"Is it done?"

I sighed softly.

Then, a black Spirit Cat appeared beside me.

It had no sentience; it was merely a spell-created effect, but it now became my only pastime.

Petting a cat.

Who would have thought that such a docile cat's claws could kill an ordinary person with a single strike?

But now, petting the cat was the only way I could relax without losing my focus.

As the Earth Vein System finished loading, a prompt popped up: "Earth Vein Link Mismatch."

"Sure enough... this Earth Vein System must be built on the Main World's Earth Vein."

I sighed, recalling the Academy Head saying that world fusion would cause the Earth Vein to be grafted or something.

Perhaps it would only be usable in this world then.

Just as I was about to turn off the Earth Vein System and dismiss the prompt, the system entered the normal operating interface!

"Huh? Wait... why is 'Link Mismatch' being followed by... Oh, is it that the Earth Vein can supply power, but it can't provide internet service?"

I tentatively tested it.

Multi-terminal system links, information queries, Academy System login, library searches, and so on, were all unusable.

So... the Earth Vein System had become a stand-alone system...

But... it seemed like it wasn't completely useless?

I tried opening the virtual software for constructing Spellbooks and found that it could open.

Even the cached 3D models for the Fireball Spellbook structure from before were still there.

Looking at the Fireball Spell model now, it seemed quite crude from my current perspective.

This at least indicated that my perspective had broadened and my technical skills had improved.

"It seems the heavens aren't leaving me without a path after all."

I operated it with delight.

With the assistance of the Earth Vein System, my speed increased.

When I was researching with the Academy Head, she barely used the Earth Vein System, opting for cranial computation to pursue efficiency, which is why I couldn't keep up.

Now that the Academy Head wasn't nearby, I was much more relaxed.

Of course, many puzzles remained unsolved, but for some reason, I was starting to enjoy this feeling of encountering difficulty... The satisfaction of solving it using all my accumulated knowledge was genuinely delightful!

Perhaps this was a change in mindset.

With the Memory Bookshelf, the things I perceived were my knowledge reserves, but they were just reserves—clutter stacked up, in fact.

Only when I utilized them, and used them to solve difficulties and problems, did I truly feel that the knowledge belonged to me.

I guess cheating with spells was too fast; there was no time for accumulation...

If I had enough time for accumulation, my mentality wouldn't be so unstable.

As time passed, it was already noon.

I finally had some grasp of the Reverse Summoning Spell.

It was different from any spell I had encountered before, and I currently had no reference materials or literature related to summoning spells.

So, progress was slow.

But it wasn't nonexistent.

For example... I figured out the spell's operation mechanism.

Although I didn't want to complain, this Summoning Spell was also a fixed-point summon.

In my understanding, it was a Teleportation Spell disguised as a Summoning Spell.

However, this Summoning Spell was indeed more powerful than a Teleportation Spell.

But there was no helping it; the mechanism was what it was.

It used a higher-level mechanism than a Teleportation Spell to achieve a similar effect.

It was genuinely stealing its job.

The next thing I needed to do was... actively condense the summoning rune of this spell.

Only by mastering this could I be considered to have mastered the basics of using this Reverse Summoning Spell.

This was a threshold.

It was like the usage threshold for the Memory Bookshelf Spellbook, which required self-constructing a personal, linked spell space and building memory shelves.

This was the usage threshold.

The Academy Head created this Spellbook, yet she didn't mention this point to me at all.

I was now certain the Academy Head knew this, but she deliberately didn't tell me!

Being a riddle speaker is one thing, but this was too much...

I sighed, temporarily stopping my research on the Summoning Spell.

During my research, I heard various noises intermittently coming from outside.

The inn had very poor sound insulation.

I could hear noises from the room next door and even the room two doors down, including the sounds of men and women playing on the bed.

Not to mention the noise from outside.

The fact that such a secluded place had so many Secret Diggers fighting showed how rampant they were.

But this was only the daily routine here.

No wonder there were so few people on the streets even during the day, and so many tramps and hooligans at night and even early morning.

They were taking turns, weren't they?

Clearly, the hooligans also knew the Secret Diggers were not to be provoked, which was why they only dared to come out at night.

But could they really collect protection money at night?

I was very skeptical.

Could they be robbing tramps on the street?

But the living conditions of the people at the bottom always hit new lows.

Every time I witnessed it, it broke my perception.

Just like the Ninglan New City Underground City before, those people could at least set up tents and had a home.

The tramps in this world slept directly in alleyways and corners.

Even those were the lucky ones.

Some just wrapped themselves in rags and found a sheltered corner on the street to spend the night.

I opened the door and went back to Qiu Ruxin's room.

I wondered if she had woken up.

It was already noon.

I needed to get her some food and water.

My purse was light.

I really needed a way to get some money.

Robbing was still not a good idea, and it was inefficient.

Unless... I robbed the rich.

But then, the large amount of money would be ill-gotten and difficult to manage.

I dismissed these thoughts and pushed open the door.

I saw Qiu Ruxin, who was already awake, looking at the doorway with vigilance.

Only after seeing me did her vigilant expression relax.

"Little Han Sis, it's you."

"Mhm. You don't need to be so defensive. I've inscribed the door with spells. Ordinary people can't open it."

"It's mainly to be safe..."

"Anyway, let's leave it at that. How are you? Did you rest well?"

"I'm alright. At least my mind isn't sluggish anymore."

Qiu Ruxin said, rubbing her head.

Clearly, she hadn't rested very well.

After all, after experiencing such an upheaval, who could just sleep soundly?

Who knew if they would die in their sleep and never wake up?

"That's good. What are you planning for today? I plan to get a lot of money to improve our living conditions. Do you have any channels?"

After all, having money was the key to functioning in this world.

With money, I could go wherever I wanted, buy terminals for the Plant Network, and easily learn the language and script of this world.

I had now realized the importance of money.

Speaking of money, I still had a lot of Arcanite Gold and Mithril.

Logically, these precious metals could be exchanged for money, but I didn't want to exchange such precious things for this world's currency.

It was too wasteful.

It was safe to say we were only short of the initial primitive accumulation of wealth as startup capital.

They say the initial accumulation of wealth is stained with blood and tears, and it certainly seemed so now.

"Making money?"

"If it's the usual, step-by-step way of making money, forget it..."

My gaze looked out the window.

I had withdrawn the Soundproof Spell from Qiu Ruxin's room, so the sounds of the fighting outside made me very curious.

"By the way, those Secret Diggers—is no one managing them, acting so recklessly? Your so-called Investigative Squad or something—aren't they arresting them?"

"They are arresting them, but... it's just for show. Lanath Island's Investigative Squad is just a decoration. Lanath Island hasn't had a war for a long time. Neither the army nor the Investigative Squad has much real combat experience, and their salaries are low. How could they possibly risk their lives against those people?"

"Oh... bullying the weak and fearing the strong?"

I asked with a smile.

"Yes, that's what it means."

"What if they provoked the local rich, broke into their little treasury, or robbed a luxury store? Do they not care then either?"

I continued to probe.

"Of course, they don't care. They simply can't afford to manage it. However, if those Secret Diggers really did that, then... they would face not the Investigative Squad, but the professional mercenaries hired by those rich people as bodyguards, or... even the rich people's own private armies. These people are not just putting on a show like the Investigative Squad."

"Mercenaries? Private armies? Your world is truly chaotic. But... can those Secret Diggers actually be suppressed by a fully armed army? Their strength doesn't seem that high..."

"It takes an entire unit to suppress a single person or a small team, and even then, there would be heavy casualties. So, mercenaries and other such means are just deterrents. If a conflict truly breaks out, it means those Explorers... Secret Diggers are absolutely confident they can pull the job off. So, even then, there needs to be a compromise. The value of those goods is not worth the casualty compensation."

"Well, that's... hard to describe."

I sighed.

I had to say, this place felt like a criminal's paradise.

The rich even held private armies?

"By the way, actually, most Secret Diggers have international arrest warrants and high bounties on their heads. It's just that, most of the time, no one dares to provoke those Secret Diggers just for the bounty."

"Arrest warrants and bounties? That makes it even more interesting!"

Hearing Qiu Ruxin's addition, I immediately felt more intrigued.

Instantly, many plans I wouldn't have dared to think of before flooded my mind.

"By the way, do those Secret Diggers have any obvious means of identification? Are you not afraid of someone impersonating them to commit arson, murder, robbery, or a 'zero-dollar purchase'?"

Since I hadn't seen the Secret Diggers myself, I didn't know what they looked like.

"That... should be unlikely. The methods of those Secret Diggers are all very unique. Anyone trying to impersonate them would be seen through immediately."

"Unique methods? Can you tell me about them?"

"Um... you're not planning to impersonate those Secret Diggers, are you?"

Qiu Ruxin asked cautiously.

"If possible, naturally I would. After all, if I want to change the current situation, I need the most primitive form of accumulation, and the acquisition of that startup capital is often stained with blood and filth."

"Okay, but can you please be careful? I don't want to lose another..."

"Of course."

I replied resolutely.

But at the same time, a hint of surprise flashed in my eyes when I heard Qiu Ruxin's determined agreement.

I had been wondering how to persuade her to join me.

I hadn't expected this girl to be so decisive.

It seemed this girl, who was not good with words but had a rich inner world, was also an "ambitionist."

She was just unable to demonstrate her inner vibrancy due to her current weakness.

In fact, the moment she spoke the words "kill" and then acted on it, I should have realized that Qiu Ruxin was not an ordinary girl.

She was stronger than I expected and, although currently weak, would sometimes display a maiden's fragility.

If I brought her into the Witch Academy, she might perform better than most students!

I wondered if the Witch Academy was still accepting students.

After all, I was capable of implanting a Magic Power Source in others now!

I just didn't know what the consequences would be if I implanted one in her.

Since she was the Child of Destiny of this world, would the World Will go insane if she was assimilated into a witch?

Moreover, I still couldn't confirm if this world was the one that was about to merge with the Main World.

If it was, I felt I wouldn't have many reservations.

If it wasn't... with the limitation of her Seed of Destiny and the Earth Vein Chains, she would never be able to reach the Witch Academy.

Even if she could, the cost would be immense, and I also didn't know how the academy would handle a Prospective Witch who couldn't attend school.

So... to be prudent, it was better to do nothing for now.