Chapter 23: Enlightenment from the Public Class

"Insufficient data, unable to judge," Xiaoyi's concise reply.

In recent times, the content Duke had been absorbing from his readings mostly revolved around card crafting, card repairing, or deciphering the secrets of the rings. There was little that touched on the directions of the Sea of Qi and the Sea of Blood.

"It seems that in the coming time, I'll need to find some books related to the Sea of Blood and the Sea of Qi to expand Xiaoyi's database. As for knowledge about card repairing, it's sufficient for now."

When it came to card repairing techniques, he had mentally grasped it, but physically, he felt powerless.

Enduring the difficulty, Duke had stayed up until 2 in the morning. At this time, in Snakehead Town where there was no nightlife, people should have been asleep. Duke cautiously opened the back door, carrying a snake-skin bag with him.

He didn't dare take the main streets and instead chose narrow alleys.

Fortunately, having grown up in Snakehead Town, he was very familiar with every twist and turn, allowing him to take a roundabout route with nervous caution, avoiding any possible routes that might expose him.

It was both exhilarating and exhausting.

It took nearly half an hour before he made it out of the outskirts of the town. Enveloped by the darkness of the night, he passed through the farm area and headed towards the wilderness at a sprint.

With one hand securing the bag's opening to keep the snake-skin bag steady on his shoulder and the other hand gripping the Desert Eagle handgun, he remained prepared to shoot any spiritual beasts that might ambush him.

Firing a gun at night could potentially alert the nighttime guards.

Yet, it was still better than being devoured by spiritual beasts.

Seeing that he had reached a sufficient distance, Duke found a pothole in the bushes, where he directly tossed Robin's body, then took the bag and the rope.

"Mr. Robin, you've caused me so much trouble. Although I have a young Long-haired Mongoose cub as compensation from you... Anyway, after you're devoured by beasts, if I have the chance, I'll do what I can to help your son Royce..." Duke muttered a few words before disappearing into the bushes, throwing the snake-skin bag and the rope into another pothole.

He then quickly sprinted back to the farm area, carefully avoiding possible patrol routes, and slipped back into the town.

Moving cautiously, he managed to make it back home.

"Phew!"

Locking the door, Duke collapsed onto the floor.

Sweat had soaked his clothes. The highly tense nerves throughout the entire process of disposing of the body finally relaxed in this moment.

It took quite some time before he regained some strength. Changing clothes, taking a shower, and lying on the bed, he gazed at the Long-haired Mongoose cub in the box beside the bed.

It all felt like a dream.

...

Morning arrived.

Duke, with dark circles under his eyes, went out to buy breakfast and also purchased some milk powder from a shop. On his way, he observed his surroundings carefully, but there seemed to be no signs of searches nearby. It appeared that Robin's death hadn't alerted the Black Serpent Family or their peripheral Venom Fang Gang.

It was also possible that the Black Serpent Family had gone ahead and hunted down the 2-ring spiritual beast, the Long-haired Mongoose, thinking they'd gained their spoils and no longer cared about Robin.

In any case, the lack of activity was good news for Duke.

"Sigh, if only I hadn't gotten involved with Robin's business. I've brought myself an inescapable trouble!" He had never considered reporting to the authorities or handing over the Long-haired Mongoose cub, as that would only lead to more problems. If news of the Black Serpent Family attacking outsiders leaked out, it would deal a huge blow to their reputation.

So, even if Duke told the whole truth, he would still end up silenced.

Killing a few small-time individuals was nothing compared to tarnishing the family's reputation.

After buying the milk powder and returning home, he fed a little milk to the Long-haired Mongoose cub that hadn't yet opened its eyes. The palm-sized little creature drank an entire pot of milk before finally feeling full, then it continued to sleep soundly.

Duke felt somewhat uneasy leaving it on the bedside.

After a moment of thought, he opened the room's ceiling and placed the box on top, closing the ceiling back up.

This way, even if someone came to search, they wouldn't find anything amiss.

The rest of the day, Duke remained on edge. He would occasionally go outside to observe his surroundings, checking for any suspicious individuals near his house.

And every now and then, he would return to his room to inspect the slumbering Long-haired Mongoose cub.

Fortunately, Xiaoyi continued to assist him with cultivating the "Field Meditation Technique," which allowed him to relax his mind during this time. Otherwise, he would have found it impossible to meditate peacefully on his own.

Thus, three days passed by with difficulty.

There were still no troubles knocking on his door. Gradually, Duke began to relax, no longer constantly anxious and fearful, dreading the arrival of the Black Serpent Family or Venom Fang Gang.

 "Boss Duke, there's a public class at the Magic Spirit Society tomorrow." Card Repairman Muraf reminded him when he got off work.

"Alright, I know."

The public lessons at the Arcane Society were the only way for these spiritual apprentices who did not have a formal inheritance to obtain knowledge related to cultivation. Basically, everyone would attend on time.

Duke was no exception.

The next day, after feeding the Long-haired Mongoose cub, Duke put the box back in the ceiling. He left some instructions with Sally and hurried to the central Arcane Society in town.

As soon as he entered, he bumped into Bast.

The two of them did not get along with each other for too long. They grunted at each other and went into the door to find a seat far away from each other.

Today's lecturer for the public class wasn't an Arcane Mage but a 1-ring Great Knight named Owen. Duke had seen him before; he was one of the Great Knights who escorted the Black Beetle Carriages. 

To ensure the safety of the routes, every carriage had a 1-ring Great Knight escorting it, essentially acting as a combination of an air marshal and a train conductor.

For a public class at the Arcane Society, it wasn't unusual to have a 1-ring Great Knight speak. After all, the cultivation methods of the Sea of Blood and the Sea of Qi shared similarities, despite being branches of the Sea of Spirit.

"I'm glad to be giving a class to all of you. I'm not familiar with the Sea of Blood's cultivation, so I can only talk about cultivating the Sea of Qi. Think of it as expanding your horizons," Owen spoke with a playful tone, showing none of the airs of a 1-ring Great Knight, "As you all know, cultivating the Sea of Blood relies on the Blood Refining Method, which involves extracting the spiritual essence from food to strengthen your internal Qi..."

The Blood Refining Method was somewhat similar to the martial arts training in martial arts novels.

The Sea of Blood couldn't directly absorb external spiritual essence, so cultivators relied on consuming large quantities of food rich in spiritual essence, refining the essence to strengthen their Qi through bodily tempering.

Qi flowed through cells and meridians in the body, circulating endlessly and continuously.

"Knights have various limitations. For instance, I became a 1-ring Great Knight at the age of twenty-three and still am a 1-ring Great Knight at the age of thirty-seven. My Qi is fully refined, and my contract partner, a 1-ring Swift Black Panther, trained diligently with me, yet breaking through to 2-ring still feels out of reach. So the only advantage of a Knight lies in the 0-ring period."

Owen chatted away on the stage.

"All of you here are 0-ring spiritual apprentices, lacking in combat capability for the most part unless you use Arcane Cards for battle. However, 0-ring Knights can emit Qi externally. Forming teams and hunting 1-ring spiritual beasts shouldn't be a problem. With the support of a good partner and the power of contracts, promoting to a 1-ring Great Knight becomes easy."

"But becoming a 1-ring Arcane Mage is as difficult as climbing to the heavens."

"This is due to the nature of the Sea of Blood. Located in the heart, opening it allows you to pump blood through your heart daily, improving your physical qualities. Moreover, through contracts with spiritual beasts and resonating with your heart, you can borrow their power... I've heard that Arcane Mages who simultaneously open the Sea of Spirit and the Sea of Blood can even transform the Sea of Blood into an Arcane Artifact..."

"It's truly amazing, isn't it? Arcane Mages can actually turn the Sea of Blood into an Arcane Artifact!" Owen exclaimed, full of emotion.

Duke, in the audience, suddenly brightened. "Xiaoyi, Arcane Mages can transform the Sea of Blood into an Arcane Artifact. Do you think that if we work together, we could find the Sea of Blood and then open it?"