Chapter 431: Pas Valley First Technical University

A moment later, the strange sight in Lawrence's eyes faded, and he murmured thoughtfully:

"The number of demigod-level Beyonder abilities I can record has risen to four, and their specific effects approach those of Sequence 4. Once I become a Mystic, it might be possible for me to record abilities at the angel level."

"What a pity that the Abraham family no longer has any angels among them. Even among the sealed artifacts they preserved, quite a few have been lost."

At this thought, his tone gradually grew low and heavy, like an inextricable knot of gloom.

In the Church of Knowledge on the northern bank of the Pas Valley in the Southern Continent, the Rabbits of Knowledge sat neatly at long tables, quill pens in hand, swiftly copying contents into blank books.

Since most ordinary people in the Southern Continent still used the Dutan language, to spread knowledge here, one could only use books compiled in Dutan.

Ordinary books could be printed directly, but books involving Beyonder knowledge had to be copied by hand. When it came to copying books, Laketon's first thought was the Rabbits of Knowledge—they were more skilled at copying than ordinary Readers.

Laketon leaned back leisurely on a long bench nearby, toying with the Witch card that his Prophet avatar had sent over through a Rabbit of Knowledge, an inscrutable smile beaming on his face.

Forget about Miracle Kek—so long as the Black Emperor card is around, Klein surely won't be willing to use the Witch card. I'll find a time to give it to Bernadette, since I did lose her Wheel of Fortune card, after all.

As thoughts drifted through his mind, he noticed Luca Brewster returning from Mesanges's place. He quickly composed his expression and turned his head toward the other man, whose gray-green eyes carried a clear look of delight.

Laketon gave a light chuckle, then greeted him:

"Bishop Luca, it looks like your trip out went quite well."

Luca Brewster chuckled softly and said:

"Mesanges has agreed to our plan. As long as we can hold off the other factions' Beyonders, in two months there will be only one warlord faction left in the Pas Valley region."

After a brief pause, he continued:

"Aside from the official forces of Ruen and Intis, the major churches will certainly intervene as well—this concerns their missionary work here, especially the churches of the Tyrant and the Sun."

"Some local factions in the Southern Continent might also get involved—for instance, the so-called House of Evolution led by the followers of the Primordial Moon, and the Rose School of Thought that worships the Bound God and the Tree of Desire."

Laketon gave an expressionless, slight nod. After a moment's thought, he said:

"We need allies. Emperor Roselle once said: the enemy of your enemy is your friend!"

"Besides the portion of the Spirit Order led by Mr. Plac, there's also the New Church developing among the poorer classes here in the Pas Valley. They're decent partners to work with—at least for now."

"We can temporarily cooperate with the Church of the Earth Mother, which is hostile to the Primordial Moon, or even with the vampires. There's also the Moses Ascetic Order, which is hostile to the Steam Church, and even the Church of the God of War, which is hostile to the Church of the Evernight—never mind, those brutes don't always think too clearly."

As he spoke, a peculiar feeling welled up in Laketon's heart. He suddenly had the sense that local secret organizations were banding together to oppose the orthodox churches and outside invading forces.

"Did Emperor Roselle ever say that? I have absolutely no impression of it." Luca Brewster fell into a moment of deep thought.

"Uh, he said so many things—perhaps one of us is misremembering."

Laketon explained with a faint smile, then changed the subject:

"By the way, Bishop Luca, do you know where the vampires in the Southern Continent generally gather? I'd like to go talk to them—perhaps we can win them over."

Luca Brewster shook his head slightly:

"I'm not sure. In the Southern Continent, the followers of the Primordial Moon are very active, which makes for an unstable factor for the vampires. They rarely expose themselves."

"The active followers of the Primordial Moon in the Southern Continent are our best opening for cooperation. I'll go ask at the Church of the Earth Mother later—they love to convert those vampires and might have some leads."

Laketon murmured with a light chuckle, leaning back slightly against the chair, and fell into brief contemplation.

He could try seeking help from Emlyn. The vampires surely had their own internal means of communication, and the followers of the Primordial Moon were his future source of advancement characteristics—even if he's a slacker vampire, he'd have enough motivation to run around for this.

"West Bairang is not peaceful. The people here already exhaust all their strength just to get by, which leaves them with little spare energy for learning."

"Perhaps once the Pas Valley is completely—hmm, in Plac and his people's words, 'liberated'—it seems to be a term from the New Church. To be honest, I've always been suspicious that the New Church people might actually be the Aurora Order in disguise. They're very similar in many ways, yet also very different."

"Perhaps once the Pas Valley is completely liberated, knowledge can spread here all the better."

Luca Brewster spoke with a quiet expression. As the person in charge of the Church of Knowledge's affairs in West Bairang, expanding the church's influence here had always been his goal.

Laketon shook his head and said with some emotion:

"In this era, there are bound to be very few people willing to settle down and study. After all, knowledge can't fill their stomachs, nor can it bring in the money they need to live."

After conversing with Luca Brewster in the church for a while, Laketon took the books copied by the Rabbits of Knowledge and took his leave.

With a flicker of his figure, he silently arrived on the opposite bank of the Pas Valley, where there was a night school jointly established by the New Church represented by Plac and Liomaster.

The reason it was a night school was that during the day, the vast majority of people had to hustle to make a living and had no spare time for learning.

This place had been converted from several rows of adjoining houses. It was not particularly large, and the buildings were somewhat old. Quite a few of the stained-glass windows were even cracked and had never been repaired.

Laketon gazed down both ends of the street. His figure abruptly vanished, then reappeared inside the principal's office. Before him sat Ethan, looking thoroughly exhausted, one hand rubbing his forehead while the other hand still found the energy to flip through a financial report.

Ethan belatedly sensed the fluctuation of spirituality. The weariness vanished from his face as he watched warily the figure that had suddenly appeared in his office.

After making out the newcomer's face, he finally breathed a slight sigh of relief and said:

"What brings you here?"

"Bringing you some books, as per Mr. Plac's request."

As he spoke, Laketon gave a tug in midair, and a stack of brand-new books was pulled straight out of the Spirit World, neatly placed on the desk in front of Ethan.

Ethan flipped through them casually. Seeing the not-yet-fully-dried ink on the pages, he turned his head and asked in puzzlement:

"Were these all just copied?"

Laketon nodded slightly and said casually:

"Books involving mystical knowledge are all copied by hand. Even lifeless machinery, if it prints knowledge in the domain of mysticism over a long period, could very well turn into an out-of-control magical artifact due to the potential corruption within that knowledge!"

"But isn't your school here to teach some essential life knowledge and survival skills? Are you planning to start cultivating Beyonders now?"

Ethan sighed softly and said:

"You've probably noticed—we're very short-handed. Even I've been sent here to serve as principal temporarily."

"Come on, let me show you around our Pas Valley First Technical University!"

As he spoke, he rose from his seat, leading the way ahead while introducing the school's situation.

"Who came up with that name?" Hearing the school's name from Ethan's mouth, Laketon couldn't help but twitch the corner of his lips. That kind of name instantly reminded him of Roselle.

"Someone from the Moses Ascetic Order. She said she found the inspiration from the biographical novels written by Emperor Roselle."

"We've always had a cooperative relationship with the Moses Ascetic Order, and it was with their support that we were able to break away from the Spirit Order. But you orthodox churches seem to have a natural hostility toward secret organizations like that, so at the very beginning we didn't disclose our connection with the Moses Ascetic Order."

Ethan answered while observing Laketon's expression, and only after seeing that the other man had no reaction to the Moses Ascetic Order did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief in his heart.

"That is your freedom. To be honest, the Church of Knowledge is highly tolerant of that tyrant and of churches other than the Sun."

Ethan nodded gently, his voice slowing a little as he continued to introduce the situation in this school:

"At first, we planned to establish a school open to everyone on the Southern Continent, modeled after the Church's night schools. But considering the complex situation here in Xibairang, we simply divided the school into two types: night and day."

"The night school teaches basic knowledge and survival skills, while the day school cultivates Beyonders."

At this point Ethan paused a moment, then said with a sigh of admiration:

"Truly worthy of being the Church of Knowledge, renowned for knowledge and wisdom — they actually found a path to becoming a Beyonder without relying on potions. It's just that the requirements for mastery of knowledge are far too high."

"Aside from Beyonders of the Reader, Mystery Pryer, and Savant pathways, it is extremely difficult for anyone else to achieve certain results in a short time."

As they spoke, they arrived outside a classroom where a class was still in session. Through the gaps in the painted glass, Laketon saw the sparse figures inside.

There were about ten to twenty people sitting below attending the lecture, ranging in age from ten to twenty. At the small blackboard up front stood a beautiful woman dressed in a classical sorcerer's robe. Her brown hair was very thick, draped casually and looking somewhat disheveled.

The most striking thing was her pair of gray-brown eyes — bright and spirited, like starlight flickering in the sky, yet also like the profound sea, unfathomable.

"She is Gran, Gran Pars, one of the Ten Pillars of the Morse Ascetic Order, and also our earliest collaborator."

"She is a very amiable woman. Though she looks young, she always exudes a mature charm. Mm, she mustn't hear those words, or her cats will scratch up your face."

"Cats?" Laketon murmured. His inspiration was suddenly stirred, and he turned his head to look behind him.

A black-and-white tuxedo cat and a lazy orange cat, both with similarly chubby builds, were standing on the railing behind him, one on the left and one on the right, sizing him up.

Laketon narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw the light of intelligence in the eyes of these two cats — two Beyond animals. It seemed they had consumed potions that tended toward enhancing the brain. They lacked a scholarly air, so they definitely weren't Readers. Spectators? Or Mystery Pryers? Or Savants?

After sizing up Laketon for a moment, the two cats spoke one after the other:

"Another Mystery Pryer."

"Someone from the Church of Knowledge who isn't a Reader."

Laketon raised an eyebrow and chuckled, stepping forward to try to pet the two cats, but they nimbly dodged him.

He naturally withdrew his right hand and looked at the two rather extroverted and cheerful cats before him with some curiosity, saying:

"Are you two Savants?"

Spectators prefer to observe from the shadows, and I can spot a Mystery Pryer at a glance. Savants all seem rather cheerful and extroverted. So, was Steam once a sunny youth or maiden too?

The two chubby cats sat on the railing and even crossed their legs with practiced ease — bizarre, yet somehow exuding a sense of harmony.

The black-and-white tuxedo cat on the left looked a bit dopey. Its black-and-white coloring made it look more like a husky than a fat cat.

The orange cat on the right had somewhat loose, flabby flesh, especially its belly, which looked like it was sporting a beer gut. But its eyes were very clear — it seemed to be a cat with a well-developed brain.

(End of this chapter)