Chapter 44: Promotion and the Knowledge Wilderness

Lei Ke Dun took the letter back to his room, hesitated for a while, and finally opened the envelope. The letter was brief, containing only a few lines:

My dear child:

I saw the telegram Sean sent, that you have joined the Knowledge Church; I am proud of you, child.

Although the time we spend together is always short, our affection does not lessen a iota; it only makes us cherish the moments we share even more.

My child, you are the home of my wandering soul, the anchor of my emotions.

One day you will grow up and travel far; when you are far in foreign lands, you will understand my words.

I will always support every decision you make; be bold and do it!

The letter ends here, but Lei Ke Dun feels his heart hollow.

Lei Ke Dun originally thought this was just a routine father‑son correspondence sharing observations, but it turned out to be only a father's support and encouragement for his child.

"Is this a father noticing his child's change?" Lei Ke Dun murmured softly.

Having inherited this body's memories and partial emotions, Lei Ke Dun feels complex feelings toward his parents he has never truly met, yet still regards them as family.

"What are you thinking?" Tu Ba Ge's voice interrupted Lei Ke Dun's contemplation.

"Nothing much, I guess my father and mother will be back soon, the New Year is near, and in less than half a month we'll enter the year 1349," Lei Ke Dun said, casting his gaze out the window.

Staring into the unseen distance, he let out an inaudible sigh.

"Is there anything special about the year 1349?" Tu Ba Ge, still unclear about the concept of time, asked.

"Of course, a great being will descend, and the apocalypse is a step closer," Lei Ke Dun said, puzzling the rabbit.

"What is the apocalypse? What is a great being?" Tu Ba Ge felt his master's words growing stranger, understanding none of them.

"The apocalypse means this world will be destroyed, everything will perish; of course, it might only be humanity that perishes," Lei Ke Dun tried to keep himself from dwelling on apocalyptic thoughts.

He added, "As for that great being, I'll take you to meet it later; then you'll know."

"If the apocalypse only destroys humanity, does that mean the rabbit will be fine?" Tu Ba Ge's perspective was novel.

Lei Ke Dun was speechless at the rabbit's wild speculation: "Probably."

Tu Ba Ge tried to say more, but Lei Ke Dun cut him off: "I'll brew a magic elixir for you; learn it, and you can brew it yourself later."

Tu Ba Ge looked at his rabbit paws with a puzzled expression.

Lei Ke Dun took out a pre‑prepared container and selected auxiliary and ordinary materials from the extraordinary supplies he had applied for from the church.

He placed a clear glass cup on the table, poured 100 ml of pure water from a graduated cylinder, then added 20 ml of sunflower juice, nine seeds of various plants, three gold‑mint leaves, and finally the farmer's extraordinary trait.

After the extraordinary trait was added, the mixed ingredients in the glass bottle melted quickly, becoming viscous as Lei Ke Dun stirred, with countless fine bubbles continuously surfacing.

In the end, the magic elixir in the bottle turned into a deep‑green viscous liquid studded with fine bubbles.

To ensure the elixir's success, Lei Ke Dun also tossed in a Golden Lisuo Divination.

"Done," Lei Ke Dun whispered.

Tu Ba Ge took the elixir Lei Ke Dun handed him, felt his body craving it, and drank it without hesitation.

The moment Tu Ba Ge swallowed the elixir, the hair on his body began to contract and expand rhythmically, as if coming to life, and his drooping ears perked up.

The process lasted only about half a minute; Tu Ba Ge's ears fell back down and his gray fur returned to normal, though Lei Ke Dun thought the rabbit seemed a bit plumper.

"Whoa~ I feel my strength has increased a lot, and I can walk on two legs without a hat," Tu Ba Ge exclaimed excitedly.

"Hmm, any other changes?" Lei Ke Dun asked.

"I have also gained a lot of knowledge, can distinguish different plants and their uses, and I now possess an extraordinary ability to read the heavens, seemingly for weather prediction," Tu Ba Ge said excitedly about his transformation.

Lei Ke Dun nodded; the rabbit seemed to adapt well.

"Go out first and bond with the potted plants on the balcony; after that they'll be yours to tend," Lei Ke Dun said, already planning a small hoe for the rabbit.

"Alright." The freshly dosed Tu Ba Ge was thrilled and sprinted out at Lei Ke Dun's words.

After Tu Ba Ge left the room, Lei Ke Dun retrieved the remaining extraordinary materials.

He mixed gray amber, sunflower powder, and hallucinogenic grass essential oil with pure water to create a half‑finished bottle of magic elixir.

Lei Ke Dun stared at the pale‑yellow half‑finished elixir in his hand, hesitated briefly, then drank it in one gulp and immediately began meditating.

A circular ring of countless gears, a massive eyeless eye, and several tentacle‑like chains swayed; golden sand flowed like rising smoke and sparks.

As the meditation took shape, Lei Ke Dun immediately, like his first meditation, crashed straight into the massive eyeless eye at the center of the pattern.

Deep within his consciousness, Lei Ke Dun saw again that colossal eye—devoid of lashes and flesh, resembling a flowing liquid emitting a violet aura.

Then his mind grew hazy as many violet‑glowing fragments fell from the massive eye and surged toward him; Lei Ke Dun felt a throbbing headache and abruptly emerged from meditation.

Lei Ke Dun remained reclined on the seat for a long while before gradually assimilating the information lodged in his mind.

His mind now held numerous martial arts styles; at this moment Lei Ke Dun had gone from a rookie to a martial arts master. He had just been promoted to a Seeker of Secrets Path Sequence Eight Martial Arts Scholar.

Beyond the knowledge attached to the extraordinary trait, Lei Ke Dun also acquired extensive ritual magic knowledge, as if he needed it, and the Sage trait had just poured it into him during his promotion.

In addition, there was a sacred name never before seen in this world: the Essence of Knowledge, the Root of Mystery, the Radiance of Civilization, the Guardianship of Truth.

Upon its appearance, Lei Ke Dun unconsciously whispered the sacred name in his mind.

He felt his thoughts momentarily hazy, as an endless wilderness seemed to appear in his vision, a flood of boundless knowledge trying to pour into his eyes.

The sensation lasted only an instant before vanishing, as if everything had been a hallucination brought on by his recent promotion.

Reclining on the seat, Lei Ke Dun suddenly sprang to his feet, breathing rapidly as if surviving a disaster.

"How could I forget such an important matter and dare whisper this sacred name in my mind?" Lei Ke Dun clawed at his hair with both hands, using the pain to soothe his emotions.

"Knowledge, mystery, civilization—this points far too obviously," he sighed helplessly, already knowing who the sacred name referred to.

"But the Reader's magic elixir inside me has now been fully digested; due to the influence of the Knowledge Wilderness, I only glimpsed a fleeting illusion during promotion and retained no knowledge—how absurd!" Feeling the internal change, Lei Ke Dun couldn't help but mutter to himself.

He sensed his fully digested Reader Path trait and the newly promoted Seeker of Secrets Path; while both were blessings, their simultaneous emergence gave Lei Ke Dun a chill down his spine, as if following a pre‑written script.

"Congratulations, you have successfully digested the elixir in such a short time," a raven, the angelic embodiment of the Knowledge Church, suddenly appeared in Lei Ke Dun's room.

Lei Ke Dun felt accustomed to this, even managing to exchange a joke or two with it.

"You seem able to appear anywhere at any time; aren't you an Angel of the Door Path?" Lei Ke Dun quipped.

"The Omniscient One is omnipotent because of omniscience!" said the crow, a thought-provoking remark.

"Sometimes I really feel that this Omniscient One is already omniscient and omnipotent." Lei Kedun added.

"Hidden authority can effectively counter omniscience, but your hiddenness is insufficient unless it is a blessing personally bestowed by Night." The crow's words were very straightforward.

"So what is the Omniscient One's attitude toward me?" Lei Kedun asked this time very straightforwardly.

"Your hiddenness is insufficient, but omniscience can also achieve hiddenness; as long as you are not directly gazed upon by those few beings with special authority, you will not be detected as abnormal." The crow gave an answer that surprised Lei Kedun but was not unexpected.

It's not unexpected because, since I've been staying in the Church of Knowledge, a benevolent angel has appeared beside me, showing that their attitude is still friendly; the surprise is that they would actually strengthen my hiddenness, which could be considered an acknowledgment of me.

Lei Kedun did not conceal his surprised expression, fell silent for a while, then said: "Thank you!"

"This is merely one of many pieces on the chessboard; openly, the church will not give you much help." The crow said in an unchanged tone.

Afterwards it spread its wings and flew away; when the crow's silhouette disappeared, a sentence echoed in Lei Kedun's ears.

"If you don't want to become like the Hidden Sage, completely without self, then do not casually chant that honorific name!"

(End of chapter)