Chapter 74: Absurd Exam Questions

"The ancient dragon that survived from the Second Era is at least an angel, right? A soul dragon?" Lei Ke Dun asked curiously.

"It was, but after the Desecrated Tablet appeared, it shed its excess traits and jumped to a neighboring path," Wu Ya replied, without specifying which path's angel.

Lei Ke Dun thought that since the crow said so, it was probably not the White Tower Path; otherwise that ancient dragon would have definitely joined the Knowledge Church, since the All-Knowing is the top dog of the existing dragon clan.

"Is it the Sun or the Hanged Man?" Lei Ke Dun asked curiously.

Lei Ke Dun didn't think it was the Storm Path, mainly because that path already has Tian Zai Gao Xi Na Mu, and if another angel not belonging to his own sect appeared, the irritable elder would have already gone on a world‑wide hunt to strip the trait.

"I feel you know each true god far too well!" Wu Ya said to Lei Ke Dun in an even tone.

"Don't use your 'Insight' ability on me, or we can't talk today!" Lei Ke Dun was speechless and dared not speak further.

Lei Ke Dun for the first time felt that the Reader Path in its later stages was as annoying as the Audience; although they cannot directly read your thoughts, the deeper they understand you, the more they can know you than you know yourself.

"Readers stand before you, while the audience stands in places you cannot see," Wu Ya added to Lei Ke Dun's inner complaint.

Lei Ke Dun fell silent, unwilling to continue, no longer wanting to complain; this thing was more annoying than the audience.

"White Tower Card, could I possibly trade for it from you?" Lei Ke Dun changed the subject and asked.

"Not for now!" Wu Ya replied curtly.

Lei Ke Dun didn't pursue the topic further; if it's impossible, that's fine—he had no particular interest in the White Tower Card, just a collecting itch and wanted to add to his stash.

Wu Ya fell silent, extended a wing and brushed the void. Lei Ke Dun felt the wingstroke brushed the Spirit Realm, briefly opening a small gap between the Spirit Realm and reality.

A stack of test papers fell from the Spirit Realm into reality, landing on the desk before Wu Ya.

Lei Ke Dun watched the scene, his mouth opening in surprise: "Can the Spirit Realm be used as storage space?"

"Storage space? That's a vivid description. If you isolate a small region of the Spirit Realm as your own domain, you can achieve that," Wu Ya explained the principle authoritatively.

"Non‑spirit beings can also have their own domain in the Spirit Realm?" Lei Ke Dun was puzzled.

He had thought this was exclusive to high‑rank spirit beings.

"Anyone who can enter the Spirit Realm can, but non‑spirit beings find it trickier; they need a lingering power within the realm to guard their domain," Wu Ya explained.

Lei Ke Dun nodded half‑understandingly; it was essentially a Spirit Realm land grab. However, the strength requirement was high—aside from Travelers, other paths needed at least demigod level to roam the Spirit Realm.

"The free‑wheeling Gate Path is truly the top choice for wondrous items!" Lei Ke Dun couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"The current Abraham family no longer even has a Sequence Six prodigy; if you're interested, you could consider going to the Aurora Society to look for Travelers," Wu Ya echoed Lei Ke Dun's inner sigh.

"That's mind‑reading! There's no difference from mind‑reading!" Lei Ke Dun said skeptically.

"Although this is an avatar, my status does not diminish because of it," the Wu Ya before him explained.

But Lei Ke Dun wasn't convinced; the angel's status was absurd. He himself possessed a Sage trait, albeit unmastered, yet the other could see his inner sighs and complaints—utterly ridiculous!

"Do these test papers yourself within the next couple of days! I've marked them, so only you can fill in the answers, and I have my eyes on you here—don't try to get the Hidden Sage to cheat for you," Wu Ya said before vanishing from the room at speed.

Lei Ke Dun picked up the stack left on the desk and found each paper bore the symbol of the All‑Seeing Eye.

"Is this the mark? It can't also be the angel's surveillance, can it?" Lei Ke Dun, seeing the All‑Seeing Eye, thought of the Knowledge Church's holy seal.

"Boss, are you still going to cheat?" Tu Ba Ge asked curiously from the side.

"When did I cheat? I was just flexibly using my advantage!" Lei Ke Dun defended his morning cheating.

"Let me see the questions first; I've already advanced to Sequence Seven, I can't be stumped by a few papers," Lei Ke Dun added.

He then began to examine the questions on the papers one by one:

Why are the houses in the Vassak Empire so brightly colored?

Why are most of the Longevity Villages within Finneport situated halfway up the hills?

What advantage does the Furious Sea Route have over the Sunia Sea Route?

Lei Ke Dun swapped papers one after another until he had examined them all. In the end he concluded: the set of questions was quite logical, just missing a few points of heavenly justice.

"Boss, which paper are you going to start with?" Tu Ba Ge asked with wide eyes.

"I'll sleep first! Unless the Hidden Sage personally helps me, I can't solve any of these," Lei Ke Dun said helplessly.

He then, under Tu Ba Ge's puzzled stare, went to lie on the bed and sleep. Tu Ba Ge glanced at the papers on the desk, then at Lei Ke Dun sleeping on the bed, and hopped back to his little nest to lie down.

Lei Ke Dun, eyes closed on the bed, didn't sleep but began meditating, intending to revisit the massive ring he saw during meditation.

As he entered meditation, a ring composed of countless gears appeared, centered by a huge pupil‑less eye, surrounded by several tentacle‑like chains swaying, with smoke and sparks swirling around, all filled with flowing golden‑colored sand particles.

This time Lei Ke Dun tried to pour his consciousness into that massive gear‑built ring. Now a successful Wizard, he felt no longer the previous hindrances.

Lei Ke Dun felt his consciousness enter a realm of darkness, devoid of light or objects, his mind filled with endless emptiness.

Until a dim, unclear, colorless glimmer, as if composed of countless illusory things, appeared. The light spread rapidly, eventually filling all the darkness.

When he saw the light, a single word silently surfaced in Lei Ke Dun's mind: "Light of Civilization."

The Light of Civilization kept evolving, sometimes shifting colors, sometimes forms, contracting or expanding, just like civilization's progress, finally freezing in the steam age of machinery and gears.

The scene abruptly ended, a message poured into Lei Ke Dun's consciousness, then he left that place filled with the Light of Civilization.

"Advance civilization's development and spread knowledge to the world; you will become my emissary."

The message in his mind wasn't complex, yet it thrilled Lei Ke Dun. He felt the Knowledge Wilderness aimed to stir a wave larger than the Adam era's trend in this world.

"Is this about refusing to horizontally accommodate more adjacent powers, and instead expanding the authority over civilization and knowledge that one already controls?" Lei Ke Dun mused internally.

"They really think highly of me! Even the Hidden Sage might not manage this, yet they hand it to a little scrawny one like me!" Lei Ke Dun felt speechless; the Knowledge Wilderness was like a boss promising grand pies to employees.

After pondering for a while, Lei Ke Dun re‑entered meditation. Yet when he again tried to pour his consciousness into the massive ring, he was once more blocked outside.

"Hm? Not letting me see again?" Lei Ke Dun wondered, then immediately exited meditation.

After all that, besides receiving a message from the Knowledge Wilderness, he still didn't know the purpose of the massive ring, leaving Lei Ke Dun somewhat speechless.

Lying on the bed, he mused for a while, then decided to daringly recite the revered name of the Knowledge Wilderness, hoping to uncover the ring's purpose and the standards for advancing civilization and spreading knowledge.

"The essence of knowledge, the source of mysteries, the brilliance of civilization, the guardianship of truth."

After silently chanting the Knowledge Wilderness's revered name in Ancient Hermes language in his mind, Lei Ke Dun waited calmly for the result.

Almost the instant he finished the chant, Lei Ke Dun felt his mind flicker, then a vague image appeared in his thoughts.

A formless light, composed of wave after wave of tangled information, resembled a vague massive eye, standing illusively in the void as if pixelated, casting a glance down at Lei Ke Dun.

At this moment, Leikdun felt as if he were gazing into His eyes, and then an illusory, not-quite-real voice echoed in his ears.

After listening carefully for a while, Leikdun discerned that this was the voice he had just been silently reciting in his heart.

Leikdun stared for a moment, then he prayed to the Knowledge Wilderness, but the Knowledge Wilderness didn't want to respond to him and instead forwarded his prayer to the Hidden Sage, and then the Hidden Sage forwarded his own prayer back to him?

Leikdun felt his vision dazzled by this series of bewildering operations. But now the problem is who will come to answer his doubts—surely he can't just ask himself and answer himself!

Leikdun felt somewhat helpless, but he had no choice but to take advantage of the fact that his connection with the Hidden Sage had not yet been severed, and transmitted the doubts in his heart to the Hidden Sage.

The Hidden Sage quickly gave an answer: it is equivalent to a special organ that can mobilize the power of civilization, resist the pollution of information, and can also project itself onto other beings engaged in meditation.

(Chapter End)