Chapter 220: The Path of Seeking Knowledge

Holy Knights are typical heavy-tank units.

Their short legs are basically beyond saving; their attack relies on stacking various divine arts and extraordinary abilities, and their defense depends first on armor, second on class abilities—the normal Holy Knight's Holy Armor's primary magic resistance comes from divine power, but Li En uses the power of the Classical Oath.

Fighting all kinds of evil spellcasters, extraordinary monsters, demons, devils—basically a whole host of strange evil supernatural beings—is the most painful and helpless duty of a Holy Knight.

Sometimes, don't blame Holy Knights for their violent enforcement; hesitating even a moment, taking one more spell, could mean death.

That's why certain frontline enforcement veteran knights grow increasingly irritable—when they spot key triggers like "spellcaster," "spellcaster," "spellcaster," they immediately enter a reflex mode to empty their minds and magazines.

There's no way around it; they can't distinguish, nor need to distinguish, among the myriad branches of spellcasters.

Kuku told Li En that resistance is never universal—it merely improves survival chances when you're forced to take a hit—but "with armor" and "without armor" are still two entirely different concepts.

"Hmm. For ordinary spellcasters, I think I can tank and kill them outright." With Li En's Classical Oath Knight enhancements, treating his resistance as that of a regular Grand Knight seems hardly different.

Third-rank practitioners are the backbone of every profession, the peak many middle-aged practitioners reach in their entire lives—they already have everything they should.

Li En was very satisfied with this advancement; at this point, he had finally fully digested "Sul's Legacy" and obtained what he deserved.

Previously, it was merely digestion; now it enters the pioneering phase, and future progress will be extremely difficult.

The Path of Pure Goodness is notoriously stingy—it may take a Holy Knight three or four times longer than a deity's own, unless—

"Unless I run into another enemy of humanity or a world-ending crisis. Ha, I can't be that unlucky."

Laughing, Li En sighed, and the laughter faded.

This time, it was hard to say whether it was a hint from a benevolent soul or a death trap set for trackers—even Grand Practitioners could suffer mass casualties if they encountered such a trap.

Especially since the Whisperers had been discussing a poetry collection clearly referencing the Heroine and the Second Princess—unless it was fate's malice, it was the planner's mockery.

Li En dug out the scrolls and library records he'd been searching for; his serpent's innate ability allowed him to decode them easily, but the content was deeply ambiguous.

"I give my life to know who my child's biological father is—Ramo Sdar."

"He is Ramo's younger brother; he seduced Ramo's wife while Ramo was away at work. Soon he will become the true master of that household—live in your house, sleep with your woman, beat your child. Aren't you heartbroken?"

"I give my life to know if my distant parents are well—Sophia Skal."

"They are well; they've newly opened two mu of farmland and are in good health. But after learning of your death, they both succumbed to melancholy two years later."

These were mostly similar things, saturated with malice—the final records of certain victims.

Their deepest, most hidden desires were activated—but merely activating that desire and asking the question drained their lives completely by the "Great One."

And the Whisperers, as conduits and middlemen, were also filled with malice.

In that basement, Li En found his target.

【Phenomenon: The Path of Seeking Knowledge】

【Its scale and duration are unknown; rumors say it originally began as a benevolent wish—May all beings not be bound by ignorance, may their searches ultimately be answered.】

【It is said that originally it was a world-scale knowledge search network, operated jointly by several major worlds; later, more worlds joined, forming a multiverse-scale knowledge network.】

【Its observation source is a phenomenon: as long as you make a request and offer an equivalent price, you receive an answer.】

【Note: Its "statue (server)" is typically half-immortal life-form, half-local life's symbolic timepiece, signifying life on the eternal path toward truth.】

【Warning! This phenomenon was utterly corrupted after a malevolent entity was born.】【Warning!! This phenomenon is regarded across most of the multiverse as an extremely twisted evil cult; exposure may trigger eternal pursuit.】

【Malevolent Librarians have appeared—once-pious knowledge donors have become exploiters of this "phenomenon." They have amassed vast quantities of life and used the knowledge and life gained through this authority to pursue all things.】

【Outer God: Whisperers, part of the Path of Seeking Knowledge, or rather, the residual remnants of a Grand Librarian who ascended to immortality; they accept everything, turning places of life into places of death; their librarians are highly active, frequently turning planets into "knowledge" fodder.】

From the records, Li En pieced together the most ironic truth: this very knowledge was itself acquired by the museum curator at the cost of his life.

He was likely the origin of this affair; after obtaining "partial knowledge," he custom-built a "statue," replacing the so-called immortal with undead corpses, and using animated clocks to symbolize "time and space (eternity)," satisfying the religious and symbolic needs.

He indeed successfully summoned a portion of the Whisperers—or rather, connected a region around the statue to the Whisperers' grand library, turning that area into a divine descent site (server).

And he himself became the first victim, dying instantly after obtaining the most desired knowledge of the "Whisperers/Path of Seeking Knowledge."

After these fully recorded knowledge entries, even his signature remained.

The missing deputy librarian? The undead demon turned statue was him.

Eventually, once it operated normally, lost souls were continually drawn in, becoming sacrifices here—not just in this region, but throughout the entire city and its surroundings, people kept dying; Li En saw the bones and spectral spirits of dark elves, dwarves, and many others.

"The phenomenon, truth itself, may not be good or evil—but the individuals who exploit this phenomenon are absolutely good or evil."

Just the possibility of immortality, the prolonged life gained by siphoning the lives of questioners, is enough to drive those "librarians" mad.

"In a sense, we should thank the curator for his self-destruction; otherwise, if this knowledge spread, who knows what might happen."

A large number of cultists? The numbers won't be high, but they'll be extremely hard to deal with.

After all, the origin is merely a "truth/rule"—how it's used depends on the individual. Who knows how formidable those librarians are who've consumed centuries, even entire worlds?

That monster—if it truly completed the transaction, would it stop eating, faced with Li En, who had only one limb left? This twisted "beautiful rule" itself is a threat to the world.

【Partial Truth Known: 48%】

The enhancement indicated by the Heroic Spirits Catalog confirms that the incident back then also involved this kind of trouble.

Did a Grand Librarian participate back then? Did he already die in the Dragon Catastrophe? But if they were completely wiped out, where did these local believers' scrolls and knowledge come from?

"Thirty years of history."

What made Li En's scalp tingle was this: the Whisperers' reading circle had already existed when this place was still a small fishing village.

Li En asked Talia to investigate relevant personnel, especially founders and long-term visitors, but he held little hope internally.

"Perhaps the person who delivered the note actually expected me to trade my arm for a truth."

Li En sighed; he had guessed some things, but seemed powerless to resolve them now.

And time was running out.

Queen Marianna was almost here.

(End of Chapter)