Chapter 1014: The Spiritual Light in Hand

Doctor Shi Nai De did not approach the Baron, but instead used Xia De's body to block the other's line of sight, and rushed straight toward the eastern part of the demon's vanished garden. Xia De met Lijins Puli Xia head-on, and just as the other's about-to-fade Ring reappeared, Xia De stopped at a position less than five meters from him.

This distance meant the two sides were quite close. Xia De took out Lady Dac Dac Nisi's alchemical prop in one hand, aiming it at the Ring behind Baron Puli Xia's back, while silver moonlight surged in his other hand, ready to slash out a Moonlight Strike at any moment:

"Mr., don't move."

Xia De said, calculating the time in his mind—Lady Dac Dac Nisi's alchemical prop needed thirty seconds of continuous operation to complete the gathering of the spiritual light.

And faced with the small mirror in a stranger's hand, Baron Puli Xia, as a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, was of course extremely nervous. The spirit runes on the Ring behind his back were swallowing and spitting light, which was actually more advantageous for Xia De's gathering.

"And who are you?"

The Baron asked, his eyes glancing at the 【Philosopher's Stone】 left behind by the demon on the ground. Xia De was far from the stone, because the direction he had charged out of the bushes and the direction where the demon had just been standing formed an obtuse angle:

"Who I am is not important. I just want to make sure you won't disturb my companion's next actions."

Xia De said, shaking the mirror in his hand:

"This is a very powerful relic, but it won't hurt you. It just makes sure you won't move around."

Actually, the mirror had no attack power at all.

Lijins Puli Xia looked at him with suspicion:

"I didn't expect so many strange people to show up tonight, but I have to admit, your moonlight is quite pure. Quite coincidentally, I'm also skilled in moonlight odd arts."

He abruptly kicked out a leg, and that clear-yellow light blade flew along the ground. But at the same time, Xia De also kicked out a leg, and the "Moonlight Strike" representing silver moonlight and the "Moonlight Strike" representing yellow moonlight met between the two men, and almost completely canceled each other out.

But Xia De had not used his full strength, and Baron Puli Xia had only made a probing strike. Both men had gauged the other's attitude, so afterward neither made any further moves. After forty seconds had passed, Xia De made a "please" gesture, and Baron Puli Xia reached out and let the Philosopher's Stone left by the demon fly into his hand, then turned and left in another direction.

He didn't need to worry about Xia De revealing his secret—after all, at this moment Xia De didn't look like an upright character the Church would believe, and the demon earlier hadn't revealed any of his secrets either.

"He still took the Philosopher's Stone—he has three in his hand now. The demon said this person, out of a desire for knowledge, has done wrong... refused the demon, but has secrets of his own. Is he a good person or a bad person? Looks like I still need to investigate."

Xia De thought, watching the Baron's figure disappear into the garden:

"That demon gains power by arousing people's desires, so whether or not Baron Puli Xia accepts its power, the moment he picked up that Philosopher's Stone, the demon had already profited."

【You guess what knowledge the demon gave him?】

"The Chosen One's knowledge, and it's incomplete knowledge. If he wants more, he can only go find that demon again."

Xia De thought, looking at the small mirror in his hand, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile. After putting the mirror away, he had just wanted to go find Doctor Shi Nai De, when the doctor walked out of the bushes on his own.

He had grass leaves hanging off him, looked slightly injured, his right eye as if someone had punched him, and his coat was also covered in dirt and the muddy water from melted snow:

"No problem!"

Doctor Shi Nai De looked even happier than Xia De:

"The mark is on it now, it can't escape. Xia De, wait for my good news before next Monday—it can't get away!"

"The Baron has also left."

Xia De looked back in the direction the other had left:

"Doctor, do you want to return to the banquet with me? Or leave now?"

"Leaving now would be very conspicuous, I'll stay a while longer."

The doctor said with a smile:

"I'll find a corner and have a few drinks. Tonight really went smoothly, no major accidents. Xia De, when this matter is over, you must have a drink with me. But the conversation we overheard just now, let's pretend we didn't hear it—don't casually get involved in this kind of thing. But I really didn't expect that someone as refined as Baron Puli Xia would also have secrets... Wisdom makes people greedy, knowledge is something to be coveted, the pursuit of knowledge is truly humanity's original sin."

The doctor, in a good mood, sighed with feeling, and Xia De also nodded. Actually, the doctor didn't understand at all what the news they had just overheard meant.

Although Xia De was now eager to go home and tell Lady Dac Dac Nisi this good news, Doctor Shi Nai De was right—leaving at this time would be very conspicuous.

So he and the doctor returned to the banquet hall one after the other, and the rest of the banquet didn't have anything particularly noteworthy happen. But just as the banquet was about to end, the two witches summoned Xia De to the upper floor and asked him about the demon again. It wasn't about the 【Trickster Boy】's Philosopher's Stone, but out of concern for Xia De's safety.

Now Lijins Puli Xia has three Philosopher's Stones in hand, Xia De and Yi Lu Na together have two, and other forces in the city—even including the three academies that have already entered the area but haven't shown themselves yet—might also have some.

The fourth Chosen One's story seemed to be drawing to a close, and Xia De hoped this matter wouldn't delay his end-of-term exams.

This banquet, where seemingly nothing happened, ended at ten o'clock in the evening, and the guests left in an orderly fashion.

Although it was already very late when he got home, Xia De still didn't forget to excitedly write a letter, which he sent to Lady Dac Dac Nisi through a poetry manuscript page.

The matter of gathering the spiritual light of the "Guiding Moon" couldn't be known by the academy, so Xia De very tactfully indicated in the letter that the academy bounty he had taken from Lady Dac Dac Nisi had made significant progress.

He had thought that at this late hour, that thirteen-ring female sorcerer should already be resting, and would probably only reply to him the next morning. Unexpectedly, less than thirty seconds after he finished writing the letter and sent it off, a new letter was delivered:

【Prepare the projection ritual, come see me in five minutes.】

If the projection ritual didn't require additional preparation, she might have had Xia De appear immediately.

In any case, with Dorothy's help setting up the ritual, Xia De projected once again that night to the Saint Byron's Library.

But once this ritual began, he discovered that the place he was in was not the position in the center clearing of the library directly facing the sofa, but an ancient room he had never been to before.

It was called ancient because the weathering on the stone bricks on the walls looked as if it had been left over from the previous epoch, and the lighting here actually relied on torches and old-fashioned kerosene lamps.

The room wasn't large, about the same size as Xia De's master bedroom. Around it were bookshelves made of gray stone bricks, the floor was uneven long-stone flooring, and some very old cabinets were placed in various spots around the room.

The projection state didn't have complete smell and touch, but Xia De could almost imagine the decay and chill of this environment.

Apart from the unexpected environment, the other two of the four seats required for the projection ritual were not filled by students this time, but by two dolls wearing one red and one blue tattered long dresses. When Xia De looked at them, the dolls even "shyly" turned their heads away.

In any case, this place still seemed to be part of the library, but clearly not somewhere an ordinary student should come.

The light from the kerosene lamps and torches was somewhat dim. Lady Dac Dac Nisi, sitting across from Xia De, looked at him, suppressing her inner impatience:

"The spiritual light has been gathered?"

"Yes, completed tonight. How should I send that mirror to Saint Byron's?"

To prevent the academy from finding out, the mirror could not pass through Xia De's hands via poetry manuscript pages.

A smile appeared on the female sorcerer's face for an instant, but she controlled her expression well:

"I'll give you an address, tomorrow you put that mirror in a box and mail it over... no, no, tomorrow morning, someone will personally come to you to take that mirror away. Very good, Mr. Hamilton, you've done excellently!"

She seemed unable to fully control her emotions, her face flushed, and her tone unconsciously became more eager:

"I thought there would still be some twists and turns, I didn't expect it to be this fast..."

She bit her lip:

"Not bad, you're even more outstanding than I imagined."

Although Xia De didn't think this was a particularly difficult task, being praised at this moment still put him in a good mood:

"Speaking of which, this place is......"

"Oh, this is the underground section of the library."

Miss Dac Dac Nisi said with a smile. The female sorceress in high spirits didn't mind telling Xia De some things he shouldn't have known:

"How many books the Academy Library actually collects, even I wouldn't dare claim to know completely. Some dangerous books aren't suitable to be opened to students, and some aren't suitable to be opened to anyone at all. So at the very beginning of the library's construction, the original administrator and Headmistress Mana Felian Anna designed an area for storing forbidden books, and the area and quantity of the forbidden section have always been a secret. I was just looking for something here, and going back up to the surface from the forbidden area would be a waste of time, so I set up the projection ritual directly here."

"The forbidden section of the library can actually be penetrated by a projection ritual?"

"Of course not, but I'm the librarian, I have the clearance."

The female sorceress laughed, then pointed at the surroundings:

"This place is very dangerous, even more dangerous than the area in the Librarian Academy where relics are contained. When you become an administrator in the future, I'll tell you exactly what things are here."

Xia De wasn't very concerned with the value of this place right now; what he was actually thinking was whether the last slate containing the Time Perception Enhancement ritual might be in these forbidden sections.

"You did well on this matter. Whether that spiritual light is useful or not, the practical credits you need for skipping a grade, I'll help you fulfill them all."

Miss Dac Dac Nisi said, and seeing Xia De carefully observing his surroundings, added:

"Is there any knowledge you want? Or any expensive arcane arts you've taken a fancy to? Make your request now—as an administrator, I do still have that kind of clearance."

Xia De raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing something. With the first two slates already in hand, he didn't need to fear any other accidents at all; he could simply propose trading for the slate directly to this lady.

The reason he hadn't mentioned this to Miss Dac Dac Nisi at first was that Xia De didn't know what the specific appearance of the slate he was looking for was, and he obviously couldn't say "the gods left me slates." But now, he didn't need to describe its function and history—he already knew the exact appearance of the last slate.