Chapter 125: At the Gathering

Mo Li did not act rashly.

Even after examining the murals on both sides of the secret passage and discovering a tall, mysterious bronze door at its end, she felt an urge to explore on her own.

She firmly suppressed the urge and decided to keep waiting.

Forcibly stopping her steps that had already moved toward the bronze door and walked a certain distance, Mo Li retreated from the passage and slammed the iron door shut with a clang.

After thinking, she still felt somewhat unsafe and consecutively cast several lower-grade mud-rock techniques.

The mud in the tunnel that had not yet been transported turned into soil, forming earthen walls that completely concealed the iron door.

Even then she still felt uneasy; after noting the exact location of the iron door, she buried the entire stretch of painstakingly dug tunnel near the door.

Act within one's limits, do not be overconfident.

This was the bottom line Mo Li set for herself before entering the interworld transfer gate.

Mo Li knew that with her own strength she could not detect whatever unknowns might lie beyond the bronze door, nor could she handle whatever dangers might exist there.

Even if there were no danger, no unknowns, and only a large amount of information existed.

Mo Li also did not believe she could alone, in a short time, find the crucial clues within it.

Therefore, Mo Li calmed down in time, not acting on a hot-headed impulse to open the bronze door.

Better to wait for that guy Lin Ke to come, then explore together what secrets lie beyond the bronze door.

In this regard, that guy is still trustworthy.

Hmph!

Just thinking of Lin Ke made Mo Li unable to stop getting angry again.

But as she fumed, she sensed something was off.

She seemed not as angry as before.

After a brief recollection, Mo Li couldn't help but arise a doubt.

Just seeing the two simple words "crazy woman," did she really need to get that angry?

Even if she got angry, it shouldn't be that serious.

Mo Li realized her earlier emotions seemed to have been invisibly amplified, making her thoughts prone to extremism.

Including, after seeing the bronze door, she subconsciously walked toward it, wanting to open the door.

Fortunately, she herself had no intention of solo adventure, and she stopped in time.

That iron door, that secret passage, those murals, including that bronze door—there's definitely something wrong!

"Why haven't you come yet?"

Mo Li muttered to herself, unable to stop worrying about that annoying guy.

With that guy around, when facing such a situation, she wouldn't need to worry about this or that at all.

Lin Ke, whom Mo Li was worrying about, had already been rushing all night.

Battles erupted one after another in this mountain hollow.

The spectacle was moving, firelight filled the sky, the commotion huge—no place to linger.

What's more regrettable is that this time there was no loot.

They fought a losing battle.

A single big killer could not directly kill a Pureblood Will member wearing the Defender 3202 suit.

After stacking the damage from many standard delayed-action self-exploding fire grenades and enhanced versions, the situation changed.

Had the academy's protective measures not triggered and responded in time, moving the Pureblood Will members to safety, they would certainly have died on the spot.

The result was no time left for Lin Ke to collect the spoils.

Lin Ke could only watch as three ownerless round flying discs and two biomechanical eagles continued to circle above the mountain hollow; after sighing at the pity, he missed the chance.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, the three walked for over two hours.

Along the way, relying on real-time scouting from the round flying discs and biomechanical eagles, the three avoided several groups of people and beasts.

In the short term, as long as Pureblood Will people did not actively provoke him, Lin Ke did not intend to stir up trouble.

Drawing too much attention is not good; it easily makes one a target of public criticism.

He decided to stay low-key for a while, hurry on his way, and go meet Mo Li.

At most he might do a side quest along the way or push the main quest forward a bit.

Choosing a relatively suitable spot, Lin Ke called out to Dalton and Ai Rui Si, saying, "Rest here; we'll continue when it's light."

"Okay, boss."

Dalton responded with a sound and voluntarily began cleaning up the area.

Ai Rui Si lazily yawned, pulled out a lounge chair from her small bag, lay back, narrowed her eyes, and stretched out a big stretch.

Comfortable and pleasant, feeling delighted.

Dalton looked at the carefree Ai Rui Si, then down at his own heavy pack he had taken off, feeling immensely conflicted.

At least he was among the top ten of his year, well-informed and knowledgeable, though not outstanding.

The famed spatial storage magical device—even if he had never touched the actual item, he had at least seen textual descriptions and video demonstrations.

The moment he recognized Ai Rui Si's waist pouch, Dalton deeply felt what wealth disparity meant.

What is social stratum, what is class.

After a while, his emotions gradually eased.

Sigh, others have good backgrounds; that's innate.

Let's just steadily follow the boss and develop slowly.

He sighed, kept busy, and leveled the ground.

Lin Ke did not stand idly by; he also joined the labor.

After casting several withering techniques in a row, he cleared all the weeds.

Then he set up two folding chairs, and a campsite for short breaks was ready.

"Sit."

Lin Ke took off the large pack where he had cleared part of the inventory, sat on the chair, and gestured for Da Er Dun to sit down and rest.

It's not a long-term camp, so there's no need to make the site so nice.

"Thanks, boss."

Da Er Dun leaned back in the chair, relaxed his whole body, soft and limp, and let out a contented sigh.

All day he had been rushing, being chased, blocked, bombed, hardly resting, and was exhausted.

It was rare to get a break, and the three didn't start chatting right away.

After a moment, Lin Ke broke the silence.

He turned his head to look at Ai Ruisi, who was playing with her fingers in the moonlight, and asked, "Ai Ruisi, do you know all those people we met today?"

"Of course."

Ai Ruisi continued playing with her fingers, making various shapes, and replied offhand, "I've had plenty of dealings with them, especially that bitch Cui Xi Lu Qi Ya."

She said, then Ai Ruisi exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, I didn't realize until you mentioned it. Those guys who came today are all members of the Pureblood Will who favor the Lu Qi Ya Family."

"Favor?"

Lin Ke seized on a key word.

"Right."

Ai Ruisi nodded and said matter-of-factly, "Several pureblood families secretly support the Pureblood Will, each with their own interests and voices."

Come to think of it, that bitch Cui Xi Lu Qi Ya seems to have brought out the outstanding first-year members who favor the Lu Qi Ya Family to gang up on you.

"Tsk! What the hell did you do to piss off the Lu Qi Ya Family so badly?"

After expressing that, Ai Ruisi looked at Lin Ke with eyes full of curiosity.

She wanted to take a good look at what kind of person could provoke the Lu Qi Ya Family to the point of wanting him dead.

Upon closer inspection, aside from being a bit more handsome, there was nothing special about him.

One nose, two eyes—pretty ordinary.

I can't figure it out!

Lin Ke let Ai Ruisi stare, pondered for a moment, and asked, "If that's the case, then most of the remaining Pureblood Will members won't stare at me like Cui Xi Lu Qi Ya does, right?"

Ai Ruisi thought carefully and gave her opinion: "The Two Districts Grand Comparison is very important; unless you have a grudge against me or we're direct competitors, who would ignore their own scores and just target you under normal circumstances?"

"Hmm."

Lin Ke nodded, deep in thought.

After pondering, Lin Ke asked again, "You mentioned earlier the conflict between half-bloods and purebloods; during the Two Districts Grand Comparison, what do half-bloods usually do?"

Lin Ke had wanted to ask this question for a while.

No matter how half-bloods oppose purebloods, they are still local apprentices of the North District.

The Two Districts Grand Comparison looks at individual performance and scores, as well as collective merits and honors.

Half-bloods claim to be natural allies of the Storm Sea Newbloods, but that doesn't mean they'll help the South District take first place.

Lin Ke guessed that half-bloods would at most sabotage the purebloods when they target the Storm Sea Newbloods, or lend a hand when the Storm Sea Newbloods deal with the purebloods.

When it comes to competing for collective scores, they still prioritize their own interests, namely those of the North District.

In a nutshell, the relationship between half-bloods and newbloods is both cooperative and opposed.

In a nutshell, the relationship between half-bloods and purebloods is both opposed and cooperative.

Lin Ke directed his question to Ai Ruisi, both to verify his guess and to establish the guideline for his next actions.

Ai Ruisi didn't hide anything and replied directly, "Just do that—go fight them for first place."

That simple sentence gave Lin Ke confidence.

It also let Lin Ke establish how he would interact with Ai Ruisi going forward.

"Rest up; we still have to travel after dawn."

Having gotten the information he wanted, Lin Ke ended the conversation without hesitation.

Quite the scumbag's style.

Ai Ruisi pursed her lips, feeling she had been stood up.

Da Er Dun was completely absent the whole time, just listening in, feeling the conversation packed a lot of information and was extremely rewarding.

The three fell into silence.

In the silence, they saw off the moon and welcomed the sun.

In this world, there's no concept of early or late.

Once the sun comes out, the whole world is noon.

Lin Ke took out a cup, combined one secondary mist‑rain spell with one purification‑water spell, and made three cups of pure water.

After distributing one cup each, they first rinsed their mouths.

Washing faces and hands was easier to handle.

It was the same: one secondary mist‑rain spell and one purification‑water spell.

Only this time, Lin Ke used the secondary mist‑rain spell more skillfully.

First, three water lines appeared out of nowhere, purified by the purification‑water spell, then, like passing through a shower head, they split into dozens of tiny streams that sprayed a mist.

Given the limited outdoor conditions, each caught water with their hands and just rubbed it on quickly.

Simple, quick, and convenient.

"I want to show off our results from yesterday, okay?"

Ai Ruisi gathered beside the stream of water allocated to her, like a child, and played to her heart's content for a while.

She shot out several rainbows and happily admired them.

Having fun and satisfied, she suddenly blurted out a sentence.

"Okay."

Lin Ke did not object and gave an affirmative reply.

One must know one's limits.

Ai Ruisi repeatedly said she would obey his commands, and indeed she restrained herself in her actions, not being overly willful.

But could Lin Ke take that for granted and then boss Ai Ruisi around?

No, he couldn't.

The wristwatch issued by the academy is on Ai Ruisi's own hand; she surely also has other magical devices for communication.

Out of respect for Lin Ke and to keep his promise, she had asked in advance just now.

If she no longer wanted to respect or keep it, she wouldn't even bother asking and would just go ahead and do it.

By then, besides being unhappy, what else could Lin Ke do?

Break up?

Then let's break up; for Ai Ruisi, it's no big deal.

She just thinks it's fun.

On the contrary, Lin Ke occasionally learns some information about the Northern District and the "Pureblood Will" from Ai Ruisi.

"All right."

At this moment, Ai Ruisi's character changed a bit; she blinked her left eye, her tone was rather playful, and she sweetly replied.

After her words fell, she made several inputs and edits on her wristwatch, and finally issued a notice:

"Pureblood Will bastards, wait to die."

Lin Ke looked at the second notice hanging on the public channel, its arrogant content and its signature, and remained silent.

Is this what you called showing off?

This is clearly a provocation!

He shook his head, truly unable to figure out how Ai Ruisi's mind works, so Lin Ke simply stopped worrying, packed up the camp, and set off.

It was still the same old routine.

Round flying discs and bionic eagles conducted high-altitude reconnaissance, while four scout puppets guarded the surroundings.

After a day of buffering and adapting, the over a thousand wizard apprentices who entered this small world and were not eliminated basically found their own rhythm of action.

Along the way, after more than three hours, even though Lin Ke's trio once could not avoid it and brushed past a group from the Northern District, no conflict occurred.

Both sides detected each other's movements through scouting devices, and in fact both wanted to avoid the other.

Indeed, the canyon had only a single path, impossible to avoid.

Thus, they walked side by side out of the canyon stretch, which was not long but tormenting, while on guard.

Ai Ruisi was eager the whole way, wanting to have a satisfying battle to relieve the boredom of the journey.

When both sides left the canyon, went their separate ways, and walked back to back,

Ai Ruisi's whole person suddenly collapsed.

Devoid of vitality.

Lin Ke clearly saw admiration in the eyes of the opposing leader.

It seemed to say, "Brother, you can handle this crazy woman, awesome!"

Lin Ke didn't have time for that; he was keeping track of time.

It was again time to use the wristwatch's once‑daily mutual positioning function.

There was nothing to hesitate about.

He immediately sent a positioning request to Mo Li.

Mo Li was obviously waiting as well and agreed right away.

Two arrow‑shaped light dots appeared on the wristwatch screen.

They flashed for a few seconds, then disappeared.

Lin Ke had already noted the direction and estimated the distance.

At today's speed, if nothing unexpected happens, they probably still have about three hours to go.

"Boss, I saw Ba Ke, Ai Ji Ao, and Lin En."

The temporary scout in charge, Da Er Dun, suddenly spoke up.

"Where are they?"

Lin Ke, while wording a message to Mo Li, asked.

"At the 3‑o'clock direction, very close; we can catch up to them in five minutes."

Da Er Dun continued reporting.

"Hmm, we'll go find them first."

Lin Ke confirmed that Mo Li was in his 3:30 direction, which was on the way.

So they didn't bring Ba Ke and the others along, but went together.

"Ba Ke and his group have four more people, um…"

Da Er Dun then added, "Lan Ni. Tai Le and Yi Si Ke Ya Li Ke Si are also there."

Lin Ke sent the message to Mo Li, turned his head, and looked at the projected real‑time scouting image.

A group of six people, split into two parts—three on the left, four on the right.

The two forces barely managed to gather together; not only are their hearts not in sync, even their faces show discord.

Bring Ba Ke and his two companions over.

Lin Ke made a decision.

Those five brothers, whom Lin Ke had observed for several months, he deemed good fellows with the potential to become companions—how could he possibly let Lan Ni. Tai Le mess with them?

Moreover, Lin Ke himself had the idea of forming a team.

Whether it's completing the main quest or dealing with the Pureblood Will, having a team is better.

More people, greater strength.

Thanks to the reader 'I Am Asleep in My Dream' for the reward, thank you!

(End of chapter)