Chapter 272 - 25: Spiritual Strength Doubled (Part 2)

Chapter 272: Chapter 25: Spiritual Strength Doubled (Part 2)

The price of the potion was three hundred Black Tower Points, which was not expensive for Mo Ning. However, the instructions clearly advised against this kind of emergency measure.

If he really took three vials, the final increase in his Spiritual Strength might only be 0.5 points. That would be a complete waste of the precious Soul Spirit Water.

Mo Ning pondered for a few seconds, his gaze shifting to the bookshelf on the other side of the hall.

His eyes swept over the massive tomes, and he murmured, ’Perhaps for me, this method could be an effective way to fight the contamination.’

For the vast majority of Apprentices, and even Official Wizards, studying Divination Books was a painful, even torturous, affair.

But Mo Ning didn’t see it that way.

His experiences over the past few months had increasingly convinced him that digesting one piece of the Knowledge of Divination after another, and overcoming one Divination problem after another, was in itself a source of joy.

For him, learning was never about gaining power or surpassing others; it was the simplest, purest form of happiness.

Having made his decision, Mo Ning gave a quiet command, "Flower, bring me the *Art of Complex Divination Pattern Group*."

This was one of the dozen or so thick Divination Scriptures he had borrowed for his Magic Pattern Drone project.

"Yes!"

The Artificial Soul replied cheerfully.

A massive, 1,500-page tome automatically detached from the bookshelf and flew steadily before him.

After a moment of thought, he gave another order, "Also, bring me the high-Quality Calming Ointment."

This was bound to be a battle of attrition lasting at least two days and two nights. Applying a moderate amount of the ointment would help maintain his mental stability.

"Yes!"

Before the words had even faded, Flower had brought the Magic Potion to him.

Without needing to be told, the Artificial Soul opened the jar and, with a simple Trick, evenly applied the ointment to Mo Ning’s forehead and temples.

A cool sensation seeped into his skin. He took a deep breath and reached out to open the first page of the scripture.

Meanwhile, Flower had thoughtfully placed a stack of blank scale pattern paper to the side.

Mo Ning took a shallow breath and touched his fingertip to the Floating Soul Spirit Water. An Ice Cold sensation, tinged with a strange numbness, instantly drilled into his finger.

The method of using this potion wasn’t to ’drink’ it; it couldn’t be drunk anyway.

He condensed his Spiritual Power into an invisible needle and viciously pierced the membrane of Spirituality inside the Crystal.

The sealed energy, smelling the scent of flesh and blood, swarmed into his fingertip like a starving wolf pouncing on its prey. The moment it made contact, it silently seeped into his Spiritual World.

In that instant, an uncontrollable agitation surged up from the depths of his heart.

’I want to scream. I want to rip every single page of this book to shreds.’

Forcing himself to read in this state was like rowing against a current.

And if he couldn’t quickly immerse himself in the Divination Maze within the book, a disastrous outcome was just around the corner.

But Mo Ning had a backup plan. He quickly took out the Pen of Contemplation and issued a mental command. ’Cast the Curse of Knowledge on me.’

The Effect of the Curse of Knowledge was to force any target with a Spiritual Strength below 15 to contemplate Divination problems.

Used in this situation, however, it was perfectly appropriate.

’To be honest, I never dreamed that the first person to receive this curse would be me.’

’There’s nothing stranger in this world.’

BZZZT—

The Ink Tube Pen trembled lightly.

The next moment, an invisible force from a strange dimension descended upon his brain, instantly giving rise to a burning, soul-deep desire—to study Divination, the harder the better!

This desire was so overwhelming that it temporarily suppressed the agitation.

Of course, the Soul Spirit Water had only just taken Effect, and the contamination from the Soul of Deathly Silence was not yet severe, which was why the Curse of Knowledge could restrain it.

Once the contamination deepened, the curse would likely be useless. After all, the two were on completely different levels.

Mo Ning instantly entered a state of heightened concentration, his gaze falling upon the first line of Secret Spirit Text on the first page:

"For most Apprentices, the complex Magic Pattern Group is nothing short of a nightmare. Its forms are complex, its analytical methods are complex, and the Divination equations derived from it are equally complex.

"In this intellectual labyrinth built from high complexity, finding a path to the exit is an extremely arduous trek.

"This book will provide thirteen methods, full of the art of Divination, to help the reader traverse this bewildering cage..."

As he read deeper, Mo Ning’s mind naturally sank into the Divination Maze.

He liked this immersion. He was even a little obsessed with it.

The lingering trace of agitation was like a pile of salt in a downpour, silently and rapidly dissolving, yet he was completely unaware.

Flower’s invisible gaze hung in mid-air, anxiously watching her master’s every move.

This method of ’fighting contamination with learning’ was unprecedented; even she was stunned.

’Will... will this work?’

’What if he runs into a major obstacle during his research and becomes agitated? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive and give the Soul of Deathly Silence an opening?’

But her master had moved too quickly. She didn’t even have time to offer any suggestions before he had already absorbed the spiritual energy of the Soul Spirit Water into his body.

Flower watched for a long time without blinking, surprised to find that her master’s expression was no different than when he usually read Divination Scriptures. In fact, his concentration was even greater.

This was proof enough that the strange method he had chosen seemed to be working, at least for now.

This made Flower feel a sense of disbelief. ’Can someone really derive "enough happiness" from abstruse and obscure Divination research?’

Even her previous master, Lord Martin, merely "didn’t dislike" research.

He was a far cry from "deriving happiness from it."