Chapter 118 - 113: Curse Art Library

Chapter 118: Chapter 113: Curse Art Library

[③Building: Curse Art Library (Rare)]

[Description ①: This library can house numerous Spell Scrolls. By studying Spell Scrolls within the library, Dream Descenders can receive a buff, making it easier to achieve enlightenment during their study.]

[Description ②: The Curse Art Library will absorb the "Spiritual Light" that emanates from Dream Descenders during their comprehension and use it to form new Spell Scrolls. The efficiency of this process is related to the Curse Arts the Cultivator has mastered and their level of proficiency.]

[Description ③: The Curse Art Library currently possesses the following Spell Scrolls—Phantom Step (Ordinary) x3, Slicing Strike (Ordinary) x3, Heavy Strike (Ordinary), Curse Missile (Ordinary) x3, Fleeting Shadows (Rare), and Rising Dragon Slash (Rare).]

Setting aside the Curse Art Library’s other potential abilities, its construction immediately provided a full twelve Spell Scrolls.

Of course, most of them were scrolls for Ordinary Level Curse Arts.

Were they not valuable? On the contrary!

It was true that one could learn Ordinary Level Curse Arts on their own. With the buff from the Training Ground, it was even quite easy for a Dream Descender to cultivate a Universal Curse Art to the Entry Level or Skilled Level.

Talented prodigies like Xuan Jian and Xi Xue could even reach the Master Level in just a few days, using and adapting the Curse Art with natural ease.

However!

Even Xuan Jian had been stuck at the Peak of Mastery Level with his signature Instantaneous Sword for a week, unable to make any progress.

There were even more powerful experts of the older generation who were unable to break through in their Curse Art proficiency.

And these Spell Scrolls were...

"Skill experience books!"

"They’re especially useful for breaking through in Curse Art proficiency, like from the Master Level to the Peak Realm, or from the Peak Realm to Mastery."

Cultivating a Curse Art to the latter two levels required that spark of enlightenment.

And the scrolls could provide it.

The library could provide it even more effectively.

Most importantly, the Curse Art Library could continuously produce its own ’Spell Scrolls’.

The more people who came here to cultivate, the faster the scrolls would be produced.

And the faster the scrolls were produced, the more people would naturally come here to cultivate.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"So this is the power of a Rare Level building?!"

Spell Scrolls were precious, rare, and also consumable.

Requiring Contribution Points to exchange for them was perfectly reasonable.

Shi An chose to build it.

Within the Safe Zone’s small island, in a place unnoticed by the Dream Descenders, a white mist arose and enveloped the entire area.

A white library gradually took shape within the mist.

...

「Safe Zone」

On Fen Huo’s second day here, he felt full of spirit. He had indeed enjoyed a rare, high-quality sleep.

’This inn is also incredible. It’s just that the Safe Zone made it so luxurious, I can’t help but feel...’

’The cost-performance is too low!’

When building camps in the Nightmare World, materials were extremely scarce. When he managed his camp, he wished he could make one piece of material do the work of two. But the Safe Zone’s Manager did the exact opposite, building the camp as if cost were no object, focusing only on making it as luxurious and beautiful as possible.

Fen Huo didn’t even dare to imagine how many Materials and Dream Crystals had been spent to construct this inn.

On this day, Chen Baichuan took Fen Huo and several other experts from the Fifth Team to experience the Safe Zone’s most popular facility: the Training Ground.

The members of the Fifth Team were soon astonished and overjoyed.

The two weakest members, who were only at the Peak of Control Stage, were especially ecstatic. They had vaguely found a path toward their breakthrough.

"If we stay here a few more days, we might be able to break through to the Refining Stage."

The three Refining Stage experts also said they had made gains.

His adjutant, Ding Ran, said, "No wonder some Dream Descenders say this Safe Zone’s Training Ground has a touch of a Wonder’s power! It’s incredible, so miraculous! It’s much stronger than our Countermeasures Bureau’s training grounds."

Fen Huo was also full of praise.

However, he said, "The most amazing thing about the Safe Zone isn’t this Training Ground. The Training Ground is indeed miraculous, but our Countermeasures Bureau’s Dragon Fire Camp also has a magical cultivation facility."

That place has a different function from this one; it can rapidly strengthen a person’s Physique.

With no side effects.

The reason it was built within Dragon Fire Camp and not in the real world is that some special buildings must rely on the Nightmare World to achieve their effects.

He believed the Safe Zone’s Training Ground operated on a similar principle.

Fen Huo continued, "The most powerful aspect of the Safe Zone is its ability to connect the camp’s entrance to various Nightmares, allowing so many Dream Descenders to come here. And it’s precisely because Dream Descenders can reach this place that the Training Ground’s miraculous nature can truly show its value."

"This is the core of the Safe Zone—the ability of a Wonder!"

He said with certainty.

Chen Baichuan asked, "Captain Fen, do Wonders really exist?"

Fen Huo replied, "They do. I’ve even seen one. The Ark that the Ark Salvation Society is building relies on the existence of the Wonder, the ’Ark of Deliverance’. Otherwise, how could the Ark Salvation Society possibly allow a camp to move freely through the Nightmare World, even easily crossing from one Nightmare to another?"

"A Wonder is a building that possesses its own special rules!"

"The Safe Zone’s special ability, which defies common sense, can only be explained by a Wonder—a spatial Wonder. But of course, Wonders aren’t omnipotent. The Safe Zone’s ability to connect to the Nightmare World has range limitations, as does the members’ return ability."

Chen Baichuan understood.

Fen Huo added, "Not only that, but you must know that energy is conserved. Connecting to various Nightmares and maintaining a Training Ground with such profound effects must come at a steep price."

At first glance, it seems one can enter the Nightmares outside simply by pushing open a gate.

At first glance, it seems the Training Ground doesn’t require any energy to be burned for its maintenance after being built.

But Fen Huo understood deeply that you couldn’t see the inner workings from the outside. The real consumption was happening internally, in places they couldn’t see.

It was just like that facility in their Dragon Fire Camp. As powerful as its effects were, the cost to activate and maintain it was also immense.

Effect and cost were directly proportional.

Yet the Safe Zone only charged a symbolic fee, which was far too cheap. The Manager was clearly paying out of his own pocket to nurture young Dream Descenders!

Fen Huo was filled with a sense of solemn respect.

’I can’t just let this Manager keep paying for everything. Our Countermeasures Bureau has to do something,’ he thought.

’But just giving him money directly wouldn’t be appropriate; the Manager would definitely refuse it.’

’I have to think of a reasonable way to support him.’

"Right."

"We could purchase a batch of the Safe Zone’s specialty goods—the kind with normal pricing that would allow the Manager to make a profit."

"For example... the Curse Testing Device outside the main hall!"

"That device would genuinely be useful for our Countermeasures Bureau!"

...

Fen Huo left soon after, leaving the training room to Chen Baichuan and the other team members.

After all, as powerful as the training room was, it wasn’t of much use to someone like him, who had already cultivated several Curse Arts to the Half-Step Peak Realm.

What he needed more was an opportunity, an epiphany.

But that was incredibly difficult.

Before long, Chen Baichuan also walked out of the training room.

He asked, "Captain Fen, I cultivated two of my Curse Arts to the Peak of Mastery Level the day before yesterday, but now I can’t make any progress no matter how much I practice them. How am I supposed to break through?"

Fen Huo was speechless.

He shook his head and chuckled in amusement.

This kid, Baichuan, had been advancing like a hot knife through butter thanks to the Training Ground’s benefits and his own considerable talent. He’d forgotten that under normal circumstances, it was standard for Curse Art proficiency to improve at a turtle’s pace.

What’s more, he had now hit a ’bottleneck’.

Fen Huo said, "This is normal. Breaking through from the Master Level to the Peak Realm is difficult to begin with. It’s common to be stuck for several months. In your case, I suggest you first focus on fusing with your second Lifebound Curse Object and advancing to the Second Refining Realm."

Seeing the young Baichuan look a little dejected, Fen Huo added:

"As for shortcuts, they aren’t completely non-existent. There are the Spell Scrolls we saw yesterday. For you, I remember your main focus is ’Phantom Step,’ right? If you could get a chance to study a Phantom Step Scroll, you might be able to use it to achieve an epiphany and break through your proficiency bottleneck."

"It’s just that..."

Fen Huo shook his head slightly. "Spell Scrolls are either excavated from Deep in the Nightmare, or they’re inscribed by an Extraordinary Being who has cultivated a Curse Art to the level of Mastery, using their own Power of Will."

"Don’t think it’s easy. Inscribing a Spell Scroll is an incredibly mentally taxing task. If you inscribe too many, it will directly affect your own condition. Even when people like Director Yan occasionally inscribe Spell Scrolls, they only do it for Rare Level Curse Arts."

Inscribing a Rare Level Curse Art allows a junior to learn another powerful technique, resulting in a significant improvement.

The cost-performance of inscribing an Ordinary Level Curse Art is simply too low.

Very few important figures do it.

Actually, the Countermeasures Bureau does have a few scrolls for Ordinary Level Curse Arts, and core personnel from the Headquarters like them can spend contribution to exchange for a chance to study one.

Fen Huo himself had studied one once, and as a result, one of his Curse Arts broke through to the Peak of Perfection.

However, for Chen Baichuan, spending a large amount of contribution to break through a Curse Art bottleneck was far less worthwhile than using it to fuse with a Lifebound Curse Object and raise his own realm.

It wouldn’t be too late at all for him to delve into his Curse Arts after he reached the Peak of Third Refinements Realm.

Chen Baichuan understood now.

"Thank you for clearing my doubts, Captain Fen. I won’t be overly ambitious."

The two of them went to the main hall to rest.

Just then, they saw a new announcement appear.

"The Manager has spent a great deal to build a new cultivation venue. It is a place for quiet cultivation, suitable for reading, thinking, and comprehending Curse Arts and Curse Power. Furthermore, inside this cultivation venue, the Manager has also put out more than ten Spell Scrolls???"

Chen Baichuan and Fen Huo didn’t quite understand the first half of the announcement.

But the second half...

"Spell Scrolls?!!"

"The Safe Zone is selling Spell Scrolls directly? They even have Rare Level Spell Scrolls!! Is the Manager really that loaded?!"

Fen Huo was astonished.

He was already coveting them. If he could buy a chance to study one with money, he would absolutely be willing to spend a fortune.

Money wasn’t the issue.

The amount of Dream Crystals needed for one study session wasn’t even that expensive.

"The problem is... it also requires Contribution Points? And members get priority?"

Originally, Fen Huo hadn’t given much thought to becoming a member of the Safe Zone.

After all, he was the commander of Lu Yao Camp. What would it look like for him to become a member of the Safe Zone?

But now...

"Baichuan, what are the requirements to become a member of the Safe Zone?"

But before he could even get the words out, Chen Baichuan was already running off into the distance, with a speed comparable to when he usually fought against anomalies.