abnabooks Chapter 40: Passing the Selection, Preparing for the Secret Realm
Chapter 40: Passing the Selection, Preparing for the Secret Realm
After a moment's thought, Rowling came up with a plan.
He had Baha hover over the woods, using his vision to pinpoint the banshee's approximate location.
He slowly approached, simultaneously activating his perfect-level meditation technique to highly concentrate his mental energy, forming a dense protective layer to resist mental impact.
When the piercing shriek rang out, although Roland felt a sharp pain in his head, his solid mental barrier successfully withstood most of the damage.
He locked onto the direction indicated by Baha, and instead of using the ineffective acid spell, he made a fist with both hands, mobilizing his mana and spiritual power to try to simulate the simple rune structure with energy purification and dispelling properties recorded in ancient scrolls.
This is not a complete spell; it's more like a temporary energy manipulation technique.
A soft yet resolute milky-white light emanated from his palm, piercing the gray mist like a sharp sword and illuminating the shimmering banshee.
hiss! ! !
The banshee let out a painful howl, her spirit body trembling violently under the milky white light, as if ice and snow were melting, and the surrounding gray mist thinned out.
This simulated purifying light actually had a noticeable effect on the banshee.
Roland's spirits lifted, and he continued to channel his magical and spiritual power to maintain the purifying radiance.
Baha also continuously adjusted its position in the air to provide Rolin with the most accurate guidance.
After a stalemate, the Banshee's spirit finally couldn't take it anymore. She let out a mournful howl of resentment and then completely dissipated, leaving behind a small clump of pure resentment crystals that could be used to refine certain mental protective items.
……
As time goes on, encountering other top apprentices will be almost inevitable.
In a swampy area filled with twisted shadow vines, Rolin and Lina met by chance.
The two discovered a Shadow Mask Mushroom marked as a special collection target almost simultaneously.
Lina's figure appeared and disappeared in the shadows, as if blending into the environment, her presence elusive and difficult to detect.
She glanced at the Baha on Rolin's shoulder, a hint of apprehension flashing in her eyes.
Bahamut's Dark Silver Eye and Dark Gold Eye provide considerable restraint on her stealth and sense of threat.
"Rolin?"
Lina's voice came from all directions, with a hint of elusiveness.
"This mushroom is very useful to me."
"Coincidentally, it's required for the mission." Roland responded calmly, his [Weak Force Field Armor] quietly covering his entire body, his mental energy highly concentrated.
He knew how formidable Lina was, especially in an environment that suited her perfectly.
After a brief silence, Lina's voice rang out again:
"It seems a battle is inevitable."
"However, a lose-lose situation benefits no one."
"According to the rules, strength speaks for itself, and a single strike decides the outcome, how about that?"
"The loser shall leave on his own."
This is one of the default dispute resolution methods in the selection process, avoiding unnecessary waste.
"Can."
Rowling agreed.
He signaled for Baha to take off for alert.
The next moment, Luo Lin felt the light around him dim, as if all the shadows had come to life, wrapping around him from all directions with a chilling cold and binding force.
At the same time, a barely perceptible, dark dagger phantom silently pierced towards Rolin's back.
Lina's first move was a deadly one!
Shadows bind and restrict movement, concealing the true deadly blow.
However, Rowling was already on guard.
The enhanced perception brought about by the perfect meditation technique allowed him to detect that faint killing intent in advance.
The optimized field armor energy instantly concentrated on his back, and at the same time, his body suddenly leaned forward and his right hand swung backward.
It wasn't acid, nor was it the purifying radiance; it was just a small clump of the shimmering dust we had previously obtained from Mason!
hum!
A blinding white light burst forth in the dark swamp, instantly dispelling some of the shadows and causing the illusory shadow of the dark dagger to pause slightly.
In that instant of stillness, Rolin's magical power surged, and the [Corrosion Orb] he had prepared beforehand was not launched. Instead, he forcibly compressed it into his palm, forming a dark green energy ball that exuded a destructive aura and was highly unstable.
Instead of attacking Lina's hard-to-lock body, Rolin slammed the energy ball onto the ground covered with shadow vines.
boom!!!
The violent explosion sent mud flying everywhere, and the corrosive energy instantly destroyed the shadow vines within a radius of several meters. The intense energy shock also broke Lina's shadow binding.
The chaotic energy flow disrupted the shadow energy in the area, greatly reducing Lina's stealth effectiveness. Her figure appeared staggeringly not far away.
She looked at Luo Lin, then at the crater created by the explosion and the dissipating shadow power, a hint of astonishment flashing in her eyes.
She hadn't expected Rowling to use such an almost environmentally destructive method to break her offensive.
"You win."
Lina acted decisively, her figure slowly retreating into the deeper shadows, her voice fading away.
"The mushrooms are yours; we'll see who prevails in the secret realm."
Luo Lin breathed a slight sigh of relief and dissipated the energy in his palm.
That attack, though seemingly brutal, actually required precise control of energy and timing.
Without the superior control granted by perfect meditation techniques, compressing the [Corruption Orb] and controlling its burst range could easily backfire on oneself.
Roland quickly gathered the Shadow Ghost Mushroom and immediately left this place of trouble.
The selection process is entering its final countdown.
The rankings at the top of the leaderboard are constantly changing, and the competition has become extremely fierce.
With his steady performance, all-around abilities, and perfect teamwork with Bahamut, Rowling has consistently maintained a position in the top 30 and is steadily climbing the ranks.
When the final bell tolled throughout the Shadowwood, all surviving apprentices were teleported back to the Academy's plaza.
The final rankings were clearly displayed on the giant light screen.
Rowling's gaze swept over them quickly.
Kyle Silverlight ranked third, while Lena ranked seventh.
His name, Rowling, was ranked twenty-first.
Steady!
He successfully gained the qualification to enter the Residual Light Secret Realm!
As he watched his name change on the screen and felt the envious or wary gazes around him, a surge of excitement welled up inside Luo Lin.
Six years of accumulation and waiting, the life-and-death trials in the Black Forest, have finally opened the door to a higher level for him at this moment!
Rolin stroked Baha's feathers on his shoulder, sharing in the joy through the connection.
Baha nuzzled his cheek affectionately, his dark golden eyes sparkling with excitement.
After Luo Lin successfully obtained the qualification to explore the Residual Light Secret Realm, his name once again spread rapidly among the apprentices.
This was already the umpteenth time that Rowling's name had spread among the apprentices. As the person in charge, Rowling had no time to care about these empty titles. He immediately threw himself into the intensive preparations for the secret realm.
The secret realm is scheduled to open in a month, which doesn't give us much time.
Roland first needs to gain a deeper understanding of the Residual Light Realm itself.
With the privileges granted through the selection process, he was able to access a higher-level database within the Holy Tower Academy to review limited records related to the secret realm.
The Realm of Lingering Light is said to be one of the fragments formed from the collapse of the demiplane laboratory of the ancient wizard Lingering Light after his fall.
The internal environment is extremely unstable, the spatial structure is fragile, the rules are distorted, and it is filled with various strange areas formed by experiments or energy leaks.
The information states that the core area of the secret realm was once the place where the wizard conducted high-energy elemental reactions, with a high probability of nurturing pure elemental essences, but it is also the most dangerous area, filled with energy turbulence and ancient constructs guarding it.
Besides elemental essences, the secret realm may also contain experimental notes left behind by the Archmage of Remnant Light, strange magical materials, and even some unfinished enchanted items.
Opportunities and risks coexist.
Luo Lin carefully recorded every key piece of information.
Known types of dangerous zones, potential resource points, common weaknesses of ancient structures, and identifying characteristics of spatially unstable regions.
He compared this information with his own capabilities, made preliminary plans for several possible exploration routes, and marked the areas that needed to be avoided.
After intelligence gathering, the next step is to prepare supplies.
Luo Lin checked his dimensional bag.
He still had plenty of potions, materials, and scrolls accumulated in the Black Forest over the past six years, but he needed to replenish them more effectively in the face of unknown secret realms.