CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: FORBIDDEN AREA

Heading in the opposite direction from where the Dark Faith Apprentice appeared, Lor walked three miles to a small mound.

Raising his right hand slightly, a surge of Earth Element erupted from his palm, pushing away the top layer of earth on the mound, revealing a package wrapped in animal hide beneath it.

The divine power fluctuation within the package was extremely intense, just slightly weaker than Lor’s own crystal packages.

He didn’t rush to pick up the animal hide package but instead activated a Lava Eruption Witchcraft covering a three-meter radius, cleansing the package.

"Sizzle~ Crackle——"

A sudden burst of black smoke emerged from beneath the package, but it was swiftly engulfed by the lava.

"Not bad, you’re even cautious enough to leave contingencies, barely passing."

Lor commented approvingly, dismissing the Small Lava Eruption Technique with a wave of his hand.

Then, using a hand covered by an Adaptive Rock Barrier, he picked up the package and turned back to his resting place.

Placing the animal hide package alongside his own, he then set up a Lava Eruption Magic Array before starting to tally his gains.

"276 grams of Divine Power Crystals, 62 bottles of Special Potion," Lor raised an eyebrow, "Tch, this guy hunted quite a few people!"

As for himself, he always intimidated a region first, then chose areas with intense divine power fluctuations to pick up Divine Power Crystals.

The advantage of this method is that it allows him to collect more Divine Power Crystals while saving Elemental Energy.

The downside is fewer Special Potions since others aren’t afraid to run with them but are wary of obvious Divine Power Crystals.

Whereas that Dark Faith Apprentice chose a different path, targeting the apprentices who won Divine Power Crystals to kill.

This method isn’t as efficient in acquiring Divine Power Crystals as Lor’s, but it yields more Special Potions.

"It’s only easier in the first few hours, and it might backfire."

Lor shook his head, "I’m not afraid of backfiring, but chasing people is indeed troublesome."

Currently, his speed is a weak point, and without putting down the Divine Power Crystals, he finds it hard to catch anyone. Yet, putting them down risks losing them.

But these Divine Power Crystals are crucial for buying a good Flying Ship to leave Murphy Continent; there can be no loss.

"For now, waiting passively for seven days might be the better choice."

Lor thought to himself, "By then, the higher-ups will drop three pieces of Space Equipment into the Divine Kingdom, and all greedy apprentices will fight for them; that will be the time to harvest."

Having made up his mind, he no longer dwelled on it.

Instead, he packed the total of 738 grams of Divine Power Crystals into a bag, meditated for a few minutes, and replenished the Elemental Energy he had just consumed.

Then, taking out all the potions, he downed them one by one to continue enhancing his talent.

Thirty bottles...

Fifty bottles...

Lor downed the last bottle of potion, shook his head to dispel the numbness from the cold impact, and opened his panel again, looking at the Meditation Talent section.

[Meditation Talent: Level 7+]

"Quite a challenge; it took ninety-nine bottles of potion just to add a point." Lor remarked with feeling and decisively pressed the plus sign.

[Meditation Talent: Level 7 → Level 8]

[Energy Points 11350, 20.34% → 4557, 15.48%]

"A Level 8 Meditation Talent is almost top-notch, with an average meditation rate of 0.3 Spiritual Power points per day."

Lor smiled contentedly. "Without using any external aids, one could transform from an ordinary person to a prelude First-Circle Wizard in a year; this training speed is sufficient."

He wasn’t considering a Level 9 Meditation Talent for now, as it was exceedingly difficult.

Getting from Level 7 to Level 8 requires just a hundred bottles of Special Potion.

From Level 8 to Level 9, even ten thousand bottles wouldn’t suffice; it was a tremendous qualitative leap.

"I won’t be hunting; for the next few days, I shall first advance my Meditation Technique."

Lor closed his eyes, letting his consciousness sink into the Sea of Consciousness, using Spiritual Power to link the Fire and Earth Meditation Rune and the Small Lava Eruption Rune.

As time passed, a mysterious connection gradually formed between the two.

Countless Fire and Earth Elements roamed and interchanged between the two runes.

Unnoticed, the Meditation Rune had acquired some of the explosive properties unique to the Small Lava Eruption Technique Rune.

During Lor’s meditation advancement, on average, a rabbit would crash into the outside once nearly every hour.

Most ended up burned to ash by the Lava Eruption Magic Array he’d set outside.

It would have been fine if affluent Dark Faith Apprentice bunnies had bumped into his tree, but these apprentices were all impoverished.

Nearly all were gamblers, red-eyed with the delusion of a windfall, not managing to gather even a gram of Divine Power Crystal among ten.

"What a hassle."

Lor opened his eyes, looked at the apprentices burned to ash, and the once more vanished Lava Eruption Magic Array, his eyes filled with impatience.

"This won’t do; the apprentices coming in have no Divine Power Crystals, yielding no gain and stalling my meditation advancement speed."

Originally, he planned to take three days to advance his Meditation Technique; now, with a changed plan, there’s even six days available.

But with ongoing interruptions for spell arrays setup, even ten days might not suffice for completing advancement.

Advancing the Meditation Technique isn’t afraid of disturbances, but re-entering the dual rune synching state each time requires time.

"Hmm, maybe I should set up more magic arrays on the periphery." Inspired, Lor had a new thought.

Setting up a Lava Eruption Magic Array, those guys break it once they step in.

Setting up multiple arrays should delay them enough to focus more on training!

Deploying sixty or seventy small to large mixed Lava Eruption Magic Arrays in one go should hold for two days.

Once decided, he took action.

Lor walked out of the Adaptive Rock Barrier Magic Array and began placing Lava Eruption Magic Arrays along the edge of the barrier.

For every three small magic arrays he set, he’d encase them with one medium array.

Then, for every three medium arrays, he placed a large one outside.

After setting up a few rounds, he’d return to spend a few minutes recharging Elemental Energy before continuing his setup.

All these magic arrays barely reached First-Circle potency; the size difference only indicated varying range.

Other apprentices entering the arrays would trigger the large array first, while the inner medium and small ones wouldn’t activate.

Having set up a total of seventy magic arrays, Lor looked at the densely arranged Lava Eruption Magic Arrays covering a twenty-mile radius, nodding in satisfaction.

"This should suffice, now to resume advancing the Meditation Technique."

The waiting-for-rabbits plan officially fell through, launching the backup plan: net-fishing.

...

Two days later.

A wolf-shaped Bloodline Wizard Apprentice, alongside over a hundred oddly-shaped Bloodline Wizard Apprentices and more than three hundred Elemental Wizard Apprentices, headed toward Lor’s direction.

At about a hundred and twenty miles from Lor, they encountered a Bloodline Wizard Apprentice with six spider legs protruding from their back in the forest.

The spider-legged apprentice saw such a large group moving through the forest without any divine power fluctuation and felt their heart skip a beat.

Just as they were about to flee, the leading wolf-shaped wizard apprentice seemed to recognize the spider-legged apprentice.

At first sight, he pointed westward, enthusiastically inviting:

"Jia Orang, want to try your luck with me over there?"

He could sense intense divine power crystal fluctuations in that direction, far stronger than any they had hunted before.

Hearing the familiar voice, Jia Orang halted his turning motion.

Turning fully around, he looked intently at the leading wolf-shaped wizard apprentice.

Seeing indeed it was an old friend, joy filled his heart.

But as he comprehended the direction his old friend was indicating, a chill ran down his spine.

"No, Yajedin, don’t go that way." Jia Orang said urgently, "That way is ’Forbidden Territory’!"