Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Gains and Preparations
After classifying the powers of this world, Jiang Lin realized that, in truth, they were largely similar to those of Zhongzhou.
The only real difference lay in the source of that power.
Zhongzhou relied on Spiritual Energy, while this place relied on links to the Magic Weave.
The Magic Weave contained Spiritual Energy, or rather, the Magic Weave itself was a derivative of it, or something attached to it.
This world was covered by the Magic Weave, and even that Spiritual Power was bound within it.
The reason professions like mages were so powerful was because they could focus on communicating with the existence of the Magic Weave.
By using certain incantations or forms of perception, they could borrow the power of the Magic Weave to cast formidable spells, even forbidden spells.
But the greatest drawback was that even the strongest mage could not actually contain much mana within their body.
That was where Jiang Lin differed from them.
The mages of this world did not understand how to absorb mana into their bodies or store it within themselves.
That was because they did not possess cultivation methods like those of Zhongzhou, methods that drew Spiritual Energy into the body and opened up the Dantian Qi Sea.
That was Jiang Lin’s advantage, and they were completely incomparable to him.
After a long while, Jiang Lin returned to his room on the third floor.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he gently stirred his Spiritual Power and sent it into his Storage Ring.
It could be said that everything Jiang Lin currently owned was inside that ring.
Although it contained many sword arrays, medicinal pills, and swords, the one thing he needed most right now, Spirit Stones, had all been used back then to activate the grand teleportation array.
At the time, the situation had been critical. There had been no time at all to mobilize the sect’s Spirit Stones.
The only Spirit Stones he and the Patriarch had on hand had barely been enough to activate that formation that had been passed down for ten thousand years.
A hazy spiritual glow flickered, and a sword appeared in Jiang Lin’s hand.
This sword was called Cangwu.
It was the sword he used most often, and it happened to be one that suited his current cultivation level.
As his hand brushed over the Cangwu Sword, a smile appeared on Jiang Lin’s face. A long-lost feeling surfaced in his heart once more.
He set the sword aside, then used his divine sense to search through the Storage Ring again. After taking out a few healing pills, he found, to his pleasant surprise, seven Spirit Stones.
This was a completely unexpected delight.
Seven Spirit Stones, and all of them were of superior quality.
“With these, I can directly recover to the Foundation Establishment Realm. But my Spiritual Power has been exhausted for far too long. If I want to go beyond Foundation Establishment, I will probably need much more Spiritual Energy.”
As Jiang Lin thought this, he decided that no matter what, he should first recover to the Foundation Establishment Realm. After that, he could use a large amount of Spiritual Energy to replenish himself and fill that enormous void within him.
Holding two Spirit Stones in his hands, Jiang Lin began to circulate his cultivation method.
What he cultivated was the finest cultivation method within the Sword Sect, called 《True Interpretation of the Supreme Void Sword Canon》.
Although this cultivation method came with its own divine abilities, the minimum requirement to use them was the Golden Core Realm.
For the time being, Jiang Lin had no intention of thinking about sword-path divine abilities. He simply circulated his cultivation method in silence.
He drew Spiritual Energy into his body, nourished his Sword Spiritual Root, and made up for the losses in his Dantian Qi Sea.
The Spiritual Energy contained within true Spirit Stones was far beyond anything the Magic Crystals of this world could compare to.
Of course, it was also possible that he simply had not yet come into contact with truly high-grade Magic Crystals.
The two Spirit Stones were quickly absorbed completely.
Jiang Lin’s strength had also reached the level of the early Foundation Establishment Realm, but he had no intention of continuing.
Because the higher he went, the more Spiritual Power he would need.
That was why he had to be frugal with the remaining five Spirit Stones.
After all, in this world, every use of Spiritual Power meant less remained, and the same principle applied to Spirit Stones.
Saving them for the most critical moment was better than using them now.
A while later, Jiang Lin slowly opened his eyes. Within his pupils, a sharp sword intent already flickered.
“To cultivate again from the beginning has brought me quite a few insights.”
Outside, the torrential rain still continued, seeming as though it would pour on without pause for the entire night.
That was good too. It would wash the bloodstains away even more thoroughly.
With that thought, Jiang Lin took out the two items he had seized from that mage.
He picked up one of the books and opened it to read.
While Martie had been teaching him the language of this world, she had also taught him how to read its writing.
The contents were mostly knowledge related to magic.
They were all the personal understandings of that mage called Orr.
They covered how to use incantations, or the circulation of mana, to achieve more efficient spellcasting.
Among them was a very detailed explanation of a spell called Magic Missile.
After thinking about it for a moment, Jiang Lin realized that the instant-cast projectile the man had used while fighting him earlier was probably this very spell.
No wonder he had been so proficient with it.
This kind of Magic Missile was condensed entirely from pure mana and did not require any element to drive it, which was why it could be cast instantly.
There was another type, however, that relied on elements for casting.
This man called Orr was a fire-element mage.
His most powerful spell was Flame Bolt.
When he saw that, Jiang Lin turned his gaze toward the hazy curtain of rain outside the window and suddenly smiled soundlessly.
“In a way, that was luck as well.”
A fire-element mage had happened to run into such a violent downpour.
Someone like that being unlucky was only natural.
If he had not been unable to endure loneliness and wandered off alone, Jiang Lin would never have had the chance to make a move.
He had brought it all upon himself.
Jiang Lin’s attention returned to the book, and he flipped to the last few pages.
The contents there explained communication with the Magic Weave and the establishment of a link to it.
Their world did not possess powerful cultivation methods, so they could only rely on mental force and their understanding of the Magic Weave to establish a connection.
That also involved the construction of mana circuits.
Most mages basically built their mana circuits through Magic-Guiding Crystals, in other words, Magic Crystals.
And through that, they cast spells.
That made Jiang Lin think of a possibility.
If he tried to draw this sort of mana circuit himself, would he be able to communicate with the Magic Weave and thereby draw out the Spiritual Energy contained within it?
Jiang Lin felt that this method was highly feasible, but the greatest problem was his severe lack of understanding of this kind of arcane knowledge.
He simply could not grasp the logic behind how these powers functioned, nor the knowledge that supported them.
If he had to start learning from scratch, that was not realistic.
And even if he wanted to learn, he had no avenue for it.
Mages were even rarer than knights.
Moreover, according to what Mage Orr had written in this book, most mages came from an academy called 【High Tower】.
And 【High Tower】 was located within the Lors Empire, the most powerful empire among the Central Nations.
That put it two kingdoms away from the Tanner Kingdom where Jiang Lin currently was.
“That is far too distant.”
So for now, there was no point in considering it.
Under the current circumstances, obtaining Magic Crystals would suit Jiang Lin much better.
After putting away the book that recorded the mysteries of magic, Jiang Lin picked up the other item.
It was that damaged Parchment Scroll.
It seemed to be a map. Jiang Lin studied it carefully and discovered that it looked more like half of a treasure map.
After researching it for a while, he finally confirmed where the location recorded on that half of the treasure map was.
It was the Dusk Forest...
“So those people came here not simply to visit that knight’s aunt.”
That made sense. If they were merely visiting relatives, there would have been no need to bring so many people, or even a mage.
Clearly, they had come prepared, or perhaps they were using the excuse of visiting his aunt so as not to draw attention.
But this was only half a treasure map, and the markings stopped once they reached the Dusk Forest.
The other half should be on that knight.
At that thought, Jiang Lin smiled. “Since it is a treasure map, there should be Magic Crystals inside the treasure, shouldn’t there?”
Sure enough, once the first problem was solved, everything that followed would fall into place!
Jiang Lin had no intention of letting Kline and the others go either.
He might as well wait until they entered the Dusk Forest, kill them when the opportunity arose, and seize the other half of the treasure map.
Even if the Gerson City Lord stood behind them, once he hid in the Dusk Forest, there would be nothing they could do.
Besides, the dead could not testify. No matter what, the Gerson City Lord would never think that he was the one responsible.
Of course, that was a plan for later. Jiang Lin wanted to see how those people reacted tomorrow morning.
The disappearance of a mage would undoubtedly provoke their fury.
Jiang Lin felt that although they might suspect him, the likelihood would not be high.
After all, that had been a powerful mage.
If they found Orr’s corpse, there was a high probability they would assume it had been done by the monsters in the Dusk Forest.
But no matter what they thought, the current Jiang Lin could handle it all.
He had already recovered his strength at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Although he was only at the early stage, Jiang Lin had more than enough confidence to deal with them.
He had cultivated the Ruthless Sword Dao in seclusion for three hundred years, so did this count as stepping into the Sword Dao of the mortal world now?
Although this was not the same mortal world as before, and this place was another world altogether...
It was still another kind of insight and cultivation, and that seemed quite good as well.
It was already the latter half of the night. Although the torrential rain had not stopped, it had weakened considerably and was no longer as violent as before.
Jiang Lin was in an excellent mood.
From today onward, everything would be different...