Chapter 264 : Chapter 264
Chapter 264. An Invitation to Explore the Spirit Realm
Carrying a locked black box, Fulan left the Battle Mage Corps’ exchange hall together with Nora.
The moment they stepped outside, Fulan impatiently unlocked the box, making no attempt whatsoever to hide what she was doing.
Strictly speaking, the Song of the Deep Sea she had exchanged for was of little use to the mages here.
There were very few Modification School mages within the Northern Society. Because the Modification School had been founded relatively recently, and because every one of its mages was important, almost none of them ever came to the Northern Society.
And the advancement knowledge related to the Modification School in Fulan’s hands was rather tasteless for mages of other schools.
After all, not just anyone could learn modification surgery outside the Modification School. Even if they obtained it, they would not be able to make use of it any time soon.
If a mage were truly interested in this field and wanted to follow the path of the Modification School, then the very first thing they should do would definitely not be spending a large amount of Battle Merits here to exchange for this advancement knowledge directly.
Instead, they would first need to find some basic knowledge of the Modification School and learn how to avoid killing themselves during the process of modifying organs.
Then, after getting in some practice on two or three people, they could come here and exchange for the advancement method of Song of the Deep Sea. That would be the correct order of things.
No matter how talented an ordinary mage might be, completing all that would still take at least a month. Exchanging for it here this early was simply a waste of Battle Merits.
Nor was there any need to worry that the exchange route here would suddenly disappear, because if it did disappear, then there would be no way at all to find the basic knowledge of modification surgery.
It was only because of the Modification School’s gift that the Northern Society now had instruction in modification surgery. In the past, that had simply not existed.
Inside the locked box, Fulan found three rolled-up silver sheets, which were the spells she had exchanged for at the Battle Mage Corps. Other than those, there was also a stone emitting a faint blue glow.
Fulan placed the stone in her palm and covered it with her other hand. Only beneath the shadow formed by her arms could she clearly see the blue glow given off by what looked like characters inscribed on it.
Fulan poured her mental power into the little glowing blue stone, allowing her to see those blue characters clearly.
[Song of the Deep Sea Modification Sequence]
[The final step of this sequence’s modification method requires third-tier Deep-Sea Fishman materials, or alternatively, the cultivation of the final organ using multiple second-tier Fishman organs.]
[This sequence includes the cultivation methods for the various organs. If you possess organs of the same category that satisfy the testing requirements, they may be used as substitutes. Take care to ensure that they meet the sequence’s requirements, or the final sequence modification may be affected.]
[Sequence One: Possess a full-body modification capable of allowing survival underwater for at least three months. Materials may include the gills of various fish, or the water lung of an ordinary Fishman, paired with reinforced aquatic skin...]
[Sequence Two: Gain the ability to perceive ocean currents, and use them to strengthen oneself. Materials may include various aquatic creatures that move with the currents. Silver-Skin Fish are recommended...]
[Sequence Three: Possess the ability to battle gigantic marine creatures while relying on seawater. Materials may include the venom organ of a Sea-Vine Octopus, as well as the sharp teeth and claws of a Deep-Sea Devourer...]
[Sequence Four: Acquire the organ of a sea-dwelling monster capable of releasing spell-like abilities through sound across the ocean, then strengthen it with special materials such as White Frost Powder...]
...
[Sequence Seven: Place the organs of a third-tier Deep-Sea Fishman into the body. There is no need to replace one’s original organs. So long as you do not die, the modification is considered successful. There are no substitute materials for this stage.]
Within the Modification School, sequences were a method adopted to prevent the human body from dying instantly when high-tier organs were implanted.
All high-tier organ transplants had to go through a complete sequence like this before such an organ could be implanted into one’s body and fully brought into effect.
This was because the life level of high-tier organs was simply too high, while the Modification School’s mages were not necessarily high-tier mages themselves, forcing them to rely on this sequence method for modification.
Even high-tier mages would still use methods like this, not only because the success rate was higher, but also because organs implanted in this way placed less strain on the body.
This Song of the Deep Sea sequence modification only went up to Sequence Seven, but there were other modifications, even some third-tier ones, that extended beyond Sequence Seven. The total number of sequences depended on the specific needs of the modification.
Once this entire sequence was completed, one could directly use the powerful ability known as Song of the Deep Sea.
The exact effects were not clearly explained above. There was only a vague description.
“An eerie melody from the deep sea. Once sung, the ocean shall aid those beings who likewise come from the deep.”
No matter how one looked at it, Song of the Deep Sea was still a third-tier modification method.
In theory, so long as Fulan stuffed this entire set of things into her own body and remained alive afterward, she could be considered third-tier.
But that was difficult, because there was another summary left behind by a mage in the field of modification: every person had a limit to how many modified organs they could bear.
This limit was jointly determined by one’s tier, physical constitution, and mental power. Once that limit was exceeded, a person would slowly die after a short period of time.
Otherwise, why would anyone bother raising their mage tier at all? They could simply buy enough materials and install organs into their bodies. Would that not be much faster than meeting the requirements for profession advancement?
Using this kind of modification to advance in tier was also one of the Modification School’s unique paths, but very few people could make use of it.
That was because most people’s modification limit was not enough to support this sort of higher-tier modification surgery. Only a small number of exceptionally gifted individuals could meet the requirements.
But for Fulan, none of that was a problem, because she could raise her basic attributes through the panel.
In theory, she could easily meet the requirements for this third-tier modification while still at second tier.
Although Fulan wanted to give it a try, after all, the modification sequence in her hands had been obtained legally.
It was something the Modification School itself had spread outward, so she was not afraid that anyone would come after her over it.
But Fulan now faced another problem: this entire modification sequence relied on marine creatures as its base materials.
And yet Fulan was currently in the Northern Society. If she traveled north, she would reach an eternally frozen sea. If she traveled west, she would find countless inland kingdoms and regions.
To the south stretched the vast lands of the Alliance, yet Fulan had no idea how far she would have to go in that direction before reaching the sea.
The nearest place to the ocean was to the east. The closest port was White Dragon Harbor, and Fulan had heard that it was still a three-week ride away by horseback.
So now that she was in the inland regions, where was she supposed to find so many marine monster materials? At that moment, Fulan felt that this exchange had been a loss.
If she could not even get the materials, then what modification was there to talk about?
Just then, Nora beside her noticed the strange look on Fulan’s face and asked softly:
“What’s wrong? You exchanged for what you wanted, didn’t you? Why do you look like that?”
“I did exchange for it, but all the modification materials listed here come from the sea. Where am I supposed to find them in the Northern Society?”
Nora scratched her head, somewhat unable to understand why Fulan was troubled by something like this. She asked in puzzlement:
“The Northern Society doesn’t have them, but you can buy them in the Spirit Realm!”
“The Spirit Realm?!”
“That’s right. The Spirit Realm.”
“How do you buy things in the Spirit Realm?”
After asking a few more questions and confirming that Fulan truly did not know that trade could be carried out in the Spirit Realm, Nora scratched at her fingers and explained:
“Our things can be processed in certain ways and then brought into the Spirit Realm. And the Spirit Realm itself even has materials that we need, so there has always been demand for trade there.”
“And because the Spirit Realm is a place that can be entered from almost anywhere, it is also very convenient for trading. As long as you pay a certain price, goods can be quickly transported through the Spirit Realm to another location.”
Once she heard that, Fulan became interested at once and quickly asked for the details.
Nora’s mind turned, and she suddenly realized that this was an opportunity to deepen her relationship with Fulan, so she proposed:
“How about this? After some time passes, I’ll take you to the Spirit Realm.”
“Because everyone wants to trade through the Spirit Realm, some of the Domain Lords there have specifically set aside an area to serve as a marketplace.”
“But places like that only open during certain periods because of the complicated environment of the Spirit Realm.”
“I know of a fairly large Spirit Realm market that will open next week. I’ll take you in then. As long as you get your Guide of the Spirit Realm ready, that will be enough.”
“If you want those monster materials, you can look for them there, or place a commission directly and have someone hunt the relevant materials for you. Then you can just pay when the time comes.”
“If you’re in a hurry, there will be a much smaller trade market tomorrow. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy what you need there, and the people there do not accept commissions.”
Fulan thought it over, then said to Nora:
“There’s no need to rush. I’ll just wait for the one next week... By the way, is there anything I need to prepare?”
“No. I’ll take you there when the time comes. You don’t need to prepare anything. This market will stay open for several days, so you can come back and prepare things whenever you want.”
“That’s good.”
After settling on the time with Nora, Fulan headed back toward her dormitory.
She still intended to advance to second tier in the Material Realm before going to the Spirit Realm.
That was because the Lord of Radiance was still there in the Spirit Realm. If she went up only after reaching second tier, perhaps she would have a little more confidence.
And besides, she still had not decided what to say to the Lord of Radiance, nor what sort of agreement she intended to reach.
All of that needed to be thought through before she went to the Spirit Realm.
And now, she was about to begin trying the method described in that paper on mage advancement.
To advance to second tier, it was not enough merely to master those three spells. She also had to imprint within her mind a new spell built upon those three spells as its foundation.