Chapter 51: Fascinating Discovery
Zane stared at Ronan, then at Ethan, disbelief slowly settling over his features. For the first time since meeting Ethan, the playful amusement in his crimson eyes had completely disappeared, replaced by genuine shock.
"You mean Ethan was the one who guided Drey during the recent rampage?"
Ronan nodded.
Ethan nearly groaned.
This conversation was not going the way he wanted it to go at all.
Of all the things he had hoped Zane would learn about him, this was definitely not one of them. He had already spent enough time worrying about Ronan and the academy keeping an eye on him, and now this mysterious new roommate had another reason to start monitoring his every move.
Zane’s expression hardened as he looked back at Ronan. "If he really did that, then shouldn’t you be grateful that he saved a life instead of investigating him like some criminal?"
His voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable authority behind it. "Put an end to this investigation at once."
Before anyone could respond, Zane turned around and walked out of the room, moving with a haste that Ethan found strangely unlike the composed man he had met earlier.
Ethan stared after him.
That was it?
No questions?
No suspicious interrogation?
No dramatic accusation?
He almost felt relieved, although he wasn’t quite sure why.
Ronan cleared his throat awkwardly before turning his attention back to Ethan.
"Since we didn’t find anything implicating you, we’ll leave for now. If there is still no update regarding your investigation after two days, you may resume attending your lectures."
With that, he ordered his men to put the strange box back where they had found it before walking toward the door. However, just as he reached it, he stopped and looked back at Ethan. "Whatever is going on between you two, stop it."
Ethan blinked.
"What?"
Ronan’s expression twisted into one of disapproval.
"He is a lord, and you are merely a Guide. Hmph. I wonder how you always seem to find a way to latch onto respectable people."
Ethan’s mouth fell open.
What the actual fuck?
Did this man seriously think they were dating?
How had their constant bickering even remotely looked like that?
What kind of absurd thought was that?
"Wait!" Ethan shouted after them, his embarrassment quickly turning into outrage. "You guys are just leaving after creating a mess? Who’s going to clean it up?"
His complaint disappeared into the hallway without receiving so much as a response.
Ethan stared after them in disbelief.
"Unbelievable." Ethan muttered, staring at the disaster they had left behind.
Meanwhile, the moment Zane stepped outside the academy grounds, the dazed expression on his face vanished.
His eyes narrowed as he pulled out his device and immediately contacted Adrien and Riley.
He had originally planned to join them and the other selected students in dealing with the rift incident, but what he had just learned had completely changed things.
The call connected immediately.
"Zane?" Adrien’s voice came through. "Are you on your way?"
"Turn around."
There was a brief silence.
"What?"
"Both of you. Return immediately."
Riley’s voice came through next, sounding confused. "Return? If we leave now, dealing with the monsters will take longer, and you won’t get to see Leon anytime soon. Isn’t finding Leon the entire reason we came here?"
"I know."
"Then why are you telling us to return?" Adrien asked.
Zane’s eyes darkened.
"Because if what I just learned is true, we may not need Leon for anything."
The other end of the call fell silent.
"Zane, what exactly did you learn?" Riley finally asked.
"Don’t waste time asking questions. Come back first."
His voice hardened.
"And while you’re on your way, I want both of you to dig up everything you can about the recent rampage."
Adrien immediately understood the seriousness in his voice.
"Everything?"
"Everything," Zane repeated. "What happened before Drey lost control, what happened during the rampage, who was there, who witnessed it, and most importantly..."
His eyes narrowed.
"Find out who guided Drey."
.....
After spending quite some time putting his room back together, he glanced toward the door again, only to find that Zane was still nowhere to be seen despite that it was already getting late.
At first, Ethan had been mildly curious.
Then he became annoyed.
Then he became impatient.
There were questions he wanted to ask that irritating man, and there were a few things he wanted to clear up, and also thank him, but more than anything, Ethan simply wanted to know whether Zane was returning to the room tonight.
If he wasn’t coming back tonight, Ethan could finally do whatever he wanted in peace without having to worry about being interrupted, teased, or stared at for no apparent reason.
After waiting a little longer, Ethan finally gave up.
Ethan finally decided that Zane probably wasn’t coming back anytime soon.
That was perfect.
Atleast now he could finally focus on his own plans without having to worry about another person interrupting him.
The first thing he decided to do was search online for information about things people in the empire were currently lacking, hoping he could find something useful that he could sell or produce to earn enough money to support himself.
Unfortunately, the results were mostly useless.
Ethan scrolled through page after page, growing increasingly frustrated, until an old article suddenly caught his attention.
"Mysterious Spiritual Fruit Takes Empire by Storm Before Vanishing From Market."
His eyes paused.
"Spiritual fruit?"
Curious, Ethan clicked on the article.
The post had been published several years ago, and according to the report, a mysterious spiritual fruit had suddenly appeared on the market and experienced an incredibly fast rise in demand. The fruit had apparently been sold in enormous quantities, with buyers scrambling to purchase whatever remained in stock.
Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the entire supply vanished.
The article expressed disappointment over the fruit becoming completely unavailable, while the mysterious seller had apparently disappeared without leaving behind any information about their identity or whereabouts.
Ethan’s eyes widened slightly.
Then slowly, a grin spread across his face.
What if he did the same thing?
What if he adapted this method and started selling spiritual fruits too?
Judging by the article, the previous seller had undoubtedly made a fortune.
A very, very large fortune.
Ethan’s imagination immediately went wild.
He could practically see himself swimming in piles of money, living comfortably without having to depend on the Ashford family or the academy for anything.
"Okay, maybe I won’t make that much," he muttered, reluctantly pulling himself back to reality, "but I’ll be fine as long as I make enough to sustain myself."
His excitement faded slightly as another question surfaced.
Where the hell was he supposed to get spiritual fruits?
More importantly, how could he make them?
Ethan stared at the screen for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. His thoughts immediately went to Aster’s book.
Of course.
Maybe the book could help.
At the very least, it might explain what spiritual fruits actually were, where they could be found, or perhaps even how to create them.
He quickly pulled it out and opened it, intending to search for information about spiritual fruits.
Yet the moment the book opened, Ethan froze.
The page had already turned to a particular section.
It was almost as if the book had known exactly what he wanted.
His eyes moved across the title.
Dungeon Formulation.
Ethan’s expression changed immediately as he began reading.
The section explained that there was a way for a cultivator to move beyond simply accessing their mental sea through consciousness and eventually enter it physically through a dungeon.
Ethan’s eyes brightened.
That sounded perfect.
If he could physically enter his mental sea, cultivating would become much easier because he wouldn’t have to remain constantly cautious of his surroundings while cultivating. It also stated that things could be reared and stored inside the dungeon.
Unfortunately, his excitement didn’t last long.
There was a requirement.
A dungeon could only become accessible after reaching B-rank.
Ethan stared at the page.
"B-rank?"
He almost laughed.
That was going to take forever.
Even with Aster’s compression method, reaching B-rank was still far from something he could accomplish immediately, and he needed a solution now.
He reluctantly continued reading, only for another title to catch his attention.
This one was about collecting excess spiritual energy during cultivation.
Apparently, absorbing the ordinary spiritual energy naturally present in the surrounding environment wasn’t the only way to accelerate cultivation. Certain objects and locations contained unusually large amounts of concentrated spiritual energy, and cultivating near them could dramatically increase the amount of energy a person could absorb.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he read further.
If he could find a way to gather several times the amount of spiritual energy he normally received from the environment, his cultivation speed would naturally increase.
That was exactly what he needed.
He continued reading until he finally reached the part explaining that there were specific objects and locations naturally filled with excess spiritual energy that could be used for this purpose.
Ethan sighed.
According to Aster, apparently nothing good ever came easily.
Not power and definitely not money.
Since he had no idea whether the academy possessed objects or locations containing concentrated spiritual energy, Ethan decided that the easiest thing to do was ask Rin.
The only problem was that Rin had seemingly disappeared.
Ever since the monster incident, Ethan hadn’t heard from him.
And that was unusual.
Very unusual.
Rin had never been the type to disappear without warning, especially not after Ethan had been hospitalized.
Ethan had already called him several times.
He had sent messages too.
Nothing.
No response.
He stared at Rin’s contact for a moment before deciding to try again.
The call rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Still nothing.
Ethan’s brows slowly furrowed.
"Come on, Rin..."
He lowered the device slightly, genuine concern beginning to settle in his chest.
This wasn’t like him.
Just as Ethan was considering going around the academy and asking if anyone had seen Rin, a notification suddenly appeared across his screen.
ACADEMY EMERGENCY NOTICE
Ethan tapped it open.
The notice stated that several students injured during the recent rift incident had been deployed to the infirmary for treatment and observation.
Students were strictly advised not to enter the infirmary, as some of the injured Sentinels had suffered severe corruption, making the area potentially dangerous to unprotected students.
Ethan skimmed through the information before his eyes moved toward the list of students involved.
His thumb continued moving down the screen.
Then his eyes suddenly stopped in an instant his entire body went cold.
He stared at the name displayed before him, unable to breathe for several seconds.
Rin Soren—