The value of the second piece of loot dropped sharply.
“Demilo’s hand-drawn map.”
“Recording everything that will change seems foolish, but Asho usually has nothing to do.”
Literally, this is a map, the material feels like parchment, and when Asho unfolds it, he can see detailed annotations written on it.
Shining points: current location, main city of the Star Hall.
Terrain: swamp, mud, forest, cave, mountain range…
Resource points: wood factory, ore pit, crystal mine, mercury factory, gold mine…
Special areas: dragon’s nest, flowing gold river, house of fate questions and answers, miracle paradise, wisdom tree…
“No rainbow tail.” Asho and the others quickly checked the map carefully and shook their heads in disappointment. They thought that the map of the virtual realm would have information about the rainbow tail, after all, the virtual realm is theoretically part of the system, so it is possible to obtain insider information like the rainbow tail.
But apart from the rainbow tail, this map is full of information. Not to mention the resource points, just the “house of fate questions and answers” and the “miracle paradise” are worth a visit. The former can provide the opportunity to ask questions about the virtual realm by answering, and the latter can directly obtain an artificer for free.
The “wisdom tree” is even more terrifying. According to the Sword Girl, it can directly elevate the realm of a designated faction by paying a certain price, like a pass to the holy realm, a wish machine for sorcerers, and a life-changing tree.
It seems more reliable than the rainbow tail, but the problem is the “certain price,” which is very unreliable. Although there are examples of only needing to pay a slight price to elevate, there are more records of sorcerers paying a heavy price and then committing suicide in bizarre stories.
For example, the price demanded by the wisdom tree is that the sorcerer loses the ability to speak (including listening, reading, and writing) within three days, coincidentally, the sorcerer was involved in a murder case in reality. Because he couldn’t communicate at all, the sorcerer mistakenly thought that other criminal facts had been exposed and resolutely resisted the murder; also because he couldn’t communicate, he mistakenly thought that his wife and son wanted to betray him, so he killed his entire family.
When the sorcerer returned to normal, the real murderer was caught, but the sorcerer also collapsed mentally and returned to the virtual realm after learning the truth.
But even with such a notorious reputation, the wisdom tree still attracts people, because many sorcerers understand that they do not have enough wisdom. But compared to that, sorcerers are more willing to search for the rainbow tail. At least if they fail to find the rainbow tail, the most they will lose is their soul, while encountering the wisdom tree means they must sell their soul.
In theory, this map, which is full of various important information, should be the first place among the loot, but Asho and the others are not interested because – it is really just a map.
It is not an artificer.
Experience pearls can be absorbed, artificers can be controlled, but they cannot take the map out of the virtual realm, so they cannot continue to hold the map the next time they enter the virtual realm. Even if they forcibly remember the information on the map, they do not know where they will appear the next time they enter the virtual realm, and even if they want to find a reference coordinate, they will only get lost in the maze of the reverse golden rain curtain.
A map without a reference coordinate is like falling in love with a paper person, no matter how much you invest, you can only reap nothingness.
As for using the map to find special areas tonight, not to mention that their car is about to explode, the key is – these high-value special areas are not close.
There is a scale on the map, and they estimated that even the nearest miracle paradise is 10 kilometers away. If the car can still be used, it would be fine, but if they have to walk without a car, just the rugged journey will deplete their soul energy.
And not only the distance, they have fought with the wolf dragon clan and the English Soul Legion here, and then rested for a while just now. Even though they were traveling by car before, they have stayed in the same area for so long, and the white ox has run far away.
If they don’t want to be caught by the still time, they either have to hurry forward or log out of the virtual realm in place, and they simply don’t have time to go to the miracle paradise.
But compared to the resource points, the few shining important marks on the map are more attractive to the sorcerers.
In addition to their current location, the shining points also include four main cities of the Star Hall, which are very far away and are estimated to be within the static domain. Although there is no more information, just the name “main city of the Star Hall” has given Asho and the others a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of the time continent – these English Soul Legions are not special ecologies formed naturally, but agents of the virtual realm forces!
So in this world, who can establish a hidden force in the virtual realm, enslave the projections of sorcerers and knowledge creatures for their own use?
“Is the Star Hall a force created by the god master?” Sonia asked softly, as if afraid of attracting the attention of a great existence.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Asho shook his head, “We have too little information now, and guessing is meaningless. These main cities may also be relics of the old era, and the projections of the sorcerers who enter them will be transformed into English souls, awakening their wisdom, and then they are ready to build a virtual realm army to counterattack the real world -“
“Isn’t this the fairy tale I just mentioned!” Diya very keenly noticed that Asho was using her words.
“In short, if you want to uncover the secrets of the English Soul Legion, you have to see what exactly is in those so-called main cities.” Asho’s tone was slightly regretful, “Unfortunately, we can’t take this map with us…”
“Don’t you have a virtual realm map, Observer?” Sonia raised her hands and then clapped, “Can’t you activate some kind of miracle fusion to merge them?”
Sonia’s words made Asho wake up as if from a dream. He opened the virtual realm map, and sure enough, a prompt popped up: “Map information has been updated.”Asho noticed a red exclamation mark next to the “Zoom” button on the right side of the Virtual Realm map. He had used the “Zoom” feature at the very beginning, but after enlarging the map, the other areas remained unknown, so he never used the skill again, keeping the map at its smallest state.
Now, clicking on “Zoom,” the map expanded to its largest size, and Asho saw a section that looked like an eighth of a pizza slice—the majority of the map was still unknown territory, but roughly one-eighth of the area was now revealed with various terrains, resource points, special areas, and even the four main cities of the Star Halls marked on it.
Looking at this large map, there was an irresistible urge to explore all the dark unknown areas.
Moreover, Asho noticed a small, conspicuous known area within the unknown regions. He scrutinized it and confirmed from landmarks like “Stone Mine Cave” and “Flowing Gold River” that this was the area they had explored the night before.
So the Virtual Realm map had the ability to automatically record and create maps!
And he had been completely unaware of it!
Although Asho didn’t know how helpful this map recording feature would be—since every entry into the Virtual Realm would lead to a different location, and they had explored successfully without a map before—he still felt a sense of loss. It was like confessing to a childhood friend only to find out that they had liked him three years ago, regretting why he had hesitated for so long.
Even though he would have discovered this truth just by opening the map, Asho was still filled with gratitude towards Sonia, who reminded him: “Sword Girl, I’m so moved right now I want to kiss you.”
“No problem.”
Sonia extended her hand, signaling Asho to kiss it. Asho glanced at it: “You’ve been swinging your sword with this hand, it’s not sweaty, is it…?”
Sonia clenched her fist: “You stand still, I can kiss your mouth with my fist, and even a French kiss is fine—as long as your mouth can fit my fist.”
“Why only kiss Sword Girl? What about me?” Diya looked shocked: “Are you implying that I’m not doing well enough?”
“Speaking of which, if we really divide it by merit, you should be the ones kissing me,” Asho said with his arms crossed. “But if we have to use kisses to praise the person with the greatest merit after every battle, it feels weird… Even if I don’t mind, you definitely would.”
“Let’s take this opportunity to establish some everyday etiquette. Our most intimate actions should be limited to hugs and holding hands. Kissing and touching are too intimate and should be prohibited, otherwise, it would make the other person uncomfortable.”
Asho paused: “But it’s okay to do it in private.”
Sonia: “What are you thinking?”
Diya: “I think I know what the Observer is thinking… No way! The White Queen won’t, the Redeemed won’t, the Black Butler won’t, and neither will I!”
“The information from this map has already been recorded onto my Virtual Realm map,” Asho said, as if he hadn’t heard their conversation, and went straight to the point. “If we land in an area on the map next time, we can explore nearby resource points and special areas.”
If the Commander’s manual was a taste of sweetness for Asho and the others, then this resource map was like a feast. However, the resource map had its limitations; if it weren’t for Asho’s Virtual Realm map that could import external records, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy this feast.
The Virtual Realm wouldn’t specifically generate a map for Asho, so there was only one possibility—a Sorcerer proficient in a certain faction had a way to ‘absorb’ this map.
A term almost subconsciously appeared in Asho’s mind: the Prophecy faction.
It just so happened that the Gospel Kingdom was a place where the Prophecy faction reigned supreme without restraint. Was it possible… Asho quickly extinguished this ambitious thought. Rather than practicing the Prophecy faction himself, it would be more efficient and comfortable to hope for drawing a Prophecy Agent.
Asho, oh Asho, when faced with a problem, don’t think about what you should do first, but how to delegate the work to the right person. The skill of passing the buck learned in the workplace, how could you forget it after coming to another world?
Asho silently reviewed his own oversight, then contentedly picked up the third piece of spoils.
The third piece of spoils was very strange. Although Asho felt it was a Sorcery Spirit when he touched it, its appearance was nothing like one—it had no wings.
It looked like a triangular bipyramid hexahedron, resembling an earring, completely transparent, but with one side emitting a blue light.
However, the information it conveyed was an eye-opener for Sorcerers:
“Soul Summoning”
“Zero Wing Sorcery Spirit”
“Restrictions: Can only appear in the Virtual Realm, can only be used in the Virtual Realm.”
“Effect ①·Soul Summoning: You can absorb the residual soul force of soldiers.”
“Effect ②·Command: You can bestow troop types upon yourself and your followers, consuming soul force to bestow troop types. A Sorcerer can bestow the same troop type on multiple units, but only armor can stack.”
“Here are the currently summonable troop types”
“Star Hall·Star Swordsman: Sword damage to souls +15%. 3 layers of armor, humanoid, equipped with a longsword. Each unit consumes 1 point of soul force.”
“Star Hall·Star Archer: Shooting damage to souls +20%, shooting includes lock-on aiming, shooting damage does not decrease with distance. 2 layers of armor, humanoid, equipped with bow and arrows. Each unit consumes 2 points of soul force.”
“This Sorcery Spirit cannot evolve.”
“This Sorcery Spirit can unlock different troop types by absorbing Sorcery Spirits of the same name.”
“Only one of the same Sorcery Spirit can be owned.”
“‘Congratulations on becoming a player in this never-ending game, even though you don’t even qualify to be a pawn.’”