“Attention, prepare for battle.”
Diya glanced at the sky ahead, which was covered by a curtain of rain, as if she had realized something: “Observer, do you have a scouting miracle that works in the reverse flow of the golden rain?”
If the white mist in the Sea of Knowledge reduced visibility through darkness, then the golden rain in the Time Continent shielded the view with bright light. Apart from the surrounding plants, Artificers could hardly see what was beyond ten steps, whether it was a big tree, a clump of grass, or a small monster, because everything was a gleaming gold. Just like the white mist, most exploration miracles couldn’t penetrate this curtain of rain, so the adventure in the Time Continent was essentially no different from that in the Sea of Knowledge. The only difference was that monsters dragged you down from the sea in the Sea of Knowledge, while they jumped out from behind trees to knock you out in the Time Continent.
But in Asho’s eyes, the Virtual Realm was like a girl in a short skirt, already lifting a bit of a mysterious domain for him. Although he hadn’t seen the whole picture, he could at least see the absolute domain.
The “Virtual Realm Telescope” was still effective, and the virtual map still displayed the situation within 24 squares around them.
Perhaps because of the installation of the automatic car, the map also showed the car’s health. After plowing through numerous trees on the way, the car’s health was now less than 50%, but it would recover 1% health in just a few minutes, so there was no need to be frugal with it. Besides, the virtual map also showed the direction in which the white oxen were moving, with four clear hoof prints imprinted on the screen. The Heavenly White Oxen didn’t walk in a straight line, but with a slight curve. However, because the oxen were so huge, this slight curve was imperceptible to them, just like the sea level not being perfectly flat, completely unnoticed.
However, Asho noticed a problem—the map seemed to be reversed left and right. When the car moved to the left, their cursor was running to the right.
It wasn’t a big problem; Asho manually rotated the map 180° to solve it. After all, it was an internal test version of the game, so he wouldn’t be surprised if the virtual map suddenly froze and displayed a blue screen warning. If the game did freeze, and he couldn’t summon the task manager or shut down the system… would knocking himself out count as a physical shutdown?
Lost in thought, the car was already approaching the “Worth Visiting” green area. Asho controlled the automatic car to stop and looked at the detailed information in the area, his expression changing suddenly.
“There are some White Speed Dragons ahead!”
Sonia hadn’t reacted yet, but Diya’s eyes lit up. “Some?”
“That’s right, some!”
“Some White Speed Dragons, worth visiting.”
“Grouping knowledge creatures?” Sonia blinked, recalling the information she had read over the past few days, and suddenly became excited. “Could it be a resource point?”
“What’s a resource point?” Asho was a bit puzzled.
Although he had rested at Furia’s house for several days and took the opportunity to catch up on a lot of common knowledge about the world of Artificers, the intelligence about the Time Continent was already very high-end knowledge. In his previous life, it could be considered as professional papers at the level of a knowledge network, and non-Dual-Wing Artificers had no need to understand it. When Asho searched for the Time Continent in the Blood Moon Curtain, the most frequent search items that appeared were “Love in the Time Continent,” “Abandoned in the Time Gap,” and “Chasing Time to Find You.” The general public’s understanding of the Time Continent was that it was convenient for romance. After all, the Sea of Knowledge was swimming all day, and the scenery wasn’t good, so there was no romantic feeling in the Time Continent. Moreover, the Time Continent had the word “time,” which gave the scriptwriters ample room for imagination, allowing them to adapt and fabricate stories. Asho had read some plot summaries and felt that the Time Continent circulated in the curtain was not only about controlling time but also about changing gender, accelerating childbirth, accelerating death, and facilitating infidelity. In short, it was a perfect stage for tragic love.
Later, when Asho arrived in the Gospel Kingdom, he didn’t do anything productive, so he came to the virtual realm exam without any preparation. But he had his reasons for doing so—because the Sword Girl must have done her homework.
Diya looked at Sonia in surprise, and Sonia shrugged. “The Observer lost his memory before.”
“I see, just like the Artificer in that fairy tale ‘The Forgetful Artificer and the Innocent Girl,’ right?”
“I’ve never heard of the fairy tale you mentioned.”
At this point, both of them had a thought, but they didn’t continue the topic. Instead, they explained to Asho, “Resource points are special areas that have started to appear in the Time Continent, often guarded by grouping knowledge creatures. Knowledge creatures drive Artisans to manage resource points, so resource points often contain rare resources that we Artificers can also use. If you’re lucky, you might even get additional gains beyond the experience pearls!”
Diya added, “But the grouping creatures in resource points are also difficult to deal with. Unless you’re a combat Artificer specializing in group attacks, you’ll be at a loss when facing the siege of grouping creatures. I once attacked a resource point and almost died, so I had to escape actively. But now we have three people…”
“Then let’s allocate tactical positions,” Asho said. “The abilities I have mastered mainly include the miracle ‘Sword Body Barrier’ and the Artisan ‘Heart Sword.’ ‘Sword Body Barrier’ can provide long-range support defense, and ‘Heart Sword’ can perform long-range attacks. If nothing unexpected happens, I will be the long-range attacker. Oh, I also created a new miracle called ‘Rush,’ which is a short-range movement miracle.”
“You created a miracle? Let me see it later,” Sonia said. “I haven’t changed much recently, with the counterattack miracle ‘Water Moon’ and a series of close combat miracles derived from the fluctuating sword faction.”
“Weren’t you promoted to the Dual-Wing? Didn’t the academy give you any rewards?””I dare not expose that I have advanced to the second wing!” Sonia complained, “It’s been less than a month since I became an artificer. Last time when I revealed my full silver wing, I could still explain it by saying I entered the vortex. But this time, I advanced to the second wing, but my faction’s level has not reached the gold level. The academy will definitely know that I found the goldfish and entered the time continent… At least when I elevate my sword faction to the gold level and have a second wing sword artisan, then I will dare to confess my progress to the professor.”
The White Queen listened in astonishment—less than a month to become an artificer? Entering the time continent by finding the goldfish? Even fairy tales don’t dare to be so imaginative!
She couldn’t help but ask, “Did you find the goldfish? Is it the one from the fairy tale ‘The Fisherman and the Goldfish’?”
“I haven’t heard of that fairy tale, but it is indeed the goldfish from the Knowledge Sea,” Sonia looked at Asho, “Should we tell her?”
Asho instantly understood the Sword Girl’s implication. After thinking for a moment, he realized that the secret poison of the goldfish had a very practical effect on artificing, so he told the witch about the secret poison and asked, “Do you feel that you have been infected with the secret poison?”
“The secret of the goldfish is actually a secret poison?” Diya felt it and shook her head, “I don’t feel anything.”
Asho regretfully said, “That means you need to see the goldfish in person to be infected with the secret poison. Just knowing the relevant information is not enough to reach the threshold of poisoning. Speaking of which, if the secret is revealed, it shouldn’t be widely circulated…”
“I know why,” Sonia said, “I checked at the academy and found that the vortex poison, the expulsion poison, and the goldfish poison all have similar content. Especially the goldfish poison, I found that the content of ‘tandem flight’ appeared in an animation I watched when I was a child.”
Because the vortex poison and the expulsion poison no longer exist in the time continent, Asho briefly introduced them to Diya and did not tell her the detailed content of the secret poison. Then he asked, “So, aren’t many people at the academy poisoned?”
“Not at all,” Sonia shook her head, “Because those secret poison contents are mixed in fairy tales, travelogues, and even fantasies. Even if an artificer sees it, no one will believe these untrustworthy speculations.”
Asho thought to himself, “As long as you don’t believe it, you won’t be poisoned…”
“We are the same. Before we saw the goldfish with our own eyes, we were not completely convinced of the truth of the goldfish. It was only at the moment of seeing the goldfish that the secret poison took root in our minds.”
Sonia looked at Diya, “So, witch, you can’t be infected with the goldfish secret poison—no matter what we say, the truth of the goldfish is too absurd. You must see it with your own eyes to be completely convinced.”
“But there is a loophole here,” Asho suddenly found a blind spot, “If a second-wing artificer is willing to contribute their memory to prove the existence of the goldfish secret poison, then it would be credible… Ah, I understand.”
Asho knew from the bottom of his heart the answer to his own stupid question: if it were him, would he dare to gamble his personal reputation in public just to make everyone believe the secret poison he described?
No, he wouldn’t. No artificer would commit suicide like that. Artificers who dare to do so would have been eliminated from the virtual realm long ago. And it’s not just one artificer who would be eliminated, but everyone who heard the secret poison would be eliminated. Those artificers who were infected with the secret poison dared to secretly write down the content only because they couldn’t contain their desire to show off. How could they dare to risk their reputation? What grudge did they have against the readers, to want to take them down with them? Artificers with the secret poison would at most share this secret with trusted family members and keep the number of infected people within a limited range.
“What a pity,” this time, not only the White Queen, but even Diya herself felt sour, “The secret poison that can convert artificing… I envy you, Sword Girl, for being able to explore the virtual realm with the Observer from the beginning. I don’t have that kind of luck.”
“It’s not that useful, after all, I don’t have a second-wing artificing spirit yet,” Sonia said nonchalantly, “Ah, I also envy you. You were infected with three secret poisons in less than a month with the Observer. It feels so dangerous…”
Getting cocky again… Asho glanced at Sonia and asked Diya, “By the way, witch, don’t you have a bronze dragon secret poison? Is the content meaningful or the effect practical? Do you think it’s necessary to tell us?”
The White Witch didn’t hesitate, “The bronze dragon secret poison is a chance encounter for artificers of the time faction when exploring the virtual realm. The bronze dragon has the highest chance of appearing in the time continent. After encountering the bronze dragon, it will give the artificer a curse trial. The artificer can freely choose the start time of the curse trial. After breaking the curse, the artificer will receive the blessing of the bronze dragon.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Asho felt the ‘tick-tock’ sound of the pointer moving, and when he opened the interface, he found that he had a new knowledge curse:
“Bronze Dragon Secret Poison”
“Number of people infected with the secret poison: 23”
“Degree of secret poison enhancement: 23%”
“Current effect of the secret poison: After being attacked, immediately retreat 1 second to avoid damage, with a cooldown time of 23 hours (when the enhancement level drops to 10%, it will gain a great benefit, and when it reaches 51%, it will turn into a negative effect).”
It’s a bit subtle, to say it’s useless, but at certain times, it might save a life. But to say it’s useful, the 23-hour cooldown time is too long…
“Have you been infected with the secret poison?”
“I have.”
“I haven’t.”
Both of them looked at Sonia, and Sonia was also a little confused, “Why can’t I be infected with the secret poison?”
Asho looked at the agent interface and found that the Sword Girl had indeed not been infected with the bronze dragon secret poison.Diya explained, “Actually, when I first saw the Bronze Dragon, it was only after triggering the curse trial that the secret poison was activated. I thought you guys wouldn’t be able to…”
She paused, suddenly remembering that the observer had apparently seen the Bronze Dragon with his own eyes—when she jumped from the high tower, the observer was right there watching!
Sonia looked at Asho, who spread his hands: “I was able to confirm through a special ability that she indeed triggered the favor of the Bronze Dragon. Sword Girl, you don’t have this channel, so…”
“Eh?” The White Queen blinked in surprise, “So, just like Sword Girl and the observer have the Golden Fish secret poison, do I now have a secret poison that only I and the observer possess?”
Sonia was so annoyed she couldn’t stand it, her tone sour: “It’s just a secret poison, which is actually not important to an Artificer…”
“Wait a minute.” Asho thought for a moment and said, “If belief alone can cause infection… Sword Girl, would you be willing to believe in me unconditionally? Without verification, without thought, abandoning the rigor of an Artificer, letting go of your vigilance towards others, and believing in me as you would the truth, can you do that?”
“I…” Sonia’s expression was conflicted, but in the end, she shook her head: “I can’t.”
How could she completely entrust herself to a distant observer when she couldn’t even fully trust her own mother? Her education wouldn’t allow it, her knowledge wouldn’t allow it, and her pride certainly wouldn’t allow it.
“But what about just once?”
Asho blinked, reaching out to tap Sonia’s forehead. “The Bronze Dragon secret poison, it’s real.”
“Sword Girl, trust me this time.”
Tick-tock.
When Sonia heard the sound of the clock hand sliding, she was so excited she almost jumped out of the car. But she held back, just folding her arms and glancing at Diya: “Hmm, this Bronze Dragon secret poison is indeed good, it can actually evade damage once, thank you, Witch.”
Asho checked the Agent interface, and sure enough, Sword Girl had acquired an additional secret poison, and the number of people infected with the Bronze Dragon secret poison had risen to 24.
“This means, Witch, that you could also potentially be infected with the Golden Fish secret poison,” Asho said. “As long as our bond is tight enough, and you believe in me enough.”
Diya stared blankly at this scene, the White Queen’s mind racing, and finally, she came to a conclusion: she couldn’t shake Sword Girl’s position in the observer’s heart.
At least, not for now.
“Alright.” The White Witch smiled brightly: “Let’s work hard together.”
“Speaking of which, did we forget something?”
“Right.” Asho snapped back to reality: “We were originally going to assign tactical positions… but now that we’ve shared the secret poison, it’s also a boost to our combat strength. Witch, what kind of miracle Sorcery Spirit do you mainly use, and how do you usually fight? Hand-to-hand combat with fists and claws?”
“Theoretically, I belong to the fist and claw faction, but it’s not just fists and claws.”
Diya’s fists came together, pulling out three transparent threads that seemed to flow.
“I prefer to call it,” she revealed a pure and sweet smile, “Death Line.”