In the secret realm.
Several hours had passed since the apprentices entered the secret realm. Everything was normal for now, except the air and humidity around them had become increasingly scalding.
Ivan felt as if he had entered a steaming cage, and had it not been for the upper-class apprentice robe he was wearing, his clothes would have already become drenched.
As time ticked away, the temperature kept rising slowly, and the sky also became brighter.
He didn’t venture elsewhere; instead, he stayed close to Steeple No. 29. Sorcerer Bernardson had arranged for them to be in this area, which certainly had its reasons.
“Where are the water scalding bubble fruits? If they don’t ripen soon, I will be the one to overcook.”
While keeping an eye on his surroundings, he checked the various items he had brought along to prevent any oversight. Fortunately, there were no issues.
The information stated that after the activation of the secret realm, the temperature would correspond with that of the outside, meaning the peak heat at noon was the most likely time for the water scalding bubble fruits to ripen.
Now, noon was drawing closer.
What he didn’t know was that, about five or six meters underground, under the pressure of the high temperature and heat, there were delicate roots resembling fungal mycelium surfacing. They were part of the root system of the water scalding grass colony, intertwining to form a dense network in the soil.
At one moment, without any warning, a node within the network began to absorb the surrounding heat and humidity through the network, forming a disordered sac of air. This was, in fact, the absorption of water-type and fire-type energy particles.
Once it had absorbed enough energy, the disordered sac trembled violently, and a high-temperature bubble formed.
The bubble was small, continuing to absorb the heat and humidity. After a while, it trembled for a second time, expanding to twice its original size and turning into an intermediate-sized bubble.
It then absorbed a large amount of energy. After the third tremble, it became a big bubble.
The fourth tremble didn’t cause the bubble to expand, but instead, a bright yellow glow appeared. The light enveloped the bubble.
Driven by the light, the bubble ascended along the network toward the surface, and seconds later, it emerged from the ground, revealing itself among the grasses.
“Finally, it’s here.”
The moment the water scalding bubble fruit emerged from the ground, Ivan immediately sensed its presence, just a hundred meters away.
His feet wrapped in black Combat Energy, he traversed the distance with a few strides, aided by a gentle breeze, and appeared close to the bubble fruit.
The water scalding bubble fruit at this moment bore the shape of a glowing, hot bubble, with a diameter of about three centimeters. The heatwave around it caused the surrounding water scalding grass to sway continuously.
“It’s so hot!”
His mental power reached the water scalding bubble fruit first, relaying a distinct sensation as if grasping a red-hot iron, feeling so real.
There weren’t just changes in his mind; something inexplicable also resonated within his body. His blood and Combat Energy became significantly more active.
“What a domineering yet delicate fruit.”
Ivan pushed aside other distracting thoughts, concentrating on the bubble in front of him.
Capturing the water scalding bubble fruit was not a simple task. The reason the bubble was glowing was that it had ignited itself, burning its own energy, and what you had to do was to extinguish the bubble first.
If you don’t find a way to extinguish it, the bubble could keep glowing and heating until it exhausted its last bit of energy.
Another thing to keep in mind was not to underestimate its shell, which was just a layer of fleeting bubble; too much force could cause it to burst and deflate instantly.
In short, it was an extremely tedious task.
Ivan was skilled in various methods—he consistently kneaded the bubble with mental power, cleverly dispersing the light and heat on its surface until the bubble became a plain, transparent one.
After his operation, only half the size of the water scalding bubble fruit was left. According to the academy’s standards, it could only be considered half of a water scalding bubble fruit.
Ivan placed the water scalding bubble fruit into a special crystal bottle.
No matter what, he had successfully subdued the first one, a good omen.
Ivan didn’t linger there; the likelihood of two water scalding bubble fruits appearing in the same place wasn’t high.
He sensed downwards and found a peculiar network had appeared deep underground at some point. Layers of suppression from the network continued to reduce the range of his perception. He wasn’t disheartened or about to give up. While sensing, he also listened closely and walked around Steeple No. 29.
There was movement!
Sensing towards where the commotion had occurred, sure enough, something was appearing in an unusual way there.
In this location, Ivan witnessed the birth and growth of a water scalding bubble fruit.
The trembling transformation reminded him much of the process of a Life Seed’s formation, remarkably curious and wonderful.
Before he knew it, he had become so entranced by the sight.
It was only when the water scalding bubble fruit, with its glow and heat, emerged from the ground that he belatedly came to his senses, realizing that the blood and Combat Energy inside him had become extremely active, like water about to boil over.
As he came to his senses, the Combat Energy inside him began to settle down gradually.
As the Combat Energy inside him calmed, a sense of loss lingered in his heart. It felt as if he had almost grasped something, and yet as if nothing had happened, as some invisible thing was quickly fading away.
“Never mind, opportunity waits for no one.”
Ivan didn’t dare to act rashly, fearing that any disturbance on his part would completely erase that fleeting spark of insight.
Regretfully, he glanced at the water scalding bubble fruit that was within arm’s reach and resolutely activated a 4th-level Light of Great Wisdom.
In that moment, everything else in the world became irrelevant to him. The tenfold increase in comprehension and spirituality allowed him to grasp at the tail of that swiftly vanishing glimmer of insight, holding on without letting go.
Following that glint of spirituality, he journeyed into a peculiar state, beginning to develop a new and more profound, essential understanding of his Combat Energy and Life Seed.
Meanwhile, the Combat Energy in his body became active once more.
“If that boy is doing something, then don’t blame me for being rude.”
Inside the secret realm, Jefferson noticed the unusual situation next door, where someone was actually standing there in a daze, causing him to look over with a strange expression for several seconds.
Soon, a new water scalding bubble fruit emerged from the ground, and upon seeing it, he ran over without hesitation.
It seemed he had forgotten the words he had said before.
Before long, he had harvested a new water scalding bubble fruit.
“He couldn’t be in the midst of Comprehension, could he? Rookies really do have some nerve.”
A glint of ambiguous meaning flashed across Jefferson’s face. He took a step closer, about to do something, when he noticed someone’s gaze on him—it was Wolban from the Hunting Team on the other side.
He smiled at Wolban, then turned and went back to his own turf.
Ivan was left standing there alone.
A moment later, Ivan opened his eyes, clearly sensing the changes in the Combat Energy within his body.
“From this moment on, I am a Great Knight.”
“Looking across the entire Aromatic Wheat Dukedom, whether overtly or in secret, the number of Great Knights does not exceed forty, and in Flying Fish Port, at most there would be one or two.”
He couldn’t help but feel emotional; if not for a fortunate twist of fate leading to an inspiration, who knew how long it would’ve taken him to become a Great Knight.
Without his summoning, the many rapid wood silkworms hidden in the surrounding underbrush flew back from under his robe, bringing back some messages as well.
“I see, I understand, thank you for your efforts.”
The expression on his face, which hadn’t been happy for long, immediately turned grim.
Ivan was no fool; in a place filled with so many prying eyes, he naturally wouldn’t indulge carelessly in a state of Sudden Enlightenment. When he activated the Light of Great Wisdom, he had already dispersed the rapid wood silkworms into the bushes so that they would awaken him in case of any significant disturbances.
He turned and looked towards the back-side, nodding towards Wolban, who had been paying attention to the area, and then hurried to capture the water scalding bubble fruits.
The exchange for Aqua Alva was equally important and could not be neglected; without collecting fifty fruits, his efforts would ultimately be fruitless.
The second fruit.
The third fruit.
—
Since it was the first day, the ripening time for water scalding bubble fruits was only about forty minutes, and the ground quickly fell silent again.
After a long spell of quiet, Ivan began tallying his gains. Having been delayed for quite a while, he ultimately harvested nine water scalding bubble fruits.
The academy had a standard: a three-centimeter diameter bubble fruit is considered one standard fruit, which means, by this size, his actual yield could only be counted as five portions.
One-tenth of the target amount.
There was a long road ahead!
Once things came to an end, Ivan finally had time to carefully inspect the changes within his body.
Within the invisible cavities near his heart, the Combat Energy Sac, which constituted the Life Seed, had completed its transformation. The black Combat Energy had become more profound and luminous, with an added tinge of pale blue halo, indicating an improvement in the quality of the Combat Energy.
Starting from the invisible cavity, more Combat Energy beams derived from the Combat Energy Sac, sweeping across the surface of the heart, spreading along the blood vessels to the extremities, permeating numerous tiny veins.
It was not difficult to notice that the flow of Combat Energy had gotten faster.
Ivan had a genuine feeling that if he so wished, the Combat Energy could easily cover his entire body, forming a layer of certain thickness, akin to an armor made of Combat Energy—what had always been as thin as a gossamer.
Upon reaching the stage of Great Knight, the Combat Energy could also leave the body to take on various forms, such as the commonly seen Combat Energy Slash, Combat Energy Arrow.
Generally, a four to five meters long Combat Energy Slash proved most effective, but the actual effect needed practical testing.
“Penetration.”
“This trait of Combat Energy and the Bat Breathing Method are indeed highly related, and can be further explored.”
He noticed his hearing had significantly improved, and with it, his perception abilities were greatly enhanced, making it easier to capture the water scalding bubble fruits.
[Knight Breathing Skill Experience Points +500]
[Knight Breathing Skill: lv5 (314/1500)]
On the Academic Prodigy panel, his Knight Breathing Skill rose to level 5; under the effect of the Small Light of Wisdom, he adapted to the growth of his strength in an extremely short time.
There were also notable changes on the attribute panel.
Strength: 5.0, Agility: 7.4, Constitution: 6.1, Spirit: 15
Compared to before, he had gained an additional 1.1 graduated degrees in agility, 0.4 in strength, and 0.6 in constitution, without a doubt growing much stronger.
What excited Ivan the most was the improvement in his promotion success rate. Randall had once said that a Great Knight’s constitution could increase a Sorcerer’s promotion success rate by ten percent. Adding to the original forty percent chance from his 3rd Class talent, his success rate now reached fifty percent.
This valuable progress was also a great start.