319: Chapter 312 Rewards Distributed, New Calamity Arises.

Farid and the Young Woman felt themselves being supported by a force as they descended to the ground.

Everyone was already well aware that transcendents possessed strange and eccentric abilities; they were only surprised for a moment before hurriedly following the crowd to squeeze into the bar.

This was an illegally operated bar without a business license.

Likely for the sake of concealment, the owner did not intend to host too many customers at once; the hall space was somewhat cramped, and there was no second floor.

With everyone pouring in now, it instantly became unbearably crowded.

Farid was a few minutes behind, so his position was quite far back, and he couldn't see what was happening inside.

Fortunately, his physical skills were superior, and after some effort, he finally managed to squeeze to the very front.

As for the Young Woman, he didn't know where she had been swept off to by the crowd, but he couldn't worry about that now. His gaze, like everyone else's around him, was fixed intently on the... wooden barrel in front.

It was a very ordinary, pot-bellied wooden barrel used for storing alcohol.

The barrel was half a person tall and made of wooden planks joined together. The mouth of the barrel wasn't very wide, but it looked like a person could just about crawl inside.

It was placed on the floorboards, and the crowd formed a circle around it, hesitating to get close.

Where was Mr. Tevan? And what was the deal with this barrel? Why were they all staring at it?

Full of confusion and with no one to answer him, he had no choice but to ask the person next to him, "Is there something special about this barrel?"

"This barrel isn't mine," by coincidence, the person Farid asked was the bar owner. "I'm certain I definitely don't have this kind of barrel in my shop."

"It's like magic; it just suddenly appeared, and there's light coming out from inside the barrel."

"Then... an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy jumped in and vanished."

"It's not magic." Having been lectured by Tevan all day that "spells are not magic," Farid subconsciously corrected the bar owner, then added, "This should be Seventeen."

"Seventeen? You mean that transcendent Seventeen?!" the bar owner exclaimed, drawing the gazes of everyone around.

"Oh damn! That boy... that gentleman just now, is our transcendent!"

"So... this wooden barrel is the entrance to the transcendent world?" The speaker's eyes lit up, and he was about to step toward the barrel to jump in.

Not just him; the whole circle of people had the same idea.

"It's best not to do that." Farid scanned the eager crowd. "Since it's a door, there will definitely be a lock."

"Ordinary doors just keep outsiders out, but doors to the transcendent world... it's hard to say."

The excited crowd had a bucket of cold water poured on them. Someone hesitated and muttered, "Like the spatial turbulence in novels?"

"I'm not sure, but there's definitely danger. If you're willing to try, I won't stop you." Farid took a step back, signaling for them to do as they pleased.

He wasn't just trying to scare them; he truly believed such a risk existed.

The crowd couldn't be sure if what Farid said was reliable, but no one was willing to test it with their life.

It was true they wanted to become transcendents, but the prerequisite was being alive; if you're dead, everything is just empty talk.

But to have them give up just like that was also something they were absolutely unwilling to do.

With the transcendents of China and Ying Country being active in The World, the Russian public had long been salivating with envy.

Now that they finally got to see one, no one could say when the next time would be, and it wasn't impossible that they might never encounter one again.

The crowd thus reached a stalemate, unwilling to disperse but not daring to approach.

After a moment, someone couldn't help but speak up: "Is there no way?"

Farid frowned.

Unlike the others, he had his own mission.

The President had put all his effort into finding Seventeen, not just to send Tevan home, but also with the goal of befriending the other party.

If the person just disappeared like this, he wouldn't be able to fulfill his duty when he went back to report.

After thinking for a long while, Farid decided to take a risk and prepare to enter the transcendent world through the barrel.

He felt that based on his experience spending the day with Mr. Tevan, the boy was not cold-blooded or heartless.

If the entrance was truly dangerous, he believed Mr. Tevan would save him.

The only thing to worry about was if the other party was tied up with important business and wasn't near the door, making it too late to rescue him.

But Farid couldn't care less and stepped toward the barrel.

Unexpectedly, just as he took a step, a head suddenly popped out from the mouth of the barrel.

"Eh, so many people. Mr. Farid, what are they doing?"

Waiting for you.

Seeing that he didn't have to risk himself, Farid breathed a sigh of relief: "Mr. Tevan, they..."

"We're here to sign up!" The crowd suddenly surged forward, shouting one after another.

Tevan seemed to be startled; he raised his palm, which emitted a faint purple light.

No change could be seen in the space before them, yet everyone felt bound by some force, unable to move.

Except for Farid.

Looking at the frozen crowd, he realized he could still move and couldn't help but feel a bit joyful.

This means I've drawn closer to the transcendent. Although I'm still far from joining, everything needs a process, and I still have time.

Farid puffed out his chest and walked with small steps to Tevan, who had hopped out of the barrel: "Did you find the classroom?"

"Yes, I just went to see the teacher and submitted the paperwork."

Hearing this, he asked in confusion, "What paperwork?"

"Paperwork for studying, of course."

"So, Seventeen is a school, just like Hogwarts?"

"Um..." The question seemed simple, but Tevan scratched his head in a troubled manner, deliberating for a moment before saying, "Rather than a school, 'cram school' might be more fitting."

It was a very vivid metaphor, or so Tevan thought, but Farid didn't seem to understand: "It's all about learning transcendence, is there a difference?"

"There is a difference. To explain it using your understanding, Hogwarts is like a formal school established by the authorities, while Seventeen is a privately operated cram school."

"It's just that its reputation is quite prominent."

Farid picked up on something and said in surprise, "Are there other Seventeens in other parts of Russia?"

"There are sixteen numbers before Seventeen."

The crowd listening to the conversation was shocked; they hadn't expected transcendence to be so widespread.

Tevan smiled and said to Farid, "Thank you again for your and the President's help, otherwise I would have missed the registration deadline."

Sensing the intent of farewell in his words, Farid worried the other party would vanish on the spot the next second and quickly asked, "Can I visit Seventeen?"

"Not right now." Tevan showed a look of guilt. "I'm sorry to refuse you, but the teacher said things aren't peaceful lately, so Seventeen isn't receiving guests for the time being."

Not peaceful?

Serving in the Security Bureau and responsible for maintaining national security, a bad feeling rose in Farid's heart: "Is the Rock Giant coming to Russia?"

"If it were that, then there would be no need to worry."

"Can you be more specific?"

"That big rock is very strong, and because of that, it can't hide its movements; the teachers can easily discover it."

"But what's coming... are things that are weak in strength but very difficult to find."

"Besides, 'weak' is relative to us. Since you don't know spells, dealing with them won't be easy either."

Farid wanted to ask a few more questions, but Tevan turned and stepped into the barrel, looking back to say, "Those things are remnants from a long time ago. We will be responsible for handling them, so don't worry too much."

After saying that, his other foot also stepped into the barrel, and his whole body squatted down into it.

Farid hurriedly ran to the edge of the barrel and looked down; the barrel was empty, and naturally, there was no one there.

At this time, the frozen crowd regained their ability to move and all ran over to peek inside.

The barrel was only so big, and seven or eight people surrounded it so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through. Those who ran slowly were very anxious, jumping up and down outside: "Have you guys seen enough? Let me see!"

"Don't pull my arm, you bastard, my clothes are being torn!"

"Everyone calm down, all of you step back!" Farid saw the barrel being dragged back and forth by countless hands and quickly shouted to stop them.

However, the people who were driven mad with excitement didn't pay him any attention at all.

After shouting for a while and finding it useless, he pulled out his handgun and pulled the trigger toward the ceiling, while showing his ID with the other hand: "Security Bureau on official business!"

"Everyone, back off!"

The gunshot successfully intimidated them. Farid took this opportunity to immediately contact his subordinates patrolling the streets.

Soon, a large number of fully armed Soldiers arrived and drove the crowd out of the hall.

"Sir, mission accomplished!"

"Good, set up a cordon."

Farid wasn't referring to setting up a cordon outside the bar, but around the wooden barrel.

Tevan had vanished into the wooden barrel, so this thing could be confirmed as the entrance to Seventeen. Logically, the most proper way would be to transport it back to the military camp to be protected by the army.

He just didn't know if moving the wooden barrel would cause any changes.

For example, if this door became invalid if it changed locations, Seventeen would have to reinstall a door.

That would be troublesome; he would lose his only way to find the transcendent because of it.

So he ordered his subordinates to cover the wooden barrel with a transparent glass dome, then set up a circle of isolation lines, dispatched a whole squad of Soldiers to guard it twenty-four hours a day, and monitoring equipment was also quickly installed.

When everything was finished, Farid applied to his superiors to transfer his current work to a colleague so he could specifically be responsible for contact with the transcendent.

The application was placed on the President's desk ten minutes later.

The President was somewhat hesitant, so he called in his Aides to discuss it.

Considering that Farid was the first to have contact with Tevan and had been a companion throughout the process of searching for Seventeen, they eventually approved Farid's request.

After receiving the approved document, Farid excitedly set up a bed in the bar hall, about five meters away from the wooden barrel.

"Mr. Tevan, I look forward to our next meeting." After a devout prayer, Farid, who hadn't closed his eyes for over twenty hours, crawled into the blankets, and snoring could be heard a short while later.

The Soldiers standing guard outside the isolation line didn't just feel it was a torment, they were also somewhat speechless.

But after thinking it over, they felt that Farid's fanaticism wasn't hard to understand; on the contrary, it was incredibly normal.

After all... the key to opening the door to transcendence was right there...

Their imaginations ran wild, and the gazes they turned toward the wooden barrel were filled with heat and anticipation.

...

Zhang Mu sat cross-legged in the dark void of "The World," perfecting his plan for the Russian side in his mind.

He absolutely could not let Russia be too comfortable; otherwise, without a sense of urgency, they wouldn't give their all to push forward with mining on the moon.

There had to be some commotion.

It was best not to use Fallen Spirits anymore; it would be too obvious if a transcendent showed up as soon as a Fallen Spirit appeared. He had to open up a new path.

It also happened that he could find something for the few people from the Mountain Gate and Hogwarts to do. Staying in "The World" every day was also annoying, and he had to expend energy to keep an eye on them.

Hmm... as for the new path... if they were to fight against "calamities" directly... then puppets wouldn't be suitable.

In case of an accident, if a puppet's body was damaged and revealed the parts inside, it would be embarrassing.

Zhang Mu stood up, patted the non-existent dust off his buttocks, summoned a Portal, and arrived on the Saul Continent.

As usual, he first went to Avril's palace to visit.

She wasn't in the palace. He asked the guards, and she wasn't in the royal palace either; they said she had gone to inspect the legion's training.

Zhang Mu hesitated on the spot for a short while, then turned around and went to the royal palace to find the Second Prince who was currently practicing—oh, he should be called the King now.

He didn't have any other business with him except to commission him to help collect some Apprentice Level magical beasts. Their strength didn't matter as long as they could withstand bullets, but most importantly, they had to have excellent concealment techniques.

While he was at it, he asked him to find a book on Knight Magic. Zhang Mu didn't emphasize the quality; he believed the King wouldn't brush him off with inferior work.

Sure enough, the King said it would be easy to handle, and immediately drew half of the Griffin Cavalry from the Griffin Legion to go to various parts of Lake to capture magical beasts that met the criteria.

Knight Magic was even simpler; he just sent someone to the royal treasury to pick one.

Zhang Mu didn't want to just wait around, so he left a message saying "I'll be back in a few days to pick them up," turned back to "The World," and rummaged through his inventory for suitable task rewards.

According to what he had considered before, the quality couldn't be too high; their Mental Energy wouldn't be able to bear it, and they would be shocked into becoming idiots by the violent backlash.

After searching for half an hour, he finally found everything.

It was easy for the Hogwarts side; just giving them magical pets would do, as these things were surely more enticing than a staff.

For the Mountain Gate, it would be diluted potions.

Before long, Zhang Mu would be scattering magical beasts all over the Blue Star. Luo Xiling and the others wouldn't be able to deal with them with just "Flying Swords"; they also needed to have strong physiques.

They didn't need to be too strong; it would be enough if they didn't die after being hit a couple of times by a magical beast. As long as they still had breath, he could save them once he arrived on the scene.

Zhang Mu muttered in his heart, preparing to close the panel and go to the Mountain Gate's area.

Just as the panel dimmed and vanished, he caught a glimpse of something abnormal in the skill bar out of the corner of his eye.

"Skills" had a suffix in parentheses with a number inside, representing the magic he had already mastered.

But now, after the number, there was a "—" followed by a "1".

What did that mean?

In his confusion, he clicked on the skill bar and browsed through them one by one from top to bottom.

He hadn't learned a new magic in a long time, so it only took him ten seconds to finish reading, and at the same time, he discovered the cause.

"True Word Spell: God Said (1%)."

"When did it unlock? How did it unlock?"

Zhang Mu stared in astonishment at the faintly glowing skill name and began to search through his mind.

"Leah's Lucky Crystal?" He remembered the crystal Leah had wanted back and then returned, and he guessed that the unlocking of the True Word Spell probably had something to do with it.

But looking back at the year spent on the Saul Continent, he was a bit bewildered: "The crystal came into my hands back in Kas Town, why then... was it because of the arrival of the luminous figure?"

Besides that, there was no other possibility.

"No wonder she inexplicably took the crystal back for a day..."

After a moment of silence, he sighed: "It was just a small favor, there was no need for this."

He didn't know what effect the crystal had on Leah, and Zhang Mu couldn't go to the Church Holy Mountain to return it now.

He was the heretic in the divine oracle; he would be hunted all over The World once he left Lake.

With the panel, he wouldn't die, but the problem was that if he died too many times, he figured he would have forgotten all about returning the crystal before he even reached the Holy Mountain.

Get a bit stronger, a bit faster.

Zhang Mu had been busy on the Blue Star these days, but his practice had never slackened for even a moment.

With the help of abundant potions, his speed could be described as a thousand miles a day, but looking at his troubles, it still wasn't enough.

"Hurry up and give the things to them."

And then—meditate, meditate with all his might.

Without further delay, Zhang Mu's thoughts moved slightly, and he arrived at Yuzhang Mountain.