Chapter 193: Chapter 137: Ancient Nest (2)

The Magic was originally the "Forgetfulness Technique (Tier Three)."

It was a Magic that could only be used on oneself, allowing the user to forget things more quickly.

’What bored Mage invented a Magic like this?’

In fact, this world was full of useless Magic, which was why so few spells were in wide circulation.

If you looked closely, you’d find that many spells were both difficult to learn and utterly useless. It was hard to see the point in learning them at all.

But in truth, they weren’t entirely without purpose.

For instance, right now...

When reading these Forbidden Books, this Magic was essential.

Even if he read some forbidden knowledge he wasn’t supposed to, he could just erase the memory and pass out. After waking up, he wouldn’t remember a thing.

It was an effective way to avoid the dangers of forbidden knowledge.

Basically, forgetfulness could cure over 99.99% of all damage from knowledge pollution. The remaining 0.01% was probably reserved for cases like looking directly at an Evil Divine Being.

"The Seven Ancient Nests."

"Nests are the source of all Dungeons..."

"In truth, every Dungeon in the world is part of a Nest. Most people simply haven’t found a Dungeon that connects to one."

"And if a Dungeon leading to a Nest were to connect with the world, it would mean the Nest has officially manifested."

’No wonder this is a Forbidden Book.’

Just reading a few lines made Lu Cang feel a bit uneasy.

It wasn’t just the content, but also the script and the style of writing.

As Lu Cang flipped through the book, he recorded its key information directly onto a sheet of Fire-Written Paper.

He was now highly proficient with his ’Grasp the Key’ skill.

With every page he turned, he could instantly extract the crucial information for deciphering its secrets.

He wrote this information on the Fire-Written Paper. His Spirituality brought him inspiration, and he soon found the corresponding decryption method, quickly deducing a deeper layer of meaning hidden within the book.

[Secret: True Secrets of the Seven Ancient Nests]

[Hidden Item: Nest Descent Ritual]

Hidden within this book was a special ritual...

It was a ritual that could connect a Dungeon to the main body of a Nest.

As Lu Cang deciphered the ritual, he couldn’t help but feel it was somewhat similar to his own method of Sacrificing Dungeons.

However, this ritual involved far more detail.

It also required some additional preparations.

’Could it be...’

’...that when I Sacrificed Dungeons before, I was also creating a connection between them and a Nest?’

The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was much to investigate.

"The Evil’s Nest Descent Ritual..."

"By Sacrificing the Soul of the Purest Evil Demon to a Dungeon of a specific type, a path to the Evil’s Nest can be opened."

’A Demon Soul... that’s evil? And it also has to be pure?’

’What an absurd and insane condition.’

And yet, he could actually meet it.

’But why would I open a Nest...?’

’Wouldn’t opening a Nest just be shooting myself in the foot?’

Lu Cang had no intention of asking for trouble.

As for the grand dream of conquering a Nest, Lu Cang had no such plans at the moment.

’Is this something a Level 3 Mage can handle?’

’The book says the Master of the Nest is comparable to a Divine Spirit, you know.’

’Who would go without being at least Level 9?’

Still, Lu Cang memorized how to perform the ritual.

Next, Lu Cang found the book titled *Ten Original Forbidden Techniques*.

This book also held a Secret.

Moreover, the Hidden Item was an "Original Forbidden Spell."

Lu Cang eagerly opened the first page.

...

Lu Cang awoke at his desk, gazing around in a daze.

’Did I... pass out?’

’I don’t remember what happened at all.’

Lu Cang glanced at the book beside him and quickly swept it aside.

’It seems I touched upon some forbidden knowledge I shouldn’t have, which triggered a Memory Meltdown.’

’Good thing I set up the Memory Meltdown in advance.’

’Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to me.’

’This book... I should find a way to let Iz see it.’

’But there doesn’t seem to be a good way to get the book out of here.’

’If I try to read it myself, I’ll either have to endure the pollution or just pass out again.’

For the time being, he had no way of getting the book’s contents out.

’Forget it. I’ll leave this one for now.’

’This book, *Root Shattering*, also contains a Secret?’

Lu Cang took down another book and opened the first page...

He awoke at the desk again.

Lu Cang took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. It was already four in the afternoon.

’Damn it, what’s the deal with these books?’

’Can’t read this one, can’t read that one either?’

’With these two books, it wasn’t just that the hidden Secrets were unreadable—even the basic text was tainted with knowledge pollution.’

’As expected of the Forbidden Book Library.’

Now Lu Cang understood why these were classified as Forbidden Books.

They were countless times more dangerous than ordinary books.

He checked the time again.

’Oh well. There’s plenty of time. I can deal with these Forbidden Books later.’

The banquet was about to start.

As the guest of honor, his attendance was mandatory.

...

「Nighttime. In the Imperial Palace.」

The court officials had all gathered.

The guests were almost all high-ranking officials and members of noble families. A sweep of his Perception revealed that Iz and the others had also arrived.

With familiar faces present, Lu Cang felt a bit more at ease.

"Iz, I ended up joining Lorren after all."

Iz laughed heartily. "It’s no big deal. Lorren isn’t a bad place. In fact, the original plan was to send you to study at the Magic Academy in Lorren anyway."

"Besides, this path might actually be a better fit for you."

At the banquet, Lu Cang wasn’t as uninhibited as he was during his adventures.

He didn’t drink a single drop of alcohol at the gathering.

He fended off offers with the excuse that he was just a kid.

Lu Cang didn’t dare get drunk in a place like this.

"Lu Cang, we’re planning to head out to the Cave of Desperate Wails tomorrow. What do you think?"

Lu Cang said, "Hmm... I’ll go with you."

"Haha, that’s the spirit!"

"We’ll save a few tough opponents for you, let you try to grasp your own Extreme Battle Intent."

"And..."

"How about we Sacrifice the Cave of Desperate Wails? I feel like a regular Tier Six Dungeon might not be exciting enough."

Chi Cheng whispered in Lu Cang’s ear.

Lu Cang couldn’t help but think of the Nest Descent Ritual he had read about that afternoon.

Sacrifice a Dungeon, open a path to a Nest.

"Brother Chi Cheng, wouldn’t that be too dangerous?"

"We can take it step by step."

"We’ve already experimented with this, right? As long as we go in and come out before performing more Sacrifices, we can reset the Dungeon into a new state."

They had discovered this effect during their travels.

Lu Cang didn’t know the principle behind it. ’Can Sacrifice really bring dead Demons back to life?’

’It was all too strange.’

Then again, the fact that Sacrificing could generate large numbers of Demons was strange in itself.

After reading that book earlier, however, some of these questions seemed to have answers.

The act of "Sacrificing a Dungeon" didn’t reset it into a new one.

Instead... it was more like pressing an elevator button.

The Dungeon was an entrance, a gateway to somewhere within the Nest.

The more souls were Sacrificed, the deeper into the Nest the Dungeon would lead.

So, it was only their location that changed.

The Demons weren’t actually respawning.

This was all just a theory, but based on what he had observed, it was likely very close to the truth.

"Well, let’s get there and assess the situation first."

"If you and Brother Chi Cheng can handle it without any trouble, I’ll try Sacrificing some souls."

Iz had cast a sound insulation magic over their area.

Outsiders couldn’t hear what Lu Cang and the others were discussing.

Tonight’s gathering didn’t feel much like a true celebration.

Instead, it was a banquet to announce that Lu Cang had joined the Lorren Kingdom...

Lu Cang guessed that Luo Tedan was deliberately putting on this display for certain people with ulterior motives to see.