Bizarre Realm-Chapter 362 - 23: The Slothful City

The mist of dawn gradually faded away.

In a secluded garden courtyard, Shawn’s figure hovered thirty centimeters above the ground. He wore a loose black magic robe, surrounded by energy spheres manifesting in the reality of the Distant Realm, representing Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire.

These gathered yet undispersed energy magic balls circled and danced around his figure throughout the entire night until they gradually dissipated into the air as he opened his eyes.

A night of meditation.

Shawn slowly opened his eyes, a faint divine glow flowing through them, making his gaze resemble a deep abyss, seemingly absorbing the surrounding light. He gently raised a finger, and the stone table before him floated automatically to a height of one meter above the ground.

——Telekinesis.

Shawn’s Path of Destiny had entered the Second Stage. As his extraordinary level was gradually approaching the limit of twenty, he also needed to further refine the powers of arcane magic and the Mind Path, making himself near-perfect, only then could he overcome the final ’Celestial Tribulation’.

Of course, this was just his opinion. The Bizarre Realm had no so-called ’Celestial Tribulation’, but to prove one’s path of destiny, one must fuse with the world’s law. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Currently, the law of destiny was in the hands of the Eldritch Ones, making this process somewhat similar to surviving a tribulation.

——"Thought Probe (6th level spell): You can learn all the target’s memories and knowledge, including deeply buried ones."

Eight hours of meditation.

The spiritual stone in Shawn’s palm shattered into powder; he had learned a new spiritual spell.

The abilities of a Mind Scholar were somewhat akin to that of a mage, very resource-intensive. Spiritual stones could serve as materials for learning new spells. However, in the Bizarre Realm, such curios were relatively rare; you must travel to the planets ruled by the Eldritch Ones to acquire them in large quantities.

Most of Shawn’s resources currently came from Abyss City.

"With my current strength, am I capable of interstellar travel?"

"Can I steal a starship from an Eldritch Creature?"

Shawn seriously deduced, ultimately deciding to wait a bit longer. The threshold for a Star Realm Grand Mage was Legendary Level, and although his strength neared the destiny legendary, he lacked a sufficient foundation. However, hijacking an Eldritch Creature’s interstellar battleship could provide a qualitative leap in his foundation, though the risks were indeed incredibly high, and he might need some assistance.

Attempting to solo challenge an Eldritch Creature’s interstellar battleship without forming a group is too arrogant.

"Su’en is currently not in the Distant Realm; this is the best opportunity."

"If Su’en returns."

"It would be much harder to hijack an Eldritch Creature’s interstellar battleship."

Some things require timing, and more so, seizing the opportunity.

Building oneself, where can it compare to the speed of commandeering, as Aemon once said, in this star system, an Eldritch Fleet is stationed somewhere in space.

Shawn must act before the consciousness of the Eldritch Ones returns.

A gentle footfall approached.

In the arcade of the villa garden, a seductive woman with a veiled face approached slowly. She wore a black tight outfit, a bandaged dagger strapped to her thigh, her figure melding into the shadows. Upon seeing Shawn awaken from meditation, the Lady of the House respectfully bowed, "Lord Aemon."

"Here is the selected list, all of them are slaves."

The Lady of the House advanced swiftly in her rank.

Those who have experienced the baptism of death will rapidly transform and grow.

With a slight wave of his hand, the list fell into Shawn’s palm, and with a cursory glance, he said, "Very well. You will lead these people and quickly organize the Shadow Guard."

He needed a group of his own in the Realm of Reality.

Among the many career paths, only a few can be mass-produced as Transcendents, like warriors, thieves, rangers, etc., all concentrated in the Close Combat Series. The Casting Series is challenging to mass-produce due to the high resource consumption of the caster.

Shawn leaned towards cultivating rangers and thieves, with the former excelling in firearms and boasting remarkable combat strength when armed with Purgatory Roar Cannons, and the latter proficient in stealth assassination, making them the primary squad for intelligence gathering.

Currently, he was researching attribute templates, i.e., conducting data-based assessments of others’ basic attributes.

Both rangers and thieves require that the attributes of power, agility, and constitution meet certain standards. Constitution can be slightly lower, but agility cannot; those lacking agility have difficulty excelling as thieves.

"Without specific testing of basic attributes, many individuals follow erroneous paths of progression; only by playing to one’s strengths and avoiding weaknesses can potential be maximized."

There were twelve people on the list, all from the lower class.

Shawn planned to nurture some Death Warriors.

From the perspective of raising Death Warriors, orphans, slaves, and individuals of humble origin are undoubtedly more suitable.

These individuals would still need some time to grow.

Fortunately, in the Bizarre Realm, the progression of Transcendents is transcendent; with sufficient resources, they can advance rapidly. The advancement system of the Bizarre Realm is truly resource-demanding, and Shawn’s current assets could not support too many Transcendents.

Shawn stood up and said, "I have to leave today."

"You folks will temporarily take over here; contact the monster doctor if anything arises."

Upon hearing this, the Lady of the House respectfully bowed, "Yes, Lord Aemon."

The entire Dusk Town had already undergone a thorough transformation by Shawn, although the original smuggling routes remained mostly unchanged. The only difference was that the populations involved in smuggling had fallen under Shawn’s control. He did not wish to alert any snakes prematurely, planning to select potential targets from these ranks to cultivate as Transcendents. This time, Shawn had purged nearly half of Dusk Town’s elite class, amassing a fortune of tens of millions of dinars. If not for this massive confiscation, he would not have known they were so wealthy.