CHAPTER 169: CHAPTER 169: DREAM CHASER_1

"What does it do?"

"Spiritual Essence is the foundation, and you’re asking me this?"

Tamara glared, her eyes seeming to say, "I’ve explained this question ten times already!"

Lance realized his mistake and laughed.

He had asked without thinking—a slip of the tongue.

Since it was a Spiritual Crystal, it could naturally replace anything that required Spiritual Essence.

To power Extraordinary Equipment, replenish one’s own Spiritual Essence consumption, use it as a medium to cast Art, and so on.

"How is this done?" Lance now understood the immense benefits Spiritual Crystals represented; or rather, he understood that no one could refuse them.

"Refining Spiritual Essence is a long and tedious craft. As for raw materials..." Tamara said with a strange expression, "any Extraordinary Material possessing Spiritual Essence, including people~"

At those words, Lance couldn’t help but frown. He understood the subtext of Tamara’s words: Spiritual Materials were all used to make equipment and tools and couldn’t be wasted here. So, in reality, the largest source of Spiritual Crystals was people.

But ordinary people don’t have Spiritual Essence, do they?

Lance voiced his doubt but was met with Tamara’s incredulous stare.

"All things in the world possess Spiritual Essence, even permeating the air around us; it’s just that we find it hard to perceive and utilize. The most orthodox method of refinement is for a Transcendent to condense it from the air.

But this method is too inefficient, and excessive contact with Spiritual Essence increases the risk of corruption. Once one has fallen, the complications worsen.

So, some began to attempt direct extraction of Spiritual Essence from humans. Initially, this was only done among Transcendents because ordinary people possess very little Spiritual Essence.

Then, after many refinements by various geniuses, some Transcendents discovered they could use ordinary people’s bodies to gather Spiritual Essence and then extract it from them.

And because ordinary people lack inspiration and cannot fall, the risk is actually reduced. The process can also be carried out on multiple individuals simultaneously to increase efficiency. However, the side effect is that it causes extreme pain in ordinary people, which is necessary to absorb the free-floating Spiritual Essence."

At this, Lance was sharply taken aback. He now understood the purpose behind the painful rituals conducted by the Ascension Sect.

Ordinary people can only touch upon Spiritual Essence under extreme emotions. At that time, their flesh also becomes Spiritual Materials. Therefore, consuming them as part of the ritual could strengthen a believer’s physique.

However, such enhancements had side effects, and the mere thought of the grotesque mutations of Flesh filled him with disgust.

At the same time, he began to understand why Transcendents had fallen so low.

No, that’s not right, Lance suddenly thought of something. Isn’t my own Sacrifice ability also a form of refinement? And the boons I’ve always considered experience points—are they actually Spiritual Essence?

Lance sensed his own abundant Spiritual Essence. I’ve been so reckless; I really owe my survival to my ’cheats.’

"We’ve arrived."

At these words, Lance looked up. They had reached a shop with a wooden sign featuring a book pattern.

"What’s the story behind this bookstore?" Lance asked Tamara as he stepped out of the carriage.

"A commoner who pursued Supernatural Power. He was once a very wealthy merchant who spent his entire fortune trying to become a Transcendent but never succeeded due to issues with his inspiration. Alienated from his wife and children, he was left with only a vast collection of various books and manuscripts.

So he simply stayed here, seeking that slim chance, fantasizing that some ritual might change his innate talent and grant him a glimpse of that Supernatural Power."

"There are commoners here too?"

A story tinged with sorrow, but Lance wasn’t particularly moved. A person’s life is always filled with regrets. What puzzled him was that there were ordinary people here?

"Strange, isn’t it? There are quite a few ordinary people like you here, pursuing Supernatural Power. For various reasons, they find their way in and then continually try to become a Transcendent.

If they’re lucky, they recognize their lack of talent and steer clear of this circle. If not, they might not live to see another day.

And then there are those who were born here. Their parents are Transcendents, but they themselves are not. After all, no one can really say for certain when it comes to talent," Tamara said leisurely. Lance, however, felt she seemed quite concerned about the issue of talent, though he didn’t know why.

"I’ll take you this far; the favor I owed is repaid. One last piece of advice: don’t casually reveal your inspiration to others, and don’t readily trust Transcendents. In their eyes, you too are Spiritual Materials."

"How can I find you later?"

Tamara smiled faintly. "We Romani never have a fixed location."

"Then, if fate allows, we’ll meet again. I hope next time you won’t fob me off with those goods. Bring something better," Lance said, laughing as he placed the bag of Gold Coins on the table.

After all, he had just gained quite a bit from her, and Lance had no intention of pressing the matter. Life is about making more friends and fewer enemies (or dealing with them, anyway). Why make enemies when you can be friends?

"I actually hope we don’t meet again~" Tamara didn’t hold back, promptly taking the Gold Coins. She then quickly closed the carriage door and drove away.

Just then, Tamara’s expression contorted in pain. She hadn’t gone far before she began to cough violently. It took her a while to catch her breath, her complexion noticeably paler.

She hadn’t lied; she had indeed paid a considerable price. But something more serious was afoot.

That brief loss of control just now must have alerted those people to something. I have to leave this place quickly.

Thinking this, Tamara furrowed her brow and looked out, a vague sense of confusion washing over her. Where can I go?

Lance, however, hadn’t noticed any of this. He turned and entered the bookstore.

Opening the door, he saw an elderly man with glasses and disheveled, graying hair engrossed in something at the counter.

The noise of my entry didn’t even disturb him. He must be truly immersed, still clinging to his old obsession.

"Hello." Lance tapped the countertop. "I’d like the Extraordinary Creatures Compendium."

The old man looked up at Lance, his expression, for some reason, holding a hint of pity.

Those who seek such a book are typically novices. Moreover, only unaffiliated individuals would need it; someone with a proper lineage wouldn’t. Another dream chaser. Perhaps he saw in the eager Lance a reflection of his younger self.

"The Hermes Academy’s third edition of the ’Extraordinary Creatures Compendium.’ It’s an academy textbook. Though a bit outdated, the content has been verified and shouldn’t have any major errors."

Lance found the shopkeeper rather amiable, until he stated the price.

"Twelve Gold Coins."

"That expensive?"

The old man couldn’t help but laugh at Lance’s reaction. "That’s the price of knowledge. If you’re looking for something cheaper, you can check out that pile of miscellaneous books. They go for one Gold Coin each."

Lance looked over at the books piled in a corner of the bookstore. They look more like trash than anything. I wonder how long it’s been since this corner was cleaned; they’re covered in dust and spiderwebs.