Spirit of Knowledge

Xiaoman walked out of the expanded study room with a few books in her arms, and reached out a hand to close the door properly.

"Good afternoon, Xiaoman. I'm glad to see that you are willing to absorb more knowledge in your free time out of interest. Would you like some tea?"

"...Good afternoon, teacher. I'll go back to my room first." Facing Lazarus's greeting, Xiaoman seemed a little restrained this time. He didn't walk too close. Instead, he responded, slightly hid the cover of the book in his hand, and hurried upstairs with them.

This unexpected reaction made Yuan Qian feel a little disappointed: "Is it because I haven't shown up for half a month and I'm hated..."

"If you think so, then so be it." The adjutant said perfunctorily, obviously knowing the inside story.

This guy is really too much. Yuan Qian thought. He had long felt that it was unfair. Julius did not have to take part in the story, but he could stay at the forefront of the story and watch the show and give advice. He also had a God's perspective on the same level as the readers through comic updates and forums. Not only that, the opponent who could hack the system seemed to have other information that neither he nor the readers knew. This position was really unfair.

"You must have had a lot of fun watching plays recently..." Yuan Qian was so resentful that he even muttered to himself.

[Indeed. Speaking of which, your line does sound like a foreshadowing. Are you considering using it for the next character?]

"Hmm." Yuan Qian was really distracted and started to think, "In that case, it must be 'someone' who has been observing nearby? Someone who is an acquaintance of Lazarus or something like that."

[Apart from face shaping, I won’t interfere with the plot design. That’s your power, so feel free to do what you want, Mr. Actor.]

"Okay then." Yuan Qian felt that it was time to put the next character setting on the agenda, so he glanced at the remaining emotional value and once again felt the pain of the invisible high price of the lich character setting.

The peak of emotional value income is one or two days after each comic is updated. Even though the comic has grown a lot with the popularity of serialization, one updated episode can only bring him a short-term income of more than 2,000 points. Unless it is a one-time sale where the account is deleted on the spot like Pixel Mei's retirement, in that case, although the income can soar, it cannot be used frequently. Readers will get tired of reading too many bentos.

The 80-point daily rental of the Lich character is calculated based on the number of days in this world. The price for each passing day is close to three digits. This continuous expenditure has undoubtedly had a great impact on Yuan Qian's savings.

Speaking of face-pinching, Yuan Qian raised his left hand, which looked relatively normal, and poked the lich's face - the dead could not feel temperature and their sense of touch was duller, but they could still make some judgments.

Apart from the exposed bones, the texture of this body doesn't feel that scary. After all, according to the setting, Lazarus was a spellcaster when he was "alive" and he took good care of himself, so his skin and muscles still retain some elasticity, and the more important face has almost no effect on his expression.

As for the feedback from poking it, it was just a little stiffer than a living person, probably similar to the state of an ordinary person after waking up from a heavy nap.

It can be said that as a corpse, Lazarus is in perfect condition in every aspect...but the corpse is so fresh and beautiful, and it seems something is wrong.

Because even if we only talk about the undead characters that Yuan Qian has seen, if the male characters are not skeletons or rotten corpses, they can be considered to have regular facial features if they have protruding fangs, sunken cheeks, separated head and body, bald scalp and missing eyeballs after death. Even pretty and cute girls often have strange blue or gray skin colors. How can they pretend to be alive by putting on gloves like Lazarus?

And Lazarus's appearance was not created by Yuan Qian at all. It was "randomly" created by an adjutant who pretended to be the system, and the word "Siren" was added to his racial composition.

"By the way, can I interview you? Why did you shape the lich I chose into this state? Is this you or someone you know?" he asked.

[No. This is a simple thing, right? Why do I need to refer to it? First of all, long hair is the best. Then, since the undead in this world have a pre-set hair color, you don’t have to worry about it. In order to attract popularity, you can add some pretty and powerful elements, especially those suitable for bards to make up stories. I am very skilled.]

“But you said this is the first time you caught the system, right…?” Yuan Qian probed.

[Yes. As a demon king, isn't it a basic operation to create an avatar for yourself? Many of my subordinates are from other races who were transformed because of despair and hatred. I am also responsible for the changes and adjustments to their appearance after transformation. So far, I have not received any negative comments. Although after they joined the company, they saw the puppets I made for fun, so they dared not let me modify them again...]

"..." Yuan Qianyuan wanted to show some sympathy for the unlucky people who became subordinates of this gang.

"Then can you help me with the next character setting? If it's not too much trouble." Yuan Qian, who admits that he is not good at character creation and has a bit of a complex, tried to ask for help.

[Okay, okay.] The adjutant seemed quite happy to agree.

The lich, whose problems were temporarily solved, immediately got up and went out to get materials for the bloodline awakening ceremony for his disciples.

In order to protect the power in their hands, the royal family would pay a high price to cultivate golden blood loyal to them, so of course they would hide these things tightly and not let other forces get access to the correct formula and process.

However, just as the majesty of the royal family can only govern the secular sphere, there is naturally a way to obtain its formula in the world of spellcasters.

It is easier to get things done in the Magic City where you have many acquaintances, but this time Lazarus chose to come to the City of Learning - Ivy.

The fact that this place, which is independent of power struggles, is nicknamed "Ether" is magical in itself.

Everyone who comes and goes here has the status of a scholar or a spellcaster, and has sufficient offerings to receive. They do not need to run around and waste their time on anything else other than digging for knowledge.

Similarly, they only care about discussions at the academic exchange level and have no intention of giving back to the forces that support them. They are indifferent even when they know that there is a high bounty on Lazarus.

Therefore, as long as he avoids the appearance of the dead that would trigger other people's instinctive disgust, Lazarus can even enter and exit various occasions openly.

——The premise is that you don’t let archaeological scholars keep asking you questions about a certain historical issue from 790 years ago.

During this period, Lazarus came here quite a few times in order to collect information about his disciples' races and the "Eye of Kalisai's Prophecy" that he later obtained.

The reaction of the archaeologists was so horrific that Yuan Qian felt that even if he took the initiative to remove the spell that concealed his appearance, it would be useless to get rid of this group of people.

Their fanatical pursuit of knowledge had long been so intense that it had completely crushed the likes and dislikes brought about by their instincts. As long as Lazarus could answer their numerous questions from the perspective of an eyewitness, he would be their favorite person for the time being.

The lich, still feeling uneasy, deliberately avoided these strange men this time, and waited until they left the "library" and walked away for a while before appearing inside.

The library is one of the largest buildings in the City of Academics. Now Yuan Qian no longer needs to rely on the panorama that appears in comics to obtain information. He has a clear understanding of the appearance and topography of the entire city.

It is clearly a city from another world in a comic, but the layout of the City of Academics is somewhat similar to a Tai Chi diagram.

On one side is this unusually large library, surrounded by residences; on the other side is a building of similar size that is a venue for academic exchanges, where scholars often hold activities and meetings all year round. They gather in groups of three or four to find a place to start their arguments, which eventually become a scene of extreme silence and extreme noise facing each other from a distance.

Lazarus walked into the library, but unlike others, he did not rush straight to the bookshelves that contained so many books that he could not finish reading them even after hundreds of years. Instead, he walked up the stairs to the top floor.

The huge library seemed to be filled with endless bookshelves, beautiful ancient stairs climbing between the layers of bookshelves, and tables and chairs where people could sit down and read at any time.

Even most people who have been in the city of learning for decades probably don't know that their library has a different world on the top floor.

To come up, you need authorization. Fortunately, Lazarus is qualified to get an admission ticket.

——Different from the quiet and elegant wooden floor, the mosaic tiles are colorful and have confusing patterns.

——Bench seats arranged in a ring.

——Also, there are colorful stone statues scattered on the benches.

There was no need to worry about his true appearance causing trouble here, so the lich removed his disguise, straightened his robes, and quietly sat down next to a "stone statue".

They are certainly not stone carvings or dyed handicrafts, but the true bodies of the "Spirit of Knowledge" that Yuan Qian almost chose as his character identity before.

Dedicated to knowledge, they naturally live here, in the "library", at the top of this place where knowledge is gathered.

The statue chosen by Lazarus is a woman with a bun, a slender figure, and an elegant long skirt. She chose to be fixed forever in this posture, and the circles of gemstones sewn on the neckline of the long skirt are still colorful today.

"I need--" Lazarus said, looking at her unchanging, peaceful profile.

"Information about the [Bloodline Awakening] ritual, and a replica scroll of the 'Fixed Resurrection Technique'."

He placed a scroll of newly written paper beside the statue on top of the notes that had been frozen along with its owner.

"In exchange, I will provide the casting record of 'Kalise's Eye of Foresight', with the complete steps and material usage, which I have restored and adjusted myself."

The invisible light instantly engulfed the roll of paper, and returned him a thin booklet and a scroll. The stone statue recognized the value of the knowledge he had contributed, and gave him the knowledge he needed.

Lazarus put away the booklet containing the bloodline awakening ritual, preparing to take it back and modify it as he saw fit. He then crushed the scroll on the spot and transcribed the spell structure into his own brain as a life-saving measure for his disciple in case of an accident during the ritual.

The deal was now complete, and he got up and left without disturbing the quiet atmosphere.

During all this process, the woman herself did not move or say anything, including her pupils did not move at all, and her still lifelike crystal body did not have any life reactions such as breathing and blood flow, just like a highly skilled stone statue. [Spirit of Knowledge] exists like this, and they are still alive.

Now that they have made the choice to transform, whether they regret it or not cannot be conveyed to the outside world, making it impossible to guess whether the exquisite and timeless "stone statues" in front of them are still willing martyrs of knowledge, or a group of prisoners who have been isolated from the world for centuries.

"Compared to living this way, even carrying a wanted warrant and staying away from people is considered a good life." Yuan Qian sighed.

[A fool who voluntarily walks into suffering... Do you think you are not?] The adjutant sneered.

Yuan Qian wanted to say that he was really not as great as them and was not so obsessed with knowledge as to risk his life, but over there something was already being fried in a pan, frying it in oil, shaking it and frying it again. From the sound, he could tell that the crust was crispy and the cooking time was perfect, which made him miss those long-lost fast food snacks of modern times. He opened the reader forum and read those posts that turned into poisonous messages late at night to comfort his homesickness.

Yuan Qian: Thank you, readers. Without your active forum, how can we survive? Please send me more delicious food. I will repay you with... uh, heartwarming plots!