Chapter 96. Treasure Hunt, Intelligence Upgrade; ...
Inside the workshop on the second basement level, everyone gathered in a circle, intently watching the energy cocoon ball, slightly larger than a goose egg and emitting a soft white light, in the miniature manor.
Lin Xiaoxiao was held in Xiao Weizhi's arms, looking at the energy cocoon ball with some worry.
The Treasure Rat had already entered the stage of advancing to Epic rank two days ago.
According to the normal promotion process, the promotion should be completed in 2-3 days, but it has already been five days.
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi's original travel plans were temporarily put on hold because the treasure-hunting rat had been unable to break through the energy cocoon for several days.
Monet, meanwhile, squatted to the side, clutching her hair in frustration, repeatedly muttering to herself in regret: 'I shouldn't have fed Treasure Hunt so much energy food, knowing it was about to advance...'
'The amount should be controlled. It's because the amount of treasure hunting wasn't controlled that it couldn't absorb enough energy, preventing it from breaking through the energy cocoon...'
Lin Xiaoxiao had a headache as she looked at Monet, who was squatting in a corner not far away, pulling at his braids and acting like a withdrawn mushroom.
She had already advised Monet: 'Don't blame yourself too much. Treasure hunting is something no one can predict, and things haven't gotten to the worst yet. Cheer up.'
But Monet, already consumed by self-blame, wouldn't listen to a word.
Now, Lin Xiaoxiao not only has to worry about the Treasure-Hunting Mouse's advancement, but also has to observe Monette's condition from time to time.
As the sun rose and set, the light of the energy cocoon faded to almost nothing, and the treasure-hunting rat's advancement teetered on the brink of failure.
Redtail had cried so much that the fur on her chest was soaked and matted into a ball.
The black cat was lying on the chair. Although it wasn't looking at the energy cocoon, its tail kept slapping restlessly, indicating that its emotions were not as stable as they appeared.
Hill floated in mid-air, looking worried as she hugged Jeon Ji, who was frowning and looking down with her arms folded in front of her chest.
At 11 p.m., the small energy cocoon had completely lost its light.
Just as everyone was feeling sad, a few faint cracking sounds rang out: 'ka.ka-ka.ka-'
The sound paused for several seconds, then resumed, the sound of breaking through the energy cocoon gradually increasing in frequency: 'Crack crack crack…'
Xiao Weizhi gently patted Lin Xiaoxiao's waist in his arms, signaling her to turn around and look up: "Xiaoxiao, the treasure hunt is fine, it's breaking out of its cocoon."
Lin Xiaoxiao lifted her face from Xiao Weizhi's chest, turned around quickly, and saw the energy cocoon ball that was now completely cracked.
Around 1 a.m., cheers erupted from the workroom.
Slightly larger than before, with a wisp of golden fur on its forehead, the treasure-hunting rat lay panting inside a half-empty energy cocoon, sprawled out like a soft, squishy rat pancake.
Congratulations to your contracted pet, the Treasure-Hunting Rat, for successfully advancing to Epic rank!
[Treasure Rat gains new skill: [Passive] Key Find (Epic) (Upgradeable)]
[Passive] Key Find (Epic): When things reach a critical juncture, there's always that one crucial clue missing. This skill always activates in a moment of inspiration, as if guided by fate.
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the notification that the Treasure-Hunting Rat had successfully advanced and smiled easily.
Just as she was about to reach out and pick up the treasure that had collapsed into a pancake.
Monet had already taken the lead, carefully picking up the treasure and hiding it in the inner pocket. Then Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi rushed out.
Lin Xiaoxiao stared at the wooden door, which was only 5 centimeters from her nose, and laughed angrily. She turned to Xiao Weizhi and asked in a low voice, "Weizhi, if I remember correctly, Treasure Hunt is my contracted beast, right?"
Monet wouldn't even let her touch him before kicking her out; if she had hesitated even a step, her nose would have been in trouble.
Furthermore, what does it mean that the others (Hill, Quan Zhi, Red Tail, and Black Cat) can stay inside, but only the two of them are kicked out?
Xiao Weizhi roughly guessed Monet's thoughts; he was probably worried that Lin Xiaoxiao would use the excuse of not being able to break through smoothly to take the treasure hunt away.
Let's just kick them out before she speaks, that way we can prevent the treasure-hunting rat from being taken away.
He smiled gently, put his arm around her waist, and led her upstairs: "Without a doubt, it's your pet. But it's late now, let's go and rest first. Let them get along well tonight, and we'll come back to look for the treasure tomorrow after they've woken up."
Lin Xiaoxiao sighed helplessly: "That's all we can do. Weizhi, since we've successfully advanced in the treasure hunt, shall we go to the Omniscient Library tomorrow?"
Xiao Weizhi exerted a little force with his arm, helping her avoid the slightly protruding wooden floor: "Okay, Mr. Lau Evan's work has already been handed over to him in advance, and we can make our own arrangements for the next five days."
Lin Xiaoxiao subconsciously tilted her head and nuzzled him, sighing, "Weizhi, you've spoiled me rotten. Now I want to dump everything on you."
Xiao Weizhi chuckled and replied, "Then I'll have to work twice as hard to get you into the habit of only coming to me when you encounter problems in the future."
Lin Xiaoxiao chuckled softly, "You're so cunning."
Xiao Weizhi nodded and admitted, "Yes, I am a scheming man."
As they chatted, they walked upstairs. In the dim light, they slowly ascended the stairs, their silhouettes stretching out into a long line behind them, like their intertwined, inseparable fates.
The next day, after waking up, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi embarked on their journey to the [Omniscient Library].
The Omniscient Library is located 20,000 kilometers to the south of the City of Faith. In order to get there as quickly as possible, they boarded a demigod-level flying monster arranged by Lau Evan.
The journey, which would normally take three days and two nights, was shortened to just three hours thanks to the flying monster. From a distance, a giant World Tree could be seen.
The World Tree is enormous, so enormous that its canopy is so large that the top is impossible to see; only a faint glimpse of its emerald green can be seen peeking out from the high-altitude clouds.
The flying monster flapped its wings and landed on a thick tree branch above.
Even a flying monster that is 8 meters tall and 3 meters long would only occupy less than one-tenth of the area on this branch.
At the very end of this branch, there is a giant metal gate.
The gate is 30 meters high and 17 meters wide, with an overall understated brownish-gray color. The gate's surface is carved with numerous book illustrations, unique characters, and even some mythical beast patterns… The gate frame is also painted in gold, and inscribed with a script only decipherable by the gods:
Books are the vehicle for knowledge, and they are also a concrete manifestation of wisdom.
Lin Xiaoxiao held the black cat in her arms, and Xiao Weizhi held the red-tailed cat. The two of them stepped through the gate one after the other and entered the interior of the [Omniscient Library].
Redtail opened its mouth slightly, raised its head high, and kept looking back and forth, exclaiming, "Wow, so many books!"
The library occupies a large area, about several thousand square meters. The interior is cylindrical, with bookshelves forming the walls without any gaps. Each floor is 15 meters high and there is no ceiling.
The second floor simply features a long corridor surrounding the main building. Looking up from the first floor, you can easily see the bookshelves on the second floor, and you can vaguely see some people walking around, stopping and starting, trying to find books they like.
The third layer is designed in the same way... it extends upwards until the top becomes a point of light, and you still can't see the end.
Lin Xiaoxiao chuckled: "Yes, lots of books."
This library contains roughly hundreds of billions of books, and it is rumored that if the answers cannot be found here, they are even less likely to be found elsewhere.
The most learned scholar in the capital city, said to have started reading at age 6 and is now over 230, has only read less than 3 floors.
A young woman wearing a white robe, a name tag on her chest, and round glasses rushed toward where Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi were.
She said softly, "Excuse me, miss, but you can't bring pets into the first ten floors of the Omniscient Library."
Lin Xiaoxiao took out a token from her spatial storage and handed it over, saying with a gentle smile, "Go to the last three floors."
The girl took the token, glanced at it, and handed it back with both hands. Her gaze couldn't help but sweep towards Xiao Weizhi, and she said cautiously, "You can go in, but this gentleman..."
Lin Xiaoxiao knew the rules of the Omniscient Library and didn't want to make things difficult for the staff, so she chuckled and said, "He's waiting for me on the lower floors. I'll go to the last three floors by myself."
The girl immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "No problem, I'll take you to the last three floors first, and then my colleague will take this gentleman to the nineteenth floor?"
Lin Xiaoxiao turned to Xiao Weizhi and whispered, "Weizhi, I will come down as soon as possible. You and Hongwei wait for me on the nineteenth floor."
Xiao Weizhi nodded: "Okay."
After a short while, the two separated and followed the staff in different directions.
The last nine floors and the last three floors can only be entered by divine agents. They are located in different places and require different magic circles to teleport to.
Enter a dimly lit room with no decorations except for a 2-meter-large circular magic circle carved into the floor.
After three seconds of feeling weightless, Lin Xiaoxiao found herself in an empty room, holding the black cat.
The room is about 2,000 square meters in size and contains only a two-meter-long, tilted desk carved from stone.
Apart from a recessed handprint, there was nothing else on the desk.
Lin Xiaoxiao put the black cat on her shoulder, then took out a small knife from her spatial storage, made a light cut on her index finger, and with a bead of blood, directly placed it against the palm print.
The blood droplet was absorbed by the desk the next second.
Ten seconds later, a tremendous energy burst forth from the point of contact between the palm and the desk, and golden characters and special magical runes appeared out of thin air on the surface of the desk.
A sudden, powerful gust of wind swept through the room. Lin Xiaoxiao gently stroked her long hair, which had been blown into disarray, with her free hand.
A moment later, the gale disappeared, and the entire room was transformed. The room's boundaries vanished, as if entering an endless space. Many colorful stars formed a beautiful galaxy in the air, and many points of light floated in mid-air.
Lin Xiaoxiao kept her hand pressed in the palm print and softly said to the air, "I want to check some information about the Dragon Kingdom outside, including: the history of the Dragon Kingdom, information on past Dragon Kingdom agents, etc."
Before he could finish speaking, Quan Zhi suddenly appeared and interjected, "The nation rejects the invasion treaty."
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Quan Zhi with some surprise. There was such a treaty? She had never heard of it before.
A star twinkling with red light floated down from the Milky Way and transformed into a red book 5 centimeters thick, which floated to Lin Xiaoxiao's side.
As the stars transformed into books and fell, a comfortable leather reading chair appeared out of thin air behind the desk.
Lin Xiaoxiao didn't have time to ask any more questions. She sat down on a chair, hugged the black cat, and started reading. She figured she could ask Quan Zhi later after she found the answer and went outside.
{Three years after the cataclysm: The population of the Dragon Kingdom, once numbering in the billions, has plummeted to 200 million. In their desperate search for survival, a suicide squad is formed, traversing dimensional spaces and entering various secret realms…}
{Five years after the cataclysm: The suicide squad returns safely, bringing back the Job Change Stone, and from then on, humanity begins its journey of becoming a professional...}
{Seven years after the cataclysm: The Dragon Kingdom's first divine agent emerges, and it is his existence that leads the Dragon Kingdom onto the path of resistance...}
{Year of Cataclysm: Countless agents of the gods emerged to fight against those monstrous beasts...}
...
While Lin Xiaoxiao was focused on searching for information, Quan Zhi pursed her lips and stared at the Milky Way for a long time, her eyes full of struggle and hesitation.
Finally, it sighed deeply, gazed intently at her sitting at the desk reading, and quietly flicked its finger, giving Lin Xiaoxiao a focus buff (diamond level).
[Focus Buff (Diamond Level): With this buff, unless forcibly interrupted by external forces, focus increases by 300%, undisturbedness by 200%, and learning ability by 110%; even if the neighbors are setting off firecrackers, you will not be disturbed.]
The black cat nestled on Lin Xiaoxiao's lap. When Quan Zhi cast the buff, it lazily raised its eyelids to take a look, and after confirming that it would not harm her, it yawned and closed its eyes again, entering a light sleep.
After completing all these arrangements, Quan Zhi drove his small body toward the Milky Way in the sky. The closer he got, the more exaggeratedly the stars twinkled.
All the stars made way for Omniscience, and eventually it too became a star, occupying the very center of the entire galaxy.
Quan Zhi's skill points, which had been stagnant for a long time, suddenly increased rapidly: +1, +1...
The problem that had been troubling Lin Xiaoxiao for so long was solved so easily.
She was once very worried about why all the (elves/pets) could level up, but Quanzhi remained at the diamond level. No matter how much she searched for books or resources, she couldn't increase Quanzhi's growth value.
Two days passed quickly. Lin Xiaoxiao had dark circles under her eyes, but her eyes were unusually excited. She had found it.
{Article 336 of the Treaty on Rejection of Invasion: A nation without divine protection is permitted to cleanse the Black Abyss of 300 million polluted beasts annually. Without serious wrongdoing, divine agents of other nations are not allowed to forcibly occupy the territory. Once occupied…}
{Article 339 of the Treaty on the Rejection of Invasion by Nations: Divine agents agree to provide protection; the first three years are a period of security development under the treaty, and divinely favored warfare is not permitted...}
With this three-year development period of the convention, Lin Xiaoxiao is confident that even if they forcibly start a war between (countries/agents) three years later and confront that group of people, she and the Dragon Kingdom will be invincible.
Suddenly, a skill upgrade notification popped up:
[Congratulations on your skill: Wisdom Elf has been upgraded to Legendary level]
Interrupting Lin Xiaoxiao's thoughts, she looked at the notification screen in front of her with astonishment in her eyes. What had happened while she was reading?
Why did Quan Zhi jump directly from Diamond rank to Legendary rank?
She called softly, "Quan Zhi? Are you there?"
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