Good Luck

  He had stumbled upon a high-quality trading partner.

  This was the benefit of trading with extra-planar lifeforms. Sometimes, items that were incredibly precious in one's own plane were common in the other party's plane, allowing one to obtain extremely valuable goods at a very low price.

  Of course, such situations were rare. Generally speaking, planes that possessed "World Eyes" like the Dark Well were usually not too isolated and had interactions with other planes. Over time, prices in such planes would naturally trend towards "multiversal standardization," becoming normal, making it nearly impossible to find bargains.

  In this case, Pierce guessed that Tining likely traded with extra-planar lives very rarely, so she lacked a clear understanding of item prices. On the other hand, judging by her behavior, she or her tribe was likely in a state of desperate need for Radiant Moon Orchids and Falling Star Flowers, which was why she appeared so impatient.

  Combining these two factors allowed Pierce to exploit the loophole.

  However, Pierce felt he had been quite generous. If it were someone with a darker heart, given the deer-girl's inexperienced performance, they could have easily driven the price down to dirt cheap.

  Of course, Pierce didn't fully trust Tining. It was possible the deer-girl was a superb actor, and her performance was just to lower his guard so she could scam him during the actual trade. Such examples were not uncommon; many apprentices had been scammed by extra-planar lives, some even losing their entire fortunes.

  Regardless of the world, scams were never in short supply.

  "With the rule protection of the World Eye, as long as I am cautious during the trade, I generally don't need to worry about being cheated."

  Pierce glanced at the Dark Well one last time and turned to leave. The trial was tomorrow; there was no time to trade now. He would come back after the trial ended.

  Returning to the underground hall, Vance was still waiting for him. Seeing Pierce come out, he asked with a chuckle, "How was the harvest?"

  "Not bad," Pierce smiled. "We agreed on a trade for next time. I'll come back after I prepare."

  "Seems it went smoothly." Vance smiled, not prying into the details, and left the underground hall with Pierce.

  Leaving the General Affairs Department, Pierce headed straight for Garden No. 8.

  Unsurprisingly, Yuna was in her laboratory as usual. Seeing Pierce arrive, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

  "I was just looking for you, Junior Brother. The breathing techniques you asked me to find have been collected. They are all in there." Yuna pointed to a box of books on the table nearby.

  "Thank you, Senior Sister." Pierce looked delighted.

  He thought it would take Yuna some time to collect the breathing techniques, but he didn't expect such high efficiency—it was done in less than half a month. And judging by the number of books, the collected techniques were not few. Clearly, Yuna had taken this matter to heart.

  "By the way, Senior Sister, I have something else to ask you," Pierce said.

  "What is it?"

  "Do you know about Ancient Tree Deer Spirits?"

  "I know a little," Yuna nodded gently, somewhat surprised. "Why do you suddenly ask about this?"

  Pierce didn't hide it and told her about Tining.

  After listening, Yuna frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and then slowly said, "I only heard elders in the family mention intelligence regarding Ancient Tree Deer Spirits by chance."

  "It is said that Ancient Tree Deer Spirits possess the bloodline of ancient creatures. They are born with extremely high affinity for the earth element and powerful plant manipulation abilities. They are also social creatures."

  "Social creatures?" Pierce was slightly stunned, and images of many Tinings standing together flashed through his mind. That scene was simply too tempting!

  Seeming to see something in Pierce's expression, Yuna gave him a reproachful look and explained, "It's not what you think. In the Ancient Tree Deer Spirit tribe, only the most powerful matriarch is half-human, half-deer. The other clan members are all in beast form, looking similar to ordinary elk."

  Pierce suddenly realized and coughed to signal Yuna to continue.

  "Besides absorbing elements to survive, what Ancient Tree Deer Spirits like to eat most are plants rich in magic power, especially Radiant Moon Orchids and Falling Star Flowers."

  "However, the Ancient Forest Plane is said to have numerous magical creatures, and territorial disputes are very fierce. The tribe you encountered likely just went through a fierce battle to defend their territory and killed a large number of magical creatures, which is why they could bring out so many things to trade."

  Pierce nodded thoughtfully.

  Looking at it this way, the reason Tining urgently needed a large amount of healing herbs was likely to treat the tribe's injuries. Most magical creatures had the ability to accelerate wound healing through eating.

  "Ancient Tree Deer Spirits are usually straightforward and simple in nature. Her intention to trade with you should be genuine," Yuna concluded with a smile.

  Pierce's eyes brightened slightly. It seemed he really had good luck this time.

  When he returned to the apartment, Mist Raven had already returned from hunting. Pierce checked intently and found that the number of Mist Crows in Mist Raven's body had broken through the four thousand mark, reaching over 4,200.

  "Not bad. Don't go out tonight; rest well." Pierce smiled and stroked Mist Raven's head, and the latter pecked his palm gently to show affection.

  At this moment, he suddenly felt a gaze. Turning his head, he found Little Yi staring at him, her small mouth pouting enough to hang a kettle.

  Pierce laughed dumbly. Thinking that the little guy had helped him refine potions quite a bit recently, he reached out and stroked her head with a smile. The little guy's mood instantly turned sunny, and she giggled.

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  "Go on, play by yourself. If you are hungry, drink nectar." Pierce took out two bottles of nectar and placed them on the table, then returned to the bedroom.

  After closing the door, he sat cross-legged on the bed and summoned the Omniscient Eye.

  [Rule Force: 418]

  Pierce then looked at the task bar.

  [Task 1: Analyzing Gale Rune, estimated time: 67 days] [Task 2: Analyzing Earth Rune, estimated time: 67 days] [Task 3: Improving Burning Hands Spell Model, estimated time: 55 days]

  Without hesitation, Pierce directly accelerated the analysis tasks for the Gale Rune and Earth Rune.

  Instantly, as the analysis of the two elemental runes was completed, a tide of information flooded into his brain.

  After closing his eyes to digest for a moment, Pierce opened them, revealing a satisfied expression.

  "Lightning, Gale, and Earth. These three elemental runes are enough for now."

  The Lightning Rune enhanced attack. The Earth Rune enhanced defense. The Gale Rune enhanced agility.

  The three runes complemented each other, enough to raise his strength to a new level.

  "Even without using other means, relying solely on these three elemental runes, I can fight a Tier 1 Legendary Knight head-on."

  Pierce nodded with satisfaction, then took out the books Yuna gave him from his dimensional bag and began to scan them.

  The content of breathing techniques was much simpler than spell books, without so many complex models and patterns, so scanning was very fast. In just about half an hour, Pierce recorded all the breathing techniques into his brain through the Omniscient Eye.

  A total of thirty-seven breathing techniques. 18 Basic-tier. 11 Mid-tier. 6 High-tier. And surprisingly, two Extreme-tier breathing techniques.

  It was evident that Yuna had really put her heart into this matter. Secretly noting this favor, Pierce then chanted silently in his heart:

  "Omniscience, based on all breathing techniques, create a breathing technique that can comprehensively enhance physical fitness."

  [Task created. Starting to calculate breathing technique. Estimated time: 132 days]

  Pierce didn't say a word and accelerated it directly.

  In an instant, a brand-new technique appeared in his mind.

  Pierce simply jumped off the bed and began to practice the breathing technique on the spot.

  As he performed the numerous movements one by one, the skin all over his body began to turn red, and wisps of dense hot steam escaped from his pores. In an instant, his whole person was shrouded in a layer of faint white mist.

  This was a scene that had never appeared in his previous cultivation processes. Even when he first practiced the Azure Breath Technique, this situation had not occurred.

  About half an hour later, when Pierce finished practicing the breathing technique once and stopped, he felt his whole body was scalding hot yet permeated with threads of comfort, as if he had just soaked in a hot spring.

  Checking his Constitution attribute again, it had already reached 87.29!

  It increased by a full 2.35 points!

  Pierce couldn't help but feel a burst of surprise. This effect was too good; it was simply extraordinarily good!

  "The effect of the first practice is the best, and it should decrease gradually later. But even so, at this growth rate, it will only take three or four days for my Constitution attribute to reach one hundred!"

  Pierce immediately felt a surge of excitement.

  It was worthy of being a powerful technique created by combining numerous breathing techniques! This effect definitely far exceeded the Extreme-tier breathing techniques! With this breathing technique, it wouldn't take him long to break through and become a Legendary Knight.

  "But then again, what should a breathing technique more powerful than the Extreme-tier be called?"

  "Super-tier Breathing Technique?"

  Pierce thought for a moment, then shook his head with a laugh. Who cared what tier it belonged to, as long as the effect was powerful enough.

  Composing himself, Pierce carefully browsed the content of the breathing technique again and found that this technique had far more divisions of realms than the Azure Breath Technique—a full twelve layers.

  What surprised him even more was that according to the feedback from the Omniscient Eye, only a Legendary Knight could truly master the entry-level of this breathing technique. Although those below Legendary could also practice it, the effect of tempering the physique would be greatly weakened.

  "This effect is the result of being greatly weakened?"

  Pierce was shocked. Then how powerful would the true effect be?

  "I didn't expect to create a breathing technique specifically for Legendary Knights to practice."

  It took a while for Pierce to recover, a happy smile appearing on his face.

  As far as he knew, Legendary Knights did not practice breathing techniques. After reaching the Legendary realm, what a knight needed to do was communicate with elements, absorb energy particles to strengthen their physique as much as possible, and simultaneously accommodate as much elemental power as possible.

  —This point was very similar to a Rank 2 Wizard Apprentice.

  Rank 2 Wizard Apprentices also manipulated energy particles to strengthen themselves, which was why their physique could increase so quickly. What only Legendary Knights could do, Wizard Apprentices could do as long as they reached Rank 2; this was one of the reasons Wizards far surpassed Knights.

  "With this breathing technique, after advancing to Legendary Knight, my cultivation speed should far exceed other Legendary Knights."

  Pierce smiled and muttered to himself, "Just like the Omniscient Meditation Technique, let's call it the Omniscient Breathing Technique."

  After resting for a while, he continued to practice the breathing technique until his body was loaded to the limit before stopping.

  By this time, his Constitution had skyrocketed to 90.75.

  In just a few hours, his Constitution had surged by nearly 6 points. The powerful tempering effect of the Super-tier Breathing Technique was enough to stun all knights.

  Exhaling a long breath, Pierce turned his attention back to the Rule Force.

  "There are 152 points of Rule Force left."

  Pierce thought for a while and used all the remaining Rule Force along with his mental power to improve spells.

  In the end, he improved a total of four 1st Circle Spells: Burning Hands, Summon Monster I, Shocking Grasp, and Charm Person.

  With this, Pierce had mastered eleven improved 1st Circle Spells.

  "Freezing Ray, Obscuring Mist, Hypnotism, and Sleep all need to be improved as well."

  "As for Feather Fall and Comprehend Languages, I'll leave them for now."

  Feather Fall could apply a buoyant force to the subject, making their falling speed only slightly faster than a feather. Pierce learned this spell just in case; it might be needed in certain special environments, so there was no need to occupy the Omniscient Eye's task bar to improve it.

  In fact, with his current physical strength, even if he fell from a height of a hundred meters, he wouldn't be hurt at all. He would just pat his butt and get up, lively as ever. So the chance of using this spell shouldn't be too high; he learned it purely out of precaution.

  As for Comprehend Languages, as the name suggested, it allowed the subject to understand the spoken words of any creature or read unfamiliar text messages—provided they touched the creature or the text.

  Pierce learned this spell mainly for use when contacting extra-planar lives in the future. As a Wizard, contacting extra-planar lives was almost inevitable. Whether it was planar travel, planar invasion, or biological experiments and research, contact with extra-planar lives was necessary.

  Therefore, Comprehend Languages was a 1st Circle Spell that almost every Wizard had to master.

  "If there is an opportunity, I should still learn a few more languages. Otherwise, it's inconvenient to always cast Comprehend Languages," Pierce muttered to himself.

  Learning an alien language was a very arduous process. The Draconic course offered by the academy had stumped countless Wizard Apprentices.

  Dragons were a race born with spellcasting abilities, and their language naturally contained the power to communicate with elements. Because of this, many Wizard incantations used Draconic. If one couldn't master Draconic, one couldn't even talk about becoming a Wizard.

  However, Draconic was extremely profound and subtle. Not only were the grammatical rules extremely complex and the vocabulary super large, but because it was the language of dragons, the pronunciation of many words was very strange and awkward, simply not something human vocal cords could produce.

  To this day, there were still many apprentices stuck on this course, so much so that their speed of learning spells was appallingly slow.

  —Of course, this was only for ordinary Wizard Apprentices.

  For Pierce, mastering a language was just a matter of scanning a few more books. With the Omniscient Eye, he could easily master an alien language.

  Composing himself, Pierce turned his attention back to the task bar and arranged the improvement tasks for Freezing Ray, Obscuring Mist, and Sleep in one breath.

  "That's about it."

  "Now I just wait for tomorrow's trial."

  Pierce looked at the night sky outside the window, a dark glint flashing through his eyes.