Chapter 147 - 96: Early Contact with a Higher Power, Your Foresight is Astonishing
[Summary: Pierce the body’s hidden Spirit Points with the Flash Spirit Needle to form a Spiritual Network, or "Spirit Net." Circulating the Spirit Net can slowly increase one’s Spiritual Strength.]
[Applicable Range: For Spiritual Strength below 50 points.]
[The author recruited 500 Apprentices for a two-year experiment. Results showed that 358 of them successfully constructed a Spirit Net.]
[The subjects’ Spiritual Strength increased by an average of 0.48 points within one year, with a record increase of 0.64 points. Long-term training (within five years) can yield an average increase of 2.26 points, with a record of 3.04 points.]
[Disclaimer 1: The Secret Needle Technique will inflict considerable physical and mental pain. Please proceed with extreme caution. There is a low probability of damaging one’s Spiritual Potential. The author and Black Tower Academy assume no liability.]
[Disclaimer 2: The Secret Needle Technique recorded in this book requires a high level of proficiency in Secret Divination and Divination. Borrowing is recommended for Second Level Apprentices.]
[Borrowing Fee: 220 Black Tower Points/15 days.]
The borrowing fee for this book was even more expensive, but considering the author was a Second Level Wizard, it seemed acceptable.
Its advantage was that it offered the greatest potential increase to Spiritual Strength, and it worked for anyone with a Spiritual Strength below 50 points.
Mo Ning stared at the words "pierce the human body with needles," and in a daze, he seemed to see yellowed illustrations from the medical texts of another world, another timeline.
Silver needles, acupoints, meridians—fragments of what the civilization of his past life called "wisdom"—were now silently resonating with this Witchcraft Scripture across the infinite gulf of time and space.
A low hum echoed from the depths of his consciousness as his Spiritual Intuition buzzed—the Secret Needle Technique had immense potential.
Mo Ning gazed at the words "requires a high level of proficiency in Secret Divination and Divination," and the corner of his mouth curved upward.
This was clearly the fundamental reason for the mere 72% success rate.
But Secret Divination and Divination happened to be his forte.
’Recommended for Second Level Apprentices?’
’No!’
’I’m going to challenge it anyway!’
Mo Ning issued a clear command with his consciousness: "Mirror Library, borrow the two books above."
The two Sub-zero Level Tricks he had listed in the Mysteries Hall these past few days had already earned him over 20 Black Tower Points.
With two major sources of income, he didn’t feel the slightest pinch when spending money.
A series of messages immediately appeared:
[375 Black Tower Points have been deducted for the borrowing fees of *Starlight Resonance Secret Skill Research* and *A Brief Analysis of the Spiritual Web Secret Needle Technique*. Current balance: 4702 points.]
[Borrowing process initiating. Please select a delivery location for the books: 1. Secure Collection; 2. Cabin in the Woods.]
Mo Ning chose the latter without hesitation. "Cabin in the Woods!"
Just then.
A message, scarlet as blood, suddenly pierced his Consciousness Space:
[Borrowing Agreement: Mandatory Terms]
[Limited transcription of the two books you have borrowed is permitted during the rental period. However, disclosure of the core knowledge contained within to any third party, in any form, is strictly prohibited.]
[Violators of this term shall be required to pay the author and Black Tower Academy a penalty of one hundred times the borrowing fee.]
[Before borrowing this book, you must swear a "Truth Oath" for the agreement to take effect.]
Mo Ning had heard of the Truth Oath before.
To put it simply, it was an oath sworn in the name of Truth, an oath that possessed incredible power.
Those who broke the oath were said to be afflicted by a curse of misfortune, constantly encountering bad luck and often making the wrong choice at critical moments, leading to their ultimate, irreversible doom.
The restrictions of the Truth Oath didn’t mean one couldn’t say anything at all, but rather that one could not systematically disclose the information.
If one thoroughly digested the knowledge from a book, revealing bits and pieces of it in casual conversation wouldn’t be considered a violation of the oath.
From Mo Ning’s perspective, he was very much in favor of this agreement.
If creators of knowledge weren’t protected, no one would be willing to share it.
This strict "intellectual property" protection system was the very cornerstone of the Wizard Civilization’s prosperity.
More importantly, Mo Ning was one hundred percent certain that with his Eye of Truth, he would write many, many books in the future.
「A moment later.」
On the covers of the two silently hovering tomes, two illusory black candles appeared without warning.
At the tips of their wicks, two points of green flame ignited without a sound, spreading out in eerie, ghastly green ripples.
From deep within the gloom, another silhouette slowly emerged.
First came the rounded curve of a frontal bone, then sunken eye sockets, high cheekbones, and a clenched row of teeth.
It was, unmistakably, a skull.
The two points of green flame fit perfectly into its empty eye sockets, like a pair of staring, pupil-less eyes.
It hovered above the two tomes, looming over them as it "looked" directly at Mo Ning.
A fine, tingling numbness suddenly prickled across Mo Ning’s scalp.
An ancient, croaking voice echoed eerily from the will-o’-the-wisp skull: "Oath..."
Mo Ning felt a cold, sinister chill travel down his spine.
He swallowed a mouthful of bitter saliva and said earnestly, "I swear in the name of Truth to never disclose the core content of the books I have borrowed."
The instant he finished speaking, the two green flames flickered violently.
Mo Ning vaguely sensed that some unnamable entity was casting its gaze upon him through those two faint flames.
Then, the gaze vanished.
The candles and skull also began to fade, slowly dissolving into the gloom.
The ancient voice sounded one last time, like a prophecy drifting from a great distance: "Those who violate the Truth Oath... shall be plagued by misfortune..."
Before the last echo faded, everything returned to silence.
His heart still pounding with lingering fear, Mo Ning finally realized that the Truth Oath seemed to involve certain unnamable entities far beyond his comprehension.
Notifications followed one after another:
[The borrowed books will be delivered to the Cabin in the Woods within one minute.]
He didn’t close the Mirror Library. Instead, his consciousness sank once more into the virtual forest made of light and words.