Chapter 165 - 101: A Smart Person’s Choice
In short—they only knew how to follow the herd, never thinking for themselves.
Parker and Sido were instantly dumbfounded.
Vino gave them no chance to speak. Pushing off lightly with her right foot, she cast the Trick, [Feiyue].
Her arms spread wide and her body fully extended. It was as if she had lost all weight, like a bird soaring low to the ground.
In the span of half a breath, she covered thirty meters and vanished from the sight of her two "former" teammates.
She was heading in the exact direction Mo Ning’s party of three had vanished.
Parker and Sido exchanged a look, utterly stupefied.
Vino cast [Feiyue] three times in a row. Once she had put enough distance between herself and the crowd, she took out the folding cane her grandfather had given her.
With a flick of her wrist and a soft CLICK, the metal staff instantly unfolded, extending segment by segment into a multi-purpose cane over a meter long.
She then gently touched her eyes and discreetly cast another Trick—[Identifying Footprints].
Her gaze swept slowly across the ground. Indentations, impressions, the flow of muddy water—details normally overlooked—all began to glow with a faint light in her vision.
Soon, faint traces began to emerge from the mud.
There were pits poked by a cane, boot prints, and crushed blades of grass.
Vino’s lips curved into a slight smile.
’My grandfather also told me, "When you are lost and unsure what to do, just look at what the smart people have chosen."’
Her gaze followed the trail of footprints as she whispered with a smile, "Miss Anya, I trust you won’t disappoint me."
*****
「Ten minutes later.」
The fog grew even thicker, creeping past their thighs and swallowing the ground whole until it became a churning sea of mist.
Previously, Reina had been leading the way, as she was the most experienced of the three in the wild.
But now, the fog was so thick they couldn’t even see their own boots. The Dazed Girl was at a loss, so Mo Ning volunteered to lead.
The two girls followed behind him, both with expressions of astonishment.
Though the fog grew ever thicker, Mo Ning’s pace didn’t slow in the slightest, as if an invisible path were laid out before him.
Mo Ning glanced back over his shoulder and explained with a smile, "I can hear the subtle differences."
That was a bit of an artistic liberty.
The truth was, his ’cheat’ was at work again.
Rainwater produced different sound frequencies when it landed on different surfaces.
The [Eye of Truth] converted these subtle frequency differences into data streams, reverse-engineered the information, and then generated a topographical map on the ground that only he could "see."
Of course, this came at a price. Maintaining the ’cheat’ constantly drained his Spiritual Power.
Reina, being an extrovert, gave him a direct thumbs-up. "I thought you’d mastered the Level Zero Witchcraft [Fog Transparency Technique]!" she said, half-joking and half-impressed.
Anya, however, simply nodded. "It’s not that different from a Level Zero Witchcraft."
Reina nodded emphatically, her stubborn cowlick bobbing wildly. "I think so too."
Mo Ning simply smiled, not continuing the conversation.
After they had taken a few more steps, Anya suddenly spoke up, a hint of alertness in her voice. "There seems to be a different kind of sound up ahead."
She was a Black Iron Knight with an exceptionally strong constitution, so her senses were far sharper than an ordinary person’s.
However, that came with one qualifier: it was true only when not using Witchcraft.
Mo Ning’s steps faltered for a moment before he quickly cast the Trick, [Wind Listener].
He skillfully adjusted the spectrum of his Magic Power, filtering out ambient noise like the PATTER of the raindrops, leaving only the imperceptible sounds buried deep beneath the din.
Then, he heard a rhythmic THUMPING, mingled with the swishing sound of churning waves.
Mo Ning mused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "This might be a hint."
Reina was quite curious and pressed, "Why a hint? Couldn’t it possibly be a warning?"
Before Mo Ning had a chance to answer, Anya cut in. "When the assessment began, the Guiding Ring gave us a clear hint: ’Mist Valley hides many secrets.’"
"These secrets can’t be hidden in places without any distinguishing features, otherwise no one would be able to find them. Since the academy wants us to discover them, it’s bound to give us some kind of clue."
Reina felt a little foolish for asking. "Okay," she said in a small voice, "I’m so stupid."
Anya disagreed with that sentiment. She turned to look at Reina and said earnestly, "Truly stupid people never accept that they’re stupid."
"If a person admits they’re stupid, then they aren’t stupid at all. In fact, they’re more likely to be intelligent, because someone who can accept their own shortcomings will constantly strive to improve."
Reina sighed with envy. "Miss Anya, I wish I were as eloquent as you."
She paused for a moment before adding wistfully, "And it would be even better if I were as smart as Mr. Mo Ning."
Anya chuckled, covering her mouth.
Mo Ning shook his head with a slight smile and steered the conversation back on track. "If I’m hearing correctly, there should be a Sanctuary hidden up ahead."
The two girls were taken aback.
His choice of words was very particular—"hearing correctly."
He said "hearing," not "guessing"!
This time, even Anya couldn’t suppress her curiosity. She couldn’t help but ask, "You can hear that as well?"
Reina pointed to her ear. "I cast [Wind Listener] just now too, but all I heard were waves. I didn’t hear anything else."
Mo Ning didn’t turn back, merely slowing his pace as he explained, "I’ve recently been studying the first volume of *Low-Cycle Divination Introduction*, and I’ve come across a lot of interesting content..."
This short sentence sent another shock through the two girls.
After all, *Low-Cycle Divination Introduction* wasn’t some generic, run-of-the-mill Divination reader.
Within the Divination Domain at the Apprentice Level, this collection was recognized as the most authoritative, profound, and esoteric grimoire on the subject.
The book covered over 60% of all content related to Low-Ring Divination.
Secret Divination and Divination had developed for over thirty thousand years. Even when strictly limited to the Low-Ring, it was still a staggeringly vast body of knowledge. Sixty percent was a truly daunting figure.
Across the entire academy, not even many Second Level Apprentices dared to borrow this book.
The reason was simple—most of the content was impossible to understand.
Borrowing it would be a waste of Black Tower Points; it was better to borrow the simpler, step-by-step foundational texts.
And yet, look at what Mo Ning had said—"I’ve come across a lot of interesting content..."
Were those the words of someone who couldn’t understand it?