Chapter 182: Forging Oneself, Awaiting the Opportunity

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Forging Oneself, Awaiting the Opportunity

The time spent in the Wasteland had long exceeded the holiday.

The day Jeremy’s group followed Griffin back to the academy was already the sixteenth day of the new semester.

That also meant they had completely concluded the first-year phase, stepping into the second year.

Aside from the feeling that time flew too fast, Jeremy had no other emotions.

A year ago, he was a person bearing a zero-star number, called trash by the entire academy. Now, he was holding in his hands something that could overturn the entire continent’s perception of magical beasts.

The campus in the new semester was very bustling. New students dragged their suitcases in groups, looking around everywhere.

But Griffin, having brought them back, didn’t bother to care either. Only a few seconds later, he vanished.

The five didn’t mind either.

Right now everyone had a pile of unresolved matters, having no free time to chat.

Returning to the classroom, Jeremy used his will to empty everything inside the storage ring Griffin handed out.

Gold, silver, jewelry of all kinds tumbled onto the long table, spilling even onto the floor.

Along with that were some Wasteland-exclusive materials the group had never seen before. Obsidian Star Divine Stone. Holy Water Soul Pearl. All belonged to the rare category that even with money on the continent’s market, one might not be able to buy them.

The gift the Demon Emperor mentioned before dissipating completely must be the ruin’s treasure and inheritance.

The pile of treasure in this ring could indeed be called a treasure.

But the inheritance... was clearly not among it.

Jeremy looked at the mark on the back of his hand.

It was still there. Still hadn’t faded.

Could the timing of the inheritance’s appearance also be random?

Currently having no other clues, he had to temporarily shelve it.

After dividing the treasure pile into five equal portions, Jeremy said: "Let’s disband for today. As for the inheritance matter, we’ll figure it out when the mark shows movement."

He still had things to do, making it inconvenient to linger.

The other four weren’t conflicted either, answering in unison: "Alright." / "Mhm."

Separating from his teammates, Jeremy didn’t return to the dormitory but immediately submitted a leave application to Griffin and the Student Council.

Both sides approved very quickly - perhaps because of the name Valmont, or perhaps because no one wanted to mess with Griffin’s student.

Jeremy left the school that very day, returning to the Duke’s estate in the capital.

His objective was clear: hand over all the materials brought back from the Wasteland along with the image-recording magic tool to the Duke and his wife, for them to forward to the Divine Temple, the empire, and the Magic Tower.

Regarding the matter of the dark forces - no, accurately speaking, the matter that in a dozen or so years the Wasteland magical beasts will evolve to their ultimate form and flood over to invade - if a single individual stepped up to announce it, it would only be considered spreading rumors, confusing people’s hearts.

A seventeen-year-old second-year student saying the world will collapse in twenty years. No one would listen.

But if that news was verified and announced by multiple top factions of the continent, then even if it were fake, it would become real.

That is reality.

Naturally, he had confirmed this information was real. Having the Duke and his wife transfer it was the most appropriate plan.

Once verified, this matter would not only elevate the prestige of the Duke’s estate but also avoid errors in the intermediate stages.

After all, not everyone wished for magical beasts to be swept clean. There were still madmen like evil cults and the Demon race. If anomalies occurred midway, who knows what troubles would spawn.

This world does not belong to one person. It belongs to everyone.

With his personal capability, no matter how fast he climbed in the next dozen or so years, he definitely could not block the descent of that thing alone.

It was better to hand this entire matter over to all those living on the continent, gathering the strength of all living beings to resist the disaster that would surely strike.

Compared to the first day transmigrating to this world, Jeremy’s thoughts hadn’t changed too much.

Whether it was that day, or after knowing he was inherently a native inhabitant of this very world, he never thought about sacrificing himself to block the dark forces.

He knew clearly he wasn’t a savior. He couldn’t do it alone, and he didn’t have that capability.

But he had never intended to cross his arms and watch idly either.

Even before stepping into the Wasteland to figure out the ins and outs, he had already considered secretly spreading the news to remind the people of the world about that day a dozen or so years later.

Naturally, the prerequisite for all plans remained: he himself must be safe.

But now, having known the entire truth and holding the evidence proving it all, he had no reason to put himself in the audience’s ranks anymore.

Let alone, according to the scenario Sylas had once peeked at, the first place to turn into a battlefield after the invasion was exactly this empire.

The mission of the Valmont family since the founding of the nation was to protect the empire. The survival of the empire was tightly linked to the survival of the family.

With his current identity, he also had no way to just look out for himself and leave before the disaster struck.

And the invasion of magical beasts is an inevitable trend.

Even if he truly ran away at that time, staying far away from the empire, he couldn’t have peace for his whole life either. Following the spread of the invasion, sooner or later he would have to face the exact same tragedy in another place on the continent.

Hiding is not a solution. It is merely delaying.

Therefore, the thing he could do right now was to use all capabilities to push the awareness of the approaching crisis into the minds of the people.

Before the day magical beasts descend, forge himself first, await the opportunity. When necessary, he will join all living beings in holding onto this continent.

Back when he was in the Wasteland, despite multiple times intending to use the soul mark of the spatial bracelet, ultimately Jeremy still hadn’t activated it once.

But that unintentionally left an opportunity for right now.

He did not hesitate, directly borrowing the power of the soul mark to contact the Duke and his wife. Simultaneously using that very stream of power to cast high-tier spatial magic, transmitting all the documents and the magic tool across such a far distance.

After hearing him out, Elwyn and Atalai did not doubt the authenticity at all.

The two immediately fell into step with him to discuss work.

This matter, saying it was complex, wasn’t that complex. But Jeremy communicated with them for three solid hours before disconnecting.

...The first part was indeed discussing items related to Mialans.

But after talking for a while, the latter part turned into family matters.

How he was eating. Had his injuries healed. Would he come home for the next holiday. Did last year’s winter coat still fit.

Jeremy answered every single question, and didn’t find it as annoying as he had imagined.

This time he also received good news.

Sylas’s condition had taken a turn for the better.

Perhaps thanks to the realm connection between the two brothers - the Twin Souls Covenant - so along with his cultivation level rising, the Sylas on the other side also received a corresponding portion of magic power reinforcement.

Having magic power to nourish both the physical body and the soul, coupled with the treatment of high clerics and a high-tier Holy Healer dispatched by the Magic Tower, the self-recovery speed of the soul portion facing rule backlash was accelerating noticeably.

Unfortunately, the expected wake-up time was still long. Very long.

After disconnecting, Jeremy’s gaze brushed over the mark on the back of his hand.

The Demon Emperor once said he would bestow both the inheritance and the Ashbloom Flower.

If he could borrow the healing capability of the Ashbloom Flower, would it be of any help in waking Sylas up?

Even if the soul is severely injured, as long as a single breath remains - that was the original text in the Mermaid race’s records.

And Sylas was still breathing.

But right now, both the inheritance and the Ashbloom Flower were nowhere to be seen.

Even whether the pile of treasure in the ring Griffin handed over was the ruin’s treasure or not remained unclear. There was nothing to research right at this moment.

Jeremy was just about to retract his gaze to go wash his face, when the mark on his hand twinged.

He raised his hand to glance at it.

On it appeared two lines of golden text.

[Once the realm ascends to tier four, the inheritance trial can be opened. The Ashbloom Flower seed, the ruin’s treasure, along with the gift I bestow, are all located at the inheritance place.]

So the things Griffin gave weren’t the ruin’s treasure?

But if that’s true, then it’s really strange.

That many rare treasures, the probability of them appearing together in a C-rank Wasteland area isn’t that high.

Could it be the "sea area" Griffin mentioned was not just the sea area around the seabed palace, but included the range of higher-tier Wasteland sea areas?

Jeremy looked at the storage ring in his hand for a few more seconds, then put it away.

In reality, he had guessed right. Naturally, at this point in time, he still dared not be certain.