Chapter 265: Joshua’s Legacy
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Without answering Tang Ling’s question, Joshua’s projection stood up. “Why do you think this place exists?”
He walked back and forth for a few steps with his hands behind him inside the room carved out of the Universal Source Rock before looking at Tang Ling. “You don’t think that I used my lifework to recreate this place with my last breath just so I can relive the regrets in my life, do you?” Joshua added.
Tang Ling was not overly sure because he was not an omnipotent G.o.d that could see through people’s thoughts perfectly. However, since the place was known as the House of Legacy, he took his chance at stabbing a guess. “Is it about…legacy?”
“That’s correct. Legacy.” Joshua nodded, then he added, “So, you should be able to understand why you are granted only ‘almost’ full access to this place, don’t you?”
“The third-level formation is a test. If someone escaped on his own during that simulation, he’d be sent out of the Ninth Ruins; if he realized Darcy was my regret and went back for her, but somehow failed to save her and escaped himself, he will gain access to the house.”
“In your scenario, you are qualified to get the highest authority, but you are only qualified for it, you aren’t given the highest access yet. There is one more thing, which is you’ll have to be suitable for my legacy.”
Joshua was a projection, so the way he spoke sounded a little strange, he was like reciting notes during the crucial parts but at least he made it clear enough.
Of course, Tang Ling was a little disappointed that he was not suitable for Joshua’s legacy. Joshua was a Dream Seed, one who had lived for very long. Without even calculating, he knew how powerful Joshua was and how much acc.u.mulation he had because only a Dream Seed knew everything about a Dream Seed.
“Okay, fine, so what about the friends I brought? Are they suitable?” Tang Ling was not ready to submit to the outcome. He and Joshua had conversed no longer than three minutes, but the siblings were still sound asleep.
“They aren’t suitable as well. My legacy revolves around wizardry, or magic if you may. It is another type of energy exercise.”
“Then, does this ‘almost’ highest access not have any perks at all?” Tang Ling did not believe that was it because if it was, he ought to negotiate the rewards with Joshua.
“Of course, there is. If you are not rewarded with the ‘almost’ highest access, you won’t be able to bring your friends in,” Joshua said with a smile.
What kind of perk is that? Tang Ling raised a doubtful brow. On second thought though, it was a perk. Otherwise, what would Ro Xin and Ro Li do in the Ninth Ruins?
Nevertheless, Tang Ling was unwilling to end the meeting like this, so he was ready to negotiate with Joshua. Unfortunately, before he could even utter a word, Joshua’s projection spoke again, “I’ve spent my life learning wizardry, but other than my core legacy, I have several unique spells and skills under my sleeves as well. Consider them a branch from wizardry.
“The three of you might not be suitable for my legacy, but all of you have decent talents, especially…” Joshua fixed his gaze at Tang Ling but somehow stopped talking. He then continued, “Since you are also a Dream Seed, it is fine even if you don’t get my core legacy because you’ll have your own path.”
“So, what’s the point?” A slight excitement grew in Tang Ling’s heart. Based on what Joshua said, he seemed to be giving out a bonus.
“I’ll give each of you a legacy skill. That’s the best you can get with your ‘almost’ highest access,” Joshua finally revealed the best reward that Tang Ling could get.
“Great, I’m happy with that.” Tang Ling was not a greedy person who knew no end.
“But you’ll have to think about whether or not to accept the legacy. Once you’ve accepted it, you cannot leave this place until you truly grasp the basics. Otherwise, it’s meaningless for you to accept my legacy.” Joshua’s projection became very serious.
Tang Ling also responded with a solemn look, “Since the third-level formation has already been activated, will others be able to come in when we accept the legacy?”
“Yes, if someone else clears the formation while you accept the legacy and meet the requirements, they’ll be able to come in.” Joshua did not hide it from Tang Ling.
Ro Xin and Ro Li had finally woken up, but Ro Xin was smart enough not to interrupt the conversation. She grabbed the curious Ro Li to stand aside and watch quietly.
“However, those people out there are our enemies.” Tang Ling crossed his arms on the spot. It was an important question that he had to get out of the way first.
Joshua went silent for a long time. He was just a projection after all, and not Joshua himself, thus it seemed like the question was beyond his answering capability. After more than a minute, he said, “This is beyond me. I can’t offer you any help.”
“What if we start a fight here?” Tang Ling asked.
“If you don’t destroy the place, I won’t interfere.”
“How long will it take to learn the legacy skills?”
“It depends on your comprehension and how complex the process is.” Joshua then raised his hand. Then, the house which was as big as a soccer field, trembled before three more smaller houses appeared.
“These are the Houses of Legacy. Before you complete the process, you may not walk out of it.” After he said that, as though he was afraid that Tang Ling would ask even more questions, Joshua added, “All the necessities for you to maintain your life inside are in the houses. There is no need for other questions now. So, do you accept the legacies?”
“Give me three minutes. I have to discuss it with my friends. We need to think about it.” Tang Ling did not immediately answer Joshua. Since Joshua was giving away three legacy skills, it was a matter for all three of them, so Tang Ling ought to discuss it with Ro Xin and Ro Li.
Three minutes later, the three of them reached an agreement.
Starting with Tang Ling, he longed for more knowledge and was never afraid of danger. Ro Xin was a stern and fearless girl, so she did not want to let this opportunity slip by either. As for Ro Li, he had no opinion about this, but since Tang Ling and Ro Xin had agreed to accept, he would just follow suit.
“Oh, respectable Mr. Joshua, we have decided to accept the legacies.” Tang Ling skipped the chatter after the group reached an agreement and he informed Joshua of their decision. “But before that, I have two more questions to ask and I promise they will be the last. May I proceed?” There were two more crucial questions that he needed the answers to. Otherwise, he could not accept the legacy in peace.
“Fine, ask away.” Joshua agreed.
“About the third-level formation, does everyone only have one chance to clear it or can they clear it as many times as they want?” Tang Ling asked the first question.
“Except for two unusual situations, everyone only has one chance of clearing it. The two anomalies are: firstly, if someone is more powerful than me and decides to break this place, I can’t do anything about that; secondly, those who have cleared the third-level formation can come in here again but without any benefits or legacy.” Joshua gave precise answers.
“Mr. Joshua, we know that there’s a double formation here, and the second formation that is hidden here should be a s.p.a.ce formation. I’m not asking why you set a s.p.a.ce formation in this place, but I just want to know that if we complete the acceptance process, can the three of us use the s.p.a.ce formation and leave this place?” This was probably the most important question that Tang Ling had.
Joshua had to think for a while before answering, “With your ‘almost’ highest access, you have one chance to activate the s.p.a.ce formation, but it comes at a heavy cost. The furthest the three of you can travel is the shortest distance that this s.p.a.ce formation can reach.”
Judging from how conservative his answer was, it seemed like the s.p.a.ce formation had some secrets lying behind it.
So, where exactly was the shortest distance? Tang Ling still had many questions but since he promised to ask only two, it was not good for him to ask more as he might anger the projection. In turn, the projection might deny his acceptance of the legacy skill.
…
Half an hour later, Tang Ling, Ro Xin and Ro Li finally went into their respective Houses of Legacy.
Ro Li was getting the legacy of control. In short, it would allow him to control a certain lifeform and puppets which sounded great. He had the feeling that he could summon a bunch of lackeys to fight if one went down.
The legacy that Ro Xin got was a branch in wizard craft. More specifically, it revolved around the creation of puppets. It was rather amazing for her since her legacy skill complemented Ro Li’s, and she too could control the puppets she created though not as detailed as his.
Tang Ling was a little jealous. Ro Xin’s talent in herbal and medical knowledge was already a profiting talent. Combined with the creation of puppets, she could easily make a living with those skills. Would she be rich in the future?
As for Tang Ling, his legacy skill was an odd one: the body array. It was an interesting branch of magical formation among the vast knowledge of wizardry, and it was powerful.
Basically, he would be able to draw or carve magical formations on his body to achieve different effects. There was the once-off consumable kind and the permanent kind. There were endless possibilities that depended on the body array diagram. A master of body array would be able to craft many different kinds of his own body array diagram.
Tang Ling was just learning the basics of the legacy skill.
In short, these three legacy skills were more than just decent. It showed that wizardry knowledge was vast. Any one of these three legacy skills was worthwhile for a person to devote his life to learning and research further.
From the perspective of benefits, Ro Li’s legacy skill had the most obvious effect while Tang Ling’s legacy skill did not have any immediate effect and had many restrictions. However, in terms of the future, Tang Ling’s legacy skill was the strongest if he could devote himself to studying the body array and achieve some major development.
The three of them were happy with the legacy skills Joshua bestowed them, and after the explanation, they entered their respective Houses of Legacy.
…
The three Houses of Legacy were different in their own way, so Tang Ling had no idea what Ro Xin and Ro Li were facing.
Meanwhile, the house that he entered was not that big. It only had a bathroom and an office. Aside from the necessary bathroom, which provided a basin to wash up and a toilet for nature’s call, the four walls of the office had different magical symbols and formations on them, three of which even had a simple body array. Other than that, there was a big desk in the office, on top of which was a puppet and some tools.
Tang Ling sauntered to the desk, stroking the edge, and he was immediately welcomed by a message.
The desk was a canvas on which he could practice all kinds of magical formations and symbols besides completing formations. He had unlimited use of it. All he had to do was wipe it and redraw, so it was a decent tool through and through.
As for the puppet, he could draw body arrays on the puppet and it would reflect the effect of the body array.
It was a necessary step. A body array of the same function though drawn by different people with different materials and different details in the lines would produce distinct effects.
The tools were nothing much. They were just some intricate carving utensils and pens. Tang Ling carefully checked the desk and found no problem.
His gaze then s.h.i.+fted to the rack beside the desk. While there were many things on it, most of them had ‘simulation material’ written on them. Only the box at the top said ‘real material’.
Tang Ling thought for a while and eventually figured it out. The material to draw and craft the body array must be exceptionally precious, even to Joshua, so he was not able to provide a whole lot for Tang Ling to practice on, hence the simulation material was to be used.
As for the real material, he could consider it as a little perk.
Other than the materials, there was a set of books on the rack. The t.i.tle of the set of books was written in the common language in the area and there were some obvious words on the cover: body arraynology.
Tang Ling eagerly reached out to the books, but when he lay his finger on them, he got another message.
This set of body arraynology was the most basic set of knowledge in the vast universe of knowledge. Even if it was just the basics, it required a great amount of learning.
The set consisted of four books. Other than the first volume talking about the basic formation lines of body array, the rest of the volumes recorded a total of 20 basic body arrays and five level-1 body array.
With Tang Ling’s novice ident.i.ty, he could only take the first book. Then, he could only continue to the second if he finished the first.
According to the syllabus, if he could master the contents of the first book and master three or more basic body arrays, he would be able to complete the legacy-accepting process.
“Is this so?” Tang Ling held the first book in body arraynology as his mind thought about it for a second before reaching a decision. If he had the time, he would want to learn the entire set because it was now or never.
A body array diagram should be something precious and valuable. It would be rare even in the outside world.
However, with the third-level formation being reset, Draconic Seven would not simply walk away from this. What would happen if Draconic Seven or any of his men entered the House of Legacy before Tang Ling could master the whole set of books?
In the end, he was still racing against time.