Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 108 Anything is Possible
"Broad search pattern? What is that?"

In Rean's consistent impression, his own Heroic Spirit Encyclopedia was quite "aloof".

Unless you ask it a question that touches on a specific keyword, it will generally ignore you.

This search mode will broaden the search scope and lower the selection criteria to some extent. Therefore, the number of candidates under this mode is likely to exceed the user's expectations. The user can then eliminate these candidates and erase them from short-term memory.

This involves the functionality of its Heroic Spirit Compendium, so it directly released a whole bunch of explanations.

This expanded search is actually designed for situations where the first search fails. Considering that some heroic spirits have such peculiar personalities and abilities, it's normal that no suitable successor can be found.

The expanded selection naturally leads to too many unqualified choices. Under this mode, Rean can also manually eliminate the candidate's eligibility.

Actually, it's fine under normal circumstances. After all, the Hall of Inheritance is ultimately Rean's dream. He can just blacklist people from entering.

However, the active removal under this model is not only permanent, but also has the added function of erasing short-term memory.

"Very thorough, preventing intelligence leaks."

After thinking for a moment, Rean realized that it might indeed be time to activate it. He looked at Kuku and asked.

"Kuku, what kind of people do you think your candidates will be? What traits will they inherit from you?" Rean was being cautious as this was the first time he was using this model.

The Hall of Heroes, perhaps the foundation of Rean's power, would be unacceptable if it were to be filled with all sorts of shady characters and cause the situation to spiral out of control.

What Suer inherited was probably that "will," that uncompromising sense of justice.

But Kuku is too free, and Rean isn't sure what to do with him.

If we can't figure him out, we naturally can't figure out the criteria for his successor.

Kuku put down his notebook, tilted his head, and pondered for a moment.

"Haha, my candidate? Smart! Wise! Handsome! Just like me."

Okay, I shouldn't have asked a kobold; his confidence is as invincible as ever.

"I'm an ordinary person! But I don't want to be ordinary! I crave change, even just a little bit!"

The second half of the sentence, however, left Rean speechless.

Is it too much to ask to be ordinary yet unwilling to accept it and try to make a change? If you don't actually expect any change in the end, then it's really not too much at all.

But this shouldn't be all the conditions.

Rean had already realized that Larry, Dania, and Dimon were all young people with immense potential, and they had the possibility of becoming "Heroic Souls." The threshold for the Heroic Soul Compendium was not low.

Even with this restriction, there should still be quite a few qualified candidates; heroes can emerge from humble beginnings.

Or, to put it another way, before encountering the time and suffering that make a hero a hero, he was just a nobody.

"It seems we need to prepare to weed out those who are not qualified."

Rean didn't rush to activate it. It wasn't late at night yet, and he planned to use it around two or three in the morning to maximize the search possibilities.

He played cards with Kuku for a while, continuing his losing streak as a card player. The gap between them seemed to be something that luck couldn't bridge.

He also chatted with the anxious Sallyman for a while, helping her to alleviate her increasingly anxious emotions. It was ridiculous that when they first met, he thought she was a glamorous and cunning mature woman, but now she just seemed to be a little girl who was pretending to be mature and had been forced onto the stage by fate.

He felt a pang of pity for her.

It's just pity, not romantic love.

Rean himself knew that this fondness for cute cubs might stem from the personalities of Sull and Kuku.

But there's nothing wrong with this kind of attention that seniors pay to juniors.

It's just that Rean always has this subtle feeling that he's already widowed and retired before he's even married.

“Next, we might have to carry you onto the stage again,” he said, glancing at Sallyman, who was still anxiously watching Yu Yu, before continuing to play cards.

Rean sympathized for a couple of seconds, then without hesitation pushed Suliman back onto the hot seat. This time, the "backdoor and runner-up spot" belongs to you, little snake.

There was no other way; they couldn't just let Rean report to Dania himself. There were many things that Suliman couldn't tell Rean either.

"That's about enough. Let's begin."

Back in his room that evening, Rean read a book and, after confirming that most of the people in the temporary embassy were asleep, activated this "dream training mode."

[Synchronization rate exceeds 20%, dream training mode activated. Expanding search in progress.]

Rean and Kuku were the first to return to that silent place.

This time, however, standing before Rean was not the comical and delightful Kusura, but Kuku Kudraken, dressed in a white sage's robe.

Rean had checked through the Mage Tower and found that Kuku did indeed leave some records in history, but not necessarily in the way he wanted.

And now, this once great sage stands before Rean.

The tiny dog-headed man silently stirred the large pot in front of him, then took out some orange-yellow liquid and bottled it into a medicine bottle.

"Alright! Alright! Here you go."

Rean took it; these were the questions Kuku had given him.

The Dream Training Mode requires the approval of the Heroic Spirits to be activated.

Should I analyze it? Or refine this potion? It seems I can't do either right now, but I can take my time later.
"Drink it."

Without hesitation, Rean tilted his head back and gulped it down.

"Uh, orange flavor. Not bad, sweet but not cloying." Rean thought it tasted pretty good; Kuku's flavoring technique was really good.

"What effect does it have? Does it show up in my current state?" Rean waited for a few seconds, but it seemed the potion didn't provide any feedback.

"Huh? This is just orange-flavored carbonated soda! It's delicious, isn't it! I just figured out the recipe! Here, have some!"

Rean was stunned. Uh, where are the test questions?
"That's it! You passed. I've written down the recipe and put it in my spatial bag. Remember to send it to Dimon's side; they should be able to produce it. The ingredients are cheap! It tastes good! It's healthy! It'll encourage people to drink more."

As she spoke, the dream began to shatter.

The great sages of the past have gradually become blurred.

This is probably destined to be the simplest test for heroic souls.

Perhaps, this was also the most relatable and unforgettable test for Rean.

"The Great Sage Kuku is truly unforgettable."

"Ah, you called me." The sudden voice startled Rean, who looked up and was both amused and exasperated.

He had already returned to the Hall of Heroes, and wasn't the figure there still the Great Sage Kuku? With the clone technique enabled, Rean was naturally kicked down.

It looks like we can spend a few more days together.

Rean glanced around. The familiar hall and starry sky were no different from anything else, except for the Great Sage Kudraken above, which was particularly eye-catching.

After all, it was quite incongruous to see a kobold wearing a white robe larger than his body, dragging a large cauldron, standing in the center of attention of the hall.

Rean walked over silently. Perhaps unlike the other heroic spirits, Kuku needed his help.

When the Dream Palace opened, Rean also joined the "backdoor candidates," while waiting for new heroic soul candidates to join.

But it seems some mechanism was triggered, and the first batch of people to enter were still familiar faces.

"It's finally open again! This time, it'll definitely be me!! It will be!"

The first to jump in was the young lady of "Dragon Hunt" without hesitation.

She was as confident as ever, just like the kobold. But the next moment, when she saw the real kobold above, she was instantly stunned.

She had absolutely no recollection of kobolds among the heroes; in fact, she was wearing a sage's robe!

After all, this title and this outfit are not given away casually; generally, only those whose wisdom reaches the pinnacle of that era have the opportunity to acquire them.

Being a sage is not just a profession; it is an honorary title awarded through a selection process, which requires nominations from at least two major races and recognition from at least four races.

For example, receiving nominations from orcs and dark elves, and being recognized by races such as dwarves and giants, are all incredibly difficult tasks to achieve.

This is about race, not ethnicity. It requires scholars recognized by most of the nations and kings within a race, and they must have made contributions that are recognized by the world, achieving accomplishments that transcend races or even the world.

It can be said that each sage is countable, and most of them have left their mark on history.

"Kobold Sage. Great Sage, am I dreaming?" Dania couldn't recall any kobold sages at all; she had no memory of them, and this was supposed to be a Great Sage.

The white background with gold trim is the adornment of a sage, while the star ring around the neck and the sun and moon rings on the sleeves and hem are features reserved for great sages.

The title of "sage" is already the highest honor for scholars, while the title of "great sage" is usually only awarded posthumously. It is an honorary title given to those sages who have nothing left to be honored for because of their extraordinary contributions.

The most recent sage was the giant sage who had predicted the coming demonic tide.

Given his somewhat subtle reputation, it's probably out of the question that he could receive posthumous recognition from a great sage; that would require the approval of the majority of the intelligent races on the entire continent.

A living, breathing sage should only be enshrined on a divine altar, yet here he was brewing medicine before her, and what's more, he was a kobold? Dania felt as if she must still be dreaming, or perhaps the Hall of Heroes hadn't actually opened yet, but was simply a dream.

“This is the Great Sage Kudraken,” Rean explained.

"I am Kuku! Kuku!" the kobold roared.

It seems he still dislikes his dragon language name as always. Kuku is still somewhat fixated on his real name.

He turned around, revealing a rather comical red triangular dog head under the hood, paired with the great sage's robe that covered most of his body. It looked like a child wearing adult clothes, making one want to laugh.

"Pfft, what's that?!" Someone actually dared to laugh.

Sallyman, who had just entered, burst out laughing before she even understood what was going on.

"Slap!" Then, she was slapped by her boss.

“This is the Great Sage! Show him respect!” Dania didn’t recognize the name Kuku either, but she had to show respect to the Great Sage.

“Uh, Your Highness, aren’t I in the Underworld?” Suliman still looked dazed.

Then, the princess pulled her aside and taught her some "common sense," as well as letting her start her own novice protection.

Rean deliberately omitted the fog that protected Suliman as a novice, saving them time for probing and allowing them to meet as soon as possible.

Next up was the familiar Knights team.

Dimon, Larry, and Talia had just come in and were also pulled together by the princess. Sure enough, this girl was still forming cliques.

As they chatted, they pointed to Rean above, seemingly having already guessed what was going on.

Rean ignored her, because the real show was about to begin.

But the very first genuine candidate that came in prompted Rean to immediately activate the elimination mode.

"Ah, delicious brains, delicious thoughts, I can feel how delicious your ideas are." A mind thief with an octopus-like face walked right in!
Then, he was kicked away by Rean in an instant.

Next, something even more chilling appeared: the Mind Flayer's mastermind, the monster formed from countless Mind Flayer brains, actually appeared!

"Remove it!" Rean was afraid he would be too slow.

This damned underground world actually has something like this?! Rean just hoped the memory erasure would be clean enough to avoid causing too much trouble.

The third one to enter was an orc. This relieved Rean; it seemed they had successfully reached the city area above.

But then, one after another, they came in, each one more peculiar than the last.

A rusty robot slowly walked in.

He or she, with only one hand and one foot, still slowly moves forward, supported by cables.

"This is the Mech Race. Are there Mech Race ruins here?" Kuku asked curiously, seemingly very interested in the mech in front of him.

Two dark elves entered one after the other, both very wary. This was a dark elf city, which made perfect sense.

A mushroom-man walked in. Rean had heard of a mushroom-man tribe here, so he figured it was true.

Then, a skull and a lich walked in!

Rean's paladin radar went off like crazy and was instantly deactivated.

Kuku, who teaches without discrimination, really isn't picky at all.

And this underground world really does have everything.

Finally, when everything stabilized, it was a record-breaking seven people, even after Rean had kicked out several outrageous options.

However, there were only two beastmen among them.

"Hehe, very good, very good!" Kuku himself was quite satisfied.

(End of this chapter)