In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar

Al-Hysen said that Paimon has reached the level of "Diriyasi", but Paimon has not yet obtained the "Diriyasi" certificate. What is the problem?

"Of course, the books of the Theory of Causes are all about telling various stories, which I can understand at a glance, unlike your Theory of Knowledge, which has strange, convoluted texts that I can't understand at all." Paimon, as a scholar of the Theory of Causes, criticized the difficulty of understanding the teaching materials of the Theory of Knowledge.

Wang Yan thought about it for a moment, and couldn't help but nod in agreement.

As a school of thought in history and sociology, the foundational book of the Yin-Yang school is "A Detailed Account of 300 Years of Mount Sumeru," which is very thick and can be used for self-defense, but it is actually a collection of short stories about Mount Sumeru.

Some children's educators even use it as a storybook for children.

And what about the epistemological school?

He also remembered that Tinaly had given him a book on the foundations of epistemology called "Characters, Strokes, Stripes: The Essence of Language".

Just looking at the name is enough to make most people back down.

Paimon herself is a lively type, so she'll definitely get engrossed in storybooks.

She definitely wouldn't like reading a book as dry and uninteresting as "Characters, Strokes, Stripes: The Essence of Language."

“It seems that the epistemological school is indeed not suitable for you,” Wang Yan sighed.

"No, it's just that we weren't in the mood to read properly," Ying said politely.

...

The group quickly moved on from that topic and started talking about other things, eventually returning to the Wild Hunt.

"Do you think there might be a super-sized wildcat in there?" Paimon asked, munching on his roasted meat and looking at the misty, shrouded reef.

“Unlikely.” Wang Yan shook his head. “Generally, intelligent monsters do not expand their size indefinitely unless their power has reached a point where they cannot be contained without expanding their size.”

“I previously inquired about the hunting situation in Nordkalley from Mr. Flins.”

"The Wild Hunt situation in Nordcalle has improved a lot since you dealt with the Moonhunters."

"From the time the Frostmoon Child discovered the problem to our arrival, it was only a few days."

"At the normal frequency, the number of Wild Hunts that can be born in this period is not enough to support the appearance of a Super Wild Hunt."

This is the answer Wang Yan just obtained after asking Flins about the data.

This is why Philins, who was in a hurry before, was able to sit down and eat barbecue.

Because Wang Yan calculated for him that it takes ten to twenty ordinary Berserkers to evolve into an evolutionary Berserker, and evolution is often a standard pyramid.

In other words, each step up requires a significant amount of consumable materials from the lower level.

Since they settled here, no more Wild Hunting Evolutions have arrived.

What does this show?

This suggests that the entire Wild Hunt on Xixi Island has likely been summoned, and the creatures inside probably don't have enough resources to grow.

Unless, of course, it can call the Wild Hunt from even further away, bringing the Wild Hunt from outside Xixi Island.

But if it has this ability, then it shouldn't have been only the Child of Frostmoon who discovered the problem before.

The Wild Hunt is of interest to the entire Norwegian community.

If abnormal hunters gather outside of Xixi Island, other forces will also contact the Lamplighter immediately.

Since this situation has not occurred, it means that the source of the mutation has not yet been able to affect places outside of Shioshi Island.

Even the other side of Frostmoon Pavilion, whether it can have any influence, Wang Yan questioned.

As he spoke, Wang Yan suddenly paused, his gaze turning towards the thick fog and the densely fogged reef.

"What's up?"

"The little ones are back."

When the lewd spirit D looked along Wang Yan's line of sight.

Under the hazy night sky, three ancient stone snails slowly crawled back from the rocky beach, the faint light emitted by the magic crystals on their shells flickering like fireflies in the darkness.

They returned safely, and the simple cameras installed on them were intact.

'Indeed, the lower the level of life form, the less likely it is to attract the attention of the abyss.'

'But why is that? Could it be... that the lower and simpler the life form, the fewer thoughts it has? Then why does it possess the [fate that will never happen]?'

Simply put, the more powerful and intelligent a person is, the more choices they have for the future, and therefore the more likely they are to attract the attention of the abyss.

Fools, idiots, and morons have no plans for their future. They may seem to have many choices, but they actually lack the ability to choose.

'Interesting…I'll write this down; perhaps I can delve deeper into this topic later.'

Wang Yan's mind was racing, but he had already gotten up and walked toward the three ancient stone snails.

Gently remove the magic crystal recording device from the backs of the three ancient stone snails.

He walked back to the experimental table and placed one of the pieces into the pre-set reading groove.

As elemental power was gently infused, water-like patterns rippled across the surface of the magic crystal. Then, blurry, swaying images were projected into the air—the very scenes that the ancient stone snail had seen in the red mist.

All eyes were focused on that direction.

The image is a bit shaky because of the ancient snails wriggling and crawling.

Since it was a temporary preparation, Wang Yan did not install any leveling equipment.

In the footage, a dark red fog also permeates the air, and even with the rune device, the visibility is no more than one meter.

At first, the scene looked normal. Apart from the fog, you could still see the original terrain of Raitu Reef—rugged black rocks, smooth rock walls sculpted by the sea, and sporadic Luna plants growing in the cracks between the rocks.

However, as they ventured deeper into the ancient stone snail, Xinghuo began to notice something amiss.

This once desolate island has now been found to have numerous signs of human activity.

Chapter 182 Evil Runes

The first thing that caught my attention was the tools scattered on the ground.

Several rusty but clearly recently used pickaxes, several broken ropes, and even an overturned wooden crate, which was still quite new.

“These are…” Paimon moved closer, his little face full of doubt, “Is someone digging for things here?”

Flint frowned: "Although adventurers or gatherers occasionally visit Letu Reef, they usually don't leave behind this many tools, especially not in this foggy weather..."

Ying and Paimon nodded, recalling the Frostmoon Child Apprentice Priest they had met here before.

The people who came here to investigate didn't bring much with them; they just wore protective suits.

Wang Yan didn't say anything, but simply controlled the screen to continue playing.

The ancient stone snail crawled across a relatively flat rocky area, where the fog seemed to have thinned out a bit.

The footage clearly shows several pits that were obviously dug by hand.

The pit had neat edges and was about half a person's height deep, surrounded by newly turned gravel and sand.

Beside one of the pits stood a makeshift wooden frame with an extinguished oil lamp hanging on it.

“Traces of mining,” Wang Yan said in a low voice. “Judging from the soil’s moisture and color, and considering the coastal environment, these pits couldn’t have formed in more than a month.”

Ying's eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint in them: "What are they digging for?"

No one could answer.

The ancient stone snails continued forward. They circled around a towering reef, and the sight before them made everyone hold their breath.

On a roughly leveled open space, three or four simple tents were set up.

The tent, made of thick, dark gray canvas, stood silently in the red fog.

Next to the tent, more personal belongings were scattered.

A extinguished campfire, with a cast iron pot still holding some burnt food; several wooden crates stacked together, one of which was open, revealing neatly stacked, oil-paper-wrapped blocks inside; and even a simple wooden table, with sheets of paper spread out on it curling slightly in the damp mist.

"The camp..."

"Has someone lived here? And...it seems like they just left recently?"

Philin's face darkened completely: "It seems that this is not a demonic calamity, but most likely a man-made disaster."

Compared to natural disasters, Philinus, as the lamplighter, actually hated man-made disasters more.

Because natural disasters are something we have no choice but to face.

Man-made disasters, on the other hand, are avoidable but deliberately caused by others, and their nature is completely different.

Wang Yan stared at the details of the items in the picture: "The tools are standardized, the boxes are of uniform size, and the way the tents are set up is also very professional... This doesn't seem like a scattered team of adventurers, but more like an organized team."

He himself had conducted field research and knew the difference between being a professional and not.

Adventurers often find something and just go for it, using tools from different workshops, making standardization difficult.

But the items in this camp were clearly distributed uniformly.

Just then, the ancient stone snail in the picture seemed to be attracted by something and turned to a corner on the edge of the camp.

The camera shakes, focusing on the ground—

There was an even bigger pit there, or rather, a hole that sloping downwards.

The edges of the opening were simply reinforced with rough wooden planks, and a rope ladder hung down into the darkness.

On the ground beside the cave entrance, there were scattered fragments that shimmered with a faint light.

"What is this?"

"These are keratin fragments from the Wild Hunt. It seems that the Wild Hunt that entered this place went in through here."

Wang Yan said.

“If that’s the case, then the source of the mutation should be down there.” Felix’s eyes turned cold. “If it’s man-made, then… we need to resolve it as soon as possible, otherwise it could have a much deeper impact.”

Wang Yan shook his head: "No rush, let's keep watching and learn more so we can solve the problem better."

The scholarly philosophy taught by Falushan has been deeply ingrained in Wang Yan's habits.

Facing an unknown enemy, he would definitely be fully prepared. If possible, Wang Yan would like to unleash an elemental blast into the cave, just like he did when dealing with the Sacred Corpse Scorpion.

This will definitely be effective in killing the enemy's manpower.

However, we need to figure out what's inside.

If there's an elemental pool below, and an elemental explosion sends the entire island flying, then Wang Yan will have nowhere to complain.

While speaking.

The camera pans towards the depths of the cave.

The light suddenly dimmed.

The magic crystal recording device automatically adjusted its light sensitivity, and the image turned into a blurry dark green.

Only the rough rock strata of the cave walls could be vaguely seen, with some areas containing keratinous fragments of wild predators, likely left behind when they entered.

At this moment, the ancient stone snails hesitated for a moment, but still continued to descend along the stone slope.

After descending about ten meters, the cave opened up, and the ancient stone snail landed on solid ground.

This appears to be a naturally formed cave, but it has clearly been widened by humans, with very obvious signs of human intervention, and... it's new.

Similarly, there are more signs of wild hunting here.

No, it shouldn't be called traces, but rather that those evolved wild hunters are right here, only they've become something else.

Deep inside the cave.

The dark red fog thinned out here, but in its place came a viscous darkness that seemed to writhe slowly, as if alive.

The darkness gathered at the deepest part of the cave, in front of a rock wall, on which a huge and twisted symbol was clearly carved.

Wang Yan could tell at a glance that this was definitely not a normal rune.

Teyvat runes, although they may look convoluted and confusing, generally do not cause discomfort. At most, looking at them for too long may cause dizziness and incomprehension.

The rune before them had chaotic lines and exuded an unsettling, eerie aura.

At the center of the symbol is an irregularly shaped polyhedral crystal the size of a fist.

Inside the crystal, there seemed to be a dark red liquid flowing, sometimes expanding and sometimes contracting, beating like a heart.

With each pulse, wisps of dark red mist seep out of the crystal and blend into the surrounding air.