I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

He patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder.

Be extremely careful.

After saying that, he turned and left without saying anything more.

Only the sound of footsteps remained in the corridor.

Raymond waited at the bottom of the stairs for a moment.

After the others had gone far away, he whispered to Lu Yuan:

"Meet at the branch office at 8:00 AM tomorrow. Bring whatever you can, we're going to check it out in person."

"Where to?" Lu Yuan asked.

"Three missing locations," Raymond said with a hint of helplessness. "Now we can only go and check them again..."

Lu Yuan thought for a moment.

"I have a request."

Raymond looked at him.

"Access to the archives," Lu Yuan said. "I want to check some things."

Raymond didn't ask him what he wanted to investigate.

"I'll let the person in charge know."

Thanks.

Raymond patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave.

Lu Yuan stood in the corridor, not leaving immediately.

The people from Imperial headquarters arrived and went straight to the Tower of Learning, without looking for the Night's Watch.

They even brought members of the Ascension Society to openly set up camp there.

This shows that they are not concerned about the missing persons case.

What they care about is what the Tower of Learning has accomplished.

The involvement of the Ascension Society suggests that the experiments at the Tower of Learning may have intersected with the Ascension Society in some way.

Lu Yuan kept this deduction in mind and then walked down the corridor.

As he passed the front desk, the young night watchman on duty called out to him.

"Mr. Lu Yuan?"

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"Your things are here. They just arrived this afternoon; they're being transferred as supplies."

The young man pointed behind the counter.

Four wooden crates, of varying sizes, were stacked in the corner, the largest reaching waist height. They were all bound together with thick rope, and uniform transfer slips, slightly yellowed, were affixed to the lids.

Lu Yuan walked over and glanced at the shipping information on the transit slip.

Sandworm Town.

He froze for a moment.

He then reached out and picked up the smallest box, giving it a shake.

The contents were wrapped in cloth, so there was no clattering sound.

The other three boxes were significantly heavier.

One person can't move it all.

"Please sign for this." The young man handed over a pen and a register.

Lu Yuan signed his name, put the small box back, and glanced at the remaining three.

"Please arrange for someone to deliver this to the alchemy workshop," Lu Yuan said to the young man. "It should be done today."

"No problem." The young man made a note in the register, "I'll have them deliver it when the shift changers arrive."

Thanks.

Lu Yuan walked out of the branch office.

The sunlight outside was already setting in the west.

Lu Yuan walked back to the Alchemy Workshop along the stone path.

At this moment, Laurena was at her worktable, with a row of utensils in front of her.

"A few boxes will be delivered later," Lu Yuan said. "Could you please help me receive them then?"

"Hmm? What did you buy?"

"A town mayor I met before promised to give me some small gifts."

Laurinna nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Lu Yuan sat down on the other side of the worktable.

They didn't actually do any work.

There are too many things in my head, all jumbled together, and I can't sort them out in a short time.

However, Lu Yuan decided not to think about it anymore for the time being and decided to gain some experience first.

His gaze then fell on the unprocessed silverleaf grass on the table.

Pinch the leaf stalk with your fingers and gently pull; the whole leaf will fall off.

At the edge of my field of vision, grayish-white text occasionally flashes by.

[Medicinal Herbs: +0.1...19.2/50]

The light outside the window gradually dimmed.

After processing the silver leaf grass, Lu Yuan ground another batch of mineral salt.

[Pharmacology: +0.1...32.4/50]

Laurena peeked over while he was grinding salt.

"Be gentle. If the mineral salt particles are too fine, it will affect the dissolution rate."

"Too much detail is too much?" Lu Yuan slowed down his movements.

She reached into the mortar and rubbed it between her fingers.

"It's perfect now. Stop dawdling."

Lu Yuan stopped.

After it got completely dark, Lu Yuan tidied up his worktable and went upstairs.

Laurina remained downstairs and did not follow them up.

Turn off the lights, leaving only a small oil lamp on.

Lu Yuan continued his defensive cultivation.

Close your eyes and adjust your breathing.

My consciousness sank deep into my mind, searching for the direction of that river.

Reason is not static; it is always in motion.

Since his last visit to the Viscount's mansion, he had for the first time found out where his reason was flowing from and where it was flowing to.

But that feeling is still very faint.

Tonight, it was clearer than last time.

The direction of that slowly rotating thing deep in my mind became clearer.

It's not that it's much faster, but the outline of the 'river channel' is slightly clearer than before.

[Defense I: +0.1...+0.1...1/10]

[Rationality: -1...-1...79/120]

As his sanity level continued to drop until it finally stopped, no matter how much Lu Yuan tried to sense it, there was no reaction whatsoever.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, knowing that he had reached his limit.

Some helpless.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

The view outside the window right now is of the Bronze City at night.

There was no moon tonight, but the runes on the city walls emitted a faint, eerie glow.

The streets outside were quiet.

Lu Yuan took out his notebook from his pocket, turned to a blank page, and began to write under the oil lamp.

He paused when he wrote the name Maurice.

The surname reminded him of another person, the Pathfinder Captain Maurice.

I dealt with him in Sandworm Town and gave him a sanity ring and a map.

coincidence?

He drew a question mark next to the name.

Then continue writing.

When writing about the disappearance of three noblemen, the pen tip hovered on the paper, not falling.

He recalled the scene he had witnessed using his abilities inside the Baron's mansion.

The man in black robes handed over a fragment of a seashell. Philip took it, and fine lines crawled beneath his skin as his body began to contort.

The seal suppressed the reaction; Philip's eyes were vacant as he walked out on his own.

Three invitations, three people – it's highly likely they followed the same process.

What Maurice did to himself in the bookstore was essentially the same, only more gentle.

But it is also a selection process.

The pen stopped again.

He recalled the test results provided by the system in the bookstore.

[Detection Target: ? (Exceptional Knowledge)]

There are at least five factions entangled in Bronze City, one of which is even unknown by name.

Lu Yuan closed his notebook and put it aside.

He got up and walked to the window.

The moonlight was gone, and the light from the oil lamp shone from behind, casting his reflection on the windowpane.

He glanced at it.

Then his gaze stopped.

The edge of the reflection...

It's a little thicker than yesterday.

It's not an illusion.

He noticed it last night, but thought it was just a hallucination caused by low rationality.

But now I'm 79% rational, as clear-headed as I can be.

That layer of thickness is still there.

It was as if the outline of a shadow was wrapped in something extremely thin.

Lu Yuan stared at it for a few seconds.

Then that feeling disappeared. The reflection returned to normal.

It was as if nothing had happened.

He was silent for a while.

The gray text did not pop up.

Then it's safe for now.

Some things are better left unseen until the right time.

He extinguished the oil lamp.

The bronze light from outside the window reflected on the ceiling.

I just hope this incident won't be too 'intense,' giving me enough time to improve myself.