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

Boren looked at Lu Yuan.

"I don't know the specific direction of your knowledge, but your aura tells me that you have dealt with the supernatural quite a few times. This kind of experience and physique is actually an advantage in the study of supernatural inscriptions."

"and..."

Buren held up one finger.

"The study of bizarre inscriptions doesn't require you to spend a lot of time studying relics, nor does it require you to be tied to one place and unable to move. What it requires is accumulating materials and practical experience."

"You are a Night's Watchman."

The old man's tone carried an obvious implication.

"What you lack is not the opportunity to deal with the bizarre."

Lu Yuan fell silent.

Four directions.

Weapon inscriptions – removed. It's better to hire someone to do it than to do it yourself.

Large-scale inscriptions—delving into them will trigger a knowledge curse, locking away forbidden knowledge. Excluded.

Ancient inscription literature – with accumulation, one can reach the third level.

It can be engraved on a carrier of knowledge density, but it is bound to the Bronze City and cannot leave.

Mysterious Inscriptions – a branch within a branch, not favored by the mainstream.

However, his aura is approachable, and he has no shortage of materials and practical experience.

Buren leaned back in his chair.

"Of course, this is just my opinion. You can decide for yourself."

Lu Yuan put the stone slab back into his pocket and stood up.

"Thanks, Burren."

"Don't rush."

Buren called out to him.

"No matter which one you choose, you'd better think about one thing carefully before you do."

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"Your study of inscription is just a side project. Your main path lies in transcending knowledge. When choosing a direction, don't choose one that conflicts with your main path, and don't choose one that will tie you down."

He paused.

"Choose one that will come with you."

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

He nodded, pushed open the door, and went out.

In the corridor, Kai'er leaned against the wall and waited. When she saw Lu Yuan come out, she hesitated to speak.

Lu Yuan patted him on the shoulder, said nothing, and went straight upstairs.

I went back to my room on the second floor and closed the door.

Lu Yuan sat down at the table, took out a stone slab from his pocket, and placed it in front of him.

The four symbols floated quietly in the morning light, no longer glowing.

His finger moved back and forth twice between the symbols "Ancient Inscriptions" and "Mysterious Inscriptions".

Unable to leave Bronze City...

The copper pillars of the pipeline network are indeed a readily available research subject.

But what if something happens to Bronze City? What if I need to leave?

Being tied up in one place is not his style.

Lu Yuan's finger finally stopped above "Strange Inscription".

It paused for two seconds.

Then it moved back to "Ancient Inscription Literature".

Boren said that ancient inscriptions can be engraved on the core of the spirit.

This ability... will come in handy with consciousness crystals.

But you can't leave.

Lu Yuan flipped the stone slab over and placed it face down on the table.

Two paths. Each has its own advantages.

Not urgent.

Anyway, the stone slab is still there, so we can choose the direction whenever we want.

On the other end of the symbiotic connection, the worm of knowledge rolled over in the eye and continued sleeping.

Lu Yuan leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the view outside the window.

The Bronze City was quiet in the morning light.

Three days have passed.

Lu Yuan sat at a table on the second floor of the Alchemy Workshop, flipping through his notebook.

The morning light outside the window was lovely, shining on the open page, making the words clear.

The recipe for the Rational Potion, insights into defensive training, several key points of the pipeline operation, and a few scattered comparisons regarding the direction of Inscription.

His gaze swept across the desktop, pausing briefly on the drawer.

The stone slab is inside. Lu Yuan still hasn't decided which direction to choose, but he doesn't have any way to improve his inscription skills for the time being, so he's not in a hurry.

Nothing major happened in the past three days. My rationality has returned, which is the best news.

For the first two days, my energy naturally recovered to 12 points each day. With the addition of a specially prepared sanity-stabilizing potion, my energy was fully restored by the second night.

After maintaining full sanity for over a day, the sanity barrier was repaired by one layer. Going from zero to one, even if it's only one layer, is better than running naked.

The insect of knowledge has also awakened.

The symbiotic connection stabilized again, and the faint perception in his left eye returned. The Seeker's abilities were much clearer than before, but he couldn't consciously activate them for long; they reached their limit in four or five seconds.

The message from the worm of knowledge was clear: you can use it, but don't overdo it.

His defensive training hadn't stopped. He'd flipped through the "Knowledge Pathway Guide" that Ink had given him no less than thirty times, and his skill had increased by less than one point in three days. Combined with his previous accumulation, he was almost at his limit.

【Defense Ⅰ：7.5/10】

What happens after reaching the limit? The book outlines the direction for the second stage, but he can't meet those conditions yet.

But that's for later.

Lu Yuan closed his laptop and stood up to stretch his wrists.

There was a commotion on the first floor. Someone was coming upstairs.

The footsteps sounded familiar.

Glock pushed open the door, glanced around the room, and made no small talk.

"The branch meeting will be held at 2 PM. Klaus will chair it."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"What is it?"

Glock rested his hand on the door frame and hesitated for a moment.

"The bronze pillar. Klaus went down and saw it himself."

Lu Yuan noticed his expression.

"Who else?"

"Berren will be coming too. The Iron Guard, the Holy Armored Army, the Ascended Order, and the Church will also be there."

This is not a team meeting.

It was a formal meeting jointly organized by multiple parties.

Glock didn't say anything more, turned around and went downstairs.

Lu Yuan stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the horizon in the direction of the inner city.

For the past three days, he would stare intently out the window once a day.

On one hand, they were observing the changes in the mass above the inner city; on the other hand, they were testing the endurance of the Knowledge Worm.

The conclusion is clear: deliberately stimulating the seeker's perception requires the knowledge worm to recover for several hours after each use. If the interval is too short, the worm will directly refuse to respond.

Today is the third day.

My left eye felt slightly sore. I held it for four seconds.

That lump is still there.

Several strands of indescribable color mingled together, slowly wriggling.

When I first saw it three days ago, its area was roughly above the inner city center.

When I looked at it yesterday, the edges had already expanded outwards.

It expanded again today.

The insect of knowledge seemed weary.

[Sanity: -3...117/120]

Lu Yuan rubbed his left eye, making a mental note of the change.

Three times in three days, each time bigger than the last.

I wonder if those people at the Tower of Learning even know what they're researching.

1:40 PM.

When Lu Yuan arrived at the branch, the door to the conference room on the second floor was open.

The branch's meeting room was small, with a long table taking up most of the room, four chairs on each side, and a map of the overall defense of Bronze City nailed to the wall, the corners of which were already curled up.

The window was half open, and outside was the branch's inner courtyard. You could hear people moving things downstairs.

There were already quite a few people sitting inside.

This is much larger in scale than the previous report on the disappearance in the inner city.

Klaus was still the same as always, his dark shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with a document and an unfolded pipeline map in front of him, marked with several points in red ink.

Glock was on his right, twirling a pencil in his hand.

Holger leaned against the wall by the door, arms crossed, looking more like an observer than a key participant.

Bohr sat quietly in the middle of the long table, his hands resting on his knees.

He nodded slightly when he saw Lu Yuan enter.

Lu Yuan sat down next to him.

Opposite them is Buren.

The old man leaned on a cane, with Kai'er beside him.

The cane rested on the table leg, the notebook was open, and the fingers were pressing on a certain page.

Wolf was sitting in the corner.

The Iron Guard's dark red uniforms stood out against a sea of ​​dark gray and black.

He crossed his arms, remained silent, and did not speak to anyone.

Next to Wolf was Heinrich. The Holy Armor Army captain sat upright, contrasting sharply with Wolf's relaxed posture.

Finally, she was a nun from the church.

She looked very young, sitting on the far side. Her gray-white robe stood out from the others. She didn't introduce herself, and no one introduced her either.

Lu Yuan took a deep look at Wolf.

As always, he remained silent, sitting in the corner with a calm expression.

But she looked a little worse than when we last met.

Her eye sockets are a little deeper and her skin color is a little darker, but you won't notice unless you look closely.

Everyone's here.

Klaus made no small talk.

He spoke directly.

"A lot has happened recently. Since everyone is here today, let's give a summary of the situation."

He opened the documents in front of him.

"Let me start with the overall situation."

Klaus spoke slowly, but his points were very clear.

"More than half a month ago, ground subsidence occurred in many places in Bronze City. The inner city was the most severely affected, with three large-scale subsidences, while there were several smaller ones on the north and southwest sides of the outer city."

"After the collapse, a large number of ghouls poured out from underground. More than ten Night's Watch members were killed or wounded, with several squads suffering heavy losses. The Guardians intervened and stabilized the situation."

He paused for a moment.

"The collapse in the outer city has been largely brought under control, and repair work is underway. However, the three collapses in the inner city are irreversible. There are large-scale cavities underground, and to date, we still do not know when or why these cavities formed."

"The Bronze City has been built for hundreds of years and has never collapsed before. This is the first time."

He paused.

"During the investigation of the collapse, we discovered something even more important."

Klaus looked up from the documents and swept his gaze over everyone present.

"Bronze pillar".

"Deep beneath the Bronze City lies a large bronze pillar structure, its surface engraved with complete rune arrays. This is something that has never been recorded in detail in any archives before."

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

Beren tapped his fingers lightly on the notebook, but did not speak.

Klaus continued.

"The existence of these copper pillars near the site of the inner city collapse has been preliminarily confirmed. The exact number and distribution are still under investigation."

He turned a page.

"Then let's talk about Beifang District. Among the collapse sites in the outer city, Beifang District has the most unique situation."

"During the initial investigation, we discovered a large-scale mycelial contamination layer in the pipeline layer below the collapse point in Beifang District. The mycelium infiltrated ground facilities through vertical shafts, and two shafts were breached. At its maximum, the ground contamination covered three city blocks."

His gaze fell on Lu Yuan.

"The details of the deeper parts of the network were discovered through joint exploration by the Night's Watch, the Iron Guard, and the Holy Armor Army."

Klaus gave a brief explanation.

After the joint operation advanced to the entrance of the dome, Lu Yuan ventured alone into the deepest part, discovered the mycelial core, and destroyed it. At the same time, a copper pillar was also found at the deepest part of the pipe network, its runes severely eroded by the mycelial roots.

He didn't go into too many details, but everyone present understood the weight of his words.

"I personally went down into the pipeline three days ago to confirm Lu Yuan's report."

Klaus's voice was steady.

"The core has indeed been destroyed. The mycelial network has completely died, and the cleaning of the pipe network layer has been almost completed in the past few days."

"However, the pipeline layer cannot be considered safe at present. There is a large amount of residual pollution in the deeper layers, and it is currently being cleaned up."

"During the cleanup, several smaller bronze pillars were discovered. According to Buren's preliminary identification, they belong to the same inscription system as the main bronze pillar."

Buren nodded, offering no further comment.

Klaus's gaze swept around.

"The pipeline network in the North Textile District has copper pillars. What about the pipeline networks in other areas? What about below the collapse point in the inner city?"