Chapter 54: Luo Feng: It's Hard to Feel Genuinely Shocked a Second Time

After simply digesting the tens of thousands of patterns and carefully studying the first few dozen of them, Luo Feng's eyes lit up a few minutes later.

These patterns contained the exact same knowledge as the secret traditions on the crystal walls, but the difficulty of learning them had been reduced by a vast and massive margin!

Never underestimate a threefold decrease in difficulty; sometimes, a mere ten percent reduction is all it takes for someone agonizing over a complex problem to suddenly achieve enlightenment and understand it.

A threefold reduction went without saying. For a genius like Luo Feng, the learning process became dozens of times easier.

"As expected of Bai."

Luo Feng had lost count of how many times he had uttered this sentiment.

Receiving help from 'Bai' was quite simply the greatest stroke of good fortune in his life!

Suppressing his gratitude toward Bai Chen, Luo Feng devoted all his energy to studying the simplified version of the *312 Forms of the Telekinetic Master's Secret Tradition*.

The first pattern was mastered in a minute!

The second, still mastered in a minute!

...

As he comprehended more and more patterns, Luo Feng's ability to control his flying daggers improved by leaps and bounds. The terrifying speed of this progression left even Luo Feng himself somewhat tongue-tied.

Originally capable of wielding at most nine flying daggers with maximum destructive power, he quickly advanced to ten, eleven, and beyond...

At first, whenever his flying dagger control capacity increased, Luo Feng would attempt to break through the crystal wall. Later on, absorbed as he was in his cultivation, he couldn't be bothered to try every single time he made a minor breakthrough.

In any case, before entering the No. 9 Ancient Ruins, Luo Feng had already informed his family that he would be undergoing intensive secluded cultivation for a period that could last up to several months.

At his current rate of comprehension, it would likely take less than a month to shatter this crystal room, so Luo Feng naturally felt no urgency.

...

Half a month later.

Luo Feng, whose chin was now covered in a light stubble, slowly opened his eyes. They shone as bright and dazzling as the stars.

"That's about it," Luo Feng murmured softly, his expression brimming with confidence.

The next instant, the Sky-shaking Shuttle split into a full eighteen flying daggers, which then heavily bombarded a single point on the crystal wall.

With a resounding boom, streams of brilliant light shattered the crystal wall and shot outward, and a tall figure slowly stepped out from within.

"Finally out," Luo Feng said, a smile curling the corners of his lips.

The hardness of this crystal wall actually only required sixteen flying daggers, wielding a combined impact force of over 8.3 million kilograms, to break through.

Several days ago, Luo Feng had already reached this requirement.

In fact, if physical strength hadn't been forbidden from being used to smash the crystal room, Luo Feng could have violently shattered it with a single punch the very moment he was trapped!

Once the crystal room was breached, accompanied by a crackling sound, the enclosure that had trapped Luo Feng vanished amidst a shimmering flurry of illusory light.

Immediately afterward, the mechanical artificial intelligence voice echoed once again throughout the black hall.

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed the death assessment mission!]

[Please proceed straight along the current path to claim your reward for a successful assessment!]

As the voice reverberated, the dark brown, root-entangled ground in front of Luo Feng quickly writhed and parted, soon revealing a deep, gloomy cavern before him.

Luo Feng paused for a moment before finally stepping forward with bold strides.

Having undergone the heritage transmission within the crystal room, Luo Feng no longer felt much tension regarding the No. 9 Ancient Ruins. Just as 'Bai' had said, this was merely a foundational heritage base of the immortal faction known as 'Falling Ink Star', and it would not deliberately harm those undergoing the assessments.

...

When Luo Feng stepped into a vast, empty area, before he even had a chance to carefully observe the environment, a massive amount of light condensed in midair, finally transforming into a bald crystal humanoid.

"Hello, Luo Feng." The bald crystal being looked at Luo Feng with a smile.

Luo Feng wasn't particularly startled by this; after all, he had even seen a talking cat before.

"Hello," Luo Feng responded politely.

Huh? This reaction caught the bald crystal being completely off guard. It gave Luo Feng a puzzled look. Was the fellow not even the slightest bit surprised by its sudden appearance?

Could he really be this calm?

The bald crystal being felt somewhat baffled, but the established protocol still had to be followed.

"Luo Feng, you have successfully passed the death assessment mission. You are now qualified to become a member of Falling Ink Star. Falling Ink Star is a powerful faction established by the immortal deity Lord Huyan Bo. Under his command, it dominated the universe for tens of millions of years!" At this point, the bald crystal being paused, slightly lifted its chin, and wore a proud expression, assuming a posture waiting for Luo Feng to ask questions in awed curiosity.

....?

Luo Feng silently stared back at it. Although he understood what the being was proud of, he... had already learned all about Falling Ink Star from 'Bai' long ago.

A faction established by an immortal deity—powerful, truly very powerful. But he had already been shocked by it once before; they couldn't possibly expect him to be shocked all over again, could they?

"Ah, how formidable," Luo Feng forced out after holding back for quite a while, trying his best to put on an expression of utter astonishment.

The bald crystal being lowered its head, met Luo Feng's utterly unconvincing acting, and fell silent for a moment.

"Very well, you may now claim your reward," the bald crystal being said expressionlessly.

Moments later, a black vest, a silver bracer, a martial arts manual, and a hexagonal token flew toward Luo Feng.

With a lackluster tone, the bald crystal being introduced them, "That black vest is what you Earthlings call the Black God Set; you should already know its effects. This silver bracer is an auxiliary optical brain. As for this manual, it is the telekinetic master's offensive technique *Sky-piercer*, a secret method meant to be used in conjunction with your Sky-shaking Shuttle telekinetic weapon. Lastly..."

The bald crystal being looked toward the hexagonal token, a trace of complex emotion and melancholy involuntarily rising in its eyes.

"This fourth item is the token to enter Falling Ink Star... Only, I can no longer contact Falling Ink Star at all. This token... is probably of no use anymore."

"However, according to protocol, this token must still be given to you, so make sure you keep it safe."

......

Outside, at the exit of the Amazon No. 9 Ruins base.

The passageway slowly opened, and Luo Feng walked out from within.

At this moment, he wore a contemplative expression, still replaying his recent exchange with the bald crystal being in his mind.

According to Bai, the entity had long since qualified as an advanced artificial intelligence possessing human emotions.

"To remain in a ruin devoid of life for tens of thousands of years... Just how lonely must that be?" Luo Feng sighed with deep emotion.

He found it hard to imagine. If he could, he would have been willing to help the entity leave.

Yet the bald crystal being had simply smiled and shaken its head, having no intention of leaving the ruins.

For it had said, "My orders are to guard this ruins well and serve the assessment members of Falling Ink Star."

Even though Falling Ink Star could no longer be reached, it intended to carry out this command until its energy was completely exhausted and it fell into eternal slumber!

At the time, Luo Feng had almost blurted out that Falling Ink Star had already perished within the universe, but after a moment of hesitation, he ultimately kept the words to himself.

Perhaps it was out of a sense of reluctance to shatter its hope.

"Sigh," Luo Feng shook his head, then gathered his thoughts and strode out of the passageway.

His harvest from this trip to the No. 9 Ruins had been immense; next, he needed to properly digest it all.