Chapter 169

Chapter 169 “Did I do it?” Ai Baozhu exclaimed, delighted, testing her [Gorgeous Domain] as she stepped forward. The original barrier seemed nonexistent, letting her pass easily. “Amazing!” Lan Subing, curious, tried touching Ai Baozhu through the barrier but failed. “How’d you merge them?” The first attempt showed clear repulsion, but after a few adjustments, they fused, fascinating Lan Subing. Ai Baozhu, equally thrilled, discovered a new use for her ability. Stepping out, she explained, “The moment [Gorgeous Domain] touched the barrier, I sensed its resistance. A key trait of [Gorgeous Domain] is inclusivity. Given time, it can merge with most barriers.” “Why didn’t you mention this before? Did you just find out?” Si Zhaohua asked, surprised. As close friends, they knew each other’s abilities well. Ai Baozhu nodded excitedly, “I never activated my ability when entering our family’s barriers, so I didn’t know. This was a lucky accident.” No time for chit-chat. After brief joy, Ai Baozhu enveloped everyone in [Gorgeous Domain] and entered the barrier. The manor wasn’t just flora—it had a castle-like building. With no Team A members outside, they were likely inside. As Ai Baozhu moved to enter the castle, Jiang Tianming stopped her, “Wait, let’s search outside.” “Why?” Ai Baozhu asked, puzzled. “Skill Books are usually in buildings, right? Buried in a garden?” “The castle’s being searched. We’ll know if they find anything when they exit. We need to save time and check outside,” Jiang Tianming replied patiently. He planned to visit the other two mapped points, so they’d “split tasks” with Team A, who were unaware. He didn’t mention that such an obvious castle, even without a map, would’ve been searched thoroughly. He believed skill books were outside. No need to voice baseless guesses—what if he was wrong? Seeing his logic, Ai Baozhu nodded, turning to the vast manor with a troubled look, “But it’s huge. How do we search? If it’s buried, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.” “There’ll be clues. Let’s look,” Lan Subing supported Jiang Tianming. The five began aimlessly searching the manor. Su Bei, unwilling to waste effort, noticed Lan Subing had the best luck among them. He shifted her small pointer to the leftmost position and sat to slack off. If she couldn’t find anything with maxed luck, the skill books weren’t outside, saving him effort. Luckily, Jiang Tianming’s hunch was right. Soon, Lan Subing exclaimed, “Look over here!” Following her voice, they saw her in dense weeds, pointing excitedly. Untended for ages, the manor’s weeds grew tall and thick, ignored by most. Dense grass suggested no books beneath. But since she found something, though unsure what, they hurried over. “How’s this possible?” Standing beside Lan Subing, they saw a hidden clearing in the weeds. From outside, it looked like dense grass, but up close, there was a small gap. The surrounding weeds hid it perfectly. Even from above, without keen eyes, it was invisible—only book-sized. Seeing the size, they knew. Ai Baozhu asked, thrilled, “How’d you find it?” Most wouldn’t notice this weed patch. Lan Subing felt lucky, “I was wondering where the skill books were hidden, wandering, and stumbled into the weeds, noticing the gap.” As they spoke, Jiang Tianming dug with a shovel—ordinary, brought for treasure hunting. Non-ability tools were allowed in small quantities. They’d used it for the Rubber Energy Alloy. Carefully digging, he unearthed five skill books. Five wasn’t few—a basic skill book fetched over a million in the Ability User market. Skill book value hinged on two factors: the skill’s utility and its ability type. For example, Wood Element skills like “Vine Entangle” or “Wood Spike” were self-developable, capping at a million. But advanced skills like “Forest Creation” or “All Things Revive,” even for common elements, fetched astronomical prices. The second factor was the ability type. For rare types like Su Bei’s Destiny, even useless skills could multiply in value tenfold. This seemed illogical—Destiny Ability Users were rare, and others couldn’t use such skill books, so why the high price? But rare items always had collectors. Wealthy families or factions hoarded them for prestige or to lure rare Ability Users to join. Endless Ability Academy’s point store had skill books, including rare ones like “All Things Revive.” Sadly, for fairness, it had few Destiny skill books. The only one was “Little Crow’s Mouth,” granting one weekly negative prediction that came true. It sounded decent but was passive—users couldn’t control which bad remark activated. Ordinary people often spoke ill omens casually. Wasting it on themselves instead of enemies was risky. Su Bei didn’t need it—he could adjust luck easily. The Si, Feng, and Ai families had Destiny skill books and had invited him as a guest elder, offering free use. He’d declined. Why bother when he could develop skills via the comic forum? He had no urgent need, and his current ability sufficed. As a first-year, mastering too much would scream suspicion. He needed a low-profile identity to avoid scrutiny. Even saving the world wouldn’t help if he couldn’t return to normal life—that’d be a loss. “Look at the skill books!” Lan Subing’s words snapped Su Bei back. He joined them. The five books’ skills were listed on the covers: three elemental, one general defense, and one blade skill. Among the elemental, a Fire Element “Magma Surge” suited Qi Huang. “Ah!” As they stored the books and prepared to leave, a scream came from the castle—likely Maria’s. “What’s that?” The five exchanged glances. The barrier should only contain their ten. Team A was allied, unlikely to fight among themselves. What caused the scream? “Should we check?” Si Zhaohua hesitated. He wasn’t curious but couldn’t ignore potential danger. Jiang Tianming decided, “Let’s go.” No objections. They headed to the castle, the scream likely from the fourth or fifth floor. Per top-floor-trouble logic, Su Bei led the way to the fifth. The others followed his firm steps. Stairs offered a view of the corridors, where battle signs would be obvious. Oddly, up to the fifth floor, they saw no fighting traces. Footprints showed recent human activity, but no struggle. Something was off. The scream wasn’t fake, yet no struggle? Instant disappearance? Exchanging cautious glances, they searched. The top floor was small, with few rooms. The innermost was a library, and not just Su Bei—everyone sensed it was the issue. They came for skill books, so the library was logical. But what danger made five people vanish? Jiang Tianming noticed something, “Look at that book.” He approached a bookshelf. Following his gaze, they saw a pure black book. Unlike the black-covered, white-paged one Su Bei tailored for him, this was entirely black—cover and pages. It drew more than Jiang Tianming’s attention; everyone saw its oddity. Had they not found the skill books, they’d have linked it to them. Lan Subing reached for it, but Jiang Tianming grabbed her wrist, “Wait.” Having seen a black-covered book, he sensed this one was off. Its all-black nature was unnatural. Black was ominous in the ability world—Nightmare Beasts were pure black, regardless of level. With high school awakenings, Jiang Tianming’s black hair and eyes might’ve led to bullying in younger schools. “It’s a Nightmare Beast,” Su Bei stated, having activated his ability upon seeing it, spotting its Destiny Compass. It was a living entity. No one doubted him. The moment he spoke, the book moved. It floated, pages flipping faster and faster. Sensing danger, they tried fleeing the library, but it was futile. The book stopped on a page, emitting black light and a powerful suction, pulling all five into its pages. “...” Waking from unconsciousness, Su Bei heard bustling noise, like a market. His Mental Energy sensed many people milling about, with no visible danger. He opened his eyes. As expected, he was in a busy medieval Mus Country market, not modern but for daily goods. Sorting his thoughts, Su Bei grasped his situation. Likely, he’d been sucked into the book’s world by the book-shaped Nightmare Beast. What story was this book? Looking at his beggar attire, Su Bei sighed. What role did this beggar play? No matter. Checking his storage ring, Su Bei smirked. A book world sounded familiar, didn’t it? Ian had a similar ability, and as his former desk-mate, Su Bei knew a bit. Ian told him book worlds with plots had three escape methods: follow the plot and find its flaws, subvert the plot to break the deadlock, or find another book in the world and destroy it to exit. The third was usually impossible—knowing the weakness, creators wouldn’t include books. Likewise, the book Nightmare Beast wouldn’t create books in its world. In this setting, paper and pens were likely absent, confirming the tear-a-book escape method. No books in the world, but Su Bei had one—a magazine swiped from a Sand Sea Different Space hotel, still in his ring, perfect for use. Leave now? He didn’t rush. This was clearly a plot point. Though he avoided plot involvement, who knew what treasures awaited? Staying, even without plot participation, might net him loot. Leaving now meant missing out. But his beggar identity was annoying. Grimacing at his filthy clothes, Su Bei planned. His ring had spare clothes, but they weren’t period-appropriate—wearing them might brand him a heretic. Heretic? Suddenly, he recalled the Different Space’s era. It was medieval, an Ability User enclave. The town’s destruction came from capturing a Knowledge Nightmare Beast, triggering a beast invasion. Was this that plot? If so, a massive Nightmare Beast fight loomed, like last semester’s final exam. Su Bei didn’t want the hassle. If true, he’d leave now. But prevention was possible. The root was the captured Knowledge Nightmare Beast. Killing it preemptively could stop everything. Su Bei slipped to a quiet corner, leapt to a rooftop, and spotted the familiar clock tower. Marking landmarks was wise—it made navigation easy. But reaching the clock tower wasn’t as simple as before. The city was empty of all but first-years then, letting them move freely. Now, as a beggar, he was despised everywhere. Nobles in suits and top hats wanted to kick him, and rival beggars tried to block him. Though he could handle them easily, this was a book world. He didn’t dare kill recklessly. First, there were Ability Users here—stronger ones could be trouble. Second, Ian said role-playing book worlds punished non-role actions. Not wanting risks, Su Bei stuck to shadows, avoiding trouble. He missed Wu Jin’s Low Presence ability—perfect for this. His blond hair drew attention even in shadows. Reaching the clock tower, he followed it to the manor. Knowing Ability Users were inside, he probed with Mental Energy, confirming no Advanced Mental Energy users, then slipped in through an unguarded spot. Inside, he didn’t act but found a guest room to rest. Work was for protagonists—his job was scavenging. If he could profit, great; if not, he’d done nothing. With many rooms, some were empty. His current one was clean but clearly unused, lacking signs of life. Sadly, water wasn’t as accessible as in modern times, so he couldn’t bathe, enduring his state. Would staying here miss the protagonist team’s plot, leaving him clueless and exiting blindly? Su Bei wasn’t worried. They’d been sucked in at the manor’s library. Even if confused, Jiang Tianming’s group would check there. If they chose it, it was the plot’s hub. Su Bei had the “trouble follows protagonists” rule down pat. But he forgot the “protagonists must meet” rule, despite not being a core member. Less than an hour into resting, he heard urgent footsteps outside. His Mental Energy had sensed two people being chased, unsure who. As they neared, Su Bei felt a bad omen. He moved to lock the door, but as his hand touched the handle, it was pushed open, making it seem like he’d opened it. Outside stood Si Zhaohua and Lan Subing—one in medieval noble attire, a handsome young aristocrat, the other in a black-and-white maid outfit, her blue hair pinned up, looking spirited and cute. Seeing him, they were thrilled, gesturing “shush,” and rushed in, barricading the door. With them here, hiding was pointless. Su Bei sprawled on the bed, leisurely waiting for their explanation. After confirming no pursuit, Si Zhaohua sighed in relief, adjusting his disheveled collar while eyeing Su Bei. After a moment, he asked quietly, “Why are you here?” Their presence made sense—nobles and maids fit a manor’s banquet. But a beggar like Su Bei, in a guest room for Burlington Earl’s banquet? “Same as you,” Su Bei, clueless but banking on foresight, dodged elaborating. “What happened out there?”