Chapter 86: Chapter 86

The houses in the Sis Territory were mostly wooden structures. If they were caught in the crossfire of a battle, it was perfectly normal for them to be destroyed. However, the roads looked as though they had been plowed by some colossal object, which was utterly terrifying.

Ron had previously imagined the scenes of slaughter between Knights, but having long since experienced the state of a Formal Knight through his Secret Pattern program, his judgment regarding Formal Knights was quite accurate.

Although he had recently learned that Intermediate Knights could develop Bloodline Abilities, what kind of ability could turn a battlefield into something that looked like it had been bombarded by missiles?

“This is way too exaggerated!” Ron couldn’t help but marvel.

“It is indeed exaggerated, but this actually happened!”

Seeing such a scene again, Morris was still deeply shocked in his heart. Even though he had now achieved the Senior Knight rank, even he would find it very difficult to devastate a battlefield to such an extent.

“The enemy possessed a special Transcendent Weapon, something like this…”

Saying so, Morris actually drew the black longsword from his waist, the very one Ron had just used yesterday. With a light swipe of the blade’s tip across the ground, it emitted a dense series of clattering sounds as fine debris was sent flying.

Ron looked down. A sword scar two fingers wide and half a foot long had conspicuously appeared on the black stone ground. It was as if this floor wasn’t solid black stone, but a block of black tofu, with a deep trench gouged out by someone’s fingers.

“This, is this the true might of a Transcendent Weapon?”

At this moment, Ron was exceedingly shocked, the degree of which was almost on par with the moment he learned of the existence of transcendent power in this world. If the human body forming Whole-Body Force could obtain transcendent power, then could this Transcendent Weapon also form its own Whole-Body Force?

It wasn’t a human; as long as its structure wasn’t overly bizarre, a weapon was naturally in a state of Whole-Body Force.

But where did this power, which clearly surpassed the material itself, come from?

Ron had used the sword in Morris’s hand yesterday as well. It was much heavier than the territory’s Standard Longsword, and its sharpness was even inferior to the Standard Longsword.

Yet, such an unremarkable longsword now displayed unparalleled might in Morris’s hands.

“This is a Transcendent Weapon! The enemy’s weapon was even stronger than mine, which is why they could cause such massive destruction!”

“It’s hard to imagine how to fight against such an enemy!” Ron murmured.

“Only a Transcendent Weapon can counter a Transcendent Weapon! Of course, this is provided that the conditions for using the weapon are met and its full potential can be unleashed.”

“Are the conditions for using a Transcendent Weapon very harsh?” Ron was very interested in this aspect.

“If you’re just holding it to fight, haven’t you already used one? Apart from being much sturdier in texture, it might actually be inferior to ordinary weapons in other regards.”

Morris sheathed his longsword and continued, “But if you want to unleash its transcendent characteristics, you need to be at least an Intermediate Knight. If you want to bring out its full potential, achieving the Senior Knight rank is unavoidable.”

“Alright, you go find Jason. He should be searching for the wounded right around here. I still have matters to attend to, so I won’t take you there.”

Saying that, Morris prepared to leave first, but after taking just two steps, he turned back. With an exceptionally solemn expression, he gazed at Ron and warned:

“Wisdom is humanity’s greatest talent for surviving in this world, but this talent is also often accompanied by a curse. You must use this talent cautiously. Normally, if you encounter any problems, try to come to me first if possible, rather than pondering and experimenting on your own.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Ron actually felt a chill run down his spine. This wasn’t the first time Morris had said something like this. There had been similar reminders before, just more subtle.

Previously, he had just assumed Morris was concerned about his training status, and even felt the other man was overly fond of being a teacher. But connecting what the other man had said last night and now, Ron discovered a truth he found hard to accept:

The other man seemed to be saying that in this world, wisdom and the act of thinking itself harbored danger.

But exactly as Morris had said, wisdom was humanity’s greatest talent for surviving in this world. Without wisdom, without the ability to think, how were humans supposed to survive, and how were they supposed to develop?

“Instructor…”

Meeting Ron’s shocked and bewildered gaze, Morris just shook his head. “Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know why either. But it’s not just our territory; Helios and even other nations on the continent have experienced similar incidents!”

“What incidents?”

“Scholars going mad!”

“Scholars going mad?”

This was Ron’s first time hearing of such a secret, and it might even be related to himself. He hurriedly asked, “Is ‘scholar’ a general term, or are they Transcendents similar to Knights?”

“It’s a general term. As long as someone initiates an exploration into the unknown, regardless of the field, they might touch upon a taboo and then suddenly go mad. We once had a blacksmith in the Sis Territory who, moved by the territory’s need to purchase Transcendent Weapons from the outside, began researching how to forge them. In the end, he didn’t manage to forge a Transcendent Weapon, but the man himself went mad!”

At this point, Morris added another sentence, “Transcendent Weapons are of immense significance to the territory. Even if used by a Junior Knight, they are still better than the territory’s current standard weapons. Let alone the fact that beyond weapons, there are also armors. No one in the territory, from top to bottom, would hinder that blacksmith’s research; instead, they would offer as much help as possible.”

“Could it be the doing of those merchant guilds? Or perhaps the Transcendent Weapons themselves have hidden traps to prevent outsiders from studying them?”

“Impossible. Transcendent Weapons are extremely scarce in the Kingdom of Helios, and even across the entire continent. You have to realize that becoming a Knight isn’t actually that difficult, and every single Knight wishes to possess their own Transcendent Weapon. Furthermore, the weapons themselves will also wear out. You can imagine just how massive the deficit is!”

Every single Transcendent Weapon was hand-forged by corresponding craftsmen, requiring the expenditure of vast amounts of energy. Let alone the entire Kingdom of Helios, even a small place like the Sis Territory hadn’t managed to equip every Knight with one.

“If the Sis Territory were capable of forging Transcendent Weapons, even if those merchant guilds harbored ulterior motives, they would only act after the Sis Territory succeeded, rather than abruptly strangling the effort before it could bear fruit.”

More crucially, similar incidents didn’t just occur in the Sis Territory. Other territories and other nations had also witnessed a large number of similar events.

Knowing that a multitude of similar events existed, who would naively believe that these incidents were isolated occurrences?

There must be a deeper reason running through them all!

Initially, some suspected that transcendent power was simply too dangerous, making accidents inevitable during research. However, those incidents where scholars still went mad despite rigorous safety precautions very bluntly pointed out the underlying logic:

It was highly likely the act of research itself.

Later, even further investigation revealed that it wasn’t just research; even pondering and observing, as long as they exceeded a certain boundary, would drive the corresponding individuals to madness.

In a certain sense, knowledge in this world was exceptionally precious, because this knowledge was very likely drenched in the blood of predecessors.

Yet, sometimes, knowledge in this world was also exceptionally cheap, because in order to survive, humanity had no choice but to share each other’s knowledge to avoid the losses brought about by redundant exploration.