Chapter 254
Chapter 254
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 254
Chapter Title: Closed Dimension (3)
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Hubert Merchant Guild master's office.
"...Then we'll handle the mineral distribution as you instructed, Guild Master."
"Good. Is that everything you have to report?"
"Yes! That's all the urgent matters for now. Any additional orders?"
Diana, having finished her report, gathered the approved documents and tilted her head curiously.
Her hair neatly braided and tied back, paired with her prim and proper attire.
She had grown into an exemplary secretary, no matter how you looked at her now.
"No, that covers it. I'll call you if something comes up."
"Ah, yes! Then I'll take my leave."
"Handle anything that's not critical on your own and report later. I want some time alone to focus today."
"Understood!"
Clutching a thick stack of papers to her chest, she bowed politely and exited the office with careful steps.
Click—
Now alone with the door closed, Hubert leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile playing on his lips as he slowly stroked his chin.
She's incredibly capable, isn't she? She handles most things on her own, making my work so much easier. Her youth and lack of experience are a drawback, but honestly, I'm in the same boat. No, she's actually far better off than me.
In truth, Hubert's own business acumen wasn't anything special.
He had reached his current position solely thanks to the cheat-like wealth, military power, influence, and information networks from his other Avatars, plus a dash of luck.
Diana's talents, on the other hand, were the real deal.
After all, wasn't her "genius-level business acumen" guaranteed by the Analysis Skill?
She's already this good, and if I feed her proper information on top of that...
Those unaware simply marveled at Hubert's foresight born of informational superiority, but Diana's reactions since becoming his secretary were different.
Not only did she intuitively reach the conclusions Harris had agonized over, but she also instantly grasped the intent behind his brief instructions and suggested even more efficient alternatives.
Business efficiency has skyrocketed to absurd levels since making her my secretary. And her reliability is beyond reproach.
With the right support, she was the kind of talent who could elevate the Hubert Merchant Guild several ranks higher.
At first, he'd only been interested in her instincts—like how casually bought stocks ballooned several times over—but now it brought him genuine satisfaction.
With Diana handling the routine tasks, it's time for me to focus on this.
The work he wanted to do alone.
It wasn't related to the guild.
More precisely, it wasn't even tied to this world.
Plop—thud!
A stack of books poured out from the sub-space magic tool on Hubert's wrist, piling up neatly beside him.
At the same time, a faint scent of aged ink filled the air.
These were otherworldly tomes, bound in styles unseen in this world, their covers filled with unrecognizable scripts.
Having retrieved everything stored via Avatar Cloud, he finally picked up the topmost book and immediately activated Analysis.
⚙ ANALYSIS RESULT ⚙ Iron Fiend Qi Technique A secret manual unique to the Iron Fiend Clan, classified as unorthodox. When cultivated alongside external arts, qi circulates through every cell in the body, promoting physical growth and hardening it like steel. It becomes advantageous for channeling qi through the body later on, but growth becomes much harder beyond a certain level. Overall Rank: C- Main Features: Somewhat low acquisition difficulty, fast growth speed, high external art proficiency, somewhat low internal art proficiency, low growth limit A bust.
Hubert flipped through the pages casually, skimmed the contents, shook his head, and set it aside on the opposite chair.
It might help quickly raise a trainee to a usable level, but such half-baked skills held no appeal for him.
His hands moved busily next.
Books secured by ransacking the Eastern Dragon Branch and numerous other branches around Dongting Lake, up to the main branch leader, were sorted one by one based on their nature and utility.
Hmm, as expected... The proportion of orthodox faction martial arts is surprisingly high.
Harris, the irregular, had caught them off guard with a raid on their base, leading to their pathetic collapse—but the prowess of a force once counted among the top three in a province was no joke.
A considerable number of manuals appeared to have been looted from minor orthodox factions during their expansion.
Maybe I expected too much.
Unfortunately, their quality was generally mediocre.
The only martial arts that satisfied him so far were a handful, like the Flood Dragon Saber Art (A-) and Whale Wave Crocodile Heart Formula (A) pried from Jin Deok-man, the Dongting Eighteen Branches' main branch leader.
The bandits had collected over a hundred manuals through plunder, but most were worthless D-rank or below.
Sigh, typical bandits. No wonder their underlings seemed so lacking—it was all hot air.
Hubert frowned slightly and sighed.
The fact that they were a massive force dominating the region had already faded from his mind.
They simply didn't meet his standards, after all.
As he continued sorting in hopes of finding at least one gem—
His hand reached for an especially worn ancient tome whose title had faded from the cover.
"Hm? This one?"
The moment he checked its details, his eyes widened.
⚙ ANALYSIS RESULT ⚙ Gentle Eight Trigrams Secret Art A peerless manual imbued with the ambition to master the eight trigrams, said to represent all phenomena in the world. It pursues infinite harmony with heaven, earth, and all things, allowing interference in the material world through boundless internal energy upon achieving unity. It demands not just martial prowess but profound philosophical inquiry into all things, making it exceedingly difficult to learn. Overall Rank: S Main Features: Very high acquisition difficulty, slow growth speed, somewhat high external art proficiency, very high internal art proficiency, very high growth limit An S-rank martial art had popped out.
...It actually showed up.
Though he'd grumbled in dissatisfaction, one thing was clear from sorting the manuals.
The Analysis Skill's grading was extremely stingy.
By its standards, a comprehensive C-rank was a treasured absolute art passed only to elite disciples in minor sects, while A-rank was a rare secret even among great sects.
Excluding the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor, the highest martial arts from the strong returnees Hans faced were probably around B-rank.
He figured only famed peerless arts like the "Heavenly Demon Divine Art" would hit S-rank or above.
Honestly, he'd have been happy with a usable A+ rank, but this exceeded expectations.
And it's not even from the main branch leader. Tucked away in some minor bandit captain's warehouse.
No matter how worn the cover, anyone who practiced martial arts should recognize such a treasure's value.
With lingering doubts, he opened the book and examined its contents.
Soon, he understood why it had been ignored and treated so poorly.
—The positions of heaven and earth are set, the energies of mountains and lakes connect... thunder and wind clash with each other, ...and fire does not scorch each other, so the eight trigrams harmonize...
—Qian (乾) becomes the head, Kun (坤) the belly; Zhen (震) the feet, ...becomes the legs. Kan (坎) the ears, Li (離) the eyes; Gen (艮) the hands, and Dui (兌) the mouth...
What the hell is this?
Hubert's mouth twisted as he flipped the pages.
Other manuals at least tried to explain complex concepts clearly, but this was filled with blatant nonsense grasping at clouds.
On top of being ancient and poorly preserved, some characters were smudged beyond recognition.
No telling how the bandit captain acquired it, but he'd likely given up after a few pages.
It probably ended up in the manuals pile only because it included diagrams like human anatomy illustrations typical of martial arts texts.
Even the A-rank ones weren't this cryptic.
Hubert flipped through it repeatedly before reading the manual seriously from the start.
He could instantly understand the Kanghwan Realm's script via Xenoglossy, but mastering this art required grasping its deeper implications.
The memories of other Murim Realm returnees... Yeah, better than nothing. What is this, code-breaking?
Still, with plenty of relevant memories to reference, he figured he could decipher it with enough time.
It would have been ideal if he had intact memories from the Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor, the pinnacle of the Murim Realm...
"...Wait a second."
Then, a thought flashed through his mind.
Skills' directions and potentials shift based on user application, and their limits vary with proficiency.
If I use this right...
The superpower Xenoglossy, freeing him from all language barriers.
And Analysis, an upgrade over Appraisal, excelling at dissecting anything.
Without hesitation, he activated both skills simultaneously, pouring all his mental energy into them.
First real harvest from the Kanghwan Realm. Gotta try everything possible.
Why visit another dimension hoping for gains just to back off now? That'd be too pathetic.
Dumping in his excess mental resources activated Neural Overload, accelerating his thoughts endlessly.
Tssst—
His brain spun furiously, burning energy without end.
The initially simplistic link between Analysis and Xenoglossy solidified, faintly conveying not just contextual meaning but embedded intent.
He discerned the author's purpose in each sentence, inferred smudged words, and pieced together the overall structure.
But it still wasn't enough.
Fine, since we're this far, let's go all the way.
Hubert downed a bottle of VIP Market Growth Elixir that had appeared in his hand and pressed on.
True to its price, progress exploded as the effects kicked in.
This state lasts seven days?
But he wouldn't need seven to finish.
Half a day into unraveling the cryptic sentences like a cipher—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and attained enlightenment. Acquired Skill: Code Deciphering. The new skill's acquisition instantly cleared the bottleneck in his intensive work.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Huuup, fuu—."
With a deep breath, the surrounding energies flooded into Harris's lungs.
Thanks to his high elf racial traits and transcendent affinity, the natural energies—once half-forced—now yielded far more naturally to his will.
I see. I get the general feel now.
Having spent time attuning to this world's energies per the Kanghwan Realm's laws, Harris nodded slowly.
The newly acquired Code Deciphering had grown rapidly under the elixir's influence right from generation, accelerating the interpretation further.
Harris in the Kanghwan Realm immediately put it to the test, creating a virtuous cycle that aided Hubert's analysis in turn.
Gentle Eight Trigrams Secret Art... This suits Harris perfectly.
He'd planned to just secure a foothold this visit and build influence later, but he'd scored a bigger haul than expected.
The manual's decryption wasn't complete yet, but if he mastered it and harmonized it with his existing powers...
What synergy would that bring? Maybe enough to break through the wall blocking me now.
Harris already knew.
The moment he'd surpassed his limits with the World Tree's divine aid, he'd hit his growth ceiling.
It had been optimal then, proof he was among that world's top powerhouses via transcendence—but now that it was reality, regret was inevitable.
Just having potential is enough for now.
By chance, this dimension offered the opportunity he needed.
Coincidence or something more? He wasn't sure yet...
That could wait.
"...I'll ask once more. What business brings you to my humble clan's territory?"
Dozens of warriors bristled with killing intent, weapons drawn and aimed at him.
A day after leaving Dongting Lake.
Harris had arrived at his target: the Zhuge Clan of Yungzhong Mountain.