Sorcerer’s Handbook

The “Sorcerer Handbook: Culinary Chronicles” reads: “Advanced Culinary Recipes Mastery.”

The “Sorcerer Handbook: Feline Pet Care Diary” includes: “Cat Raising Mastery,” “Litter Scooping Mastery.”

The “Sorcerer Handbook: Fishing Secrets” states: “Mastery in Identifying Unknown Items.”

“Shocking, this Fishing Sorcerer, always fishing up all sorts of odd things from the river, has even mastered identifying unknown items… However, judging by his consistently empty-handed outcomes, he probably lacks the skill of Fishing Mastery.”

“But he’s quite adept at ‘fishing’ for people,” Sonya said without any hint of decorum, plopping down onto the sandy ground, her cheeks flushed as she breathed in short gasps. Her lips curled slightly upwards in a mix of complaint and excitement, “He almost had me killed.”

The Fishing Sorcerer wielded a peculiar kind of ‘fishing rod’ weapon, a hybrid between a spear and a grappling hook, masterful in both ranged and close combat, agile in the midst of battle—a rare One Wing Sorcerer skilled in group fights, handling both Ashe and Sonya without falling behind.

He even played a trick, feigning an attack with a long line to draw out Ashe’s defensive move, then swiftly changing his attack toward Sonya’s back. At that moment, Sonya was still dealing with the frontal assault from his fishing rod, and although she noticed the backstab, she had no room to dodge.

Had Ashe not timely enveloped Sonya with the Sword Barrier, they might both have been forced out of the Virtual Realm by now. Even avoiding this deadly trap, it took them a considerable effort to finally defeat the Fishing Sorcerer. Ashe suffered numerous minor injuries, and Sonya’s hand was pierced through, but thankfully, in the Virtual Realm, they could rapidly heal with Soul Energy. Had it been in reality, the Fishing Sorcerer would have killed them long ago.

Aside from his lack of fishing prowess, the Fishing Sorcerer could be considered a flawless One Wing Sorcerer.

As Ashe watched the Sorcerer Handbook turn to wisps of smoke and vanish, Inheritance Island rumbled, signaling its imminent sinking. He glanced at Sonya, still sitting on the ground resting, and noticed her body becoming nearly translucent—a sign of substantial Soul Energy depletion. He reached out his hand, “Let’s call it a night.”

Sonya looked at him and took his hand to stand up: “I could probably go for another battle.”

“But I’m tired. I don’t want to continue fighting.”

Ashe smiled, shook his head, and stretched lazily on the boat: “There’s no need to overdo it. Dying in the Virtual Realm could actually affect tomorrow’s escape from prison. Let’s sail a bit more and then leave the Virtual Realm.”

“After all, the hope of finding a Golden Fish in one night was quite preposterous. It’s normal not to achieve it. If we actually did, I’d start to wonder if the Four Pillars really were blessing me,” Ashe complained in jest. “It’s all because you brought up the Golden Fish. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. You’ll have to take full responsibility for this, Swordswoman!”

Despite Ashe’s absurd attempt to shift the blame, Sonya wasn’t upset at all.

She sat on the boat, legs crossed, her full and shapely thighs creating a mysterious and enticing dark line. Resting her elbow on her knee, her delicate hand propped up her chin, she fixed her gaze on the Observer.

Tonight, she was dressed in a black vest with a deep red miniskirt, ankle boots paired with long socks, and decorative bands like black belts around her thighs, a stylish and vivid look that added a touch of splendor to the monochrome world of the Sea of Knowledge.

Seeing the Swordswoman silent, Ashe grew a bit fearful: “Sorry, I got a bit arrogant. Oh, let me tell you a joke. Once there was a little rabbit who met a bear with diarrhea…”

“Quiet, I’m thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“About the information on the Golden Fish,” Sonya said calmly. “Analyzing the information we have to see if we can uncover the truth about the Golden Fish.”

Ashe waved his hand dismissively, “Don’t waste your effort. So many sorcerers have searched for years to no avail. Are they less talented than us, or not as diligent in their training? Yet even they have to proceed step by step, elevating their Faction Realm before ascending higher levels of the Virtual Realm. Hoping for a Miracle like the Golden Fish was always an unrealistic fantasy…”

“But sorcerers are born to chase after miracles.”

Sonya tilted her head with a smile, “Since we’re free anyway, why not just join me in figuring out how to find the Golden Fish?”

Ashe pursed his lips and tapped the “Map of the Virtual Realm” to direct the Boat toward a safe area. He sat beside the boat’s edge, arms folded, “Considering how nicely you’re dressed tonight, I’ll give you this face.”

“Thank you!” Sonya crisply responded, “Let’s start by organizing the new intelligence we’ve gathered.”

Ashe nodded, “Among the three Sorcerer Projections we defeated earlier, two of the handbooks mentioned the Golden Fish: the Gourmet Sorcerer wanted to taste the flesh of the Golden Fish, and the Fishing Sorcerer believed that the Golden Fish could be caught.”

It was hard to say whether the former was audacious to covet such a grand being within the Virtual Realm, or if the latter was mad, still obsessed with fishing even in the Virtual Realm.

“Although the Gourmet Sorcerer pursued it for many years and died without so much as tasting the Golden Fish’s excrement, he wasn’t without his gains—he once reached Destiny’s Inquiry Island.”

This shows how Ashe’s ability to ‘read Sorcerer Handbooks without barriers’ will become increasingly important in the future.

In the early stages, they could only read handbooks from Low-rank Sorcerers, which naturally yielded little benefit, since the lives of low-rank sorcerers are hardly worth mentioning.

But as they reach the Core Area of the Sea of Knowledge and encounter powerful Sorcerer Projections, the benefits of reading Sorcerer Handbooks can be said to skyrocket.

Not only have they had Adventures in the Virtual Realm, other Sorcerers also experienced their own lucky moments favored by the Virtual Realm.

What’s more intriguing is that Adventures in the Virtual Realm are not necessarily irreplicable.

Reading a Sorcerer Handbook is akin to acquiring the guide to another Sorcerer’s Exploring the Virtual Realm, including intelligence benefits. The ‘Whirlpool Secret Poison’ is the best example of this; if Ashe hadn’t happened to read that particular Sorcerer Handbook and learned this fast leveling guide, they would likely still be Silver Half-Wings.

“Just like us, he asked the Virtual Realm about the Golden Fish, ‘Can I eat the flesh of the Golden Fish in the Sea of Knowledge?’ The Virtual Realm’s answer was ‘no.’”

“We can conclude one thing: the Golden Fish does not exist as a flesh and blood entity in the Sea of Knowledge.”

“The Fishing Sorcerer, on the other hand, believed that the Golden Fish was hidden in the sea, which is why he persisted in fishing in the Virtual Realm for over a decade. But apart from occasionally catching Knowledge Creatures like the Mud Fish Dragon and the Slaying Fish-Dragon, he never found any trace of the Golden Fish. He also dived into the Sea of Knowledge, but it was pitch black, and he died soon after.”

“Here we can also draw a conclusion: we cannot dive into the Sea of Knowledge to find the Golden Fish.”

Sonya pondered, “And the intelligence we obtained earlier indicates that the Golden Fish can be seen without triggering any Ritual, always floating on the surface of the sea.”

Ashe counted on his fingers, “The Golden Fish is on the surface, it is not made of flesh and blood, it can be seen directly… Ah, I know what the Golden Fish is!”

“Ah?”

“Look at this white mist; doesn’t it fit all the characteristics? On the surface of the sea, inedible, and directly visible.” Ashe looked at the thick white mist enveloping the Boat. “The only problem is it doesn’t look like it could support a continent.”

“Be serious!”

“I am serious.” Ashe leaned lazily against the Boat, looking at Sonya and suddenly smiled, “Don’t worry, even without Gold arcane energy, I won’t just die while trying to escape from prison… probably.”

Sonya’s eyes flickered, “Who cares about you? I just want to see the scenery of the Time Continent as soon as possible. Staying in the Sea of Knowledge all the time, my arcane energy hardly grows.”

“Alright, alright, my bad,” Ashe said cheerfully. “By the way, didn’t you Rest for an hour tonight? What did you do?”

“I went to drink with Senior Sister Leoni.”

“The same Senior Sister Leoni who beat you up last time?”

“What ‘beat up’? I clearly won, and besides, it was all your fault in the end. You’re the one who insisted I fight with Senior Sister! And you have the nerve to bring it up—”

“Hey, are you even old enough to drink?”

“Tsk, really… Of course, I’m of age. I’ve been an adult for a while now. She shared a lot of stories about Abyss Adventures, very interesting.”

“Like what? Do tell.”

“For example, there’s a particularly rare ‘Evil Shadow’ that has no physical form and attacks the Soul, very troublesome. But its weakness is also obvious: as long as a light source casts its shadow, attacking the shadow inflicts severe damage on its essence.”

“Then there’s the really scary ‘Eyeball Hunter’. It has an extremely sturdy body and remains motionless when observed by someone’s gaze. But the moment you look away, it quickly approaches and pierces the Sorcerer’s eyeballs. Senior Sister and her companions encountered one once. Luckily, they were far enough away to escape.”

“The most dangerous monster in the Shallow Abyss is the ‘Devourer’. It’s huge and disguises its stomach as an ordinary cave. Once a Sorcerer steps inside, it closes off the stomach-cave and releases potent stomach acid. An average Silver Sorcerer has a very hard time breaking through its stomach lining, only to watch helplessly as they dissolve…”

Talking about these terrifying Abyss stories, Sonya seemed excited, her eyes shining. Ashe had been listening to the endearing tales with a kindly expression, but his face gradually changed, and he even suddenly sat up.

“You just said, there’s a monster that disguises its stomach as a cave?”

“Yeah, it’s called a ‘Devourer’. Why, have you seen one?”

“I think I might have seen something similar.”

Sonya blinked, “Similar?”

Ashe looked up, gazing into the white mist-shrouded sky.

“Do you think we could be inside the Golden Fish’s belly?”

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