Chapter 44: Tome Buff

After finishing the discussion on high-grade rare potions,

Viscount Dylan did not beat around the bush with Gune and said directly,

"Lord Gune, do you urgently need high-grade soul transcendent tomes?"

"Mm." Gune did not hide anything, after all, that was precisely the purpose of his visit.

"Then... can Lord Gune withstand the whispered murmurs during cultivation?"

"What... do you mean?" Gune looked at him seriously.

Viscount Dylan shifted his sitting posture slightly and began to explain.

"To be honest with you, Lord Gune, among the batch of ancient tomes excavated by our Yulan Association's transcendent explorers from that mysterious place, there are indeed tomes related to soul cultivation."

"These tomes are vast and profound, yet very peculiar."

"After some of our transcendents received partial inheritance from these tomes, they discovered inexplicable whispered murmurs during cultivation."

"Moreover, as cultivation time increases, the murmurs grow stronger, even giving rise to a certain mild suggestive influence."

"Some of our casters attempted prolonged cultivation and testing, finding that the mild psychological suggestion affects the state of deep cultivation."

"If one forcibly maintains the cultivation state, it places a certain strain on the soul."

Viscount Dylan's words put Gune on alert.

"Whispered murmurs? Prolonged cultivation produces psychological suggestions?"

Gune frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Have these transcendent tomes been contaminated by some evil force?"

"Evidently, yes." Viscount Dylan nodded slightly.

"Only when a terrifying force invades do those alien races flee quickly, allowing the transcendent tomes to be preserved."

"If they had time for an orderly retreat, they wouldn't leave behind useful good things."

"That is true." Gune nodded slightly.

"Then what kind of force contaminated them?"

"Unclear." Viscount Dylan shook his head.

"If sent to the Yulan Transcendent Association headquarters, perhaps it could be identified. But here, few have much understanding of those mysterious forces."

"If sent to the headquarters, there would be none left for me," Gune muttered inwardly.

After a brief consideration, Gune asked cautiously,

"Could you elaborate on the specific effects of the mysterious murmurs and psychological suggestions during cultivation?"

After organizing his thoughts, Viscount Dylan spoke again.

"It's like a dreamlike murmur that you can hardly make out, sounding constantly in your ear, yet you can never remember its specific content. Or perhaps that murmured whisper itself is not the articulation of any content, but merely an unconscious, naturally emitted sound. Regardless, the murmured whisper cannot be remembered or described."

"Cannot be remembered? Cannot be described?" Gune narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

Gune gently rubbed his fingers.

"It seems the powerful being that contaminated these tomes is no simple matter!"

"But then again, how could a powerful being capable of contaminating closed, transcendent-characteristic tomes be simple?"

"So, what are the specific effects during cultivation?" Gune asked again.

"Take a transcendent third-rank spellweaver's cultivation as an example," Viscount Dylan continued.

"In the first two hours of cultivation, the murmurs have virtually no effect, as if they don't exist."

"Within three to four hours, faint murmured whispers begin to appear."

"At five to six hours, the murmurs start to affect the transcendent's cultivation state."

"At seven to eight hours, the effect intensifies further and gradually strengthens."

"When continuous deep cultivation reaches ten hours, the murmurs already affect cultivation to a certain extent, making it hard to cultivate peacefully."

"When cultivation exceeds twelve hours, a certain degree of mild psychological suggestion appears."

"The psychological suggestion gradually strengthens over time."

"That transcendent third-rank spellweaver, after eighteen hours of continuous cultivation, had his deep cultivation state broken by the psychological suggestion."

"He was forced to withdraw from the cultivation state."

"Moreover, the type of suggestion varies each time for different individuals."

"Including self-harm, bathing, eating, venting desires, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, cleanliness obsession, autism, and so on—various emotions can be triggered."

"Mild murmurs disappear about half an hour after stopping cultivation."

"Severe murmurs require an hour."

"When psychological suggestion appears, it takes at least two hours to naturally dispel that negative psychological suggestion."

"Of course, if someone provides psychological counseling, the process can be greatly accelerated."

After hearing Viscount Dylan's explanation, Gune nodded slightly.

Although the murmurs had an effect, as long as handled properly, the problem was not significant.

"So, if one accepts these soul tomes for cultivation, they need to divide the cultivation into separate time periods."

"Each session, short as one or two hours, long as five or six hours, to avoid being disturbed by the murmurs."

"Yes." Viscount Dylan nodded.

"Cultivating in separate time periods is the best way to deal with these contaminated tomes."

"Of course, if you have certain magical items that can suppress or even eliminate these effects, that would be even better."

"Suppress? Eliminate?" Gune's mind was calm and composed.

"Why would I do that?"

"These powerful transcendent tomes with negative buffs are... absolutely perfect for me."

Earlier, when he heard that these high-grade soul tomes had negative effects, Gune almost laughed.

Why was Gune's soul, at the apprentice spellweaver stage, already comparable in strength to that of an ordinary second- or third-rank spellweaver?

Wasn't it because Gune had been idly cultivating a transcendent tome, Ring Bombardment, that had a negative effect on the soul?

Now, these contaminated tomes,

with a negative buff during cultivation that gradually strengthens over time,

for Gune, this was completely accelerated cultivation!

Negative effects, in the system's view, do not exist.

The more negative the effect, the more the system would convert it into a tempering of the soul, enhancing its strength and capacity.

Though he thought this,

on the surface, Gune's expression showed some gravity and hesitation.

"Although there are some negative effects, they are still high-grade transcendent tomes. Overall, they are worth a try."

"After all, risk is always proportional to reward."

"Perhaps these murmured whispers can even temper the soul, making it stronger." Gune said thus.

"Indeed, frequently experiencing such negative tempering does enhance the soul's adaptability."

Viscount Dylan also smiled in agreement.

Soon, the carriage left Sugg Ruins City and proceeded along a narrow gray stone road into the depths of the mountains.

Looking out the window, the sky had completely darkened; the night was pitch black, with no visibility.

After leaving Sugg Ruins City, the carriage traveled for over ten minutes without stopping.

"Is the Sugg Ruins City Transcendent Association branch located so remotely?" Gune couldn't help asking.

"The location is relatively remote."

"After all, the Transcendent Association branch also needs to seal and research certain threatening sealed objects."

"In the city, if these sealed objects with life activity, or even those with intelligence, get out of control, the threat would be very high."

"Sealed objects."

Gune couldn't help raising an eyebrow.