80: Chapter 18 Regaining the Apprenticeship

The Old Wharf trestle bridge was as quiet as usual after nightfall.

Under the moonlight, the surface of the Hoi River shimmered with a faint, eerie green light, and the wisps of fog in the Sea of Wraith at the end of the trestle bridge were still slowly dispersing.

Lu Li squatted at the edge of the trestle bridge and used the low-grade compass given to him by Old Eye to measure the density of the fog. The compass needle deflected slightly, pointing directly beneath the trestle bridge where the silver-white wisps of fog were thickest—the concentration was just enough to support the Sequence 9 advancement ritual.

He took the materials out of his waist pouch one by one.

The Spirit World dust was contained in a small, sealed glass bottle, shimmering with an extremely faint silver-blue luster under the moonlight.

The remnants of the ghost candle had obvious burn marks along their edges, but the spirituality structure within remained intact—this was old stock that Old Eye had dug up from the depths of the old library; its quality was mediocre, but it would suffice.

The Apprentice Pathway Sequence 9 characteristic fragment was sealed separately in a small lead box. On the inside of the lid, Old Eye's handwritten test notes were carved: "No spiritual imprint of the previous owner, can be used directly." The auxiliary ingredients, rain from an eclipse night and black cat whisker ashes, were stock brought from Tingen, well-preserved in a sealed copper bottle.

Lu Li took out a portable crucible and preheated it using the embers of the Prometheus's spiritual flame.

Without the assistance of jiaowei, the flame's temperature was nearly one-third lower than its peak, but the preparation of a Sequence 9 potion did not require high heat, so it was enough.

He poured the Spirit World dust into the crucible. The powder slowly melted in the low-temperature flame, releasing a damp, misty scent reminiscent of the deep forest in the early morning.

"Low-grade potions of such unpopular Pathways don't fetch a good price on the black market, but the materials themselves are no worse than those of the Marauder Pathway. The purity of this Spirit World dust is quite good," he muttered to himself, picking up the stirring rod and stirring clockwise at forty revolutions per minute.

The remnant of the ghost candle made an extremely faint hissing sound as it touched the surface of the liquid. The residual wraith aura inside the remnant was absorbed by the potion, and the color of the liquid gradually turned from silver-blue to deep purple.

The time-order grass powder and shadow grass juice were added in turn, causing concentric ripples to spread across the liquid's surface.

The black cat whisker ashes melted silently upon hitting the surface of the liquid. Finally, when the rain from the eclipse night was poured in, all the colors receded at once, and the liquid became completely transparent, with only a small cluster of constantly dancing silver-white spots of light floating in the center of the surface—the prototype of the Apprentice Pathway's spiritual circuit.

Lu Li removed the crucible from the flame to let it cool. While waiting, he used a spiritual detection needle to test the state of the spiritual circuit. All indicators were normal, and the Fate Anchor did not issue any warnings.

There was no risk of losing control during the advancement.

A moment later, he picked up the crucible and drank the potion in one gulp.

The potion did not feel like a liquid as it went down his throat; instead, it felt like a ball of cold flame, sliding all the way from his mouth to his stomach. It then diffused outward with his stomach as the center, spreading along his spiritual circuit to the tips of his limbs, and finally gathering at his fingertips.

The core of the Apprentice Pathway Sequence 9 is "Lock Picking"—spatial perception and short-distance unlocking abilities took root in his spiritual circuit once again.

Lu Li closed his eyes to sense his surroundings. The spatial structure within dozens of meters gradually emerged in his spiritual perception—the flow rate of the river water beneath the trestle bridge, the tiny cracks eroded by water inside the stone pillars, the gaps between the old ship planks piled on the distant wharf... the spatial position of every object was clearly visible.

The re-advancement to Apprentice was complete.

Lu Li removed the detection needle from his fingertip and recorded the advancement data in his notebook: Old Wharf trestle bridge, Sea of Wraith fog density met the standard, ritual went smoothly, Apprentice Pathway Sequence 9 reactivated, spatial perception and Lock Picking abilities restored.

He wrapped all the material residues in old newspaper, stuffed them into his pocket, picked up his backpack, and walked back along the trestle bridge.

By the time he returned to his River Bay District apartment, it was nearly midnight. Lu Li took out the items in his waist pouch one by one and put them away. The fragment of the worm of time lay quietly in his palm, emitting a regular, faint glow.

Lu Li leaned against the back of his chair, letting his spiritual circuit automatically adjust the energy distribution between his main and auxiliary Pathways. He then closed his eyes, feeling the Apprentice Pathway's spatial perception reintegrate into his spiritual circuit—it felt like finding a broken lute string; although the tone was thinner than before, at least it was there again.

Early the next morning, Lu Li went to Water Pump Street to find Abraham.

A new batch of low-grade Apprentice Pathway charms had arrived at the shop. He bought all of the few spatial perception enhancement charms and then began to continue taking intelligence commissions in the underground market. With his Apprentice Pathway re-advanced, the relationship network he had previously established in the black market could be maintained.

Over the next few days, Lu Li used his Sequence 7: Swindler information theft ability to gather several scattered pieces of intelligence regarding the Aurora Order's remaining movements from the Dock District cargo shipping company and the River Bay District secondhand market, selling them in a package to intelligence brokers.

The income wasn't high, but it was enough to cover his rent and material purchases for the next few weeks.

One evening, on his way back to the River Bay District from the underground market, Lu Li was crossing Kings Avenue when he saw a newsboy on the roadside waving the day's Backlund Daily. The front-page headline read, "King Approves Construction of East Borough Drainage System Phase II Project, Scheduled to Begin Next Year."

Below it was a subheading: "River Bay District Old Wharf Reconstruction Project Officially Approved; Municipal Government to Demolish Abandoned Warehouses for Public Green Space."

Lu Li stood on the street corner and quickly scanned the headlines and content. The coverage of the Phase II drainage system project happened to include several major side alley exits of the Water Pump Street Underground Commercial Street—if construction actually began, some shops in the underground market would need to relocate.

The Old Wharf Reconstruction Project meant that the abandoned warehouse area in the River Bay District would be incorporated into the municipal government's renovation scope, and the warehouses previously rented by the Aurora Order were all within the demolition zone.

These municipal projects had little impact on the ecosystem of the Beyonder black market—the Underground Commercial Street had long been accustomed to maintaining operations through temporary exits and spiritual barriers during municipal works, but for secret organizations requiring stable locations, the reconstruction could disrupt their layout.

After returning to his apartment, Lu Li copied these two pieces of news into his notebook with a pencil, writing a note next to the "Aurora Order Remaining Movements" column: "Phase II drainage covers Water Pump Street side alley exits, Old Wharf reconstruction covers the warehouse area. If the Aurora Order needs to rebuild safe houses, they may relocate further into the old city area."

Having finished the annotation, he flipped to another page of his notebook to continue recording his Sequence 7: Swindler potion digestion progress.

Over the next few days, Lu Li traveled daily between the Water Pump Street black market and his River Bay District apartment. In his capacity as a low-Sequence Nighthawk, he took on commissions and sold intelligence, covering his daily expenses while steadily advancing his Swindler digestion progress.

Scattered reports of the Aurora Order's remaining forces came from Abraham's side, and he organized and marked them one by one on his self-made map.

At the same time, he also took the time to keep an eye on the activity near the Old Wharf, observing whether any members of new secret organizations were coming and going, so as to make preparations in advance.