The Secret to Success

"W-where on earth did you get so many high-tier experience potions?"

Buze stumbled back a few steps, asking in disbelief.

Just as he finished asking, he watched as the golden bottles hanging all over Grinya vanished in a distorted halo of light.

What... what was going on now?

Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

Or was that scene just now entirely an illusion?

Buze's worldview was in the process of being completely rebuilt...

"Didn't you just ask me what the secret to my strength is?" Grinya suddenly asked him, interrupting his thoughts.

He nodded somewhat blankly.

"Fine, I can tell you my secret, but you'd better remember it well," she said calmly.

Buze's eyes lit up, and he produced a small notebook and a fountain pen from seemingly nowhere, ready to record. "I'm ready."

"Listen closely. My secrets to success are few, but effective. In my travels through the world, I rely on just two words."

"Two words?" Buze was a bit confused. "Which two words?"

"Skill."

"What is that?" Buze was stunned for a moment, but he still recorded it half-doubtingly.

"And confidence."

"Didn't you say it was only two words?" Buze couldn't help but ask, though his hand still honestly added those words.

"Calmness," Grinya added.

"Exactly how many words is it?" Buze frowned, suddenly feeling like the person in front of him was playing him for a fool.

"And suppression, dead end, breakthrough, self, proof, peak, shackles, answer, reliance, the end, interpretation, adversity, infinity, breaking, dilemma, doubt, reversal, tempering, limits, stopping, illusion, results, eventually, summiting, calmness, breaking free, restriction, domain, zenith, the past, farewell, memories, bondage, broken mirror, fragments, inferiority, gap, details, talent, focus, mindset, ceiling, breakthrough, escape, insight, the 'what is', destiny, hope, responsibility, despair, falling, strength, twilight, ultimately, state, indulgence, cold-heartedness, promise, parting, duty, maintenance, expectation, afterglow, absolute, miracle, abandonment, sincerity, sinking, and casualness."

Grinya finished the entire list in one breath, then let out a heavy sigh, staring at the already dumbfounded Buze.

"Did you get all of that down?"

Buze: "..."

I didn't remember a single thing!

...

On a small path outside... Axi Town.

Moen and the other two stood in the shadows of the trees. From a distance, they looked like three motionless wax statues, which was somewhat eerie.

"Moen, what are we waiting for?" Morai Sulin asked.

"The higher-ups said they're sending some supplies for the preparations," Moen said nonchalantly. "I heard they're quite precious, but I don't know what they are either."

"Duoze, do you know?" He turned to look at Duoze.

Duoze didn't really want to talk to him. This damned pansy's way of speaking was truly disgusting. If it weren't for the fact that they had to work together, he really wanted to stab this damned pansy to death with a sword.

"Bishop Duoze, what exactly is the cult sending over?" Morai Sulin asked.

Duoze glanced at her. Compared to Moen, he still preferred chatting with Morai Sulin.

Even though Morai Sulin's consciousness had been created by Moen.

"They're some small metal blocks. I don't know the name, but I heard Alesta mention them. He's the one responsible for collecting that stuff."

Duoze continued, "Those metal blocks are products influenced by godhood. They contain immense potential inside that can easily overturn this world."

"Can you speak in plain language?" Moen raised an eyebrow.

Duoze ground his teeth and glared at him. If Morai Sulin hadn't been there, he would have fought Moen long ago.

He had been tolerating this damned pansy for a long time!

"Those metal blocks can change the microscopic particle sequence of any substance in the world. As long as the energy they contain is sufficient, they can grant almost all your wishes!" Duoze said.

"Are they really that powerful?" Moen frowned.

Duoze said, "If you don't believe me, go ask Alesta. He's the one who told me all this."

While the few of them were chatting, a carriage appeared on the distant horizon of the fields.

"He's here," Duoze said. "It looks like the cult prepared quite a lot of goods this time."

The group stepped out from the shadows of the forest, and the two parties met under an inconspicuous small mound.

Alesta was a young-looking fellow, but even Duoze and Moen didn't know his actual age.

Before the two of them joined the cult, Alesta had already been working for them for many years, and he looked exactly the same back then.

After all these years, he hadn't aged a bit.

Morai Sulin's gaze was immediately drawn to the cargo being pulled by the carriage. A layer of white cloth wrapped the goods, shaped like a small mountain and looking very mysterious.

"Are these the legendary things that can grant any wish?" Morai Sulin curiously reached out her hand to touch the white cloth.

Alesta happened to be getting off the carriage to talk with Duoze and the other, but he suddenly whipped his head around and yanked Morai Sulin back in a fit of rage. "Get back! Don't touch it!"

Morai Sulin looked at Alesta with a wronged expression.

Moen frowned at the sight. Morai Sulin was his creation; he could scold her as he pleased, but he wouldn't allow anyone else to be mean to her.

This was a slap to his face!

"Alesta, why be so stingy? It's just a touch, isn't it?" Moen walked over, looking displeased.

Alesta was momentarily stunned by his high-pitched voice. "Moen, can you talk properly? It's nauseating when you try to sound like a broad."

Seeing that Moen was about to lose it, Alesta sensed trouble and quickly changed the subject. "It's not that I'm stingy. These things are products born from the influence of gods. They are the most primitive sources of corruption. Touching them is no different from touching a god."

"If someone wants to experience the feeling of mutating, I won't stop them, but that person absolutely cannot get everyone else killed here!" he said with a serious expression.

"Are these things really that dangerous?" Moen skeptically eyed the white cloth, then looked back at Alesta. "But we're so close to it right now, won't we be okay?"

"According to the cult's research, although the corruption of these things is terrifying, simple glass and plastic can isolate it. Under normal circumstances, there's no need to worry." After saying this, Alesta glanced at Morai Sulin. "But we still can't be careless. Except for me, none of you should touch it."

He reached out his arm, sliding it under the white cloth to pull out a small plastic bag.

Inside the plastic was a dark black metal that looked like a stone. Under the sunlight, it emitted a faint green fluorescence.

"Can this thing really grant all wishes?"

Moen was highly skeptical of the little thing's function.

It looked far too ordinary. After all, in this magical world, there were plenty of glowing stones, and every single one could emit a brighter light than this. By comparison, this black stone seemed completely unremarkable.

Could such a thing really be related to the gods?

"Saying it grants all wishes sounds a bit exaggerated. I can put it another way," Alesta said. "But it can bring you anything that has ever existed in this world, as long as you prepare a sufficient amount of it!"

"Really?"

"I've seen it with my own eyes," Alesta said with absolute certainty.

"What is it called?" Moen refocused on the black metal block inside the plastic bag.

"The high priest found it in ancient records. The gods call this substance..."

Alesta paused, then added weight to his tone, speaking heavily:

"Source Crystals!"