Sebagai entitas yang hidup di dalam kaluna, Lex sebenarnya tidak punya mata sama sekali. Ia hanyut proyeksi saja yang terdiri dari indra rohnya sendiri. Meskipun begitu, proyeksi itu tetap menggaruk matanya, mengelus tangis darah yang mulai mengumpul. Di hadapannya bersusun daftar bahan-bahan Dao yang telah dicatat oleh dewan kota. Bahkan naga hitam pun tak pernah berani menyentuh daftar itu. Sekalipun ini sekadar daftar yang disusun di antara dinding kota saja, pengetahuan akan bahan-bahan Dao saja sudah cukup membebani. Lex sedang mengembangkan tubuh Dao Primordial, dan karena tubuh, jiwa, dan rohnya nyaris sama, jiwa di dalam kalunanya juga mendapatkan ketahanan yang sama. Itu sebabnya ia pun bisa membaca informasi terperinci soal bahan-bahan Dao tanpa perlindungan dari Inn. Nama bahan itu mungkin tak begitu berdampak besar, tapi ketika dikombinasikan dengan tampilannya, efeknya, dan sifat perkembangannya, semuanya menimbulkan tekanan tertentu. Bahkan ilmu gratis pun ada harganya, dan Lex hanya mampu mentolerirnya tipis-tipis karena tubuh Dao Primordialnya. Meski begitu, satu-satunya sebab ia tidak cedara parah adalah karena informasi ini tentang bahan-bahan Dao yang paling lembut dan bisa menampung Imortal, tanpa membunuh mereka saat kontak. Setelah membaca puluhan bahan sejenis, beban itu mulai menumpuk, dan Lex perlu berhenti. Akan tetapi, menurut pandangan naga hitam, kenyatanya bahwa Lex hanya mengalami pendarahan mata setelah membaca banyak sekian, bukan buta total, adalah pencapaian yang luar biasa! Bahkan semangat duka itu membuat naga semakin bersemangat untuk bekerja sama dengan Lex! Seolah-olah itu tidak cukup saja, aura jiwa Lex yang secara alami memancar membuat naga merasa akrab, seolah sedang berinteraksi dengan naga lain dari keluarga yang sama. "Apa kemajuan yang sudah kamu capai, saudaraku Lex?" seru naga dengan ramah, menunggu dengan gugupnya agar Lex memutuskan sasaran mereka. "Aku sudah membaca 49 bahan teratas dari daftar itu, tapi aku masih keheran bahwa masih ada lebih dari sepuluh ribu sisanya. Akan mustahil untuk menelusuri semuanya," jawab Lex sambil tetap mengelus matanya, pakai energi sendiri untuk perlahan-lahan pulih. "Sepuluh ribu itu sudah setelah kamu memfilter dengan kriteria."," Aku justru mengusulkan agar kamu meluas parameter pencarian untuk mempersempit hasilnya lebih jauh lagi," sarankan naga hitamnya. Tanpa pertumbuhan, Lex menolak. "Aku sudah menerapkan lebih dari seratus filter di terminal pencari," ucapnya dengan senyum rakyok yang tak bisa percaya. "Ini semua bahan-bahan Dao yang sebenarnya bisa kujangkau tanpa membahayakan diriku, dan bisa kujual pakai tanpa menghabiskan banyak waktu dan energi. Aku cukup kesulitan mempercayainya." Lex menggoyangkan kepalanya. Ia semula pikir dia hanya akan menemukan satu atau dua bahan Dao di Gua Berlian, dan selebihnya kemudian perlu memanen bahan-bahan dengan tingkat Surgawi. Namun ia terlalu memandang rendah kekayaan yang ditawarkan oleh Gua itu! Masalahnya sekarang adalah memilih bahan-bahan Dao mana yang bakal dipilih agar ia bisa memaksimalkan pemakaiannya tanpa menimbulkan saling bertentangan antar-bahan saat digunakan untuk meningkatkan kalunanya! Ini … adalah masalah yang paling menjengkelkan sekaligus menyenangkan sepanjang hidupnya. "Jangan berarti bahan-bahan Dao itu aman bagi imortal berarti bisa dengan mudah diakses oleh mereka," tutur naga hitam. "Kalau tidak begitu, hoard naga akan jauh lebih besar dari yang sekarang. Ngomong-ngomong, aku tidak ingin mencengkrama atau mencampuri urusanmu, tapi izinkan kud memberi saran. Tahukah kamu mengapa, meskipun ada banyak sekali bahan-bahan Dao yang bisa diakses imortal, warga dari kuil Fortune hampir tak pernah memanennya?" Lex membelokkan pandangannya ke arah naga hitam, dan meskipun matanya tertutup, ia tetap bisa melihatnya dengan indra rohnya nyaman. "Dengan cara kamu mengatakannya, aku merasa sudah cukup jelas. Hendaknya bukanlah retribusi Gua itu atau kesulitan akses yang menjadi alasan utama," jawabnya. Nah, naga mengangguk. "Semua Imortal Surgawi puncak di Gua Berlian memiliki tujuan untuk menjadi Dao Lord, namun ujian Dao tak bisa dilakukan di dalam Gua itu. Oleh karena itu, demi masa depan mereka sendiri maupun tetangga, mereka semua menyebarkan sebuah berita agar para imortal rendah tidak salah langkah. Bagaimanapun, ketika seseorang mencapai puncak alam Imortal Surgawi, budak kultivasi akan otomatis mempelajari cara untuk menjadi Dao Lord. Meski rincian metodenya tidak disampaikan, sebab para kultivator rendah tidak mampu menanggung beban pengetahuan itu, namun mereka tetap memberi saran. Setiap imortal yang menyerap bahan Dao akan semakin sulit melewati ujian Dao, yang pada dasarnya hampir menjadi kalimat ancaman bagi siapa pun yang merencanakannya. Sejak saat itulah, mereka semua menghindarinya, menyisakan kebanyakan sumber daya untuk dicatat dalam arsip dewan kota, dan jarang sekali benar-benar dipanen." Lex terdiam. Ya, ia sudah membuatnya. Apakah berarti dia sudah gagal? Ia teringat saat pertemuannya dengan orang tuanya di Arch-Heaven, dan ibunya yang berpendapat ia sepertinya sudah menyerah untuk menjadi Dao Lord. Ia justru menyoranginya, berkata ia cukup cerdas untuk menghindari bahaya. Lex tersenyum, lalu membuka matanya sambil menatap naga hitam. "Aku belum mencapai puncak alam Imortal Surgawi, tapi aku sudah bisa bilang bahwa siapa saja yang menyerah sebelum nekat memanen bahan-banyu … kemungkinan besar tidak akan pernah menjadi Dao Lord." Naganya terkejut, tak mengharapkan kata-kata sekam berat itu. "Lalu, mengapa?" seruannya tak bisa terbendung. Lex meliriknya, lalu kembali ke daftar bahan. "Mereka menyerah sebelum benar-benar bertarung. Dengan tekad lemah seperti ini, mereka tak akan pernah mengalahkan ujian Dao," ucapnya sambil kembali fokus pada daftar. Kata-katanya menggedumbir seperti guntur di telinga naga, membuatnya tak bergerak. Ia sendiri belum mencapai puncak alam Surgawi, namun alasan ia menahan diri bukanlah karena nasiwa itu. Ia ingin menambahkan bahan-bahan Dao ke dalam harta karunnya, bukan menggunakannya untuk dirinya. Meski begitu, ia bisa melihat betapa mengikuti nasiwa itu bisa berupa rasa takut dan kekurangan keyakinan. Sementara naga tengah dalam refleksi, Lex menceloteh dalam hatinya, "Fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge!" Aku cukup terganggu bahwa akanku naik ke level berikutnya malah semakin sulit. Bukan karena Lex ragu bisa bertahan melalui ujian itu, tapi sebabnya, sepertinya pola tribulasinya yang berlebihan akan terus berlanjut. Ia agak takut betapa besar dampak apa yang akan ditimbulkan oleh ujian Surgawinya, sehingga tak sanggup bayangkan betapa hebatnya ujian Dao. Di akhirnya, ia hanya menghela napas dan melepaskan. Yang ia bisa lakukan hanyalah mengakui bahwa nasibnya adalah untuk selalu berada di jalur yang lebih sulit. Sungguhnya, jalur yang mudah justru sudah kebetulan terhalang. "Mari kita mulai dari sini," ujarnya sambil menunjuk ke sesuatu di daftar. "Kenangan Karat akan menjadi target pertama, dan dari sana kita bisa langsung beralih ke Darah Dilupakan. Keduanya cukup dekat satu sama lain sehingga kita bisa mengambilnya dalam satu perjalanan. Memperhitungkan jarak dari pintu gerbang, serta waktu tempuh ke sumber dayanya, kita harusnya bisa menyelesaikan paketnya dalam kurang dari tiga tahun." Ambisi membakar dalam hati Lex, meskipun ia tak menampilkannya. Meskipun naga berkata jalannya akan kesulitan jika bahan-bahan Dao diserap, sudah terlalu larum untuk kembali. Dalam hal ini, lebih baik ia seluruhnya terlibat. Apalagi, kultivasinya tidak pernah normal sekalipun. Tempat yang kaya akan sumber daya seperti Gua Berlian bukan sesuatu yang bisa bertemu berulang kali. Meski tribulasinya semakin sulit… ya, itu masalah untuk Lex di masa mendatang. Apa pun yang harus dilakukan? Kembali dalam waktu dan memarahi diri sendiri? Itu leluah, sebuah leluah buruk. Saat Lex sedang bertukak-talk dengan dirinya dan menenangkan rohnya, sekilas semangat juga muncul di matanya. Entah kapan pun ia selesai dengan Gua itu, pemangku yang mengintainya akan kecewa yang tak terukur. Ia hanya harap, penyeimbang di sekeliling tubuhnya tetap kuat selama dua puluh tahun lagi.
Bab 2348: Lumer
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As an entity living within a necklace, Lex didn’t actually have eyes, and was merely a projection made up from his own spirit sense. Even so, the projection rubbed his eyes, wiping the tears of blood that had begun to pool up.
In front of him lay a list of Dao materials that had been catalogued by the city council. Even the black dragon himself had never dared look at the list. Even though this was a list compiled in the city itself, merely the knowledge of Dao materials had a burden.
Lex was in the process of developing a Primordial Dao Body, and since his body, soul and spirit were basically the same, his soul within the necklace gained the same resilience. It was for that reason that he could even read such detailed information about Dao materials without the protection of the Inn.
The name of the material might have limited effect, but when Lex also looked at its appearance, its effects and the nature of its development, it accumulated into a certain pressure. Even free knowledge had a price, and Lex could only barely begin to tolerate it because of his Primordial Dao Body.
Even then, the only reason Lex was not harmed was because this information was regarding the gentlest Dao materials that could accommodate Immortals, and wouldn’t kill them upon coming into contact. After reading about dozens of such materials, however, the strain accumulated, and Lex needed to stop.
Yet in the eyes of the black dragon, the fact that Lex only suffered from bleeding eyes after reading so much instead of direct blindness was an enormous feat! He became even more excited about working together with him!
As if that was not enough, Lex’s soul naturally emitted an aura that made the dragon feel friendly towards him, as if he was dealing with another dragon of respectable heritage.
"What progress have you made, brother Lex?" the dragon asked amicably, waiting eagerly for him to decide on their target.
"I’ve read the top 49 materials listed on the list, but I can’t believe there’s over ten thousand more on the list. It’s basically impossible to go through them all," Lex said as he continued to rub his eyes, using his own energy to slowly help himself recover.
"That’s ten thousand after your criteria was filtered out. I say rather than searching the list manually, you continue to expand your search parameters to narrow down the results further," the black dragon said.
Lex shook his head.
"I’ve already put in over a hundred filters on the search terminal," Lex said with a disbelieving smile on his face. "These are Dao materials that I could basically just go and scoop up without harming myself, and I can use them easily without wasting a lot of time and energy. Honestly, I find it somewhat difficult to believe."
Lex shook his head. He had originally thought that he would, at most, find one or two Dao materials in the Gilded Hollow that he could get his hands on, and the rest of the time he’d need to harvest Celestial grade materials. Yet he had severely underestimated the abundant wealth of the Hollow!
The issue he was now having was deciding which Dao materials to go for so that he could use as many of them as possible without causing inherent contradictions between the materials when they’re used for upgrading his necklace!
This was... the most frustrating and yet somehow simultaneously the most wonderful problem he’d ever had.
"Just because the Dao materials themselves don’t harm immortals does not mean they can be easily accessed by immortals," the black dragon told Lex. "Otherwise I would have a much larger treasure hoard than I already do. By the way, I don’t mean to pry or interfere, but I thought I’d give you a piece of advice. Do you know the reason that, despite there being so many Dao materials that can be accessed by immortals, the residents of the Fortune stronghold hardly ever go to retrieve them?"
Lex turned towards the black dragon, and though his eyes were closed, he could see him clearly with his spirit sense.
"The way you’re saying it, I suppose the Hollow’s retribution and the inherent difficulty of getting the materials aren’t the main reasons," Lex stated.
The dragon nodded.
"All peak Celestial Immortals in the Gilded Hollow aim to become Dao Lords, but the Dao tribulation cannot be taken within the Hollow. Thus, for the sake of their own future, as for the future of their neighbors, they all spread a certain piece of news so that low level immortals don’t make a mistake early on.
"As you may already know, upon reaching the peak of the Celestial realm, a cultivator will automatically learn the method to become a Dao Lord. While the exact details of the method were not shared, simply because lower level cultivators cannot bear the weight of that knowledge, they did share a piece of advice.
"Any immortal who absorbs a Dao material will find it infinitely harder to pass the Dao tribulation, which is already basically a death sentence for almost everyone who experiences it. Since then, they’ve all avoided it, leaving an abundance of these resources to be recorded in the city council files, hardly ever actually harvested."
Lex paused. Well, he’d already done that. Was he screwed? He couldn’t help but recall the moment he met his parents in Arch-Heaven, and his mother thought that he’d basically given up on becoming a Dao Lord. She actually applauded him for it, telling him he was smart for avoiding the risk.
Lex smirked, and opened his eyes, looking at the black dragon.
"Well, I haven’t reached the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm, but I can already tell you that anyone who gave up on the idea of harvesting those materials because of that advice... probably won’t become a Dao Lord to begin with."
The black dragon was stunned, not expecting to hear such words.
"How come?" he could not help but ask.
Lex glanced at him, and then back at the list of materials.
"They gave up before even entering the fight. With such a weak resolve, they won’t be able to overcome the Dao tribulations," Lex said casually as he refocused on the list. His words, though, rang like thunder in the ears of the black dragon, freezing it still.
He himself had not reached the peak of the Celestial realm, but the reason he had restrained himself was not because of the advice, but because he wanted to add the Dao materials to his hoard rather than use it himself. Still, he could see how adhering to that advice might be as a result of fear and lack of conviction.
While the dragon was lost in introspection, Lex was internally cursing.
’ Fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge! ’
Actually, he was quite annoyed that he had inadvertently caused his ascension to become more difficult. It wasn’t because Lex thought he wouldn’t be able to survive the tribulation, but because it seemed like his history of over the top tribulations would persist. He was actually slightly afraid of the phenomenon his Celestial tribulation would cause, so he could not even imagine the result of the Dao tribulation.
In the end, he just sighed internally, and let it go. All he could say was that it was his destiny to be exceptional, so he would always walk the harder path. It totally wasn’t because the easy path had already incidentally been cut off.
"We’ll start with this," said Lex as he pointed to something on the list. "The Memory of Rust will be our first target, and from there we can directly move towards the Forgotten Blood. They are both close enough to each other that we can get them in a single trip. Accounting for the distance from waygates, and the travel time to each resource, we should be able to complete the round trip in under three years."
Ambition burned deep in Lex’s heart, though he did not let it show. Although the dragon had told him his path would become more difficult if he absorbed Dao materials, it was already too late. In that case, he might as well commit all the way to it. Besides, his cultivation had never been normal to begin with.
A place as abundant in resources as the Gilded Hollow was not something he could encounter again and again. Even if his tribulation became harder... well, that was a problem for future Lex. What was he even going to do? Turn back time and beat himself up?
Heh, that was a bad joke.
As Lex talked to himself and soothed his spirit, a flicker of excitement also flashed through his eyes. Once he was done with the Hollow, the stalker would be in for one heck of a surprise.
He just hoped that the barrier around his body could hold up for another twenty years.
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