In the matter of cultivation, personal effort is certainly important, but sometimes opportunities are more crucial.
Anyone who has been a Professional knows that sometimes when you wake up one morning, you feel refreshed, and completely renewed, as if your brain and body have been refurbished. Even the usually obscure and hard-to-understand knowledge becomes simple and clear, making training twice as effective with half the effort.
This occasionally occurring state is called an epiphany or enlightenment.
If you’re lucky, you might experience it once or twice a month; if not, you might not encounter it in a lifetime.
But thanks to Gauss’s Spell of Enlightenment, this serendipitous opportunity has become an ordinary benefit for the team.
Aaliyah came out of her room yawning.
"Haa—"
"Stayed up late last night?"
"Mhm."
Aaliyah rubbed her eyes and nodded.
Thinking back to the epiphany buff that lasted until late last night, she still found it somewhat incredible.
She had experienced moments of peak condition before, but rarely did they last so long.
It was her first time finding cultivation so fascinating; despite physical exhaustion, she was unwilling to stop.
"Take it easy from now on. Anyway, if you want to learn a spell, you can come find me anytime."
Gauss’s Spell of Enlightenment is unlimited in use.
So there’s actually no need to hurry.
"Hehe..."
Deep down, Aaliyah understood this principle, but unfortunately, she couldn’t hold back yesterday and got carried away.
"Go get some sleep."
"We’re not heading out this morning anyway." Gauss pushed the sleepy-eyed Aaliyah back into her room.
Her immediate task was to crawl into bed and have a deep slumber.
"Sorry."
Before closing the door, Aaliyah clasped her hands and apologized sincerely.
Gauss waved her off.
Extended and intense training, whether mental or physical, consumes unimaginable amounts of energy.
Through observation, Gauss also realized a flaw of his "Spell of Enlightenment."
That is, its effects are so good that the resulting fatigue and consumption far exceed normal training.
Among those who trained yesterday, only Gauss and Hephaestus could maintain their vitality the next day.
The others, even Albena, who was a warrior, showed signs of fatigue more or less.
Over the next two days, Gauss and his companions were kept busy.
Adventure commissions, travel, skill training...
Before they knew it, it was the sixth day in the lakeside town, the tenth day of the Blue Lake Hunting Tournament, and also its final day.
"Today seems to be the deadline for competition statistics, right?"
In the open space, Aaliyah suddenly remembered.
"The tally ends today at 6 PM." Serdur added.
He had silently kept an eye on the leaderboard’s changes and various information, even more concerned than Gauss himself.
"I went to check at noon today, and no one has caught up to the captain. The captain’s score is 2666, while Koman, in second place, only has 1215."
Gauss’s point acquisition speed slowed in the last two days.
Mainly because no one showed signs of catching up, and after consecutive hunting activities, the number of monsters around lakeside town significantly dwindled, leading to Gauss’s slowed monster culling speed as well.
However, his slowing down only pertained to his own previous pace. Compared to others, Gauss was still far ahead, way out in front.
Unless someone could, in the last three to four hours, start from zero and accumulate more than 2666 points.
This possibility cannot be said to be impossible but is almost nonexistent.
From Aaliyah’s perspective, she couldn’t imagine any monster capable of completing such an impossible task.
Even if Gauss from ten years later came, he wouldn’t manage it, right?
Given the limited number of monsters near the five towns and the time constraint, even level ten professionals would find it tough.
Meanwhile, Gauss was battling Ying’s clone to practice his close-combat skills and help Ying quickly get used to her newly acquired power.
Several dark shadows quickly wrapped around Gauss’s ankles.
These shadows split into countless black tendrils, swiftly crawling upward along Gauss’s legs.
A cold sense of sluggishness originated from below as the shadows attempted to pin him firmly in place.
Gauss glanced at his feet.
Power erupted from beneath his feet.
"Boom!"
A surge of immense power exploded outward from the center of his foot.
The ground cracked and trembled.
"Smash!"
The shadows entwining his ankles snapped inch by inch!
Her Shadow Binding Technique was strong but still not enough against Gauss. As long as the power was great enough, it could utilize momentary explosive force to break free.
Gauss swung his sword, the Windstrider, releasing Sword Qi that struck one of the shadows.
The shadow, severed mid-waist, disintegrated like snow melting into countless particles, merging into Ying not far away.
Gauss noticed the second shadow merging into the ground, swiftly dispatched a Magic Missile before it could completely submerge, and shattered it from the earth.
"Not bad, but there’s still room for improvement."
He approached Ying.
She was gently massaging the side of her head.
The shadow she cast had been "slain." Although it caused no physical harm to her, due to the feedback image, she felt discomfort as if she had just been killed in that moment too.