Free Web NovelChapter 404: Chapter 391: Making a Mark
The next day.
The university issued a notice to all clubs about a voluntary activity.
Why not assign the task to the entire student body?
It stemmed from the university administration’s cautious consideration, not wanting to broaden the incident’s impact.
At present, individuals were not allowed to participate in the archaeology of the Yichuan Ruins; only organizations could enter.
The university clubs were semi-official small organizations, able to form minimum teams of about ten people to explore the Illusion Realms near the Yichuan Ruins and extract memories.
At this point, news about the Memory Fragments was not suitable for widespread dissemination.
Once it got out, the whole country would know that the memories of the Primordial Dream Butterfly were there.
Therefore, Wenquxing University was trying to exploit this time gap, maximizing its gains in the shortest period possible by mobilizing the core members of all clubs to collect memories and then return to organize them.
If all went smoothly, a batch of high-quality papers would be published in the next month or two, which would, in turn, enhance Wenquxing University’s scientific research strength in the Beast Taming Realm.
Meanwhile, the university’s professors also caught wind of the situation. They contacted clubs they were familiar with, preparing to act as faculty advisors and join the expeditions.
On this day, clubs signed up en masse, regardless of whether they were related to outdoor exploration or had nothing to do with history.
The university administration approved the proposals at lightning speed.
The Outdoor Adventure Club, which Gu Ming belonged to, also urgently opened up voluntary spots for its members—first come, first served.
Although it wasn’t explicitly stated what the activity was, some well-informed students proactively signed up.
Since Gu Ming had already mastered the latest Spiritual Fragment Analysis Method, he naturally couldn’t miss this major event and immediately signed up to go.
With so many people participating in club activities, the university administration granted leave in batches and adjusted class schedules.
To prevent the university from grinding to a complete halt, departure and return times were planned for each club.
Clubs would travel back and forth in waves, ensuring there was always a group of students attending classes so that the news wouldn’t leak to the entire country on the very first day.
However, Gu Ming knew that given the scale of the university’s operation, this matter couldn’t be kept secret for long.
Gu Ming estimated it probably wouldn’t even last three days.
’I originally just wanted to create a small opening for myself to logically get in and collect memories,’ Gu Ming thought. ’Looks like I’ve once again pushed the development of the Yichuan Ruins forward, moving it into the next phase.’
’Whatever, why am I thinking so much about this?’
Gu Ming shook his head. ’I should just focus on my own tasks for now.’
...
As club members traveled in droves to the vicinity of the Yichuan Ruins, they were repeatedly rebuffed at the marked Illusion Realm points.
Meanwhile, the various powers in the Capital also began to stir.
Those with family members studying at Wenquxing University learned the news after arriving at the destination with their clubs and quickly passed it on back home.
In less than half a day, many unfamiliar corporate entities appeared near the Yichuan Ruins.
However, because Wenquxing University had acted quickly, it had already filled up the surrounding exploration slots, pushing the area to its maximum capacity.
Even if later organizational teams wanted to join, they couldn’t get in because of the slot restrictions and could only wait on the periphery.
Gu Ming took advantage of this time, using the Spiritual Fragment Analysis Method to furiously extract memories.
In truth, Gu Ming didn’t need to be on-site and put himself at risk.
The dreams here were too dangerous and realistic, posing a huge test for one’s Spiritual Power.
Every night, while resting in the Dream Space, he could use his system to directly access regional information and simulate the conditions of the underground caverns, allowing him to extract top-tier battle scene Memory Fragments that others couldn’t experience.
Dying in a dream at least had a safety net.
There was no such safety net in reality.
But Gu Ming wasn’t afraid of the risk. On the contrary, his Spiritual Power had awakened a will to face risks head-on.
This level of danger was nothing to him.
According to the information from the system’s simulation, it could only simulate the regional data for the first sublevel of the underground caverns.
Unless he explored the lower levels and stepped into the entrance of the second sublevel, the map information wouldn’t refresh.
Gu Ming wasn’t satisfied with this; he wanted to simulate deeper maps and obtain higher-end battle memories.
That was why he had come here to try and proactively look for an opportunity to explore the underground caverns.
Over the past few days, Gu Ming had been actively distinguishing himself, fighting continuously for a whole week.
The amount of memory he extracted was also the highest in the entire club.
Even though there were many Beastmasters in the club with a higher Star Level than him, their Spiritual Fragment Analysis Methods were outdated and couldn’t match his extraction efficiency at all.
Each person could only extract about ten seconds’ worth of memory per day.
The absolute maximum was around twenty seconds; human Spiritual Power has its limits.
The big shots—the Six-star, Seven-star, and Eight-star Level masters—were exploring inside the underground caverns and wouldn’t compete with students for "scraps" on the periphery of the ruins.
As he spent time in the Dream Space furiously raising his Skill Level, by now, he had already reached the Great Success Level of proficiency, and it was difficult to improve any further.
Lu You was the same. The two of them extracted memories like mad.
Furthermore, Gu Ming had three Pet Beasts, and Lu You had two.
Gu Ming could extract fifty seconds of memory a day, which over time had already added up to several minutes.
This was equivalent to the workload of an entire club.
This showed that the contributions of Gu Ming and Lu You were far ahead of those in any other club.
This also earned Gu Ming an opportunity.
The official archaeological team noticed their contributions. With the rescue efforts at a standstill, they couldn’t help but send someone to summon Gu Ming for questioning.
"Right now, some students and teachers from your university are trapped inside the Yichuan Ruins. Do you want to go in and save them?
"Of course, we’re not asking you to go in and fight. Instead, we want you to use your keen Perception of Memory Essence to help us avoid risks and plan a safe route, making it easier to rescue them."
For Gu Ming to extract so much memory from the periphery, besides having an advanced method, the key was his sharp Perception and familiarity with the aura of Memory Essence.
Even the official leader couldn’t quite explain it; Gu Ming’s familiarity with Memory Essence was as if it had been forged through a thousand trials—he was more familiar with it than anyone else.
This was the very opportunity Gu Ming had been waiting for.
"We’re willing," Gu Ming said, nodding proactively.
The leader of the archaeological team had originally thought he would have to go to great lengths to persuade Gu Ming to help.
He never expected the young man to be so full of righteous passion. It seemed he had misjudged a gentleman with his own petty standards.
"Excellent, excellent! Truly a top student from Wenquxing University, so courageous!
"After this is done, we will also provide a serum that can help a Pet Beast improve its Blood Qi quality and alter its Evolution potential.
"You can rest assured on this point. The serum will definitely be from a Seven-star Level Blood God Python bloodline, which will be extremely beneficial for your Cyan Treasure.
"Hmm, and for you, Lu You, we will also present a heart serum from a Seven-star Earth Rock Dragon afterward. It can improve her Pet Beast’s cardiac potential."
The head of the archaeological team had investigated the files of Gu Ming and Lu You. He knew Gu Ming’s strongest Pet Beast was Cyan Treasure, and Lu You’s was Mouse Treasure.
Ah Kun, Ah Ji, Mianmian, and the others were contracted later.
They were still some ways off from their Three-star Evolution and had no use for these special-quota Evolution materials for the time being.
