Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

The table was set with various items.

The man held a tobacco pipe in his mouth and picked up a dagger, saying,

"This is a tactical camouflage dagger."

"What's it for?" Shen Ye asked.

"It's smeared with a special poison—one lick and you'll feign death."

The man blew out a ring of smoke, "So it's especially suitable for assassins on the battlefield."

He tossed the dagger over.

Shen Ye caught it and saw two lines of small characters engraved on the handle of the dagger:

"Manufacture date: May 15, 978;"

"Expiry date: May 16, 980."

"The poison is freshly produced, with a two-year shelf life. Even if you can't sleep well at night, just lick it once for a deep sleep, guaranteed to wake up refreshed the next day," the man said.

Shen Ye put down the dagger and shrugged, "Anything else?"

"Not enough to handle battlefield situations? Then check this out—"

The man whistled softly.

Neighhhh!

Outside, a horse's whinny was heard.

A grey battle horse galloped into the tent and stood beside the man, snorting loudly.

The man patted the horse on the rump.

The horse let out a mournful cry, quickly lying down and becoming still, staring with wide eyes.

"A horse that can play dead."

The man introduced.

"The horse and the dagger are a set?" Shen Ye asked.

"Good eye!" The man looked at him, surprised, and gave a compliment.

Good eye? Wasn't it obvious?

Shen Ye sighed, "Do you have a Nightmare Crystal? I want to learn some skills."

"Don't be hasty, take a look at this cool thing first," the man said.

A pair of black sunglasses was placed on the table.

Shen Ye raised an eyebrow.

Sunglasses? But this is clearly a fantasy world, isn't it?

"What's this? How do you use it?"

He asked.

With an air of showing off, the man picked up the sunglasses and whispered,

"Light penetrates the glasses, which are inset with two Shadow Crystals. Anyone who wears them can see through clothing to the money and treasures hidden on the person."

"Doesn't that mean it can see through clothes as well?" Shen Ye said.

"What are you thinking? Its current version can only detect the location of treasures," the man said.

He handed the sunglasses to Shen Ye.

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Shen Ye put them on and indeed, many spots in the tent gave off a faint glow.

Engaved at the bottom edge of the lens, a line of text read:

"—Seeing too much can only harm you."

Below that line, another, smaller line of text:

"Pay two more Gold Coins for additional features."

Shen Ye directly asked, "What can two gold coins get me?"

The man said,

"It'll unlock the VIP version for you, allowing you to see more things, such as a person's Basic Attributes and profession, as well as age, hobbies, gossips, and so on."

"Where did you get all this information?" Shen Ye asked.

"The Brotherhood has always been dedicated to gathering information."

"Impressive."

"You want this?"

"No, I still want the Nightmare Crystal. I'll trade for this next time," Shen Ye decided.

"Alright then."

The man took out two Nightmare Crystals from a small goatskin pouch at his waist and gently placed them on the table.

"The war is intense lately, supplies are tight. Right now, I only have these two skills available—take your pick," the man said, gesturing toward the left crystal.

"Elementary 'Bleeding,' a move that causes the opponent to bleed incessantly; all sorts of weapons like knives, swords, and daggers can use this technique."

"I only offer the elementary level of skills here."

He then pointed to the right crystal,

"Elementary 'Frostwind,' a Kicking Technique, a repelling move that can kick away enemies and their weapons."

"—Have you learned either of these? Which one are you lacking?"

I'm missing both.

Shen Ye thought silently to himself, his gaze moving back and forth between the two crystals, falling into contemplation.

Suddenly.

A voice rose quietly:

"Choose 'Frostwind.'"

Shen Ye felt a stir in his heart.

This voice—

It was the same one that had previously guided him and gifted him the "Night Shadow" Short Sword!

It had said that it needed him to become stronger so he could free it from the depths of the Nightmare World.

Anyway—

At least for now, it was helping him.

"I'll take 'Frostwind,'" Shen Ye said.

"Good, take it. It's yours now," the man said.

Shen Ye grabbed the crystal off the table and squeezed it hard.

The crystal shattered instantly.

A faint moon-white mist enveloped him for several seconds before quickly vanishing without a trace.

Memories of rigorous leg technique exercises surfaced in Shen Ye's mind.

As if he had been practicing kicking techniques from a young age, he could handle various situations by sweeping his legs to kick his targets away.

"Thank you," Shen Ye expressed his gratitude.

"You're always welcome to come back and complete more tasks," the man said.

He tossed a small bag of gold to Shen Ye.

"'Frostwind' is just an elementary kicking technique, and your task reward is worth more, so I'm using this gold to make up the difference."

"Ah, thanks—Actually, I've never really been educated in language and writing. Could you teach me some speaking and writing?" Shen Ye asked.

"That's easy."

Another small Nightmare Crystal was placed on the table.

"The languages and scripts of the Four Tribes, just one Gold Coin for you."

"Thanks a lot."

Shen Ye immediately paid up, crushed the language and script crystal, and once his memory was complete, he walked out of the tent.

At that moment.

The voice from the void once again surfaced in his ear:

"Next, you need to find a way to obtain the 'Specter' technique of the Undead Race and the 'Thunder Palm' of the Beast King Tribe."

Shen Ye glanced around, found a secluded forest, and asked in a low voice:

"Why do I need to obtain those two techniques?"

"Because they are not moves of this world," the voice said. "I can't say more, but if you truly acquire them, combined with your 'Moonlight Deer Step' and 'Frostwind', you will naturally understand."

"Are you constantly observing me?" Shen Ye asked.

"Not really—I spend most of my time asleep. You need to hurry up, gather them quickly… and you will unlock the true… secret…"

The voice faded in and out and then disappeared altogether.

Shen Ye stood silently in place for a long while.

—Learning skills reveals secrets?

He had never heard of such a preposterous thing in his past life.

"Hey, big Skeleton, did you hear that?" Shen Ye asked.

"Hear what?" The big Skeleton asked with confusion.

"You didn't hear anything?"

"All I saw was you talking to yourself here, looking like a fool."

"…Can you get me a technique from the Undead Race?" Shen Ye asked.

The big Skeleton replied impatiently, "As I've said before, our Undead Race's skills require Soulfire to cast. You—"

"Specter Technique." Shen Ye interjected.

"Huh? How do you know about that technique?" The big Skeleton asked, surprised.

"Just tell me if you have it. I need that technique now," Shen Ye said.

"There is one, but that technique is the most basic among Phantom Spells, not very useful. It can be cast as long as one has enough Agility and spiritual power," the big Skeleton said.

The Ring moved.

A pale Nightmare Crystal appeared in Shen Ye's hand.

Crack.

Shen Ye directly crushed it, and immediately a mist emerged from the crystal, seeping into his body.

"Specter Technique."

"Requires 3 points of Spirit, 5 points of Agility."

"Description: Unleashes a dark specter to confuse your opponent."

Shen Ye currently had 7 attribute points. He allocated 3 points to Spirit, achieving 3.9 Spirit; the remaining 4 points were dedicated to Agility, reaching 6.9.

The conditions were met!

He pondered for a few breaths, and suddenly, his body shook—

A dark shadow surged from his body, as if alive, and lurched forward.

This was the Specter Technique.

It seemed... besides giving someone a scare, it had no other meaning.

"You like this kind of trashy technique?"

The big Skeleton asked with a hint of mockery.

"Mind your own business," Shen Ye responded.

"I couldn't care less. I just thought you'd have some taste in choosing techniques, but I guess I was wrong," the big Skeleton sneered.

"Yeah, just like someone who broke their teeth eating a rotten turtle and now whistles through the gaps," Shen Ye retorted.

The big Skeleton fell silent.

Shen Ye felt a refreshing peace of mind and continued to ponder.

Firstly, that voice probably wouldn't lie to him about such matters.

— There's no sense in deceiving oneself into learning a useless technique.

Now, he had mastered "Moonlight Deer Step," "Frostwind," and "Specter Technique." Only "Thunder Palm" remained!

He was curious to see what would happen once he'd collected all these skills.

Shen Ye left the forest and headed towards the military camp.

After walking for a while, two knights on horseback spotted him from afar and immediately galloped towards him, shouting loudly:

"We finally found you!"

"That's right, The Boy Who Survived Great Adversities!"

Shen Ye's mouth twitched.

Is there any way to kill off this term that's about to become a catchphrase?

It seemed as if his thoughts took effect, as a dim light gathered on his retina, forming a line of instruction:

"An unformed term needs continuous exposure, to be echoed throughout the world, before it becomes fully established."

"If you wish to negate this term, there are two methods:"

"One is to become a Hermit; as time goes by and people forget you, the unformed term will dissipate along with it;"

"The other is to do something that is completely contrary to the meaning of the term, so people won't see you in the old light, and the term will change accordingly."

Shen Ye nodded inwardly.

Good!

Once matters here were concluded, a period of quiet disappearance would suffice!

The two knights dismounted, one holding a palm-sized box, the other carrying an envelope.

"Congratulations. In recognition of your bravery, His Royal Highness Prince Norton has decided to award you the Medal of Valor."

"There's also this letter of recommendation."

Shen Ye accepted the box and letter with a bewildered face.

How did it come to be—

That he received the Medal of Valor?