Duke Town's Disaster (Part 1)

  Anyone can have a moment of distraction, which wouldn't normally attract attention, but for someone like Amun who has always been calm and composed, this prolonged state is an anomaly. As a second-level divine spellcaster, he had long mastered the basic meditation techniques required for divine magic, yet suddenly found himself unable to enter that state of mental focus, with all sorts of distracting thoughts swirling uncontrollably - this was the obstacle he faced in continuing his cultivation of divine magic.

  This disorder does not appear out of thin air, but rather when a person is in a very calm state of mind, things that are usually not thought about or have been forgotten may suddenly emerge from the depths of their brain. A third-level spiritual practitioner can already learn intermediate spiritual techniques, which requires absolute calmness of the mind in a meditative state, entering a state that will not be disturbed by external chaotic information and various internal thoughts. Before this, he must go through this test, gathering his body and mind into an unprecedented subtle realm.

  This trial is called the firmness of faith, and in fact it tests a person's determination and willpower. For a divine art practitioner, faith is very important because at this time people often become restless and have distracting thoughts, causing them to doubt the divine art they are learning and the teacher who is teaching it. A devout and sincere faith in the divine can help calm the mind and break through to a deeper state of tranquility.

  If you understand the true meaning of this test, you should know how to face it and don't need to pray for divine intervention. After all, it is a self-test.

  Amon suddenly realized that the more devout one's faith is, the easier it is to pass such tests. As for him, if he didn't understand the underlying principle, he would probably be stuck in this stage forever.

  Amon had developed a good habit since he was young, he wouldn't dwell on things that were of no use. He would focus on doing the tasks at hand well first. So he stopped thinking about how to pass this test and how to unlock the secrets of the gods, which seemed like an unattainable goal. Instead, he continued to practice the basics of divine magic every day, trying to remain calm in the midst of various distractions.

  He also told Lin Ke and Mei Dianzuo that during this period of time, try not to disturb him and go practice their divine techniques on their own.

  Maidanzo had stayed in the dwarf tribe for long enough, worrying about the situation at home, and needed to return. Before leaving, he carried a heavy large leather bag to bid farewell to Armon. Armon imparted to him the complete secrets of several low-level divine techniques, told him what challenges he would face next, and called Link together, letting them make an oath.

  On the continent of Tianxu, people believe that oaths are effective. The oath that Ah Mon had them take was special - it required them to keep secret what they learned from him about divine arts and not use this knowledge to betray or harm him. Otherwise, they would be unable to pass the various trials that lay ahead, including "Faith's Firmness", "Devil's Temptation" and "Body and Mind's Unity".

  This oath is indeed effective, and the next test for Amun is not very clear, but after he understands "faithfulness" as "firmness of belief", he also knows that in order to pass the test, his heart cannot have any doubts, and the oath is the seed sown in his faith.

  Mei Danzuo's backpack was packed with refined iron ingots and a few pieces of top-grade horse steel blanks. A mid-ranking warrior, he had actually taken on the hard labor of carrying heavy loads up mountains, while also doing some small private trading business on the side. His physical skills hadn't been learned in vain! Ordinary people couldn't do this kind of work.

  A-Mon curiously asked: "Don't you think it's tiring? How much are these things worth?"

  Meadows patted his own leather pouch and said, "Several dozen gold coins! Just these few pieces of martensite steel blanks are worth five gold coins!" He took out three fist-sized martensite steel blanks from his backpack, which were already refined but not yet made into objects, and proudly placed them in front of Armon to show off.

  Amun has been in contact with iron ore and furnaces since he was a child, and the staff is made of the same high-quality refined iron. In the kingdom of Balen, this high-quality refined iron is called Magosteel. Medanzo boasted about how expensive it was, but Amun was a little surprised - it didn't seem to be worth much money. After going through hardships and dangers in the deep mountains, he sold it for only five gold coins in the distant city of Balen.

  High-quality refined iron in Duketown is a royal monopoly, and all excavated materials are uniformly handed over to the city-state. The town only pays wages to blacksmiths without paying for the purchase of refined iron, and most of the time, wages are directly offset by receiving mineral nuclei, so Armon is not clear how much refined iron is worth either.

  Mai Danzuo proudly put the three pieces of horsehide steel into his backpack and carefully stored them away, then rushed to Ah Meng and said: "This time's harvest is really not small, most importantly I learned divine magic from you, you are my teacher and guide, in my heart I am willing to call you Ah Meng God just like Lin Ke... When you have time, you must go to Balun City, I will do my best to give you the best hospitality, this time I also sent a small fortune."

  Ammon thought for a moment and said, "I won't be staying here forever. In the future, I do plan to go to Balen to take a look. You can have this divine stone. Cultivating divine techniques requires a lot of energy, you probably don't have time to keep running around making money."

  Amon casually handed Maidanzo a divine stone, and Maidanzo's eyes widened in shock. Link's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. The two of them were speechless for half a day before Link finally gasped out: "God Amon! You're too generous!"

  "My God!" exclaimed Mendenhall, stuttering. "Amon, how can I accept such a valuable gift from you?"

  Amon thought to himself, "Isn't one divine stone worth making such a big fuss over?" In the town of Du Ke where he lived, the best wine could be bought with just one divine stone, and at most, the merchant would throw in an extra sheep as a bonus. These two ignorant guys had never even heard of the Earth's Pupil before, let alone know how much the black divine stone they had used themselves was worth; otherwise, they would have fainted from shock.

  "This isn't a gift, you made a vow to me and promised to wait for me in Balen City. And I taught you the divine technique, hoping that you would focus on cultivating it. This is to let you go back and settle your family and yourself first, and cultivate well at home during this period of time. I will come find you later, just wait patiently." Ah Mon smiled as he reminded Medanzo, placing the divine stone in his hand.

  Mai Dangzo was so excited that he almost cried, and patted his chest again, saying a lot of admiring words. Ah Meng did this, of course, there is reason, on the mainland has not seen which noble god technique master still use personally manipulate life, even more impossible to carry heavy precision iron ore thousands of miles away for private transactions. Practicing divine techniques also requires a stable environment, otherwise Ah Meng would not have chosen to stay in the tribe of cave-dwelling savages.

  Mei Danzuo's round trip to the deep mountain village takes several months, and if he can bring back something worth tens of gold coins, it's considered good luck. After deducting the cost of exchanging goods with the village and travel expenses, he won't even make half a divine stone in profit. Ah Mon gave him a divine stone, which is equivalent to at least a year's worth of profit from reselling fine iron.

  Meadows thanked and left, repeatedly asking Armon not to forget, and must go to Balen City to find him. Link and Armon sent him off together until they reached the outskirts of the village, and on their way back, Link kept looking at Armon pitifully without saying a word. Link's little thoughts were quite obvious, as Armon's student, the teacher had given Mead such precious things, maybe he would also give him something.

  Amon figured it out and said to Link after returning to the village: "I have a story. A mayor asked a kid in town to herd sheep for two silver coins per month. Later, the kid had something come up and couldn't herd anymore, so he asked another kid if he could herd for one silver coin per month instead? The other kid agreed. Do you think the mayor owes him a silver coin?"

  That's not a made-up story, the town mayor was indeed Dasti, and the one who put down a silver coin for a month-old lamb was himself. Link was quick-witted and immediately understood Ahmon's meaning, so he hastily explained: "Ahmon God, I didn't say anything, nor did I dare ask you for divine stones, I just envied Medanjo a bit! You taught me divine techniques, granted me the power of the divine spirit, I should only thank you, give my good things to you, how could I say that you owe me something?"

  Amon smiled and went back to his thatched cottage, took out a delicate copper bottle and handed it over to Link: "You and your people have been very respectful to me, I've enjoyed plenty of delicious food and wine, so this wine bottle is for you. As the chief of your tribe, you still use clay pots to hold wine, you need something like this to decorate. As for the divine stone, it's already on your staff, and as a private tutor in magic, Medan often needs to use the divine stone. He often borrows your staff when he's here, I've seen it."

  Lin Ke took the copper bottle, which was considered the most exquisite object in their clan. The people of this clan had never seen it before. It was bought by Amun's father for fifteen silver coins, and the wine inside was all drunk by Xue Dingyuan. The bottle itself was also very beautiful. Lin Ke held it in his arms like a treasure and returned home with joy.

  In the following days, Ah Meng devoted himself to practicing the foundation of meditation, and the distracting thoughts gradually subsided. His soul seemed to sink into a deeper and more serene world. He sat there, as if he had another pair of invisible eyes that could see his own body and mind, very clearly knowing what he was thinking about, with an unprecedented experience, the outside world became clearer.

  The power cultivated by the gods must communicate with the outside world and learn to control various energies. Only when one's own heart is calm and overcomes distractions can they more clearly perceive this world.

  Amon had the heart but not the intention, one night while practicing meditation, he suddenly entered this state unintentionally. He naturally tried a mid-level divine technique, which was the detection divine technique that he had already experienced. In the dark of night without opening his eyes, the faint sounds outside the house were so clear, and with the sound, it seemed as if he could see small insects crawling at the corner of the wall.

  He successfully passed the "firm belief" test. Being able to use at least one intermediate divine technique is one of the standards for testing third-level divine technique practitioners. Although Amun had not read any detection divine technique scriptures, he felt the most basic principle of the puppet eye technique from the comprehensive sensation where various elements were indistinguishable from each other. The divine technique scripture has been summarized, and Amun also explored this step by himself.

  Just as he was carefully pondering this strange method of detection, a rumbling thunder suddenly came from the distant horizon.

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  PS: Tonight will try to update the second half of the chapter, vote request!

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