The Great Sage seemed to truly immerse himself in the story; even though he knew it was just a fairy tale, by the end, after reading the final chapter, he finally showed that peaceful smile again.
"What a wonderful story," the Great Sage said, "A great story of courage, hope, love, and dreams. Sadly, I can't bring it over to show those despicable people left in my academy."
The old man's eyes were full of kindness and nostalgia.
Meanwhile, Xue Dili opened another downloaded video, titled "Nexsus"…
This time, the old sage's reaction was even more intense, as if he couldn't wait to swing his magic staff and smash the skulls of those villains inside.
Afterwards, during a conversation with the old man, Xue Dili tossed a spare cell phone to him. The old man watched all of the Ultraman series in Xue Dili's collection on the plane at the fastest speed.
Good news, the Great Sage indeed liked Ultraman, genuinely from his heart.
Not-so-good news, the Great Sage's stance seemed a bit peculiar; the old undead used to admire Da Gu and aspired to become like him, so essentially, the old Undead Barak was just a simple Holy Knight yearning for glory and hope.
Yet the Great Sage is...angry at the villains?
Yes, it's anger. He showed no emotional expression towards the heroes, viewing the story indifferently, but whenever he saw villains, particularly those of the Great Demon King level, like Gatandje, Zaki, or the Yabo people, the Great Sage had a murderous look.
That kind of unprovoked anger, like wishing to tear these guys limb from limb, not even a hundred times would suffice for that wrath.
However, this was enough, at least proving that the old man and he were on the same side.
"Child, come, let's have a good talk." The old sage suddenly became serious.
The Great Sage called Xue Dili, who was practicing Divine Art at that moment, seemingly for something very important.
Xue Dili gradually let his guard down towards the Great Sage.
Though he didn't understand why the old man harbored such hatred towards those world-destroying villains, like a vengeful spirit wishing to tear them apart, at least they were on the same side, and he wasn't a lunatic.
In the past, the old undead admired Da Gu because Da Gu represented his ideal ending for himself.
And the Great Sage's hatred for villains, perhaps his world had villains who "destroyed the world" and actually succeeded?
Xue Dili thought his imagination was running wild again.
But maybe after a few days, while dreaming, he might dream of the old sage's past stories.
Setting down the Divine Art he was practicing, today he tried to rotate the Holy Light into a cutting chainsaw, but failed.
Without the old undead by his side, he didn't know what went wrong.
He tidied up and went to the Consciousness Space. The Great Sage returned the spare phone to Xue Dili, saying, "Child, you've got a big problem; you are no longer human."
Xue Dili: "???
Hey, old man, why are you insulting me?
The Great Sage disregarded Xue Dili's expression and said, "You are no longer what you call human. Now, you are more like a transitional form from a carbon-based organism to an energy life form."
"In simple terms, your body is still a carbon-based organism, but your soul has already transformed into an energy life form." The Great Sage said bluntly.
Xue Dili suddenly found the old man insightful.
He knew he had irreversibly undergone Undead Transformation, but Old Barak reversed the undead power within him, restoring him to the appearance of a normal person.
Xue Dili originally thought he had returned to normal, but the Great Sage's words made Xue Dili frown.
The soul transforming into an energy creature?
To be honest, Xue Dili already considered the Otherworld's undead as semi-energy creatures. Even if they only had their skeletons left, they could still move without relying on muscles, with the only weakness being the Soul Fire.
And the Witch Demon King went a step further; even if its Soul Fire was scattered, it could still reassemble, thus becoming the greatest calamity in that world.
From this perspective, normal undead are considered semi-energy creatures, while the Witch Demon King should have fully evolved, becoming a pure energy life form, right?
Seeing Xue Dili lost in thought, the Great Sage allowed him some time to ponder before saying, "On you, I see the world's Protection, see a recorded 'Great Achievement,' and also see a 'Treasure' forged from your Great Achievement. This is a Great Achievement that has garnered the World Consciousness's attention; it's not something an ordinary student could have done, you know."
Treasure? Birdman Armor?
Also, the amount of information in one sentence from the old thing was too much, world's Protection? Recorded Great Achievement?
"Explain in detail." Xue Dili sat beside the Great Sage, realizing that the Great Sage's knowledge was on a completely different level compared to that semi-illiterate old undead.
There was even a temptation for Xue Dili to exclaim "box" because the Great Sage seemed to be stripping Xue Dili of all his secrets.
"Protection is essentially a blessing. You could think of it as a world consciousness giving you a blessing entry, a reward for your Great Achievement." The Great Sage pointed at Xue Dili.
"And for your Protection, I can roughly tell that when you stand on the ground, your Magic consumption significantly decreases." The Great Sage said.
"Is that so?" Xue Dili was puzzled.
He lived on the 16th floor, yet it felt like the consumption when using Divine Art was similar to when he was on the 1st floor?
Wait…
Attempting to lift himself a centimeter off the ground using the Holy Light, Xue Dili once more cast the Holy Light Technique.
As expected, the consumption doubled.
As long as he was on the ground, even if it was on the 16th floor, the consumption was much less than before.
The Great Sage observed Xue Dili's experimentation, seemingly pleased with his response: "This is the world's Protection for you, without any range limitation; no matter what world you are in, as long as you are in direct contact with the 'earth' concept of a planet, you will receive this Protection."
Doesn't this mean a permanent blue buff?
Xue Dili's mouth curled slightly upwards. He had wronged that useless consciousness, not expecting it to provide him with a blue buff; while not overly powerful, it was simply triggered as long as he was in contact with the "earth."
This buff would make Kakashi from the neighboring Ninja Village's combat scenes drool with envy.
"Describing it orally feels a bit pale. Here's the thing, have a rest, don't randomly practice magic anymore. I'll spend some time building you a systematic system." The Great Sage seemed to feel some regret looking at Xue Dili.
As if seeing a flawless jade with a crack.
"After all, you are way too freelance right now." This comment from the Great Sage halted Xue Dili's actions.
"Freelance?" Xue Dili asked quizzically.
"You haven't undergone systematic, structured foundational training; it seems you're solely relying on instincts and experience-formed habits for training, be it your Swordsmanship or Magic." The Great Sage pointed out Xue Dili's issue precisely,
"Consider it paying rent; I'll set up a structured training system for you, then you'll understand."
Constructing an Extraordinary System seemed as simple as "I'm going to buy an orange" for this old man.