Wizard: Start with Biological Transformation to Grind Experience
Chapter 203 - 017: Refresh Wild Blood Crystal Pocket

Chapter 203: 017: Refresh Wild Blood Crystal Pocket

Soon after, Lynch arrived at the location marked as the Knowledge Ruins on the map.

This area was close to the border.

The dimensional space here was vast, but the Wizards had sectioned off one part to use as the Blood-colored Battlefield, sealed within barriers.

Standing at the edge of the barrier, Lynch gazed outward. Through the almost transparent boundary, he could see a sprawling, fragmented cluster of buildings stretching into the distance, forming a continuous expanse of ruins.

The architectural style bore a resemblance to the ruins outside, making it easy to deduce that both stemmed from the same era—

Acadia.

Unlike the outer ruins, which were dominated by broken walls and collapsed structures, the remains here were notably more intact, allowing a clearer impression of the grandeur once possessed by that ancient era.

Looking further, towering structures hundreds of meters high dotted the scene, surrounded by clusters of buildings radiating outward in diverse forms. Above the skyline, floating ports hovered in abundance, while the roads on the ground were wide and paved with bluestone.

The city’s layout was meticulously defined: from commercial districts to magical industrial zones, recreational gardens, and beyond. The orderliness and functionality rivaled that of modern urban clusters on Earth.

"How could such an advanced magical civilization just disappear like that?"

Lynch was filled with curiosity.

The books only mentioned that a war broke out during that era, but there was scant detail about the war’s origins. Was it that too much time had passed, leaving incomplete records, or had he simply not come across the relevant materials?

"Someday, I should track down information related to this history," he thought.

Shaking his head and pulling himself out of his wandering thoughts, Lynch pressed on toward his destination.

Walking along the boundary line deeper in, he finally entered the Knowledge Ruins—a cluster of abandoned structures dominated by a massive Gothic-style building. It resembled a Medieval Earth cathedral, with heavy stone walls, towering obelisks, and intricate, exquisitely carved stone reliefs.

"Intruder! Intruder detected!"

Just as Lynch stepped through the gate, a piercing alarm resonated. The previously empty hall suddenly flickered with blurry, translucent figures emerging into view.

These figures were dressed in all manner of clothing, their eyes brimming with fervor and a tinge of mania as they fixed their gaze on him.

"Hah! A newcomer has arrived!"

"Ask him questions! Quickly, make him answer questions!"

"Failure to answer results in dissection!"

"Those who can grasp knowledge may stay; those who cannot must perish! The world has no need for the useless!"

Amid the cacophony of voices, a series of grating, creaking sounds echoed as a massive stone statue lumbered toward Lynch.

Its black, hollow eyes locked onto him. "Listen carefully to the question," it said.

"What is the lowest temperature an element can achieve?"

What kind of nonsense was this?

Lynch, who had already prepared for combat, was caught off guard by the statue’s sudden questioning. What bizarre setup was this?

"Answer immediately! Answer at once!"

"Answer the question!"

"Fail to answer, and face death!"

Seeing Lynch hesitate, the enormous stone statue grew visibly agitated. The ghostly figures floating nearby burst into sharp, eerie laughter.

Carefully, Lynch replied, "The theoretical value is -273.15°C, also known as absolute zero."

Time seemed to freeze momentarily.

"He answered correctly!"

"He actually answered correctly!"

"What a shame..."

The ghostly figures around him were visibly disappointed.

Meanwhile, the massive statue’s tone softened considerably.

"Well done, inheritor of knowledge. Here is your reward." It nodded approvingly, placed some Blood Crystals in front of Lynch, and turned to leave.

Prepared for a battle, Lynch froze, stunned. Had it really just walked away without a fight?

"What’s going on?"

Still, this was ultimately a good outcome. Lynch could sense that the stone statue was formidable—its strength at least rivaled Barton’s. If a battle had broken out, he would have had to exert significant effort. Receiving the crystals without conflict was undoubtedly ideal.

He picked them up and counted them: a total of twenty crystals.

"Answering questions... Knowledge Ruins..."

"Could it be that obtaining Blood Crystals here simply involves answering questions?"

In the Blood-colored Battlefield, there wasn’t always a need to engage in combat to collect Blood Crystals. Lynch had encountered several instances where crystals were attainable through solving puzzles. For instance, he had previously decoded a few Magic Arrays to acquire crystals.

It seemed the Knowledge Ruins offered Blood Crystals to those who could answer the questions posed here.

The layout of the Blood-colored Battlefield varied each cycle, apart from fixed zones like the castle. Since there was no reliable reference material for this area, Lynch could only conjecture.

"I’ll know more if I keep moving forward."

With that in mind, Lynch resumed his exploration. Not long after, he arrived at a room resembling a classroom.

The room was filled with Alchemy Puppets seated neatly in rows.

On the blackboard, a question was written: Given 286 Fire Element Particles and a Fourth System combinatorial magic, calculate the maximum Fire Element damage that this combination can unleash.

"Quickly answer! Quickly answer!"

"Solve the problem!"

"Fail to answer correctly and we’ll twist your head off to make an Alchemy Puppet!"

The Alchemy Puppets collectively opened their mouths, demanding Lynch solve the puzzle.

This one was simple.

Lynch confidently strode up to the blackboard, grabbed a piece of chalk, and began writing rapidly. It was a straightforward magical mathematics problem requiring only the substitution of numerical values into the corresponding formula to calculate the answer.

In no time, Lynch penned the correct answer: 13.5°C.

"Correct answer! Correct answer!"

"Congratulations! Congratulations!"

Cheers and applause erupted as the chalk on the blackboard transformed into glimmering Blood Crystals. Lynch tallied them up—another dozen or so crystals.

Aha! It really was like this!

Lynch continued exploring deeper into the building cluster, encountering bizarre entities along the way that posed peculiar questions.

A caravan demanded answers to a question: "Fail to answer, and you’ll be transformed into a centaur to pull the cart!"

A four-poster bed posed a problem: "Fail to answer, and you’ll be stripped naked and offered as entertainment, destined to become an X-slave!"

A pair of scissors threatened: "Fail to answer, and we’ll dissect you!"

The questions varied greatly but were invariably tied to magical knowledge.

How fortuitous!

Thanks to his decade-plus of diligent study, Lynch had essentially read through the entire collection of books in the Tower Silver Key Library. Beyond that, he had roamed far and wide in pursuit of knowledge, amassing an extraordinary depth of understanding.

While claiming omniscience would be an exaggeration, he was thoroughly versed in apprentice-level and even Wizard-level fundamentals.

The quirky creatures’ questions predominantly revolved around basic Wizard World knowledge, making them a breeze for Lynch to answer. He encountered virtually no queries he couldn’t solve.

The only exceptions involved Ice Element knowledge—a weak point for Lynch.

One stumper came from a frozen portrait. When Lynch answered incorrectly, the figure from the painting emerged and attacked him.

Its strength was formidable, nearly at the late stage of a High-level Apprentice. It took considerable effort for Lynch to finally defeat it.

"Whew! ~"

Breathing heavily, Lynch wiped the sweat from his brow. "This damn place really demands you answer correctly, huh?"

Lynch now understood why the map marked this area as highly dangerous.

[Blood Crystals +23]

The exploration continued.

...

Meanwhile, several apprentices tailing Lynch’s trail into the Knowledge Ruins were intercepted by the stone statue sculpture from earlier.

The statue boomed, "Answer this: What is the sixth decimal place of Pi?"

The apprentices froze, stunned.

Who would remember something so obscure? From the statue’s hostile appearance, however, it was clear this question shouldn’t be treated lightly.

After a moment of careful thought, one apprentice hesitantly replied, "Six?"

A guttural voice emanated from the statue. "Incorrect answer!"

It then slammed its fist down, reducing the apprentice to a smear of flesh.

His companions turned pale in unison.

Nearby, the ghostly figures grew gleefully frenzied.

"Wrong answer! Wrong answer!"

"Haha!"

"Die! Die!"

...

Shortly after, having emerged from a corridor and returned to the central hall, Lynch abruptly halted.

His gaze was drawn to the floor at the center of the hall.

There, resting serenely on the ground, were several Blood Crystal Pockets.

Lynch rubbed his eyes, repeatedly verifying he wasn’t mistaken.

Rushing forward, he picked up the various pouches one by one and inspected them—each contained varying amounts of Blood Crystals.

Lynch was dumbfounded.

"What the heck!"

"This place... this place actually spawns wild Blood Crystal Pockets?"