Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1553 - 1114: You’ve Been Targeted!

Chapter 1553: Chapter 1114: You’ve Been Targeted!

Negris entered the Sage’s Home with three ’followers’ in tow, and Kiliforte specifically reminded him:

"Lord of Omniscience, we originally thought you had fallen, so we didn’t notify you. At three o’clock this afternoon, the Sage’s Home is holding a teleportation communication meeting, and you may attend in the Land of Meditation. The topic is about the Light Disaster."

Negris nodded. "Got it. I’m already injured, who cares about some Light Disaster? Boring."

Muttering as he went, he stepped onto the Ladder of Wisdom, the first verification checkpoint for entering the Sage’s Home.

As the door behind him slowly closed, Negris whispered, "Do I look convincing enough? Why do I need to act like this?"

Anthony gave him a thumbs-up. "Spot on! It’s practically your true persona. As for why? Because the Lord of Omniscience has this kind of personality. Based on the psychological profile I built from Coasney’s data, the Lord of Omniscience has a worse temper than you do."

Negris rolled his eyes. "I caught that. You’re saying I’m hard to please."

"Lord Nage, your wisdom is unmatched. You caught the meaning right away. Truly admirable, truly admirable," Anthony replied with a grin, leaving Negris so annoyed he wanted to hit him.

Soon, they ascended the stairs and arrived in a spacious room. The room was empty, with only a large door on the wall opposite the stairs.

"What’s going on? Is that all for the Ladder of Wisdom? Weren’t we supposed to be verified?" Negris whispered, though he wasn’t addressing the others outside but rather Xisluo within the Book of Yellow Stone.

Xisluo responded, "Of course not. This is only the first tier. The Ladder of Wisdom has three tiers. You’ll need to answer questions before you can proceed to the next tier."

"Where are the questions?" Negris asked.

"Step into the center of the room and press down; you’ll see them. They’re usually quite difficult and change periodically. If you can’t answer, you won’t gain access to the core Vault of Wisdom or higher privileges," Xisluo explained.

"I’m already a member. Why do I still have to answer questions to access the Vault of Wisdom? What’s the point of membership then?" Negris asked in surprise.

Xisluo explained, "Lord, membership grants you basic assistance. But to enter the Vault of Wisdom, the most core area, you must prove your intellect. If you don’t need to access the Vault of Wisdom, you can head to the nearby Land of Meditation, Sea of Learning, or even stay home. Just send the Sage’s Home a message, and someone will come to assist you."

"Oh, so basically, the ones who come here are just aiming for the core area or higher privileges. Regular issues don’t even require coming here; you just send a message?" Negris said, finally understanding.

"Exactly. Most come here to gain permissions for assigning tasks or requesting high-level assistance. If it’s something simple, they handle it themselves. Who would go out of their way to come here otherwise?" Xisluo answered.

All members of this organization are Lords of Omniscience. At Xisluo’s caliber, they are already overlords in their own right. If they come seeking wisdom, it must mean the matter is extraordinarily challenging. To get assistance from others, they must prove their intelligence; otherwise, who knows if their request is genuine?

After Negris relayed what Xisluo said, Anthony nodded in agreement. He actually understood the value of such verification. Intelligent beings have a tendency to slack, particularly in matters of intellect. When stuck, it’s natural to look for shortcuts.

If there were a place that could easily provide answers, people would inevitably go there first rather than thinking for themselves—just like how some wizards stop casting their own spells after becoming reliant on Magic Scrolls.

This, in turn, hampers intellectual growth and fosters laziness among members. By adding the difficulty of a gatekeeping mechanism, the organization ensures that members exhaust their own efforts before seeking help. This brilliant system sustains the group’s vitality. Whoever designed it was truly a master strategist.

Negris flew to the center of the room and stomped on a raised spot on the ground. A coordinate plane projection appeared, two points blinking on it.

"Pfft..." Xisluo spat metaphorical blood from within the Book of Yellow Stone. "How are you this unlucky? You got hit with the most irritating coordinate-system calculation. These problems are utter trash—huge computational workload, tight time constraints. If you can’t finish in time, it resets, and you’ll have to start over."

"This is ridiculous! Let the others help you. Four calculating together is faster than you alone. Sage’s Home allows you to bring three companions here for precisely these garbage problems. No one, no matter who, can avoid getting stuck on these..."

Xisluo clearly had suffered some traumatic experiences with these types of questions, and he vented his grievances in a long rant—only to watch Negris input the answer.

*Beep!* The coordinate plane vanished, and the door on the opposite wall eased open.

"W-What... Did you actually solve it? Or was that just a lucky guess?" Xisluo stood dumbstruck.

"Guess? Can you even guess a coordinate-system calculation? Go on. Try it." Negris stood proudly, hands on his hips.

"You... You’re not human," Xisluo concluded, utterly flabbergasted. "There’s no way a human can calculate coordinates that fast."

"Of course I’m not human. What, are you blind? Dragon! Dragon! Dragon! Look closely!" Negris gloated as he turned to call the group to fly toward the newly opened door.

Beyond the door was another staircase, leading to the second tier. The process repeated: Negris faced another question—this time, "Choose 100 correct Magic Circuit structures."

Along with the question, dozens of circuit diagrams materialized.

Xisluo spat blood again. "How are you this unlucky? Another garbage question! The last one tested calculation ability, and now this one’s testing memory. Magic Circuits are so intricate. You need to pick 100 correct ones, which means you must recognize at least that many. Who can remember that many? Most people memorize just a few commonly used ones, while the rest get stored in rings or scrolls for reference..."

As he grumbled, Negris’s claws rapidly pinpointed circuits—each one disappearing, replaced by another. Before Xisluo had even finished talking, Negris had already selected all 100.

The door on the opposite wall opened once again.

"You... You remembered all those? Is a dragon’s memory really this good? Even previous Lords of Omniscience haven’t managed that!" Xisluo said, visibly shaken.

Most people wouldn’t bother memorizing so many Magic Circuits. Ten to twenty for general use? Maybe. But anything beyond that stayed stored in accessible forms like rings or scrolls. Carrying a stack of scrolls made most Mages feel invincible.

However, this test was less about spellcasting and more of a "spot-the-difference" challenge. Without deep familiarity with the diagrams, mistakes were inevitable.

Fortunately, unlike the coordinate-plane problem, this one had no time limit. Still, Xisluo hadn’t even finished speaking, and Negris was already done. This was beyond absurd.

Feeling as though his own intelligence had been mercilessly trampled upon, Xisluo arrived at the third tier, only to see the final question. He couldn’t hold it in any longer: "This? This is blatantly targeted persecution! We don’t usually even get questions like this when we come here. You’re being singled out!"