Rod carefully sorted through all his belongings now, as the Book of Knowledge constantly offered suggestions and taught him how to use these items.
This guy seemed more and more like a sentient being—its soul was recovering rapidly and becoming very "spiritual."
It must be said, many suggestions from the Book of Knowledge were very useful; it had a deep understanding of dream items and experiences from the previous owner, and with its assistance, Rod further mastered the usage of dreams items.
Rod was overjoyed, feeling more confident than ever.
The only pity was that he had used the "Kales’ Same Temperature Cannon" too hastily.
It was an extremely powerful item, exceptionally effective against ghost spirits, and using it to blast giant monsters was almost a waste.
But at that time, Rod had no choice but to choose such a tactic to quickly break the situation.
Moreover, Rod also inquired to the Book of Knowledge whether his ultimate move "Void’s Fury" had any hidden issues.
The plethora of terrifying beings triggered made him shudder; could using the Resurrection Stone to escape the backlash of "Awakening" possibly lead to the same situation?
However, this type of maneuver seemed to exceed the knowledge scope of the Book of Knowledge.
It thought for a long time but couldn’t provide any useful information.
"Really? Couldn’t my predecessor think of it? When he had the Resurrection Stone and Frost Blue, didn’t he think of such an overdrawn operation?"
The Book of Knowledge answered, "No, his path was completely different from yours; I’m missing that part of knowledge and memory, and I still have some scattered fragments that haven’t been restored."
"Is there another way to find Dream Fragments? It completely feels like finding a needle in a haystack, purely based on luck."
The Book of Knowledge seemed very anxious, its pages flipping restlessly.
"There should be. I need to think carefully; my soul hasn’t fully recovered either and still needs more spirituality."
"Stop eating, you can’t digest too much."
"Pah! I can handle it, 200 servings per day, not one less."
Rod didn’t care much; he had thousands of servings of spirituality left.
Moreover, after the evolution of the "Dark Devourer," although the soul was reduced, a single most complete soul could sacrifice hundreds of servings of spirituality; he was hardly lacking.
The Book of Knowledge also told him that the most complete soul could be "sacrificially burnt" on the Soul Altar, briefly gaining one of its special abilities.
For example, burning the soul of a giant monster, he could gain the giant monster’s powerful life ability.
Burning the soul of a fleshless skeleton, he could gain the skeleton’s regenerative armor.
Burning the soul of the Thief King, he could gain its most proficient stealing ability.
Used at the right moment, it could have unimaginably effective results.
The quantification of the "Dark Devourer" was really too strong... Rod couldn’t help asking, "What will happen when its quantification is complete?"
"The Dream Realm will then regain control over a portion of the Primordial Law, and possessing a Strong Source, it will recover some of its authority; such invasions will not easily occur, and the suppression force against invaders will be stronger,"
"Is the Dream Realm a creation of a god?"
"Am I the second owner?"
"Did... they all die?"
The Book of Knowledge did not answer this question.
Rod understood its hint; he shouldn’t ask this question.
He thought for a moment and then asked, "What is the difference between Strong Source and Source?"
"Strong Source is a higher level of law."
Rod was momentarily puzzled, "Is there a hierarchy within the Primordial Laws?"
The Book of Knowledge waved its pages, somewhat displeased.
"You always confuse Primordial Law with mere laws, they are not the same."
"There are a total of 107 types of Root Laws, which are 107 pieces of Primordial Law. They have shattered into countless fragments, large and small, but all are called laws."
"Only a complete piece of Root Law qualifies to be called Primordial Law."
Rod suddenly understood and curiously asked,
"Does anyone... does some kind of existence possess it now?"
"No, now the Sea of Source only contains shattered laws. They maintain the world’s operation through some special connections."
Rod nodded, "According to our rules, having traces of dust in a human soul is considered Starfire, and having large fragment traces is called Spiritual Fire."
The pages of the Book of Knowledge twisted slightly, looking somewhat pleased.
"Correct, this kind of projection trajectory approaching the laws is an upgrade, the process of assimilating and controlling the laws is quantification. Once quantification is completed, one possesses the corresponding Source, but a person’s soul can only accommodate so many trajectories; thus, the control over the Source will not exceed a certain quantity."
"But you are different."
Rod nodded. Horus had once said his Fire Spark was very powerful, almost like having multiple soul traits.
This must be the miracle brought about by the Obelisk; he is essentially both Starfire and Spiritual Fire.
Therefore, many potions have no effect on him.
The Book of Knowledge continued, "The laws themselves also have statuses. Besides the size of the fragments, the closer a law is to the core of Primordial Law, the stronger it is. The closer a law is to the upper layers of Primordial Law, the stronger it is."
"Strong Source is about those upper layers, those close to the core."
"The Source that the Dark Devourer controls is such, it is now infinitely close to its Root, nearly equal in might, but that one part distance is a chasm."
"Only by mastering the Source can one truly master power; only by mastering the Source can one completely control the rules."
Rod had a flash of Spiritual Light and finally got it.
"The more of the Source you have, the more resources you have; the higher the status of the Source, the greater the authority."
The Book of Knowledge flapped its pages.
"Exactly, Divine Sense has finally made you a bit smarter. It’s precisely because of this that monsters possessing Source are usually incredibly strong; their power grows extremely fast, and they possess all sorts of unimaginable abilities. You must be careful."
Rod nodded. He was well aware of this.
As Strong Monsters, the Abyss Giant Snake is hundreds of times stronger than the Corrupted Demon Dragon precisely because the Corrupted Demon Dragon lacks a Source while the Abyss Giant Snake possesses three Sources.
Apart from invaders of the Dream Realm, who appear weaker due to suppression, every monster Rod had encountered possessing a Source had been extremely formidable.
Surely there won’t be such monsters deep inside Star Town?
Rod felt a bit nervous.
He had already hired three hundred thousand miners, and if he couldn’t quickly secure Star Town, he would suffer terrible losses.
He tried to inquire with the Book of Knowledge, but it refused to answer.
"I can’t keep answering these non-knowledge-based questions anymore. Any questions outside my recognition consume my spirituality. The fewer wise creatures that know, the more extra costs I have to bear. I don’t want to become muddled again."
Rod was a bit disappointed, but he knew he could not force it; he simply patted the book’s spine and fed it several portions of spirituality, gently saying, "You’ve worked hard; take a good rest and heal your soul."
The Book of Knowledge twisted its pages, and a few words appeared: "No need for your words."
With a snap, it closed itself, turning its book spine towards Rod.
This book is practically becoming sentient.
Rod shook his head helplessly and lay back in the rocking chair of the cabin.
Wait, it has already become sentient.