I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

After leaving Heijing Town, the carriage continued on its journey, which took seven or eight days.

We prepared plenty of supplies before setting off.

The Bronze City brought a lot of supplies, and the old man prepared new supplies before leaving. There was enough dry food and smoked meat to eat, and enough hay for the horses.

In addition, the cold fluorite and sandworm oil lamps perfectly filled the light source needed for traveling.

So along the way, apart from the horses stopping to rest and setting up camp at night, the carriage was moving forward almost all day long.

The scenery to the north and west is completely different.

After passing Heijing Town, there were almost no other carriages or even travelers on the official road.

The roads ahead and behind stretched out in a white expanse, with only their vehicle moving forward.

The higher you go, the stronger the wind blows in your face.

These past few days, the wind hitting my face has started to sting a bit.

Lu Yuan, wrapped in the Night Watchman's uniform jacket, huddled in the car, while the Blue Knight remained unchanged.

Her posture on the journey was almost the same as on the first day she set out; her cloak fluttered in the wind, but she still sat upright.

Clearly, for a fourth-tier Blue Knight, this harsh natural environment was almost nothing.

It was three days ago when we crossed the boundary mountain.

On the day we crossed the mountain, the wind blew down from the mountain pass, carrying a real chill.

Further ahead lies the true North.

All Lu Yuan could see was the vast expanse of snow and the white mountains.

The trees here are black, the mountains are snow-white, and the sky is gray.

Snowflakes fell from the sky from time to time, bringing a sense of tranquility and chill.

Lu Yuan only has two things to do these next few days.

The first is to cultivate defensive skills.

The ride was very bumpy, making it impossible to get into a meditative state for anything else.

Only by guarding can one barely complete the daily training requirement.

At the edge of my field of vision, gray and white text danced gently.

[Defense II: +0.2...34.2/50]

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, glanced at the words, and showed no expression.

That's about it every day. 0.2 points, sometimes 0.3 points.

At this rate, it would probably take a while to max out Guardian II.

Moreover, he had a vague feeling that this path would probably come to an end once the next stage of defense was reached.

Or rather, the book that ink gave him is coming to an end.

To advance to Guardian IV and Guardian V, you either need to get new books from the Ink, or the Guardian passive skill will only have so many levels.

However, that was a long time later.

The second thing is to play the sandworm bone flute when I have nothing else to do.

The sandworm bone flute is one of the few skills that can be enjoyed while traveling.

Anyway, he used it to play the Accompaniment Music and Sandworm Song.

You can't concentrate on anything in the car, and you can't produce any real results. It's purely a way to practice your skills and kill time.

He didn't even bother to touch the experience bar for ancient music theory.

After blowing for seven or eight days, the line of gray text still didn't appear.

She tilted her head and looked at Lu Yuan.

"What tune are you playing?"

Lu Yuan put down the bone flute.

"The song of the sandworm, accompanied by the music of plants."

"What is that?"

"A skill called Ancient Music Theory." Lu Yuan thought for a moment, then added, "A skill I learned in Sandworm Town. It's at a beginner level; the tunes I played didn't have much effect."

The Blue Knight was silent for a moment, as if recalling something.

"There's a teacher at the Knight Academy who is indeed skilled in music," the Blue Knight continued. "He has very unique insights into music, and his fighting style is also based on music. If I'm not mistaken, he should know some ancient music theory techniques, or rather, some pieces; I heard him mention it casually before."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

The veteran who fought using music seemed to be well-versed in ancient music theory.

Once you're in the academy, you should definitely ask him for advice.

He practiced on his own, but his progress was extremely slow.

When playing the instrument, the gray and white text appears with pitifully low efficiency.

It's not like pharmaceutical manufacturing, where every step is either right or wrong.

Ancient music theory deals with far too many possibilities, including breath control, rhythm, mood, and even fingering.

Therefore, Lu Yuan really didn't have a good way to get the gray and white text to help increase the experience bar of Ancient Music Theory.

But once enough techniques are found, it might still be possible.

"If you want to continue your studies," the Blue Knight added, "after you leave the academy, go to the East or the South."

Why?

"Because most of the bards stay on those two sides." The Blue Knight looked at the road ahead. "Among the superhumans in the Empire who are mainly focused on music, apart from a few special seniors, the only ones left are the bards."

Lu Yuan nodded.

The bard. He thought of Haimon.

That guy also said that the north was too dangerous, so he left in advance.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one; those in this line of work generally don't go north.

They should have their own unique perception of danger.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. These bards are always out and about, and those who aren't sensitive enough to danger are probably already dead.

When they were setting up camp at dusk, Oden reappeared.

These past few days, he's only been around for a short time at night.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue first, then said, "Another day of traveling."

"Hmm." Lu Yuan added a piece of firewood to the fire and replied to him in his mind, "In another day or two, we should reach Snow Owl City in the north."

"Snowy Owl City?" Oden asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The Blue Knight said that Snow Owl City is the largest central city in the north." Lu Yuan relayed what the Blue Knight had said.

"It's not the largest city, but the largest central city. To get to the Knight Academy, you have to pass through there. The Blue Knight needs to take care of some business in the city and stay for a few days before heading straight to the academy."

"oh."

Oden responded, then thought for a moment.

Clearly, he searched his memory but had no recollection of Xue Xiaocheng.

Snowy Owl City must have been built in recent years. Perhaps it was built a century ago, or perhaps a millennium ago. Auden didn't know.

That was the end of the story.

Lu Yuan could sense that this guy's attention wasn't on what he was saying at all.

Auden looked at the campfire, at the melting snow beside it, at the black soil exposed beneath it, and at the distant, indistinct mountains.

He is very focused on everything he looks at, even to the point of being obsessed.

Having spent an unknown amount of time underground, perhaps a thousand years, time and everything else were new to Auden.

Lu Yuan let him watch without disturbing him.