In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar!

That night.

The banquet following the victory has come to an end.

Although Liam called it a celebration, he didn't go too wild.

After the men had eaten their fill, they took turns resting.

The members of the gilded troupe also began taking turns keeping watch.

Wang Yan also formally met the three scholars from before, named Ian, Perry, and Hawke. They were all scholars from the Siddham Academy, also known as the Sulun School, and were currently at the novice [Tasata] level. Their trip to Huacheng was to investigate the changes in the earth's veins due to seasonal changes. The three of them were writing a paper together to obtain a graduation thesis topic.

If a student wants to be promoted from an apprentice to a full-fledged student, that is, to graduate, he needs to have two papers on different topics approved.

All three of them are still stuck on their first research paper.

The three apologized for ignoring Wang Yan earlier, saying they thought he was just a forest ranger and they didn't have much to talk about, but they never expected him to be a scholar in the field of writing and language.

Wang Yan, of course, didn't care. After getting to know the three of them, he also asked about the situation of the Teaching Academy.

The three men told Wang Yan that with his language skills, he would definitely be able to get into the Zhilun School, and that Wang Yan might have to call them seniors in the future.

Although they do not belong to the same faction, there is still a distinction between senior and junior students among scholars of different grades within the Academy.

Of course, Wang Yan didn't know whether the three were speaking sincerely or exaggerating their praise.

The four chatted for a while until Ian yawned, then they dispersed to prepare for rest.

The caravan camp naturally didn't have many tents; they just laid out bedding around the central campfire.

Wang Yan sat on his bedding and took out the Demon-Sealing Scroll that Liam had just given him.

The scroll contains many hieroglyphs, but they are disjointed and messy.

Some scholars believe this may be the lost script of the Hilichurls.

But Wang Yan knew that this was not the writing of the Hilichurls, or rather, the Hilichurls did not have a writing system.

The foundation of the development of writing lies in the gradual enrichment of the language system and the ability to think abstractly about things.

The current level of civilization of the Hilichurls is clearly insufficient to achieve this.

Even when Wang Yan used his "Language Proficiency" to understand the language of the Qiuqiu people, the pronunciations were still fragmented and extremely limited.

So, what are the pictographic patterns drawn on the Demon Sealing Scroll?

The answer provided by [Proficient in Languages] is: Abyssal language, or rather, a language corrupted by the Abyss.

Wang Yan knew this language; in the game, when the Traveler encountered some abyssal beings, they would speak the abyssal language.

Now, looking at the Abyss Language on the scroll, Wang Yan can confirm that it is a language with extraordinary power.

The document records how to forcibly manipulate the elemental power of grass using the language of the abyss.

However, whether it's a spell or something else, the content on it is all jumbled up and has some missing parts.

Wang Yan estimated that the Grass Hill Shaman had only managed to master the spell "Summon Vines" through trial and error.

"However, others can't understand it and can only guess and fumble around, but for me, this is an open-book exam."

A hint of smugness crept into Wang Yan's heart.

With the blessing of [Language Proficiency], the hieroglyphs on the Demon Sealing Scroll, both in meaning and pronunciation, have been imprinted in Wang Yan's mind.

"Perhaps, it will allow me to experience the allure of extraordinary power ahead of time."

"However... the abyss is dangerous. If anything seems amiss, I must stop immediately."

Wang Yan took a deep breath and focused his mind on it.

He first carefully read each pictographic symbol, deeply understanding its internal structure and possible meaning.

Unconsciously, fingertips rose and, in the cold air before them, awkwardly traced the first complex pattern, following the stroke order on the scroll.

At the same time, he lowered his voice and tried to imitate the indistinct and filthy tone of the Grass Hill Shaman when he cast spells, uttering a few extremely difficult syllables intermittently.

"K'yth... R'lyeh... N'gha..."

No response.

The air remained heavy, and only his own shadow swayed slightly in the firelight.

The strokes in the drawing seem slightly off, and the stress and transitions of the syllables also appear stiff.

But Wang Yan was not discouraged. He brought the scroll close to the firelight and repeatedly compared the details of the patterns and the subtle correspondence between the lines.

He discovered that these hieroglyphs, though seemingly independent, were not actually isolated; the strokes seemed to conceal pathways for the flow of energy, like twisted blood vessels or ley lines in the earth.

Is energy flowing?

Wang Yan adjusted his finger movements, making the trajectory drawn in the air closer to that flowing feeling. He tried again, lengthening the last syllables and adding a smooth vibrato.

"K'yth... zha... R'lyeh... fhtagn..."

Still silent.

But when Wang Yan was tracing, he felt that the air around his fingertips seemed to have a slight, almost imperceptible, stagnation, as if he had touched some kind of invisible, viscous medium.

Although the spell failed, Wang Yan could sense that he was on the right path.

"It's not flowing enough... What is it? It's... Hmm! That's right, it's three-dimensional, not three-dimensional enough."

Wang Yan became even more focused, viewing the patterns on the scroll as three-dimensional chains of runes.

He closed his eyes, and relying on his memory and the vague senses brought about by his "language proficiency," he drew a more coherent and dynamic spiral trajectory in the air with his fingers.

The incantation he uttered was strung together into a short, filthy, and grating prayer, yet with a strange rhythm:

"N'gha... R'lyeh... K'yth zhaor... fhtagn... ya!"

The moment the last syllable fell, Wang Yan felt a faint, cold suction coming from the "end point" traced by his fingertips, followed by an extremely subtle "pop" sound, as if a bubble had burst.

He opened his eyes.

Less than a foot in front of him, a thin, hair-like, half-inch-long, emerald-green vine silently emerged from the soil.

It swayed slightly, its tip curled into a tender beard, and it exuded an extremely faint aura of grass elemental power.

Without a doubt, it was a success.

Although this vine is so weak that it might not even be able to support a single fallen leaf, it is indeed a grass elemental creation summoned by Wang Yan through drawing runes and chanting abyssal incantations.

but…

Wang Yan looked at the vines in front of him with some curiosity.

Wang Yan had also seen the Hilichurl Shaman's [Vine Summoning] spell, which carried a strong ominous aura.

But the vine he summoned, though weak, was... extremely pure.

Wang Yan had not studied elemental science and did not know how to classify elements, but he could sense that the vines he summoned were clean.

"And... I just used the power of the Abyss, but it doesn't seem to have any negative effects?"

As he pondered, an unbelievable thought flashed through Wang Yan's mind.

"Could it be... that I, like the Traveler, possess the ability to 'purify' the power of the Abyss?"

Alice once commented on the Traveler's purification of the Abyss's power: The power of the Abyss will not disappear without reason.

Therefore, the Traveler's purification of the Abyss's power must come at a price.

Either she paid a price, or... the power of the abyss was not purified, but merely absorbed by her.

After thinking it over, he finally shook his head: "No matter what, the fact that I can use supernatural powers proves that my development of [language proficiency] was correct."

He decided not to delve deeper into the study of the Abyss Language for now, but to keep it as a trump card.

For now, let's focus on studying the book "Characters, Strokes, Stripes: The Essence of Language".