Grey walked up to the wolf and instantly activated his True Origin Insight. The members of the Ardent Family had talked about a beast core, it was something that held the strength of a beast within it. All of its power and energy came precisely from this so-called beast core, and its special traits also originated from it.

He believed this beast core would be very beneficial to him.

Upon activating his True Origin Insight, Grey was immediately able to see a concentrated source of energy near the wolf's head.

His body burst out with sword energy, and in an instant, it shot into the wolf's head. Seconds later, a core floated out from its torn-open skull.

The core was translucent, but inside it was a swirling vortex of deep green energy.

"Vital essence," Grey examined the core carefully. "To think the vital essence would be this pure."

What was vital essence? It was one of the main components a Second Ranker needed, a fundamental cornerstone in breaking through to the Second Rank.

Vital essence was utilized by martial artists to transform their bodies, by cultivators to refine their energy, and by espers to temper their minds.

The Second Rank focused entirely on transformation, and vital essence played a crucial role in it.

One would form their vital essence for the first time upon reaching pseudo Second Rank, and from there, they could begin the transformation and step into the Second Rank after officially undergoing metamorphosis.

Evolvers consumed countless pills containing pure vital essence extracted from rare plants, and some even hunted down Second Rank beasts just to obtain their essence.

"If I'm not wrong, this core has a vital essence purity similar to that of a Second Rank mutated beast," Grey said with a satisfied smile.

He believed this core would come in handy when he underwent his second metamorphosis and reached the Second Rank. It would greatly benefit him, and perhaps he could even comprehend the mysteries behind the special traits beasts possessed.

"I should hunt down more beasts while I'm here," Grey noted silently in his mind, then kept the beast core.

After that, Grey turned his gaze toward the glowing mushrooms growing from the ground of the secret realm. He had noticed them since the moment he entered and had been curious about what they were; they were filled with a huge amount of cosmic energy.

"Now, will I know what this is without my Mind Interface?" Grey mumbled as he stared at the mushrooms.

Normally, whenever he found something unfamiliar in the wild, he would use his Mind Interface and the Starling network to obtain information about it.

But without any connection here, he couldn't find anything.

"Wait," Grey suddenly thought of something. "What if I utilize my Appraisal skill?"

He immediately activated his Appraisal skill, the one he usually used to check the power levels of others.

However, the result didn't surprise him, nothing came up after the appraisal.

"Hmm." A thoughtful expression appeared on Grey's face. "Why isn't it working?"

His mind began running at full capacity, gears turning faster than ever as he tried to dissect the logic behind the Appraisal skill. It didn't take long for him to find an answer.

Immediately, Grey's cheat was activated.

[Your comprehension defies the heavens! By pondering about the Appraisal skill, you've gained more insight into the Information Layer.]

A look of realization dawned on Grey.

"It makes sense!" he exclaimed, his expression brightening.

The Appraisal skill wasn't just some magic pulled out of thin air. It functioned by reading the hidden, invisible data stored within the Information Layer.

Every living being naturally emitted a set of information patterns, and Grey had comprehended this skill by hyper focusing on the desire to know someone's power level. The skill read the information patterns that reflected their energy level, life force, and evolutionary stage.

So far, that was what the Appraisal skill had been doing; it simply translated that invisible data into readable information.

The best comparison would be a receiver built to detect only one frequency band. Appraisal was the same. It had been tuned to capture just a single signal within the vast Information Layer, the one that represented an evolver's power level, the living frequency that revealed how strong someone was.

He needed to widen it's scope.

[Your comprehension defies the heavens! By pondering about the Appraisal skill, you've gained more insight into the Information Layer.]

[Your comprehension defies the heavens! By pondering about the Appraisal skill, you've gained more insight into the Information Layer.]

His cheat continued to echo in his mind, but Grey was completely focused on refining his skill.

The Appraisal skill needed to go beyond the surface. It had to search deeper, to find the faint, invisible data signals that revealed the origin, structure, and usage of everything.

[Your comprehension defies the heavens! By gaining more insight into the Information Layer, you've further perfected the Appraisal skill.]

A new window popped up before Grey's eyes inside his Mental Interface as he stared at the glowing mushrooms.

[Cosmic Mycelia – A rare glowing mushroom that naturally absorbs traces of cosmic energy. Its cap emits a faint blue-white light, resembling starlight scattered through mist. Years of absorbing cosmic energy have greatly amplified its natural properties.]

[Properties]

[1. Energy Purification]

[2. Helps Remove Impurities]

[3. Temporary Enhancement of Spiritual Perception]

[4. Rare Alchemy Ingredient]

"It worked!" Grey grinned.

His genius was truly on another level. Of course, part of it was due to his cheat, but since the lotus, which was his cheat had completely merged with his mind, he and his cheat were practically one.

At the same time, he was surprised after reading the fourth property of the Cosmic Mycelia.

"It actually shows information about it being an alchemy ingredient?"

The data he had extracted about the Cosmic Mycelia came directly from this section of the Information Layer, meaning that the information about it being an alchemy ingredient must have been written somewhere within this secret realm.

"It should be from the Inheritance Ground," Grey muttered as he waved his hand. Instantly, the glowing mushrooms were teleported into his spatial ring.

He shot up into the air, his gaze fixed on the three towering mountains in the distance. The one in the center was the tallest, while the other two were slightly smaller.

"The inheritance lies within the mountain at the center," Grey mumbled.

These three mountains were precisely the reason Grey had come to this secret realm.

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