"This is a fragment of the 'True Cross' upon which the Messiah was crucified."

Hearing this, Su Zhou, who was poking at the snake spirit, immediately stopped. It wasn't until Yala urged him to 'hurry up' that he continued to press down stiffly.

Although his academic performance was average, his knowledge of extracurricular topics related to mystery was extensive. The Messiah's cross? The one that witnessed the death and resurrection of the former Holy Son of the Cross, the 'True Cross' that witnessed the 'miracle'?

He never expected that this wood chip would have such a great origin. No wonder it could ward off evil!

"No, no! You're fundamentally wrong!"

Su Zhou shook his head. If it were the complete 'True Cross,' then with the high spiritual rank that the former Cross religion used to suppress the European continent, anything related to their Messiah, even a fragment of clothing, could probably suppress a great evil spirit, let alone his sacrificial cross... The complete version of this thing could easily suppress and kill a minor god, let alone exorcise evil!

This wood chip is a fragment of a true divine artifact!

Rather, the fact that it was sucked by the snake spirit until only a little bit of its evil-warding function remained already showed how severely damaged it was.

"Then... what about this wood powder?"

Hearing that the inconspicuous wood chip had such an origin, Su Zhou couldn't help but have higher expectations for the wood powder that Yala was currently lying on. He rubbed the red snake's back while the latter praised 'Comfortable!' and asked, "What kind of divine object is this?"

"This? A branch of the 'Original Tree of Wisdom,' the 'Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.'" The snake spirit wiggled on the wood powder and said lazily, "But it's broken into powder. Fortunately, the spirituality still exists, and it hasn't really turned into wood powder."

Damn.

Su Zhou expressed the common sentiment of the Zheng Nation network in his heart.

Although the sects no longer existed, there were still surviving classics. Of course, he knew what the 'Tree of Wisdom' was. It was the mother of the fruit that gave humans wisdom in the ancient Cross Covenant, a true divine tree!

"This thing actually exists and has become wood powder?"

Su Zhou recalled the grand occasion of the Holy Snake Spirit Convocation holding a void ritual and extracting the spirituality of all things to condense a trace of 'Undying Blood,' and his heart suddenly turned cold. Just that little bit of Undying Blood consumed so many spiritual objects. It seemed that condensing more Undying Blood to transform his family and friends was something he shouldn't think about in the short term.

At this moment, Su Zhou had a little understanding of the power of Yala's former body... and from this simple conversation, he also felt a sense of crisis.

"There are definitely many hidden mysterious organizations in this world. The Holy Snake Spirit Convocation may have been the closest to success in the past, but it was definitely not the largest."

Could it be that only sects that worship the Holy Snake Spirit can hold void rituals? That was obviously impossible.

"Don't be too surprised, Su Zhou. As spiritual energy recovers and the extraordinary returns, similar divine objects will return one by one and be born one by one. To say nothing else, in the mountains near your hometown, I have sensed a strong aura of thunder and righteous law, but it has already been concealed in advance by related personnel."

Seeing Su Zhou fall into thought, Yala raised its head. It shook and said, "The secrets hidden in this world are far deeper than you imagine. I can't tell you too much now, not because I'm hiding anything, but because you don't have the power to protect those secrets yet. Of course, you're already very strong. In this era of unrecovered spiritual energy, you should be the strongest of the extraordinary.

But Su Zhou, our goals and vision cannot be limited to this land, or even this world. Although the other good-for-nothings haven't had time to come out, they do exist and have the power to influence this world."

"Yes, I understand. Just tell me directly. I won't mind."

Su Zhou nodded slightly. As long as Yala told him in advance, he wouldn't dwell on it.

But soon, he looked at the wood chips and wood powder in his hand and asked hesitantly, "But Yala, since these are all fragments of divine objects... then isn't the usage I thought of before too wasteful? How should I use them to maximize their effectiveness?"

"This is what I want to tell you."

At this time, Yala understood that it couldn't continue to be safe and sound, nestled in the wood powder, reminiscing about the past. So it sighed and climbed along Su Zhou's hand to the back of the boy's ear and began to teach, "You probably don't have a white crystal bottle at home, right? Glass will do."

"Well, ordinary people shouldn't have mercury and liquid purified gold readily available... That's okay too. Take some tap water and sanctify it into holy water with a ritual. It should be barely usable."

"First, arrange the True Cross fragments in a cross shape and glue them together with holy water..."

"Wait, how can holy water glue things?" While the snake spirit spoke, Su Zhou acted. He was originally an ultimate action-oriented person with extremely strong hands-on skills, but this didn't prevent him from complaining as he worked, "Could it be that holy water can also act as glue?"

"You'll know soon." Yala didn't explain. Under its guidance, Su Zhou quickly found a glass bottle that his mother used to use for alcohol and then held a very simple small ritual to sanctify the water into holy water.

It was really simple. Just boil the water, then follow the snake spirit to recite a secret incantation, raise the spiritual energy, and sprinkle some spices (pepper and curry powder are fine) in the name of all the saints, and that was it.

"It's quite fragrant. Maybe I can use cumin next time."

This was Su Zhou's thought when blessing the holy water.

Of course, the sanctified water didn't have the smell of spices. Instead, it was miraculously pure and could emit a white glow under the stimulation of spiritual energy.

Su Zhou glued the wood chip cross together with holy water. Finally, he placed the small cross in a bottle filled with holy water to fix it, sealed it up, and then placed it in some hidden place in his home. The power of the holy light could protect a large area around it. At least, the kind of black shadow that appeared yesterday wouldn't be able to appear and approach.

"It can really be used as glue!" After doing all this, Su Zhou tried to break the wood chip cross in shock. With his strength, even an iron cross made of pure steel would be bent, but the result was that this seemingly fragile cross was simply unmovable!

"This simplified ritual is actually the same principle as the large arrays in the Pontifical Temple. It won't purify harmless ghosts, it will only disperse those with evil intentions. It's useful and very hidden."

Yala was quite satisfied with Su Zhou's hands-on ability. It could see that Su Zhou had obviously carried out some small rituals from mysterious books in the past, so he was familiar with some common steps.

"Good job, Su Zhou." The snake spirit shook its tail and praised, "Next, put away the remaining wood chips. After you awaken, I'll teach you a secret method to make them into jewelry to give your family sacred protection to carry with them."

"By the way, you can also give a piece to your friend. Its remaining power can't dispel the curse power that has already penetrated into the bone marrow, but at least it can suppress it temporarily and prevent it from worsening."

"Okay, I understand."

Only at this time could Su Zhou directly feel how much help Yala's existence could bring him. To say nothing else, the endless stream of mysterious knowledge and the high-level guidance were too helpful to him as a beginner in the extraordinary world!

"By the way, what about the wood powder from the branches of the Tree of Wisdom?" After hiding the sanctified protection glass bottle in a corner of his room, Su Zhou asked with great interest, "How should they be used? Eat them directly?"

"Of course not. How can you eat wood powder directly?" Yala looked at Su Zhou with an expression like he was a Zheng Nation native. It patiently explained, "Most of the power of this wood powder was absorbed by the previous me to condense Undying Blood, so compared to the fragments of the cross, its remaining power is already very small.

However, its spiritual rank and spirituality as a divine tree still exist. You can buy a potted apple tree, and then mix the wood powder, holy water, and soil together and bury them in the pot.

In this way, that potted apple tree will have a bit of the spirituality of the Tree of Wisdom. As long as you water it with spiritual water or spiritual blood rich in spiritual energy, it can quickly produce a weakened 'Fruit of Wisdom.'

And eating the Fruit of Wisdom will increase your intelligence and comprehension."

This should have been very good news that surprised Su Zhou: he was worried that his intelligence was not high enough, and it might be a little difficult to get into a good academy.

As for why he still had to take the academy entrance exam even with extraordinary power, the answer was simple. As a Zheng Nation supervised by the saints, the academy was the best way to legally enter the system and become a high-level member. As long as you became the top student of the seventy-two first-class academies, then becoming one of the 'Saints' who could adjudicate everything in Zheng Nation was just around the corner.

This method was legal and quick, and you could make a lot of friends. You could get the support of the entire civilization system. Since that was the case, why should he be a solitary beast, playing by himself?

However, if he wanted to become one of the Saints, or even the 'First Saint,' the most important thing was knowledge and intelligence. The original Su Zhou felt that he would have difficulty getting into a first-class academy, let alone becoming the top student, but now, he immediately had the Fruit of Wisdom to make up for his shortcomings. It could really be said that he could have whatever he wanted.

"I originally thought I could only hug Qi Ming's thigh, but now I estimate that I can become a thigh myself!"

Although he was happy, with a clearly very delightful vision of the future, for some reason, a very strong hallucination appeared in Su Zhou's mind. He subconsciously complained, "But--why is it always a snake persuading people to eat apples? After so many years, Yala, can't you change it up?"

"It's the Tree of Wisdom and the Fruit of Wisdom!"

The snake spirit Yala emphasized loudly, "Not an apple!"

"Also, Su Zhou, I can see that your comprehension in martial arts and the extraordinary is very high, but in other aspects, you are indeed more ordinary. Everyone has their own abilities. To give you an example, if an ordinary person has 100 base points and distributes them in various aspects, then you are born with 150 points, or even more."

"It's just that the extra 50 points, and even a part of the original 100 base points, are used in the extraordinary power aspect."

Saying this, Yala stretched out its tail and patted the remaining fruit tree wood powder with satisfaction. It smiled, "But it's okay. As long as you cultivate a Tree of Wisdom and eat a Fruit of Wisdom, it will be enough to turn you into a truly all-round genius!"

"That's great, that's great!"

Hearing this unprecedented good news, Su Zhou was happy in his heart. He was so excited that he even spoke in the local dialect, rubbing his hands and cheering like an old man.

But then he thought again, there were no unprovoked benefits in this world, and his face suddenly became serious, "But, Yala, what is the price?"

"Water the potted plant more every day." Hearing this rather serious question, the snake spirit also thought seriously, then said uncertainly, "Otherwise it might wither and die?"