Reading from dawn until nightfall once again, Li Xiuman finally raised his head from his book.
Dazed, he stared at the dark sky visible outside the ventilation opening.
“Number Zero, time flies so fast,” Li Xiuman sighed to the Golem.
Number Zero tilted its head, seemingly unable to comprehend the meaning behind his words.
Number Zero was the name Li Xiuman had given this Golem.
“Come here, let me make some more modifications to you.”
Number Zero obediently walked over to stand before Li Xiuman.
Li Xiuman began adjusting some of the fine details and design flaws in Number Zero, bit by bit.
Once the modifications were complete, Li Xiuman tapped Number Zero's head, signaling it to try moving.
It seemed to have become slightly more nimble.
“As I thought, my understanding of this page was slightly off.”
Li Xiuman flipped the book open, reread the page carefully, and then wrote down his summary in The Skeleton's Magic Book.
After finishing his notes, Li Xiuman calculated the time.
He had already gone two nights without sleep.
Moreover, he had spent this entire time intensely taxing his Spirit to study, yet he only felt slightly sleepy right now.
It was far from the point where he absolutely had to sleep.
Coincidentally, there wasn't much of The Construction of Golems left.
Li Xiuman made his decision.
He would finish reading it before sleeping.
And then, the sun rose once again.
He had not slept for three consecutive days now.
Li Xiuman finally felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.
[Ding! Golem Lv 1 has leveled up to Golem Lv 2.]
Just like how it felt when [Magic Analysis] had leveled up, a massive flood of knowledge welled up from the depths of his memories.
The knowledge he had spent days and nights memorizing quickly cross-referenced itself, filling his mind.
It was as if someone had carved these memories directly into his soul with a chisel.
Li Xiuman looked at Number Zero.
In an instant, Number Zero seemed to become completely transparent, the flowing mana and internal parts inside its body laid bare to his eyes.
Li Xiuman knew that he didn't actually possess X-ray vision.
Rather, he simply remembered every single adjustment he had made while creating Number Zero, the crafting of every piece, and the engraving of every magic circle.
He was certain that if it were just the [Golem] skill upgrading to [Golem Lv 2], it would definitely not produce such an effect.
It was because of his previous upgrade of [Magic Analysis], which had already significantly enhanced his memory and comprehension.
This level-up of the [Golem] skill had further boosted both traits.
Although the memory and comprehension gained from these two skills came from different sources, they influenced each other, raising his memory to an unprecedented level.
He was practically photographic, a living bone camera.
This upgrade, in turn, also enhanced the effects of [Magic Analysis Lv 2], vastly improving his memory and understanding of magic as well.
A massive amount of Golem-related knowledge deduced and fused together in his mind.
Once the rush subsided, Li Xiuman impatiently picked up the two Golem books and read them again from cover to cover.
This time, his understanding was absolute.
He picked out the details he had previously missed like a man gathering cookie crumbs, hungrily stuffing them into his maw.
In this manner, he read until nightfall.
“Number Zero, I'm going to give you a complete upgrade.”
Holding a magic steel ingot in each hand, Li Xiuman walked toward Number Zero.
A fully upgraded Number Zero.
Its level had risen to 18.
Furthermore, Li Xiuman had outfitted it with Earth Magic Lv 2 and Swiftness Lv 2.
Its broad back and bulky arms had shrunk slightly, but its Strength had actually increased.
A thick, indestructible-looking shield was also attached to its arm.
Its decay countdown had also been extended to one month.
Li Xiuman looked at the brand-new Number Zero with satisfaction.
“Number Zero, give me a shoulder massage. Not too light, but not too heavy either.”
“Not too fast, and not too slow.”
“Not too rushed, and not too sluggish.”
Li Xiuman issued the rather complex set of instructions.
Yet without a hint of delay, Number Zero walked behind Li Xiuman. Using its rock hands, which were still exaggeratedly large despite shrinking slightly, it carefully began to knead his shoulders.
This processing speed was a revolutionary improvement.
The current Number Zero was the absolute limit of what he could craft.
After all, his own level was only 20.
However, in actual combat, a Golem wasn't of much use unless it was built in advance and kept by his side.
He left the basement, dressed himself, and packed up the two finished books.
His hunger for knowledge was unstoppable, even if it was pitch black outside.
He was going to borrow more books!
Arriving at the library, he returned the two finished books.
He then checked out two new ones: Combat Techniques of Golems and Make a Golem in Three Seconds.
Li Xiuman's gaze resembled that of a rogue setting eyes upon a peerless beauty.
It was a gaze of raw, unadulterated desire.
As it turned out, even a skeleton could express vivid emotions through the soul fire in its eye sockets.
Cradling the books, he rushed back home, unable to wait a moment longer.
He pushed open the door and plunged straight into the basement, completely ignoring Rorona.
He impatiently tore away the book bag, exposing Combat Techniques of Golems nakedly before him.
He stared hungrily at the naked cover of Combat Techniques of Golems.
Under the skeleton's strength, Combat Techniques of Golems could only part its pages, laying its knowledge bare before him.
The bookmark slipped weakly from between the pages, drifting onto the floor.
Combat Techniques of Golems could vaguely remember this bookmark.
It had been placed there by her previous visitor.
That guest had said that once he saved enough money, he would redeem her from the library.
How many years... had it been since then?
Combat Techniques of Golems could no longer remember.
She had been treated roughly by too many people, left with no choice but to weakly part her pages time and time again.
“Magnificent!”
“I can feel the knowledge! It's flowing through my mind!”
Li Xiuman stared at the book with sheer excitement.
This book was mainly an introduction to fast-cast Golem techniques.
In other words, how to quickly craft Golems using whatever materials were available in the surroundings during live combat.
These Golems had extremely brief lifespans, but this was undoubtedly the best technique for real combat.
The technique itself wasn't terribly difficult.
The real challenge lay in the tax on one's memory.
Over half of the book was dedicated to methods for identifying 63 common types of dirt, 43 types of rocks, and 54 types of ore in the magical world.
Based on the variations of dirt, rocks, and ores, there were a total of 157 different rapid Golem-crafting techniques.
Depending on the materials available in the environment, one had to select the corresponding crafting technique to swiftly construct a Golem and deploy it into battle.
Even the author of this book probably couldn't remember all of these magic circles after designing them.
However, Li Xiuman's memory, which was now enhanced to a photographic level, could easily memorize every identification method and its corresponding creation technique.
This was practically custom-made for him.
Li Xiuman began committing it all to memory.
It made him feel like he was back in high school, cramming English vocabulary.
If he had possessed this kind of memory back then, he wouldn't have ended up...
He was having a rare moment of joy; there was no need to dwell on unhappy thoughts.
Dawn arrived once more.
Li Xiuman had memorized more than half.
Having gone four consecutive days without sleep while engaging in high-intensity studying, he was finally hitting his limit.
Both his memory and reflexes had deteriorated significantly.
“Damn it. The knowledge is right here in front of me, and you expect me to sleep? That is disrespectful to knowledge!”
“Number Zero! Help me up! I can still learn!”
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