Published: March 11, 2025
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Learning
Merlin could hardly believe her eyes. She knew all too well what kind of person Adam was. Ever since he was a child, Adam had disliked reading. Whenever he saw a book, he would cry and throw a tantrum, and it was only because of his father's strict enforcement that he managed to recognize all the characters, but that was about it; getting him to read was out of the question.
Although Zhao Hai had been performing well these past few days, he had never mentioned reading. Merlin thought that Zhao Hai had become more sensible, but his dislike for reading had not changed.
What she did not realize was that Zhao Hai, when he was on Earth, was a bookworm who lived by reading. Taking books away from him was almost like taking his life. The reason he hadn't read in the past few days was that he had just arrived in this place and was facing such a critical situation. Naturally, he didn't feel like reading or even think of it.
Zhao Hai truly hadn’t noticed Merlin’s actions; he was entirely focused on the book. Although it was a collection of miscellaneous notes, it contained quite a bit of information, mostly about local customs and traditions, which was very useful for Zhao Hai.
Adam had previously been nothing more than a rich kid, with little knowledge of the customs of the continent. Now, the continent was relatively peaceful, dominated by five empires and a total of thirty-two countries, along with some settlements of other races. It could truly be described as vast.
Zhao Hai was situated in the Aksu Empire, one of the five empires. The other four empires on the continent were the Roson Empire, Leon Empire, Pagoda Empire, and Azure Wave Dynasty.
The region where Zhao Hai was located, the Black Earth Wilderness, had long been forgotten by everyone on the continent. However, the Corpse Swamp, which lay behind Iron Mountain, was one of the five great forbidden areas on the continent that everyone feared.
The other four great forbidden areas included Aklaya Mountain, which was the territory of magical beasts where few of any other race could survive if they ventured in.
The Extreme North Icefield was a world of ice plains with extremely low temperatures, where only a few ice-type magical beasts could survive.
Flame Island was a small island in the sea, located five thousand six hundred nautical miles south of the Azure Wave Dynasty. Although it was small, the island had active volcanoes and was filled with geothermal heat, making it an absolute death zone.
Lastly, there was the Demon Abyss, which was said to be similar to the demon realm, although this had never been confirmed. However, magical beasts that couldn't be seen on the continent occasionally appeared there.
The Corpse Swamp was infamous for its poison; both the magical beasts and the undead beings there were notorious for being poisonous. Everything in that place was toxic, which was why it had become a forbidden area.
Adam's memories of these matters were still somewhat vague, but the collection of miscellaneous notes contained some records. Although not too detailed, it was enough for Zhao Hai.
When he was on Earth, Zhao Hai was indeed a bookworm, and if a bookworm didn't know about transmigration novels, then he couldn't be considered a complete bookworm. After reading this collection of notes, Zhao Hai understood that he had arrived in a world quite similar to those in transmigration novels, where there was magic, fighting spirit, magical beasts, spiritual energy, dragons, and dwarves — everything found in those novels existed here.
Because of this realization, Zhao Hai was even more determined to keep a low profile. He didn’t know how powerful the top experts in this world were, but after witnessing Merlin using water magic to irrigate land today, he had a rough idea of just how formidable these people could be. She had completed ten acres of land with just one spell, and someone like Merlin would find it quite effortless to deal with him.
Zhao Hai slowly put down the book in his hands. Over the years, he had developed the habit of reading quickly, and his reading speed was much faster than that of ordinary people. Although much of what was written in the book was of little use, it did help Zhao Hai gain a better understanding of this world.