Mentor Wu Sheng had told him to contact him during his first deciphering. Lu Yin thought for a moment and decided to contact him.
But a moment later, his personal communicator couldn't reach Mentor Wu Sheng at all. Lu Yin turned it off, thinking he might be busy. Lu Yin didn't wait any longer and decided to decipher directly. But before the official deciphering, he needed to open the recording function on his personal communicator; he wanted to record the deciphering process to upload to his own Yuanbao Atlas.
Any successful deciphering was an unlocking of a secret of the universe. Because a Yuanbao was sealed by the dust of the universe, a Decipherer was the key. Therefore, every successful deciphering, whether requested by an outsider at a high price or done on one's own initiative, was a merit for the Decipherer Research Society. And merits were graded by the number of stars. Like Lu Yin, although he had officially become a Bright Pupil Initial Level Decipherer, his merits were zero. There were many, many such people in the Research Society. To be precise, they were not considered official Decipherers.
Only a Decipherer who had successfully deciphered was considered an official Decipherer. As long as they succeeded once, they would have a one-star merit. With merits, they were a true Decipherer.
A Decipherer with merits and one without were completely different.
Merits had to be proven by one's own deciphering video. One could record it themselves or have an outsider record it. After all, no two Yuanbao were alike, so there was no such thing as stealing the deciphering process. Therefore, generally speaking, when an outsider paid a high price to request a Decipherer to act, the Decipherer had to let that person observe from the side. Firstly, it was convenient for recording, and secondly, it was to avoid suspicion. Whatever was obtained from the deciphering had to be returned to the other person intact.
Once a Decipherer privately kept the unsealed item, they would surely be hunted down by the Research Society. This was the professional code of a Decipherer.
After preparing everything, Lu Yin placed one hand on the Yuanbao, closed his eyes, and his Star Energy flowed out from his body to contact the Yuanbao.
The moment he touched the Yuanbao, Lu Yin was surprised. So complicated! The layer of substance formed by the mixture of various energies on the surface of the Yuanbao was extremely messy and disorderly. It didn't look like much, but from the perspective of Star Energy, it was as deep as the ocean, and could even be considered another world.
The Star Energy drifting in the universe was fundamentally invisible to the naked eye. Once it formed a substance that could be seen and even touched by the naked eye, it represented that the Star Energy had gathered to a terrifying state. The outer layer of a Yuanbao was just like that. Moreover, it was not just Star Energy; it was mixed with various energies, bizarrely balanced.
Barzel was right; this Yuanbao was indeed not dangerous. But for Lu Yin to unseal it without circulating the Heavenly Star Art was fundamentally impossible. It was like asking an illiterate person to explain the operating principle of a spaceship; it was so complex that it gave one a headache.
This was the true face of a Yuanbao that a Decipherer had to face. This Yuanbao was only the lowest grade, yet it was so complex. Lu Yin couldn't imagine how complex the towering Yuanbao in the first Yuanbao Atlas he had seen was. An ordinary person would just watch the show; only an expert could feel the power of that Decipherer.
Helpless, Lu Yin circulated the Heavenly Star Art. Eight stars revolved around his body, enveloping the Yuanbao. Instantly, the layer of sealing substance on the surface of the Yuanbao became clear. It was still as messy as before, like randomly entangled threads. To decipher it, he had to dissolve these complex energies one by one. Taking a deep breath, he began to try.
Once he could see it clearly, it was not difficult to dissolve it. But it took a very long time. After all, it was materialized energy, and there was too much of it.
Five hours passed quickly. The surface of the Yuanbao had become a little smoother, proving that Lu Yin's deciphering was effective. He looked up and exhaled, smiling bitterly. To completely unseal it would probably take more than 20 hours. Well, he would continue.
Without the Heavenly Star Art, Lu Yin would not have been able to succeed. Even with the Heavenly Star Art, it took him twenty-seven hours to finally succeed in deciphering it.
When the last thin layer of materialized energy disappeared, a very unexpected piece of gray metal fell to the ground, making a clanging sound.
Lu Yin's body swayed, and he almost fell to the ground. He had reached his limit. After continuously circulating the Heavenly Star Art for twenty-seven hours, he really couldn't support it anymore. Fortunately, he had succeeded at the last moment.
He picked up the gray metal. This was a component from some part. Because the time was too long, most of that part had decayed, leaving only this piece of metal. It was a pity, but for this piece of metal to be able to withstand the erosion of time, it must not be simple.
Lu Yin put away the metal, opened his personal communicator, and uploaded his entire deciphering process to his Yuanbao Atlas to await review. Then he closed his eyes and began to sleep.
He didn't know how long he had slept. Following a soft chime from his personal communicator, he opened his eyes and looked. His eyes lit up. His deciphering video had passed the review. And on his Decipherer network page, an extra shining star had appeared. Lu Yin was overjoyed. From this moment on, he was a true Decipherer with merits, a one-star Bright Pupil Initial Level Decipherer.
That star was so bright it almost blinded Lu Yin's eyes. With this star, his status had risen again.
The status of a Decipherer was not just because they were sought after by outsiders, but also for a very important reason: internal protection. Any Decipherer with merits was a treasure to the Decipherer Research Society. To kill one without authorization would be met with the revenge of all Decipherers. It could be said that the Decipherer Research Society was extremely protective of its own.
Lu Yin liked this kind of protective organization. And wasn't it so? The moment he became a one-star Decipherer, the Research Society immediately sent him a congratulatory message and also gave him 20 Yuanbao Atlases. These were all deciphering videos of Bright Pupil Initial Level Decipherers, just right for him, and very precious.
At this moment, a soft chime came. Someone was contacting him. Lu Yin looked; it was Mentor Wu Sheng.
He opened the light screen, and Mentor Wu Sheng appeared, his expression serious. "Student Lu Yin, you were too reckless."
Lu Yin smiled. "Mentor, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it."
"Do you know that any deciphering process is a dance with the God of Death? Deciphering is to explore the secret treasures of the universe, to snatch resources from the universe. This is no ordinary dangerous matter," Mentor Wu Sheng taught him sternly.
Lu Yin said, "Mentor, that Yuanbao was not dangerous."
Mentor Wu Sheng snorted. "Not dangerous? Who told you? The person who provided the Yuanbao to you? What do they know? The danger of a Yuanbao is not something they can imagine. The substance on the surface of a sealed Yuanbao is in a balanced state. A slight carelessness can easily trigger a chain reaction. See for yourself the Yuanbao Atlases the Research Society gave you. Remember my words. You must decipher with the determination to brush past death. This is the maxim that every Decipherer upholds for a lifetime." With that, he cut off the light screen.
Lu Yin felt Mentor Wu Sheng's seriousness and quickly clicked on the Yuanbao Atlases the Research Society had given him.
In the dark night, a young woman held a fist-sized stone, closed her eyes, and began to decipher. That stone, like the Yuanbao Lu Yin had deciphered, was completely harmless. The woman spent more than ten hours and barely made the surface of the Yuanbao a little smoother. She rested for a while and then continued. But suddenly, the substance on the surface of the Yuanbao distorted, then violently erupted, causing the void to distort and almost shatter. And the woman herself was devoured, leaving not a single trace behind.
Lu Yin's pupils contracted, and his scalp tingled. The woman had failed to maintain the balance of the energy on the surface of the Yuanbao during the deciphering process, leading to the accident. This was a classic failed case.
This case was so similar to Lu Yin's deciphering. The difference was that he had succeeded, and the woman had failed. So one lived, and one died.
The energy on the surface of a Yuanbao was like a different kind of ecosystem. It had long formed a kind of balance. Once it was broken, the entire ecosystem would collapse. The consequences caused by the materialized energy were terrifying; even a Limiteer Realm expert might not be able to block it.
Lu Yin was scared. Fortunately, his Heavenly Star Art could let him see every detail. Otherwise, it would have been dangerous just now.
With this thought, Lu Yin continued to watch the other Yuanbao Atlases.
The second, the third, and up to the seventeenth were all failed cases. And the eighteenth once again shocked Lu Yin.
He saw a pair of hands, also deciphering a harmless Yuanbao. But after several tens of hours, at the moment when only a thin layer was left on the surface of the Yuanbao, a strangely shaped monster snake rushed out from inside, entered the Decipherer's body through that pair of hands, and with a scream, the image disappeared.
Lu Yin's scalp tingled again. He realized that the thing covered in dust in a Yuanbao was not necessarily a dead object; it could also be a living creature. Those creatures were sealed, and as time passed, they were gradually covered in dust. The moment they were opened, they would awaken. A creature from ancient times—just thinking about it was terrifying.
There were a total of 20 Yuanbao Atlases, all of which were failed deciphering cases, and the Decipherers themselves had all died. A chill ran down Lu Yin's back. These cases made him clearly feel how dangerous an event deciphering was. The Decipherer Research Society had sent him these the moment he became a one-star Decipherer. It was a warning, and also to let him see what a Decipherer was really like.
Many times, the person who opened a secret treasure did not have a good end. A Decipherer bore this responsibility, bore the glory, and also experienced death.
Lu Yin contacted Mentor Wu Sheng again.
"Finished watching?" Mentor Wu Sheng stared at Lu Yin and said in a low voice.
Lu Yin frowned and said solemnly, "Finished watching."
"Any thoughts?" Mentor Wu Sheng's expression was serious.
Lu Yin pondered, then looked up. "The pressure is great, but... it's very interesting."
The corner of Mentor Wu Sheng's mouth lifted. "Interesting? Very few people would find deciphering interesting. Don't look at the hundreds of thousands of Decipherers in the Research Society; not many can actually decipher. And among these people, a considerable number are averse to deciphering because they don't dare. I hope you don't become that kind of person."
Lu Yin's eyebrow twitched, and he slowly turned around. "Thank you for the reminder, Mentor."
Mentor Wu Sheng nodded, a trace of admiration in his eyes. "Deciphering can sometimes also rely on external objects. There are always some magical things in the universe that can help Decipherers. For example, this." With that, Mentor Wu Sheng took out two green leaves and stuck them on his head. Under Lu Yin's puzzled gaze, he said calmly, "This kind of leaf can make my mind clear and my thinking speed up several times. You have also deciphered once; you should understand how much benefit an increase in thinking speed has for deciphering."
Lu Yin's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded. He understood deeply. If his thinking could have been several times faster during his previous deciphering, he wouldn't have had to spend twenty-seven hours. This was a treasure that increased efficiency.
Mentor Wu Sheng saw Lu Yin's eager gaze, smiled, and put away the leaves. "Don't look at me. I only have two of these leaves. If you want to get them, you have to work hard yourself. When you have time, come to the Research Society's headquarters. There are some similar things there that can be exchanged for. Of course, the price is not light." With that, he cut off the light screen again.