I want to exchange the history of a country

Liu Xuan thought it over. Given his limited knowledge of history, there probably weren’t many countries worth trading.

In fact, there were only a few countries he knew anything about.

First of all, he definitely couldn’t sell the history of Huaxia. Once he sold it, he’d forget it.

The history of the little country next door wasn’t a good choice either. Otherwise, if he ever ran into someone from there in the future, he’d regret not having dealt them the harshest possible blow.

There was practically nothing worth mentioning about the Koreans, while America’s history was far too short.

After going back and forth, Britain was still the best choice.

Its history stretched back a long way, and Liu Xuan had at least heard of several major events, such as the Hundred Years’ War and the Tudor dynasty.

He was also familiar with quite a few famous figures and achievements in its culture and technology.

Most importantly, selling that knowledge wouldn’t have much impact on Liu Xuan.

What problem would it cause if he became completely ignorant of British history?

None.

At most, if someone mentioned something like “What’s a Brit, anyway?” everyone else would share a knowing chuckle while Liu Xuan stood there completely baffled.

So, Britain it was!

“I want to package up all the historical knowledge about Britain in my head and trade it to you!”

Liu Xuan voiced his request to the Spirit of the Wild.

Although the other party had said that the knowledge he received in return would be about a random country, Liu Xuan felt that the range of possibilities was actually quite limited.

No matter how long the Spirit of the Wild had lived, it was still confined to this land. The kingdoms it knew about might not all have existed in this world, but ninety-nine percent of them probably had.

That gave him a pretty decent chance of winning the lottery.

Knowing where a kingdom had once been might allow him to locate its ruins.

Learning about its famous figures and powerful warriors could lead him to their inheritances or treasures.

Trading away the progression of its scientific development might earn him research on power systems, alchemy, equipment manufacturing, and other such subjects.

These were all merely guesses on Liu Xuan’s part, but he felt it was worth taking the gamble.

The Spirit of the Wild sensed him through the hand he had placed against the tree trunk, then agreed to the deal.

“An exchange can be made.”

Liu Xuan immediately felt as though something had vanished from his mind. All his knowledge of British history had disappeared completely.

The Spirit of the Wild shook its body once more, causing another leaf to fall. Liu Xuan caught it in his hand.

A vast amount of knowledge surged into his mind, and it took him quite some time to digest it.

Then, however, a delighted expression spread across his face.

He had bet correctly!

He had struck gold!

“The White Stone Kingdom…”

The knowledge given to him by the Spirit of the Wild concerned an ancient kingdom known as White Stone.

It had probably existed more than a thousand years ago.

The kingdom had been founded by a band of thieves. Liu Xuan couldn’t help wondering whether the Spirit of the Wild had done it deliberately—he had given it Britain, and it had returned a kingdom of thieves.

The White Stone Kingdom’s territory was not particularly large, yet it possessed astonishing wealth.

Its people robbed and plundered everywhere. There had even been an absurd incident in which the king attended another nation’s celebration and took the opportunity to steal that country’s national treasure.

Perhaps because Liu Xuan’s knowledge of British history had been limited, the history of the White Stone Kingdom he received did not contain much truly useful information.

One detail, however, caught his attention.

The most spectacular and astonishing heist the White Stone Kingdom had ever carried out was the theft of an artifact.

The knowledge Liu Xuan received did not clarify exactly what kind of artifact it was, but according to legend, its power was extraordinarily great. It had originally belonged to a church of that era.

Most importantly, Liu Xuan knew exactly where the White Stone Kingdom had once been.

It was the area where the current beginner village stood!

In fact, its name alone gave away a few clues. The stone produced by the beginner village’s quarry was white.

The entire mountain range—including Eagle Spirit Mountain—was made of white stone. Liu Xuan had seen it for himself the last time he went there.

The only question was whether the artifact was still somewhere in the beginner village.

According to the knowledge he had obtained, the White Stone Kingdom was eventually destroyed. When its capital was about to fall, the king had tried to take his enemies down with him, choosing to bury the entire royal city beneath the mountains.

In other words, the artifact was very likely still down there, in that buried capital.

Who would have thought? Who could have imagined that such a small area around the beginner village would be hiding so many treasures?

The entire royal city had been buried in an instant. There had to be far more than one artifact left behind.

It was even possible that the White Stone Kingdom’s entire treasury was still preserved within it!

That was worth far more than some knowledge of British history.

Once he finished dealing with the matter at hand, Liu Xuan planned to return and ask the village chief whether he knew anything about it.

Even the slightest bit of information would be useful. A mountain that had suffered such a massive collapse should still show some traces of it, even after a thousand years.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the Spirit of the Wild standing before him.

“My promise to humanity has been fulfilled. I will be leaving this place.”

Having gained such a great bargain, Liu Xuan hurriedly asked, “What if I want to trade knowledge with you again in the future? Where can I find you?”

“When you become a person of vast learning, the forest will guide us to one another.”

After saying this, the human face on the tree slowly smoothed away and disappeared, returning to ordinary bark.

The other party had apparently already left.

Liu Xuan let out an awkward laugh.

Did that mean he needed to prepare even more knowledge?

Forget it, forget it. The chances of that happening were probably slim.

He might as well continue on his way. He still had to reach the next city before dark.

…

In reality, Liu Xuan had underestimated his own speed.

His Agility was already over 360, and with the bonuses from his two movement talents, he was absurdly fast.

Who knew whether this battlefield would eventually introduce a mount system? If it did, ordinary mounts probably wouldn’t be able to match the speed of his own two legs.

To save time, Liu Xuan did not deliberately hunt the monsters along the way.

If he had enough time, he might as well kill them on the return journey.

As a result, when he reached the city he had originally planned to use as a temporary rest stop, it was only around three in the afternoon.

After giving it some thought, Liu Xuan decided to bypass the city and continue onward.

There were bound to be plenty of monsters inside, and the roads were sure to twist and turn. Entering the city would cost him a considerable amount of time.

Although this was supposed to be his second rest stop, with his current speed, he could completely revise his plans.

He could reach his final destination directly by nightfall!

Once he got there, he would assess the situation. If the monsters were easy enough to deal with, he would clear the place overnight. If not, he would find somewhere nearby to sleep and figure things out the next day.

Having made up his mind, Liu Xuan skirted around the outside of the city.

When he passed a three-way intersection, he glanced at the road branching off to the west.

Following that road would lead him into Count Samos’s territory.

“Forget it. I’ll deal with it on the way back.”

Compared to a side quest, Liu Xuan was more interested in finding out whether the main quest that had yet to be unlocked could be completed.