Chapter 104: The Fourteenth Trait: Refining Essence into Qi!
With Liu Anran’s teleportation speeding up their travel, Ye Ze and the others quickly fought their way to the exchange point.
The exchange point looked like a small wooden cabin nestled in the forest. It was not very large and had only one door and one window.
Ye Ze had originally wanted the Fox Immortal to blast the entire hut apart with a bolt of heavenly thunder, people and all, but unexpectedly, the cabin seemed to have some kind of protection mechanism, making it difficult to damage anything inside.
Although it did not cause any damage, it thoroughly terrified the four people inside.
“What happened!?”
“It’s the Chinese! Have they gone insane? They actually dare to counterattack!”
“Don’t go out! Didn’t you feel how powerful that lightning strike was!?”
Among the four-man squad from the Freedom Empire, the captain Bell immediately shouted a warning, stopping anyone from opening the door.
The exchange point’s door could only be opened or closed by the person who had activated it. As long as they did not open it and stayed inside the exchange point, they would be perfectly protected by it!
In truth, he was worrying for nothing.
After witnessing the terror of that bolt of heavenly thunder, no one dared take even a single step out of the cabin...
“These Chinese people in the Secret Realm are actually this strong. Good thing they only sent six people in!”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing they can do to us!”
“As long as we stay inside the exchange point and wait for the main force to arrive, they’re dead for sure!”
As Bell spoke, he opened the map, full of confidence.
Inside the Secret Realm, once an exchange point was activated, it would appear as a huge marker on the map.
And the Freedom Empire and the Lionheart Kingdom had a cooperation pact. The moment a marked location appeared on the map, they would head there immediately in order to secure a numerical advantage as quickly as possible!
Then they would surround and kill the Chinese, leaving China absolutely no chance to turn things around!
“Don’t worry. As long as we hold this place, reinforcements will be here very soon!”
Bell was brimming with confidence. “And once the exchange ban is lifted, we’ll even get priority in stepping into the fifth rank!”
Meanwhile, outside the exchange point—After Ye Ze received the prompt stating that 【the exchange point’s door can only be opened or closed by the activator】,
he wasted no words and immediately activated the Evil Ghost Mask!
“Modify it—let the exchange point door be opened and closed freely by me.”
【‘Gain control of the exchange point door’ requires 200 points of Source Power. Confirm?】
A rule modification of this scale clearly consumed far more.
Although Ye Ze still had 1100 Source Power left, he still hesitated for a moment.
Then he changed his words. “Open the exchange point door immediately.”
【‘Open the exchange point door immediately’ requires 50 points of Source Power. Confirm?】
Confirm!
For Ye Ze, this kind of one-time rule change would achieve the same result, but the cost was obviously much lower.
With a click—Just as the four Freedom Empire Class Users inside were still brimming with confidence,
the exchange point door protecting them opened.
“What the fuck!?”
Captain Bell’s eyes nearly popped out of his head... Why could they come in!?
Why did the other side refuse to follow the rules of the Secret Realm at all!?
The moment his words fell, Martial Saint Panda swept past like a raging gale, and its massive fist smashed into Captain Bell’s face.
A string of cracking bones rang out.
Captain Bell, the strongest, highest-level, and best-equipped among them, was sent flying by a single blow, then collapsed to the ground, severely injured.
“Boss Bell—!” The remaining three were shaken to the core.
They had imagined Ye Ze would be strong, but they had never expected that the boss they considered overwhelmingly powerful would be instantly defeated the moment they met!
Liu Anran, Yi Xing, and Zhou Qi, who had followed right behind Ye Ze, already seemed almost numb to such things...After witnessing Ye Ze alter the rules of the Secret Realm with a single sentence, they had already branded him a monster in their hearts.
There was simply no point comparing themselves to someone like that...Once they figured that out, Liu Anran, Yi Xing, and Zhou Qi all felt much better.
Even so, when Yi Xing saw Panda make its move, he was still somewhat shocked.
...That panda seemed just as strong as the fox!
For an ordinary Summoner, if they wanted to raise a Summoned Beast to the fox’s level of strength, they would practically have to bankrupt themselves, and even then it might still fail.
But Ye Ze had actually raised two of them! Terrifying!
Yi Xing’s hand on his sword hesitated slightly. He honestly did not know whether he still needed to help.
As it turned out, the best help was simply not making a move and stealing Ye Ze’s experience.
The three remaining enemies inside the exchange point were horrified and instinctively tried to flee away from Panda.
But Ye Ze was blocking the exchange point door.
With death looming over them, the three Freedom Empire Class Users roared and charged at him. “Move if you don’t want to die!”
They had to escape. Only by leaving the exchange point did they have any hope of survival!
But the Fox Immortal flicked out a stream of cold air in displeasure. “Impudent!”
With a casual wave of her little hand, chill spread gently outward, and the three of them were frozen into ice crystals without the slightest power to resist... their escape failed on the spot!
Yi Xing, the Sword Saint, could not help sighing. These fourth-ranks who ranked among the Freedom Empire’s best were being killed as easily as chickens and dogs.
But that was definitely not because the enemies were weak...It was because this fox was far too terrifying!
As the hidden class Sword Saint, Yi Xing’s eyesight was extraordinary. From that single freezing attack alone, he could tell that the gap in Spirit between the two sides was simply enormous!
And to make matters worse, that absurdly overpowered spell was instant-cast!
How was anyone supposed to deal with that?
If it had been aimed at him, that one attack would probably have cost him more than half his life!
The fox’s only weakness was probably her lack of mana...Yi Xing looked over and saw that the flow of mana around the Fox Immortal was gradually weakening.
Ye Ze handed the Fox Immortal another bottle of High-Grade Mana Potion, only to discover that after using just two immortal arts, two-thirds of her mana was gone again!
At that moment, Bell, who was lying on the ground, began struggling desperately...
“Wait, don’t kill me!”
“Our main force will be here soon. Spare me, and I can let you explore the Secret Realm in peace with us!”
Explore the Secret Realm in peace?
Ye Ze could not help laughing. “Once I kill all of you, that’s when I’ll see real peace.”
As he spoke, Panda followed up with another kick and knocked Bell unconscious.
Then came the equipment-snatching stage...Seeing this, Yi Xing could not help speaking up. “Still, there is one thing he said that’s true.”
“The exchange point is marked on the map. Their main force will definitely be here very soon! We need to leave at once!”
But Ye Ze had just finished snatching the equipment, and then he immediately sent the four of them to their deaths.
【Killed fourth-rank Class Users ×4. Experience gained +64000 (+100%)!】
【Ding! Your level has increased to: Level 23!】
【Infinite Golden Traits — You have gained one draw chance!】
Including the people he had killed earlier, he had finally leveled up!
He had also found fifty Lotus Petals on the four of them.
At the same time, Yi Xing handed over thirty petals as well. “Brother Ye, you should take ours too!”
He was directly treating Ye Ze as the team leader now.
Since advancing into a Sword Saint, this was the first time Yi Xing had wholeheartedly and sincerely acknowledged someone else as his leader.
Ye Ze hesitated briefly, then accepted them directly. “All right.”
The number of Lotus Petals in his possession had now reached 133.
Ye Ze looked toward the exchange interface inside the cabin:
Fifth-Rank Advancement Pill, Selectable Legendary Equipment, Secret Realm Escape Talisman... all of them required fifty petals to exchange.
But for Ye Ze, there was nothing he particularly needed at the moment.
It seemed none of it was especially useful to him.
Besides, this was only the reward for the first layer. The second and third layers would definitely be better. There might even be seventh-rank advancement items or myth-grade items!
Ye Ze decisively chose to save the Lotus Petals and exchange them later.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ye Ze began drawing a new trait...
The scene of drawing a trait could not be seen by outsiders, so to the other three, it merely looked as though Ye Ze was hesitating over what to exchange.
But before Ye Ze, he was already surrounded by a sea of glittering golden traits.
His twenty-third trait...
【You have drawn a Golden Legend-grade trait: Refining Essence into Qi!】
【Refining Essence into Qi: An essential method of the immortal path. It refines the mana required for spellcasting into more powerful spiritual energy. Casting with spiritual energy produces stronger effects and lower consumption.】