Chapter 125: The Stone Has Shrunk (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Night fell, and a campfire was lit on the plains. Twenty-two people gathered in a circle, forming a simple campsite.

Unlike other days, when the threat of magical beast ambushes necessitated a rotating watch—with several people and the Spirit-Breaking Wind Ape taking turns guarding the team—today was different. After over an hour of extreme training, many had yet to recover. Physically exhausted, they either lay flat or leaned against one another, their faces pale and etched with fatigue. Most fell into a deep sleep the moment they lay down.

In any case, with Lant present, there shouldn't be any trouble.

Xu Wen wanted to sleep too, but he couldn't. In the eyes of others, his cultivation had advanced from a four-star, fourth-rank to a four-star, fifth-rank. This extreme training had been immensely beneficial; while his true cultivation hadn't undergone a qualitative leap, the gains were still significant. He was confident that if he kept this up for a few more days, reaching the four-star, ninth-rank would be no problem at all.

However, what concerned him most was not his cultivation level. During this brief moment of tranquility, he had tested himself and found a noticeable improvement in his spell-casting speed, as well as an increase in the operational speed of his chaotic sea of consciousness. Even three months of seclusion in the past hadn't yielded such results!

"Thinking that this mentor of yours actually has some skill, are you?" A lazy voice drifted from behind. Xu Wen turned to see Lant, who had resumed drinking from his waterskin, though there was no sign of drunkenness in his eyes.

Xu Wen glanced back at the sleeping youths and smiled slightly. "Does the Blood Alliance often train newcomers like this?"

Lant sat down with a thud and offered the waterskin. When Xu Wen declined, he shook his head, though it was unclear whether he was disagreeing or expressing regret.

"This method can only be used when a seven-star warrior is present. It requires a veteran mercenary with patience to oversee it; an ordinary person couldn't pull it off."

Xu Wen nodded inwardly. The situation earlier had indeed been extremely dangerous; anyone could have met with an accident. For Lant, acting as their mentor during such training meant his nerves were just as taut, never daring to relax for a moment. His pressure was likely even greater than theirs.

"In today's training, you were the one who persisted the longest and the only one not completely drained. It looks like I'll have to increase the difficulty for you tomorrow... Seeing you so relaxed makes me feel like a failure as a mentor," Lant said, casting a glance at the now-silent Xu Wen with a hint of humor.

"As you wish."

Xu Wen had no objections. Today, he hadn't even tapped into the magic power within his Spirit-Burning Flame Ring. Although the extreme training was effective, it was still far from his actual limit.

"You really are Harman's disciple—stubborn, without a hint of humor. How will you ever win over a girl in the future? Do you plan to follow his path and spend your whole life accompanied only by magic and medicinal pills?"

"Can humor help me kill the Soul Reaper?" Xu Wen gave him a cold, sidelong glance, clearly dissatisfied with Lant's evaluation of Dean Harman.

Hearing this, Lant immediately wore a pained expression. "You really are stubborn. The Soul Reaper? Do you know what kind of character he is? A nine-star, mid-rank necromancer. Given your understanding of necromancers, you should know what that implies."

"..." Xu Wen remained silent; there was no need to respond.

Unaware of the reason for Xu Wen's silence, Lant sighed and continued to himself, "In one-on-one combat, perhaps many nine-star magi or Saint Warriors wouldn't lose to him, but in the entire Soul Continent, there are fewer than seven people who can take him down!"

Hearing this, a flicker of surprise finally crossed Xu Wen's face. Take down the Soul Reaper in one-on-one combat?

Seeing that Xu Wen's attention was finally captured, a smile of satisfaction appeared on Lant's face. "Want to know who these seven people are?"

"The Blood Alliance holds three of them..." Lant's gaze turned solemn. "The first is the Blood Alliance's top expert, the leader of the Royal Mercenary Corps I mentioned to you, Feli Pro. He advanced to nine-star, eighth-rank last year and created the chaos-grade magic-martial forbidden technique, 'Nine Styles of the Falling Thunder.' It is said that when unleashed, it can trigger changes in the heavens and possesses terrifying power. He is currently in seclusion, pushing for the nine-star, ninth-rank, preparing to vie for the position of Hall Master of the Thunder Hall."

"The other two are the Hall Masters of the Water and Earth Main Halls."

"...Hall Masters."

Xu Wen had collected information on this from the Cloud Empire library. On the Soul Continent, there were seven recognized Main Halls: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Light, and Dark. Every expert who entered the nine-star level was recommended to join one of the seven Main Halls to communicate and learn from one another. The Hall Masters were the strongest individuals in their respective halls, regardless of their profession.

In reality, there was an eighth main hall on the Soul Continent—the "Necromancy Main Hall," established by the necromancers of the Dark Empire.

"Every Hall Master is over eighty years old. Even the youngest, Feli Pro, is already seventy-four. By the time you possess the strength to deal with the Soul Reaper, do you think he will still be around?"

Seeing that Xu Wen remained unmoved, Lant couldn't help but shake his head. "Besides, it's questionable whether the Soul Reaper can even leave the Cloud Empire alive. The emperors of both nations have issued a death order, mobilizing four Hall Masters and over four thousand eight-star experts to ensure everyone from the Dark Empire is left behind... You should give up that idea and focus on your cultivation. There are others who will avenge Harman for the Cloud Empire before you even get the chance."

"They found them?" Xu Wen was startled.

"That's right." Lant took a small sip of strong liquor. "They were quite careful, but they still left a trail. News from the Cloud Empire says that a few days ago, two more towns were slaughtered, with over a million people killed. Someone escaped to report the news. Both nations have dispatched their strongest lineups to scour the land, determined to find the Dark Empire's people. They won't escape this time!"

Xu Wen waved his hand, his intuition telling him something was amiss. Two necromancers—could they really be killed just like that? And who could escape from a necromancer's grasp?

"Let's wait until they're dead before we talk." Nine-star experts could fly through the air, and it seemed no slower than the speed of avian beasts.

"I knew you'd say that. Fine, get some rest. Today's training results were quite good. The others have started to understand their positions and the direction of their cultivation; it's all up to you now... I hope you don't follow my old path." Lant knew it was difficult to uncover Xu Wen's secrets as a stranger, but he hadn't expected Xu Wen's vigilance to be so high. Losing interest in further conversation, he stood up and brushed himself off before walking away.

However, Lant's words were not entirely without effect. As soon as he left, Xu Wen looked up, his youthful face revealed. A fifteen-year-old boy in the deathly silent Magical Beast Mountains, he looked quietly up at the night sky, his heart feeling exceptionally serene and lonely.

Once upon a time, he had intended to integrate into this world. But the incident with Dean Harman had involuntarily distanced him from everything here. He knew that ordinary methods would never lead to successful revenge; a nine-star fire mage could hardly eradicate a nine-star necromancer, and time was indeed a major issue.

Stubbornly gazing at the night sky above the mountains, just as he did whenever he encountered a difficult quest in a game, Xu Wen's brain began to simulate at an indescribable speed. Information from posts buried deep in his memory flashed by like a slideshow... Xu Wen did not notice that during these two hours of quiet meditation, a pair of eyes among the female trainees had been watching his profile with worry, blinking carefully and intently, though she did not make a sound or come to disturb him.

Finally!

A hint of softness appeared on Xu Wen's face. The tenacity and depth in his eyes were softened, and a slightly childish smile returned.

"Found it."

"Wait..." The joyful expression was quickly replaced by distress. Xu Wen frowned slightly. "In the game world, finding something is easy—you just post a notice. Finding these things on the Soul Continent won't be so simple."

"I can only ask the Xicheng clan and Dean Noding for help. The Cloud Academy should have one or two of them."

"That's the plan."

Having decided, Xu Wen felt much better. He scanned his storage ring with his spiritual power, and on a whim, quietly took out the irregular, large stone that had been sitting idle for a long time, its purpose still unknown. The last time, two groups had fought so fiercely in the magical beast forest of Joseph's territory for this very item—it had to have some history!

The moment the stone was brought out, a sudden change occurred! A faint red glow erupted from it!

The stone seemed to come alive; the surrounding elements suddenly grew hot, scrambling to drill into the stone—no, not drilling in, but being frantically absorbed by it! The red glow intensified with the speed at which it absorbed the elemental power... Xu Wen's expression changed; he was not happy, but alarmed!

Almost the instant he pulled it out, before anyone could be awakened, he hastily shoved the stone back into his storage ring, a thin layer of sweat breaking out on his forehead. Damn it! He hadn't expected such a violent reaction. A miscalculation!

He turned his head. At this time, past one in the morning, everyone who had suffered through a day of exhaustion had not been awakened by the sudden elemental suction. Those meant to be asleep were still asleep... except for Lant, whose waterskin tilted slightly; in his sleep, his brows furrowed, and he opened his eyes to glance at Xu Wen’s back for a moment before closing them again. Besides him, there was Irene, whose eyes suddenly met Xu Wen's before she squeezed them shut tightly, wearing an expression that said, "I didn't see anything."

"Phew." Xu Wen breathed a sigh of relief. That was close. Lant had only sensed something but didn't know the situation, and Irene, having a relatively good relationship with him, should be easy to fool.

Looking back, Xu Wen became secretly vigilant. He had been lucky this time, but he must never be so reckless again. As he warned himself, his gaze fell upon a thin layer of white dust on his hand... Looking down, the ground in front of him was covered with a fine layer of powder, much like weathered stone dust.

"Could it be..." His heart stirred, and he quickly scanned the stone inside the ring.

Back in the storage space, the stone had returned to its old appearance—grayish-white, looking no different from an ordinary rock. But upon closer inspection, Xu Wen discovered the problem: the stone had shrunk by a circle!