Chapter 1970

Out of the one hundred and two Full Moon Fortresses, some were swarming with Absolutes, while others barely had any Transcendents around. It was pure RNG.

The teams that were unlucky enough to encounter strong enemies retreated without looking back. The rest of the teams managed to capture the fortresses only after fighting fiercely.

In this situation, time was of the essence. Both the teams that failed in their missions and those that succeeded moved to the next locations immediately.

They went to another Full Moon Fortress to understand the power level there.

The result—

By the time Grid destroyed six Full Moon Fortresses, they were able to determine how powerful most of them were.

"There's a lot more than I thought..."

A big smile appeared on Grid's face as he checked the new places Lauel marked on the map. There were fifteen locations in total, and some places had at least three Absolutes on site.

Grid was already looking forward to the loot he'd gain from conquering all of the fortresses. He had killed eleven Absolutes in the past four days and had finally mastered a technique—Profound Martial Technique.

The effect of this technique was simple. In exchange for removing the attributes of spiritual energy, it amplified its accumulation and power level.

At first, Grid had thought it was garbage. Most techniques had attributes. If the attributes of the techniques and the attributes of the spiritual energy possessed were combined, the technique would be greatly enhanced. Based on calculations, increasing the quantity and quality of spiritual energy with Profound Martial Technique would cause the attribute synergy with the techniques to be lost.

Therefore, he wasn't initially interested. But after hearing a cultivator talk about the five elements, he changed his mind.

It was a symbol of incompetence. People could handle the five attributes, but the power of the five elements wasn't too much to boast about and was weak in comparison.

If a person with the fire attribute spiritual root used the fire elemental technique, they would use 100% of their power. Meanwhile, if a person with the five elements spiritual root used the fire elemental technique, they would only use 50% of their power.

It wasn't that someone with a fire spiritual root couldn't use techniques of other attributes. Cultivators were able to learn and use all elemental techniques regardless of the elemental nature of their spiritual root. However, they could use those techniques at only half of their normal power.

In other words, someone with the five elements spiritual root could only use elemental techniques with their efficiency cut in half. It had no advantage over other spiritual roots of specific attributes.

In that sense, Profound Martial Technique was a technique that compensated for the weaknesses of the five elements root. It was safe to interpret it as a method created solely for this specific root.

From Grid's perspective, there was no reason not to learn it. A light gray color flashed in Grid's black eyes. This happened every time he used Profound Martial Technique to adjust the flow of the spiritual energy in his body.

Grid's Transcendent senses accurately perceived and controlled the flow of spiritual energy extending from his dantian all the way to his extremities.

'I think this will become addictive.'

He felt rejuvenated every time spiritual energy circled around his body. Plus, his total amount of spiritual energy would permanently increase by 120 every time he used this technique, which was quite a significant boost.

He focused on his task and relaxed.

'It's hard to believe that one can increase resources just by breathing.'

It took less than three minutes to circulate the spiritual energy in his body. The first time he did this, it had taken Grid ten full minutes, but that wasn't the case anymore. He felt that, if he just stood still and focused on the Profound Martial Technique, he could run an entire lap in one minute afterward.

'120 isn't a small value.'

Grid's total amount of spiritual energy before learning the Profound Martial Technique had only been eight thousand. Soon, he would be able to gain more than two thousand spiritual energy per hour just by practicing this technique. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the effect of this technique was truly deceptive.

It was also important to note that Profound Martial Technique was only at 1 star.

If his spiritual energy reached a certain amount and the Profound Martial Technique leveled up, he would be able to gain spiritual energy even faster. In that case, he would be able to use the Golden Soul Technique and the Memory Searching Technique to his heart's content. He would also be able to learn powerful techniques without having to hesitate anymore.

'Of course, I should find some new techniques before that.'

He needed more enemies to kill...

Grid quickly traveled to another fortress location.

***

"Haha... We are so unlucky, right?"

Zibal grimaced. He and his team were being chased by two Absolutes.

They'd gone to a total of four Full Moon Fortresses. Each time, they encountered two or more Absolutes and were forced to retreat. Right now, they were nothing more than scouts. Their team was strong, but they were incredibly unlucky.

Vantner was fuming as he asked in a defeated voice, "Seriously, do you have any points in your Good Luck stat?"

He was almost dead after tanking the enemies' wide area skills.

Zibal didn't know what to say, so Katz chimed in. "The Good Luck stat... Normally, people don't have it. It's a hidden stat that can only be unlocked by learning a specific skill or meeting some hidden conditions. It's rare to have it."

Vantner scowled. "You guys are the problem," he said.

The situation was pretty bad. Katz, Zibal, Mir, and Jessica took turns to stop the enemies from pursuing them, but the cultivators were still hot on their tracks. The cultivators were way too high level. Mir had been seriously injured in less than five minutes from the start of combat.

Vantner used the Capture skill to pull Mir to his side and winked at Zibal. "They can't use Shunpo, but they are much faster than the people we've met so far. These guys will certainly catch up to us. You better run away with the other two."

The reason there were no NPC casualties in Zibal's party was because of Zibal's magic machine and seven malignant saints' skill. Few people were as exceptional in escorting and retreating as Zibal.

Zibal nodded and was about to activate his seven malignant saints' skill, but Jessica stopped him. "Wait a moment."

She was looking at Mir. The others also turned in his direction. Mir's eyes were closed and he kept muttering to himself. He was recalling what had happened when the two Absolutes surrounded them, how the enemies blocked his attacks, and how he counterattacked.

"He seems willing to fight. Why don't we wait and see what he'll do?" Jessica proposed. "I've seen miracles occur when a swordsman happens to focus on his pride rather than his life."

She had a slight smile on her face. The Overgeared members recalled the swordsmen Biban and Hayate, whom Jessica must've watched during previous battles, and fell silent. Their instincts told them to run away, but they couldn't bear to discredit Jessica's suggestion.

It was true that Mir hadn't done anything special since becoming Grid's apostle. Of course, he'd played a major role in the hell expedition and the battle against the dragons, but he only met people's expectations, and didn't do anything flashy.

To put it simply, his hard work never paid off, compared to Braham, who always transcended his limits and exceeded everyone's expectations. Of course, Braham was a special case...

Considering Zik's recent achievements, they wanted to see if Mir could also achieve a miracle.

Vantner swallowed a potion and stepped forward. "If Jessica can support me, I can last four to five minutes."

Zibal joined him. "I'll fight alongside you."

Katz also seemed confident. "If we split into two groups and take turns fighting them, we can last more than ten minutes."

The main reason they took the risk to agree with Jessica's suggestion was that they weren't terrified of the two Absolutes chasing them. Yes, they were Absolutes, so what? Since they were cultivators, all they did was use weapons in a manner similar to Control Sword and cast mystical techniques. Of course, they also applied strange debuffs when they used formations, but those could be overcome to some extent if one was a Transcendent.

Since the team's attacks didn't do much damage, they would eventually die if they kept fighting. However, they didn't really know what would happen if Mir awakened his potential.

Vantner took a deep breath and braced himself. Just then, Mir opened his eyes and said, "The four of you will take care of the woman in red."

The enemies were getting closer. Zibal's drake roared in fear when he felt his tail catch on fire.

Jessica reacted immediately. One spell turned into dozens because of her echo magic. Vantner charged, accompanied by the spell, while Zibal and Katz, who stuck to him like shadows, prepared their ultimate techniques.

The woman snorted and pulled out a hand mirror. "You've finally given up on trying to escape."

The mirror caught Jessica's magic in its reflection and the spell disappeared into thin air. As a result, Vantner was no longer escorted by magic and was left exposed.

A fan shot out from the woman's mouth and spun around, landing on Vantner's shield.

Vantner's eyes widened seeing his shield crumble. He activated his deflect skill. Just as the woman expanded a square iron plate to block the attack, Katz and Zibal passed by that iron plate and tried stabbing her in her weak spot.

The woman didn't react at all. Her shield wasn't pierced at all. It was impossible to break a cultivator's shield at once unless there was a big difference between cultivation realms. She was an Absolute. Katz and Zibal could only hurt her if heaven was on their side.

Mir was in a similar situation. As the group handled the woman, Mir's sword swung at an old man, but that was also blocked by a protective shield.

The old man snorted and spat out a sword from his mouth. The blade flew out, aiming for Mir's heart.

"Eh?"

The Overgeared members were shocked. They had seen this result coming, despite expecting otherwise. They just couldn't believe it.

"......!"

Zibal was the first to come to his senses and move to save Mir right away, only to stop. He noticed that the old man Mir was facing was also shocked.

Mir had caught on fire.

"The Red Phoenix's flames?"

To their surprise, the old cultivator recognized the flames. So cultivators also knew about the Four Auspicious Beasts and used the concept.

The old man's sword quickly melted away. Since that sword had been created using yin energy, it was incredibly weak against the flames of the Red Phoenix.

"Cough!"

The old man's face turned white and he vomited dark red blood. At the same time, the green protective shield surrounding him lost its light and became dark. The cultivator realized how dire the situation had become and hurriedly retrieved the half-melted sword, but it was too late. Mir's sword smashed through the weakened shield and sliced the old man's throat.

The treasures were spat out of the cultivator's mouth. Seeing that destroying treasures could indeed affect the health of a cultivator, Mir's plan seemed to have worked.

"Cultivator Lim! Help me!"

Mir's status might not have been as high as an Absolute, but his sword was a dragon weapon carefully crafted by the Only One God, Grid. Theoretically, this weapon was even capable of inflicting damage onto the old dragons.

His treasure now destroyed, the old man suffered serious internal injuries and couldn't withstand the power of Mir's sword. In an instant, he became too wounded and reached the point where he had to give up his body.

"Tch!"

The woman couldn't just sit around after hearing the old man's cry for help so that his nascent soul could escape safely. She would most likely suffer a similar fate if she remained here by herself.

"We will see you some other time!"

Eventually, the woman flew to the old man's side. As if waiting, a small dwarf emerged from the old man's body. The two cultivators turned into light and disappeared.

The party didn't pursue them. They couldn't even afford to cheer. They just watched Mir quietly, not disturbing him as he stood still with his eyes closed. Mir's energy was stronger than before. Was it because he won a one-on-one fight against a being who was considered an Absolute?

At this time, the Overgeared members were starting to understand what a huge opportunity this update really was.