Chapter 236: A Hardworking Young Man
After Yao Haochen had settled the problem, the team continued to move on.
The corridor of the temple seemed to go back to normal after the incident. All the explorations by the pathfinders returned back to normal. Everyone was relaxed after knowing that such incidents seemed to be just accidents. If there were such incidents again, Yao Haochen should be able to handle it.
There were two more times such incidents happened halfway.
Without exception, all the incidents were due to sudden explosions of energy whirlpools. While everyone had no idea of what to do, Yao Haochen saved everyone from the dangers and enjoyed the admiration of the crowd. Without a doubt, this was all just a drama directed by Yao Haochen himself.
Should I expose him?
Su Hao considered carefully, but still he decided not to expose the acting.
It was important to be faithful after getting benefits from one.
How could he expose Yao Haochen after getting so many benefits from him? While Yao Haochen gained prestige from saving everyone from danger, Su Hao quietly got another new card, advanced origin control!
Su Hao himself was at the level of intermediate origin control, 70 points of origin energy!
If he was able to master advanced origin control, he could improve himself to 100 points. Although it was only 30 points of improvement, as long as the skill managed to reduce the consumption of energy, it would be a good cultivation technique!
Meanwhile, Su Hao reexamined his own ability.
He had five cards in his body now.
Plane origin refinement, 2 star card, progress 0%.
Advance origin control, 2 star card, progress 0%.
Image analysis, 2 star card, progress 0%.
Model range expansion, 3 star card, progress 0%.
Beginner model deduction,3 star card, progress 78%.
Theoretically, the 3 star card 'beginner model deduction' would be the optimal choice.
However, Su Hao decided to put all his energy into the other 3 star card, model range expansion, after considering several factors.
Beginner model deduction was a cultivation technique; it was more about deduction after analysis and calculation.
It would only be useful after it was mastered completely. There would be a great improvement in both combat and deduction by then. However, he needed time! Hence, beginner model deduction was barely useful in these ancient ruins.
In contrast, intuitive cultivation techniques like model range expansion could improve his ability significantly!
Upon finishing reading this card, he could improve through trial and error on the spot. The most important thing was that Su Hao already had an idea on how he should apply the use of this model range expansion. Was a huge energy consumption needed for a 3 star card? Indeed. However, under the full support of Jin's family, the energy needed to do so was not a problem anymore.
It was his best opportunity right now.
Explore -- consume potion -- card reading -- explore, Su Hao repeated the steps continuously. There were 10 boxes of advanced energy recovery potions standing by the side. Due to the unlimited support by Jin's family, he started to consume them while neglecting the risks. The progress of the this three star card increased rapidly under such efficient supply.
It was at a speed which Su Hao couldn't even believe himself.
5%...
10%...
20%...
...
Su Hao was fully immersed in reading the card.
The dangerous relic ruins were a perfect training spot for Su Hao right now.
However, the perspective of others was totally different then Su Hao.
In other's perspectives, Su Hao was exploring the topography very seriously. Upon finishing all energy, he would return to the team with a pale face, recharge his energy and get ready for his turn again. He was just repeating it quietly without a single complaint.
"Such a wonderful young man!" Jin Feng praised Su Hao for his hard work and never raising a single complaint. He gained high praise from the top figures of both the Jin and Hua families. The only thing that distressed them was the consumption of advanced energy recovery potions. A box of them was finished in a blink. That was a huge consumption!
Usually, a bottle of the potion could fully recharge one's energy. However, Su Hao consumed a few bottles at once. Indeed his energy consumption was extremely high! If they couldn't get a Nitai artifact this time, the expenditure for advanced energy recovery potions alone would be an astronomical figure!
"Hong!"
A piece of wall exploded. There was a new route created out of the temple's corridor. However, there was only a dark entrance behind the wall. A cold breeze blew out from the dark entrance, causing everyone to shiver.
"It was so cold!"
"Yea! Super-duper cold!"
"Wait, a cold breeze?"
Everyone was awakened with great excitement in their eyes. It was absolutely abnormal that there was a cold breeze blowing out from the endless ancient ruins.
"Be careful!"
"Get ready for a fight!"
Everyone was nervous and getting alert. Although there were plenty of espers at the specialized variant level, all of them were alertly staring at the dark entrance. A few specialized variant espers who were good at defense carefully stepped into the entrance. After ensuring it was safe, others followed along.
As a few lights were turned on, everything was made clear inside.
It was a temple! There were countless temples inside the ancient ruins, and finally the team was able to step into one of them. The temple was spacious and able to accommodate the more than two hundred people in the team without feeling crowded.
The reflection of the lights made the temple even more magnificent.
"It is so beautiful!"
"Yes, it is indeed an ancient ruins. Not mentioning its actual value, those antiquities are only able be seen in the movies!"
"For sure it will be worth it to bring all these back!"
Everyone was discussing with one another while Jin Feng and Song Biao looked at each other, feeling there was something wrong.
It was too abnormal!
The whole relic had turned into ruins, yet this place was still well preserved. For sure something was wrong here. However, the two of them eventually thought of something else, showing great excitement in their eyes. There was only one possibility for this place being so well preserved; there must be a Nitai artifact here!
Soon, everyone was able to realize the same thing. They were aggressively looking around for unique items within the temple.
Who knows, there might be a Nitai artifact!
No matter how powerful a person was, they would be greedy for such a powerful weapon! With a Nitai weapon, one would be able to kill an enemy who was higher level than themselves with ease.
While everyone was seeking around excitingly, Su Hao was standing alone at his initial position, consuming potions bottle by bottle, recovering the energy in his body. By noticing that, the other espers felt pity for Su Hao.
"Hey Su Hao, why don't you give a try seeking a Nitai artifact?" Jin Feng asked with a smile.
Su Hao shook his head gently and said, "I am not a profession for combat, it has no use for me. My job is to create a path for you all, naturally I have to do it seriously."
"Good!" Jin Feng praised, "There are rarely any young men like you nowadays."
Su Hao scratched his head shyly.
Rare?
He wanted to take it, but could he? All these grandsons had already decided on how to allocate their rewards. Even if there were people who luckily found Nitai artifacts, eventually they would still have to give them to the big forces. So, rather than becoming free labor for others, why not rush his progress for this 3 star card?
To be frank, the Jin family really had such generous resources.
Shortly, the 3 star model range expansion card was almost half completed. Soon, it would be complete. After that, Su Hao would become even more powerful. Meanwhile, the dangers at this place had nothing to do with him.
"Ah———"
While Su Hao was doing planning for himself, a sudden scream came from the other side, causing everyone to freeze on the spot.
A specialized variant esper was killed by a bronze hand that punched through his chest before he was even able to show his strength. A bronze figure dropped down from the sky and stared at everyone with an endlessly murderous look!
It was a bronze Buddha statue.
It had a weird face and its body was made of bronze. Impressively it was the arhat style which usually could only be seen in a temple. However, such things were already extinct since the era of origin ability and only occasionally appeared in some ancient ruins. Everyone was shocked when it appeared.
"What... what the heck is this?"
"Nitai artifact?"
"No idea..."
Everyone took one step back in fright. The excitement of discovering a Nitai artifact had fully gone. An ancient Buddha statue normally wasn't scary, but that wasn't true when it was alive!
"Kacha!"
"Kacha!"
The bronze arhat that was initially sitting started to slowly stand up!
A powerful wave of energy exploded from its body, striking towards everyone. The crowd was shocked; such a powerful attack, for sure it was at least at least as strong as a level 3 specialized variant!
No wonder it could kill a specialized variant level 2 esper right on the spot!
The strong wave of power caused Su Hao to feel stuffiness in his chest. Jin Feng immediately stood in front of Su Hao to block up the attack done by the bronze arhat.
"Don't look at it, be careful."
"Okay." Su Hao quietly moved backward.
Looking at the people from the Jin family who protected him in front, he felt weird. Such a situation made him feel that he was in a premier vacation team... The identity as a pathfinder was so perfect that its role was finally shown right now.
"Hong!"
A level 4 specialized variant esper from the alliance joined the battle. His body moved swiftly and punched hard on the bronze arhat. The bronze arhat was defeated and turned into a pile of rubble.
"Heng, easy."
The level 4 specialized variant esper sneered. However a moment later, his face turned gloomy after glancing around.
The ground surrounding the team started to shake. More and more bronze buddha statues slowly emerged from the surrounding. The buddha statues all had various face expressions, such as ferocious, anger, or happiness. No matter what expression they had, all of them were full of killing intent.