Chapter 478: Section 265: Complete Fighting Energy Cycle!
Snowbird Port Mercenary Sub-Committee.
The Vice Chairman of the Sub-Committee personally received Menshi and Sanda.
“I have reviewed the data of your group, and as a small mercenary group, your strength is quite formidable.”
“However, the current star level of the mercenary group is only one-star, which is too low. According to our rules and regulations, the support from the Mercenary Guild here will also be quite limited.”
“I believe that your group should not be at this star level.”
“If your group could raise its star level, the support you receive would be very significant.”
“Reaching five-star level, your group would be able to be permanently stationed in the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. The treatment of the members within the mercenary group would almost be no different from the nationals of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. The Mercenary Sub-Committee here would also provide a mercenary residence free of charge.”
Menshi was somewhat tempted and immediately asked, “How can we raise the star level of the mercenary group to five-star?”
Menshi did not understand much about the nature of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps; he really thought that joining a power meant being part of a mercenary group, at most with a deep background involved in arms smuggling crimes, not to be mentioned too much.
His question did not require the Sub-Committee Vice Chairman to explain personally, as Sanda could answer him.
“The minimum standard for a five-star mercenary group is to have one Golden Level Transcendent. The second standard is that the mercenary group must have more than two members.”
It is the world of the strong.
Regardless of any power, the strength of a power is related to the Transcendent individuals within it. The scale of the power is secondary.
The Sub-Committee Vice Chairman smiled faintly upon hearing Sanda’s reply, “Indeed, that’s the case.”
“However, aside from that, there are also tricky methods.”
“For example, recruiting a strong member of the Elf Clan might curry favor with the Royal Family of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.”
“By obtaining a special decree from the Royal Family, the Mercenary Sub-Committee here can also reduce some of the standards.”
“The situation of the Snow Cotton Mercenary Group back then was like this; they didn’t have a Golden Level at that time, and their leader was only at the Silver Level. But after special approval from the Royal Family, the newly formed mercenary group was immediately recognized as a five-star mercenary group.”
“Of course, the Snowflake Mercenary Group now is indeed a five-star group in its own right. Both their leader and deputy leader are at the Golden Level.”
“They are now recognized as the strongest mercenary group in the entire Ice Sculpture Kingdom.”
Menshi asked curiously, “Then, what are the standards for a six-star mercenary group?”
The Sub-Committee Vice Chairman replied, “It’s simple, the standard for a six-star mercenary group is to have at least one Holy Domain Level powerhouse.”
Menshi clicked his tongue, “Would a Holy Domain Level Transcendent be content to become a mercenary?”
The Sub-Committee Vice Chairman gave a wry smile.
Sanda responded, “That’s why six-star mercenary groups are very rare.”
Meanwhile.
At the Snowbird Port Thief Sub-Committee.
Chi Lai and Lan Zao were also conversing with the Sub-Committee Vice Chairman.
However, they were discussing the specific prices of various pieces of information.
The amount of information purchased by Chi Lai and Lan Zao this time was very large, naturally involving a large sum of money, prompting the Sub-Committee Vice Chairman to personally engage in bargaining.
Amidst the intense exchange, Chi Lai’s communication device made an unusual sound.
After Chi Lai connected, he received new orders from the Dragon-man youth.
“The squad leader wants us to pay attention to collecting information about the Saber Gang,” Chi Lai communicated with Lan Zao.
The information trade continued.
The Dragon-man youth put away the communication device.
After leaving the secret potion division’s shop, he immediately contacted Chi Lai, Menshi, and Zong Ge, warning them to be wary of potential trouble.
“Someone is following us,” Zi Di said.
The Dragon-man youth nodded slightly, surveying his surroundings, pausing for a second on each of the three followers.
Seeing that he had noticed them, the followers did not hide. One of them even sneered at him and made a throat-cutting threat by drawing his hand in a horizontal cut across his neck.
Clearly, these individuals were sent by the Elf Elder Ice Eagle.
They were all Transcendents, two at the Bronze Level and one at the Black Iron Level. Facing the Silver Level Dragon-man youth, they had no fear and followed him blatantly and arrogantly.
Zi Di couldn’t help but worry, “Given the situation, the Saber Gang’s power in Snowbird Port seems vast.”
The Dragon-man youth’s gaze was serene, “Don’t worry, their arrogant attitude actually gives away their position. They won’t make a move, at least not for now.”
The Dragon-man youth, of course, was not afraid, facing merely one Black Iron and two Bronze.
Zi Di also wasn’t concerned for her own safety.
Because she was fundamentally a ghost, immune to physical damage. Had she not been pretending to be a normal person, she could have passed straight through walls.
Zi Di gazed toward the distant Mage Tower, with a tone of regret, “We also can’t make a move. Even though this is not a Magic Ban environment, the Mage Tower is definitely monitoring all of Snowbird Port around the clock. Once we take action, Magic Image will certainly record it. There would be no denial when it’s investigated later.”
“The Saber Gang, being the local tyrants of Snowbird Port, must have secretive relationships with officials here.”
“We need to avoid conflicts with the official forces of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom as much as possible; otherwise, we will be at a disadvantage.”
The Dragon-man youth nodded, “Let’s head back to the ship first.”
The two of them made it back to the dock without any problems.
Just as the Dragon-man youth had predicted earlier, those three trackers followed them all along, attempting to exert greater psychological pressure on both the Dragon-man youth and Zi Di, but never actually made a move.
To avoid unnecessary complications in the long night, the Dragon-man youth chose to directly use a Golden Potion.
He headed to the cabin at the bow of the ship.
“Little Buddy.” The Dragon-man youth called softly.
“Daddy.” The Big guy happily responded, but the next moment he hurriedly covered his mouth.
The Dragon-man youth had previously instructed him to be careful about how he addressed him. The name “Daddy” could easily expose their true relationship.
The Big guy had forgotten this in his excitement.
“Keep it down.” The Dragon-man youth hushed, thankful that he had set up the sound collection box early.
This alchemy device effectively prevented the spread of sound.
The Big guy bowed his head, admitting his mistake, “I’m sorry, I was wrong, Daddy, I won’t do it again next time.”
The Dragon-man youth took out a potion and handed it to the Big guy, “Drink this.”
The Big guy trusted the Dragon-man youth unconditionally, immediately taking the potion and tilting his head back, draining it completely.
Seeing this, the Dragon-man youth felt both reassured and a touch of concern arose.
“That’s no good, Little Buddy.”
“If I were an enemy in disguise, you would be easily fooled.”
“Let’s agree on a secret code.”
“In the future, whenever we have important decisions and actions to take, we’ll use the secret code to confirm our identities.”
“We’ll also change the code periodically.”
The Big guy nodded repeatedly, “Daddy, that’s a good idea, what’s the code?”
Considering the Big guy’s intelligence, the Dragon-man youth thought for a moment then said, “The first code will be ‘Pig Kiss.'”
“Pig Kiss!” The Big guy nodded, having a deep impression of the ship he had lived on for many years.
The Dragon-man youth wasn’t worried that he would forget the content of the secret code.
However, to prevent any mishap, the Dragon-man youth still confirmed the content of the code with the Big guy.
“How do you feel now?” The Dragon-man youth gauged the time, according to which the Golden Potion should have taken effect.
But the feeling the Big guy gave the Dragon-man youth was still the same as before.
The Big guy smacked his lips, “It feels, it feels… a bit sweet.”
Hearing this response, the Dragon-man youth suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
Why did it feel like the Big guy was still a bit unreliable?
To be safe, the Dragon-man youth decided to test him.
He asked, “What is 33×7?”
“Ah?” The Big guy scratched his head, showing a puzzled expression, “Daddy, what is multiply?”
The Dragon-man youth: …
“Let’s try a different question. What is 48+21?”
Big guy scratched his ears and cheeks, wiggling his fingers and toes, and after much effort, he guiltily said to the Dragon-man youth, “Daddy, Xiao Guai doesn’t know how.”
The Dragon-man youth took a deep breath, “What about 12+6?”
Big guy huffed and puffed, twisting his fingers and toes, calculating for a long while, but still confused.
Seeing this, the Dragon-man youth felt a chill in his heart.
He contacted Zi Di to inquire whether the Golden Potion he bought was really real?
It felt like a fake!
“It’s impossible, I’ve already checked,” Zi Di denied the Dragon-man youth’s guess.
At that moment, Big guy suddenly shouted with joy, “It’s 17, 17! Daddy, I’ve calculated it!”
The Dragon-man youth fell into deep silence.
“Could it be that the giant’s Intelligence Potion was switched after Zi Di’s check?” He couldn’t help but think.
But soon he also denied this idea in his heart, “It’s impossible. This Intelligence Potion was almost always in my grip.”
“Then, there’s only one possibility.”
The Dragon-man youth gazed deeply at Big guy, thinking, “Just how big is Xiao Guai’s intelligence gap? Isn’t a Golden Level potion, specifically for giants, enough to bridge it?”
“Daddy, did I get it right?” Big guy looked at the Dragon-man youth with hopeful eyes, waiting for his affirmation.
The Dragon-man youth sighed, “None of that matters. Let’s start for real.”
“Okay!”
After all this trouble, the Dragon-man youth’s full confidence had become uncertain.
He began to guide Big guy in his cultivation.
Big guy lay on the ground, using the position he found most comfortable to sleep in, and began to circulate his Fighting energy.
His cultivation technique was called the Heartless Sleep Form.
The Dragon-man youth had put a lot of thought into carefully selecting it just for him.
This Fighting energy technique was very simple to train in; just a few successful internal circulations would enable the body to remember it. While sleeping, the body would act on its own, refining and circulating Fighting energy.
The Dragon-man youth had tried many times to teach it, but the results were not ideal.
Big guy couldn’t remember nor understand, and up to now, he had never completed a full cycle of circulation.
The Dragon-man youth took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, and began hands-on teaching.
Even though he himself had not cultivated the Heartless Sleeping Skill, he was very familiar with it since he had taught Big guy many times to the point of almost reciting it from memory.
Five minutes later, Big guy overcame the first difficulty.
The Dragon-man youth was greatly surprised.
Although Big guy had broken through this barrier before, it usually took over half an hour. This time, it only took 5 minutes to break through, which was an outstanding achievement!
“Xiao Guai, well done. A good start is half the battle.”
The second difficulty was overcome after 11 minutes.
“Xiao Guai, you’re really great. You have improved so much compared to before.”
Big guy scratched his head, laughed sheepishly, feeling very happy to be praised by Daddy.
After another 24 minutes, the third difficulty was broken.
The Dragon-man youth was even more excited than Big guy. He excitedly grabbed Big guy’s arm and shook it, “You did it, Xiao Guai! You’ve never gotten it right before.”
The fourth difficulty was overcome.
“Quick, Xiao Guai, while you’re still smart, make the most of your time.”
During the teaching process, the Dragon-man youth noticed that Big guy’s comprehension and memory were clearly declining.
The intelligence enhancement from the Golden Potion was diminishing as time passed.
After another 37 minutes, Big guy overcame the fifth difficulty.
But he was injured.
“Xiao Guai, how are you? Don’t give up; keep trying your hardest,” the Dragon-man youth encouraged Big guy.
He became impatient, a bit too eager in the teaching process.
The big guy’s cognitive and memory abilities had declined severely, causing his fighting energy to strike his viscera, hence he suffered injuries and spat blood.
“Dad, I can do it! I can keep going,” the big guy didn’t want to give up, moved by the emotion of the dragon-man youth, knowing that the other was doing this for his own good.
The dragon-man youth did not give the big guy a healing potion.
The efficacy of the healing potion could potentially affect the intelligence potion.
For now, the big guy could only endure.
The big guy was thick-skinned and tough, the injury wasn’t life-threatening.
Time kept passing, but progress grew ever slower.
From morning till evening, the dragon-man youth and the big guy neither ate nor drank, barely resting at all.
When the evening glow silently disappeared from the window of the ship’s bow, the dragon-man youth hugged the big guy, almost weeping with joy, “Success! Xiao Guai, you have finally achieved a complete cycle of fighting energy for the first time!”
The big guy howled with joy.
The huge waves of sound were perfectly restrained by the sound collection box, preventing any leakage.
“Cough cough.” The big guy coughed up blood as he howled.
Quickly, the dragon-man youth took out a healing potion and had the big guy drink it.
The big guy’s injury soon stabilized.
With a worried and uneasy heart, the dragon-man youth asked him to perform a complete cycle of fighting energy again.
The big guy was very obedient and lay down immediately to circulate his fighting energy.
“Pfft.” Half a minute later, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his fighting energy had deviated, leading to another failure.
The dragon-man youth’s heart sank, his expression grave.
The big guy tried again but still failed.
The dragon-man youth’s heart turned utterly cold.
“Dad… I’m too dumb…” the big guy also looked extremely downcast, head lowered, not daring to meet the dragon-man youth’s eyes, filled with guilt.
“Xiao Guai, I’m sorry,” the dragon-man youth suddenly said.
“Huh?”
Just as the big guy was about to lift his head, the dragon-man youth knocked him out with one palm.
Not long after the big guy fell asleep, the fighting energy in his body spontaneously began to circulate.
The anxious dragon-man youth observed attentively.
Soon after, the big guy’s fighting energy completed a full cycle!
The dragon-man youth patiently waited.
The big guy’s fighting energy completed the second, third, and fourth cycles.
The dragon-man youth exhaled a breath of stale air. It was at this moment that he truly confirmed: the big guy had successfully cultivated the Heartless Sleep Form!
“It’s so difficult, really so difficult,” the dragon-man youth relaxed, sitting down directly on the floor.
He was extremely tired, feeling even more exhausted than when he had battled with a Golden Level powerhouse!
“It wasn’t easy, really wasn’t easy, but all of it was worth it,” Zi Di, who was also silently paying attention to this teaching session, sighed deeply.
“Letting the big guy actively cultivate, he would still fail. But let him sleep, and he succeeds. This shows that his body is far more reliable than his intelligence. A body that at least possesses a Legendary Bloodline is truly remarkable!”
The dragon-man youth stood up, gazing at the sleeping big guy with a look of satisfaction, “So, from now on, let him sleep more. Given his Bloodline Grade, even sleeping, his progress will far outstrip that of ordinary people.”
The big guy, in his slumber, was clueless.
The others on the ship were also in the dark.
Only the dragon-man youth and Zi Di, who knew the truth of the bloodline, really understood how bright the big guy’s future was and how much expectation it held!
“I really want to share this joy with Cang Xu. I wonder how he is doing now,” the dragon-man youth remarked with a sigh.
On the Ghost Ship.
Cang Xu, reduced to only a head, slowly opened his eyes.
The big guy had fallen into a coma, while he had awakened from one.