Chapter 662: Section 449: Splicing Mountain, Grafting Town
Severe pain struck in a moment, distorting Zong Ge’s face unnaturally.
“What’s wrong?” Zi Di asked with concern.
Zong Ge had been promoted to Gold Level, which was greatly beneficial for the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
Especially now, with the enemy being powerful and mysterious, and yet unexplored. Zong Ge had become the core strength of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps. Naturally, Zi Di hoped his condition would be good.
Zong Ge took the Blood Vengeance Axe from his back, “It’s this weapon! I killed the leader of the Axe Gang, but fell prey to his final trick.”
“Every so often, a bloody light surrounds my body, attacking a vital part of me.”
“And the timing of its activation is irregular; I must always be vigilant, using Fighting energy to protect myself, to possibly avoid difficulty.”
Zi Di immediately frowned, “The leader of the Axe Gang?! Was he the one who attacked us? Who were the other two? Let me check first to see if I can remove this bloody light for you.”
Zong Ge nodded.
He had tried already, but could only defend passively, unable to find the source.
Magic had more means than Fighting energy, perhaps Zi Di could help.
After examining him, besides confirming that Zong Ge was genuinely at Gold Level, Zi Di found nothing.
After a detailed analysis of the battle narrative provided by Zong Ge, Zi Di analyzed, “This should be the power of the Blood Vengeance Axe, simply triggered by the leader of the Axe Gang.”
“According to information we have collected, the Blood Vengeance Axe is not just a simple Gold Level weapon.”
“If we want to eliminate this hidden danger, we should start with the Blood Vengeance Axe to have more possibilities.”
Zong Ge nodded, “I’ve killed three Gold Level fighters, but I still can’t afford to be careless. Let’s set out now!”
“Wait, before we set off, you need to replenish your Deception and Disguise Skill,” Zi Di reminded.
Zong Ge looked at himself and nodded, “In fierce battle, the consumption of the Deception and Disguise Skill is very intense. In fact, during the fight, I ended up crushing two Pearl Bubbles.”
Following this topic, Zong Ge explained to Zi Di the performance of the Deception and Disguise Skill and Pearl Bubbles in actual combat.
“Before the battle, I used the Deception and Disguise Skill to make myself ‘completely invisible’. Because the level of deception was so deep, after killing the first Gold Level fighter, the effectiveness of the spell was halved.”
“Reluctantly, I crushed the first Pearl Bubble.”
“The power of the Pearl Bubble allowed me to open the tent flap without alerting the enemy.”
“Under the scrutiny and investigation of Gold Level, the effectiveness of the Deception and Disguise Skill rapidly declined. Especially after I made my move, when the enemy was critically injured, I could clearly feel the power of the spell greatly diminish.”
“In the tent, I crushed the second Pearl Bubble. Yet, the leader of the Axe Gang still launched a dying counterattack.”
“After this battle, the only remaining Pearl Bubbles I had were these,” he said, taking out 8 Pearl Bubbles.
While Zi Di listened carefully, she retrieved the Array Map module and installed the Deception Array.
Seeing the 8 Pearl Bubbles, she sighed, “The higher the level of deception, the greater the consumption of the spell, which we have already tested.”
“Still, I did not expect it to consume so much.”
Before Zong Ge set off, Zi Di had given him 30, and when he returned, only 8 remained. Including the Deception and Disguise Skill Zong Ge replenished before and after the battle, the total consumption of Pearl Bubbles approached 30.
When Zi Di set out from Snowbird Port, she carried only about 60some Pearl Bubbles. That is to say, Zong Ge’s battle directly used up half of the reserves.
Zi Di only retrieved 5, “The remaining three are left for you to use, just in case.”
“Logically, the loss of three Gold Levels would be a huge loss for any power within the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. Even if they want to deal with us, they must now be wary.”
Zong Ge nodded, agreeing with Zi Di’s analysis. As Ice Sculpture Kingdom was not the Holy Bright Empire, the strongest were only at Holy Domain Level. Below Holy Domain Level were the Gold Levels.
Gold Levels were a mainstay.
Taking the Axe Gang as an example, the death of the leader instantly brought their highest combat power down to Silver Level, which would undoubtedly cause significant turmoil. If not handled well, it could even lead to the dissolution of the gang.
Zong Ge carefully placed the Pearl Bubbles into his chest, “We are using the Pearl Bubbles in such a crude way. If we had a high-ranking clergy from the Charming Blue Sect, I believe the consumption of Pearl Bubbles would greatly decrease, and the effectiveness of the Deception and Disguise Skill would be more outstanding.”
After securing the Pearl Bubbles, Zong Ge looked at the three bodies lying on the ground, “The leader of the Axe Gang was the gang leader, but was once a soldier of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. His identity and background are very similar to Teng Donglang’s, which makes me suspect they had a close relationship before. This might be the reason we were ambushed!”
This clue was too obvious, and Zong Ge, adept at battlefield analysis, immediately deduced part of the truth.
“As for the other two, I also suspect that they may have the same background as Teng Donglang and the leader of the Axe Gang,” Zong Ge said.
Zi Di smiled slightly, “They were two Gold Levels, not insignificant figures. A little investigation should reveal their backgrounds and identities.”
“I have a premonition that our gains this time will be substantial!”
With the triple reconnaissance of Xu Ma, Alchemy Puppets, and Transformed Ghosts, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps maintained an advantage in reconnaissance.
After reapplying the Deception and Disguise Skill, Zong Ge, Zi Di, and their subordinates converged.
These people were kept in the dark, utterly unaware that during Zong Ge’s brief departure, he had achieved the magnificent feat of killing three Gold Levels.
The rest of the journey was extremely calm.
In the evening, the group entered Snow Rabbit Town.
The first thing they did was to apply for teleportation.
The use of the Teleportation Array in Snow Rabbit Town was still very frequent, and even though Zi Di spent a lot of money bribing, they still had to wait until tomorrow afternoon.
After consulting with Zong Ge, Zi Di decided to stay overnight in Snow Rabbit Town and use the Teleportation Array to head to Snow Rabbit City.
After enjoying a lavish dinner, they obtained a key piece of information from the intelligence bought by their subordinates.
“Jia Bing Mage?”
“A powerful Mage retired from the military, an alchemy master, whose specialty is creating a variant of Alchemy Puppets Stone Statue Ghosts—Ice Statue Ghosts.”
“So, does this mean he has Ice Statue Ghosts in his storage belt?”
“Fantastic!” Zi Di’s eyes lit up, looking forward to acquiring the ice sculpture techniques from Jia Bing’s legacy.
This was a unique alchemy technique exclusive to the Ice Sculpture Kingdom!
“Additionally, Jia Bing Mage has an Alchemy Laboratory in Grafting Town. He occasionally trades with the outside world, mainly selling alchemy tools.”
Seeing this, Zong Ge spoke up, “It seems we need to make a trip to Grafting Town first.”
A Golden Level Mage and also an alchemy master, his laboratory was definitely worth Zong Ge and Zi Di’s group altering their itinerary temporarily for.
Zi Di immediately checked the intelligence on Grafting Town.
Located at the foot of Assembly Mountain, Grafting Town was the closest village to Assembly Mountain. Due to environmental factors and inconvenient transportation, it was less than one-third the size of Snow Rabbit Town.
The origin of Grafting Town was related to the legendary druid, Prosperous Hybrid.
This great Druid was a Wood Elf and the direct descendant of the Prosperous family, best known for his grafting technique, allowing different plants to cooperate and survive together.
He once came to the Ice Sculpture Kingdom during his travels and conducted numerous planting experiments on Assembly Mountain. The dramatic changes in the terrain of Assembly Mountain drew widespread attention and shook the ruling powers and interests of various factions.
Transcendents among the Snow Elves teamed up to expel Prosperous Hybrid. The great Druid Hybrid descended the mountain and battled the Snow Elves, displaying his exquisite grafting abilities which demoralized the Snow Elves, forcing them to retreat helplessly.
Due to the residual power of the great Druid Hybrid from the battle, several huge Magic Plants, grafted together, were formed.
Years later, some Snow Elves managed to survive the harsh cold of Assembly Mountain under these Magic Plants, and Grafting Town gradually took shape.
“According to the intelligence, the five Magic Plants in Grafting Town still retain strong grafting abilities. Magic Plants that have been damaged can be directly grafted onto their trunks, drawing nutrients for life, slowly recovering, and sprouting anew.”
“Quite interesting.”
Zi Di began to look forward to the trip to Grafting Town.
The night deepened gradually.
The ship was about to dock, allowing the Captain to heave a sigh of relief, as sailing at night was far riskier than during the day. It wasn’t about getting lost, as that was very unlikely. What the Captain feared most was a pirate attack, especially after the emergence of the Pirate Throne, which had spurred rampant pirate activities worldwide. Even previously safe routes were now laden with danger.
Golden Level Mage Zhong Bei and Silver Level Mage Jia Bing disembarked, officially stepping onto the territory of Flower Skirt Island.
They concealed their auras, using Magic Tools to disguise themselves as two Black Iron Level fighters.
The identity of Black Iron Level Transcendents was less conspicuous and could keep many at bay, deterring them from making rash moves. This saved Zhong Bei and Jia Bing a lot of trouble.
Especially since their mission was to seek help from Master Cai Jing to craft a replica of the Dragon Power Riding Potion, it was even more crucial to avoid unnecessary trouble.
It was for this reason that they had hidden their real identities.
Zhong Bei didn’t want to expose his identity, provoking suspicions from the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps and eventually leading him and his group of arms smugglers into confrontation.
Zhong Bei hoped he could manage things secretly and scheme against the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps while remaining unaffected himself.
“Let’s head to the tavern first to find out Master Cai Jing’s residence. It’s too late for a visit, so we need to find an inn to spend the night,” Zhong Bei communicated telepathically.
Jia Bing nodded continuously.
The largest tavern on Flower Skirt Island was located at the port.
Zhong Bei and Jia Bing entered the tavern without drawing attention.
Although they were both strangers, the port was a place with a high turnover of people, and strangers were common.
The first and second floors of the tavern were almost full of ordinary people, while Transcendents gathered on the third and fourth floors.
Assuming the identity of Black Iron Level fighters, the two headed to the third floor of the tavern.
They saw a crowd gathered around a giant fish tank, continuously shouting and cheering.
Looking over, Jia Bing spotted a blue-skinned, curly-haired Fishman with a triangular head and a Snow Elf fighter engaged in a magical chess battle involving large and small fish.
After Zhong Bei and Jia Bing found an empty table and sat down, the tide of the gambling battle had clearly turned.
The Fishman had gained a distinct advantage, drawing cheers from the crowd: “Hen Fa! Hen Fa! Hen Fa!”