Chapter 52: 4 Days’ Time

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: 4 Days’ Time

After dying twice in the dungeons, Li Heng seemed to have loosened up quite a bit. His every move inside was no longer as restrained.

Li Heng himself noticed he was starting to get a bit reckless in the dungeons, especially in the Wolf King Mountain one.

No matter how many Blood Wolves he faced, he’d just charge in and get it over with!

Of course, daring to be reckless and letting loose didn’t mean Li Heng was courting death. For the next few days, he didn’t go back to the peak of Wolf King Mountain.

Li Heng grinded dungeons for four days straight. Aside from going to the living room for meals, he spent the rest of his time in his room.

He grinded the Wolf King Mountain dungeon during the day!

In the Wolf King Mountain dungeon, Li Heng’s main goals were to collect Soul Energy Points and receive the clear rewards for defeating the heavily injured Blood Wolf King.

And he grinded the Ice Jiao Lake dungeon at night!

In the Ice Jiao Lake dungeon, Li Heng had never managed to get past the swarm of Cold Ice Pythons. Every attempt ended with him getting bogged down in a fight with them, dying, and being kicked out of the dungeon.

As for that vow about cross-dressing, after getting used to "dying," Li Heng selectively pushed it to the back of his mind. ’No one knows about it anyway.’

Actually, there was a reason for Li Heng to be so reckless.

On one hand, ever since his mindset had changed, Li Heng found that by relaxing in the dungeons, his sword moves and Body Technique became smoother, and he could utilize his strength more fully.

On the other hand, Li Heng wanted to accumulate experience fighting against multiple opponents at once.

To defeat the Blood Wolf King, he had to face a sea of Blood Wolves. This required not only strength but also extensive experience in fighting multiple opponents.

Similarly, to explore the Ice Jiao Lake dungeon further, he had to get "past" the swarm of Cold Ice Pythons, which also required a wealth of one-versus-many combat experience.

So, over these four days, even though Li Heng died numerous times in the Ice Jiao Lake dungeon, his gains from the Wolf King Mountain dungeon raised his overall strength to a new level.

Li Heng: Soul Apprentice

Soul Energy: 465

Strength: 24 (+4, +3)

Agility: 25 (+2, +3, +2)

Spirit: 16 (-1, +2) ℴℴ𝘮

Soul Energy Skills: Wolf Walk Technique lv6 (Rare), Ghost Butterfly Illusion Sword lv1 (Rare)

Soul Energy Pets: None

Soul Energy Equipment: Cyan Blade Longsword (Rare), Blood Wolf Fang Bracelet (Rare), Ice Feather Ring (Rare)

Soul Energy Items: Space Stone (Rare), 10-Year Wolf Blood Grass ×2 (Rare), Wolf Soul Blood Crystal (Rare) ×2, Wolf Bone Brush, etc...

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Level 5), Basic Body Technique (Level 4), Rudimentary Sword Intent (Passive)

—

For the Strength attribute, Mist Butterfly Swordsmanship provided +1 upon maxing its level, a Top-Grade Wolf Blood Pill provided +3, and Illusionary Butterfly Swordsmanship provided +3 upon maxing its level.

For the Agility attribute, leveling Wolf Walk Technique from lv2 to lv6 gave +4 Agility, maxing out Mist Butterfly Swordsmanship gave +1, and maxing out Illusionary Butterfly Swordsmanship gave +3.

As for the Spirit attribute, fighting bloody battles against the swarm of Cold Ice Pythons and then dying put him under immense pressure, which greatly increased his Spirit. However, since death deducted 90% of all gains, each death only truly netted him about 0.2 points. But Li Heng just kept dying over and over.

Little by little, it added up, and in the end, his Spirit attribute increased by a whole 5 points.

Li Heng also spent a great deal of Soul Energy on improving and upgrading his items and skills.

Name: Ghost Butterfly Illusion Sword (lv1)

Category: Soul Energy Skill

Value: Rare

Effects:

1. Sword-drawing speed +5.

2. Sword Intent comprehension ability +2.

3. For every two levels increased, Strength +1, Agility +1.

4. Upon reaching max level, sword strikes have a chance to create butterfly illusions.

[Consume 1000 Soul Energy Points to level up this skill?]

[This skill’s level has not been maxed out. It cannot be upgraded.]

Then there were the rewards for clearing the Wolf King Mountain dungeon. Although he only ever got D-Level ratings, Li Heng still received a Wolf Soul Blood Crystal and a Wolf Bone Brush.

However, after killing the heavily injured Blood Wolf King on the fourth day, Li Heng didn’t receive any more items, Cultivation Techniques, or other such rewards; he only got 300 Soul Energy Points.

Li Heng guessed that the "kill rewards" for the heavily injured Blood Wolf King had likely reached their cap, which was why he only received Soul Energy Points.

—

Name: Wolf Bone Brush

Category: Soul Energy Item

Value: Rare

Effects:

1. Writing fluency for Talismans, Scrolls, etc. +3.

2. Finished writings have a chance to develop a ferocious nature.

[Consume 10,000 Soul Energy Points and 1 Legendary Point to upgrade this item?]

Li Heng briefly reviewed all his gains from the past four days.

’With my current strength, plus the bonuses from my equipment, I should have a good chance of beating the Blood Wolf King in a one-on-one fight!’

However, Li Heng had no immediate plans to go to the peak of Wolf King Mountain for "revenge" against the Blood Wolf King. To fight him one-on-one, he first had to get through the dense swarm of Blood Wolves.

He still wasn’t fully confident he could do it. He figured going now would just be feeding them a free kill and wasting a precious opportunity to use his Talisman.

As for the Cold Ice Pythons in the Ice Jiao Lake dungeon, after dying countless times, Li Heng could now handle fighting thirteen of them by himself without issue.

But it still wasn’t enough, because there were far more than thirteen pythons in that swarm!

Li Heng found this feeling very comfortable—grinding dungeons and slowly getting stronger without any worries or restrictions.

He definitely wouldn’t have been able to achieve this if he were in the Falling Flood Dragon Icefield Secret Realm.

"My dear son! Are you asleep?"

Just as Li Heng was debating whether to sleep or rest a bit before trying the Ice Jiao Lake dungeon again, there was a knock on his bedroom door.

After opening the door, Li Heng was led to the living room by Li Guobin and Zhang Yu Yao.

Li Heng saw the worried looks on his parents’ faces. He was confused, but he was sensible enough to keep quiet and wait for them to speak first.

Zhang Yu Yao raised her eyebrows at Li Guobin and gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow. He shot her a helpless glance before turning to Li Heng. "Hengzi! Ever since you decided to participate in the secret realm college entrance exam, I’ve known that you’ve grown up, that you’ve become a man who can stand on his own two feet."

"But sometimes, in life and in everything else, problems crop up to hinder our progress and growth. I called your homeroom teacher. I know this mock exam was in the Fallen Jiao Icefield, and that it was the most difficult one Maple City has seen in the last decade. The fact that my son lasted until the third day—I don’t consider that a failure at all. You’ve already surpassed most people. You’re already exceptional."

Hearing this, Li Heng began to understand what his parents were worried about. He was about to explain, but he didn’t know what to say. ’I can’t just tell them I was desperate to come home and grind dungeons, can I?’

Seeing her son’s hesitant expression, Zhang Yu Yao couldn’t help but add, "Hengzi! If something’s bothering you, you have to talk to your mom and dad about it, okay? And if you don’t want to talk to us, that’s fine too. You could go take a trip, clear your head. If you need money, just tell Mom. Just please, don’t lock yourself in your room all day alone. You’ll worry yourself sick."

’So that’s what this is about. I haven’t left my room in four days except to eat, so of course I’ve attracted my parents’ "attention".’

Li Heng knew his parents were worried that he was depressed after "failing the exam" and were trying to console him.

But he really wasn’t depressed. In fact, he was over the moon about his power-up.

His parents meant well, but Li Heng didn’t know where to begin. He couldn’t reveal the system’s existence, and he felt a little wronged. He could only nod and say, "I’m fine! I just feel like some of my skills are still lacking, so I’m going to work on honing them."

Li Heng’s parents had been worried he’d become depressed after the blow of his poor exam performance. Hearing him willing to communicate, they both breathed a sigh of relief. They were about to say more to comfort him, but then they heard a series of knocks on the door.