Chapter 65: Intense Dungeon Grinding

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Intense Dungeon Grinding

The Soul Energy Store was blowing up.

Not in a fiery explosion, but with people—it was completely swamped!

’Am I too late?’

Staring at the scene before him, which rivaled a tourist hotspot during peak season, Li Heng couldn’t help but think he should have come earlier.

Li Heng hadn’t asked his parents for money. Instead, he took a Space Stone full of wolf-related materials and went to the Soul Energy Store himself.

He also planned to "go public" with the Space Stone, riding the wave of the Secret Realm College Entrance Exam. He would tell everyone that his parents had used their savings to buy it for him.

The wolf-related materials were also easy to explain. He would just say that after he got the Space Stone, his close friends had asked him to sell the materials for them.

Li Heng also believed that with the announcement of the Secret Realm College Entrance Exam, many people who were usually frugal would now be spending lavishly. There would certainly be no shortage of people selling high-quality items.

At a time like this, spending a bit more and selling a few more things felt like a safe bet to Li Heng.

And to be extra cautious, Li Heng chose a different Soul Energy Store this time.

Since the Soul Energy Store was so packed with customers today, Li Heng initially thought that if the line was too long, he would just find a quiet spot nearby and grind some Dungeons instead.

Fortunately, the Soul Energy Store had separate lines for buying and selling, and the selling line was much shorter.

A few minutes later, Li Heng went up to the second floor. Under the appraiser’s placid gaze, he took out a huge pile of wolf-related materials from his Space Stone.

And just as Li Heng had guessed, neither the appraiser nor the service staff asked any questions about his Space Stone. Their expressions didn’t even change.

Li Heng traded a Space Stone full of wolf-related materials for a little over twenty thousand Alliance Coins. Then, using that money plus what was left over from buying his Swordsmanship technique, he also bought a waterskin, some Soul Energy Elixirs, and a fire starter.

As for things like sleeping bags and tents, the store did have them, but the prices were a bit inflated. Besides, he figured they wouldn’t fit in the Space Stone even if he bought them.

Furthermore, Li Heng felt it would be a hassle to bring all that stuff. As long as he had the basics covered, it would be good enough.

With water, food, and basic medicine secured, the need for other items wasn’t too great for now.

Name: Bandit’s Waterskin

Category: Soul Energy Items

Value: Common

Effects:

1. Liquids placed inside the waterskin will become imbued with Soul Qi.

2. Capacity: 700ml.

[Consume 100 Soul Power Points to upgrade this item?]

——

Name: Marching Fire Starter

Category: Soul Energy Items

Value: Common

Effects: Starts and spreads fire.

[Consume 100 Soul Power Points to upgrade this item?]

Setting aside the elixirs for a moment—the basic ones weren’t expensive—the two items above were "hot commodities" that Li Heng had bought from the Soul Energy Store. Their prices were already starting to get ridiculous.

From the looks of it, they were likely to sell out soon. Li Heng was glad he’d come today; otherwise, there was no telling if they’d even be in stock later.

After leaving the Soul Energy Store, Li Heng immediately returned home and resumed grinding his Dungeons. He put all his effort into running only Wolf King Mountain.

Soul Power Points!

Right now, Li Heng felt an urgent need for Soul Power Points. So many things needed upgrading. Besides, he figured it didn’t matter if he flaunted his "wealth" a bit while riding the wave of the Secret Realm College Entrance Exam.

After all, compared to some wealthy families, they were probably willing to spend even more on their children. Many things they were usually reluctant to buy would likely be purchased all at once for the sake of the Secret Realm College Entrance Exam!

After all, a cost of a few tens of thousands could be used to gamble on a child’s future—it was a relatively low-cost, high-return investment.

When the time came, the origin of many of his items would be easy to explain. For things like the Wolf Bone Brush or ten-year-old Wolf Blood Grass, Li Heng could just act like a rich kid and say, "My parents bought them for me!"

So, burying his head and grinding became the only thing Li Heng had to do now.

And so, he spent another five days at home grinding the Wolf King Mountain Dungeon. The first thing Li Heng did was spend his Soul Power Points directly on the Wolf Walk Technique and the Ghost Butterfly Illusion Sword.

Wolf Walk Technique Lv. 10.

Ghost Butterfly Illusion Sword Lv. 10.

Leveling up Soul Energy Skills directly increased his core stats, so it was definitely the highest priority.

Since further upgrades required too many Soul Power Points, and Li Heng still hadn’t obtained any Legendary Points, he had to put leveling his Soul Energy Skills on hold for now.

Next was upgrading his Soul Energy Equipment. Li Heng upgraded his Cyan Blade Longsword, Blood Wolf Fang Bracelet, and Ice Feather Ring respectively.

Name: Empty Cicada Longsword

Category: Soul Energy Equipment

Value: Rare

Effects:

1. Wearer gains Strength +5, Agility +5.

2. Swordsmanship Adaptability +8.

3. Increases wearer’s comprehension of ordinary Sword Intent.

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

——

Name: Snow-Binding Ring

Category: Soul Energy Equipment

Value: Rare

Effects:

1. Wearer gains Agility +3, Spirit +3.

2. Cold Resistance +5.

3. Ice-type Soul Power Affinity and Perception +3.

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

——

Name: Blood Soul Wolf Fang Bracelet

Category: Soul Energy Equipment

Value: Rare

Effects:

1. Wearer gains Strength +5, Agility +3.

2. Intimidation against wolf-type creatures +7.

3. Blood Perception +3.

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

——

After five days, even with the Dungeon’s reset function, Li Heng was starting to feel drained.

Grinding non-stop every day on less than five hours of sleep, Li Heng had already started putting goji berries in the thermos he kept in his room.

It was a shame there were no Soul Qi Goji Berries. Otherwise, Li Heng absolutely would have put some in his Bandit’s Waterskin to carry with him at all times!

’It’s only been five days and I can barely take it. I have no idea how those people who play *Yin Yang Master*, shiny hunt in *Pokémon*, or grind *DNF* keep their livers healthy! Is their hairline doing okay?’

But complaints were just complaints. Deep down, Li Heng was overjoyed. After all, this insane dungeon-grinding spree had boosted his power by a huge leap—it was a qualitative jump.

But it was also at this point that Li Heng realized he had hit a bottleneck.

His Soul Energy Skills and Soul Energy Equipment had all been upgraded to the Rare value, but to continue upgrading them, he needed not only to grind his liver out for Soul Power Points, but also Legendary Points.

But what on earth were these Legendary Points?!

Li Heng’s initial guess was that he probably wouldn’t find any clues until he unlocked God-tier Dungeons, so he didn’t dwell on it for now.

On this particular day, however, Li Heng needed to log into the school website to check the scoring method for this year’s exam.

Because the timing was just right—sometime in the next two days, the Soul Energy Alliance was set to announce the detailed information regarding the score calculation for the Secret Realm College Entrance Exam!