WHOOSH!
Countless birds took flight in alarm, the frantic flapping of their wings shattering the forest’s tranquility.
Pei Ze’s figure flashed as his longsword hissed through the necks of the barbarians, one after another. Heads soared into the air amidst splatters of blood, creating a truly gruesome scene.
A faint cyan halo enveloped his body.
Empowered by wind-type Energy Particles, his movements became even more nimble, his speed as swift as a flash of lightning.
Meanwhile, his longsword was wreathed in a layer of bluish-white Thunder Energy Particles, which flowed and sparkled like lightning itself.
Any barbarian touched by the lightning, even just a slight graze, was instantly paralyzed. Before they could recover, the blade would flash across their neck, and in the next moment, their head would be separated from their body.
The hundred or so barbarians who had been besieging him had gone from aggressive and menacing at the start, to doubtful and uncertain, and now to utterly horrified, on the verge of losing their will to fight.
The barbarian leader was drenched in a cold sweat, his face pale.
"Damn it, is this guy a monster?!"
A Second-level Wizard Apprentice who hadn’t cast a single proper spell from start to finish had single-handedly brought their group of over a hundred men to the brink of collapse with just a longsword!
’Since when did Wizard Apprentices have such insane melee skills?’
Just as the barbarian leader was reeling in horror, a dozen more of his comrades fell to Pei Ze’s sword.
Of the hundred-plus men who had once formed a dense crowd, fewer than twenty now remained.
The barbarians revered martial prowess and had fierce temperaments, but they were not fearless. Seeing so many of their companions killed one after another, the remaining men finally broke, turning to flee in terror.
But they hadn’t gotten far when wisps of black mist suddenly shot out from all directions, darting behind them. The mist instantly condensed into crows that extended claws as sharp as hooks, sinking them deep into the men’s backs, right into their hearts.
RIP!
A series of muffled tearing sounds, like cloth being ripped, echoed through the air as blossoms of blood bloomed from nothing.
In just an instant, the dozen or so fleeing barbarians all collapsed, completely wiped out!
CAW!
Wuyu landed on Pei Ze’s shoulder, cawing with its head held high as if seeking praise.
Pei Ze smiled and patted its head in approval.
Today was his third day on the island.
For the past three days, he had been hunting barbarians during the day and practicing Meditation and the Cyan Mist Breathing Technique at night. He slept only two or three hours each night, living a more fulfilling life than he had back in Chenxi City.
His only regret was that he couldn’t use his full Spiritual Power to accelerate the creation of his new Meditation Technique.
After all, the island was fraught with peril, and there was no telling when danger might strike. He had to ensure his Spiritual Power was always at its peak.
Only before his nightly Meditation would he expend a portion of his Spiritual Power to speed up the process.
Also, to conserve Spiritual Power, Pei Ze had relied on melee combat to hunt the barbarians for the past three days, barely using any Magic.
His constitution attribute was already over 20, reaching the limit of a Peak Knight. Combined with the enhancement from Energy Particles, he was strong enough to fight a Grand Knight.
Only when he occasionally encountered too many enemies would he summon Wuyu to help him fight.
’In the end, it’s all because I don’t have any potions to restore Spiritual Power.’
Pei Ze sighed with some regret.
The Wizard Civilization was prosperous and advanced, having created countless all-encompassing potions over tens of thousands of years, yet there were none that could restore Spiritual Power.
Perhaps a few had existed, but they were gradually abandoned by Wizards over the long course of history due to their severe side effects.
Pei Ze had heard of some rare and exotic items that could restore Spiritual Power upon consumption, but with his current status, he had no way of obtaining them.
Even if he did get them, he couldn’t possibly use them for everyday recovery.
Otherwise, if there were potions or exotic items that could restore Spiritual Power, the analytical speed of his Eye of Omniscience would increase drastically, and he could create a new Meditation Technique in a single day.
Pei Ze shook his head, casting aside the unrealistic thought. He activated his Crystal Bracelet and began to absorb the Soul Energy.
A moment later, his points had increased by 352.
He called up the leaderboard.
1st Place: Gu Lin, 2821 Points
2nd Place: Pei Shaoqi, 2788 Points
3rd Place: Yin Guang, 2765 Points
4th Place: Huang Chen, 2312 Points
...
23rd Place: Pei Ze, 2103 Points
On the leaderboard, Gu Lin, Pei Shaoqi, and Yin Guang were far ahead, in a completely different league from the apprentices ranked below them.
’Those guys are really going all out.’
Pei Ze marveled to himself.
With his Fog Crows helping him search for the barbarians’ tracks, his hunting efficiency was already quite high.
But even so, he was still only ranked 23rd.
Even if the apprentices ranked ahead of him also had methods for tracking barbarians, it stood to reason that they shouldn’t have been able to score so many more points than him.
The only explanation was that these people were also hunting barbarians nonstop through the night.
’The grind...’
’It’s relentless!’
Pei Ze criticized them internally.
Of course, he wasn’t actually in a hurry.
With an ultimate weapon like Wuyu at his disposal, acquiring a large number of points was a simple matter for him.
The only reason he hadn’t done so was to avoid attracting too much attention too early and getting ganged up on.
"Compared to barbarians, I’m more interested in finding the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy," Pei Ze muttered to himself.
Just then, Wuyu, perched on his shoulder, let out a low caw.
Pei Ze was instantly on alert, whirling his head to look to his right.
Familiars generally had sharper senses than Wizard Apprentices. Wuyu had sensed someone approaching.
Sure enough, as Pei Ze’s gaze swept over, three Wizard Apprentices emerged from the woods to his right.
Two men and a woman, all with unfamiliar faces.
They, however, recognized him immediately. The expression of one of the male apprentices changed slightly. "Pei Ze!"
The three of them immediately took up a defensive stance.
Pei Ze gave them a cool glance, paid them no mind, and casually turned to leave.
Only after Pei Ze had walked some distance away did the three apprentices breathe a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.
"I can’t believe we ran into Pei Ze here. Thank goodness he didn’t seem to want to attack us."
"What’s there to be afraid of? Even if we did fight, we wouldn’t necessarily lose!" the other male apprentice said, trying to sound tough now that the danger had passed.
The words had barely left his mouth when his companion shot him a glare. "Pei Ze is a Second-level Wizard Apprentice, and he advanced over a month ago. In terms of strength, he definitely ranks in the upper tier among Second-level Wizard Apprentices. What would we even fight him with?"
The female apprentice nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I heard that Pei Ze killed a Demonized creature back when he was still a First-level Wizard Apprentice. He must be even stronger now. It’s definitely for the best that we didn’t fight him!"
After being rebuked by his two companions, the male apprentice fell silent, looking disgruntled.
...
Pei Ze had no idea that people were talking about him behind his back.
He had his Fog Crows spread out to search for signs of life within a one-kilometer radius, while he himself focused on examining the plants and animals along the way.
There was a surprisingly large number of plants and animals on this island that could be used as potion ingredients.
He could identify the vast majority of them with his accumulated knowledge. For the few he couldn’t recognize, he used his Eye of Omniscience to analyze and investigate.
Over the past few days, he had collected over forty types of materials, which he calculated were worth five or six hundred Gold Coins.
’If it weren’t for this trial, gathering materials here wouldn’t be a bad way to pass the time.’
Although he still had several thousand Gold Coins and over ten Magic Stone Coins in his dimensional bag, Pei Ze often felt like he didn’t have enough money.
For one thing, Wuyu’s daily ration of one Magic Stone Coin was a huge expense.
To ensure the pace of his power progression wasn’t affected, he had to earn more money.
’My Spirit attribute is only about 4 points away from 50. Once I advance to Third-level Wizard Apprentice, I can start concocting Tier 1 potions.’
Pei Ze felt a small thrill of excitement.
The profits from Tier 1 potions were much higher than from unranked potions like the Ferocity Potion.
After walking for another ten minutes or so, Wuyu suddenly cawed, sending him a thought.
A Fog Crow scouting ahead had discovered people fighting.
Seeing this, Pei Ze planned to take a detour to avoid them, but Wuyu then sent another thought: there was someone he knew among those fighting.