205: Turn the offensive

By the time the Skeletons had collected everything that dropped, Gu Qinghan had already confirmed that the two individuals had nothing on them that could threaten him.

The only thing he needed to be wary of was whether Meina could leave this Secret Realm using her abilities.

However, this wasn't a problem, as Gu Qinghan could continuously apply the Shaman Power skill effect on her.

Without mana or any equipment or items, Gu Qinghan didn't believe she could use any skills.

"There are no insect master class scrolls, but I've collected over 100 Great Swordsman fragments.

skill upgrade scroll fragments... with the previous ones, it's exactly one hundred!"

Gu Qinghan's eyes lit up, and he immediately put away the Great Swordsman Class Scroll fragments.

He took out all the skill upgrade scroll fragments and immediately chose to synthesize them.

He watched as the fragments in his hand were like a group of wriggling worms, moving closer to each other and then piecing themselves together.

This process made Gu Qinghan frown deeply, and he even had an urge to throw these things away.

Fortunately, this process didn't last too long, and a skill upgrade scroll appeared in Gu Qinghan's hand.

This skill upgrade scroll looked slightly different from the one Gu Qinghan had obtained before, but its effect was exactly the same.

Gu Qinghan chose to use it, but he didn't immediately apply it to other skills.

He still chose to use it on the twice-upgraded Death Whisper skill, but he received a prompt:

"[Current skill level has reached its cap; please select another skill to upgrade.]"

With no other option, Gu Qinghan could only choose the Death Manipulation skill.

In fact, Gu Qinghan had many choices, but he chose this skill because he felt it shouldn't have such limited potential.

From the beginning of the game until now, Gu Qinghan had noticed that almost every time he completed a trial quest, he would gain a brand new ability.

Death Manipulation, Death Poison, and the most basic summon Skeleton skill, Death Whisper.

The effects of these skills were clearly far stronger than other skills, serving as cornerstones for them.

For example, the Bone Spear and Bone Spike skills that appeared earlier should be considered skills derived from the same source as the Death Whisper skill.

This source could be bones.

And the Death Poison, Mental Toxin, and even the poison effects that the Skeletons could apply, were even more obvious.

The source of these abilities was poison.

However, Death Manipulation, as the second key skill after advancement, hadn't brought him any surprises for a long time.

He wanted to take a gamble, betting that upgrading this skill would bring a significant improvement.

Therefore, he chose to upgrade it without hesitation!

The original words of Death Manipulation gradually blurred, slowly transforming into a new skill description:

"[Necromancer Manipulation: Consumes 1000 mana. Manipulates the body and soul of enemies you have killed. Current maximum manipulation count: 3.

When mana is full, all mana can be consumed to activate the potential of manipulated souls, strengthening a designated skill. Disappears after combat. Cooldown: 1 hour.]"

Gu Qinghan's brows furrowed slightly; honestly, he wasn't very satisfied with this result.

He had originally thought that after upgrading this skill, the Death Mutated Creatures he controlled would become stronger along with him.

This way, his three Commander Level Mutated Creatures would definitely become powerful entities capable of holding their own.

But why was the change in this skill not quite what he had imagined?

"Soul? Is the core of this skill in the soul?"

However, Gu Qinghan never regretted things he had done; whether this skill was strong or not, he would know after an experiment.

He looked down at the basin below, which was now piled high with Cang Worm corpses, like a mass grave.

He still remembered that as soon as he collected a Cang Worm corpse, a scream that seemed to pierce the soul would appear, causing the worm swarm to riot.

Previously, he didn't understand the general strength of the monsters in this Secret Realm, but now it was different.

At least most of the monsters here had been killed by him, so there wouldn't be a situation where he was crushed by a random swarm.

Gu Qinghan immediately led the two down into the basin, dispelled the surrounding Death Poison Mist, and then collected a Cang Worm corpse from the ground.

However, the sharp scream Gu Qinghan was expecting did not appear.

"What's going on?"

Gu Qinghan's expression changed. Was the owner of that sound asleep?

He defiantly collected many Cang Worm corpses in a row, even collecting the bodies of some nearby Cang Worms.

As a result, a short cry rang out, seemingly cursing Gu Qinghan's shameless actions.

But the scream that could cause the worm swarm to riot still did not appear.

"I still don't believe it. Did it realize it couldn't deal with me anymore?"

Gu Qinghan raised an eyebrow, pointed at the pitiful Meina, and said:

"You, try collecting a few Cang Worm corpses."

Saying that, he handed her an empty storage ring.

Meina nodded and somewhat cautiously collected a few nearby monster corpses.

The scream still did not appear.

"You, you, you, you try it."

Kim Taeyong also repeated the same operation, but there was no change whatsoever.

Just as Gu Qinghan's frown deepened, Meina suddenly called out to him softly.

Gu Qinghan cast a questioning gaze over, finding her pointing upwards and saying:

"I can feel that something up there seems to be locking onto us.

This is an ability of us Secret Realm Peekers, and one of the assets that allows us to survive in Secret Realms."

Gu Qinghan looked up; the sky was very dark, and he couldn't see anything at all.

The Crow King shook off a plume of feathers, condensing a crow that flew into the sky, and quickly discovered the anomaly in the air.

In the extremely high sky, a very fast black shadow was circling.

Upon seeing the crow flying up, the black shadow instantly vanished from its original spot, as if it had merged into the darkness.

Gu Qinghan couldn't clearly see the other party's appearance, but he understood that this thing should be transmitting information.

And it was this thing that caused the owner of that voice to withdraw the bounty on him.

"What a group of fickle fellows..."

Gu Qinghan also showed a hint of helplessness; the monsters here had a leader with considerable intelligence secretly directing them.

After he killed a large number of monsters, the hidden mastermind simply started to give up, letting Gu Qinghan do as he pleased.

"It seems you're still somewhat useful. Keep performing, and I'll add some flavor to your next meal."

Gu Qinghan looked at Meina with appreciation; having such a professional in this Secret Realm was indeed very convenient.

A combination of carrot and stick was necessary to make the other party work harder for him.

However, even though the mysterious entity in the Secret Realm ignored him, he wasn't planning to let it off so easily.

Are you kidding? His mission wasn't finished yet, and there were so many hungry skills waiting to be upgraded.

He simply had the Death Swordsman keep an eye on the two, and then had his Skeletons gather all the monster corpses in the area nearby.

Subsequently, he released his three Death Mutated Creatures.

"Eat, eat, eat. These corpses are just going to waste."

The three Death Mutated Creatures, following Gu Qinghan's instructions, quickly enveloped large areas of monster corpses in black mist.

A short cry came from between heaven and earth, seemingly a complaint from the owner of that voice.

Meina and Kim Taeyong, who witnessed everything, suddenly exchanged glances.

They suddenly felt that Gu Qinghan was like a bandit or robber breaking into a private residence, thoroughly plundering valuable items.

They even felt a touch of sympathy for the owner of that voice.