19: mid chapter
The fourth day arrived as scheduled. Lin Zhizhi had prepared everything early and waited by the door for Fang Yuan to take her leveling.
On this day, as time progressed, the monsters' strength significantly increased. Many monsters had already reached Black Iron Level Five, though Black Iron Level Four monsters still predominated.
With the general increase in monster Ranks, under Fang Yuan's guidance, Lin Zhizhi completed her energy accumulation by 1 PM and advanced to Black Iron Rank Six.
The two continued south towards Sea City. Due to Rank limitations, Fang Yuan's Rank remained unchanged even late into the night, still needing thirty percent more energy to advance.
"Another day of great harvest!"
Lin Zhizhi, with a bag full of treasures, slumped onto the sofa, looking satisfied. The harvest from this fourth day had exceeded two thousand energy points, and combined with her Rank Breakthrough, her joyful heart hadn't stopped pounding.
What she found quite regrettable was that the previously collected low-Rank monster materials took up too much space, and her bag couldn't fit larger monster limbs later on.
Considering there were still a few more days, Lin Zhizhi had no choice but to discard the less valuable monster materials and only take the most valuable crystal cores.
Fang Yuan
Rank: Black Iron Rank Six (71.5%)
True Spirit Talent: Origin Devouring (Silver Rank)
Talent: Origin Enhancement (9.0%)
After a day of hard work, besides accumulating seventy percent of his energy, that last bit didn't provide as much of a boost as a single Blazing Flame Tiger.
After some deduction and speculation, Fang Yuan guessed that the latter progress bar was very likely related to the Evolution and upgrade of the 【Origin Devouring】 Talent.
Perhaps once it reached one hundred percent, it could evolve from a Silver Rank Talent to a Gold Rank Talent.
When his Talent Awakened, the details of 【Origin Devouring】 were revealed to him. According to the description, as long as enough Origin was devoured, the Talent could evolve.
However, at the current rate of increase, it would be difficult to quickly meet the requirements for Talent Evolution. To increase it quickly, he would have to hunt more and stronger monsters with stronger Talents.
The Origin provided by a single Blazing Flame Tiger with a Gold Rank Talent was far more than what hundreds of monsters killed that day provided.
"Cousin, is your next target the Bloodthirsty Demon Spider in the Outer City?"
When they had some free time, Lin Zhizhi moved closer to Fang Yuan and sat beside him.
Their direction of travel for the day was clear: straight towards the south of Sea City. This reminded her of the dangerous places mentioned by the Inner City residents.
Their direction of travel was clearly towards the Bloodthirsty Demon Spider in the south of the city.
With the successful precedent of killing the Blazing Flame Tiger, Lin Zhizhi felt no fear or worry. In her opinion, her Younger Female Cousin could already roam freely throughout the Haishi Void Realm.
This made her very happy. She had found a powerful individual who could help her advance by leaps and bounds, and she didn't have to worry about other issues at all.
For other ordinary trial participants, even those from the Inner City, by the fourth day, a large portion of them could only focus on defense and it was impossible for them to traverse and kill monsters all the way.
For most people who Awakened a Black Iron Rank Talent, the areas outside, where Black Iron Level Four monsters were everywhere, were a forbidden zone they couldn't approach. They could only hide somewhere, hoping to survive the next few days and successfully Awaken their Talent.
If they were discovered by monsters, only failure to Awaken awaited them.
Those with better luck, even if they Awakened a Bronze Rank Talent, could only rely on a stronghold, carefully venturing out to kill monsters and level up.
The mist grew increasingly dangerous, and most trial participants huddled in safe corners, which meant Fang Yuan and Lin Zhizhi didn't encounter any other trial participants today.
Perhaps they had passed by others, but those people were hidden in the corners of some buildings.
"That's right, the Haishi Void Realm is relatively safe, but we can't waste the last five days. At the very least, I need to raise my Rank to Black Iron Rank Nine."
Fang Yuan did not feel any complacency because of his current strength.
He had already planned for the remaining days, knowing he must take them seriously to make himself stronger.
The Haishi Void Realm, in the end, was merely a controlled void realm, and it didn't mean other void realms were as safe.
The Tianlan Star, shrouded in mist, had countless powerful monsters and unknown void realms. The Sea City where he was located barely managed to survive in this dangerous place.
The Nine Heavens trial was merely a transition for newcomers who hadn't been exposed to the outside world. Those who could only rely on hiding here, even if they successfully Awakened their Talent, whether they could become Bronze Rank True Spirit Professionals was an unknown question.
Even with a Bronze Rank Talent, there were only a few chances to Breakthrough to the Bronze Rank. Like him and Lin Zhizhi's father, both had Bronze Rank Talents, yet they were both nearing forty and still stuck at the Black Iron Rank.
The outside world was extremely dangerous, with Black Iron Rank, Bronze Rank, Silver Rank, and even higher-Rank monsters mixed together. One might encounter terrifyingly powerful monsters as soon as they left the protective city walls, and lose their life if they weren't careful.
Because of this, people could only venture out cautiously, not even daring to go out to hunt monsters and level up, as they only had one life.
Compared to the people in the lower echelons of the Outer City, those in the Inner City were slightly better off, at least having Bronze Rank Professionals to lead them.
"Hehe, Cousin, don't forget your Younger Female Cousin!"
Lin Zhizhi brought herself up at the opportune moment. She didn't aspire to reach Black Iron Rank Nine in the end; Black Iron Level Eight would be fine too.
By the last day of the Haishi Void Realm, all monster Ranks would basically be at Black Iron Level Seven or above, which was why she set her goal at Black Iron Level Eight.
A difference of one Rank required killing a thousand monsters to advance one Rank. Since she could only level up after Fang Yuan leveled up, she basically couldn't reach Rank Nine on the last day.
"I won't forget you. We'll stop here for today. Get some rest early and we'll set off early tomorrow."
Fang Yuan glanced at her indifferently. After all, she was his Younger Female Cousin, and helping her within the limits of his ability was a matter of affection.
With that, Fang Yuan picked up his black iron long saber and casually walked into a bedroom to rest.
Click!!
Only when the sound of the door closing echoed did Lin Zhizhi slowly get up and walk into another bedroom. She wanted to leave a good impression on Fang Yuan.
Although she was his Younger Female Cousin, in this dangerous world, kinship was something that could be discarded at any time.
In times of danger, let alone relatives, even family members might abandon others for their own lives... The dawn's light pierced through the mist amidst the roars of monsters, restoring some light to the darkness.
It was still twilight. Fang Yuan pushed open the door and casually turned on his flashlight to illuminate the path ahead.
The Haishi Void Realm had reached its fifth day. The monsters' Ranks had already reached Black Iron Level Five. Not long after stepping out and walking a few hundred meters, thirty-two red dots appeared in the mist.
Roar!!
Eerie roars entered their ears, and soon the two clearly saw what kind of monsters were ahead.
They saw a gray wolf, a meter tall, leading a pack of fifteen wolves, generally seventy to eighty centimeters tall, walking out against the light.
【Gray Wolf】
Rank: Black Iron Rank Six
Talent: Strong Body
The information of the leading gray wolf was seen through by Fang Yuan as it appeared. This large gray wolf was clearly the alpha of this wolf pack.
This was clearly a pack of mutated animals.
Besides it, there were also thirteen Black Iron Level Five gray wolves and two wolf cubs, less than fifty centimeters tall, whose Rank was only Black Iron Level Three.