137: Chapter 138 Speculations from All Sides

The next day, at the first light of dawn, Lin Muyang once again quietly left Ziyun Mountain Villa with several young ladies, including Lilia, Seraphina, Su Daji, and Feng Ling, heading toward the deeper waters outside Tianhai City.

Today's goal remained to fully upgrade their newly acquired Origin Skills, making a final push for the Jiangnan Province Summoner Competition Provincial Tournament starting tomorrow.

Several consecutive days of high-intensity skill grinding had caused the number of powerful sea beasts in the coastal areas of Tianhai City to plummet.

Although monsters from other waters were always attracted by the energy fluctuations or the scent of blood, their replenishment rate could not keep up with the harvesting efficiency of Lin Muyang's team.

To find a sufficient number of opponents that could pose a legitimate threat to the young ladies—especially Seraphina, who needed to dodge attacks, and Su Daji, who needed to kill a large number of targets—Lin Muyang had to take everyone further east, exploring areas deeper into the open sea.

The further they moved away from the continental shelf, the deeper and darker the seawater became, and the pressure increased geometrically.

Ordinary Emperor Level and Sovereign-rank sea beasts gradually became scarce, replaced by deep-sea giants with higher levels, larger bodies, and fiercer Auras.

This area was nearing the vague boundary of Xia Kingdom's traditional maritime territory; beyond it lay the true abyss of the open sea, as well as chaotic waters that might be claimed by other countries or be lawless zones.

The drastic change in environment brought new challenges.

Deep-sea monsters with levels exceeding 200 began to appear frequently!

These creatures usually possessed powerful epic-grade talents, and occasionally, one could even encounter terrifying existences harboring legendary-grade traits.

Levels as high as over 200 granted them exaggerated, extreme base attributes; combined with the special effects of their epic-grade and legendary-grade talents, their vitality, defense, and attack power reached a staggering level.

Facing epic-grade, level 200 sea beasts, Lin Muyang's team could still rely on their numbers, coordination, and Aura advantages to cautiously maneuver and defeat them after some effort.

However, if they were unfortunate enough to encounter a legendary-grade existence of the same level, even if Lin Muyang used all his means, the battle would become exceptionally difficult and prolonged, with the risk of failure.

After all, the attribute gap brought by the dual suppression of level and grade was real.

Therefore, whenever the "Monster Detection" Aura sensed that heart-palpitating, massive Aura belonging to a legendary-grade sea beast above level 200, Lin Muyang would choose to avoid it without hesitation.

Usually, he would cast a powerful control Aura, and while the opponent was in a brief slumber, he would quickly take the young ladies and move away from the dangerous area.

His purpose in coming here was to efficiently and safely upgrade his skill levels, not to challenge deep-sea overlords.

While the rewards for hunting these top-tier monsters were high, it was time-consuming and exhausting, and the risks were not proportional to the rewards—for Lin Muyang, who was currently not lacking in conventional materials, there was truly no need to take such risks.

During the gaps in training, Lin Muyang also took the time to review the team's overall status, especially the improvement of the young ladies' talent levels.

After several days of accumulation and Elena's efforts, the newly produced "tears of the angel" were reasonably allocated and used.

At this moment, the talents of all the young ladies under his command had finally all been upgraded to above "sub-god level"!

This was an important milestone, meaning the potential of the team's foundational talents had reached a brand new height.

Ao Qingyan's Divine Dragon bloodline underwent significant changes after being promoted to sub-god level and optimized by Gui Wanwan's "Yamas Fate Alteration".

The efficiency of her usual meditation training and energy absorption to increase attributes reached 9.5 times the base speed!

More importantly, the cooldown time for her transformation into the Divine Dragon form was completely "cleared"!

This meant she could transform into the combat-power-surging Divine Dragon anytime, anywhere, without restrictions.

The original negative effect brought by "Yamas Fate Alteration" was "Dragon Transformation cooldown increased by 42%," but since the cooldown time was cleared, the 42% increase naturally had no effect; instead, it became a perfect effect in a sense.

After transforming into the dragon, the boost to all her attributes also reached an astonishing 24 times!

This allowed her explosive power and sustained combat capability at critical moments to reach a terrifying level.

Angel Maid Elena's talent "Divine Guidance," after being upgraded to sub-god level and optimized, increased the all-attribute bonus provided to teammates from over 200% to more than 300%.

At this moment, her boost to the teammates' overall skill effects also increased from 85% to 125%!

The attribute of skill effects was extremely rare and difficult to stack in the era of mass Class Transferees; usually, being able to increase it by 40% - 50% was already the limit of top-tier equipment or states.

Yet Elena's talent could stably provide the entire team with a skill effect bonus of over 100%!

This meant that any skill released by Lin Muyang and the young ladies had a base effect (damage, healing amount, shield value, control time, etc.) that was at least more than double the original!

The value of such implicit improvement at the team level was immeasurable.

Time passed quickly in focused training.

When the afterglow of the setting sun once again struggled to penetrate thousands of meters of seawater, turning into a faint halo, Lin Muyang ended today's special training.

The harvest was bountiful.

Lilia's new Origin Skill, "Light Source," soared to level 14 under the "Super Speed Comprehension" Aura and frequent use!

If other Priests knew of this speed, they would likely be envious to the point of vomiting blood.

It was impossible for an ordinary person to train this skill to level 10 without a year or a half of arduous work, and reaching level 20 was a long project calculated in decades.

But here with Lin Muyang, after training for a few more days, level 20 seemed within reach.

When Lin Muyang returned to Ziyun Mountain Villa with the slightly weary but bright-eyed young ladies, it was already late.

He did not delay and walked straight to the villa's basement.

Last night, he had decomposed and purified the legendary-grade fire-attribute armor "Heart of the Flame Dragon" he had won at auction, along with other precious fire-attribute materials collected previously, and finally successfully obtained 25 pure legendary-grade Fire Element Essence.

After gathering the materials, he had let Feng Ling, who needed to undergo her second Nirvana, begin her day-long slumber and transformation.

At this moment, the Nirvana should be nearing its end.

Lin Muyang arrived at the center of the basement, where a giant egg about the height of a person sat quietly, its surface flowing with scorching golden-red patterns.

The eggshell was as smooth as jade, and from within, one could faintly feel a powerful and rhythmic pulsation like a heartbeat, as well as an indescribable, ancient, noble, and majestic Aura filled with destruction and rebirth.

He carefully carried the Phoenix Heavenly Maiden egg to the spacious living room on the first floor and gently placed it on the soft carpet.

the young ladies were also attracted and gathered around curiously, not even excepting the usually quiet Seraphina and the lazy Elabess.

The light of the patterns on the eggshell grew brighter and brighter, as if something inside was about to break out of the shell.

The temperature began to rise, and a pure and scorching Aura of flames permeated the air.

Crack... A slight cracking sound rang out.

Immediately after, cracks spread like a spiderweb!

Dazzling golden-red light erupted from the cracks, illuminating the entire living room in brilliance!

A vast and sacred pressure flashed past, then quickly retracted.

The eggshell shattered completely, turning into specks of light and dissipating.

In the center of the light, a tall and slender figure slowly stood up.

What came into everyone's view was a golden-haired young lady with a stunningly beautiful face and a noble temperament.

She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a slender figure; she was noticeably taller than before her Nirvana, and her curves had begun to become exquisite.

Her once childish face had shed most of its immaturity, gaining a few more traces of the majesty and elegance belonging to a Phoenix Heavenly Maiden.

A pair of pure golden eyes, like a molten sun, brilliant and deep, were now looking at Lin Muyang with the confusion of just waking up and absolute respect for the person before her.

Her long golden hair was like flowing molten gold, hanging down to her waist, soft and lustrous.

A simple yet magnificent golden-red dress naturally condensed on her body, the hem of the skirt moving without wind, as if flames were quietly flowing.

"Master."

The young lady stepped forward slowly, bowing elegantly and respectfully to Lin Muyang. Her voice was clear and melodious, carrying a hint of hoarseness from having just awakened, but the respect and obedience in her tone, emanating from the depths of her soul, were clearer and more profound than before her Nirvana.

Lin Muyang could feel that this Nirvana had not only brought growth in appearance and strength, but the bloodline inheritance memories of the Phoenix Heavenly Maiden clan seemed to have further awakened, giving her a more mature and essential understanding of this world, of power, and even of the relationship between master and follower. This made her respect for Lin Muyang, once akin to the dependency and closeness of a fledgling bird, become heavier, carrying a determination to acknowledge and follow a powerful being.

"It's good that you've awakened." Lin Muyang smiled, habitually reaching out to pat her head, but realized the young lady had grown quite a bit taller, making the gesture seem a bit inappropriate. He turned to gently stroke her soft, brilliant golden hair, the touch slightly warm, carrying a sun-like warmth.

He first... well, out of concern, subconsciously glanced at the life attributes panel. Seeing a certain data point, his heart stirred slightly, secretly praising that the growth speed of the Phoenix clan was indeed extraordinary; the changes brought about by this second Nirvana were truly significant. Of course, this thought was just a fleeting one.

He quickly switched his attention to the combat attributes panel to check the new ability unlocked by this Nirvana.

【Skill 5: Flame of Destruction (Passive).】

【Effect: The flame essence of the Phoenix Heavenly Maiden has been sublimated. She can freely choose to add the "World Purifying Flame" effect to any fire-attribute skill she releases. Flame attacks with the "World Purifying Flame" effect will receive a huge fire damage bonus (approximately 150% of the original skill's base fire damage) and apply the "Cinder" effect to the target, continuously burning their vitality and energy while significantly reducing their fire resistance.】

【Note: "World Purifying Flame", one of the supreme authorities of the Phoenix Heavenly Maiden, can burn matter, energy, and even certain rules.】

"World Purifying Flame" had changed from an active ultimate skill that required a cooldown into a passive effect that could be added at will! This meant that every one of Feng Ling's flame attacks, whether it was the fire arrows from 【Dance of the Burning Heaven】 or the most basic fireballs, could, if she willed it, instantly transform into "World Purifying Flame" capable of incinerating all things! Its damage had undergone a qualitative leap, far exceeding before.

Lin Muyang did not doubt that if Feng Ling went all out on the arena, transforming into her Phoenix form and activating 【Dance of the Burning Heaven】 with "World Purifying Flame" attached, the explosive fire power would likely easily burn through the high-level defensive barriers of the Provincial Tournament arena! Those barriers, which could withstand the bombardment of a Level 200 powerhouse for a period of time, would probably be no different from paper in the face of the "World Purifying Flame" that touched the origin and incinerated all things.

"Your power has taken another big step forward." Lin Muyang nodded with satisfaction. "Let's go. The new batch of secret realm scrolls I applied for from the National Treasury yesterday arrived during the day. Perfect, I'll take you to test your newly acquired power and raise your level as soon as possible."

Yesterday, Lin Muyang had toured the online platform of the Xia Kingdom's National Treasury again. Although his free quota for this month was almost used up, he had too many epic-grade equipment and skill books obtained from various secret realms, especially the deep-sea "training," that he didn't need or had in excess. He casually selected a few pieces of epic-grade equipment with average attributes or that didn't fit his class and tossed them into the National Treasury's "Contribution Exchange" system.

The official evaluation system quickly provided generous contribution points. These points were enough for him to exchange for several high-quality Emperor Level or even epic-grade secret realm scrolls suitable for Feng Ling's current level. He exchanged for all these scrolls.

This formed a perfect "resource cycle": he used excess epic-grade equipment to exchange for National Treasury points, then used the points to exchange for the most urgently needed secret realm scrolls that could stably produce experience and equipment. After clearing the secret realms, he could obtain new epic-grade equipment and skill books... a small portion of which he didn't need could be tossed back into the National Treasury for points.

The high-end Class Transferees of the entire Xia Kingdom officialdom were, invisibly, providing him with stable, high-quality leveling Dungeon resources. And he only needed to pay a certain percentage of his gains as a service fee. This kind of efficiency was something no individual or organization could match.

Just as Lin Muyang was taking Feng Ling, who had completed her Nirvana and whose strength had greatly increased, along with some of the other young ladies, out again to seize the last bit of time before the Provincial Tournament to sprint in levels...

In Tianhai City, inside a luxury suite on the top floor of a skyscraper.

A middle-aged man wearing a white training suit, with a string of dark brown, ancient-looking Buddhist beads on his wrist and a shiny bald head, was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion with his eyes closed. His Aura was as heavy and steady as a mountain, and faint golden Buddhist light flowed around him; he was clearly a Buddhist Summoner with profound cultivation. He was the champion of this Tianhai City Summoner Competition, Shi Yongxin, with a level as high as 187. It was said that he possessed more than one powerful summon with SS-Rank Talent, making him a strong contender for the championship of this year's Provincial Tournament.

"Boss, the investigation is clear." A subordinate walked quickly into the room and reported respectfully, "That kid who popped up from Zhongnan City, Lin Muyang, has been holed up in his villa for the past few days and hasn't shown his face at all. Our people have been watching day and night; we haven't seen him come out, nor have we detected any signs of large-scale energy fluctuations or spatial teleportation. Judging by this situation... could it be that he knows the Provincial Tournament is full of experts, feels hopeless, has given up on preparing, and is hiding at home wallowing in luxury and pleasure?"

Shi Yongxin slowly opened his eyes, a flash of bright light in his pupils, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"He hasn't gone out at all?" His voice was low, carrying doubt. "With the talent and strength he displayed at the City Tournament, if he had official support, there would be no problem for him to level up once or twice in these last three days if he went all out. Yet he has no movement at all?"

The information he had obtained about Lin Muyang was still at the level of "Level 56, suspected dual SSS-Rank Talent, Elf Priest with terrifying combat power." According to common sense, such a genius, after qualifying for the Provincial Tournament, should be racing against time to improve himself to cope with stronger opponents. Staying behind closed doors was simply too abnormal.

The subordinate speculated: "Perhaps he is young and frivolous, having won first place in the City Tournament and become conceited, thinking the Provincial Tournament is nothing special? Or perhaps he is in the villa studying art with those beautiful young ladies he summoned?"

Shi Yongxin pondered for a moment and shook his head: "Unlikely. Someone who can possess such a mindset and strength is not an incompetent person who indulges in pleasure. There must be something fishy about this. Perhaps he has another secret method for rapid improvement and doesn't need to go out? Or perhaps the Xia Kingdom officialdom has given him resources we don't know about, allowing him to cultivate right inside his villa?"

He considered various possibilities, but information was limited, making it hard to conclude. Finally, he waved his hand: "Keep watching, but don't pay excessive attention. Regardless of what preparations he has, it will be revealed in the arena. If he truly dares to underestimate the enemy, he is courting his own destruction."

The subordinate acknowledged and withdrew.

Shi Yongxin closed his eyes again, but in his heart, he felt a trace of vigilance he hadn't had before regarding the boy named "Lin Muyang." When things are abnormal, there must be a demon; this young man's behavior made him vaguely feel that something was wrong.

And in Tianhai City, and even among other forces paying attention to the Provincial Tournament, there were not a few people holding similar thoughts. Lin Muyang's disappearance over these past few days had triggered much speculation. Some believed he was afraid of fighting, some thought he was arrogant, and others felt he might be holding back some big move.

A whole bunch of perverts were so envious that they were gnashing their teeth at Lin Muyang, who had summoned so many beautiful young ladies.

But regardless, in the eyes of the vast majority of people, a Summoner who stayed behind closed doors and whose level might still be stuck in the fifties, in the upcoming Provincial Tournament filled with experts, had prospects that were truly not optimistic.