31: A dramatic increase in strength! Final solution

"Whew~" Jiang Hao exhaled deeply.

Looking at the Soul-Devouring Tree that had turned to ash, he leaned against the body of a Rank Two exotic beast, feeling somewhat exhausted.

This was his fifteenth mission location. Despite his astonishing physique, he had relied entirely on running to travel.

However, constantly using Martial Skills to harvest those Rank Three exotic beasts...

...had left his Yuan power and spirit in a state of constant depletion.

His spirit reinforcement had stopped at 49 points and wouldn't budge; he didn't know why.

Jiang Hao skillfully moved the bodies of several Martial Artists to a safe location. After sending in his application, he sat down on a chair he had brought out.

Opening his bracelet, he looked at the various messages sent by everyone in the temporary chat group set up for this special mission. Basically, everyone's progress was about the same.

Although Jiang Hao traveled fast, the members of the Martial Unification Bureau only needed to go over and fire a shot to blow up the tree.

Unlike Jiang Hao, who had to slowly farm points.

"But it seems like no one else has discovered that killing a Soul-Devouring Tree can increase spirit? Is it because they're destroying them with firearms from a distance, so it doesn't count?"

Jiang Hao looked in confusion at the group, where some people had already finished all their objectives ahead of time and were constantly posting pictures and chatting idly.

"No, perhaps killing a Soul-Devouring Tree doesn't increase spirit by default! It's because of my system panel!"

"spirit reinforcement isn't a direct spirit increase; there's a big difference between the two."

"Reinforcement means my current Realm still has room for continued strengthening and progress. But the attribute points from the system panel ignore any upper limits!"

"It seems the system panel must be obtaining some substance or energy from the killed Soul-Devouring Tree, similar to a life crystal, but specifically for the spirit."

"That also explains why only I receive spirit reinforcement while others don't—because they can't absorb that energy or substance!"

The moment spirit increases, it feels like time suddenly slows down; the mind becomes exceptionally clear, accompanied by a refreshing sensation.

If someone had truly gained an increase, it would be impossible for them not to know.

Of course, it wasn't impossible that someone was hiding it, but the chances were slim; after all, there were over twenty people.

Jiang Hao closed his bracelet and continued toward his next target... Virtual Combat Space. Rank Three Area.

The entire arena seemed to be situated within a starry sky.

On a canvas of deep, infinite black, specks of starlight like meteor showers streaked across the sky from time to time.

The figure opposite her watched as this scene, like a true sea of stars descending before their eyes, unfolded. They helplessly put down the Lightning Strike technique they were about to cast.

The Prodigy from Fenglei Prefecture looked at this dreamlike, beautiful starry sky and said bitterly:

"Xing Family, Saint-Rank Spell—Starry River Canopy?"

Xing Yingyue nodded.

The stars in the background suddenly brightened as if they were descending into reality. One by one, illusory suns radiating terrifying heat smashed toward the opponent.

"Dammit!"

"Why have so many people been smurfing with Saint-Rank Moves lately?!!!" the man from Fenglei Prefecture shouted in grief and indignation.

It was as if he were lamenting how unfair the heavens were.

Watching the man being swallowed by the terrifying explosion...

...Xing Yingyue tilted her head:

"Are there many? Why haven't I encountered a single one?"

Then she clicked for the next match.

The moment the battle began.

Xing Yingyue activated the Starry River Canopy and merged with the background using the Saint-Rank movement Martial Skill, Meteor Chasing the Moon.

From the air, Xing Yingyue looked down at the bewildered Weapon Combat Style Martial Artist who didn't know what to do next, and she let out a smile.

With a casual swing of her sword, streaks of starlight formed a white galaxy ribbon, falling toward the Martial Artist wielding a giant axe.

Within the white ribbon were real Sword Qi strikes as well as illusory distractions.

This time, the opponent didn't even have time to say any 'last words' before being directly one-hit killed!

"So this is what it feels like to bully people?"

"No wonder the 'Fish Fry King' likes bullying same-rank opponents so much."

Xing Yingyue looked at her 20-game winning streak from the past two days and tilted her chin up slightly.

She had a feeling that the title of 'Fish Fry King' would belong to her, Xing Yingyue, from now on.

Suddenly, Xing Yingyue thought of something: "He seemed to be a Weapon Combat Style Martial Artist too, didn't he? If I face him again, I'll definitely win!"

...Jiang Hao didn't yet know that a defeated opponent wanted to reclaim her honor. After a busy day, he had finally finished all the mission locations.

By now, it was already dark.

Although he hadn't encountered another Soul-Devouring Tree several meters tall that controlled thousands of exotic beasts...

...he had still obtained a large number of points by constantly killing Rank Three exotic beasts.

[points: 20326]

Twenty thousand points!

Currently, Jiang Hao's spirit and physique were both at 49 points, and a Rank Five attribute increase cost 1,500 points per time.

In other words, Jiang Hao could raise one of them to 59 points—a value that would shock even a Rank Seven Martial Artist!

However, thinking about how he was going to explore the deepest part of the battlefield tomorrow where the Soul-Devouring Tree first appeared, Jiang Hao decided to focus on spirit.

As all 20,000 points were deducted, Jiang Hao's attributes and points successfully updated.

[physique: 52 (Rank Five)]

[spirit: 59 (Rank Five)]

[points: 826]

A sense of raw numerical power washed over him.

Jiang Hao sat cross-legged on the bed, feeling his skyrocketing strength, especially his spirit which was on the verge of reaching Rank Six.

Various aspects of his body were slightly uncoordinated, but under the Rapid Adaptation talent, this discomfort slowly diminished until it was eliminated.

Jiang Hao looked thoughtfully at the system panel and thought to himself:

"Although the spirit reinforcement provided by the Soul-Devouring Tree has reached its limit, the system panel can still infinitely stack attributes."

"800 points can only strengthen me to the fifth stage of Rank Three, which isn't a fundamental change. And when everyone explores together tomorrow, it won't be convenient to go out of my way to kill exotic beasts."

Jiang Hao opened his bracelet.

Seeing everyone in the temporary group reporting their completion of the objectives, Jiang Hao also followed suit and reported his mission complete.

Unfortunately, not a single one of the over one thousand Martial Artists had survived. Their remains would have to wait until more people arrived tomorrow to be recovered.

Pretending not to see comments like "Hello, Big Shot!", "Thanks for your hard work, Big Shot," and "Student Jiang, do you want a girlfriend?"...

Captain Zeng said in the group:

"Most of the Soul-Devouring Trees scattered across the battlefield have now been cleared. As for any remaining stragglers, I have already applied for a drone search."

"When the time comes, the enchanted cannons mounted on the drones will strike those isolated Soul-Devouring Trees."

"The main direction of our discussion now is the selection of personnel to head into the depths of the battlefield tomorrow morning and the final plan set by the higher-ups."

Deputy Captain Yan then spoke up:

"Satellite detection shows a large number of Soul-Devouring Trees in the depths. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that the attraction of multiple Soul-Devouring Trees will stack and intensify!"

"So, tomorrow, I and one other member will slowly enter that area to see if that spiritual attraction becomes stronger."

"If it's proven that the hazard level of a large number of Soul-Devouring Trees will continue to increase, the Bureau will use long-range missile carpet-bombing to clear that area."

"Conversely, the higher-ups' intention is that if the hazard does not continue to increase and doesn't threaten High-Rank Martial Artists, then that area can be preserved."

"At that time, a quarantine zone will be quickly established to prevent seeds from flying out. Additionally, experts in related fields from Canghai Prefecture will be invited to study this plant."

???

Jiang Hao's face was full of question marks. What kind of Heaven-Defying plan was this? This thing was so eerie; if they didn't clear it out completely, were they planning to keep it for the New Year?

Jiang Hao thought about it and started a private chat with Captain Zeng:

"Captain Zeng, let me go with Deputy Captain Yan tomorrow."