"Detected a sealable Monster Spirit. Seal it into a card?"
A notification echoed beside Xiao Wen's ear, while the Millennium Puzzle on his chest radiated a blazing light.
Xiao Wen froze for a moment before choosing yes.
At that instant, the Millennium Puzzle's light burst forth, bathing the entire space in golden brilliance so dazzling that no one could look at it directly.
Before long, the light faded, and Xiao Wen opened his eyes.
Player EXP +12480. Player EXP +12480. Player EXP +12480.
Three consecutive notifications announced the increase in experience. There was no trace of the Bewitching Fox left before him—only a piece of equipment, several Medicine Bottles, and some gold coins.
No, there was also a card!
Xiao Wen walked forward, picked up the card, and held it before his eyes. He narrowed his eyes, and a flicker of shock passed through them.
Monster Card · Bewitching Fox, 1 Star; Monster race/Dark ATK: 500; DET: 400 Description: A fox demon dwelling within Nightmare Forest. Its soul was sealed by the Pharaoh King's power, making it a servant of the Pharaoh King.
"How... how did this happen?"
Xiao Wen was completely at a loss, unable to understand what exactly had happened to him.
Why could he seal the Bewitching Fox? Why could he turn it into a Duel Card?
Could it be... all because of it...
Xiao Wen lowered his head and looked at the Millennium Puzzle, which had returned to calm. After thinking carefully, he finally reached a conclusion.
"It seems that, if I'm not mistaken, what just happened should be one of the Millennium Puzzle's unknown abilities!"
"It can seal a monster's spirit into a card."
As he held the card in his hand, the Millennium Puzzle on his chest gave off waves of light, and streams of information flooded into Xiao Wen's mind.
After carefully processing the information, shock appeared on Xiao Wen's face.
Sealing Monster Spirits into cards truly was one of the Millennium Puzzle's inherent abilities.
However, this sealing did not apply to all monsters. It only worked on advanced monsters of Elite-tier or above, and it could only be triggered when their health was extremely low.
In other words, the Millennium Puzzle simply looked down on low-level monsters.
Monster Spirits sealed by the Millennium Puzzle retained half of their original attack power, defense, and health. They could also be summoned permanently, without counting toward the cooldown for the monsters Xiao Wen normally summoned from his deck.
The degree of attack reduction depended on the monster's rank. The higher the monster's rank, the less its attack and defense would be reduced.
Moreover, Xiao Wen could give cards sealed with spirits to anyone for use.
In other words, he could seal powerful monsters and give them to low-level players, helping them level up.
At that moment, Xiao Wen's eyes lit up. It was as though he could see his bright financial future!
Gold coins seemed to grow wings and fly straight into his pockets.
"Maybe I can use this method to help my sister level up quickly."
A thought flashed through Xiao Wen's mind. He put away the card and equipment, then turned around to see that the Insect Warrior had already dealt with the remaining two Bewitching Foxes.
A faint purple glow emanated from the corpses of those Bewitching Foxes, somewhat dazzling to the eye.
"Purple gear?"
Xiao Wen blinked and stepped closer, spotting a pair of boots glowing with purple light.
Flowing Cloud Shoes Required Level: 10 Grade: Purple Movement Speed: 20 Effect: Speed Boost: Doubles movement speed for ten seconds. Cooldown: 24 seconds. Description: Boots said to be woven from cloud silk. Light and soft, they can harness the wind to travel forward, greatly increasing the wearer's movement speed.
"Good stuff!"
A gleam flashed through his eyes, and delight appeared on his face, only to vanish in the next moment.
What use was something this good?
He could not equip it anyway.
"Forget it. I'll keep it. Maybe it'll sell for a good price."
Xiao Wen shrugged. Just as he was about to toss the equipment into his backpack, golden light flickered across the Millennium Puzzle again. At the same time, the Duel Disk emitted a soft glow that intertwined with the Millennium Puzzle's radiance, enveloping the Flowing Cloud Shoes in Xiao Wen's hand.
The next moment, the Flowing Cloud Shoes vanished. An imprint of a pair of boots appeared on the Duel Disk, and Xiao Wen instantly felt much lighter all over.
Looking down, hadn't the starter boots on his feet already turned into the Flowing Cloud Shoes?
Even their attributes had been fully added to his character interface.
Xiao Wen slapped his thigh, realization dawning across his face.
So it was not that he could not equip gear. It was just that the Duel Disk and Millennium Puzzle did not think low-level equipment was worth their attention.
After putting on the Flowing Cloud Shoes, Xiao Wen felt much lighter. His eyes burned as he looked toward the depths of Nightmare Forest, and some bold ideas began to form in his heart.
That King-class BOSS evolving toward Emperor-class—if he could seal it into a card, then...
Xiao Wen did not continue that line of thought and hurriedly suppressed the wild idea in his heart.
A King-class BOSS was not something those Lord-class BOSSES could compare to.
"Insect Warrior, let's go. We'll continue deeper and find stronger enemies."
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
The Insect Warrior screeched and followed Xiao Wen forward.
As they advanced, layers of mist suddenly rose throughout the forest. The mist overlapped layer upon layer, growing so thick that he could not even see his hand in front of his face.
Xiao Wen frowned and continued onward, slowing his pace. His eyes remained full of vigilance as he watched the increasingly dense fog around him.
Where there was something strange, there had to be a reason for it—especially in the forbidden ground of this Novice Village, Nightmare Forest.
Legend had it that Nightmare Forest contained a phantom beast of unknown power—the Dream Eater.
As he continued forward, the dense fog around him gradually thinned, and Xiao Wen's vision slowly cleared.
Yet as soon as his vision recovered, he suddenly discovered that he was standing on a lush green meadow, completely different from the scenery within Nightmare Forest.
Ding! Congratulations to player Halfway Through the Mortal World for discovering the hidden illusion map—Dream Eater's Forbidden Ground. Reward: 20 Reputation Value.
"Dream Eater's Forbidden Ground?"
Xiao Wen frowned, revealing neither joy nor anger.
He turned back, intending to call the Insect Warrior onward, only to find its eyes vacant and its sense of self completely gone.
"Controlled by the illusion?"
Xiao Wen raised the Duel Disk on his left hand, and the Insect Warrior immediately transformed into a streak of light and returned to the deck within the Duel Disk.
"Looks like I can only rely on my own strength here."
Steadying himself, Xiao Wen continued onward without slowing down in the slightest.
Thud...
Thud...
Suddenly, a series of dull thuds rang out from afar, growing closer and closer.
"It's here!"
In the distance, a massive figure emerged upon the ground. It was a Cyclops as tall as a small mountain, gripping a tree trunk in its hand as it charged toward Xiao Wen with madness filling its eye.
Cyclops · Elite-tier Level: 15 Attack Power: 2000 Defense Power: 2500 Health: 10000 Temperament: Frenzied Skill: Abyssal Gaze Description: A Cyclops projection left behind from ancient times. It possesses a trace of the Titan God Clan's power and was left within Dream Eater's Forbidden Ground, hostile toward all outsiders.
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