Mark

At least, as of now, the Flower Country's authorities had not abandoned a single one of their own members.

Even for some tourist registrants who had given up on themselves, the Flower Country had done its utmost to provide appropriate solutions, without ignoring their difficult circumstances.

Many people were utterly surprised by the official recruitment notice.

[Was this for real? Could I apply too? My wife just praised me for cooking delicious food.]

[Sure, but the prerequisite is that you're already a formal sorcerer. Only sorcerers can manipulate spirit energy and make dishes with special effects.]

[Then I'm out of luck. I misread it just now and thought being good at cooking meant I had a chance. Unfortunately, my Spirit Attribute is only 2 points. Sigh.]

[The person above, your Spirit Attribute is way too low, isn't it? Even my daughter in kindergarten has 3 points. Once she grows up, she'll have at least 7.]

[Get lost. Could you stop showing off?]

[Don't be discouraged if you only have 2 points in Spirit Attribute. You still have a chance. Once you level up, you can add points. The most important thing right now is to strengthen your power.]

[I'm a university student and a formal sorcerer. I study clinical medicine. I wonder if I meet the recruitment requirements?]

[What does clinical medicine have to do with pharmaceuticals? You can ask the officials.]

[Sigh, I don't think I have a chance either. If only I'd known, I would have studied traditional Chinese medicine. That would definitely have worked.]

Yun Xi stopped reading the various discussions online and continued with her own proper work: learning Immobilization Technique and Counter Attack Technique.

The Sorcery Patterns of Immobilization Technique and Healing Technique were about equally complex, so she could probably learn it in around ten days.

But Counter Attack Technique was different. Like Light Control Technique, it was a Light Element Sorcery that had long since been lost, and was similarly difficult to learn.

Over the days that followed, Yun Xi struck while the iron was hot and learned both techniques together, taking a total of a month and a half.

**Basic Counterattack LV1:** Consumes 10–100 points of spirit energy. Can condense a counterattack light screen, which can reflect a maximum of 52–142 points of damage [(Spirit × Skill Level) + Spirit Energy Consumed] from enemies. It can be stacked infinitely and permanently. Spell cooldown: 4h.

**Basic Immobilization LV1:** Consumes 10–100 spirit energy. Can immobilize and lock onto all living beings. The caster's Spirit Attribute and the amount of spirit energy consumed determine the technique's success rate and immobilization duration.

Counter Attack Technique, like Light Control Technique, could be stacked infinitely.

Yun Xi had sighed more than once at how absurdly powerful these two techniques were.

By now, the halo shield stacked by Light Control Technique had reached around 24,000.

That was about the same as a high-level warrior's HP.

A level-30 high-level warrior's Constitution Attribute was generally between 60 and 100 points, including free attribute points and the Constitution gained by consuming natural treasures.

Their HP was equal to their Constitution Attribute × 1,000, which meant 60,000–100,000.

A level-20 intermediate warrior's Constitution Attribute was generally between 40 and 60 points, and their HP was equal to their Constitution × 100, which meant 4,000–6,000.

Yun Xi's current halo shield was certainly inferior to a high-level warrior's HP, but it was at least far higher than an intermediate warrior's.

Counter Attack Technique was also a defensive technique like Light Control Technique, except it was even more powerful, as it could reflect damage.

Accordingly, its cooldown was also twice as long as Light Control Technique's.

By that calculation, Light Control Technique could be cast eight times a day, while Counter Attack Technique could only be cast four times.

There was only half a month left until the Goddess of Freedom's mission. Yun Xi had already learned all the combat techniques in her plan. All that remained was... leveling up and changing class to become an Intermediate Sorcerer!

After two months, Yun Xi once again went to the various Local Malls to "sweep up" supplies. In particular, she directly emptied the inventory of consumable resources.

While she was at it, Yun Xi also went to the Enchanting Accessories Shop and handed the 100 Green Crystals she had prepared to Yu Nanfei.

"Didn't you say you'd transfer the money to me after a month? Why are you so late?" Yu Nanfei glanced at her, his tone as calm and flat as ever.

"Something held me up. Sorry for the trouble." When the month was up, Yun Xi had been at a critical stage in learning Counter Attack Technique. Her mind had been too tense, so she had completely forgotten about his matter.

"Hmm... All right, then. Here's your item." Yu Nanfei took out a small brocade box and handed it over.

Yun Xi accepted it and opened it for a look.

It was also an earring made of Black Mist Stone, with an exterior exactly identical to that of the anti-detection equipment... Perfect—one for each side.

[Black Mist Stone Earring (Advanced): Has **Information Extraction Technique LV30** attached. Applying Information Extraction Technique to a living or non-living target will randomly produce one piece of prompt information.

It must be charged before each use. For every 10–30,000 spirit energy consumed, Information Extraction Technique can be applied to the target. The amount of spirit energy consumed and the target's level will affect the technique's success rate.]

Information Extraction Technique?

Another unfamiliar and novel technique.

But...

"This detection-type equipment can only extract random information?" Yun Xi asked Yu Nanfei.

"As long as you're willing to spend the money to charge it, you can obtain crucial information," Yu Nanfei replied.

Yun Xi understood. It was another money-burning machine.

It could consume up to 30,000 spirit energy, which was the energy contained in three Green Crystals.

No wonder Yu Nanfei was so short of money. If she didn't have a treasury, she would be short of money too.

What surprised Yun Xi most was that this was actually a level-30 technique.

Levels 21–30 were the level range for advanced professions.

Yun Xi had originally thought that, given the friendly price of 100 Green Crystals, it would be good enough if Yu Nanfei could refine equipment with a level around 25 for her.

She had not expected him to hold anything back.

That was also how Yun Xi saw through his strength: he was at least a level-30 Advanced Sorcerer...

"By the way, do you need this little thing? I refined it from leftover materials earlier." Yu Nanfei took out a teardrop-shaped pendant and handed it to Yun Xi.

[White Crystal Pendant (Basic): Can detect the concentration of eerie energy in the air. The darker the color, the higher the concentration of eerie energy.

Note: Can detect eerie energy concentrations up to LV10.]

Yun Xi's eyes lit up. The pendant's function was exactly what she needed. It would come in handy when she went into the wilderness to level up and search for monsters.

"How much?"

"Nothing. It's a gift for you. You only need to level up properly and strive to complete that mission. Consider it my repayment to you."

"Why are you so confident in me?" Yun Xi was stunned for a moment.

"To be honest, I have a piece of passive equipment that can detect some hidden information. For example, there's a mark on you left by an existence of a higher level than the Goddess of Freedom."

Yun Xi's heart tightened.

A mark from the ancient **divine race? No, if it was left by an 'existence of a higher level'... the ancient **divine race had all died out.