Return (2-in-1)

Under the brilliant starry sky, scenes flashed by like a movie in fast-forward.

Kill Ian, the Boss Tier of the Blackwind Bandits, at the Cliffbreak Mine Vein.

The battle against the three Plague Undead bosses in Redleaf City.

Kelman, the giant hammer berserker and commander of the vanguard army that ambushed and killed the remaining civilians at Black Iron Gorge.

The skirmish outside Blackrock City resulted in the slaying of the Bloodspear Clan overseer, Kaerhan the Deathstalker.

Amidst the Zombie horde, he finished off the leader of the Remnants, the War Lord Absolon.

The two explored the Kane Plane for a month, reaping unprecedented rewards.

"Exploring Dimensions: The Kane World"

Time taken: 29 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes, and 51 seconds.

"Range: Northern Frontier of the Gorseflower Empire, White Stone Town - Redleaf Fief - Blackrock City"

"Based on the tasks you discovered and completed, and the evaluations you received, you have been awarded 27,338 Psionic Points. Your current total Psionic Points amount to 112,466."

"You have accumulated 4306 points of fame in the Kane Plane. Your fame level in the Kane Plane is A-Tier (World-Famous)."

"You have obtained the A-Tier title: Harbinger of Misfortune."

[Harbinger of Misfortune: Your presence heralds misfortune. After 5 seconds in combat, all nearby targets (friend or foe, including yourself) will be affected by the Doom effect, inflicting random abnormal statuses. The longer the combat lasts, the more stacks of abnormal statuses are applied, and the wider the area affected by the Doom effect. The Doom effect has a priority of 8 and is not affected by control reduction skills with a priority of 8 or lower.]

"This is... a self-destructing mini-truck?" Bai Xiaowen was completely dumbfounded.

"What kind of A-Tier title is this... It feels even less useful than the B-Tier title I got last time, 'Slaughter Maniac '!" Li Shuyi said. "The 'misfortune' effect actually affects teammates and myself as well, isn't this just a suicide title?"

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment and said, "This title isn't entirely useless. When outnumbered, it can be used for... self-destruction? Forget it, I've already reached a point where it's difficult to improve my titles, and I don't expect any title to be more useful than the Ultimate Academic Ace."

Li Shuyi imagined Bai Xiaowen, bearing the title of "Harbinger of Misfortune," jumping into the enemy camp, and chuckled.

The +1 effect of the Ultimate Academic Ace's combat skills and Battle Specialty is indeed outstanding, especially since most of Bai Xiaowen's actual combat skills are currently at LV3, and with the Ultimate Academic Ace title bonus, he can enjoy the LV4 enhancement ahead of time.

One important point to note is that once the enhancement effect of any skill at LV4 is obtained, it cannot be changed. If, for any special reason, you revert to LV3 and then upgrade to LV4 again, the skill enhancement effect will directly revert to the result of the previous draw and will not be drawn again.

For example, someone like Bai Xiaowen, who has the title of "Ultimate Academic Ace," enjoyed the LV4 skill effect ahead of time. If he wasn't satisfied with the effect he drew, could he remove the title to lower the skill level back to LV3, and then equip the title again to raise the skill level back to LV4? Could he then draw the effect again?

The answer is: You wish!

Li Shuyi's fame in the Kane Plane is 2317 points, belonging to the B-Tier- level of Far-Famed. Her title is "Leader Slayer".

[Leader Slayer: Damage against Boss Tier / Hero Template targets +15%.]

This title is different from the silly title Bai Xiaowen got. It has a concise description and a brutal effect, making it more useful than the Slaughter Maniac title Li Shuyi got before, especially when dealing with bosses.

Bai Xiaowen then chose to revive Rageclaw, which prompted that 10,000 Psionic Points would be deducted. Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief; the cost of reviving wasn't too outrageous. Since returning from the Kane Plane, the two of them had accumulated more than 110,000 Psionic Points.

Next, it's time to upgrade their equipment. The two of them have gained several new pieces of Gold Equipment, as well as a Four-Star Equipment Enhancement Card.

There's no doubt that you can upgrade your main equipment to +4. And Four-Star Equipment Enhancement Card can upgrade another important piece of equipment to +7.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi had some disagreements about where to use the Four-Star Equipment Enhancement Card.

Li Shuyi felt that the last time she upgraded to +7, she used the money on her Demonfire Jade Pendant; this time, it should be Bai Xiaowen's turn.

Bai Xiaowen disagreed. "Upgrading to +7 should be based on maximizing combat power. As things stand, none of my current equipment needs to be upgraded to +7 with a huge amount of Psionic Points, as the increase in combat power is not significant. What should be upgraded to +7 is your newly acquired golden weapon, the Redleaf Lord's Glory Sword."

The enhancement effect of Golden Tier weapons is definitely higher than that of blue weapons. Each enhancement level increases attack power by 10%, while blue weapons only increase it by 6.7%. Moreover, the base attack power of gold weapons is already superior to that of blue weapons.

Moreover, this [Redleaf Lord's Glory Sword] also has a useful active skill, "Blood Drain," which can be enhanced to reduce the cooldown time of this skill.

Finally, this sword is also rare in that it has no binding requirement, so Bai Xiaowen can borrow it when necessary. And once Li Shuyi has a better alternative weapon in the future, it can be traded, so it's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

After Bai Xiaowen explained the reasons, Li Shuyi stopped insisting and chose to upgrade [Redleaf Lord's Glory Sword] to +7.

This attempt to reach +7 wasn't very lucky; it took 40,000 Psionic Points to get to +6. However, things became easier at this point. With Four-Star Equipment Enhancement Card, and after burning a Golden Tier spear, a blue-grade knight's greatsword, and two basic weapons, the enhancement success rate was immediately boosted to 100%.

Enhancement successful!

The longsword itself was a blood-red color, like maple leaves, and with the slightest swing, it created dazzling light and shadow particles, making for an absolutely stunning visual effect.

After being upgraded to +7, the weapon's additional attack power increased to 14-27, more than double that of a +4 Refined Thrust Sword. In addition, the cooldown time of the equipment's additional skill [Blood Drain] was reduced by 35%, from 12 hours to less than 8 hours.

[Redleaf Lord's Glory Sword] +4 Enhancement Effect: Blood Frenzy: Drawing blood from enemies deals magic damage equal to the user's level * 8 and heals the user for the same amount of Life Value.

+7 Enhancement Effect: Power Siphon: While Blood Drain, you will simultaneously absorb the target's power, the value of which is equal to your own level * 2. The absorbed power will be temporarily added to your attributes for 30 seconds.

"As expected, the +7 effect is worth the significant amount of Psionic Points invested by the Awakener." After seeing these two additional effects, Bai Xiaowen nodded in praise. Considering the 70% increase in attack power it already provides, the benefits of strengthening this longsword surpass those of strengthening the Demonfire Jade Pendant.

Blood Frenzy has increased the absorption value by 60%. When Li Shuyi uses the Blood Drain skill, it will deal 32 points of theoretical magic damage and restore an equal amount of her own Life Value. Against a target of the same level, it can restore at least 20 points of health. It is even more useful than steamed buns, and the key is that it does not conflict with food.

The "Power Siphon" effect is even stronger with a +7 bonus. At Li Shuyi's current level, she can draw 8 points of strength from the target and add them to herself, resulting in a total of 16 points of strength. What does this mean? Even a level 4 Standard Template Strength Awakener might not reach this value in their base Strength attribute.

It can weaken the opponent's output while enhancing your own, making it an undeniably amazing skill.

The two then upgraded other important equipment, bringing it to +4.

On Bai Xiaowen's side, the top-quality gold necklace [The Arbiter's Resolve] has +4 special effects, and the shield value of the "Sanctuary" active skill has become Constitution * 3, increasing the original 44 shield points to 66 points.

[Tribal Feather Cloak] +4 special effects, "Gliding" active skill has a new description, the falling speed is further reduced, and you can change direction multiple times in the air.

The +4 effect of [Whispering Grimoire] is rather funny. The active skill "Whispering" gains an additional "Nonsense" effect, which forces the target to repeat the user's previous sentence when the Whispering skill hits the target.

Bai Xiaowen had already categorized the [Whispering Grimoire] as an entertainment item, and now with the addition of a meaningless rambling effect, it seems he's going to go further down the path of being a goofball... What a waste of the more than 5,000 Psionic Points he spent on upgrading it to +4.

Other items such as [White Eagle's Assault], [Ring of Torment], and [Petrified Monitor Lizard Tailbone] can all be upgraded to +4, but the improvement is not significant and is far less noticeable than the effect of weapon and armor upgrades.

Li Shuyi enhanced the following equipment: [Feathering Necklace], [Drakehide Pauldrons], [Radiant Cloak], and [Toughhide Belt], all of which are newly added Gold Equipment.

The +4 effect of the [Feathering Necklace] is quite powerful. When the "Feathering" effect is triggered, the damage of the next Vital Strike is reduced by 50%! This further reduces the chance of being instantly killed by agile bosses' Vital Strike. The other pieces of equipment do not offer much improvement, so there is no need to elaborate on them.

The two of them spent nearly 80,000 Psionic Points.

Afterwards, the two checked their respective Storage Space and dismantled some unusable junk bound equipment into Psionic Points. In the end, the team's total Psionic Points amounted to about 25,000.

While checking the Storage Space, Bai Xiaowen unexpectedly saw a faint glow flickering on the [White Stone Fief Permanent Enfeoffment Decree]. He curiously picked it up and felt a slight surge of heat.

The Fief Token obtained from the former Redleaf Lord Maki also shimmered faintly.

A notification from the Spirit Realm Rules sounded, "The Permanent Fief Deed is an important item for communication between you and the Kane Plane. You can merge the former Redleaf Fief Token with it."

Bai Xiaowen chose to merge, and to his surprise, this fusion did not cost any Psionic Points. The Spirit Realm Rules were notoriously stingy with money, were unusually restrained for once.

After the integration, the [Permanent Fief Deed] felt like the final piece of a puzzle had been filled, giving it a sense of completeness.

[White Stone Fief Permanent Enfeoffment Decree: A permanent fiefdom contract concluded between the Awakened Dio Skellboom (Bai Xiaowen) and the Gorseflower Empire. As the White Stone Fief, you can use this contract to enter your territory in the Kane Plane. Note: You will receive 1 day of stay time in the Kane Plane each calendar month. If unused within the month, the stay time will automatically accumulate.]

"Not bad, now you can go in and find her." Li Shuyi pouted.

Bai Xiaowen coughed and said somewhat guiltily, "Shu Yi, it's time to go back."

Fortunately, Li Shuyi only made a joke and didn't press the issue, "It's time to go back. We've stayed in the Spirit Realm for a whole month this time, Dad must be worried."

Bai Xiaowen said, "We might all be considered missing persons... I made an agreement with the pharmacy manager, Mr. Zhang, and Master Sun to go back in half a month and make another batch of high-purity medicine for them... It's been a month already."

Bai Xiaowen had considered this issue before, but he couldn't possibly abandon the newly discovered second main quest, [The Flames of Blackrock], and give up the extra 15 days of stay. Giving it up wouldn't just mean losing an S-Tier main quest; it would also mean losing the early planning for the S-Tier Hero Side Quest, [Anti-Plague]. The Oath of Black Edge Team-Building Item and Permanent Fief Deed obtained later were highly coveted rewards for countless Awakened Ones...

Even if Zhang Jing and Sun Hecheng themselves knew about this situation, they would still support Bai Xiaowen's decision to stay in the Kane Plane.

With a flash of light, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi disappeared, choosing to return.

Jinghai University, training base for the University Team.

Xiang Hui and Chen Guowei sat in the lounge, the atmosphere somewhat somber.

"It's been thirty days, why hasn't Lao Bai come back yet?" Chen Guowei said sullenly. "Lao Xiang, what do you think?"

Xiang Hui said calmly, "The tickets they used this time only allow for a maximum stay of 15 days."

"I know! I was just asking what you think! Do you think Old Bai and the beautiful Li might...?"

Xiang Hui was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Although I think that with their abilities and intelligence, it's unlikely that anything unexpected will happen, based on the current situation... the possibility of something going wrong is quite high."

"Sigh... Lao Bai isn't here, so I'm not really into training." Chen Guowei said listlessly, his hands folded behind his head.

"Don't be so naive," Xiang Hui said coldly. "Let's not even talk about whether they've been in trouble or not. Even if they have, are you going to give up on life? Cheer up and train hard. Since you've chosen the path of the Awakened, you're destined to have no peaceful life. Maybe you and I will end up like that one day too."

Chen Guowei shouted, "Old Xiang, how can you be so Cold Blood!"

"Our Radiance Guild has a Martyrs' Families List," Xiang Hui said calmly. "The immediate family members of any Awakened who sacrificed their lives in a guild-wide operation are automatically added to this list and enjoy the guild's special protection and resource allocation. I was added to this list when I was four years old."

Chen Guowei scratched his head. "Old Xiang, I'm sorry, I just had a bad temper."

Xiang Hui shook his head and remained silent.

"By the way, does Lao Bai's guild have such a list?" Chen Guowei asked.

"There shouldn't be. For a system like this, which involves the families of fallen heroes, each additional person is equivalent to the cost of signing an Awakened member, and it doesn't generate any revenue for the guild... Generally, only large guilds can afford to operate this system," Xiang Hui said.

"I remember Lao Bai has a younger sister... If Lao Bai doesn't come back, I'd like to go to his house and see if there's anything I can do to help," Chen Guowei said in a low voice.

"Count me in," Xiang Hui replied.

(Oops, I forgot to write about resurrecting Rageclaw, let me quickly add it) Rageclaw: Awooooo, please give me some monthly votes and recommendation votes to soothe my wounded heart.