Memory Conch (2-in-1)

Han Xu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, thank you."

Bai Xiaowen recalled that when they came out to divide the spoils in the Broken-Spine Mountain Grand Rift last time, Han Xu seemed to only have five or six thousand Psionic Points.

This illustrates that Han Xu's level of importance within the Jingwu Guild was actually quite low. Otherwise, a mid-level Elite Awakened wouldn't be unable to afford even a little over 10,000 Psionic Points.

"This golden weapon is extremely rare; once it's gone, it's gone forever," Bai Xiaowen said softly. "I suggest you compete for this equipment; don't worry about the Psionic Points."

After saying that, Bai Xiaowen immediately made the trade, giving Han Xu 30,000 Psionic Points.

Han Xu shook his head repeatedly, his face flushed red. He felt very embarrassed. Although he had paid Bai Xiaowen for the potion last time, the favor was still there. Now, he felt even more uncomfortable using Bai Xiaowen's Psionic Points.

"Alright, consider this a loan. You can pay me back when you have more money," Bai Xiaowen insisted. "There's the CUAA National Championship next semester. As the team's important MT, you need to improve your skills."

"This is too much."

"Not much, this weapon is worth 30,000. Even if you already have a few thousand Psionic Points, do you think you can't make a living after buying this weapon?" Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "Equipment enhancement, skill upgrades, and using the training ground all require Psionic Points. Like I said, this is a loan, not a gift. You'll have to pay it back later."

Han Xu truly desired the weapon. He stopped refusing and accepted the 30,000 Psionic Points: "I will definitely repay you."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and gestured for Han Xu to hurry up and bid.

Most of the awakened ones have sharp hearing and eyesight, and although Bai Xiaowen and Han Xu spoke very softly, most of the people present could hear their conversation.

Shi Haiyan was initially a little uneasy. He needed this golden weapon, and he was afraid that Bai Xiaowen would favor Han Xu, his classmate, and interfere with the distribution of the spoils, or even use his power to force him to give up the weapon.

If that were the case, Shi Haiyan would have to weigh whether continuing to compete for this golden weapon was worthwhile—if he offended Bai Xiaowen for it, he would miss out on the many benefits of exploring the Snakefolk Tribe later on.

However, although Bai Xiaowen favored Han Xu, he did not show any additional favoritism, but simply lent Han Xu a sum of Psionic Points.

This way, Shi Haiyan at least still had the courage to continue bidding.

Bai Xiaowen's lack of excessive favoritism towards Han Xu also made the other Awakened students at Shandong University feel comfortable. For them, the higher the price the gold weapon fetched, the better. The higher the price, the higher their share of the profits.

If Bai Xiaowen forces Han Xu to acquire the golden weapon at a very low price, it will effectively reduce everyone's income and will definitely cause resentment.

Leaving aside the further bidding between Han Xu and Shi Haiyan, after lending out his Psionic Points, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi returned to the corpse of the Lobsterfolk Boss Tier, the Shadow Prophet Magik.

Bai Xiaowen planned to study the special item dropped by the Shadow Prophet Magik: the Memory Conch. He chose to use the Memory Conch.

The Spirit Realm Rules indicate. "Using the Memory Conch will continuously deplete your Divine Might, 1 point per second. Confirm?"

Bai Xiaowen chose yes. He immediately felt his Divine Might tentacles extend into the small conch shell, and a faint light flashed before his eyes, completely engulfing him.

The images that the Lobsterfolk's Boss Tier, Majik, recalled appeared before Bai Xiaowen.

These images of memories are all silent; Bai Xiaowen watches them through her Divine Might, as if watching a silent film.

The first flashback scene is of a small village on a shallow beach, where young Lobsterfolk chase and play, with huts made of seashells and seaweed in the background.

"So this is Shadow Prophet Magik's carefree childhood was like. This is clearly not the Pale Mire..." Bai Xiaowen's mind raced. "Could this be the Spirit Realm Plane before the fragments of the Dead Spirit Lake shattered?"

Bai Xiaowen looked at the group of Lobsterfolk for a while, but couldn't tell which one looked like Majik, so he had to give up.

The second flashback takes place in front of an altar.

Above the altar was a colossal Lobsterfolk statue, tall and imposing, several times larger than the Leader Tier Lobsterfolk.

Offerings such as pearls and scallops were placed before the altar. Then, an old Lobsterfolk with a slightly grayish shell chanted incantations to the statue before handing a wooden staff inlaid with a crystal ball to a young Lobsterfolk with a brightly colored shell next to him.

The young Lobsterfolk raised his crystal ball staff, and the surrounding Lobsterfolk crowd prostrated themselves on the ground, raising their large pincers as if cheering in greeting.

"This young Lobsterfolk must be Majik. This seems to be some kind of succession ceremony. Majik received the scepter from the old prophet and became the new prophet. This is indeed a precious memory for him," Bai Xiaowen thought to himself.

From then on, it became easier to distinguish Majik himself from the other Lobsterfolk; in short, the one holding the crystal ball staff was undoubtedly Majik.

In the third act of flashback footage, the Snakefolk finally appears.

Majik had lost one of his large claws and looked quite disheveled. The Snakefolk in front of him, on the other hand, wore the expression of a victor.

Unlike the Snakefolk and the Lobsterfolk, the snake-man is half-human and half-snake. Apart from the fine blue scales on its upper body, its facial features are no different from those of a human, so its expressions are discernible. As for the Lobsterfolk's expressions, one can only guess.

A dispute seems to have broken out between Majik and the Snakefolk, with both sides expressing their anger intensely through exaggerated gestures. However, looking at the background, the Lobsterfolk's village huts are already firmly surrounded by hordes of Snakefolk.

In the end, Majik yielded, and a four-armed female Snakefolk Boss Tier emerged from the Snakefolk camp. She drew a shimmering rune in the air and embedded it into Majik's body.

Majik did not resist, allowing the runes to enter his body. After a tremor, he prostrated himself beneath the female Snakefolk Boss Tier's tail and swore allegiance.

"It seems that the Lobsterfolk Tribe was conquered by the Snakefolk Tribe, and Majik was even branded with some kind of... slave mark or something. Such humiliating memories are indeed memorable."

Thinking of this, Bai Xiaowen suddenly felt dizzy, a sign of excessive Divine Might depletion. He quickly disconnected the Divine Might connection, sighed, and sat down to recover.

Having just deciphered the Memory Conch, Bai Xiaowen had even exhausted all the Divine Might stored in the Dark Gold Tier ornament Blood Essence Stone, barely maintaining it for about a minute, but still couldn't finish reading it.

"Are you alright?" Li Shuyi asked with concern.

"I'm fine. We've gradually begun to uncover the secrets between the Lobsterfolk and the Snakefolk. I need to recover."

Since they were not in combat, Bai Xiaowen was reluctant to use "Freehand Notes" and instead relied on natural recovery. After about ten minutes, his Divine Might was restored to full strength.

Bai Xiaowen once again channeled his Divine Might into the Memory Conch.

Inside the Memory Conch, only one last scene remains. The background of the scene is shrouded in Ghost Mist, and the ground is a swamp covered in mud, clearly indicating that they have entered the Pale Mire.

By this time, Majik was quite old, with most of his armor shells fallen off, and the crystal ball embedded in his staff was riddled with cracks.

He led a group of Lobsterfolk, prostrating themselves before their Snakefolk master, watching Snakefolk turn and walk into a portal radiating black light. Then, Majik raised his staff, closing the black portal completely.

"That's it?" Bai Xiaowen withdrew his Divine Might from the Memory Conch, somewhat regretfully. "We still didn't see how the Fragment Space the Dead Spirit Lake detached and formed a treasure land independently. However, the secret hidden by the Snakefolk Tribe should be almost solved."

Bai Xiaowen put away the Memory Conch and fixed her gaze on Majik's corpse, on the prophet's staff inlaid with a crystal ball. She bent down and picked up the staff.

"Huh? This equipment wasn't dropped from Loot Chest, so we can take it?" Li Shuyi was quite surprised.

This is the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space. Unlike the Spirit Realm Rules, the corpses of BOSSes can also be used. For example, when Bai Xiaowen killed the Nightmare Alligator, although no blood was dropped from the treasure chest, he could still use the blood flowing from the Nightmare Alligator's corpse to cleanse the impure state of the Elite Ghost's essence.

Even if the corpses can be used, the equipment still needs to be obtained through "legal" means. In other words, even if you strip a humanoid BOSS naked in a Treasure Ground Space, you still can't get yourself a set of luxurious Heroic Tier equipment.

Without legally obtained equipment, it's completely useless, just like the difference between a plastic version of Frostmourne made by a cosplayer in the Common Era and the genuine Frostmourne in the Lich King's hands.

In the Spirit Realm, the rules are even stricter. They won't even give you a cosplay version of the replica. Once the equipment leaves the body of a dead boss, it will dissipate into Psionic Particles.

Bai Xiaowen shook her head and said, "Look carefully."

After examining it, Li Shuyi realized that the staff was completely ordinary, without any attributes or additional descriptions, and was clearly unusable. She curled her lip. "As expected, there's no such thing as a free lunch."

"I'm not taking this staff for some easy money; the secret to infiltrating the Snakefolk Tribe is hidden within it."

As he spoke, Bai Xiaowen flicked his hand slightly, and the crystal ball embedded in the tip of his staff shattered completely, from which a roll of animal hide fell.

Bai Xiaowen caught the animal skin and unfolded it to examine it. The Old Latin on it was no challenge for Bai Xiaowen.

After reading it, Bai Xiaowen said with a smile, "Just as I thought."

By this time, Shi Haiyan and the others had finished dividing the spoils and crowded over.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at Shi Haiyan's expression. Although he seemed a little disappointed, he didn't show any obvious dissatisfaction. Han Xu's expression, on the other hand, was a mix of bittersweet joy and regret, a rare sight on the usually taciturn Han Xu.

Chen Guowei laughed heartily, "Old Han really went all out this time, spending 27,000 Psionic Points, but it was worth it."

Bai Xiaowen nodded. The price wasn't actually outrageous, considering it was Golden Tier weapon.

While Shi Haiyan and the other awakened individuals did not win the bid, they still felt they had a good harvest, as the 27,000 Psionic Points were distributed according to their Kill Contribution, with each person receiving several thousand points.

On the contrary, Li Shuyi, after hearing that 27,000 Psionic Points had been spent, couldn't help but complain a little to Bai Xiaowen in the Team Channel:

"Bringing Shi Haiyan and the others along doesn't seem to be of much use; in fact, it dilutes our gains. Take the Lobsterfolk army from earlier, for example. Even without them, you could still defeat the BOSS by summoning all your creatures."

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "You've also taken a liking to that golden weapon? Actually, it's nothing. That weapon is a one-handed hammer, and its attack method is very different from that of swords. Moreover, it's a main-hand weapon. If you take it, you'll have to put Redleaf Lord's Glory Sword in your off-hand, and your strength might not necessarily increase."

Li Shuyi retorted angrily, "That's not what I meant. I meant, let's not bring those guys from Shandong University, just Han Xu and Chen Guowei from our school. That way, we can save Han Xu over 20,000 Psionic Points."

Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "Shu Yi, broaden your horizons. The battle against this Lobsterfolk Tribe is indeed easier than I imagined, and Shi Haiyan and the others aren't very effective. However, there's an even stronger Snakefolk Tribe, so it's good to gather more awakened companions to share the burden."

Bai Xiaowen was actually quite satisfied with this distribution model. He and Li Shuyi fought the BOSS, while a group of Awakened Ones fought the Elite Tier, which could be considered a win-win situation. If they hadn't brought these Awakened Ones, he and Li Shuyi would have been more exhausted if they had just taken care of the Elite Tier, and they might have had to sacrifice a few summoned creatures. Moreover, their Battle Rating would have been lower, and they wouldn't have gotten any good loot.

As for getting a gold weapon from Elite Chest, it's a low-probability event, and given the luxurious equipment the two of them are wearing, there's no need to be envious.

Moreover, the Gold Equipment ultimately ended up in the hands of alumnus Han Xu, which was already the most satisfactory result.

"The Lobsterfolk Tribe is finished here. Next up is the Snakefolk Tribe," Bai Xiaowen said, passing the animal hide around for everyone to read. Seeing that most people couldn't understand it, he explained, "According to the inscription on the animal hide, the Snakefolk Tribe is hidden within an internal isolation array in the Pale Swamp. To enter the internal isolation array, a ritual needs to be performed. Please help me retrieve the items required for the ritual."

The items required for the ritual are: 10 Netherworld Grass, 10 Drowning Bone, and 1 Marsh Hydra Gallbladder.

The first two are easy. Having made it this far, everyone has some Netherworld Grass and Drowning Bone in stock. If each person gathers one or two portions, the problem is solved.

The Marsh Hydra's gallbladder is a bit of a problem. Bai Xiaowen killed one before, but he didn't intend to take the gallbladder. Fortunately, Bai Xiaowen had previously read the Lobsterfolk's memory fragments and knew that Marsh Hydra lived in the mud near the village, so it's not too late to kill one now.

This kind of trivial matter of besieging Elite Tier was of course not something Bai Xiaowen needed to do. Reading the Memory Conch had exhausted a lot of Bai Xiaowen's energy, and he needed to rest for a while. He also needed to use the Netherworld Grass and the Drowning Bone to set up the framework of the ritual.

In addition, Fatty's evolutionary dormancy is about to end, and he doesn't want to cause any more trouble.

Bai Xiaowen led Shi Haiyan and the others, along with Han Xu and Chen Guowei, to a nearby mud pit. He briefly explained the characteristics of the Marsh Hydra and how to deal with it. After watching them disappear into the mist, Bai Xiaowen began to arrange the ritual framework, using the Drowning Bone to form a special symbol on the ground.

"Hmm."

Just as Bai Xiaowen was preparing for the ceremony, the Fatty surrounded by four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier suddenly let out an ambiguous groan, rolled over, and slowly got up.