Arrival

According to the Oni Mask's "official description" on its growth tree, the Wish Power Shield skill had appeared because the mask had once been an object of worship in the family temple of Imagawa Yoshimoto, a daimyo of Japan's Warring States period. It had received offerings for years...

The Oni Mask's Grievance Power meter now stood at 442/1000. According to Li Shuyi, it rose in strange ways. Sometimes killing a boss added only one point, or none at all, while sometimes killing an Elite Tier enemy—or even an ordinary monster—added several.

It had risen fastest in Locust King Village. They had explored for only a few days, and the fighting had not been especially fierce, yet the Oni Mask had gained more Grievance Power than it had during an entire exploration of another world.

Bai Xiaowen could not find any pattern either, so he could only let it grow as it would. Once it reached 1,000 points, they could unlock its second skill.

Bai Xiaowen had also received a notification: after he killed Naitu lu, the main quest "Return of the Prophet" was complete. He could seek out the leader of the Guardian Faction to turn it in.

Naitu lu had not dropped an item to serve as proof of the kill, but the thousand-odd sailor laborers Bai Xiaowen had rescued had all witnessed it. He needed no other proof.

As Bai Xiaowen and the others sailed through an undersea current aboard the Ghost Ship, Yi-Yi and Er-Er, the two Mutant White Eagles, flew above the sea. Through their Psychic Sensing link with Bai Xiaowen—the vertical distance was less than 1,500 meters, within his control range—they headed for the Bonus Archipelago too.

Ordinary birds could never keep flying over the sea like that. But the Mutant White Eagles were different.