Pink and Blue Graffiti

[Descent Complete]

[Calculating rewards for this descent--

Calculation results:

Explored Zi Qiu Mountain lifeforms, gained 8 Exploration Points. Discovered Zi Qiu Mountain special location Moon Gazing Lake, gained +6 Exploration Points. Discovered Zi Qiu Mountain special location Purple Bamboo Forest, gained +5 Exploration Points.

Discovered Zi Qiu Mountain Spirit, activated Special Character panel, gained 50 Exploration Points reward.

Calculating exploration rewards.

Received rewards for this exploration:

1: Soul Strength +5

2: Unlocked Special Character panel

3: Received one random soul

Congratulations, Summoner.]

Within the Soul Blossom space, Li Ke took a deep breath and looked at his personal panel.

[Name: Li Ke]

[Race: Human Soul]

[Soul Strength: 7.3 (Scattered Soul)]

[World Exploration: 1%]

[Current Items: Unknown Soul Stone]

Li Ke shook his arms, feeling subtle changes in his body. The discomfort in his chest had significantly lessened. As someone who grew up in Zaun, Li Ke, due to lack of money and unwillingness to join other gangs, had never undergone any alchemical augmentations. His physical condition was extremely poor.

Poor Zaun children suffered from malnutrition, and Li Ke was no exception. Zaun's severe smog had also damaged his respiratory tract, and his internal organs had their fair share of problems. Normally, whether Li Ke could live past forty was a big question mark, but now, Li Ke felt his body was very healthy.

Was this the effect of Soul Strength?

Did this thing change his physique?

Li Ke looked again at a corner of the panel. There was an icon resembling a backpack. Upon opening it, Li Ke found a sapphire-blue stone inside, emitting a faint green glow, which was very beautiful.

[Soul Stone (Bound)]

[Quality: Blue (Spirit)]

[Usage Level: None]

[Synopsis: Stones formed from unknown souls in the Soul Blossom world, possessing mysterious and powerful energy.]

Li Ke: "."

Damn it, this is getting more and more like a game!

He clicked to use it, and Li Ke froze in place the next moment.

His mind was impacted, and in an instant, Li Ke absorbed countless pieces of knowledge.

[Using Soul Stone]

[Unknown Soul Stone has released its power--]

[Obtained Unknown Soul Memory.]

[Extracted skill from [Unknown Soul Memory], [Spirit Body Level Fist Technique]]

[Congratulations, Summoner]

Coming to his senses, Li Ke clenched his fists, and a flood of knowledge that didn't belong to him surged into his mind.

The way to clench his fist, the way to punch, the way to breathe.

Footwork, stances, all sorts of strange yet familiar memories tumbled and fought in Li Ke's mind.

He looked at his status panel and saw a new line had appeared.

[Current Skills: [Fist Technique (Spirit Body Level/Restricted)]

Spirit Body Level. What level is this?

As for restricted, Li Ke immediately understood what was going on. It was simply that his current Soul Strength couldn't unleash the true effect of the fist technique.

He looked at his Soul Strength again and saw the words Scattered Soul in the back were very conspicuous. Li Ke immediately had an idea, so perhaps the next level after Scattered Soul was Spirit Body Level?

He scratched his head. Li Ke felt that even if Spirit Body Level wasn't the next level, this "Spirit Body" was still related to Soul Strength.

His Golden Finger originated from the Soul Blossom, so naturally, everything had to be viewed from the perspective of the Soul Blossom world.

Li Ke then looked at another panel, the one activated after meeting Thresh.

On the canvas of the Shan Hai Scroll, a heart icon had appeared next to it. When he clicked it, Li Ke saw only dark avatars, and then, one bright, purple avatar. Thresh in the frame was smiling extremely charmingly, but his eyes were different from the Thresh Li Ke had seen, not as terrifying and sinister?

[Zi Qiu Mountain Spirit--Thresh]

[Soul Strength: ???]

[Personality: ???]

[Stage: Obsession]

[Status: Zi Qiu Mountain Spirit is looking for you]

"?"

No way, are you still not done?

Li Ke took a cold breath, thinking this Thresh was truly a son of a bitch!

No, what's going on with this Obsession stage?!

Next, Li Ke studied it carefully, and then, and then he was about to faint.

Special character favorability, it seems to be an extremely important part of his Golden Finger.

Because Li Ke discovered that when the favorability of special characters reached a certain stage, he could receive sponsorship of their corresponding abilities.

And this stage is divided into the following stages.

Encounter (0)

Acquaintance (100)

Confidant (600)

Life and Death Friendship (1200)

And for male characters, it's locked at (Intimate Friend / 2000)

So the question is, what's going on with this Obsession?

It wasn't displayed in the stages, but Thresh was in the Obsession stage with him?

Hiss. Li Ke was truly baffled.

But besides that, there was also a misty character that was different from the other dark frames.

Li Ke looked and saw the silhouette of a fox sitting there.

[Unknown Mysterious Spirit--???]

[Soul Strength:???]

[Personality:???]

[Stage: Encounter (0)]

[Status: Excitedly chasing butterflies in the Soul Blossom~]

"Heh, 'mysterious unknown deity.' I can't even be bothered to mock that."

Li Ke was speechless. While he didn't know the lore of League of Legends inside and out, he wasn't completely ignorant either. At the very least, he knew what the champions' skins looked like!

"So, the one who saved me before was Ahri?"

Li Ke rubbed his chin, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

He remembered that during the Spirit Blossom Festival event, the League client had even released a mini-game, similar to a Galgame. It featured the first batch of Spirit Blossom champions.

Li Ke had collected the avatars and emoticons for Ahri, Lillia, and Kindred back then. He had to admit, the Spirit Blossom Festival was one of Riot's best skin events. Because of that, Li Ke wasn't unfamiliar with Spirit Blossom Ahri.

How should he put it? Ahri in the mini-game was very cute, and her tone was playful, her personality lively and spirited.

Recalling the ethereal voice he had heard earlier, Li Ke immediately pictured her.

"Long time no see, Thresh. Have you been counting how many souls you've collected lately~?"

Yeah, it was indeed pleasant to hear, and very cute.

"Damn, I haven't claimed my rewards yet!"

Thinking of Ahri, Li Ke suddenly remembered and quickly opened his Illustration Book, then found the Purple Great Serpent.

After activating it, Li Ke received two points of Stamina and two points of Strength. However, after claiming them, Li Ke noticed his Soul Strength remained at 7.3.

This led Li Ke to a new analysis of Soul Strength.

It wasn't a simple additive value.

After finishing everything, Li Ke exited the space.

Although he still had one more descent opportunity, Li Ke decided he wouldn't descend for a while. After all, Thresh was currently looking for him with his full Spirit Blossom power. He definitely couldn't descend into the Spirit Blossom world in the short term.

Alright, exit!

Waking up from his bed, Li Ke reached for his neck. With a gentle pull of the chain, a pocket watch popped out. It was a cute-style watch, adorned with purple and blue graffiti monsters.

Opening it, Li Ke checked the time.

He then realized that time in the Spirit Blossom world was different from the Material Realm. He had spent about two hours in the Spirit Blossom world, but less than ten minutes had passed in the Material Realm?

He rolled over and went back to sleep. Li Ke stopped thinking. The shock and events of the day were more than enough!

The next morning, Li Ke got up and left with the Money Pouch Malson had given him. It was the same as usual; he was going to find a job in Zaun. The early morning Zaun was less chaotic, but the streets of Black Alley were still littered with quite a few "corpses." There were also many beggars on street corners, covered in rags, with broken bowls placed before them. Occasionally, exposed body parts under the rags revealed skin that was shriveled and purple, a truly terrifying sight.

Li Ke forced himself not to look at them and lightly leaped over them.

His speed underfoot increased, and Li Ke found that his body had indeed undergone tremendous changes, visibly improving. But what about his limits?

Li Ke didn't have an accurate reference for how strong his power was or how fast he could run.

So, with a shift in thought, Li Ke decided to go to a deserted place to test his stats.

Towards the Morning Haze, Li Ke walked to the outskirts of Black Alley, heading towards the Abandoned Industrial Zone.

He was genuinely curious about his own changes.

By the time Li Ke returned to Black Alley, it was already close to noon. He returned with an excited expression, his black hair slightly damp.

"So strong, too strong!"

Am I this strong now?

Li Ke found it unbelievable!

He had initially thought that with a Soul Strength of 7.3, he was probably just a bit stronger than an ordinary person. But after the test just now, Li Ke could only say that he was no longer an ordinary person!

Ordinary people?

He could take on ten ordinary people!

Could someone who could Break Stone with their bare hands be an ordinary person?!

His speed, jumping ability, and even his reaction time had all improved.

With a body like this.

If he were to see Malson again, Li Ke felt that it might actually be feasible for Malson to take him to fight in matches, since boxing was quite profitable.

He found a restaurant in Black Alley. Smelling the pungent aroma of food and the unpleasant odors from the people around him, Li Ke began to eat ravenously.

Bloody Frog Meat and fish mixed together, it was wet and mushy in his mouth, with a very strange texture and terrible taste. But Li Ke still swallowed it down in large mouthfuls. In Zaun, being able to eat relatively warm food was already a great thing, let alone Li Ke, who was very hungry after his "training."

Just as Li Ke was eating, a group of people suddenly burst into the restaurant.

The bartender in front of Li Ke flinched as soon as he saw the group. The boss, who had been leisurely smoking Purple Spray behind the bar and was clearly high on something, quickly got up. With a fawning smile, he lowered his tall body and approached the group.

"Esteemed sirs, rare guests, rare guests! What wind brings you here?"

"Stop spewing nonsense. This person, have you seen him?" The man with tattoos all over his face, the leader, shoved a piece of paper in front of the restaurant owner and questioned him loudly.

The owner glanced down and quickly shook his head, "No, no, I haven't seen this person at all."

"If you see him, notify us. This person is very important."

"Yes, yes, I understand. Should I keep this paper and post it in the restaurant?"

"What the hell are you doing, you think he's a wanted criminal? This person is important to Lord Silco." The Tattooed Man kicked the restaurant owner in the stomach, then left the restaurant with his men.

The restaurant owner clutched his stomach and spat, then returned behind the bar and took a puff from the spray can beside him.

His listless complexion immediately changed. He twisted his head and said:

"He's really a piece of shit. Ever since his people came to Black Alley, life in Black Alley has gotten worse day by day!"

"This world is really getting more and more chaotic, damn it." The owner muttered, shaking his head as he puffed on the spray.

Li Ke finished eating, pulled down his hood, and stood up, silently leaving the restaurant.

On the street, a group of people swarmed into the small Black Alley, grabbing people and asking questions everywhere, just like the interrogation in the restaurant earlier.

Li Ke pulled down his hood, lowered his presence, and walked along the edge, leaving like a little transparent person.

Zaun under Silco's rule was more extreme than Vander's.

During Vander's control, Zaun was poor but at least not chaotic. Violence and chaos mostly happened late at night; few people dared to cause trouble during the day. But in Silco's Zaun, while it was indeed prosperous, the wealth only belonged to the Alchemical Baron and the powerful. The poor became poorer, and the living environment became increasingly harsh. Thugs could be seen smashing and looting everywhere even during the day.

Shaking his head, Li Ke left Black Alley.

It seemed he couldn't find work in Black Alley.

If possible, he really wanted to sneak into the upper levels. Even if not to Upper City, just to Dance Hall would be fine; at least that place wasn't as chaotic.

Night fell, and Master Li, after a busy day, returned to Black Alley.

Still pulling down his hood and lowering his presence, he walked towards his home down a small alley.

Today was another day of wasted effort. Zaun now offered almost zero jobs for ordinary people. Even odd jobs were for the gangs, with no normal work available.

Returning to the alley, Li Ke took off his hood and walked up the creaking escalator. But after a few steps, Li Ke froze.

Because the escalator in front of him was painted with strange colors. In the dim light, the fluorescent colors were incredibly conspicuous.

Blue and pink intertwined, causing Li Ke to instinctively touch his chest.

In his embrace, the pocket watch had the same colors, and the graffiti style was exactly the same as on the stairs.

"."

Swallowing, a thought suddenly struck Li Ke's mind.

No way.

Could it really be her?

Li Ke stood outside his house, lost in thought.

Hiss. I can't gamble. If it really is her, then I definitely need to stay away!

She's a lunatic!

Even though she's very popular in anime and games, who would want to be friends with a lunatic in real life?

Thinking this, Li Ke stepped back, intending to leave.

But as soon as Li Ke took a step back, he saw his door being kicked open heavily.

A fair and slender leg appeared before Li Ke. She wore shorts, with an old bandage on her pinkish-white knee, deliberately shaped into an X. Her clanging boots were even more exaggerated, the thick tops reinforced with metal plates, and they landed on the floor with a patada.

"If I were you, I'd cover my mouth right now and come in obediently."

A pleasant, light voice rang out. Li Ke took a step back. In the dim yellow light, a tin pistol painted with colorful graffiti was aimed at Li Ke's head. She also took two steps forward, her face revealed in the light.

She wore a tactical vest, revealing a beautiful, firm abdomen. Though she had many beautiful blue cloud tattoos on her body, they weren't unsightly. Amusingly, she was also a typical Zaun child, which could be seen not only from her tattoos but also from her malnourished small chest. Under the tight vest, only a slight curve was visible.

Damn, Thresh's chest is much more explosive than hers!

On either side of her body were two long blue pigtails that almost dragged on the ground. Looking at her face, Li Ke saw a small, cute, baby face that hadn't lost its childishness. Below her perky little nose was a mouth that seemed to smile yet not smile, facing Li Ke. Above the little nose were a pair of clear, bright blue eyes.

Huh?

Wait.

Blue eyes?

Not pink eyes?

Looking at the girl before him, Li Ke silently raised his hands. A greeting blurted out:

"Jinx?"