New Schemes
Fran looked down at the ground, where there was a black, slender claw-like object that looked like it had fallen to the ground. Fran picked it up with her Telekinetic Hand.
"Why are there still things that have fallen?"
Fran scratched her head, somewhat puzzled, and then began to examine the object closely from a distance.
The more she looked at it, the more she felt that this thing was unusual.
The metallic luster on it was very strange; it clearly resembled the claw of some kind of large Magic Creature, but her extraordinary level of Foundry Studies knowledge told her otherwise.
"This is something cast from metal, and the metal on it is quite unusual."
Fran looked at the claw and sensed that the material seemed somewhat different.
She coated her baseball bat with Sunflame, then slowly brought it closer.
When the red light and the black claws came together, the scene Fran had imagined— the Sunflame melting the metal it touched—did not happen.
She looked at the spot where the black claws had touched the Sunflame with great confusion. It seemed as if nothing had happened there; the black surface remained unchanged.
This is very abnormal, because normal metals, when exposed to the high temperature of the Sunflame Sunflame, will melt rapidly and turn red on the surface.
However, this claw, which appears to be cast in metal, showed absolutely no such change.
Fran steeled herself and slashed downwards with her Sunflame, simultaneously using her Telekinetic Hand to support her claws on the other side.
Then something surprising happened to Fran: the black claws, unable to grip the attack due to her Telekinetic Hand, swayed downwards before springing back up.
This is very unusual, because the Sunflame is enough to melt all second-tier materials. Logically speaking, under Fran's powerful strike, the entire Black Claw should have been severed.
"This black claw is made of Tier 3 material," Fran said, somewhat surprised.
She was somewhat incredulous at her guess, but after getting closer and examining it carefully, she combined it with her own knowledge.
"This is definitely a Tier 3 material."
Fran was both surprised and delighted; she had actually obtained a Tier 3 material here.
But after the initial surprise, she began to wonder why this thing was there.
Logically, the items carried by a normal Spirit Realm Traveler should be taken back to the Material Realm upon the wanderer's death.
However, Fran also knew that if Spirit Realm Traveler of the third rank or above died in the Spirit Realm without special Talent, then he was truly dead, and his body would remain in the Spirit Realm.
Furthermore, when a third-tier Spirit Realm Profession enters the Spirit Realm, their body doesn't become illusory like Fran's is now; instead, they completely disappear from the Material Realm.
This unusual way of entering the Spirit Realm gradually led Fran to a guess.
"Could it be that, without special circumstances, beings of the third rank and above cannot travel to the Material Realm with Spirit Realm Traveler?"
Fran thought about it more and more and it seemed more and more likely. Then she looked at the black claw and realized that it would be a lie to say she didn't want it; she didn't even believe herself.
However, she was also very cautious, since no normal person would bring such an important thing into the Spirit Realm.
Although the price will be lower because this is not a finished product, there is still a minimum price of 10,000 Gold Coin for this kind of Tier 3 item.
Would anyone really carry 10,000 Gold Coin freely in and out of this Trial? Although the Trial participants here generally don't cause trouble for the Proxy, it's hard to guarantee that other Proxy won't be tempted by the item.
Furthermore, third-tier items are practically priceless in the Spirit Realm. Don't be fooled by the fact that Fran currently possesses over ten tons of Spirit Crystal; that's equivalent to several million Gold Coin.
However, the market in the Spirit Realm is simply too small.
She knew that if she really exchanged all these Spirit Crystal for Gold Coin, it would definitely cause the value of Spirit Crystal to continue to drop.
After all, Spirit Crystal can only be used in the Spirit Realm, and many Profession are unaware that there is a market for the Spirit Realm there.
Even the origins and uses of Spirit Crystal are not believed by Profession. They don't know where Spirit Crystal come from or what they can do besides being currency.
Furthermore, normal Spirit Crystal have no effect on Profession, even First Order Profession.
This is why, if the Spirit Realm Market didn't use Spirit Crystal as Spirit Realm, they would never use such crystals as currency.
The Lord of Radiance obtained so many Spirit Crystal by directly plundering the Emerald Market's inventory, which had been stored for over a hundred years.
Of course, it's not entirely true that these Spirit Crystal are useless. If you're lucky and willing to pay a high price, you can exchange them for high-level materials in the Spirit Realm.
However, at that time, Spirit Crystal might not be used for settlement. You would have to persuade the other party to use Spirit Crystal for payment, since not everyone has the ability to convert these things into the Material Realm currency.
Everyone lives in the Material Realm, and almost everyone recognizes the value of Gold Coin, which is something that Spirit Crystal cannot match.
The perspective shifts back to Fran's hand; she is examining the black claw, genuinely unwilling to give up on this potentially tier-three material.
"Let's do some insurance."
Fran picked up the baseball bat and swung it up and down over the black claw, then heated the surface of the claw with Sunflame.
Although the Sunflame couldn't deform the black claw, Sunflame high temperature was no joke. No matter what kind of traps were attached to it, as long as they weren't made of the same metal, the Sunflame's high temperature was enough to warp everything.
After baking it with Sunflame, Fran used numerous testing spells, all of which showed that there was nothing wrong with the claw.
This put her at ease slightly, but she remained cautious about using this material for the time being.
"After the Trial is over, go to the Radiance Domain first, let the Lord of Radiance take a look, and then leave it for a few days to see how it goes."
Then Fran wrapped the item inside her robe and put it away.
After resolving this minor incident, Fran turned her attention to the sky, which was where she needed to focus her attention most.
"After I killed those three, there should only be six Proxy left. That's less than half the number I need to eliminate."
Thinking of this, Fran breathed a slight sigh of relief, but when she looked up, the joy she felt from killing so many Proxy vanished.
She saw that somewhere above, four yellow dots had clustered together, while the other two yellow dots remained scattered.
"What's going on with these Proxy? Why are they all gathered together? Aren't they supposed to be clearing out those Trial?"
Fran's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before her. Now, she even began to wonder if her hunting of those Proxy had been exposed, leading to Proxy gathering together.
But then she thought it was unlikely, because Zali had told her that it was absolutely impossible for the Deity to transmit messages during the Trial.
This put her at ease, as she believed that the first eliminated Proxy wouldn't report this to the Deity, and then the Proxy in the Trial wouldn't be informed of this through communication between the Deity.
She chose to believe Zali in this regard, and the gathering of these four Proxy had already taken place; now was not the time to chase after Charlie.
"Those three Proxy working together just now already gave me a hard time, even after I launched a sneak attack."
These Proxy possess abilities beyond those of ordinary Profession, forcing Fran to be wary of their powers when fighting them.
Furthermore, their abilities are not something that can be easily prevented by mere caution; often, there is simply no way to defend against them, and one can only take them head-on. For example, when Cyril unleashed his Arts just now, Fran had no time to stop him at all.
Even when encountering many Proxy, if Fran cannot defeat them in one blow, she will be hindered by the strange abilities of those Proxy.
This made Fran sigh again.
"Why is it that my only ability Proxy is healing, while the other Proxy have so many different abilities?"
After finishing her rant, Fran began to devise a plan on how to deal with the team of the four Proxy who had joined forces.
"First of all, I'm quite confident of victory if we launch a direct attack. In fact, my chances of winning would increase if I knew the abilities of those four Proxy."
But to be honest, she still has a good chance of failing, after all, Fran has witnessed the power of those Proxy.
"It would be best to infiltrate them and then split them up. Even if it's just one person who gets out, I can take action immediately."
Fran calmly analyzed the situation, then looked at the other two yellow dots, which were farther apart and not clustered together.
"Also, these two Proxy need to be dealt with first. We can't let them join forces with these four Proxy again, otherwise, if a real conflict breaks out, I will have no chance of winning."
Fran decided to deal with the two separate Proxy first, leaving the other four Proxy for last.
Fran also looked at the second red sphere, which was the location of the second Trial. Although the location was somewhat remote, she planned to go there to complete the second Trial after dealing with the two Proxy.
Finally, she looked again at the four assembled Proxy, her eyes filled with doubt.
Why are these four Proxy gathered together?
"Why are you following me?" Heather turned to look at the three Proxy had gathered together, full of curiosity.
After all, shouldn't we be hunting down those Trial participants right now? Logically speaking, we Proxy should just greet each other when we encounter them; there's no need for us to gather together at all.
And Rachel is one thing—she knows him, and she's not exactly a passionate person, so it's normal for her to want to work with him. But she doesn't know the other two Proxy!
The thin man, dressed in a gray short robe and trousers, said:
"I should stay in this group; that's the best situation for me." Then he fell silent.
Beside him, the woman in the purple robe, her red hair tucked into her hood, spoke:
"I'm not here to stop anyone from passing the Trial, but to find an Proxy of Deity, and that Proxy, Heather, you just happen to have met."