"Death Maniac Sword Princess's Silver Coin"

With the Experience Pearl as an interlude, distributing the remaining three Spell Spirits became easy and pleasant.

Although Sonia strongly insisted that all three Spell Spirits should go to Ash, after carefully identifying them, Ash chose the two less valuable ones, "Fox Fire" and "Light," while giving the most useful one, "Moon Silk," to Sonia.

"Fox Fire"

"One-Winged Art Spirit"

"Restriction: The spellcaster must possess a tail."

"Basic Effect: Swing your tail to fling varying amounts of blue flame. The blue flames can cling to a designated target and burn for a period of time. The burning target will not feel pain and may even experience pleasure."

"Passive Effect: Hair all over your body becomes more luxuriant and flammable."

"Pain and pleasure are merely illusions. Once you burn away the skin used to disguise yourself, you will see the truth within."

"Light"

"One-Winged Art Spirit"

"Restriction: The spellcaster must hold a luminous medium, or there must be a light source nearby."

"Basic Effect: Emit a floating light that can move flexibly according to your will."

"Passive Effect: You become more energetic in brightly lit areas."

"It is not light that drives away darkness, but darkness that chases light."

"Moon Silk"

"One-Winged Art Spirit"

"Restriction: The spellcaster must hold a luminous medium, or there must be a light source nearby."

"Basic Effect: Create multiple strands of moonlight thread that temporarily float in the air, stretched taut."

"Passive Effect: You become lighter beneath the moonlight."

"Listen, the moonlight is weaving the Veil of Dark Night."

Clearly, "Fox Fire" and "Light" were probably Fox Zhaolong's main means of attack. By attaching Fox Fire to Light, it could unleash a continuous and flexible barrage of flame attacks.

Luckily, the two of them had beaten up the sleeping Fox Zhaolong. Otherwise, "Fox Fire Light" alone would have been enough to give them hell, not to mention "Moon Silk"—Sonia had tried it out. It could create threads in the air as hard as steel, floating and pulled taut. Anyone who ran into them would be sliced apart instantly. It was practically a collision trap.

Ash had originally wanted "Moon Silk" too, but he could not use Spell Spirits in Prison. No matter how good a Spell Spirit was, it meant nothing in his hands there, so he chose "Fox Fire" and "Light" to recharge right away—they did not have tails, after all, and thus could not use "Fox Fire Light."

The stronger "Moon Silk" went to the Sword Maiden as research homework. After all, her learning experience would also be shared with Ash. He could not let her have no workbook in hand at all.

At that moment, Ash suddenly realized something. "Can we exchange Spell Spirits in the Void Realm?"

Sonia immediately knew what he was thinking. "You want me to find a Spell Spirit related to the Slay Self Miracle for you, then exchange it in the Void Realm?"

"Yeah, because you—"

"That won't work."

"Huh?"

"Never sever your connection with a Spell Spirit in the Void Realm. Otherwise, something very serious will happen."

Ash swallowed.

"What, what will happen?"

"The Spell Spirit will run away instantly. Instantly."

"...Can't we catch it again?"

Sonia shook her head. "No spellcaster has ever been able to catch one again—or perhaps you haven't realized it. We spellcasters are foreign travelers. In this Void Realm, Spell Spirits are the true masters."

"Spell Spirits may not count as living creatures. It is even questionable whether they can think. But Spell Spirits undoubtedly possess certain instincts—for example, a yearning for freedom."

Remembering how the Spell Spirits on Encounter Island had all fled immediately, Ash could not help nodding, though he was still puzzled.

"But Spell Spirits run slowly. Why can't we catch them?"

"Because those were Spell Spirits that had never been caught. Which do you think is more vigilant: a mouse that has been caught before, or one that has never been caught? Learning is also an instinct of Spell Spirits."

"But no matter how vigilant they are, they still can't run fast."

Sonia nodded, then shook her head. "In reality, what you said is correct. When you sever your connection with a Spell Spirit in reality, it will also flee, but it has little influence over reality and is easy to catch."

"But the Void Realm is the home of Spell Spirits. This is the birthplace of Miracles."

"As long as a Spell Spirit wants it, the entire Void Realm will help it."

"Though no one knows what price the Spell Spirit pays, countless records show that if you sever your connection with a Spell Spirit in the Void Realm, it will vanish instantly. To this day, no spellcaster has ever caught one again."

Another path had been blocked off. Ash sighed and was about to return when Sonia stopped him. "Don't rush off. There's still something here to divide."

Sonia walked toward the little tree Fox Zhaolong had been coiled around and picked two unripe fruits from it. Ash took one, unable to tell what kind it was at all.

"Void Fruit, Soul Fruit, Mysterious Fruit—this thing has many names and comes in different shapes, but the effect is always the same: eating it replenishes depleted Soul Energy and extends the exploration time of this Void Realm journey."

"By the way, it tastes awful."

Ash dry-heaved as he stared at the Sword Maiden. It took several seconds before the nausea passed. Even eating shit would not have been much worse. "Could you put the important part first next time?"

"Isn't this fine? I don't want to eat a second one." Sonia's face was twisted with disgust as well.

Perhaps one Experience Pearl had already drained all their luck. For the rest of the time, Ash failed to find any ideal areas marked "Worth Visiting" or "Welcome." They were either "Seeking Death" or "waste of effort," and there had even been prompts telling them to "Run!"

After leaving the Void Realm and returning to Prison, Ash recharged both "Fox Fire" and "Light." Each Spell Spirit was worth 10 points. Including the "Rapid Fire" Spell Spirit he had sold earlier, Ash now had 30 points.

Just enough to buy "Set of Source Crystals" in the game, which cost 30 points.

Although Ash could have kept saving up to buy something bigger, after hearing about Professor Shilin's kill order from Valkas, the pressure in his heart had only grown heavier—Prison was not his shield. Danger was everywhere!

If he did not spend when it was time to spend, he might never get another chance!

He spent all 30 points to buy a Set of Source Crystals. There were six Source Crystals in one set, but because of the First Recharge Double Reward, Ash actually received twelve Source Crystals.

Together with the three Source Crystals he had received from Daily Check-in over the past few days, Ash had fifteen Source Crystals in total. He could perform five Card Draws!

For his first Card Draw in three days, Ash washed his hands, pressed his palms together, and prayed to every Divine Spirit whose name he could remember. He did not even spare the origin of Miracles in this world. "Void Realm, oh Void Realm, I'm using your Spell Spirits to recharge and draw cards. In other words, I'm basically drawing cards on your behalf. What's yours is mine, and what's mine will sooner or later be yours. Making me better means making yourself better. I won't say much else. You understand..."

Card Draw!

He did not have enough for a Ten-Pull, so he would do consecutive Single Pulls. A believing heart was the Miracle of magic!

White light, "Stamina Potion"!

White light, "Experience Potion"!

Very good. The Sword Maiden would have no rest time next week either.

Purple light, "Void Realm Telescope"!

Orange light, "Death Maniac Sword Princess's Silver Coin"!

Purple light, "Awakening Battle Record"!

Three new items in a row at the end? Was this the charm of Single Pulls?

"Void Realm Telescope": When conducting Void Realm Exploration, your observation distance +1.

The shorter the description, the stronger the effect. Ash immediately understood what an amazing item this was. His current observation distance in the Void Realm was only 1, meaning he could only see the eight surrounding squares. With this telescope, his observable area expanded from 3×3 to 5×5, and the number of visible squares increased from 8 to 24!

A major reason Ash had struggled to find suitable exploration areas was that he had been shortsighted in the Void Realm, able to take only the safest route right in front of him. With this item, their Void Realm Exploration efficiency would increase by at least 50%.

"Death Maniac Sword Princess's Silver Coin": One of the three Silver Coins treasured by the Death Maniac Sword Princess. It was lost many years later. If someone brings this Silver Coin to meet the Death Maniac Sword Princess, he will receive a reward—or death. Expands Bond functions upon use.

Although the description was vague, Ash saw through the scheme at once. Wasn't this just the max potential system in mobile game card draws? When you drew the same character again, you could unlock more possibilities for that character, tempting players to spend even more money.

After using "Death Maniac Sword Princess's Silver Coin," the information on "Death Maniac Sword Princess" changed.

"Death Maniac Sword Princess"

"Human Race · Female · 20 years old"

"Bond Level: 1 (35% experience shared)"

"Resonance of Bonds · Insatiable Greed: When acting together, there is a chance to obtain better loot."

"Class: One-Winged Swordsman"

"Class Trait: 10% less Stamina consumption when using Sword Art Spell Spirits."

"Items Held: Training Wooden Sword"

"Spell Spirits Mastered: Ripple Sword, Moon Silk, Rapid Stream"

"Sword Art School: Silver Rank"

"Radiance School: Silver Rank"

"Water Art Faction: Not Initiated"

"Void Realm Exploration: 0.002%"

Other than the experience-sharing ratio increasing from 30% to 35%, the biggest change was naturally the addition of "Resonance of Bonds · Insatiable Greed."

Clearly, this was one of the Sword Maiden's bad traits and had nothing to do with Ash, but the effect was not bad. From now on, he would leave the finishing blow on monsters to the Sword Maiden.

Ash looked toward the last item he had drawn, "Awakening Battle Card."

It had appeared with purple light, meaning it was no Common Goods item. It was something valuable on the same level as the "Void Realm Telescope."

"Awakening Battle Record": Arrange a high-difficulty battle for an Operator, allowing them to enter an Awakened state. In the Awakened state, the Operator gains 250% battle experience and is more likely to create Miracles, summon Spell Spirits, and break through their limits. (Danger Level: Medium.)

"I barely have any personal time in a day now..."

"I'm so tired..."

"Can't you reduce training time to one hour..."

The Sword Maiden's complaints seemed to echo beside his ears. Ash's face showed struggle. Just then, Prison's morning prison song sounded on schedule:

"If you have been hurt enough, then use both hands to gladly cut apart yesterday's curse. Await dawn after night falls, leaving only scars..."

The song seemed to strengthen Ash's resolve. He decisively used the "Awakening Battle Card"!

Target selected: Death Maniac Sword Princess!

"Sword Maiden, I'm doing this for your own good too!"