Chu Jiu

The loot dropped by an A-Class Calamity was naturally not disappointing.

However, this time the monster didn't drop any materials; instead, all its energy coalesced into a Card.

It wasn't a one-time skill card, but a cultivation card.

The front of the card had a dark, monstrous pattern, and the back featured a silver pentagram.

[Skill: Shadow Dive]

Description: Silver Skill Cultivation Card. Requires Dark Affinity 15. Upon fusion, master Shadow Dive (Lv0). You will gain the ability to merge with darkness.

The Mechanical Arm Girl looked at the card and let out a soft sigh, "Huh, it's actually a cultivation card."

Ji Xun was once again bewildered.

He understood the words, but he had no idea of the card's true value.

The Mechanical Arm Girl seemed accustomed to his occasional displays of ignorance.

This guy is clearly very smart, yet he seems to know so little common knowledge.

Oh!

Low-level Hunters can't even get their hands on this kind of cultivation card, so it's normal for him to be surprised.

She explained, "Legend has it that these cultivation cards are imprinted with the Divine Sense of ancient Spell Card Masters. Their appearance rate is extremely low, even lower than Brilliant Silver materials. They are more efficient than Martial Arts or Secret Technique manuals. Anyone, as long as they meet the requirements and fuse with it, can directly master the skill. It's also one of the most sought-after commodities in high society, very valuable. And this [Darkness Stealth] should be a lost Assassin Type secret technique. At least, I've never seen it before. It's best not to sell it lightly."

"."

Ji Xun finally understood as he listened.

This was the same ghostly, invisible movement technique the monster used earlier, allowing it to hide its true form within shadows. If an Assassin class professional mastered it, it would indeed have miraculous effects for both survival and assassination.

Ji Xun also found it amazing, mastering a skill without arduous training, directly imprinted onto the soul.

This thing was certainly attractive enough to wealthy individuals.

As she spoke, the girl unhesitatingly handed the card to him and added, "I'm not following an Assassin Type career path, so this card is useless to me."

"Then I won't be polite."

Ji Xun glanced at her and accepted the card without refusal.

He had seen before that his teammate didn't like to take advantage of others.

Besides, she said it was valuable, so it must be valuable.

But looking at himself, his Dark Affinity value was only 1.

It would be a long time before he could fuse with this card.

Besides this cultivation card, another unremarkable Black Card appeared on the monster's body.

The card had no effects whatsoever, only two lines of text:

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you."

"Before dawn arrives, someone must illuminate the darkness."

Ji Xun looked at the card, vaguely feeling it was hinting at something, and said, "This should be the 'key' to the final stage."

It wasn't like the skill cards dropped from killing monsters before, which could allow one to kill the BOSS of the next stage.

This card only had two sentences.

The Mechanical Arm Girl pondered for a moment, unable to figure out the card's use. She could only ask, "What does this card mean?"

Ji Xun: "A clue."

"."

The Mechanical Arm Girl looked speechless: Of course, I know it's a clue, but a clue pointing to what!

"I don't know either."

Ji Xun understood her expression and shrugged.

He genuinely didn't know and asked back with a hint of helplessness, "You don't think I know everything, do you?"

The Mechanical Arm Girl didn't speak, but the atmosphere had reached this point, and her expression implied: Didn't your performance all the way here suggest otherwise?

It was as if a habitual way of thinking had formed; when encountering a puzzle, this guy would always decipher it from a tricky angle.

Ji Xun guessed her thoughts and smiled, shaking his head.

He said, "It's like playing a puzzle game. The mastermind behind it, fearing you wouldn't find the solution, deliberately left a clue; yet, fearing the clue would be too obvious, they made it obscure and difficult to understand. Only at a moment when you need it will you suddenly realize. This kind of dead-end clue can absolutely not be figured out the moment you obtain it."

This explanation was clearly convincing, and the Mechanical Arm Girl's expression under the gas mask showed approval.

Ji Xun thought for a moment and added, "We should be heading to the final stage. Usually, the last stage is either the most difficult or completely unexpected."

As he spoke, he looked at the card and added, "Now it seems, it's the latter."

The Mechanical Arm Girl remained silent, gazing at the two lines of text on the card, lost in thought.

The two of them tidied up their spoils and continued deeper into the laboratory.

As Ji Xun had guessed, they were about to face the final stage. Therefore, after killing the [Shadow Demon], they didn't encounter any more threatening mutated creatures.

Small, scattered Oddities would occasionally crawl out from the corners of the laboratory. The Mechanical Arm Girl could always detect them early and dispatch them with ease.

As they walked, Ji Xun suddenly spoke, "Right, forgive my asking, but what should I call you, Miss?"

Neither of them had asked for the other's name from the start, but thinking they had gone through hardship together, he casually asked.

"."

Upon hearing this, the Mechanical Arm Girl continued walking on her own, offering no reply.

Just as Ji Xun thought she was ignoring him, he suddenly heard her respond faintly, "Chu Jiu."

Ji Xun pondered, "Chu Jiu?"

It clearly wasn't a real name, but a codename.

Still, it didn't matter. It was much better than calling her "Mechanical Arm Girl."

Ji Xun introduced himself as well, "Ji Xun. A pleasure to meet you."

Chu Jiu listened, remaining silent.

Ji Xun didn't mind.

Even though his teammate was a bit cold, she was a good person.

The two continued deeper into the lab.

Laboratories eventually had an end. After not walking for long, they arrived before a rusted elevator.

"Someone's used the elevator."

"Yeah, it must have been those mercenaries from before."

After checking the passage and finding no danger, the two boarded the elevator.

Now, no matter how they looked at it, this was the path leading to the exit.

It resembled an abandoned mine elevator that hadn't been used for decades, covered in rust. It creaked and groaned as it ascended, making them fear it might suddenly fall.

Fortunately, there were no accidents. After rising about twenty stories, they reached the top of the elevator.

After walking through a narrow passage, they entered a peculiar Mirror World.

The ground was white, and the ceiling and walls were entirely covered in mirrors of various sizes.

Sensing no Oddities, the two walked in.

At first, there were only a few simple mirror surfaces, but then, the mirrors became more numerous.

They saw countless versions of themselves, all sorts of strange selves, and countless pairs of eyes staring back at them.

Within the mirrors, there were many bizarre and fantastical sights: doubt, obsession, anger, caution, fear, desire. In the mirrored reflections, they seemed to see everything within their own hearts.

There were also some distorted reflections, representing twisted desires.

"Tsk, tsk, this is interesting..."

Ji Xun walked forward steadily.

Others might feel uncomfortable seeing so many mirrors, but he was accustomed to this situation.

Every moment, his mind was filled with similar scenes, countless versions of himself arguing.

Seeing the mirrored reflections now, Ji Xun felt no discomfort whatsoever.

However, Chu Jiu, beside him, seemed to have seen something in the mirrors, her aura noticeably disturbed.

Fortunately, Ji Xun noticed her abnormality and patted her shoulder, "Let's go."

Only then did Chu Jiu snap out of that nightmarish state.

This "Mirror Room" seemed to have no difficulty, and they couldn't figure out what it was testing.

The two walked through it.

Suddenly, they reached a dead end.

Chu Jiu exclaimed in surprise, "A dead end? A maze?"

She was trying to recall where they might have gone wrong when Ji Xun's pupils narrowed slightly, and he said, "No. We've arrived."

As soon as he spoke, the surrounding mirror reflections receded like a tide.

Looking again, the two found themselves inside a sealed iron cage.

Enlightenment appeared: [Entered unknown space, discovered special hidden main quest, Exploration Progress +5%]