Seed of Elements

Just as he feared, it happened. The giant bear lunged twice and pushed the giant troll down the slope, but arrows had also turned it into a pincushion. It actually changed back into human form and cast Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Nature's Cure, Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, Five Energies Return to the Origin, and all sorts of healing spells on itself in a rush. Its health shot back up.

Well, fuck me, Xiao Yu thought. This guy really is like a Transformer, and he's just as good at healing himself. How am I supposed to fight that? Hell, I refuse to believe I can't beat him. No matter how tough he is, he's still just one person. I may not have much else, but I've got plenty of underlings. "Go, go! All of you, get him!" Xiao Yu roared again and again in exasperation. His underlings surged forward like a tide. Not only did the goblin warriors attack, but even the goblin laborers brought along to make up the numbers charged in. This time, Xiao Yu was throwing everyone he had into a single wave. Though the goblin laborers' fighting ability was nothing to write home about, they could at least make up the numbers and serve as cannon fodder, so he had brought them from the camp too. Now he couldn't worry about much else and sent them all in. Behind them, several goblin overseers cracked their whips, and the goblin laborers did manage to charge.

But Xiao Yu soon discovered that these goblins really were nothing but cannon fodder. After receiving the wisps' blessing, the grand druid was bursting with strength, as if he had taken ****. A single sweep sent three or four goblins flying, and a Savage Charge sent another four or five flying. He was like a tank plowing into a flock of sheep. Healing spells flashed constantly over him, while the goblin warriors' little cleavers dealt only single-digit damage when they struck him. They couldn't beat him at all.

What now? Xiao Yu was frantic. Suddenly, he slapped his thigh. Damn it, why am I being stupid too? So what if we can't beat him? The Seed of Elements is what I came for anyway. As long as we keep him tied up here, won't that do?

With that thought, Xiao Yu took advantage of his underlings keeping the grand druid busy and jumped straight off the giant troll. "Aduo, guard the slope and don't let anyone up. I'll be right back!" With that, he charged up the slope with the three Blackrock Orc brothers. Aduo sat down by the slope and didn't budge.

The grand druid seemed to have lost himself in the killing and didn't notice what Xiao Yu was doing at all.

Xiao Yu raced all the way to the temple entrance, his heart pounding. Whether he could complete the quest depended on this one shot. As he thought about it, he shoved open the temple doors and rushed inside. As soon as he entered, he saw a bear lying in the temple hall and got a fright. Damn it, what's going on? There are other druids? But when he took a closer look, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Alisa? Moonwalker (druid apprentice) was a level 13 druid with a normal template. Even after transforming into a bear, she had only a little over three hundred health, and she stood just over a meter tall, smaller than an ordinary black bear. She even looked a little cute. After witnessing the grand druid's monstrous strength, a cute little bear like this was nothing. The bear was guarding the entrance to a shrine, as if there were something very important inside. Well, Xiao Yu thought, the legendary Seed of Elements must be in there.

Xiao Yu had no intention of tangling with the druid in front of him. He ordered his Blackrock Orcs, "You lot, get her!"

The three Blackrock Orcs immediately rushed forward with their weapons, surrounding the cute little bear on three sides and engaging her in combat.

Xiao Yu went around the fight and straight to the shrine. A Flame Missiles blast blew open its casing, and a dazzling green light nearly blinded him. Once his eyes gradually adjusted to the light, Xiao Yu finally made out what was inside: a green sphere.

"Damn, what a treasure!" Xiao Yu couldn't help exclaiming. The green orb was as big as a soccer ball and looked like a giant green luminous pearl. On closer inspection, however, it had no physical form. It floated in the shrine, with something like a vortex inside it, as though strange energy were flowing within. Xiao Yu reached out and grabbed the green orb, pulling it into his arms.

System notification: Obtained the Seed of Elements.

System notification: You have seized the night elves' relic-the Seed of Elements. To recover their relic, the night elves will place you on a wanted list for 24 hours. During this period, all night elves will regard you as an enemy, and the night elf temple will continuously dispatch night hunters to pursue you and attempt to recover the relic.

System notification: Completed story event-Steal the Relic. Gained 200 reputation points.

Good, just 250 more reputation and I can advance to a minor boss. Keep it up, Xiao Yu thought. He first took out the Seed of Elements and examined it. He was very curious why an elemental lord would want to steal it so badly.

[Item name: Seed of Elements]

[Category: Relic/consumable/material/(quest item)]

[Item description: A magical treasure containing condensed elemental power. It holds powerful natural elemental energy, which can be converted into any one of four types of primordial energy: wind, fire, water, or earth.]

[Usage: Absorb (elemental creatures only)-obtain primordial energy of any one attribute: wind, fire, water, or earth. If the acquired power differs from the elemental creature's own power, the creature will undergo a mutation. If the absorbed power has the same attribute as its own, no mutation will occur; instead, it will advance directly by one tier.]

[Note: The purest elemental power flows within it.]

Damn, this is good stuff! Xiao Yu's eyes widened as soon as he read the Seed of Elements' description. He had played an elemental creature template before, so he naturally knew what the Seed of Elements meant to one. What did advancing one tier mean? A normal elemental could advance directly to elite, an elite could advance directly to boss, and a skull-ranked boss could gain another skull in rank.

That was already overpowered enough, but it wasn't all the Seed of Elements could do. After all, although tiers were hard to advance, given enough time, one could always work one's way up.

Its most powerful use was its second function: giving an elemental creature the power of another element and causing it to mutate. That was even more impressive. For example, when he had fought the Light of Dawn Guild as the Balrog Lord, all his skills had dealt fire damage, so he had been badly countered. If he had also known ice spells back then, the result would have been completely different. An Ice Storm could have slowed the enemy and kept them from repositioning, and then a Meteor Storm could have blasted them. Gods or buddhas, he would have slain anyone who stood in his way.

When Xiao Yu was in the elemental realm, he had seen some mutated elemental creatures. Compared to ordinary elemental creatures, they often had certain special abilities, but he had never found a way to mutate. He hadn't expected to discover this thing by chance today.

At that thought, Xiao Yu looked at the treasure in a whole new light.

Originally, he had planned to Activate Flame Mark as soon as he obtained the Seed of Elements and use the Balrog Lord's avatar to completely destroy Nightwhisper Village. That would certainly bring him a huge haul of levels and reputation, and he might even advance directly to a boss template.

At the same time, handing the Seed of Elements to Kalax, the Balrog Lord, would earn him a reward. His strength would naturally be formidable then, and leaving Night Whisper Forest to find somewhere to open a small instance and earn a little money every day would be a good choice. But now he hesitated.

PS: Thanks to reader "Favorite Tachibana Kanade" for the 10,000 Qidian coin tip, and thanks as well to the other readers who have tipped recently. Four updates today.