In the grey, silent sky, tens of thousands of crows stealthily appeared.

Billowing Death Qi surged from between Lu Yuan's fingers.

The Death Qi coalesced into mist, the mist condensed into smoke, and the smoke gathered into a cloud.

The dense, black cloud of Death Qi merged with the vast flock of crows.

Infused with Death Qi, the flock of crows became energized as if on stimulants; each bird's body swelled significantly, and their temperaments turned exceptionally aggressive and brutal.

They swooped towards the human figure below, vying to peck and feast, as if engaged in a frenzied carnival, a long-awaited and lavish, bloody banquet.

The human figure was instantly engulfed by the dense flock of crows.

But not long after, beams of deep blue energy burst forth from within.

Large swathes of crows were torn to shreds by the beams. In just a short while, the once massive flock had become sparse.

Lu Yuan casually dismissed the remaining crows. The moment the figure below reappeared, his clear, deep eyes became suffused with Death Qi, turning pure black.

A crimson point in their center expanded like a vortex, and strange mental fluctuations emanated from his gaze.

"Ghost Vision!"

The figure clad in a stylish, deep-blue exoskeleton suit froze abruptly.

However, it only lasted for a few seconds before he returned to normal.

The figure made a move as if to soar into the sky but was stopped by a snap of Lu Yuan's fingers.

"Pause."

Pressing the pause button, Lu Yuan wore a thoughtful expression.

He had just been experimenting with two new skills: Night Feast, an advanced skill of Crow Language, and Ghost Vision, an advancement of Death Omen Eye.

There wasn't much to say about the former; against a Double S-level opponent, it could at most obstruct their vision and had virtually no offensive power.

However, considering it had evolved from a purely auxiliary skill and was still only a basic class skill, such limited effect was to be expected.

The latter, Ghost Vision, however, gave Lu Yuan a pleasant surprise.

Involving Spiritual Power, it should be an effect similar to an illusion.

With the Spiritual Power from my 28 Intelligence points, it can daze a Double S-level opponent—one who has already condensed the Light of Spirit—for several seconds. That's quite remarkable...

Don't underestimate these few seconds.

A few seconds were enough for Lu Yuan to crush Lan Chen, the 'Merit-seeking Boy' serving as his Imaginary Enemy, several times over, and prevent him from deploying the nuclear bomb hidden in his pants.

Very practical.

However...

Lu Yuan initiated Night Feast again, summoning tens of thousands of densely packed crows.

This time, he didn't command them to attack; instead, they orbited around him like attendants.

It's remarkably effective for making a grand entrance!

At this moment, Lu Yuan had four wings on his back. The upgraded Nether Clothing he wore not only had increased durability but also featured numerous intricate patterns resembling the Other Shore Flower, making it look exceptionally magnificent.

Combined with the escort of crows, he looked like a monarch of crows emerging from the Netherworld—mysterious and noble.

This was also largely why Lu Yuan had condensed his Death Qi Wings into four.

The flight speed with four wings was much the same as with two.

But four wings look cooler.

If conditions allow... Lu Yuan plans to have twelve wings eventually.

If he could scare away enemies just by his appearance... then why would he need to fight?

With Elephant God: Walking Posture, plus the Level Seven Nether Clothing... I can barely withstand Lan Chen's nuclear carpet bombing.

But his flying speed is indeed much faster than mine. After all, the Wing of Death Qi isn't a true flight skill; it's severely lacking in this regard...

As he thought of this, the wings on his back and the Nether Clothing armor on his body disintegrated piece by piece...

He returned to his normal state and fell from mid-air.

Before his body hit the ground...

BOOM!

A majestic aura abruptly spread from within his body.

A phantom of an Elephantman, nearly two hundred meters tall, materialized behind him.

The terrifying aura spread out, instantly halting Lu Yuan's descent and forcefully pushing his body upward.

After hovering in the air for several tens of seconds, Lu Yuan floated down gently like a feather.

If my Spiritual Power makes another breakthrough in quality, perhaps I can achieve flight using Spiritual Power!

This is something even Pure Martial Grandmasters can't do.

Lu Yuan savored the feeling of just landing, a peculiar look on his face.

His Spiritual Power, in terms of quantity... is truly immense.

It's a full twenty times that of a typical Pure Martial Fighter at the peak True Intention level!

With the two-hundred-meter-tall Elephant God True Intention towering above him, Lu Yuan couldn't help but muse, Now this truly has the feel of a Martial Arts Dharma... The Dharma of Heaven and Earth! Martial Divine Skills!

However, correspondingly, the difficulty for Lu Yuan to break through to the Grandmaster Realm was also more than twenty times that of an ordinary Pure Martial Fighter.

Instead of reinventing the wheel and pondering what it means to clarify the mind and see one's nature, I should find a Grandmaster and ask. Lu Yuan's eyes twinkled as he thought to himself.

He looked up at the colossal and majestic Elephant God True Intention above him, pondered for a moment, then shifted his thoughts.

The enormous Elephant God True Intention dissipated in an instant.

Following that, a gigantic phantom of a black crow with a hundred eyes—the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow—gradually materialized.

The second Extraordinary True Intention of Extraordinary Martial Arts... oh no, it should be a Legendary Level True Intention!

Lu Yuan's eyes burned brightly as he recalled the world-ending, cataclysmic image of the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow, his heart filled with anticipation.

A Martial Arts True Intention modeled after the Legendary Level Netherworld creature, the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow... just how powerful would that be?

Warm sunlight shone on Lu Yuan's smooth and fair face.

He opened his eyes, exiting the Imaginary Enemy's Consciousness Space.

He checked the time; for all the various experiments he had conducted in the Consciousness Space, only five minutes had passed in reality.

The settlement is complete?

Lu Yuan checked the review status of the exploration summary report he had submitted earlier and found it had been successfully processed and settled.

"Thank you, esteemed Gold Bear 'Divine Blood,' for contributing 47% to the exploration progress of the Lament Ruins Evil God Secret Realm.

The information you submitted is extremely valuable. We hope you will continue your excellent work!"

"Esteemed Gold Bear 'Divine Blood,' your rewards for this Secret Realm exploration have been disbursed. Please check your account."

Both messages had been sent just half a minute ago.

47% exploration rate...

Lu Yuan was slightly surprised at this result.

He remembered that before he entered the forbidden zone in the Lament Ruins, his exploration rate had only been around 19%.

Moreover, that was a preliminary estimate. There was often a discrepancy with the final audited exploration rate, which usually trended lower.

Even after thoroughly exploring the forbidden zone and 'delivering' Jokrus, the Monarch of Ancient Brent, it probably wouldn't have exceeded 40%.

It seems the truth behind the formation of the Lament Ruins Secret Realm, and the history of the Ancient Brent civilization, the Holy Light Sect, and the Crow God Sect, are highly valued by the Yellow Bear higher-ups...

As Lu Yuan was pondering, he casually checked his Merit Point balance.

Generally, rewards from Secret Realm explorations were converted into corresponding Merit Points and disbursed.

When he checked his Merit Points, he almost thought his eyes were deceiving him.

One million?

Lu Yuan counted twice, finally confirming that he had received a whopping one million Merit Points as a reward for this Secret Realm exploration mission.

They must have also credited me for dealing with Jokrus.

That fellow caused quite a commotion at the time; even Han Xun, a Four-winged Flying Bear, was alerted...

Lu Yuan blinked, and the first thought that flashed through his mind was—spend!

Spend it all!

An S-rank New Martial technique or an S-rank mechanical modification only cost over a hundred thousand Merit Points.

Combined with the reward from the last mission—dealing with the Elephant God Walk and retrieving the 'key' to the Elephant God Secret Realm for Yellow Bear—Lu Yuan now possessed enough Merit Points to purchase over 95% of the items in the Merit Shop.

Lu Yuan, feeling flush, directly chose to sort "all products by price from high to low."

Immediately, all items that appeared were SSS-rank or higher.

"SSS-rank Flame God Battle Body, SSS-rank Cold Prison Body, SSS-rank Magnetic Light Battle Body, SSS+ Moon Devouring Armor Modification..."

Lu Yuan briefly scanned the New Martial and Modification System items and then skipped past them.

He switched categories one by one, habitually skipping Pure Martial.

He had scoured the Pure Martial section countless times before and recalled that there didn't seem to be any techniques that even reached SSS-rank.

But just as Lu Yuan was about to swipe away, suddenly...

His gaze was drawn to one item.

— *The Origin Heart Sutra (First Three Levels)*, Grade: ???, Exchange Price: 10,000,000 Merit Points!

*The Origin Heart Sutra*?!

Lu Yuan stared at this mysterious martial art—of which every detail except its name and price was marked with '???'—his mind slightly shaken.

He clearly remembered that this technique had never been listed in the Pure Martial category before.

He didn't know why it had suddenly appeared now.

Was it added recently? Or was it hidden before and only now made available to me?

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered, his mind racing.

Hasn't the path of Pure Martial already been severed long ago?

Everyone acknowledges that Grandmaster is the limit. Pure Martial is in decline, and its complete obsolescence is only a matter of time.

So why would *The Origin Heart Sutra*, with its unknown grade yet frighteningly grand name, suddenly appear now?

And just the first three levels required a full... ten million Merit Points!

Ten million, I can't afford that... Lu Yuan looked at the martial art, muttering to himself with a calm expression.

But only he knew the intense curiosity and desire stirring within his heart.

He switched to the Special Category.

Phoenix Feather, Grade: ???, Exchange Price: 999,999,999 Merit Points

Moon Eating Fang, Grade: ???, Exchange Price: 999,999,999 Merit Points

Upon seeing just the first two items, Lu Yuan's eyes immediately reddened.

Phoenix Feather! Moon Eating Fang!

Legendary Level! These two are definitely Legendary Level materials, just like the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow's feather!

The Merit Shop actually hides such treasures!

Unfortunately...

Lu Yuan couldn't help but grit his teeth, his fists clenching as he stared at the exchange prices listed for these two items.

One billion Merit Points!

Is that a price any human could possibly save up?

If I could obtain these two items, my Legendary Level panel would very likely be unlocked.

Two billion Merit Points... Even if I worked for Yellow Bear my entire life, I might not be able to gather that much.

It seems...

I can only try to find some shortcuts.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, completely calming his emotions.

Then, with a solemn expression, he looked at the two suspected Legendary Level materials before him...

Click, add to cart.

He also added *The Origin Heart Sutra*, which he had noticed earlier, to the cart.

He waited quietly for thirty seconds.

Remove from cart.

Wait another thirty seconds.

Add to cart...

He repeated this process seven or eight times.

The last thing to do was...

Lu Yuan pulled up his friends list, his gaze falling on the name at the very top.

Filled with anticipation and devotion, he inwardly cried out:

Manifest yourself, generous Lord Tong Tong Tong!

It's time to demonstrate the power of your 'Pay For Me' feature!

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