After tidying up, the group set out again.

Li Pu did not immediately have the straw man use the [Tier 1 D-Level Skill Light Orb] to upgrade the [Willpower] level.

Because he still needed to perform a small experiment, an experiment conducted to exploit a bug.

There were indeed a lot of gregarious magical beasts in East Wilderness Ridge. After encountering the Dark Cloud Wolves, they hadn't traveled for half an hour before they encountered another wave of over a hundred magical beasts again.

Over a hundred sounds quite intimidating.

But the opponent wasn't a strong species; it was a kind of ant that was entirely earth-yellow and only palm-sized.

Sand Ant was the name of this magical beast.

What was rather peculiar was their way of moving.

It was a method where all the ants gathered together and formed into a whole.

One must know that a single Sand Ant was as big as a palm, and with over a hundred of them gathered, they directly formed a giant ant.

However, this giant ant was insignificant in front of the summoned creatures of the seniors.

Jiang Guiju's eggshell beast cast a lightning net, shocking them into disarray and making them collapse entirely.

Then, with Hang Xing's Paddle Goose adding a few paddles, they were all practically GG.

The bodies of the Sand Ants were entirely worthless, and no one even intended to collect them.

So they were directly handed over cheaply to Li Pu, who easily acquired a relevant item.

The Sand Ants provided an F-Level skill, the effect of which was to gain additional strength when assembled with peers, which for Li Pu, was purely meant for Sacrifice.

However, before the sacrifice, he still wanted to make use of this skill named [Ant Power].

First, it was to preview the fusion of [Ant Power] and [Willpower].

The specific effect of the skill wasn't important; what mattered was the price.

Combining a D-Level basic skill with an F-Level supplement skill resulted in an E-Level skill.

As for the fusion cost, it was around 2500.

After noting down this number, Li Pu then took out the [Tier 1 D-Level Skill Light Orb] for the straw man to use on [LV1 Willpower].

In this way, it gained its first LV2 summoning skill.

[LV1→LV2 Willpower]: Immunity to Fear/Illusion Technique effects, significantly increased strength (↑)

After upgrading the skill to LV2, the immunity effects didn't change much.

However, the increase in strength was indeed significant.

Li Pu could clearly feel his strength increasing. If his previous strength was 10 points, it was now roughly 12 points, and this was without activating the dual strength skill.

The 20% increase made him realize the importance of skill levels.

Similarly, the straw man's strength was also enhanced.

After happily celebrating a bit, Li Pu didn't forget his task.

That was to preview once again the fusion cost of [Willpower]+[Ant Power].

The least hoped-for scenario occurred.

The fusion cost increased from around 2500 to about 5000.

This meant that the higher the level of the fundamental skill for fusion, the higher the cost.

Since there were too few reference examples at the moment, it wasn't clear whether it had doubled or increased by 2500.

However, Li Pu felt that his conceived method of exploiting the bug should still be profitable.

This price increase was less than the price difference between a Tier 1 E-Level Light Orb and a Tier 1 D-Level Light Orb.

Which means the bug was still worth exploiting, just not as profitable as imagined.

Having confirmed this situation, Li Pu had a clear understanding.

He directly sacrificed [Ant Power] to the straw man, allowing it to level up once again.

One must admit that when funds are sufficient, using [Friend of Magical Beasts] is really enjoyable.

So far, this initial journey to East Wilderness Ridge had barely reached halfway, yet the straw man's level had significantly progressed.

The current data panel is as follows:

Straw Man: 0 (1) Turn LV18, Listening to the Wind

Strength: 141, F

Attribute: 10 Wood

Abilities: [Gratitude][Water Film][Forgetfulness]

Skills: [LV1 Snail Grass (C)][LV1 Entangle (F)][LV2 Willpower (D)][LV1 Small Fireball (C)]

Imprint Gear: [Enlightened Root (B+)][Iron Bone (A)]

Due to the upgrade of [Willpower], the improvement was considerable.

Judging solely from the [Strength] value, the straw man's current value has surpassed its previous LV30 value.

This means that the faux zero-turn straw man at LV18 already boasts the level of a zero-turn LV30.

It has certainly reached the current peak of grass growth.

One must know that the beasts they encountered so far were merely a tiny fraction of those in East Wilderness Ridge in terms of species.

Li Pu was quite satisfied with this.

The most crucial point is that after several sacrifices and one [Willpower] fusion, there were still 45,000 Crystal Coins left in the pocket.

The rewards from the classification tournament were indeed very extravagant.

From here on, things went smoothly as the five of them, accompanied by their summoned creatures, advanced along the journey.

After the lesson learned from encountering the Dark Cloud Wolves, to avoid any unexpected situations, Hang Xing had to painfully use the resurrection talisman to revive the Hound.

Originally, he planned to revive it back at school since using a dedicated resurrection altar would be more cost-effective.

Resurrection talismans for altars are much cheaper than general resurrection talismans.

With the Hound's advance reconnaissance, they indeed avoided a few minor troubles from beasts or the environment.

Of course, they weren't just avoiding battles throughout this process.

When they encountered beasts that could be dealt with without much time, they simply steamrolled through them.

Even when they encountered some with significant value, they would have the Hound draw them over.

This resulted in Li Pu obtaining two more F-Level relevant items, further upgrading the straw man to LV20.

Finally, without encountering any other incidents, they reached their destination, the Misty Realm, with everyone in perfect condition.

Similar to the Great Stone Wall bordering the southeast, what lay before Li Pu was a mist that extended out of sight on both sides.

But unlike the Great Stone Wall, it was curved.

Another difference was its height, which exceeded that of the Great Stone Wall, reaching dozens of meters.

Crossing it wasn't a simple task; it required flight.

For some reason, Li Pu felt a slightly different sensation gazing at the towering wall of mist.

That feeling was somewhat similar to when he first approached the Great Stone Wall.

"Alright, let's rest here for a while."

"We'll move in 30 minutes."

"During that time, you two will cover us from the outside."

After deciding on a spot, Jiang Guiju issued the orders.

From her face, as well as those of the two other senior students, Li Pu saw the most serious and solemn expressions so far.

It was imaginable that this Misty Realm wasn't going to be simple.

...

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