Black Mist Valley, early morning.

Bai Pu walked out of the bunker and clanged the door shut.

Taking a deep breath of the slightly musty air, Bai Pu stretched lazily.

After a few hours of rest, his depleted Spiritual Power and exhausted Blood Fighting Qi had completely recovered, and he was ready to happily start another day of monster hunting.

Following behind Bai Pu were two temporary slaves, one tall and one short. The tall one was a Skeleton Warrior, and the short one was a Bone Mage.

Bai Pu ordered the two slaves to hide aside. After all, he cleared waves of monsters with ease using [Flesh Armor], and didn't need the slaves' help—mainly, they were there to handle unexpected situations, like last time when a Little Moustache Awakened tried to steal his experience points.

After clearing another wave of monsters.

[You have gained 2 Life Source Points, current Life Source Points: 101/100.]

[Your talent: Heart of Evolution's Talent Skill 3: Genetic Fragment, has been activated!]

Bai Pu felt a surge of joy and immediately checked.

[Heart of Evolution (Growth Potential Talent, cannot be rated)]

[Talent Skill 1: Adaptive Evolution: Stored forms 3/4 (Scaly Skin, Fluid Skeleton, Cold Body)]

[Talent Skill 2: Pure Blood Protection: Pure Blood 0/2, Slaves 2/2]

[Talent Skill 3: Genetic Fragment: Killing strong beings allows for the harvest of Life Source. You can consume Life Source to temporarily fuse with the battle genetic fragments of fallen strong beings! Currently stored strong being genetic fragments are as follows...]

Below were rows and rows of character silhouette projections.

Among them, Bai Pu saw Blood Ring Heavy Hammer Warriors, Skeleton Warriors, Bone Mages, and even that Blood Ring Mutant with an enormous right arm clutching a Bronze Pillar. Finally, he saw Blood Hand Colun!

In the lower right corner of each silhouette was the corresponding Life Source point consumption. The Skeleton Warrior consumed the least, needing 10~15 Life Source Points; Blood Hand Colun consumed the most, requiring 50 Life Source Points.

"So, these were the strong beings I killed and absorbed their Life Source..."

Bai Pu frowned in thought, the introduction of Talent Skill 3 [Genetic Fragment] was still somewhat lacking in detail. What does it mean to "fuse with the battle genetic fragments of fallen strong beings"? What effect does the fusion have?

Life Source Points are extremely precious, but to know the specific effects of the talent skill, Bai Pu gritted his teeth and spent 15 Life Source Points.

Designate a Skeleton Warrior's genetic fragment for temporary fusion!

A stream of information surged into Bai Pu's mind, while a warm current pumped from his heart, flooding his entire body! His eyes widened instantly, revealing strong delight on his face.

So...the effect of [Genetic Fragment] is like this!

Truly worthy of being a product of the Heart of Evolution talent, not inferior to the two other divine talents, [Adaptive Evolution] and [Pure Blood Protection]!

...

Special Military Base, Main Hall.

Only a day had passed, but many Awakened had already returned from the Boundary Land of the Bone Mountain Range.

These Awakened mostly wore sullen expressions, gathering in groups of three or five, whispering to each other.

The Boundary Land had been open for a full ten days, a most precious ten days—think of how valuable the free exploration time in the Spirit Realm is, and you'll understand.

However, due to unexpected dangers, they had to leave early, staying inside for only one or two days. The loss was immeasurable.

In a corner of the hall, Qilin was on the phone through a virtual screen of his personal info terminal. By his side, Mad Dog was nowhere in sight.

The image on the screen was of Li Ling. Her expression was somewhat stern.

"Are you saying someone ambushed you, and they were really trying to kill?"

"Yes, I recalled that both of them turned off the military's Spiritual Cameras ahead of time. Clearly, they were targeting us, not just out for simple monster stealing."

The harvests in the Boundary Land depend on one's skill, and if you get your monsters taken, you can only blame yourself; the military won't intervene. But shutting down the Spiritual Cameras like that violates military regulations, and once the Boundary Land closes, the military will surely investigate.

Li Ling asked a few more details and frowned, saying, "What about Golden Bull? Is he still inside the Boundary Land?"

"He hasn't left. Mad Dog and I escaped in a sorry state, without retrieving the military's Spiritual Cameras, and now we can't even message Golden Bull," Qilin said.

"Golden Bull is a tank; it's unlikely he'd be instantly killed without even being able to escape," Li Ling initially hadn't thought about the possibility of Bloody Artifacts being involved, mainly because those things are very rare and using them in the Boundary Land is a severe crime.

"That's good then," Qilin also thought the same.

"Based on your description of those two's attire, weapons, and fighting style, they resemble the 'Poisonous Thorn' Awakened squad that Bai Pu mentioned," Li Ling suddenly turned serious, "Could they be targeting Bai Pu?"

"That must be it; we're just collateral damage," Qilin shook his head with a wry smile, "Looks like Bai Pu will soon be joining us..."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple..."

Worry flashed in Li Ling's eyes. She said in a deep voice, "I'll be at the military base right away!"

"Sister Ling, is it that serious..." Qilin was a bit surprised. Conflicts among the Awakened in the Boundary Land were commonplace, after all, usually non-lethal, and the law doesn't meddle in who stole whose boss. Could they have the capability to kill in the Boundary Land?

Being driven out of the Boundary Land, Qilin and the others could only admit being outclassed. If it alarmed the Divine Strategy Army to intervene, that would be making a mountain out of a molehill, something laughable if spread around.

"What do you know, you kids who've only awakened for two years? How much have you seen of those sinister, ruthless things?" Li Ling reprimanded, saying hastily, "No time to explain, I'm going over to request access to Bai Pu's Spiritual Camera number to contact him!"

That's the difference between a military captain and a civilian Awakened like Qilin; access to different information means different perspectives and insights.

...

Black Mist Valley.

Bai Pu cleared another wave of monsters, sitting cross-legged on the ground, inscribing Flesh and Blood Spells.

His face was filled with joy.

After two days of effort, he finally amassed enough experience points to promote his Professional Level to Level 2.

[Bai Pu/Enhanced Elite Level 2]

[Species: Humanoid Species/Human Race]

[Profession: Blood Armor Shield Guard]

[Professional Skills: Flesh Armor]

[Attributes: Power 7, Agility 7, Endurance 19, Spirit 11]

[Combat Specialization: Advanced Weaponry (Two-Handed Hammer) Level 1, Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Hammer) Level 4, Basic Weaponry (Shield Mastery) Level 3, Basic Weaponry Level 2, Basic Fighting Level 4.]

[Combat Skills: Unstable Shield, Helical Throw, Jump Slash]

Apart from the basic four-dimensional attributes having noticeably grown, Bai Pu's Professional Skill [Flesh Armor] had also improved, increasing its area of effect from dealing 1~3 points of group magic damage per second to 1~5 points, and the range slightly expanded.

The maximum Shield Value provided by [Flesh Armor] also increased from (30) points to (38) points, equivalent to double the Endurance Attribute.

Shield Mastery was a new Combat Specialization Bai Pu realized after entering the Boundary Land. For some reason—perhaps due to high compatibility with his Profession—the Shield Mastery Specialization leveled up fast, reaching Basic Level 3 in just two days, not far from Advanced Class Specialization.

Notably, the shield Bai Pu used was standard equipment, called [City Guard Shield], allocated as a reward item from the Divine Strategy Army. It added +30 points to the armor value of the blocked areas. When blocking successfully, the damage reduction effect was quite significant.

Suddenly, a beeping sound echoed above Bai Pu's head.

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