Chapter 103: Star-falling Ability
Chapter 103: Star-falling Ability
Jing Ji inquired more details from the bounty hunters present.
It turned out that both of Alycus' teammates were extraordinary. One was a Xenophobic, and the other was surprisingly a Dreamweaver.
"Dreamweaver..."
Jing Ji's face lit up with realization.
Ji Xinghuo also guessed the process.
Dreamweaver is an advanced profession, extremely rare, and is a progression from the combination of a Psychopath and a Phantasmist. There are probably only a few dozen of them worldwide. True to its name, the Dreamweaver can silently kill enemies in their sleep, leading directly to brain death!
Alycus is a Blood Butcher, his blood contains deadly poison. The Xenophobe is also infamous for poisoning, but on a larger scale.
With the combined efforts of these three rare professions, it is indeed possible to directly take down everyone in the Watchtower camp.
Jing Ji handed over the spoils of war.
Last night's harvest was plentiful. After tallying, the trio's points all increased by over a hundred, once again surpassing Alycus' group and reclaiming their top three spots.
As they exited the bounty hall, Jing Ji's expression turned solemn.
He whispered, "Dreamweavers and Xenophobes, this is getting tricky. No wonder they're keeping up with the points."
"Alycus must have planned this for a long time," Ji Xinghuo mused. "Even with the use of poisoning and mental control, wiping out an entire Watchtower camp requires an element of surprise, which is difficult to replicate. The Bei Lusimen tribe will also strengthen their defenses specifically."
"They don't have to pull off such feats every day. If they succeed three or four times a month, we'll still feel immense pressure." The previous lightness had vanished from Jing Ji's face.
Yuan Chongzhen suddenly suggested, "Why don't we also aim for a big score?"
"Don't be impulsive."
Jing Ji shook his head. "Even the smallest Watchtower camp has a population of over three hundred. It's very dangerous for us, no matter how strong we are, if we're besieged by so many. The risk is too great."
Their professions were more suited for ambushes and rapid combat.
While they were undoubtedly strong in direct combat, they lacked the large-scale killing capacity of Alycus' team, who could also better control the noise of their battles.
Ji Xinghuo also had no better solution.
Jing Ji's eyes narrowed in thought. "For now, let's stick to our own pace and ensure we maintain our lead in points. If they manage to pull off another successful mission and surpass us again, we'll reconsider our options then."
After that, the three parted ways.
Seven days later.
Ji Xinghuo and his teammates returned from a hunting trip and entered the bounty hall, only to see Alycus' points skyrocketing once more, surpassing theirs by over 200.
Inquiries with the bounty hunters revealed that Alycus' team had taken down another enemy camp the previous night, over 200 kilometers away, using the same method as before. The enemies were unprepared, and they succeeded.
They had wiped out more than 500 members of the Bei Lusimen tribe in one go.
Unfortunately, the situation had unfolded just as Jing Ji had predicted.
He went to claim the rewards and bounties for their spoils of war. This time, even with the increase in points, they still lagged behind Alycus, with a gap of nearly 100 points.
"What should we do now?" Yuan Chongzhen asked.
"Let me think."
Jing Ji furrowed his brows in contemplation, evidently unable to come up with a good solution immediately.
"Should we try poisoning them too?" Yuan Chongzhen suggested. "We don't have a Xenophobe, so it'll be difficult to spread the poison gas, but we can try poisoning their food."
"That's too risky." Jing Ji shook his head. "Food poisoning is too easily detectable."
The trio had discussed this numerous times before, and naturally, the idea of poisoning had come up. However, after a century-long stalemate between the two sides, every conceivable tactic had been attempted countless times, and both sides had developed comprehensive countermeasures.
Ji Xinghuo suddenly spoke up. "We don't necessarily have to follow Alycus' methods."
"What do you mean?"
"They win through quantity; we'll win through quality," Ji Xinghuo whispered. "We might not be able to kill as many enemies, but we can target the strongest among them."
The faces of Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen paled.
They understood Ji Xinghuo's suggestion—to hunt legendary powerhouses!
The bounty office offered points for enemy kills: one point for Tier 1, two points for Tier 2, and so on, up to Tier 4 enemies.
However, for Tier 5 enemies, which meant defeating legendary powerhouses, the bounty office offered a direct 3,000 points!
"No!"
Jing Ji immediately vetoed the idea.
Yuan Chongzhen also shook his head repeatedly, now understanding why Ji Xinghuo was so daring as to target legendary powerhouses despite being only intermediate aliens.
There was an immense gulf in strength between legendary powerhouses and those below the legendary tier!
Just in terms of stellar power, legends had at least five times the amount of super aliens, and this was only for those who had recently ascended to legend status. Moreover, the stellar power of legends took on a unique energy form, akin to an "attribute" but more intricate and subtle.
The stellar power of legendary powerhouses manifested differently from that of super aliens.
At this stage, stellar power could be directly seen when activated, and if one advanced to the second stage of legend, they could even project their stellar power outward.
The legendary tier was divided into two stages.
The ability to project stellar power was a hallmark of the second stage, and any ability they used carried terrifying might!
A casual strike could kill a super alien.
Ji Xinghuo had a direct impression of this. The last time in the Deep Rock Rift, the five-super-alien team, each an elite among super aliens, had been crushed like helpless prey by a legendary Daguanren. Only two had managed to escape.
Regular super aliens stood little chance against legendary powerhouses.
Otherwise, the bounty office wouldn't have offered 3,000 points.
In addition to the points, there was also a bounty of 100 million Aya dollars for the death of any legendary enemy!
"If I lose the bet, the worst that can happen is that I'll withdraw from the Midway Fortress and be ridiculed for a few years.
"I know." Ji Xinghuo smiled, knowing he was just throwing the idea out there.
"We don't necessarily have to lose." Jing Ji tried to sound casual, "As long as our points increase steadily every day, we can overtake them in two to three days. If we want to play it safer, we can extend our hunting time and not return to Midway Fortress every day. We can go farther and come back once every two or three days, which will also improve our hunting efficiency."
"Moreover, Alycus can't possibly succeed in attacking their camps every time, right?"
Ji Xinghuo nodded in agreement.
After parting ways with the others, Ji Xinghuo returned to his room at the inn and took Qinghong out of his pocket to play with, hoping to cheer himself up.
Up until now, he had kept Qinghong hidden from Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen.
Qinghong had spent most of her time hidden in his pocket, and the confined space was starting to get to her. She had already protested several times.
Ji Xinghuo could only return to the fortress to buy her more treats as compensation and make time to play with her.
He opened the interface of the Myriad Manifestation Star Pupil to check his status.
[Spiritual Source Energy: 3455]
Ever since he had upgraded Thunderclap to Level 4, Ji Xinghuo had not upgraded any other abilities, choosing instead to save up his spiritual source energy. Now, he had accumulated 3455 points—the most he had ever had at one time.
Ji Xinghuo looked over the information on his abilities. Aside from the Level 3 Rotating Magnetic Field, all his other abilities could be upgraded, including Qinghong's.
It didn't take him long to make a decision.
Glancing at the adorable miniature Qinghong, Ji Xinghuo thought, "It's you, Symbiotic Fusion!"
Symbiotic Fusion was currently at (Level 1/3299).
According to his predictions, with each level of Symbiotic Fusion, he would be able to share another ability with Qinghong, and the same would apply to her.
Qinghong possessed four abilities: Dimensional Stomach, Miniature, Ethereal Nose, and one other.
The ability Ji Xinghuo wanted was, of course, Dimensional Stomach, which had a one-in-three probability.
He began pouring his spiritual source energy into Symbiotic Fusion, and as the numbers rapidly dropped, the progress bar quickly filled up. In less than two minutes, it was maxed out at 3299/3299.
Suddenly, Ji Xinghuo sensed a change within his body.
The Symbiotic Fusion, which had already fused with his flesh and blood, was being awakened, and the psychic link between him and Qinghong was becoming increasingly strong and clear.
Qinghong sensed it too, and she looked up at Ji Xinghuo, her golden eyes filled with anticipation.
"Starfall ability!"
"It has to be the Dimensional Stomach!" Ji Xinghuo thought to himself.
At that moment, Qinghong revealed her true form.
Ever since they had established the Symbiotic Fusion, Qinghong had been well-fed and had the benefit of Level 3 Aether Affinity. As a result, her body had grown rapidly, now exceeding three meters in length, and her stellar power had almost doubled. While she was far stronger than an elite monster, she still had a long way to go before reaching the level of a Super Spirit Beast.
Ji Xinghuo witnessed countless streams of aether energy pouring into Qinghong's serpentine body, causing her to grow at a visible rate.
Her smooth, delicate scales began to shimmer with electricity.
"No way!"
Ji Xinghuo was startled, thinking that Qinghong had somehow shared his Rotating Magnetic Field. But upon closer inspection, he realized that wasn't the case.
While her magnetic field was changing, it lacked the distinctive vortex phenomenon of the Rotating Magnetic Field, and the process was much quieter compared to when he had fused with the ability himself.
"So, she shared my Thunderclap!"
Ji Xinghuo felt a twinge of disappointment. If Qinghong had gained the Rotating Magnetic Field, her strength would have increased by at least tenfold, and she might have even been promoted directly to a Super Spirit Beast.
However, this was still good news.
Qinghong had always lacked powerful offensive capabilities, and Thunderclap more than made up for that deficiency.
The small interface of the Myriad Manifestation Star Pupil updated with Qinghong's new ability: Thunderclap (Level 4/2833).
At the same time, Ji Xinghuo felt something strange happening in his stomach.
Grrrrr...
A strange noise emanated from his belly.
Instead of being alarmed, Ji Xinghuo was delighted.
"One-in-three probability, and I finally got it right!" He clenched his fists, feeling so happy that he wanted to jump for joy.
The Starfall ability was finally within his grasp!
Gradually, Ji Xinghuo felt his stomach forming a wondrous spatial dimension, starting as an infinitely small point that rapidly expanded as vast amounts of aether energy surged into his body and gathered in his stomach. The space slowly expanded until it reached a volume of approximately 1.8 cubic meters, after which it stabilized.
"This is amazing!"
Ji Xinghuo couldn't quite describe the feeling. This dimensional space was anchored to his body yet existed independently outside the Stellar Realm.
Its volume was significantly larger than his physical body, yet from the outside, there was no indication of its existence.
A new ability appeared in the information panel: Dimensional Stomach (Level 1/1021).
Symbiotic Fusion also updated to (Level 2/10799).
Just as Ji Xinghuo was about to experiment with his new Dimensional Stomach ability, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the inn, with people shouting in surprise.
He quickly stepped out onto the balcony of his room and witnessed a celestial phenomenon in the sky. Brilliant starlight covered the area within a hundred-kilometer radius, clearly visible even in the daytime. The world around him seemed to dim, as if night had fallen early.
A dazzling beam of starlight streaked across the sky, descending from the heavens like a falling star!
And it was heading straight for his location.
Starfall phenomenon!
(End of Chapter)
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