Chapter 78: Return, Skill Crystal Core: Bullet Time

Chapter 78: Return, Skill Crystal Core: Bullet Time



Upon hearing that a piece of the Dark God's finger was missing, Su Muyu released the Scout Eagle to search the entire temple, but still couldn't find it.

She shook her head at Lu Heng and asked, "Do you think a demon might have taken it?"

"I hope so," Lu Heng replied, his mind drifting to another possibility. If things were as he suspected, it would be more troublesome than a demon stealing it.

The countdown to their return was approaching.

After completing all the main quests, there would be a one-hour countdown before returning, or they could choose to return early.

"Let's go back first. We'll deal with it later," Lu Heng decided, opting to return.

The two waved goodbye to Mia and chose to return, teleporting away from this world.

Mia watched as the two disappeared, running to where they had stood, looking left and right, and finally gazing up at the sky, waving farewell.

...

As they returned, their vision brightened and then darkened.

The Abyssal Battlefield's settlement data appeared.

[Leaving the Abyssal Battlefield, returning to the main world...]



[Main Quest 1: Escape the dungeon before the resurrection ritual begins. Reward: 200 Divine Energy.]



[Main Quest 2: Attack the demon squad transporting the Source Essence sacrifice. Reward: 200 Divine Energy.]



[Main Quest 3: Survive until the end of the resurrection ritual. Reward: 200 Divine Energy.]



[Challenge Quest 1: Find the most important Source Essence sacrifice for the resurrection ritual and stop the Dark God's minions from obtaining it. Reward: 600 Divine Energy.]



[Challenge Quest 2: Complete Source Essence Fusion and obtain a job advancement. Reward: 600 Divine Energy.]



[Challenge Quest 3: Disrupt the resurrection ritual and prevent the Dark God Barton from returning to the abyss. Reward: 600 Divine Energy.]



The next second, Lu Heng opened his eyes, finding himself back on the rooftop terrace of Splendid Imperial View.

He heard a soft exhalation beside him.

"Phew! We're finally back," Su Muyu breathed, having experienced so much in the Abyssal World. She had many thoughts and emotions, yet didn't know where to begin.

The time on her phone read 12:00:01 AM on October 15th.

Despite the many events in the Abyssal Battlefield, it felt like a long time had passed, but upon returning to the real world, the time was the same as when they had been summoned.

Both had returned to the main world, but their minds were still filled with memories of the Abyssal World.

They couldn't help but wonder: What would become of the Berserker Tribe? Would the Iron Arm Leader's injuries heal? Would Mia miss them?

"Alright, let's focus. We still have things to do. Let's first take stock of the loot we obtained," Lu Heng snapped his fingers in front of Su Muyu to help her refocus.

"Okay, I've completed all my main and challenge quests, earning a total of 2400 Divine Energy..."

Su Muyu began to tally their gains: "I reached level 18, and my attributes are now: Strength 32, Agility 33, Constitution 33, Intelligence 38, and Perception 38.

Additionally, I obtained five Crystal Cores, two of which are Skill Crystal Cores, both D-rank with average strength. The other three are ordinary Energy Crystal Cores."

Lu Heng glanced at the two Skill Crystal Cores she obtained and, seeing no significant benefit for them, decided to distribute the cores.

"You absorb these three Energy Crystal Cores and quickly reach level 19. I'll keep the Skill Crystal Cores and see if I can exchange them for other resources."

During the battles, Su Muyu primarily hunted low-level demons with her Elemental Arrow, resulting in low-rank Crystal Cores.

Lu Heng, having defeated two Overlord-level demons, obtained Skill Crystal Cores of much higher rank.

The first Skill Crystal Core came from the Winged Demon Overlord Sagas. Without time to check its attributes then, he now examined it, a smile creeping onto his face.

[Thunder Prison Crystal Core]



[Skill Rank: B-rank]



[Skill Cost: 80 Source Energy]



[Skill Range: 5-meter diameter]



[Skill Effect 1: Summon the power of thunder and lightning, weaving a prison of thunderbolts in the target area, trapping all targets within the Thunder Prison. The prison continuously strikes with lightning, dealing X lightning damage with a paralysis effect. Lightning damage = 1 x Intelligence per second.]



[Skill Effect 2: If a target forcefully breaks out of the Thunder Prison, it will trigger a violent thunderstorm, dealing 3 x Intelligence in thunderstorm damage.]



The second Skill Crystal Core was obtained from the Flame Horn Devil Overlord, and it had been extracted after the Overlord received the Dark God's heart, likely absorbing some of the Dark God's power, making its effect incredibly powerful.

[Bullet Time Crystal Core]



[Skill Rank: A-rank]



[Skill Cost: 100 Source Energy]



[Skill Effect: Upon activation, the user enters a super-sensory state, significantly enhancing their nerve reaction speed. In the perception layer, surrounding objects' actions slow down, granting the user more reaction time. Duration: 10 seconds.]



This skill lacks offensive power, but its effect is even more formidable than the Thunder Prison.

Lu Heng's eyes lit up when he saw this skill's effect.

Even deleting a skill to free up a skill slot for this one would be worth it.

This is the awkwardness of having few skill slots.

The third reward option for completing the Abyssal Battlefield's world quests—deleting a skill—becomes useful in situations like this.

Lu Heng currently had a full skill slot, so he couldn't absorb the Skill Crystal Core.

As for fusing with the three existing skills, it was basically impossible to succeed.

The skill fusion of Divine Evolution combines skills of the same type to achieve better skill effects.

For example, Invisible Veil and Mist Concealment are both Stealth-type skills, so they can be easily fused.

Bullet Time and the three existing skills are not of the same type.

Forcing a fusion would only result in a defective skill.

Unable to perform skill fusion and with a full skill slot, what could he do? The solution was simple; the Gong family possessed a Skill Slot Expansion Core.

This Skill Slot Expansion Core was an invaluable treasure, and its value increased as the game progressed.

Two years later, major factions would even hire mercenaries to fight over a single Skill Slot Expansion Core.

Only a month and a half into the Abyssal invasion, Mutants weren't yet desperate for skills, so the Gong family was willing to trade this Skill Slot Expansion Core.

Originally, Gong Zhenting intended to use this Super Crystal Core to make a deal with Lei Jin Hao, asking him to find the murderer of his son.

Now, Lei Jin Hao had already died on the Abyssal battlefield.

It was time to settle the grudge with the Gong family.

Currently unable to absorb the Bullet Time Crystal Core, Lu Heng could instead use the Thunder Prison.

Thunder Prison and Thunder Strike were both Thunder-type skills, allowing for fusion.

In this Abyssal battlefield, he had acquired a total of 2400 points of Divine Energy.

The Divine Energy obtained from melting Barton's Skull Ring in Hammerstone Castle had already been used up.

So, his current total of Divine Energy was 2400 points.

Since Thunder Prison was a B-rank skill, skill fusion would require 1200 points of Divine Energy.

Lu Heng briefly considered, then used his talent to unlock the skill lock of Thunder Strike and absorbed the energy from the Thunder Prison Crystal Core.

When the two cores' energies mixed and produced a violent repulsion, he introduced 1200 points of Divine Energy, successfully completing the fusion.

[Skill fusion complete, evolved into 'Thunder Heavenly Prison'.]



He was extremely lucky; originally, fusing a C-rank and B-rank skill had a 50% probability of producing a C-rank and B-rank skill, respectively.

Not only did this fusion result in a B-rank skill, but the evolved Thunder Heavenly Prison was even more powerful than Thunder Prison.

It was a skill with thunderous power and control effects. The thunder damage of Thunder Heavenly Prison was more potent, and its range was larger, increasing the skill coverage from a 5-meter diameter to 6 meters.

As Lu Heng performed the skill fusion, Su Muyu was also working on her own skills and items. The crossbow given to her by Mia was already stored in her inventory.

Since this crossbow hadn't undergone Fundamental Law Homogenization, it couldn't be brought to Blue Star.

She pouted, considering whether to perform Law Homogenization on the crossbow.

"What are you thinking about?" Lu Heng asked with a big smile after successfully fusing the skill.

"Hmm, I was thinking about whether I should perform Law Homogenization on the crossbow Mia gave me..."

Su Muyu spoke while thinking, "Actually, it's fine without homogenization. I can still use it in the Abyssal World next time.

"When I'm in Blue Star, I can use a modern crossbow, one for each world, and save Divine Energy."

This kind of frugality was already ingrained in her instincts.

But Lu Heng disagreed with her idea, "No, let's perform Law Homogenization. You can afford the 600 points of Divine Energy."

"Why? Isn't saving some energy a good thing?" Su Muyu felt she could accept using different weapons in different worlds.

Lu Heng shook his head with a smile and explained, "Later, you'll need to temper your weapons, and if you also infuse them with souls, their power will increase even more.

"And most importantly, weapons that have undergone Fundamental Law Homogenization can be placed in the inventory and taken out at any time.

"You can't possibly carry a crossbow around with you all the time in the real world, can you?"

Su Muyu did have a crossbow in the real world, but it hadn't undergone Law Homogenization either, so it couldn't be placed in the inventory, and if she wanted to use it, she'd have to carry it with her at all times.

As she thought about it, she agreed; a weapon that could be put into the inventory and taken out at any time was indeed very important.

"Alright, then. I'll take out the crossbow Mia gave me."

She said, consuming 600 points of Divine Energy to perform Law Homogenization on Mia's crossbow and then took it out.

After checking their harvest, Lu Heng turned to discuss the main issue, "The matter with the Gong family needs to be resolved quickly. I need that Super Crystal Core. When do you have time to investigate Gong Zhenting's movements and look for that Super Crystal Core?"

Su Muyu nodded in agreement, "Okay, I'll do it. I want to visit my mom, so I'll be back tomorrow night, and then I'll investigate the Gong family's movements."

After spending so much time in the Abyssal battlefield, she suddenly missed her mother and craved her cooking.

"That's good. I need to go home too. There's no need to rush; I can stay for a couple of days. We'll meet up again afterward," Lu Heng discussed the timing with her and then returned to his room to rest, preparing to visit his parents the next day.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end