Chapter 45: Penniless
After the attack, the preliminaries for the Sea Concubine Palace’s Saintess selection were disrupted. After several weeks of rest, they were rescheduled to a much more secluded location.
Within the Sea Region Alliance, along the coastline, beneath the Immortal Pot River, thousands of meters deep in the sea, lay a top-secret area encased in endless glacial remains.
“Immortal Pot River… Isn’t that near the Jade Pot Palace?”
Gong Lianyue was speechless. This seemed overly cautious.
The Jade Pot Palace’s location was surrounded by all the Sea Region Alliance factions, but it wasn’t part of the Alliance itself.
They were a faction that had defected from the Storm Realm hundreds of years ago, bringing valuable intelligence and seeking refuge in the Sea Region. Before leaving, they had severely undermined the Storm Realm, becoming their most hated enemy.
Surrounded by the ten factions of the Sea Region Alliance, they were both protected and monitored. This ensured that even Nether Traverse Stage Spirit Masters wouldn’t survive an attack.
Over the past few days, she had often heard battle reports from the selection.
The competition used a point system based on capturing tokens in a week-long survival battle. The top 16 members at the end would advance to the final Saintess trial.
The participants were all elites who had trained in the Sea Concubine Palace since childhood.
Although several Saintess Candidates possessed high-rank spirit beasts, they weren’t guaranteed a spot in the top sixteen.
For example, Hong Tao and Qing Yu’s spirit beasts weren’t water-attribute and couldn’t absorb the dense water spirit energy in the air. Their slow recovery speed would be a major disadvantage in a survival battle.
Bai He, on the other hand, had already reached the Dead Sea Stage, putting her on a completely different level from the other participants. It wouldn’t be surprising if she instantly eliminated the other Saintess Candidates.
“It should be ending in the next two days, right?”
–In the Sea Concubine Palace’s Contribution Hall, Gong Lianyue sighed worriedly.
The thought of potentially facing a real Saint-rank spirit beast in the final trial made her anxious and restless.
A Frost Snow Woman… just the name suggested a cold-tempered spirit beast, not to mention the legendary Snow Sovereign behind it. If they angered it, the entire Sea Concubine Palace could be wiped out with a single breath.
And they were sending her, a mere Dawn and Dusk Stage Spirit Master, into such a dangerous situation…
This was why Gong Lianyue had come here today, to the Sea Concubine Palace’s Contribution Hall, the marketplace where ordinary members exchanged resources.
Standing in the center of the water-colored hall, the blue-haired girl surveyed the dazzling array of goods on the counters.
Spirit techniques, spirit artifacts, various elixirs and spirit fruits—all showcased the Sea Concubine Palace’s vast resources, befitting the third-ranked power in the Sea Region Alliance.
Spirit techniques…
Browsing the ridiculously expensive, yet mediocre, spirit techniques, Gong Lianyue felt speechless.
The spirit beasts in this world were incredibly powerful, some even capable of destroying the world, yet the spirit techniques seemed underdeveloped, like infantile skills.
This stark contrast was like reaching max level in an RPG but still using basic skills like Water Ball or Double Slash—completely mismatched.
[Water Form: Allows the user to hear the flow of liquid within a hundred meters. 800 contribution points.]
[Water Armor: Allows the user to condense spirit energy into water armor as hard as steel. 1000 contribution points.]
[Tidal Wave: Allows the user to transmit their spirit energy several kilometers away. 2200 contribution points.]
[Ice Curse: Lowers the user’s body temperature, increasing affinity with ice-type spirit beasts. 4000 contribution points.]
[Long Flow: Increases the range of elemental spirit beasts’ battle techniques by three percent. 5000 contribution points.]
Water Armor was the technique Shui Qinghou had given her. She had thought it was impressive back then, but looking back now…
It was probably only useful in battles between low-rank Illumination Stage opponents, like against that Snowtooth Rabbit that had knocked itself out.
Against the mid-rank Dawn and Dusk Stage Black Mud Whale, it hadn’t lasted even a second.
Spirit techniques were useless; spirit beasts determined everything. This was the prevailing belief in the Spirit Master world, and Gong Lianyue agreed.
The only exception was the Lost Scroll…
It was said that the Lost Scroll contained miracles that could truly unleash a Spirit Master’s power, but mastering it was incredibly difficult. Only one in tens of thousands could learn it.
As compensation for assisting the Ice Shield Palace, the escorted fragment of the Lost Scroll would be delivered to Gong Lianyue first, allowing her three days to study it.
It should arrive today or tomorrow!
“…”
Actually, Gong Lianyue wasn’t interested at all. What could she possibly learn in three days? Thirty years might be more realistic.
It was like placing a million dollars in front of someone—not theirs, but they could smell it for three days.
She would rather have the contribution points…
Skipping the spirit technique and artifact sections, Gong Lianyue walked over to the counter selling medicinal herbs and spirit fruits.
She had considered buying special spirit artifacts to enhance her spirit beasts’ combat power, but the prices were ten times more outrageous than spirit techniques. A few hundred contribution points could only buy the most basic items with limited effects.
Elixirs and spirit fruits seemed the most helpful right now, like the Life Fruit she had used on Fallen Whale Island to temporarily maintain the little fox’s Saint-rank aura.
She regretted only buying two back then. The enemies she faced now were even stronger, requiring a larger supply.
“Then I’ll take eight Life Fruits first, and for the rest…”
Gong Lianyue hesitated, scanning the numerous elixir counters, her gaze finally landing on an exquisite, blood-red bead.
This bead, radiating a dense essence of spirit energy, immediately caught her attention, her teardrop eyes narrowing.
Compared to the usual elixirs and spirit fruits used by Spirit Masters, this looked more like… a pill?!
“Chirp, chirp!”
The little fox suddenly popped out from the blue-haired girl’s collar, pawing at the blood pill, drooling, radiating intense desire.
Eh? The Cloud Dream Flower wanted this…?
Gong Lianyue paused. It hadn’t shown such craving even for the Life Fruit.
She pushed the little fox back down, making it serve as her chest padding again, and turned her attention to the blood pill’s description.
Before she could even read the details, her expression froze at the price tag.
1000 contribution points? Never mind then.
“…”
Leaving the Contribution Hall, Gong Lianyue was penniless, unable to afford even a single spirit crystal.
She had just earned 3000 contribution points from the Fallen Whale Island battle, thinking it would last a while, but it was gone in an instant~~~
All that was left was to wait for the fragment of the Lost Scroll from the Ice Shield Palace. Although she was pessimistic about understanding it, a tiny spark of anticipation remained.
Most players felt the same way before pulling from a gacha.
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