“In any case, it’s something very important.”
Mo Shao gave Little Ka a simple answer while glancing at the Soul Gem. It had already begun to dim back down, making its previous radiance seem almost like an illusion.
She pondered for a moment longer before eventually deciding to leave it alone for now! After all, she was still in the middle of a battlefield.
As long as it didn’t affect her for the time being, she wouldn’t pay it any mind. Once the battle was over, she would take her time to study it properly.
Mo Shao put the Soul Gem away—she wore it as a necklace, with the gem resting right next to her heart.
This position was safe enough. If an enemy could reach that spot, it meant she was already in a life-or-death situation.
Of course, she knew exactly where the safest place to put a Soul Gem was without performing surgery; after all, she had read plenty of questionable things in her past life.
But that was a bit too... well, she felt she hadn't reached that point yet, and it was easy to cause accidental problems.
Besides, up until now, she hadn’t even had the chance to properly examine her current body. She had been far too busy working!
...
However, even after she finished her research, she probably wouldn't do something like that. It was far too intense, and...
More importantly, she planned to adjust its position once she became stronger by embedding the object directly into her body!
To be more precise, she intended to place it in her right chest cavity, below the ribs and above the waist—roughly where the liver would be.
After all, enemies almost always targeted the head, neck, heart, or performed underhanded attacks on the lower body as their first priority.
Below the right chest was the area with the lowest attack priority, and it was far removed from those standard targets!
She would likely do this around the time she obtained a “Jewel of Life,” using it to encapsulate the Soul Gem before inserting it into her body.
It could even serve as a second core within her!
But that was all for later. Right now, she had to hurry and help kill the monsters. If the elite enemies weren’t taken down, casualties would only continue to rise.
Unnoticed even by Mo Shao, the Soul Gem against her chest flickered once more with a slow, faint light...
...
After Mo Shao withdrew the lava, she and Little Ka moved quickly toward the battlefield where the Frostarm Lawachurl was.
This guy was causing far too much commotion, jumping around like a runaway truck. It wasn't like Pompeii, who was slow and easily obstructed.
Upon reaching its vicinity, Mo Shao instantly doused it with a bucket of lava, quickly burning away the Lawachurl’s ice armor.
This maneuver left Wu Yingzhe and Yu Jie staring in disbelief.
“You can do that!?” Yu Jie shouted, his eyes wide with shock. He wore an expression that clearly said, “Why was I so stupid?”
“Sister Hui, your mind really is sharp.”
Wu Yingzhe also offered a sincere compliment—perhaps he was still won over by her previous “attack from the heavens.”
“It’s normal. You guys just lack combat experience. You’ll get better as you train more,” Mo Shao consoled them casually, though her tone was a bit stiff.
Of course, the main reason they hadn't thought of it was that Mo Shao had cleared her side so quickly they hadn't even had time to react.
Otherwise, after seeing her use lava over there, they would have eventually realized they could do the same here.
Without its ice armor, the Lawachurl was like a snake with its fangs pulled; its overall power plummeted significantly.
The rest was simple—they just had to grind down its health.
...
With the Rock-armored Bear and Gulpuff acting as tanks in the front, Mo Shao and Little Ka were able to deal damage with extreme ease.
Mo Shao even found the leisure to check the drops from the Golem. The first item was a purplish-red ring.
[Earthly Soul Ring]
[Quality: Superior]
[Type: Accessory]
[Attack: 14, Defense: 4]
[Gathers the spiritual essence of all things; wear it to move like the wind, hear its sound, know what is ahead and behind, and all things shall become momentarily clear.]
Hmph, her Identification talent was truly comprehensive. It could even perfectly replicate the item descriptions from Journey to the West II.
However, besides the numerical values, everything else in the identified information could be ignored!
In reality, items weren't categorized by quality or accessory types, and even the numbers couldn't be taken literally as a precise reference.
You only needed to look at the general direction of the attributes provided. This item could be simplified as follows:
[Earthly Soul Ring]
[Moderate increase to Attack, minor increase to Defense.]
In the real world, there were no tidy numerical values, only relative boosts. After all, something that was too weak would be useless to the strong.
Furthermore, the values given in every game were different; some games had a max health of a few dozen, while others had level one characters with thousands of health points.
Could they be compared? Obviously not.
When obtaining equipment, one only needed to remember one thing:
The more powerful the creature, the better its drops. As time went on, this was the only absolute truth!
At this stage, the attributes provided by this ring were bound to be much better than anything dropped by common monsters.
...
Beyond the values, quality, and type, there was one more point to note—the long text description at the end!
[Gathers the spiritual essence of all things; wear it to move like the wind, hear its sound, know what is ahead and behind, and all things shall become momentarily clear.]
Currently, this line had no practical meaning. But if one obtained this item or Dead-bound it in the later stages...
As the item’s “energy level” increased, the content within these descriptions or settings would gradually manifest into reality!
At that point, the [Earthly Soul Ring] would truly be able to “gather the spiritual essence of all things” and let the wearer “move like the wind”!
This was known as—Item Realistic Rationalization!
However, the more high-end the setting and description, the higher the “energy level” required to turn it into a rational reality.
If someone wrote a description for an item that could casually destroy the world—then that item would likely never have the chance to achieve that potential in its entire existence.
...
Regardless, in the early stages, it just provided a boost to stats. It wasn’t very useful to Mo Shao, and it would take up one of her Live-binding slots.
“The main problem is that I have too much stuff from Minecraft. I’m constantly switching between things, so two Live-binding slots really aren't enough.”
Therefore, she decided to give the item to Little Ka. Little Ka had plenty of open Live-binding slots, with usually only a single mana flask bound to her for constant recovery.
There was no helping it. Who told her to be someone who didn't need Dead-binding or Live-binding slots for her base weapon and Echoes?
Besides, giving it to her would only improve their relationship.
“Little Ka, this is for you,” Mo Shao said, immediately assigning the Earthly Soul Ring to her. “It increases Attack and Defense. Use a Live-binding slot for it.”
“Eh? For me?” Little Ka was startled.
“I don't have any slots left for Live-binding,” Mo Shao said, shaking her head.
“This...” Little Ka held the ring, feeling a bit hesitant. Her movements even slowed down, as if she felt it wasn't right to take it.
“Just take it. We need to increase our combat power quickly,” Mo Shao urged, adding a reminder, “You’re the only one here with an empty Live-binding slot.”
“Alright then.” Little Ka no longer hesitated and completed the Live-binding.
Instantly, her damage output noticeably jumped up a tier! As expected, one had to “pay to win” to truly become strong!
How could someone with basic gear compare to someone who was fully equipped?
Rate on N.U.
