Chapter 63: Soul Gem

Wei Huo did not continue exploring after obtaining the two books. He waited in the ruins for a while, as he had decided to wait for the ruins to be refreshed.

Half a year later, the bronze gate was refreshed. This time, Wei Huo put on his bronze armor, picked up Tiamat with his left hand, and held a bronze sword in his other hand. He spent 15 days opening the gate.

Then, he entered the bottommost level of the ruins and killed the gigantic crocodiles that spawned. He arrived at the hall where the treasure chests were hidden and realized that the three treasure chests had been refreshed and the python was still there.

Wei Huo used the same method to kill the python, but the Epic-ranked Bittertide Hydra appeared again. Wei Huo scrunched his brow. His main purpose for coming down this time was to see if the Epic-ranked creature would respawn.

After all, Wei Huo had yet to reach the Epic stage after so many years. There was no reason for other creatures to reach the Epic stage so quickly.

In the end, the Epic-ranked multi-headed snake appeared again. It looked like one of the snakes that had escaped previously. This meant that God could easily upgrade a creature to the Epic rank.

After Wei Huo painstakingly killed the Epic-ranked Hydra, the truth was revealed!

The multi-headed snake’s corpse was not retrieved by the system this time, so Wei Huo obtained its precious corpse.

As Wei Huo was dissecting the multi-headed snake’s corpse, he discovered a gem. Thanks to the system panel, Wei Huo immediately understood the function of the gem.

“The soul gem can increase the strength of one’s soul after being absorbed. Note: The soul gem carries a large amount of soul impurity and will cause immeasurable consequences after being absorbed.”

Upon seeing the word ‘immeasurable’, Wei Huo did not dare absorb it rashly. However, he was sure that God was using it to forcibly increase the soul strength of living creatures to the Epic stage. It would not be difficult to give birth to an Epic creature within half a year.

Wei Huo searched the Item Mall and found a Soul Mill. The Soul Mill could ground Soul Gems into pieces and produce pure spiritual power. That spiritual power could be absorbed without any difficulty, but the Soul Mill was worth 600,000 Magical Stones.

He could not afford it. He could not afford it.

Wei Huo put away the gem. He would continue absorbing it when he found a way to absorb it safely.

Then, he opened the three treasure chests. The three treasure chests were still filled with the three items they had contained before: the Bronze Qi-Conducting Skill, The Great Art of Bronze Forging, and the Spatial Gourd.

These items were refreshed every six months. Wei Huo waited three more years, destroyed six bronze gates with his bronze armor, and collected six more items and six soul gems.

Wei Huo and Wei Sha both studied the two books, which would vanish as soon as they clicked on them. Two more skills would then appear on their bodies. One of them was the Bronze Qi-Conducting Skill Level 0, and the other was the Bronze Forging Skill Level 0.

The reason Wei Huo let Wei Sha learn was so that she could help him craft bronze items in the future. The bronze puppet and the bronze turret required level-15 skill. This was another skill that required a long time to level up. However, if one could mass-produce such an awesome item at level 15, it would be worth it.

Wei Huo also asked the Rhinoceros to learn the Bronze Qi-Conducting Skill. That was the only cultivation technique it could cultivate, as it was ranked Rare and had higher intelligence.

After three years of practice, the Rhinoceros had already reached level one. There was even a little bronze color on its skin, and its defense and strength had increased several times.

Once all the Rhinoceros’ skills reached level one, its strength would increase. It would not be difficult for it to carry bronze armor and other large items on its back then. Otherwise, Wei Huo would be the only one carrying all the large items.

Wei Huo handed the large item to the Rhinoceros and threw it into the Mimic’s mouth. Wei Huo carried the bronze cauldron, which was not ordinary. Although he could not tell what its use was, Wei Huo still wanted to take it away.

However, because it was too heavy, it could not be carried by the Rhinoceros that practiced the Bronze Qi-Conducting Skill. He had to bear the burden himself.

Along the way, Wei Huo kept thinking about ways to manufacture Epic(Pseudo)-ranked creatures. Before he left, he had already used his scanner to scan the altar and coffin. However, the materials needed were too many.

The skeleton of an Epic-ranked creature, obsidian, mythril, bronze were necessary to build such an altar, and the coffin required golden snakewood, gold, and bronze.

These materials could be purchased in the mall, but they were too expensive.

That was why Wei Huo decided to continue heading west to see if he could find new ruins. If he did not, he could head westward and go to the Western Continent. At the same time, he could also find ways to absorb soul gems.

At that moment, God’s voice spoke again.

“The second test has been completed. All artificial beings have been recalled.”

“The celestial domain trial is open. The Gods have appeared, and the Oracles are descending.”

As soon as God’s voice disappeared, a dazzling light burst out from the sky in the east and the gate gradually appeared. Even though Wei Huo was so far away, he could still see the gate.

Soon, countless divine lights soared into the sky from various continents and entered the divine gate. Not a single one was left out.

Finally, the door closed as if nothing had happened.

‘Did the second test last such a long time? It seems like the artificial being obtained the cave inheritance, acquired the Qi Cultivation Scroll to increase its lifespan, and then extended its lifespan. There should be a third test, right?’ Wei Huo guessed. After all, games would be tested multiple times before the time halt was over.

Wei Huo continued traveling west. Because he was carrying the cauldron, his speed slowed down a lot. However, as he carried the cauldron, Wei Huo realized that his Qi-Training Skill EXP was increasing. Wei Huo was surprised.

Was this also considered a cultivation method?

Wei Huo was curious about this method, as he had been trying to create his own cultivation technique recently. Lu Qiqi had improved her Qi Cultivation and Soul Refinement and returned to the void. However, he only had the Qi-Training Scroll now. He did not know when other cultivation scrolls would appear again.

Wei Huo realized that he was still weak. Although he was stronger than normal people, he was still too weak compared to Gods, Immortals, and similar entities.

That was probably because he was only at Qi Cultivation and had yet to refine his spirit. If humans were special because they had souls, Qi Cultivation alone would not be enough.

As long as he learned how to train his spirit, he should be able to absorb the mental strength in the soul gem. However, the problem was that God would not update his training method.

The fact that God was not doing that did not mean that Wei Huo could not do it on his own. He had learned four Qi-Training methods and he had the Massacre Mode. He should be able to find the refining method through experimentation and research.