Chapter 127: Encounter with the Purple Crow

To reach the fourth stronghold of the Ugly Dolls before the lean, swarthy middle-aged man, Lin Huang summoned the Purple-Eyed White Eagle, reaching the vicinity of his destination in just a few minutes.

"It should be around here. Let's look for it," Lin Huang said to Fatty after retracting the eagle.

"How did you know the fourth stronghold was in this area?" Fatty noticed a straight black cedar tree not far away; it was indeed a landmark near the fourth stronghold.

"I was afraid we'd get lost if I relied on you to find it. I checked the locations of all four strongholds before we came," Lin Huang lied, making up a casual excuse.

"If I'd known you'd already checked, I wouldn't have bothered leading the way..." Fatty didn't suspect a thing. He was the type who avoided effort whenever possible. Having a friend like Lin Huang to handle the details meant he could entrust his very life to him. That was why he could sleep through the night snoring loudly even in such a wild zone.

If hunting the Life Seed monster hadn't been his own personal goal, he certainly wouldn't have even glanced at the map, relying entirely on Lin Huang to lead the way.

"The black cedar is at the fork on the left. If we keep going forward for two or three minutes, there should be a fork to the right. We should see the fourth stronghold once we turn there," Lin Huang said, pointing at the cedar.

"That matches the route guide I found," Fatty nodded.

The two walked straight ahead, slowing their pace once they reached the right-hand fork.

Lin Huang activated his Extreme Vision and soon saw a group of Ugly Dolls gathered in the distance.

Each doll had a square head. Below the head were limbs similar to a human's, though longer than those of an average person. They stood about two meters tall and walked upright on two feet. However, their bodies looked as if they were made of wood; if scaled down, they would look exactly like toy dolls.

Seeing their faces, Lin Huang finally understood why they were called "Ugly Dolls." Their noses, eyes, and mouths were placed in a chaotic mess, as if the toy had been assembled incorrectly. Even more absurd was that every Ugly Doll’s facial features were placed differently, making each one uniquely hideous.

"If these things were scaled down a few dozen times, nobody would want them as toys. Their faces are too creepy," Lin Huang muttered to himself.

"Fatty, wait here. I'll have Bai bring one over," Lin Huang called out to Fatty before heading deeper into the fog with Bai.

In the misty zone, the Ugly Dolls were completely unaware that disaster was looming, continuing to wander aimlessly.

Suddenly, several red flashes streaked through the air, and an Ugly Doll was snatched away, vanishing into thin air.

A moment later, Lin Huang returned with Bai, who was carrying an Ugly Doll tightly bound by its blood-spirit wings.

"Fatty, it's all packed for you. Just stab it to death," Lin Huang said, providing exceptional service.

Fatty looked at the Ugly Doll, which was trussed up like a zongzi, and grinned. "This has to be the easiest promotion in history!"

The bronze weapon in his hand quickly transformed into a war blade, slicing across the Ugly Doll’s neck, and its head soon fell to the ground.

However, the corpse quickly turned into a wooden stake, and the monster’s body reappeared elsewhere.

Both Lin Huang and Fatty were stunned.

Bai’s four blood-spirit wings extended again, completing another capture in an instant.

Fatty quickly regained his composure, slashed with his blade again, and severed the doll’s head.

The doll turned into a wooden stake once more, its true form fleeing into the distance.

No matter how fast it moved, it could not outrun Bai, and it was captured again in an instant.

Fatty struck again...

In this way, Fatty killed it five times before the doll’s corpse finally stopped turning into a wooden stake.

Bai released the corpse, and a wave of white life-light erupted from it, surging madly toward Fatty.

The baptism of life-light lasted for about two or three minutes, and Fatty finally officially advanced to the Bronze rank.

"How is it? Is the Life Seed okay?" Lin Huang walked over and asked.

"It's fine, just like what the internet said," Fatty nodded. "My business is done, so I can head back to Mist Spirit City now. I'll wait for you to finish your business, and then we can return to Baqi City together."

"You don't have to wait for me. I'm going to be delayed for many days," Lin Huang said, surprised that Fatty had decided to stay.

"It's no problem. I've already advanced to the Bronze rank, so I'm not in a rush to get home. If it's inconvenient for you, I can just stay at the hotel and practice life techniques. It won't interfere with your business. Just contact me when you're finished, and we can leave Mist Spirit City together." Fatty was well-intentioned; he felt guilty about leaving Lin Huang behind after the help he had received.

"You should just go back to Baqi City on your own. I'm not sure how long I'll be tied up here." Lin Huang was reluctant to return with Fatty because his breath-concealing ability could only mask minor rank intensity, not his true combat power level. Once he reached the Bronze rank, Fatty, also a Bronze ranker, would immediately notice the change in his combat power, and the secret of his abnormally fast progression would be exposed.

Although Fatty was a decent person, Lin Huang didn't think he was someone who could keep a secret, so he preferred to keep many things to himself.

"Then I'll wait a month for you. I don't have anything going on lately anyway," Fatty said loyally. "If you're not done in a month, I'll head back myself."

"Alright then..." Lin Huang had no choice but to agree.

"Shall we head back to the city now?" Fatty asked.

"I'll have the Purple-Eyed White Eagle send you back. I still have things to do here, so I won't be returning to the city just yet," Lin Huang said as he summoned the eagle.

Fatty had many questions, but he realized some matters involved Lin Huang’s privacy and saw no need to pry, so he remained silent.

Fatty climbed onto the eagle, and after Lin Huang gave the command, the eagle flapped its wings and soared into the sky, carrying Fatty toward Mist Spirit City.

Lin Huang turned back to head deeper into the mist. He had Bai capture another Ugly Doll, and it took six consecutive kills to finally finish it off.

From the doll’s corpse, white life-light surged toward Lin Huang.

Bathed in the white glow, the Life Wheel within him began to change rapidly.

The originally black, metallic-colored Life Wheel began to transform into bronze.

This was the transformation of the Life Wheel that occurred every time one ascended to a new combat rank.

After the Black Iron Life Wheel completely transformed into a Bronze Life Wheel, three new blank scales automatically generated on its outer ring, each containing 360 divisions, exactly like the previous one.

As this change occurred, the two Life Wheels created by the Life Energy Storage Cards began to undergo the same transformation.

Soon, all three of Lin Huang’s Bronze Life Wheels were fully formed.

As the Life Wheels completed their transformation, the external baptism of life-light drew to a close. Just as it was ending, a thumb-sized black-gray particle suddenly detached from the Ugly Doll's corpse, burrowed into Lin Huang’s body, and merged directly into the newly formed Bronze Life Wheel.

[Life Seed detected. Would you like to convert it into a card?] Xiao Hei’s voice suddenly echoed.

"Yes, convert it," Lin Huang nodded.

A moment later, Xiao Hei’s voice returned.

[Conversion complete.]

Lin Huang immediately inspected the new Life Seed card. The front of the card, like the previous Trickster Hand card, displayed a fuzzy, gray-black sphere. He quickly flipped it over to check the details.

[Life Seed Card]
[Name: Substitute]
[Rarity: Common]
[Type: Specialty]
[Talent Effect: Uses a wooden stake to substitute for non-fatal damage. Can be used up to three times per day.]
[Card Evaluation: Trash]

Seeing the evaluation Xiao Hei gave, Lin Huang was speechless; it had been a long time since he had seen such a rating.

Putting the card away, Lin Huang stood in place and muttered, "I definitely can't meet up with Fatty now, or my combat level will be exposed. I'll stay in this canyon and accumulate life energy until I reach Bronze Rank 3."

Lin Huang glanced at Bai beside him, who had automatically advanced to Silver Rank 1.

Under normal circumstances, monsters that underwent secondary mutations had base combat power exceeding the Transcendent level. Monsters like the Pumo Vine, which underwent secondary mutation before reaching the Transcendent level, were rare exceptions. Among the Epic-grade monster cards in Lin Huang’s possession, all except for the Pumo Vine would automatically level up alongside him until they reached the Transcendent level. Furthermore, until Lin Huang reached the Gold level, their combat power would always remain one rank higher than his.

Now, at Silver Rank 1, Bai’s strength was likely greater than many Gold Rank 1 monsters, allowing it to sweep through most of this Level 4 wild zone. This made Lin Huang quite expectant of his future power growth.

Just as Lin Huang was contemplating these matters, a man and a woman suddenly emerged from the mist ahead.

The man was massive, standing at least 2.2 or 2.3 meters tall.

The woman was about 1.7 meters tall, but she looked petite next to the giant.

Both wore black trench coats and black hats, walking slowly in Lin Huang’s direction.

Lin Huang looked at them with extreme vigilance; he couldn't sense their intensity at all.

"Hello there, little brother," the woman greeted him before she even got close.

"Do you need something?" Lin Huang suspected they were Transcendents.

"Nothing much. I just thought your Blood-thirsty Seed was well-raised, so I came to take a look," the woman smiled faintly.

"Secondary mutation?" The giant finally sensed something unusual about Bai and asked the woman in surprise.

"It is indeed a secondary mutation." The woman with red lips slowly walked up to Bai, circled around it, and examined it carefully. "This is my first time seeing a secondary mutation Blood-thirsty Seed."

Lin Huang then caught a glimpse of the Purple Crow emblem on the back of her trench coat, and his heart sank to the bottom. "They're people from the Purple Crow..."