Of course, it fell short of a conceptual power that could erase all traces of existence, but it was more than enough to easily annihilate material particles. It was significantly stronger than the previous, one-dimensional Holy Sword Momentum.
“It worked on the first try. Congratulations,” Xue Yao said happily. She had been thinking about upgrading her own bow, so she considered this trip a learning experience.
However, the Holy Sword itself had an ‘unbreakable’ trait, so it was hard to say if her experience would be comparable. In the end, it all came down to luck.
Having become the center of attention, Su Chen didn’t linger. He left with Xue Yao right away.
“If you need to trade for Soul Cores at the exchange in the future, or if you’re looking for any kind of ore crystal, you can contact me,” Xue Yao made sure to tell him as they returned to the hotel.
“Okay, I appreciate that.”
Su Chen didn’t refuse. Compared to trading for Runes, Soul Cores of every element were far more important to him—they were the very foundation for making tangible leaps in his power.
“It’s no trouble. In fact, I’m the one who should be asking you for favors.”
Xue Yao shook her head and smiled faintly. “This is it for now. If fate wills it, I’ll see you in the expedition.”
Without further pleasantries, the two went their separate ways.
As for the expedition she had mentioned, the Security Council had resolved to take military action against Oran City. They vowed to capitalize on the recent city-wide power-up and annihilate the opposing coalition of four ruling powers.
Of course, the scale of the operation was still strictly limited. This wasn’t a full mobilization; aside from the two main legions being deployed, the call to arms was only extended to the top five thousand individuals on the contribution leaderboard.
When fighting on enemy home turf, the advantage of a massive force was difficult to fully leverage. What’s more, this operation wasn’t targeting the civilians of Oran City, and the higher-ups had no intention of occupying it.
This made sense.
Occupying a resource-poor enclave would be pointless; it would only drag them into an endless guerrilla war.
Therefore, the scale of the draft was extremely small, but the power of the personnel involved was not to be underestimated. They represented the absolute top echelon of power.
The rendezvous was set for 8:00 AM the next morning.
“This is Su Chen.”
Su Chen had already established a solid relationship with the captain of the Ghost Assault Team, Zhang. After the successful raid on Lorentz Manor, the captain had, unsurprisingly, taken an interest in him.
He had long been given a direct line to Zhang Shihao himself over a specific walkie-talkie channel.
After Zhang Shihao thanked him for his support and the destruction he’d wrought at the Elemental City ruins, he immediately cut to the chase.
“We’ve got a big job tonight. Are you interested?”
To clear some obstacles for the next day’s operation, they needed to carry out more preemptive sabotage, destroying as many Teleportation Gates as possible to cut off enemy reinforcements.
And frankly, a key player for this plan’s success was none other than the man ranked number one.
“I’m in.”
Su Chen accepted. The best way to obtain Soul Cores of every element was, naturally, by taking them from Five-Star Professionals.
This was an opportunity he couldn’t possibly miss.
After settling a few details, they ended the call, agreeing to meet at six that evening.
‘Time to head back.’
Su Chen had previously considered recruiting some goblins to help with his research.
But when he’d glanced at the Mercenary Camp earlier, he found that all the recruitment slots were empty.
Combat units like Goblin Warriors and Forest Giants, mount-related creatures, and even research-focused beings—all of them had been completely hired out.
As for how effective the goblins were at technological research and development, that remained to be seen.
He could only wait and see.
If they managed to get a power station running, it would undoubtedly be a huge contribution.
...
「3:30 PM」
HUM!
A ripple of teleportation energy manifested outside the camp. Su Chen crossed more than thirty kilometers in an instant, quickly returning to the base.
‘It’s blocked by the Barrier.’
An unexpected experimental result presented itself: his Teleportation Skill couldn’t take him directly inside the barrier zone created by the Magic Guide Hub Crystal Pillar.
The Time Hourglass, on the other hand, was able to break through that restriction.
‘Guess there’s a reason for the difference in reward tiers after all.’
As Su Chen stepped into the camp, he quickly got an update from Gong Jun. Ruoruo and the others had already set off to survey the mountains on the far side of the great forest river.
But three minutes ago, a message had come through.
The good news was that they’d found the ore.
It was a large deposit of high-quality surface ore, primarily Crimson Flame and Golden Shimmering Ore Crystals, which were related to the Fire and Gold Elements.
The bad news was that just after they had harvested a batch of crystals—before they even had time to fill Ruoruo’s Soul Pocket—the mountain had suddenly flown into a rage and wiped out nearly half the members of another survey team on the slopes.
“They think it’s a Mountain Spirit. Pang Peng’s been injured!” Gong Jun relayed.
Hearing this, Su Chen didn’t delay. After attempting to contact the team on the mountain via his walkie-talkie, he activated Aurora Flash and shot toward the scene.
...
At this moment, the mountainside was like a scene from Purgatory.
The entire mountain seemed thoroughly enraged by some ancient will. Its rock strata twitched and writhed like muscles, and cracks in the ground spewed out scorching red earth-fire and a blackish-purple miasma.
What was more terrifying was the outline of a giant face that had appeared on the cliffside.
It was no illusion; the Mountain Spirit was manifesting.
All things possess a spirit.
Even within the highly concentrated Elemental Particles that saturated the air, there was a minuscule chance of an elemental sprite being born.
Perhaps the unexpected intruders digging on its head had angered it, causing the Mountain Spirit slumbering within to awaken.
BOOM!!
A thirty-meter-tall golem of earth and rock roared as it took form, its body built from countless boulders, ancient wood, roots, and vines.
It had no face, no eyes. With every step it took, the ground cracked, unleashing a terrifying shockwave that swept across the area. Even the air vibrated with visible ripples.
“Damn it, we can’t break through!” a Fire Element Warlock roared through gritted teeth, thrusting his hands forward.
A Fireball, empowered by the might of a High-level Flame Burst, whistled through the air and struck the giant square in the chest.
Yet even though the blast gouged out a massive crater, the scattered rubble strangely hovered in mid-air for an instant. Then, as if pulled by an invisible hand, it flowed back and reassembled itself.
“FUCK!!”
The first attack was like that, and so was the second.
“It’s no use! Damn it, this thing’s a cheater!”
That survey team had already lost several members, but in their fury, they didn’t retreat, still trying to find a way to break the stalemate. They had more or less realized that Spiritual Power was the key.
But Spirit Element Runes were extremely rare. While not quite on the level of special Runes, even common ones were very difficult to obtain through most channels.
“Fall back.”
Yan Ruoruo shouted coldly, already drawing her bow and nocking an arrow as she swiftly retreated.
The Cyan Nether Bow in her hand bloomed with brilliant Spiritual Energy fluctuations. Once loosed, the arrow quickly split in two. The giant instinctively raised a huge hand to block, but one of the arrows passed through the rock armguard silently, without any resistance.
The strike caused the giant’s right arm to suddenly disintegrate from the elbow down. The rocks, no longer bound together, cascaded to the ground.
Ruoruo’s eyes narrowed. Her Insight had long since pierced through the enemy’s weakness. Deep within the giant’s chest, a fist-sized Soul Core Spirit Body pulsed violently. Innumerable, fine Spiritual Fluctuations spread from it like a vascular network, which was how the Mountain Spirit controlled the entire shell.
At the same time, it seemed to have sensed her. The ground trembled violently, not only shattering the roots trying to bind it but also sending a torrent of immense Earth Vein Energy flooding into the giant’s chest.
In an instant, a layer of dense, crystal-like hard rock rapidly condensed on its body. Not only was it harder than refined steel, but it was also interwoven with Spiritual Energy to form a dense, protective outer layer.
Psychic weapons could ignore all physical matter, but they could be blocked by a barrier composed of Spiritual Energy.
“Be careful.”
Yan Ziqian warned his sister.
He had just finished healing Pang Peng, but he too found the Mountain Spirit tricky to deal with. Without a pure and effective Spirit Element attack, it was extremely difficult to break through its defenses.
Other than Ruoruo, no one here had a way to counter it.
What was terrifying was...
In this mountainous environment, the Mountain Spirit essentially had infinite regeneration. As it continued to draw on the Earth Vein Energy, its body kept growing taller, and the surging spiritual pressure it exuded became increasingly suffocating.
But Ruoruo didn’t retreat.
Because she knew Su Chen had arrived.
Just as everyone’s expression changed drastically...
A figure wreathed in ripples of black and white particles suddenly descended.

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