Apocalypse: Grinding EXP through Hunting

The moonlight in the night sky above Tang Wen and his companions was exceptionally bright.

It was no illusion.

The Moon Traveling Clothes lay on the ground, its collar pointing toward Polaris.

Many flying insects, drawn to the light, were gathering here.

They were sensitive to changes in light.

"How do we conceal it?" Tang Wen asked, looking at the Childlike Lolita.

He motioned for her to demonstrate.

Li Zi walked over unhurriedly as a thin, black-gauze-like mist emanated from her petite body.

Her crisp voice followed:

"We only need to cover an area a few meters wide."

As she spoke, the black mist spread, blanketing an area six or seven meters wide.

Overhead, it reached a height of about four to five meters.

Tang Wen stepped back a bit. The black mist looked like a giant bowl placed upside down on the ground.

It concealed the strange moonlight.

"Alright, let me try."

Li Zi dispersed the mist.

Tang Wen stepped forward, and darkness emanated from him.

One meter, two meters... five meters.

That was his limit.

Looking up, he saw the height was also lower than Li Zi’s black mist.

Only about three to four meters high.

If her black mist bowl was a size XXXL,

then the one Tang Wen had just created was at least a size smaller.

Li Zi’s lips curled. "Your Dark Ability isn’t all that, is it? You really are still young!"

"If your Dark Ability is so strong, how come you still haven’t mastered Dark Binding?"

"You!"

The Childlike Lolita stomped her foot in anger, causing her peaks to ripple.

General Zhao laughed and said, "It’s a good thing we had you come to Ganshan City. Who would have thought you would awaken a Dark Superpower."

Upon hearing this, Li Zi asked curiously, "Isn’t your camp’s traditional Martial Art Night Divine Fist?"

"No, we practice Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist. Our old rivals, on the other hand, are the ones with the Night Divine Fist legacy."

"Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist... That Fist Technique seems to have limited potential."

General Zhao’s smile slowly faded.

’This girl really has no tact.’

’Even though she’s telling the truth.’

Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist was a branch of the Fire Department Technique.

It could only be cultivated to the Sixth Grade Realm at most.

Because of this, the Queen of Flame Camp was in an awkward position.

She was about to break through to the Fifth Grade but had no subsequent Cultivation Technique.

Although the Bai Family had promised a subsequent technique, and a caravan had gone with members of the Bai Family to Sanlian City.

But the journey was long; a round trip would likely take several years.

If they ran into any trouble, it could be delayed indefinitely.

As they spoke, Tang Wen maintained the dark mist while chatting with General Zhao about the camp’s future development.

"We have to branch out. First, we’ll take care of Black Mountain Camp. The Queen needs to advance quickly, as do you and the other generals..."

General Zhao’s eyes shone. "You’re thinking far ahead, kid."

Who in Flame Camp didn’t want what Tang Wen was talking about?

But it was easier said than done.

The Black Mountain King might be old, but he was a veteran Sixth-Grade Powerhouse.

If they failed to corner and kill him and he escaped, the repercussions would be endless.

Tang Wen said no more, looking down at the Stone Slab in his hand.

He rubbed the ancient patterns on its surface.

A bonfire was lit, roasting dried sweet potatoes and rabbit meat.

An hour passed.

Tang Wen chatted and laughed, the large bowl of black mist remaining perfectly stable.

Two hours passed.

The black mist concealing the moonlight remained undisturbed.

Three hours passed.

Li Zi couldn’t stand it anymore. "You monster, aren’t you tired? Aren’t your temples throbbing? Don’t you have a splitting headache?"

There was a reason Extraordinary Abilities were called extraordinary.

They couldn’t be used casually.

It was absolutely impossible for a Martial Artist who had just become Extraordinary to sustain an ability for three hours straight!

Even she, a Veteran Martial Artist, couldn’t do it!

Tang Wen ignored her and placed his hand on the Moon Traveling Clothes. He could easily feel that it had absorbed about seventy percent of the moonlight it could hold.

He slowly let the black mist dissipate.

Li Zi breathed a sigh of relief. "Tired now, are we! Your Spiritual Power must be completely drained!"

"Your turn," Tang Wen said noncommittally.

His Spiritual Power was still plentiful.

Li Zi didn’t refuse.

Watching the larger bowl of black mist appear,

Tang Wen took out the Azure Stone Slab, sat down cross-legged, and placed it on his lap.

He emptied his mind.

His eyes fixed on the patterns on the Stone Slab, and he began tracing their seemingly irregular shapes in his mind.

HUMMM.

His Spiritual Power trembled lightly.

It felt as if he were immersed in a warm ocean.

Or perhaps, in the amniotic fluid of the womb.

Soft, warm, comfortable...

WHOOSH!

Tang Wen opened his eyes; they were frighteningly bright.

"What is this?"

General Zhao leaned in curiously.

Li Zi turned her head as well.

Tang Wen asked, "How long were my eyes closed?"

General Zhao glanced at his pocket watch. "Less than a minute."

"My Spiritual Power is completely replenished!"

The other two looked astonished.

The Azure Stone Slab had two major functions.

One of them, repairing Spiritual Power damage, was useless to Tang Wen.

Because of his Experience Panel, he would never suffer Spiritual Power damage in the first place.

Even if he did, it would be fixed the next time his Spiritual Power increased.

Thus, for him, the "damage repair" effect manifested as a complete replenishment of his Spiritual Power!

"I’m going to try increasing my Spiritual Power now," he announced.

"That could be very dangerous," General Zhao said with concern. "You must be careful. Don’t push yourself."

Li Zi, being more experienced, added, "The ancient texts passed down in our Thief Sect have records of many Curiosities, including those that can directly increase Spiritual Power or enhance one’s Constitution. But whether the effects are good or bad, the process is almost always excruciatingly painful."

As she spoke, her lips curled into a mischievous grin. "You could take off your sock and stuff it in your mouth. That way, your screaming won’t be loud enough to attract wild beasts."

"Stuff a sock in it?" Tang Wen shook his head, his gaze landing on the most prominent part of her figure. "Wouldn’t it be better to stuff something else in there?"

"Tch! What are you looking at? The most I’ll do is lend you a sock." Li Zi shot him a glare and rolled her eyes.

After a bit of banter,

Tang Wen adjusted his breathing and once again immersed his mind in the Stone Slab.

This time, what his Spiritual Power traced out were not just the simple, mysterious patterns.

It was the entire Stone Slab, patterns included.

HUMMM!

He clearly felt his Spiritual Power and Sea of Consciousness connect to something.

It was a vast expanse of azure.

It was contracting rhythmically at a certain frequency.

An immense pressure came with it.

It was a silent, formless pressure on his Spiritual Power.

Tang Wen’s entire body began to shake, and every pore on his skin trembled.

This uncontrollable tremor spread from head to toe, and even his internal organs began to quake in unison.

’This is bad!’

’My internal organs will get injured if this continues.’

Just as he was about to break the connection,

the Experience Panel flashed.

[Spiritual Power Lake connection detected. Begin absorption?]

Tang Wen froze.

Then, he was overjoyed.

’The Experience Panel is so damn helpful.’

’Absorb.’

A huge blue bubble appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

A slight, swelling pain began.

His breathing quickened involuntarily.

Eventually, it actually synchronized with the contraction frequency of the blue lake.

The bubble grew larger with each breath.

It filled his entire Sea of Consciousness.

Tang Wen couldn’t stop himself from grabbing his head, trying to push the feeling back down.

But this thing wasn’t physically real.

His actions did nothing to relieve the pressure.

The swelling pain came from his mind, from his very soul.

He clutched his head and curled into a ball.

Seeing him in so much pain, General Zhao hesitated, wondering if he should interrupt him.

But Li Zi stopped him.

"Wait!"

She said thoughtfully, "Look at his posture. Doesn’t he look like a baby?"