Goblin Dependency

He increasingly felt like something was still lacking.

Between or perhaps after the Charge of "Teeth Hunting" and the arc-range attack of the [Vortex Slash], there was a certain missing connection or conclusion.

It’s incomplete.

"Maybe... another battle skill is needed before this combination can fully form?"

Xia Nan gauged within himself, reflecting on his less than two-year transmigration into this world and his impoverished experience with battle skills, alongside his relatively keen intuition.

At present in the Secret Realm, there definitely isn’t this opportunity.

After the Moon Tide Banquet ends, he might consider taking action on related plans.

As he pondered in his heart, a faint flapping sound came from behind, and as he looked over, Sarisa, perched upon the sparrow, had already descended, while farther away, the bulky figure of Black Bear Sasha was somewhat struggling to squeeze through the long grass.

At this point, several days had passed since Xia Nan’s battle with the Wind Forger Team.

The gains weren’t substantial, but still significant.

With Sarisa’s information advantage, Xia Nan found several adventurers nearby, and upon confirming they weren’t allies, he promptly helped send them out of the Secret Realm.

However, possibly due to the dwindling number of adventurers over time, Xia Nan’s efficiency in locating other ritual participants gradually slowed.

Fortunately, meanwhile, the Secret Realm boundary continued to shrink, and the speed of shrinking increased rapidly.

In time, they would enter the final showdown circle determining victory.

Originally, Xia Nan had planned to edge along the Secret Realm boundary, gradually moving inward as the map shrunk, thus not worrying about threats from behind.

But with Sarisa’s addition, his slightly conservative plan shifted, becoming more actively aggressive.

The terrain changed from dense forests to mountainous hills and now plains.

"How far are the nearest adventurers?"

Xia Nan asked Sparrow Sarisa.

[Northwest direction, not close.]

The slender bird paw sketched briefly on the ground.

"Hoo..." Sasha, moving his heavy, bulky body to the front, panted and scratched the earth with his thick bear paw, [Then let’s eat first.]

Regarding food, it was naturally the wild buffalo just slain by Xia Nan.

Both teammates had given their life energy to him. After several evolutions, he was naturally willing to use his fortified body to help his teammates.

Even for Sarisa, perched upon the sparrow, Xia Nan often searched in the forest for fallen, decayed wood to flip over the bark and find small arthropod "delicacies" for her.

Curiously, in the real world, the other party was not fond of such peculiar food but ate it eagerly upon arriving in the Secret Realm.

Initially strongly opposed, hunger eventually forced her to try a few and found them surprisingly acceptable, gradually adapting.

After following Xia Nan for so many days, with his feeding help, Sarisa’s small sparrow body visibly swelled up a few sizes, looking chubby.

Hopefully, after leaving the Secret Realm and returning to reality, she won’t develop any odd habits.

The wolf eyes glanced at the buffalo carcass ahead; Xia Nan pondered whether to use this brief rest to start a fire and finally eat some cooked food again.

Suddenly, he seemed to notice something.

The giant wolf beast enveloped in a metal plate armor shell abruptly raised its head.

In the northwest sky, a radiant blue light flickered intensely.

Like a swiftly coagulating and rapidly falling meteor, dragging a long trail, descending from the sky at a visible speed.

"Another airdrop?" Xia Nan couldn’t help but feel a hint of doubt, unconsciously comparing it to the previous radiant blue orb that provided him with a wealth of battle skill level and life energy.

He found that although both emitted a similar color of light, the falling speed was clearly much faster now.

Its spherical shape stretched into an egg-like oval due to the rapid movement.

The wolf’s eyes instinctively narrowed, and the excellent vision bestowed by the powerful body after four evolutions allowed him to vaguely see some indistinct outlines within the core of the light orb.

"What is this..."

Xia Nan did not conceal his actions, so his two teammates also noticed the descending radiant blue orb in the distant northwest.

Unlike evolved species, they were ordinary beasts without strong observational skills, initially even joyfully assuming it was natural life energy supplies formed in the Secret Realm, until Xia Nan pointed out his findings, prompting deep thought.

[Could it be a trap set by "Algae Scale" Dodd?]

Sasha, with his round and hefty black bear body, wrote on the ground.

[Cannot confirm.] Responded a writing sparrow nearby.

Xia Nan instinctively traced the outlines in the blue glow, pondering deeply within.

...

...

Just as Xia Nan had judged, this radiant blue energy orb, differing markedly from previous airdrops, fell significantly faster, no longer lazily.

When the trio reached the landing spot—a small hill on a plain—the radiant blue orb was nearly at the ground.

The high-frequency humming of energy filled the air, already driving away the surrounding wildlife.

The grass was pressed tightly against the ground by the wild wind, resembling waves.

The silhouettes of diverse shapes emerged vaguely.

Evidently attracted by the commotion in the plains, adventurers gathered.

Before Xia Nan could observe closely, a sharp and high-pitched screeching sounded overhead.

Sleek shadows flashed across the corner of his eye.

With eagle eyes shimmering with the unique brilliance of a sentient being, a flying falcon streaked straight towards the orb, leveraging its aerial advantage.

Perhaps glimpsing the adventurers elsewhere absorb and compete for the life energy, knowing it contained copious amounts and waiting till it fully landed to touch.

His timing was impeccable.

Initially circling in the distant sky preparing, then accelerating through life energy’s descent speed pre-judging its landing time, arriving perfectly at the orb’s touch when restriction lifted.

Simply put, those drawn into the ritual Secret Realm were indeed experienced and capable senior adventurers, displaying prowess in maximizing environmental and personal ability aspects.

But alas, he wasn’t "Algae Scale" Dodd, unaware of the Secret Realm’s complete mechanisms, nor was he like Xia Nan, evolved many times with tangible airdrop absorption experience, capable of discerning differences in the orb.

"Buzz... boom!"

Squee—

No life energy absorbed as imagined.

At the moment the flying falcon touched the radiant blue orb... the eagle screech abruptly ceased.

Instead, its instantly singed feathers and flesh rapidly twisted and shifted, with the blue fog transforming into substantial orange-red flames, sketching a hazy human-like form in the air.