Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill

Li Wei turned his head and saw two Snake-men brazenly entwined in an alley.

He quickly covered Saint Xi’s eyes. "Don’t look," he said. "It’s an unsightly scene, something indecent."

"What could two male Snake-men be up to? It’s nothing good, that’s for sure."

Li Wei was utterly astonished.

’I can’t believe the Beastman Race is this liberal... to do that in the middle of the street...’

Saint Xi mumbled, "What’s the big deal? I know what’s going on. Isn’t it just mating? But why is it two males..."

"Stop, stop right there," Li Wei cut in. "Let’s not discuss this anymore."

Li Wei quickly urged Saint Xi to forget the whole thing.

He changed the subject. "Anyway, now that we’re inside, can you sense the specific location of the Holy Dragon Inheritance?"

Saint Xi refocused at his words. "It’s over there," she said.

She raised her finger, pointing straight ahead.

Li Wei followed her gesture and frowned.

"But that’s the Beastman Imperial Palace. Are you sure it’s in there?"

’The Imperial Palace isn’t like the gates to the Imperial Capital. You can’t just walk in whenever you feel like it.’

Saint Xi nodded, her voice certain. "Yes, it’s definitely over there. I can sense it."

After a moment, she frowned. "But something feels... off. I feel like something is blocking my senses."

"I can only sense it vaguely, and the closer we get, the fuzzier it becomes..."

From hundreds of miles away, Saint Xi could almost make out what the object inside the Beastman Imperial Palace was.

But now that they were here, she was no longer certain.

It was a hazy, indistinct feeling.

Like trying to see flowers through a thick fog.

She could only make out a faint silhouette.

That was how Saint Xi felt now; she could only get a general sense of it.

This was giving Li Wei a headache.

He glanced around. "There’s no other choice," he said. "We’ll just have to find a way inside."

The two of them started asking around the Beastman Imperial Capital for information about the Royal Palace.

They were looking for any possible way to get inside.

With little success, Li Wei resorted to staking out the Royal Palace, hoping an opportunity would present itself.

’Hm? Someone’s coming out.’

Li Wei’s interest was piqued. The gates to the Royal Palace had opened, and a group was walking out.

They looked like the Royal Palace’s Personal Guard.

’I wonder what they’re up to.’

’This is the perfect opportunity.’

’If we disguise ourselves as members of the Personal Guard, we might be able to slip into the Royal Palace.’

Li Wei and Saint Xi exchanged a look, preparing to act.

The Personal Guard headed straight out of the Beastman Imperial Capital, which was exactly what Li Wei wanted.

He was worried about being discovered if he made a move inside the Imperial Capital.

Outside the Imperial Capital, it wouldn’t matter as much even if they caused a commotion.

Li Wei and Saint Xi followed the Beastman Royal Palace’s Personal Guard out of the Imperial Capital.

As the guards passed a stretch of forest, Li Wei and Saint Xi exchanged a look and struck without hesitation.

Saint Xi released her Dragon Mighty in a concentrated area.

The intimidating pressure of the Dragon Mighty enveloped every member of the Personal Guard.

In an instant, they all froze, unable to move, their minds going completely blank.

Only the Personal Guard Captain, who was stronger than the rest, retained a sliver of consciousness.

He realized they were under attack.

The captain was just about to make a noise to attract the attention of the nearby Imperial Capital guards.

The next moment, the glowing light of a Magic Array filled his vision.

"A Human Mage!"

The Personal Guard Captain’s heart pounded in shock.

’Why would a Human Mage be here?’

’This is the heartland of the Beastman Empire!’

Great Dream Traveling Skill! Sleep Dream Skill!

Li Wei had obtained the Great Dream Traveling Skill back when the Black Cultists used the Sleep Dream Skill to attack Gu Ze and his companions.

The Sleep Dream Skill was an offshoot of the Great Dream Traveling Skill.

When cast by Li Wei, its power was far greater than when the Black Cultist had used it.

The Beastmen, already stunned by the Dragon Mighty, had virtually no resistance and fell into the Dream World, collapsing one by one into a deep, dreaming sleep.

THUD!

The Personal Guard Captain desperately resisted the twofold assault of the Dragon Mighty and the Sleep Dream Skill.

Suddenly, a heavy blow struck the back of his head.

He lost consciousness instantly and collapsed to the ground.

The moment he lost consciousness, all his resistance crumbled, and the Sleep Dream Skill instantly pulled him into the Dream World.

Saint Xi lowered the hand she’d used to knock the Personal Guard Captain unconscious and turned to look at Li Wei.

Li Wei was standing still, his eyes tightly shut, also immersed in the Dream World.

Li Wei had already concealed the area with a Magic Array, so any passing Beastman would be unable to spot the unconscious group.

Saint Xi stood guard over Li Wei’s physical body, keeping watch and ensuring his safety.

Li Wei, immersed in the Dream World, used the dreamscape to extract intelligence from the members of the Personal Guard.

A forceful interrogation might not have yielded much useful information.

By using the dream, however, he could make these Beastman Personal Guard members unknowingly reveal a wealth of intelligence.

Before long, Li Wei opened his eyes.

He said, "You can finish them off now."

Saint Xi breathed a gout of Dragon Flame, incinerating all the Beastman Personal Guard members on the ground.

Li Wei used the Illusion Technique, transforming himself into the Beastman Personal Guard Captain, while Saint Xi took on the form of a regular guard.

The captain had been a Tiger-headed Man, and Li Wei now wore his standard-issue Armor.

After Saint Xi transformed into a member of the Personal Guard, it was difficult to tell what race she was.

Li Wei, however, knew the guard she had transformed into was from the Fox Race.

Once the transformation was complete, Li Wei and Saint Xi looked at each other, sized up their new forms, and chuckled softly.

"Let’s go," Li Wei said. "This time, we should be able to get in."

Through the dream, Li Wei had already learned what this Beastman Personal Guard squad’s mission was.

「Returning to the main gate of the Imperial Capital.」

The Beastmen waiting in line to enter the city saw the pair approaching and quickly moved aside to clear a path.

Li Wei and Saint Xi swaggered into the Imperial Capital.

Even the guards at the gate didn’t check their identities. Instead, they greeted Li Wei with obsequious smiles.

Saint Xi glanced down at her Armor and whispered, "This disguise is pretty useful."

Li Wei replied, "The Beastman Empire reveres strength, so this is normal. It’s the same even in the Human Empire."

"However, compared to the Beastman Empire’s pure reverence for strength, the Human Empire has far more rules—or, you could say, a different kind of strength born from power and influence."

Saint Xi sighed. "You humans are so complicated."

Li Wei just chuckled and said nothing.

Before they knew it, the two of them had arrived back at the gates of the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace guards looked confused when they saw Captain Gorthe returning so soon after he had left.

"Captain Gorthe? What is this?" one of the guards asked.

Li Wei shot him a look. "Don’t ask about things that don’t concern you."

"Open the gate. We ran into an unexpected complication with the mission."

The guard heard this and immediately nodded. "Of course. Right away, Captain Gorthe."

The two Beastman guards hurriedly opened a side gate to the Imperial Palace, allowing Li Wei and Saint Xi to enter.

Having entered the Imperial Palace so easily, Li Wei couldn’t help but breathe a small sigh of relief.

’It seems security at the Beastman Imperial Palace isn’t as tight as I imagined,’ he thought. ’That’s good news.’

Li Wei looked to Saint Xi. "Which way?" he asked.

Saint Xi closed her eyes to feel for it for a moment, then pointed ahead.

’We have to go even deeper?’ Li Wei thought.

The two of them proceeded deeper into the Imperial Palace.

"Oh? Gorthe, weren’t you sent on a mission? Why are you here?"

"And who is this with you?"

Li Wei heard the voice and turned to see a Tiger-headed Man in official attire watching him.

He quickly searched his memory for the intelligence Gorthe had revealed in the dream.

He recalled the name of the Beastman official before him.

"Greetings, Executor Isaac. We ran into some complications during the mission, so I’ve returned to ask the Commander for his opinion."

Li Wei put Isaac off with his prepared excuse.

Isaac asked skeptically, "For such a small matter, couldn’t you have just sent someone else back? Why return personally?"

Li Wei replied, "It’s a confidential matter. I’m afraid I cannot explain it to you, sir."

"Is that so? Well, go find Collison, then."

Seeing this, Isaac just shook his head and walked away.

Li Wei watched him go.

Once Isaac was a good distance away, Li Wei hurriedly led Saint Xi away.

The last thing he wanted was to run into another one of Gorthe’s acquaintances.

Partway there, Isaac ran into Commander Collison.

"Collison, what secret mission did you send Gorthe on?" Isaac asked.

"Secret mission? It was just a trivial matter. How did it become a secret mission?" Collison looked puzzled.

"Hm?" Isaac realized something was wrong.