Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Advancing the Soul Kind, Epic Level!_1
It must be said, Yan Ming King was a true power player, and incredibly wealthy.
Not only did he provide Wang Linchi with Soul Kind resources, but also a Storage Soul Device. This device was exceedingly subtle and capable of shielding the traces of Soul Kinds. Of course, this was something he had discarded, not specifically prepared for Wang Linchi.
Therefore, during those few days in the Secret Realm, Wang Linchi directly restored his crippled Epic Level Soul Kind to its complete state.
He also enhanced the two additional attribute effects, adding Resistance and Resilience. With these, he achieved a tripartite amplification, combining Toughness, Resistance, and Resilience. This granted Wang Linchi extremely powerful defensive capabilities concerning his psyche (Soul), spirit (Spirit), vital essence (Soul), and thoughts. The amplification also increased from the original 10% to 20%, effectively doubling it.
The reason he focused entirely on Defense was that he didn’t need overwhelming Attack Power, only sufficient mass and quality. The Soul Seed Page of Fanciful and Fickle already provided enough offensive capability.
With the comprehensive advancement to a complete Epic Level Soul Kind, his Soul Seed Page could naturally bear Epic Level power, precisely because he possessed sufficient spiritual mass.
[Soul Seed Page: Fanciful and Fickle (Epic Level)]
[Impact: Causes damage to Spirit, Psyche (Soul), and Vital Essence (Soul)]
[Penetration: Impact can penetrate Shields and barriers]
[Chaos: Impact will induce a chaos effect, causing mental confusion]
[Toxin: Impact will induce a poisoning effect, causing sustained damage]
[Depletion: Impact will result in an Energy-burning Effect, continuously consuming energy]
Wang Linchi did not increase Fanciful and Fickle’s Attack Power; instead, he stacked negative effects.
After all, its Attack Power depended on the quantity and intensity of Wang Linchi’s own spiritual power. His inherent strength would naturally make Fanciful and Fickle’s attacks more potent. Adding various debilitating effects to improve his chances of winning was the more sensible approach.
His reasoning was that even if he couldn’t defeat others, he had to at least make things difficult for them.
With the Nine Revolutions Golden Core, expanding its capacity was better than increasing Attack Power. This offered more versatility and ensured his self-protection.
As for how Yan Ming King and Fahui’s negotiations went, Wang Linchi did not know; he hadn’t paid much attention.
Most of the power had shifted, so he naturally no longer had the channels to access this information. However, he didn’t care, as he had already left the Secret Realm.
When the time came, he was naturally expelled.
He was no longer in his original location but back at the gate of the Peacock Sword Sect. He wasn’t the only one who emerged; there were also some ordinary people and some Awakeners.
A small portion of these Awakeners were Battle-type Awakeners; the rest were life-type and ordinary-type. The former were likely poorer, lacking items to extend their time limit. The latter were even worse off, completely unable to access such things. Moreover, the total number of Awakeners wasn’t large, only just over a hundred. Wang Linchi did not stand out among them.
As for Xu Shou and the members of the Ming King Palace, this group was composed of elites; how could they not have emerged immediately? Wang Linchi suspected that these hundred or so individuals had been expelled due to their insufficient strength and failure to complete the Secret Realm’s tasks. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, life-type and ordinary-type Awakeners would likely choose to exit the Secret Realm immediately after completing their tasks. Only those who couldn’t would wait until the last moment.
In addition, the vast number of ordinary people hadn’t fared well either. In an entire prefecture, only these remained. Wang Linchi made a quick estimate: probably just over ten thousand people. This left the surrounding area in a state of chaos.
Before the crowd could react, a large number of soldiers surrounded them.
Wang Linchi recognized at a glance that these soldiers belonged to the Court.
It was to be expected. Given the magnitude of the incident, the Court must have taken control of Yingzhou. Otherwise, would they have left it to those heretical cults, Great Families, or Sects?
He didn’t reveal himself immediately, instead choosing to first observe how this group of soldiers would handle the ordinary people and other Awakeners.
If they were planning to silence everyone, he would flee immediately, not foolishly stand out and become the first to die.
These soldiers were no ordinary individuals but Awakeners, with the weakest among them at the Mountain Copper Level. They were clearly an elite force from the Dajing Court. In their Yingzhou, Mountain Copper Level Awakeners could be considered mid-tier. However, this didn’t mean other prefectures were at the same level. If the general level here were high, how could it have served as a starting area for someone like Yan Ming King?
Fortunately, the Dajing Court wasn’t so depraved as to order a direct massacre; instead, they made proper arrangements.
The other Awakeners quickly revealed their identities, and Wang Linchi naturally followed suit; otherwise, he would have seemed uncooperative or conspicuous.
As for the possibility of them being gathered together only to be ambushed and killed, it existed, but he deemed it unlikely.
"From the Soul Seed Bureau?" a sergeant asked, taking out a smartphone. He snapped a photo of Wang Linchi’s face, and a large block of information immediately appeared on the screen.
Seeing this, Wang Linchi was somewhat speechless. The disparity between the lower, middle, and upper echelons of society was too severe. They had smartphones, yet the common folk at the bottom were still as backward as people in ancient times. This also demonstrated how much productivity the Secret Realms provided to the Dajing Court, allowing it to forcibly stitch together such a fractured society. Of course, within the Dajing Court, that smartphone was no ordinary piece of technology; it was a type of Soul Device. Otherwise, it couldn’t have been brought out of a Secret Realm.
"Hm? Soul Seed Bureau... is my information recorded?" Wang Linchi asked.
"You’ve even received a level-four subsidy before. Lad, you’re quite talented," the sergeant remarked. "But the Soul Seed Bureau in Yingzhou is gone. Right now, there are two career paths for you. One option is to stay and rebuild the Soul Seed Bureau. Your position would change to Logistics Supervisor, overseeing reconstruction, reception, verification, and similar tasks. Upon completion, you’ll be promoted one rank."
"The other is to go to Yi State; there’s an open position there. However, Yi State is tens of thousands of miles away. I can issue you the transfer certificate, but you’ll have to take a fire-wheel carriage there yourself and cover all expenses."
The sergeant quickly listed both alternatives. Wang Linchi knew of Yi State; it was also part of the Jing Room Domain but was nearly a hundred times more powerful and prosperous than Yingzhou.
Wang Linchi pondered his options.
If he chose the former, he would have to toil for several years, possibly even decades. Rebuilding Yingzhou would be no easy task. Correspondingly, once his strength increased, he could definitely climb to a high position and become a ranking official in Yingzhou. The other choice, naturally, was to go to Yi State. There, he could continue to feign mediocrity on the surface while secretly enhancing his strength. Getting ahead there wouldn’t be easy, but it had its advantages, like not having to worry about overt attacks or covert schemes. Of course, the drawback was also obvious: he’d likely be stuck in that post for life.
"I recommend you go to Yi State," the sergeant said. "After all, if you stay here, with your... ordinary Soul Resemblance, you won’t make much of a name for yourself. On the other hand, the salary and benefits in Yi State are much better than here." The sergeant had originally intended to say "Waste Spirit Phase" but promptly corrected himself. The details of his Soul Resemblance were, of course, also recorded in this data.
"Alright, I’ll go to Yi State," Wang Linchi decided as soon as the sergeant finished speaking.
He didn’t want to stay. Firstly, resources were too scarce. Secondly, with most of the influential people dead, he wouldn’t be able to leverage his advantages here. From the outset, Wang Linchi’s forte wasn’t combat, so Secret Realms, in general, weren’t of paramount importance to his development. Especially now that he had a Legendary Level Soul Kind to experiment with, he had even less to worry about. Moreover, he possessed a wealth of resources. He just needed to find a stable place to methodically improve his strength without taking unnecessary risks. The entirety of Yingzhou, now under Court control, would undoubtedly be subjected to extremely strict governance. This place had been a Gigantic Secret Realm, and even the Dajing Court itself only controlled a few such realms. Therefore, Yingzhou was destined to become a key military stronghold for Great View. Given his circumstances, staying would not be comfortable.
"Alright, your transfer certificate is issued. Keep it safe," the sergeant said. "The costs for the fire-wheel carriage ticket, accommodation, meals, and so on, will be deducted directly from your account. After all, there are no banks operating here now, so you couldn’t pay even if you wanted to."
"Very well, thank you for your trouble," Wang Linchi replied, naturally not objecting. He did, however, find the sergeant’s enthusiasm a bit strange. After all, this sergeant was a Battle Class Soul Awakener. He didn’t voice this thought. Since the man had helped him, even if he had suspicions, he should keep them to himself rather than saying something foolish and appearing dim-witted.
The procedures were completed quickly and efficiently. After Wang Linchi entered his payment password, his ticket would be ready for pickup directly at the station, allowing him to board the carriage.
It all went so smoothly that Wang Linchi couldn’t help but marvel internally. Elite personnel are indeed different; their efficiency is on another level.