Chapter 39: Loophole Exploit

Seeing the Fire Spirit reappear before him, Shabi felt a surge of fear this time. If the Honored One hadn’t intervened earlier, that terrifying fire dragon would have left him half-dead.

“Honored One, what should we do now? This High-Rank Fire Spirit has suddenly become much stronger.”

Shabi clutched the black mirror tightly in his hand, slowly backing away. His gaze wavered slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the Fire Spirit.

“Hmph, I’ll hold it off for you. Reinforcements will arrive soon. You must capture that Primordial Spirit for me.”

The old man’s voice echoed from the mirror once more. Hearing this response, Shabi finally felt a bit more at ease. If the Honored One abandoned him, he truly wouldn’t stand a chance of survival.

Black flames gathered from the mirror and enveloped Shabi once again. Compared to the initial defensive armor, an additional layer of flames capable of eroding Magic Power now covered him. The black flames absorbed the remnants of the fire dragon around him, and Shabi’s injuries slowly began to heal.

The Fire Spirit raised its hand, and strange characters reappeared, converging into countless circular Magic Circles, all aimed at Shabi.

Seeing this sight, Shabi felt as though he were facing thousands of Mages. The sheer number of Magic Circles was terrifying—far beyond what a single individual could accomplish.

“How is this possible? Over a hundred spells completed simultaneously…”

Before Shabi could finish his muttering, a terrifying crimson light surged toward him.

Explosions echoed continuously from high above, but Zhai Guangyi no longer had the mind to check on the situation.

Since handing control of the Fire Spirit over to the System, he had lost sight of the Fire Spirit’s perspective. However, the Magic Power consumption was immense. He guessed that even with the System controlling the Fire Spirit, it would struggle to defeat that mirror.

The Fire Spirit must have been injured several times by now. It seemed the System’s control wasn’t as effective as his own—at least when he was in control, Magic Power consumption was lower, and the Fire Spirit was less prone to injury.

Unaware of the actual situation, Zhai Guangyi began to speculate wildly about the battle. Although his Magic Power was being depleted rapidly, at least the System had managed to hold Shabi back. With no enemies in pursuit, he should be able to return to the vicinity of the Divine Tree soon.

Just as he was thinking this, the Storm Holy Wolf beneath him suddenly swerved, narrowly avoiding a wooden club crashing down from above.

Without realizing it, three or four Giant Goblins had surrounded them.

Though jolted heavily on the Storm Holy Wolf’s back, Zhai Guangyi endured the dizziness and unleashed dozens of Wind Blades, slicing the Giant Goblin ahead into pieces and allowing the Storm Holy Wolf to continue its sprint.

Under normal weather conditions, the Storm Holy Wolf struggled to display its full strength. Only its Gale Skill proved somewhat useful, allowing it to run a bit faster. Summoning a thunderstorm was also an option, but doing so now would affect Zhai Guangyi himself. His current body was too fragile—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was no different from a child’s.

“My Magic Power is depleting so quickly. What is the System doing?”

Zhai Guangyi’s Magic Power had already dropped to just over 7,000. At this rate, it would soon run dry. With numerous Giant Goblins still surrounding them, the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

“System, you’re consuming Magic Power too quickly. I won’t be able to hold on much longer at this rate.”

“Alert: Master can use the Fruit-Producing Skill to produce Magic Recovery Fruits and reduce consumption.”

The sudden restoration of the System’s voice made Zhai Guangyi’s eyes light up. So it could be done this way—didn’t that mean he had infinite Magic Power? He could even exploit such a situation. But he wasn’t a tree, so how could he use Fruit-bearing?

Never mind, he’d use it first and think later.

Without further hesitation, he directly activated the Fruit-Producing Skill. A purple apple grew from the top of Zhai Guangyi’s head, even bringing along a green leaf. The scene could only be described as utterly bizarre.

Zhai Guangyi reached up to pluck the apple from his head. Pulling it off felt like yanking out a strand of hair—it didn’t hurt, but it was still unsettling. Holding the fruit in his hand, he felt as if he were about to eat his own flesh, a thought too grotesque to accept.

He pushed aside his reservations. If he hesitated any longer, his Magic Power wouldn’t hold out.

He took a bite. Surprisingly, the fruit was delicious—sweet and refreshing.

His Magic Power was indeed recovering, but the restoration rate seemed to be around 2,000 points, which still felt somewhat insufficient. However, recovering 2,000 points with just a few points of Magic Power was an overwhelmingly profitable trade.

Zhai Guangyi conjured a Wind Blade with one hand while clutching a purple apple in the other, taking bite after bite.

After eating about five apples, he felt he couldn’t eat any more. It seemed 10,000 points of Magic Power was his limit—he was truly full. If it were Xiong Er, she could probably eat twenty without issue. Unfortunately, his own stomach was small, and he already felt bloated and even slightly pained.

With 10,000 points of Magic Power, he should be able to hold on a while longer.

The roaring in the sky ceased. Four red Flame Giant Dragons soared and circled around the Fire Spirit, glaring menacingly at Shabi in the air.

The Black Mirror in Shabi’s hand suddenly shattered, having seemingly reached its limit. Yet the Fire Spirit ahead showed no signs of exhaustion, its Magic Attacks relentless. Moreover, it wielded a Magic akin to Flame Jump, making it impossible to shake off or close in on.

Shabi had relied on the Black Mirror to hold out for a while, but the Magic Power supplied by the Honored One seemed to have reached the mirror’s maximum capacity. Without its support, Shabi’s momentum plummeted. If even the Honored One couldn’t handle this foe, there was no way he could resist.

Shabi discarded the Black Mirror and frantically turned to flee, his earlier composure gone. Like a stray dog with its tail between its legs, he dove headlong into the Deep Forest without looking back.

The Fire Spirit raised a hand and pointed. One of the Flame Giant Dragons opened its massive maw and swallowed the fleeing Shabi whole, leaving only a black Magic Crystal that returned to the Fire Spirit’s hand.

With this done, the Fire Spirit reverted to its original form to conserve Magic Power. Holding the black Magic Crystal, it flew toward Zhai Guangyi.

Riding the Storm Holy Wolf, Zhai Guangyi saw dark clouds gathering in the sky, as if a heavy rain was brewing. He knew it was almost time.

This was the rainstorm summoned from his Divine Tree’s side—the farthest distance his Divine Tree’s Magic Power could influence. Numerous Storm Demon Wolves were waiting within, including Xiong Batian and the others.

Alone, Zhai Guangyi couldn’t withstand the Giant Goblins closing in from all directions. Even Xiong Batian might perish under such concentrated assaults. Clearing a path with Wind Blades had its limits—if he infused too little Magic Power, he couldn’t slice through the Giant Goblins’ bodies, but if he used too much, his Magic Power would run out.

Zhai Guangyi now felt his head growing heavy and muddled, but fortunately, he could already see Xiong Batian leading a group of Magical Beasts charging out of the forest, clashing with a horde of Giant Goblins in a chaotic battle. The Storm Holy Wolf carrying the two of them thus bypassed the fighting masses, galloping swiftly through the torrential rain toward the direction of the Divine Tree.