Chapter 59: Don't Run!

There were still 4,640 unallocated Skill Points left. Zhai Guangyi checked the number of Skill Points required to level up ‘World’ to level 9. It was shockingly high—50,000 points, a full tenfold increase. Zhai Guangyi felt he might be stuck at level 8 ‘World’ for the rest of his life.

He decided to use the remaining Skill Points to upgrade other Skills or save them to distribute as rewards later to attract Followers. ‘World’ was temporarily off the table—the requirement was genuinely terrifying.

First was the Magic-Defying Spirit Body. With the System’s help, he could easily acquire a level 1 version for just 100 Skill Points.

At level 1, the Magic-Defying Spirit Body could convert 300 Magic Power into 100 points of strength, but it couldn’t be upgraded further. Speed could only be converted into 20 points, which fell far short of Zhai Guangyi’s current needs.

Upgrading rare Skills required significantly more Skill Points than ordinary ones. By the time he raised the Magic-Defying Spirit Body to level 6, he had already spent 1,500 Skill Points, but the gains were substantial.

Using 3,000 points of Magic Power, he could now boost his strength to 2,000 points, speed to 300 points, and defense to 150 points—though the defense increase was still somewhat lacking. The effects lasted about 20 minutes.

Of course, once the effects wore off, he could renew them. However, given his current Elf body, Zhai Guangyi could only use the Magic-Defying Spirit Body three times a day at most. After the third use, he would enter a weakened state. Though, with his current single-digit Body Attributes, there wasn’t much difference between that and his normal state anyway.

Flying high above the snowy Forest beyond the northern mountains, Zhai Guangyi stopped and descended into the Forest. He wanted to test the effects of this new Skill.

When he activated the Skill, Zhai Guangyi felt incredibly light and agile, as if his previous Body Attributes had been those of a frail old man. He felt that if he punched Xiong Er in the face now, he could probably make her cry for a long time.

Without delay, Zhai Guangyi swung his fist and smashed it hard into a giant tree. Since his True Body was also a tree, he had a good understanding of the hardness of such wood.

A solid giant tree like this likely had a defense of around 800, but even so—

His punch sent the giant tree flying. The wood shattered like broken clay, blasted apart by the force of Zhai Guangyi’s fist.

Zhai Guangyi marveled at his own strength. This power now surpassed Qiqi’s. Even if an enemy got up close for melee combat, Zhai Guangyi could now mount a decent counterattack.

Looking at the shattered giant tree, Zhai Guangyi felt a bit guilty. As an Elf, and with subordinates who cherished the Forest, destroying nature like this felt somewhat immoral.

He lifted the broken trunk with one hand and aligned it with the shattered stump. Using Healing Magic, he managed to patch it back together, though it ended up crooked and twisted. But that was fine—it gave the tree a more curvaceous, hourglass figure.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Zhai Guangyi nodded, deactivated the Magic-Defying Spirit Body, picked up his Flying Staff, and resumed Flight, searching for Magical Beasts Inside the Forest.

These past few days, Zhai Guangyi had encountered nothing in this snowy expanse—not even a single Goblin, let alone any of the Demon King’s subordinates. The deeper he ventured, the fewer Magical Beasts he saw.

Previously, fearing that pursuers might catch up to him, he hadn’t stopped to hunt Magical Beasts, instead relying on Stealth to fly frantically onward. But now, after so many days with nothing happening, Zhai Guangyi had grown somewhat careless, his mindset much more relaxed.

As for why he was looking for Magical Beasts—it was because Zhai Guangyi was craving a taste. Although Satiety Fruits could fill his stomach and keep him from hunger, he still yearned for flavor. Having finally obtained a body, he found it unacceptable that he couldn’t fully indulge in delicious food.

He hadn’t been flying for long when, as the saying goes, perseverance pays off. Zhai Guangyi heard a “crunching” sound from the forest below. Looking down, he saw a fierce, massive wild boar trapped in a hole beneath a tree trunk, struggling incessantly but unable to escape. Zhai Guangyi was overjoyed—it was as if his thoughts had materialized. This was simply perfect.

Just as Zhai Guangyi was about to approach and finish off the boar, images of roasted suckling pig already dancing in his mind, a voice rang out, startling him badly.

“Finally caught it! Reel it in!”

With that voice, the boar—along with Zhai Guangyi, who had just drawn near—was suddenly enveloped by a massive black gauze net that appeared out of nowhere.

It felt as if ten thousand Alpacas were trampling over Zhai Guangyi’s intelligence inside his head.

‘Could I really have been captured by the Demon King’s people just like this? All because of a wild boar?’

Zhai Guangyi immediately activated his Magic-Defying Spirit Body, materializing a White Quality dagger in his hand. By now, White Quality weapons no longer required System Currency to summon; he could simply manifest them at will.

With two thousand points of strength combined with the sharp dagger, he slashed a cross into the gauze net covering him. Zhai Guangyi had expected it to take some effort, but the net was sliced apart as easily as cutting through tofu.

Once free, Zhai Guangyi had no intention of engaging the enemy in battle. He simply bolted in one direction.

“How did a kid get here? Damn it, my boar! Don’t run!”

Zhai Guangyi had been maintaining Stealth the entire time, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t deactivate it. However, when launching an attack or being attacked, his form would become visible, and the Skill would be dispelled. To others, it seemed as if Zhai Guangyi had appeared out of thin air.

What followed was a bizarre scene: a child running ahead, chased by a massive black boar, with a tall man bringing up the rear. The two humans and the boar were all frantically sprinting across the snowy ground.

After escaping from the large net, Zhai Guangyi’s mind was momentarily chaotic. Before he could even turn to look back, he heard the shout “Don’t run!” which startled him, and the heavy footsteps behind him sounded particularly ominous.

He quickly retrieved the Flying Staff from his System Space, gripping the staff generated out of thin air tightly. With a sudden upward pull, Zhai Guangyi soared into the air. Only then did he turn to assess the situation.

The man who had been closely pursuing Zhai Guangyi stared, mouth agape and eyes nearly popping out of his head, at the child who had just taken flight. He paid no further attention to the wild boar that had vanished into the forest.

Appraisal.

Race: Wyvern-kin (Nameless)

Level: 19

Life Value: 300

Magic Power: 420

Strength: 230

Defense: 180

Speed: 140

What a weakling—to think he had been chased by such a feeble creature all this way!

And even got caught in its net—utterly humiliating. If there had been a trash can nearby, Zhai Guangyi would have wanted to stuff himself inside. Thankfully, Xiong Er wasn’t around, or else he’d be mocked for a lifetime.