Chapter 405 – Can Only Rely on the Golden Finger Now

Dragonheart District, Villa.

When Su Ming returned here once more, whether it was because they knew he was back or not, all the girls in the team were waiting for him.

“Commander!”

“Commander!”

“Commander!”

Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao—all four of them—emerged from the villa and gathered at the main gate, watching Su Ming as he entered, their faces lighting up with joy.

Especially Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao, who, unlike Chi Qian, hadn’t been in contact with Su Ming over the phone. It was only upon seeing Su Ming reappear that they finally seemed to let go of the worry in their hearts.

“Welcome back, Commander.”

Feng Qing’er rushed over excitedly, throwing her arms around Su Ming and letting him savor the sensation of her soft, fragrant embrace.

Tong Xinyao had tears welling up in her eyes, looking as if she were about to cry.

Mu Yan was the calmest of them all, yet she too visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Ming instinctively hugged Feng Qing’er back and looked at Mu Yan and Tong Xinyao, his previously indifferent expression finally softening.

“It seems you’re all unharmed. That’s good.”

Su Ming spoke to the group.

Everyone nodded repeatedly.

“Thanks to the Extraordinary Items you gave us, Commander.”

Mu Yan said this.

“Yes.”

Tong Xinyao nodded vigorously.

“Thankfully, we had you, Commander. Otherwise, we would have been in real danger this time.”

Feng Qing’er pulled away slightly from Su Ming, showing signs of lingering fear as she recalled the past events.

Clearly, after encountering Sin during their trip to the Midnight Labyrinth, the journey had become an unfortunate one in the hearts of the girls.

If not for the preparations Su Ming had made in advance, they might have truly met their demise on this trip, losing the lives they had barely managed to reclaim.

Facing those ruthless Underground Professionals had also left the girls with a terrible experience and memories.

If not for everyone making it out safely, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, Tong Xinyao, and even Chi Qian might have been crushed and fallen into despair.

Especially Chi Qian.

“Everyone is safe. That’s the best outcome.”

The female legend, who had once experienced the pain of a team wipe, felt immense relief because of this.

Perhaps, among all the teams, only Azure Mercury had emerged from the Midnight Labyrinth without any casualties.

The other teams, whether it was Summer Chasing Smoke or teams of the same caliber like Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion and Iron Rose, had suffered devastating losses.

Even the low-Rank teams that had only gone to the Midnight Labyrinth in search of treasure were slaughtered after encountering Sin, filling the labyrinth with the blood of Tianfeng City’s Professionals.

Such heavy casualties and such painful losses would likely leave Tianfeng City unsettled for some time, leading to numerous subsequent reactions and chain problems.

Of course, those had nothing to do with Su Ming now.

Aside from Summer Chasing Smoke, Su Ming had no deep connections with the other Professional teams.

He wasn’t a hero who worried about the nation and its people, so he wouldn’t feel anxious or sorrowful over Tianfeng City losing so many Professionals and teams.

Right now, Su Ming had only one thing he truly wanted to do.”In any case, it’s good that everyone is safe.” Su Ming said this: “Let’s all go back and rest. Recent team activities are temporarily canceled. Take this time to recuperate properly. We can consider future team activities once the situation in Tianfeng City improves a bit.”

As he spoke, Su Ming turned to look at Chi Qian.

“Chi Qian, do you know any Alchemists with exceptional technical skills?”

Su Ming’s sudden question made Chi Qian momentarily stunned.

“Alchemists?”

Chi Qian seemed somewhat caught off guard.

“Yes.” Su Ming nodded and said: “I have two items that need to be refined into finished Alchemy potions by a highly skilled Alchemist.”

Su Ming’s words immediately reminded Chi Qian of their gains from this trip to the Midnight Labyrinth.

“Commander, are you referring to the Seven-Colored Eye Fluid and Amber Fruit?”

“Exactly.”

Facing Chi Qian’s question, Su Ming gave an affirmative answer.

“I do.” Chi Qian looked at Su Ming, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before saying: “A very long time ago, I knew an extremely skilled Alchemist who specialized in brewing potions.”

Chi Qian had quite a deep friendship with this person.

After all, when Chi Qian started from nothing, the Phantom Demon blood she obtained through her own hunting abilities was refined into Phantom Demon Potion by that Alchemist.

It was through that bottle of Phantom Demon Potion that Chi Qian opened her path to transcendence and became a Professional.

Later, Chi Qian maintained close contact with this person and received much care from them. Whether during her novice stage or during her rise when establishing ‘Crimson’, many of the resources that supported her growth passed through that Alchemist’s hands to be refined into finished Alchemy potions.

Even in the year when ‘Crimson’ was wiped out, Chi Qian had asked this person to brew potions to suppress the internal dark injuries in her body.

Also, when Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao had just been freed from their frozen state, it was through the technical support and potion assistance provided by that Alchemist that the three girls were able to recover to their complete state so quickly.

Therefore, when Su Ming brought this up, Chi Qian almost immediately thought of this person.

“Good.”

Su Ming took out the Seven-Colored Eye Fluid and Amber Fruit from his backpack and handed them to Chi Qian.

“Please contact that Alchemist for me and ask them to help brew the Amber Potion and Seven-Colored Eye Potion. If any auxiliary Materials or service fees are needed, you can directly acquire them. Just tell me how many Contribution Points are missing, and I’ll transfer them to you.”

Whether it’s the Amber Potion or the Seven-Colored Eye Potion, each only has one truly precious main material – the Amber Fruit and Seven-Colored Eye Fluid that serve as the core materials for the potions.

The remaining brewing materials for both potions are just auxiliary ingredients that aren’t difficult to find.

So, as long as that Alchemist’s skills are up to standard, these two Alchemy potions should be brewed quite quickly.

“I understand.”

Chi Qian originally wanted to ask something more, but seeing Su Ming’s serious and solemn expression, she realized that something important might have happened.

Therefore, Chi Qian suppressed her urge to inquire, taking the two extremely precious medicinal materials from Su Ming’s hands while nodding firmly.

“Don’t worry, Commander. I’ll complete the task as soon as possible.”

Chi Qian made this promise.”Alright.” Su Ming finally smiled slightly and said to everyone, “It’s getting late, everyone should go back and rest.”

After speaking, Su Ming left alone, heading in the direction of his room.

The group of young women exchanged glances.

“I think the Commander seems a bit upset?” Feng Qing’er whispered, “Something feels off, doesn’t it?”

“Mhm!” Tong Xinyao quickly agreed, apparently sharing the same feeling.

“Did something happen?” Mu Yan furrowed her brows and asked Chi Qian, “Do you know what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Chi Qian shook her head, “But the Commander must have encountered something.”

Hearing Chi Qian’s words, the women couldn’t help but feel worried.

“Is the Commander… alright…?”

Tong Xinyao even voiced her unease.

Mu Yan and Feng Qing’er also fell silent.

In the end, it was Chi Qian who spoke up to temporarily reassure everyone.

“Although the Commander is still young, he’s actually very thoughtful and has his own ideas,” Chi Qian said, “Even if he encountered something, he wouldn’t act recklessly. I’ll go handle the tasks the Commander assigned first. You just keep an eye out, no need to worry too much.”

Hearing this, the women exchanged glances and nodded.

For now, there was no better approach.

Soon, Chi Qian went out.

Even though it was already dark outside, since it concerned the tasks Su Ming had assigned, Chi Qian didn’t want to delay and immediately began handling what Su Ming had requested.

As for Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao, they each returned to their rooms but didn’t fall into deep sleep, instead keeping some attention focused on the direction of Su Ming’s room.

If there was any unusual movement, the three would immediately rush over.

Unfortunately, their efforts were clearly in vain.

Because the only thing Su Ming did after returning was start unpacking bundles.

It would be impossible for the three women to detect this kind of activity.

……

Meanwhile, back in his room, Su Ming first took out items one by one from his backpack. After confirming them, he threw them into the Golden Finger Shop to exchange for crystal chips.

These items were all the gains from their expedition to the Midnight Labyrinth.

There were precious materials decomposed from various Phantom Demons that 『Azure Mercury』 had defeated along the way.

There were also natural treasures the entire team had obtained on various floors before reaching the tenth level.

No matter how rare they were, if they were useless to him, Su Ming threw them all into the shop to exchange for crystal chips.

He even exchanged some previously hoarded Extraordinary Items that had become less useful to him.

For example, those Red Vein Stones that could no longer be auctioned – Su Ming kept only a small portion as backup and exchanged the rest for crystal chips.

There were also some seemingly functional tools that had gradually lost their practicality as his strength increased, which Su Ming decisively threw into the shop as well.

Furthermore, Su Ming even exchanged the Alchemy Armor and Heaven’s Heart Staff he had previously taken from Zhang Chen for crystal chips.As a result, after a massive exchange spree, the vast number of Extraordinary Items in Su Ming’s backpack rapidly dwindled, leaving only a small portion that was truly useful to him. The rest were inevitably converted into numbers in his crystal chip balance.

This clearly demonstrated the extent of Su Ming’s determination this time.

There was no other choice.

“Ultimately, it still comes down to insufficient strength.”

Whenever Su Ming thought about Qin Yue and the Qin Family, a surge of frustration welled up inside him.

“If I were strong enough, I wouldn’t need to consider so many factors—I could just go to the Qin Family and take Zijin back by force.”

But he clearly couldn’t do that.

Not to mention the Qin Family’s overall power, just Qin Yue alone was already more than he could handle.

In their previous battle, if Hai’er hadn’t awakened him at the critical moment, he would have lost long ago.

Without Hai’er, Su Ming stood almost no chance of defeating Qin Yue, let alone nearly killing him.

Qin Yue remained unaware of this, believing that Su Ming had withstood the effects of 【Soul Lock】 through his own capabilities.

Only Su Ming knew that it wasn’t achieved through his own power.

“Qin Yue is strong, incredibly strong—perhaps not much weaker than Old Ling.”

“The Qin Family is also formidable, absurdly so. Although their Bloodline has declined, they’ve taken an alternative path, nurturing countless politicians and Sorcerers over the past millennium. Qin Yue is merely the strongest among them.”

“Moreover, the Qin Family has used their influence to bribe, recruit, and fund numerous powerful individuals. They’ve even managed to enlist two Seven-Star Professionals as their retainers. Even without considering potential support and resources from other Families and factions in Tianfeng City, the Qin Family’s own strength alone is absolutely beyond my current ability to contend with.”

During that battle with Qin Yue, Su Ming might have appeared impulsive and furious, but he actually had his own calculations.

He wanted to test how he would fare against the Qin Family’s strongest member with his current strength, then decide his next course of action.

If he could reliably overpower and defeat Qin Yue, he might have chosen a more reckless approach and confronted the Qin Family directly.

But the reality was that Su Ming was almost completely suppressed by Qin Yue. If Qin Yue hadn’t been intent on recruiting Su Ming and hadn’t used lethal force, Su Ming would have lost long ago. How could he have pushed Qin Yue to the brink of losing control over his 【Dawn Star Orbit】 state, forcing him to reveal his trump card, 【Soul Lock】?

If Qin Yue had been serious from the start, Su Ming felt he wouldn’t even have witnessed 【Soul Lock】—he would have been toyed to death by 【Dawn Star Orbit】.

Once Qin Yue entered the 【Dawn Star Orbit】 state and relentlessly pressed his attacks, Su Ming might not even have had the chance to use Demonization or Vision Mark before being defeated.

If just Qin Yue alone could reduce him to such a sorry state, what hope did he have against the entire Qin Family, let alone all of Tianfeng City?

Faced with such overwhelming power, the hope of reclaiming An Zijin seemed vanishingly small.

Recognizing this, Su Ming had turned and left without another word.

Because with his current lack of strength, any words would be futile.

To make Qin Yue compromise, to make the Qin Family compromise—his current power simply wasn’t enough.

“I must become stronger, stronger even than Old Ling.”

Su Ming could hardly wait.He had no idea when the Qin Family would initiate their plan, forcing An Zijin to consume the Phantom Demon Potion.

He had to enhance his strength as quickly as possible to prevent this outcome from occurring.

To rapidly boost his power, he could only rely on his Golden Finger and the various Extraordinary Items he obtained from opening packages.

However, before opening any packages, Su Ming needed to use one particular item.

“Swish!”

With a swift sound, a bottle filled with a purplish-white liquid landed in Su Ming’s hand.

As soon as the purplish-white liquid appeared, the air was instantly filled with an invigorating and refreshing fragrance.

It was unmistakably the Purple Snow Essence.

(End of Chapter)