Chapter 8: The Ten Great Sources of Qi, Wind Card

  Roth certainly didn't mean to abandon the fat merchant; on the contrary, he left only to check his spoils of war.

  In the previous battle, Rode gained a lot of experience but didn't get much loot. Although for players, that crashed airship was full of treasure and there were many dead people with a lot of wealth on them. However, Rode eventually gave up on this idea, after all, they did owe their lives to each other, and now that the others are dead, it would be too shameless to loot their bodies.

  Although experience is valuable, what makes Rode feel like he's earned it is something else. It's the black original stone he's holding in his hand right now. According to the Dragon Soul Continent, this is the soul core condensed from a powerful magical creature when it dies. Its characteristic is richness, which can be used as a gemstone inlaid into weapons or melted and forged into a soul weapon. For spellcasters, they are also very good materials for making magic tools. Moreover, the drop rate of the soul core is very low, so its price has always been high in the world of Dragon Soul Continent. For summoning swordsmen, it has an irreplaceable role.

  Because this is just the treasure that must be awakened to summon the spirits.

  At this moment, Rod was standing deep in the dense forest, he raised his right hand, and could see that the soul core, which was about the size of a walnut, emitting a thick dark aura, was quietly lying in his palm. The surroundings were quiet and warm, with the moonlight at midnight shining through the leaves and scattering into dots of light on the ground and bushes. Then, the summoning spell array on Rod's back flashed again, and the streamlined magic glow quickly extended outwards. Next, a line of system prompts appeared in front of Rod.

  [Found the polluted soul core, may I ask if it can be purified?]

  "Purification."

  Very soon, on the back of Rod's right hand, a summoning array appeared again, and a white light emerged from it. It flowed like water along his fingers, wrapping around the soul core in the center of his palm. As the divine power invaded, the black mist that had been entwining the soul core quickly dissipated, disappearing without a trace. With the disappearance of the black mist, the soul core finally revealed its true appearance - transparent, emitting a bright blue light, like an egg-shaped gemstone trembling slightly. It seemed to have sensed something and was struggling to break free from its shell.

  The essence core has been purified, is it awakened?

  "Wake up."

  Along with Rod's words, the trembling of the azure egg-shaped gemstone became more intense. Then, accompanied by a light "crack" sound, the entire egg-shaped gemstone shattered instantly. Next, streams of blue power burst out, swirling and entwining rapidly before transforming into card form. Finally, they quietly lay in Rod's hand.

  A refreshing, comfortable feeling spread through Rode's body, causing him to shudder in comfort. At that moment, he also learned what kind of existence had signed a contract with him. He picked up the card, and on its front was a green bird flying in the sky with outstretched wings. In the top right corner was a blue-green semicircle (representing the card's attribute), while the top left corner had a "V" written on it. As for the two bottom corners on either side, they displayed two small numbers - 2. Rode flipped over the card, and soon the back surface revealed lines of text shining with magical light.

  Soaring Soul Bird (Wind Element): Flight-type can merge with spirits, 10% chance to trigger paralysis effect when attacking, piercing effect, ineffective against magic defense. --- Possesses skill: Spirit Wind Phantom (Soars in the sky as a child of the wind, range skill)

  [Obtained Sky Set Badge 1/10, Soaring Soul Bird]

  What good luck.

  Rode couldn't help but laugh, the flying summoning spirit was one of the essential spirits for early-stage summoners, and its wind element attribute allowed it to smoothly pass through objects without magical attributes, which meant that ordinary defenses were completely meaningless in front of it. With an effective range of 30 meters and special effects, Rode could at least ensure his own safety for now, and even if he accidentally encountered those variant BOSSes, he had the confidence to fight them head-on.

  But what's been frustrating Rodeo the most is his attributes. Until now, his strength, physique, agility, and willpower are still in a hidden state, making Rodeo feel uneasy. Although this is his own body, the current state it's displaying far exceeds the normal standards he should have. He has already confirmed that his attributes are definitely above human level, but this feeling of being unable to grasp his own physical condition is really unpleasant. You think you're going to die, but you don't die. That's a beautiful misunderstanding. But if you think you won't die and then you do, that's a damn nightmare. Since he can't see them, Rodeo can only rely on his experience to make guesses.

  Through the previous battle with the Wind Snake Lord, Rod also had some leads. After all, as a BOSS, the Wind Snake Lord's data was something he had studied in detail before. Judging from the previous battle situation, his own strength should be roughly on par with that of a standard genuine swordsman, while his physical constitution was quite robust. At least since coming to this world, although he had experienced several crises, Rod's body seemed to have withstood the test, and the lowest indicator of his physical condition was only caution, never reaching emergency levels. As for speed, it was not much different from that of a normal ordinary human. However, when it came to willpower, Rod couldn't experiment - he couldn't just find a mage to cast mental spells on himself and see how many levels he could withstand.

  At this moment, a faint sound came from the thicket, and Rode's eyebrows rose as he put down his right hand. The brilliance of the summoning array on the back of his hand instantly dimmed, and the card in his hand turned into tiny magical dust, disappearing immediately. After being sealed as a card and confirming the relationship with the holder, the sealed cards would no longer appear in physical form. They would quietly sleep in the summoning array on the back of the summoner's hand, in the circle called "Ten Great Source Qualities", waiting for the holder to awaken them for use. At this moment, only two cards were sealed within - the attributeless "Stardust" and the wind-elemental "Spirits Bird" in the outermost layer of the "Kingdom" ring.

  Rode didn't intend to expose his abilities too much in front of others, although the game had introduced it early on. The Summoner was a player-exclusive profession that existed in the distant ancient times of the continent, and players were the only ones who inherited this profession. They embarked on their journey to find and revive the glory of this once-heroic profession——of course, these were just nonsense from the game's introduction. If put into more practical terms, Rode could tell from Lize and Meis' expressions that these people at least had no idea about the existence of such a profession, so he didn't find it convenient to say much either. Moreover, maintaining some level of mystery wasn't entirely disadvantageous for himself.

  Just as Luo De had just turned around, Lijie had already walked out of the forest.

  "Lily? What can I do for you?"

  "Ah... no, nothing, Mr. Lord."

  Lijie shook her head, but her face was somewhat uneasy.

  "Uh... I just wanted to ask, how's your injury? Is there anything I can do?"

  In the end, the girl's voice became smaller and smaller, her hands tightly grasping the hem of her long gown, at this moment, she gave people a feeling of extreme fragility.

  In fact, Rod also noticed Lisha's abnormal behavior. Mais can see her characteristics because he is a businessman who travels south and north all year round, and if he doesn't have any insight, he will be sold out early. And Rod can see through her character, it's because he has experience as the president of the first big guild in the Dragon Soul Continent game. You know that unlike reality, players on the internet are hidden behind their roles, and it's precisely because of this that their performance is more covert than in reality. In this online world, if you want to condense collective power, you must be very sensitive, after all, most players come to the game to experience happiness, not to treat it as a job. You ask them to log in on time, hit the boss on time, and refresh records to achieve achievements. These things are difficult to do without good balance and grasp. So, how to observe the emotions and inner thoughts of your companions around you is very important for Rod, such a guild president.

  Now, Lisha's performance clearly shows that she lacks reliance, which makes the girl extremely uneasy. Rode can also see that losing her companion has a huge impact on her, not just because someone familiar left her, but also because of the anxiety and fear for the future. In previous battles, Rode had observed this girl, who did everything perfectly at the time, able to cast healing spells on her companions in the shortest possible time, quickly dispel the toxins they were poisoned with, and finally, the protective shield she gave Rode was accurate to the second, a strength that can be considered excellent for a support profession. Moreover, at that time, she was full of confidence, had clear goals, although facing danger, but would not hesitate or be timid.

  But now this trembling girl has completely lost her previous confidence.

  There is only one reason.