Battle Frenzy

Glancing at Mo Ling beside him, Napier laughed bitterly once they walked out of the store. “You’ve suffered because of me. I think you’ll be better off returning to the New Holy War Team. I’m the main one they’re annoyed with since I can’t control my mouth, but you would be fine since you don’t talk much.”

Mo Ling shook his head. Once the pillar of the Heaven’s Fate squadron, Mo Ling had matured much since then. “That place is not suitable for us. Although life will be tougher, we now have time on our hands. Being able to stay true to yourself is the most important thing as a living person.”

“Sigh, if only Captain was still here,” Napier Mo couldn’t help but lament. They weren’t scared of trouble, but they lacked leadership skills. “Captain said that we could find Wang Zhong for help if we encountered any trouble and that he’s very reliable, but Wang Zhong can’t even save himself now, sigh…”

“I know, right?”

“Who knew Captain had times of misjudgment too… The key thing is, since when was Wang Zhong so cowardly?” Napier said helplessly.

“Haha, you shouldn’t judge whether someone is a coward just from what you see on the surface, Napier. It’s been a long time, Mo Ling.” Wang Zhong laughed.

The two of them turned around warily. To their surprise, it turned out to be Wang Zhong. Well, this was awkward.

“Mo Wen spoke so highly of me. How could I disappoint him, huh? I have a solution. Join the Wanderlust Team, and you’ll get a thousand Holy Coins each as a welcome gift, plus you can receive the full amount immediately. Are you guys interested?”

“Huh…” Napier and Mo Ling stood there open-mouthed, staring at Wang Zhong as if he was insane.

A thousand? Holy Coins?

To a newcomer, a thousand Holy Coins was definitely an astronomical figure. Was this exploration team crazy?

Napier and Mo Ling glanced at each other. Wang Zhong clearly wasn’t joking. “We’re in!”

“What’s Mo Wen doing now. Is he not coming to the Holy Land?” Wang Zhong smiled and asked. These two were people who acted quickly, so they didn’t feel the need to ask any further questions.

“We don’t have much news of him too, but it seems that he’s arrived in the Fifth Dimension. We’re not sure of his exact location though,” Mo Ling said.

“I’m really looking forward to it now.” Wang Zhong grinned, shaking his head. He admired Mo Wen’s choice and understood that it was a form of training. Mo Wen was clearly a genius who was ahead of his time, but this route wasn’t for everyone.

“Is your Dharma Idol really so weak? We don’t believe it.” Napier glanced at Wang Zhong who looked calm and couldn’t help but ask.

Wang Zhong smiled. “This isn’t important. We shouldn’t lose our sense of self even if we are in the Holy Land. Mo Wen thinks so, and we should too. Look at you now. Are you still the Napier Mo I knew? We can’t be led by the nose.”

Looking at Napier’s outfit, it appeared that he didn’t wear his signature clown outfit as often ever since he came to the Holy City. From the last time Wang Zhong saw him at the Dimensional Hostel till now, he was dressed in formal attire. What happened to his individuality?

It was nonexistent now.

Napier and Mo Ling knew that Wang Zhong and Mo Wen were people who could stay true to themselves no matter what, not caring about how others saw them or how the rules were enforced. Perhaps Mo Wen knew about the hierarchy in the Holy Land, so he chose to cultivate his own way, while Wang Zhong chose another way.

It appeared that no one cared about a ‘good-for-nothing trash.’

But was Wang Zhong really a useless person? Well, at least Napier and Mo Ling didn’t think that a good-for-nothing would be able to give away a thousand Holy Coins easily.

“Don’t bring it up. I already miss my red nose.” Napier gave a bitter smile. When he was on Earth, he could still maintain his individuality, but rules and restrictions were everywhere in the Holy City. The higher-ups in the Mo Family were extremely concerned with the image their family juniors portrayed in the Holy City. Being able to cultivate in the Holy City was a rare chance that didn’t come easy, they didn’t care about whether you could maintain your individuality there. Perhaps when you learned to release all your stress or when you were powerful enough to disregard these rules, then you had a chance of being yourself again.

“Join the Wanderlust Team and you will gain freedom. This is a nice big family and you can come and go as you wish. You guys don’t need to feel burdened. We are friends, right?” Wang Zhong said.

It had been a long time since Napier Mo and Mo Ling had such genuine smiles on their faces. Yes, they were friends!

Wang Zhong felt that he was becoming a procurer. It had been barely a month since he joined the Wanderlust Team, and first, he pulled Grai, Sharmie, and Mario into the team. Now, he managed to pull another two. The Wanderlust Team had only nine people previously, and he managed to expand their team by two thirds in less than a month. Introducing Napier and Mo Ling into the team was undoubtedly a smooth process, as the others accepted everyone Wang Zhong introduced. It was because they trusted and valued Wang Zhong, and also, it was undeniable that Grai, Sharmie, and Mario performed pretty well these past few weeks.

The Wanderlust Team approved of their members in a way different from other exploration teams. In other teams, you had to be strong, or have connections, or be extremely obedient for a senior member to approve of you. It was the opposite in the Wanderlust Team, those who relied on their connections and family status were the most frowned upon. To the members of the Wanderlust Team, it was fine to have differences in strength, but the most important thing was for them to have similar interests so that they could form a good team.

Both of them integrated into the team at a shocking speed. Mo Ling was the type to work diligently and quietly, a hardworking and reliable member, while Napier who reverted back to his energetic personality was even more popular.

The top 10 theory masters of the Mystic Sect were definitely not average people. As a newcomer in the Mystic Sect, Napier had heard of Feng’s name a long time ago. This senior sister’s soul ability wasn’t considered particularly outstanding, but she had an extensive knowledge of theories. It was said that she even challenged her teacher on theoretical stuff before, but, needless to say, it didn’t end well.

There weren’t as many rules in the Wanderlust Team as compared to the Holy Land, and not everything was based on connections and transactions. Everyone could speak their mind, and newcomers such as Napier could ask any questions that they had. No one would pretend to be a know-it-all, and they would certainly answer your questions to the best of their ability. Actually, Napier didn’t need a high-rank soul tool such as a Reverie Bell given the stage he was at now, as it would be better to use a soul tool as late in your cultivation journey as you could afford to. Unless you were a professional alchemist, you should be focusing on your pursuit and understanding of strength and power.

As for actual combat situations, as long as you had a suitable soul tool, your power would double immediately. Generally speaking, people in the Holy Land would only start to focus on soul tools when they were at the Middle Phase Heroic Soul Stage.

Feng’s guidance made Napier feel like he was being hit by a sudden realization. He was the fastest in this batch of Holy City newcomers to improve, as he was already at the point of breakthrough of the Initial Phase Heroic Soul Stage. It seemed that Napier was too anxious for success, and after hearing Feng’s suggestion, Napier decided to focus more on understanding his soul.

The fact that Wang Zhong became the vice-captain of the Wanderlust Team didn’t attract too much attention. In this world which focused on potential and status, you could be the talk of the town one day and a nobody the next day. Wang Zhong wasn’t the first nor the last person to experience this. On the other hand, there was news of the first newcomer who managed to break through into the Middle Phase Heroic Soul Stage from the Mystic Sect. It was Carolyn.

This was very surprising as the first person to break through wasn’t Scarlet or Solomon who were Successor Disciples. Unlike Napier who pursued improvement blindly, Carolyn’s breakthrough seemed to come naturally since there were many family seniors guiding her. A Great Teacher who was originally observing her had accepted her as a Successor Disciple immediately, putting an invisible distance between her and the other second-class apprentices.

Garnering full support from her family, possessing high-rank soul tools, being the first to reach the Middle Phase Heroic Soul Stage, being a Successor Disciple… Each thing on this list was something that others could only wish to have.

Both Carolyn and Solomon often showed their faces in public together and were already regarded as the power couple among the newcomers. Besides, Scarlet hadn’t come back ever since she left, so Carolyn and Solomon had attracted the attention of everyone in the Holy City who kept an eye on news about the Holy Apprentices. News about Carolyn and Solomon flooded the newcomer circle. Both Holy Disciples and teachers would grant these absolute leaders of the young generations a certain ‘favor’ since everyone would be living in the Holy Land for an extremely long time. They were newcomers today, but they might be people you had to look up to a few years later. Although there was no need to suck up to them, there was evidently no need to offend them either. ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’ was a saying that was commonly observed in the Holy Land.

While others were in the limelight, Wang Zhong was busy with his alchemy quest in full swing.

To put it simply, the Glazed Crystal Glass was a crystal-like ore body that was a specialty of the Holy Land. Due to its unique property of being able to examine the structure of Soul Power, it was widely used in the making of various supplementary tools. It was considered one of the most common and practical materials in the Holy Land. Making a Glazed Crystal Glass was basically an introductory course for apprentice alchemists. In the process of making it, you could test your understanding of Soul Power and control of fire. In the Holy Land, this secondary profession was also helpful to combat professions to some extent; the main factor was your mindset during your cultivation journey.

The strong people could learn from virtually anything that happened along the way, while the weak only focused on the end goal and missed out on the essence which was the process.

Wang Zhong planned to purchase a set of alchemy equipment and start making the Glazed Crystal Glass in his dorm. However, Simba was very bored, and also, previously in the secret realm, he had agreed to let Simba out more often when he got the chance to; therefore, Wang Zhong wanted to include Simba in the creation process. Even so, this idea was too naive since his small dorm couldn’t even fit a furnace, let alone a complete set of alchemy equipment. Besides, he had no money to purchase a complete set either.

Wang Zhong decided to rent an alchemy lab. He was prepared to go to the alchemy labs at the Tyrants, but as a newcomer, he didn’t have the right to use the alchemy labs there. Although the Tyrants had many alchemy workshops, there were more Holy Disciples and even more alchemists. A whole lot of people were waiting to use the labs, and in terms of seniority, the newcomers didn’t have a chance of using them.

In the Holy Land, the places with good resources were all private places. Regardless of whether it was alchemy workshops or gourmet restaurants or other places, anything that was provided by the Holy Land were mostly fundamental or introductory resources. It was undeniable that there was good stuff in the places with exceptionally good resources, such as the library, but you could rest assured that the price matched the quality too.

Under normal circumstances, private labs only cared about the price, but most of them didn’t really welcome newcomers. The main thing was that based on past experiences, the newcomers were unable to achieve anything but good at spoiling things. In addition, they were very destructive. If they damaged any tool, they wouldn’t be able to pay for it even if they sold themselves.

Over time, not renting an alchemy lab to newcomers had become an unwritten rule in the Holy City. Unless someone accompanied the newcomer or the newcomer trained in their respective schools under the guidance of a teacher, a newcomer had no chance of actually doing hands-on alchemy, let alone rent an alchemy lab to experiment with.

Wang Zhong asked a few private workshops previously, but they either ignored him directly or demanded an exorbitant price. They quoted 700 to 800 Holy Coins for the rental fee, and the most ridiculous one quoted 1,000 Holy Coins and wanted him to give a deposit of 3,000 Holy Coins in case any accident happened. Deposit, my ass!

Simba wanted to grab some mud from the ground and smack it in that person’s face. This was daylight robbery!

Murphy’s Private Alchemy Workshop.

You could tell that it was superior to the other workshops from its name alone. The whole structure of the place was completely different from other workshops. Murphy was one of the most famous masters in the Holy Land, and he was a filthy rich guy which even the Great Teachers needed to respect. It wasn’t that he had exceptionally high combat power, but he was the Holy Land’s representative figure in the alchemy sector. From the soul tools that ordinary Holy Disciples used to a Sacred Teacher’s treasured weapon, everything was available here. The Hand Mortar that the Wanderlust Team bought for a hefty price was one of Murphy’s creations, or rather, one of his products that were mass-produced. He was the designer while his apprentices were in charge of the production process. There weren’t many things that were worth his time to do personally.

In the Holy Land, alchemists and gourmets were high profile figures, and no one wanted to offend them. They had many complex connections, and it could be said that their power extended deep in the Holy City.

Wang Zhong didn’t have any other choice. Other small-scale workshops had insufficient resources, so he might as well try his luck at this large-scale workshop.

“Let’s try this one.”

“Look at the furnishing. It’s way more extravagant than the previous workshops we went to!” Simba thought that this place looked unreliable. “I think this workshop is going to be even more of a scam than the others just now!”

“We don’t have a choice. We’re just going to have to try our luck.” Wang Zhong was indifferent. Honestly, his biggest interest and goal now was the Soul Power modification of body cells, and everything he learned was centered on that. The Wanderlust Team was only second on his priority list. He wanted to start his alchemy work during this ‘quiet’ period of time.

Wang Zhong knew himself. He would get into trouble sooner or later. He didn’t know why the Great Teacher from the Tyrants made him a second-class apprentice, but it was a great help to him. Wang Zhong didn’t think anyone knew his true power. The only people he knew that had authority in the Holy Land were Uncle Zhang and Teacher Lan Daier. He felt that Uncle Zhang might be of more help.

Uncle Zhang was probably at the Heavenly Soul Stage, but he clearly failed to break through and was unwilling to go back to Earth. Although his status dropped significantly, he likely had some old connections in the Holy Land, and it would be easy to take care of a Holy Apprentice like Wang Zhong. Honestly, that would be Wang Zhong’s last resort as he didn’t want to trouble Uncle Zhang. He should probably prepare more Samsara wine.

There were many people in the hall of the workshop. Unlike other workshops, the Holy Disciples here seemed more prideful since they were outstanding experts that represented the Holy Land’s alchemy sector. Those who were able to become Murphy’s workshop disciples were the cream of the crop. Before they finished their apprenticeship, they had to serve their teacher. They had to sign a Holy Land contract, which was a very reliable contract that protected both parties’ interests. It was much more reliable than that of the Federation’s. The Holy Land was the guardian of the contract and upheld it.