Chapter 196 196: Upgrade!
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Tang Li Xue and her perfect copy kept wandering around the palace and search for the key, but both of them met with countless traps along their way.
BAAAAAAANGGG~!!!
The floor below Tang Li Xue's feet vanished, and Tang Li Xue's body plunged down into the dark hole, but she did not panic at all.
She canceled her [Ethereal form] and used her [Energy Manipulation] to create a long rope with a grappling hook in an instant.
She swiftly threw it above on one side of the wall, and the grappling hook end stuck on it.
Tang Li Xue climbed back up using the long rope and jumped out of the dark hole.
'Sigh... this [Energy Manipulation] is really convenient! I should train more often on using this [Energy Manipulation], so I can raise my proficiency in using it faster.' Tang Li Xue sighed in relief and activated her [Ethereal form] again.
Tang Li Xue could avoid most of the traps with her [Ethereal form] such as landmines or hidden arrows, but this kind of trap hole that disappeared randomly still kept giving her a huge headache.
Meanwhile, Tang Li Xue's copy managed to meet with Hei Yinghao in the imperial kitchen.
"Silly Fox, what are you doing in the dining room? Searching for food?" Tang Li Xue's copy rolled her eyes to Hei Yinghao.
"Xue! Uh... no, actually, I wanted to search the gatekeeper room first to find the key, but I got lost and ended up here." Hei Yinghao blushed and tried to explain.
Tang Li Xue's copy thought that Hei Yinghao's plan made sense. Rather than searching blindly like this, it was better if they have a clear destination.
Tang Li Xue's copy peeked at the map made by her [Mapping] skill in her mind and saw only some places on the map that were already uncovered.
Imperial Kitchen, Imperial Study, Royal Dining Room, Hall of Ancestry Worship, Palace of Tranquility...
In short, they did not even know where the gate to the outside, so how could they find where the gatekeeper room.
"What a headache! Let's try to upgrade this [Mapping] skill first then... It's already at the Mastered level for quite a long time. I hope it will become more useful!" Tang Li Xue murmured while rubbing her forehead.
[Mapping skill already reached the Mastered level. Do you want to upgrade it to Mapping Sense with cost 10 Skill Points?]
"Ten Skill Points?! That's pretty expensive! Aren't it usually only need 3 skill points to upgrade any skills?" Tang Li Xue complained.
'Should I use 10 Skill Points to upgrade it or not? And... here I even already spent 79 Skill Points yesterday!' Tang Li Xue thought for a few moments before gritted her teeth and made up her mind.
'YES!'
[Mapping ability upgraded to Mapping Sense ability!]
Tang Li Xue widened her topaz blue eyes in shock and delight after she understood the [Mapping Sense]'s true ability.
This [Mapping Sense] ability did not have any different from the previous [Mapping] skill, but it allowed Tang Li Xue to place a single tracker onto whatever she wanted!
For example, if Tang Li Xue placed her tracker onto Hei Yinghao right now and made him wandering to the place where she never visited before, then the blank place in Tang Li Xue's map inside her mind will be uncovered too!
Then what if Tang Li Xue placed her tracker onto Instructor Mei Lan before the game started?
This [Mapping Sense] was surely a cheating ability to play hide and seek!
She could even stalk anyone easily with this [Mapping Sense]!
Tang Li Xue sucked a deep breath and kept blinking her eyes in astonishment as she thought: 'It's really worth it! No, this skill should worth more than 10 Skill Points!'
Tang Li Xue immediately urged her perfect copy to test this [Mapping Sense] by putting the tracker onto Hei Yinghao's body.
It seems she needs to make physical contact to put the tracker onto the target, so Tang Li Xue's copy grabbed Hei Yinghao's arm and put her tracker onto him.
Hei Yinghao immediately blushed as his face turned red like a prawn because Tang Li Xue's copy was suddenly holding his arm.
'So I can only put the tracker on the place where I touch? Since I only touched Silly Fox's sleeve, I can only put the tracker on his clothes? Doesn't it mean the tracker will be useless if he changed his clothes later?' Tang Li Xue thought for a while and told her perfect copy to touch Hei Yinghao's palm.
Hei Yinghao blushed even deeper when Tang Li Xue's copy holding his palm, but he did not refuse it and even grasped the copy's palm tighter.
Tang Li Xue's hand was so soft and smooth, the warmness of her slender fingers transferred to Hei Yinghao's palm, made his heart beating so hard that he felt suffocating, but his mind was completely filled with the euphoric feeling.
Tang Li Xue's copy pulled her hand away from Hei Yinghao's grasp. Actually, she only needs to brush her target's skin a bit to put her tracker, but she did not know about it before, that was why she held Hei Yinghao's palm tightly.
Hei Yinghao felt a bit disappointed when Tang Li Xue's copy pulled her hand away from his grasp, but he was still feeling really happy in his heart.
Tang Li Xue realized that after her copy put the second tracker on Hei Yinghao's palm, the first tracker she put on his clothes had vanished.
"Silly Fox, can you see something strange on your palm?" Tang Li Xue's copy asked Hei Yinghao curiously.
Hei Yinghao observed both of his palms for a few seconds, but he did not notice anything strange, while Tang Li Xue could see a black symbol on his right palm clearly.
"I don't see anything strange on my palm. Let me look at your palm!" Hei Yinghao smiled from ear to ear and shamelessly asked to hold Tang Li Xue's hand again.
Tang Li Xue's copy rolled her eyes at him and said: "Let's split up so we can find the key faster! I will go toward the east, so you can go toward the west!"
Tang Li Xue's copy did not wait to hear Hei Yinghao's answer and sprinted away from him.
Hei Yinghao did not have any time to react before Tang Li Xue's copy vanished from his view since he would never think Tang Li Xue would suggest them to split up after they gathered.
"Woman's heart is really hard to predict. First, she held my hand intimately. Then she abandoned me like this. Sigh... By the way, which way is the west again?" Hei Yinghao scratched his head in confusion while looking at right and left.
.....
...
.
The real Tang Li Xue was still searching for the key around the Military Hall, but she failed to find even any clue about the key whereabouts.
Tang Li Xue peeked at Hei Yinghao's current location with her [Mapping Sense] and realized that he was heading her way now.
'This Silly Fox! Didn't I already say that he can go to the west?! Why is he heading to the north now?!' Tang Li Xue pursed her pinkish lips in annoyance.
'Eh? He stopped?' Tang Li Xue widened her eyes in surprise when Hei Yinghao's direction turned erratic for a few moments.
However, he began to head toward her again after more than one minute.
Tang Li Xue felt something was not right since Hei Yinghao was heading toward her faster and faster.
Tang Li Xue decided to resummon her perfect copy back and use it to check Hei Yinghao's condition.
Tang Li Xue's copy came out from the Military Hall and stepped into the big courtyard outside the hall.
'Eh? There is no one here?' Tang Li Xue's copy frowned a bit and checked the map inside her mind.
'This is really strange! According to the map, he should be here already!' Tang Li Xue's copy raised her vigilance to the maximum when her [Spirit Perception] kept giving her a faint warning of danger.
'ABOVE!'
Tang Li Xue's copy tilted her head upward and saw a flash of the shadow moving toward her with lightning speed!
BBBBAAAAAAAANNGGG~!!!
Tang Li Xue's copy created a thick white shield with her [Energy Manipulation], but she still failed to block the powerful strike from the attacker!
The thick white shield shattered into countless tiny pieces.
Tang Li Xue's copy tried to turn her body to dodge the strike that aiming at her chest, but the attacker instantly adjusted the strike's trajectory and hit Tang Li Xue's stomach.
The copy's body flung backward for several meters before crashed onto the solid wall and embedded deep into it!
"Not bad! Among the six, only you and that black one could sense me and defend against my first attack." Instructor Mei Lan giggled while complemented Tang Li Xue's copy.
Tang Li Xue's copy coughed out several mouthfuls of blood as she struggled to get out of the hole in the wall.
Actually, this powerful strike would surely knock out Tang Li Xue's copy in one attack if she did not have all of her new skills such as: [Increase Evasion], [Decrease Reaction-Time], [Sharpen Mind], [Calculation], and [Prediction].
'My shield should have reduced the attack power of that strike by more than half, but it still wounded me this badly. The destructive power of the [Demonic Tune]'s vibration is really so great!' Tang Li Xue's copy spat out the blood in her mouth and stared back at Instructor Mei Lan.
Copy Start!
Name: Demonic Tune
Type: Divine Ability
Copy Completed!
'Let's see if I can try to use this [Demonic Tune] as good as she is!' Tang Li Xue' wiped the blood on her lips, but she painted her pinkish lips with the crimson blood color instead.