Chapter 150: Resilience

Lost in thought, a relatively slender and short figure in the sky was unexpectedly caught by the Golden-armored warrior, who seized the opportunity to get in close, delivering a massive sword strike that went “Bang!” right against his side.

Unsurprisingly, the young man, with silver metallic wings seemingly resonating with the enemy, immediately lost his balance under the enormous force, spiraling downward and “Thud!”—he burrowed into the thick snow, completely vanishing from sight.

“Whoa… that was a bit rough…”

Miss Vilyric observed closely; Lucas’s blow, though merely a physical impact without any sharper blade edge involved, certainly delivered real strength. Judging by the odd position of the Soul in midair, he must have broken several ribs at the very least.

While the Priestess might see it as no serious injury, easily fixable with a flick of her hand, for an ordinary person, even with healing potions or that strange Soul’s elixirs, it would be impossible to set those fractures right away.

Otherwise, what would we need Priests and healers for?

Grumbling silently to herself about this, Miss White Fox walked toward the spot where the Golden-armored warrior was descending.

“My lord…”

Lucas naturally sensed the recent spatial fluctuation and Miss Vilyric’s presence, and as the girl approached, he instinctively wanted to speak and bow, but Miss Vilyric subtly shook her head to stop him.

“How much time this time?”

“5 minutes and 24 seconds. He really has been improving, especially with the technique using the external wings you granted him. This human’s physique… it’s kind of unique.”

“Oh? What’s unique about it…?”

Just as the girl was about to ask for more details, they heard a “Puff!” nearby—one of the Gray-clothed Swordsmen, who had been smacked into the deep snow, was now clumsily crawling out of the drift.

“Huh?”

Surprised, Miss White Fox and the Golden-armored warrior turned their gazes together.

This was indeed unexpected.

As a competent Priestess, Miss Vilyric could say for sure that as long as this Soul’s body structure was still within normal biological limits—even if not human—Lucas’s recent strike would undoubtedly have broken several bones, possibly damaging his spine too.

From a normal person’s perspective, even if he were legendary, it was impossible to regain mobility so quickly.

In fact, Miss White Fox originally intended to have a brief chat with Lucas, inquire about recent happenings, and then go rescue that guy for some healing.

But he actually managed to wiggle out on his own?

Well, it makes sense…

Lucas had been pounding on him for about ten days now; it was only logical that even hitting a watermelon can yield some experience. He wasn’t about to hit the Soul so hard that it couldn’t even crawl, or else the so-called “test” would lose all meaning. Since he dared to act like that, he probably was confident it wouldn’t cause irreversible injuries.

“Puhaha… Hah!”

On another note, the Soul, just clambering out of the snow, was still lying on the ground, gasping for air as if he had been face-down long enough to suffocate.

And it looked like he had fully adapted to the cold here, not showing any discomfort despite not wearing the heavy coat Miss Vilyric had given him, presumably for flexibility.

Could it be related to that peculiar physique… this guy might actually be more impressive than he seems.

With that thought, Miss White Fox took the initiative to greet him.

“Looks like you’ve been doing well these past ten days?”

“That voice… Xī, Miss Xī!?”

It seemed the swordsman didn’t have Lucas’s high level of perception; combined with the snowstorm’s cover and his intense focus during battle, this legendary master only just noticed the arrival of beings beyond their two.

He hurriedly panicked, trying to rise and bow, but clearly, Lucas’s blow wasn’t entirely ineffective. The gray-clothed young man, lying on his back, squirmed like a fish out of water, gritting his teeth in pain but couldn’t immediately get back up.

“Puff…”

Even though he wanted to laugh, considering the need to maintain a “high person demeanor,” Miss White Fox managed to stifle herself from letting out any odd sounds and simply waved her hand.

“No need to be so formal; there’s no hierarchical relationship between us. Just stay calm.”

“Ah haha… sorry, it was instinctive…”

Gradually recovering from her long absence, the Soul took deep breaths and pulled out a porcelain bottle from his pocket, skillfully pouring the pills inside into his mouth, resting for a moment…

Then he slowly sat up from the snow, trying to twist his arms around a bit.

“…What’s this medicine? It seems to work quite well; did the Oracle give this to you?”

“Huh? Are you talking about this?”

Seeing Miss White Fox’s gaze linger on the porcelain bottle in his hands, the Soul paused briefly and then smiled wryly, stating openly.

“Miss Xī, it’s not really a miracle drug; it’s just a catalyst made specifically by my mentor to stimulate my physique traits. For an ordinary person… it’s more like a potent poison.”

With no intention of hiding anything, the gray-clothed swordsman stood up and handed the porcelain bottle to the girl before Miss Vilyric took it, casually pouring out a pill and examining it in her fingers for a moment.

Perfectly round, about the size of a fish eye, smooth on the surface, and completely black—like a ball of sludge waxed over.

Though curious to discover its effects, her 【Information Detection】 wasn’t all-powerful; for common materials without any energy fluctuations, she could only analyze their components, not display their effects in detail.

Coincidentally, though that Priestess excelled in healing, when it came to actual pharmacology, especially with local herbs… even with her book knowledge, she could at most discern about 30 or 40 percent of its properties, let alone mix and craft the finished product.

“Ah, I see…”

After staring for a while and not deriving any conclusions, Miss Vilyric pretended to think for a few moments before placing the pill back in the bottle and tossing it back to the now-stretching gray-clothed swordsman, who looked as if he had completely recovered.

It was hard to imagine that just a few minutes ago, this guy had just been clobbered down, lying in the snow as if he were half dead. Speaking of which… after that Faceless One incident, he seemed to have also quickly…

However, while Miss Vilyric was quite curious, she wouldn’t forcefully pry into secrets or privacy someone didn’t want to discuss. Since the Soul had previously glossed over the “physique” matter, it indicated that he didn’t wish to talk too much about it presently.

There was no need to nitpick every little detail.

So, Miss Vilyric directly shifted the topic back on track.

“I came here today to check on the situation and also to share some ideas I intend to discuss with you.”

Upon hearing Miss White Fox’s words, the Soul’s expression immediately grew solemn and serious, and he quickly bowed his head deeply.

“Thank you for your concern, Miss Xī. Please give your orders.”

“Well, soon, the Expeditionary Army will arrive in the City of Angels. I cannot entirely predict what will happen next. As the leader of the Lingyin Merchant Association, you must be shouldering significant responsibilities. You can’t stay here in this icy cold forever, practicing slowly. Therefore, I’ve considered slightly modifying the content of this first test.”

The gray-clothed youth raised his head, looking surprised for a moment before nodding in understanding.

“Miss Xī has given it much thought; I am immensely grateful. Although it’s a bit unfortunate… what adjustments do you plan to make?”

   

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