Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 339: Sequence Three

"Honestly, it was simple enough — just the right time, the right place, and the right bird. The real hero was Adai. Without him, I probably — no, I definitely would have died."

Li Wei said it lightly, but Liang Yuzhi could hear the lingering fear beneath every word.

That had been genuinely too close.

She opened her mouth to say something, then sighed and patted him on the head. "Looks like Xiao Yue and I can stop worrying. With your strength, Cross-Border Missions should be no problem — as long as your luck doesn't completely abandon you. But you still need to tell me everything, every single detail, nothing left out. I need the full picture."

"Aunt Liang, is that really necessary? We could have breakfast together instead. I'm craving sauerkraut fish." Li Wei smiled.

Liang Yuzhi shook her head with unusual gravity. "No. You have to tell me. Those Barbarians worship ancient Mages. If there was a caster among them who memorized your face, then when you go on Cross-Border Missions in the future, you could be targeted by curses and bounties."

That made Li Wei's skin crawl. He suddenly remembered the old Neanderthal shaman in the camp — the one who had severed his own life force. The look in those eyes at the moment of death. The kind that said: I will know you even as ash.

Hell.

He didn't dare hold anything back. He started from over ten days ago and worked forward — until he reached the part about the Weir Duke dispatching the rough-edged warrior. Liang Yuzhi stopped him there.

"Don't go further. Anything involving the Weir Duke stays unsaid. Alright — this battle of yours was truly a case of the fearless calf charging the tiger. Far too reckless. Remember this: never be so impulsive again. That's how people end up drowning in a ditch.""But you really are something. A natural scout. Good with geography since you were little, I'd guess."

"Not particularly — average grades. But I genuinely never got lost, even as a kid. Oh — Aunt Liang, I picked up a few pieces of equipment. I was going to give some to you and Aunt Yue. Which would you want?"

Li Wei produced the enchanted gear from yesterday's purple drop cards. Good things went to family first.

Liang Yuzhi smiled slightly, looking pleased. She started to wave it off, but ultimately chose an Enchanted Cavalry Shield. "I've been needing a shield. This is good. The rest — I'm fine without. My engineer's shovel is solid enough, and as a caster I don't get into close range often. But the Enchanted Cavalry Shield and the Enchanted Two-Handed Long Blade — leave those for Xiao Yue, she'll use them. As for this Enchanted Lance..." She paused. "Actually, you keep it."

"I'm no good with lances. But Aunt Liang — those two Neanderthals also dropped some Profession Cards and two Pet Cards. One of them is a Four-Star Warhorse. Could you help me upgrade it to Five-Star?" Li Wei asked.

"Ha — kid, you really don't treat your aunt like an outsider, do you? It's not that easy. Adai advancing to Five-Star was largely because he absorbed an extremely powerful spiritual imprint — if I'm not mistaken, it was the final boss you encountered in the rookie world. That's not replicable. A Four-Star Hunting Pet is already exceptional, but to reach Five-Star, you need materials at that final-boss level as a foundation. Of course, if you use the Five-Star Magic Materials dropped by this year's special boss, there's a reasonable chance of upgrading a Hunting Pet to Five-Star — but it depends on luck."

"Xiao Wei, you need to treasure Adai. Look at yourself — calling him back and forth like a delivery bird. You have absolutely no appreciation for what a Five-Star Hunting Pet is worth."

"You're running two bases right now. Adai flies two round trips a day between them, carrying information, intelligence, and supplies without complaint. Do you have any idea what kind of advantage that is? Oh — and now you can apply to build another Magic Ore Vein. I'd recommend saving that for November, right as the Radiation Storm is ending."

"And I strongly suggest you make sure the special boss comes to Riverside Fortress this year. You understand what I mean? Once the Magic Ore Vein is built and upgraded one level, it starts at 100 units of magical energy. At that point, both the main base and Riverside Fortress can each build an Arbitrary Door using those two Ore Veins. You'll need 100,000 gold coins ready for that."

"Also — you mentioned dropped Profession Cards. What did you get? Let me see — what the — a Rare Card? A Rare Druid Transformation Card? What the — what the —"

Even Liang Yuzhi, who had seen everything, was struck speechless. It took her a long moment to recover. Then she looked at Li Wei with an expression that was difficult to read.

"Do you know — for twenty years, I've been chasing a Druid Transformation Card. This thing... it's not an ordinary Profession Card. It's not even a rare one in the usual sense. It's an advanced card that hasn't been unlocked in Weir Province yet."

"I told you before — we currently have four main professions: Warrior, Ranger, Knight, Caster. Think of it this way: if you were killed by a Barbarian right now, your body would drop four Profession Cards. And there would be a very, very small chance of also dropping a Night Ranger Card. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"This Druid Transformation Card — it didn't exist on that Neanderthal in any formed state. It was still potential, still unmanifest. You essentially seized his future destiny and core power. Even if he's revived, he'll go back as a vegetable, living out his days in peace."

"For us, that's the most terrifying possible outcome. Fortunately the odds are tiny. And you — what absurd luck."

"I only have the Wolf's Thousand-Mile March Slaughter Title." Li Wei himself was beginning to feel his luck had been excessive.

"Wolf's Thousand-Mile March? You got Wolf's Thousand-Mile March?" Liang Yuzhi's reaction was even bigger than before. Aunt Liang — you're a Five-Star veteran. You shouldn't be looking this wide-eyed.

"How did you get it? Wait — was it from killing Scar Glenn? In that case... it's not just luck." She muttered, and the envy drained out of her. She knew perfectly well how dangerous and complex the conditions of that kill had been — during the Radiation Storm, no less.

Nothing like the easy wins others had stumbled into. She herself couldn't compare. When she'd completed her own pioneering mission back then, the circumstances were nothing like this.

So it made sense.

Wolf's Thousand-Mile March wasn't evaluated by the Weir Duke or the Locke Kingdom. It was evaluated by the All-Heavens Lord Alliance itself — high difficulty, high value.

It wasn't simply that Li Wei had killed Scar Glenn. It was that Li Wei, as a Three-Star Lord on only his second mission world, had single-handedly toyed with Chu Wushuang like a dog during the Radiation Storm, then killed Scar Glenn in a way that defied all probability. That was what gave the title its worth.

Two high schoolers fighting was unremarkable.

Li Wei was a grade schooler who had demolished a high schooler.

Liang Yuzhi went quiet. Li Wei, curious, asked: "Aunt Liang — why does Weir Province only have four professions unlocked? That doesn't seem right."

She gave him a flat look. "Your territory only has the Riverside Knights established, so only the Knight profession can be advanced there. Why aren't you complaining about that?"

"That's different—" Li Wei started automatically, then froze. The next second, something clicked. He felt a chill run through him as the implication hit.

Liang Yuzhi watched him with a meaningful expression. Neither of them said anything more on the subject. It was too unsettling to pursue.

After a long silence, Liang Yuzhi stood.

"Keep that Transformation Card. When you reach Five-Star, bind and activate it as your fifth profession — that's within the rules. And Druid actually overlaps significantly with Scout, Hunter, and Woodcutter. But I've heard that even after binding the card, what you can transform into has conditions — it depends on your Ordinary Titles. So starting now, you can deliberately grind animal-themed titles: Bear, Wolf, Dog, whatever. Or find some minor missions to grind them when you have time."

"Oh — and those three blueprints you sent me. The first one I gave to Xuanxuan. She can use it to build an Enchanted Catapult. Once she masters it, she'll probably awaken a hidden attribute."

"The second blueprint is for crafting components for magical tools — necessary for developing a Magic Ore Vein, though not particularly rare."

"The third blueprint is the most valuable. It's a Sequence Three Magic Crest. Very rare. The Magic Crest you're using now is only Sequence One. The one I promised to make for you would only reach Sequence Two. So — keep working hard. As long as we survive this year's special boss and next year's Frost Duke's Ability User Legion, we've essentially locked in the win."

"Aunt Liang — you think the Frost Duke won't attack until next year?"

"Without question. They already probed us a few days ago. With our Magic Ore Vein and 100 units of magical energy in reserve, the Frost Duke isn't stupid. We treat him as the final boss — and he treats you as the final boss. That's the reality."

"And this ultimate confrontation will almost certainly not bend to your will or his."

Liang Yuzhi seemed to have grasped something she wasn't saying directly. Her words had taken on a veiled, layered quality. But Li Wei could guess what she meant — she probably believed the Weir Duke had intervened, and that this pioneering mission, originally triggered by the civil-military exchange, had been drawn into a much larger game.

"Alright, I'm leaving. That Sequence Three Magic Crest needs serious study. I don't know yet if I can even make it."

"Oh — one more thing. Don't exchange the Barbarian gold coins right now. Wait until you're back in Weir City. The exchange rate is one-to-one, yes, but they charge a 10% handling fee—"

Even as she spoke, Liang Yuzhi was already pulling from her Resource Card: a steaming bowl of sauerkraut fish, a bowl of poached fish in chili oil, a pot of mushroom and pork broth, and a basket of freshly steamed buns.

Aunt Liang was the best.