Chapter 495: [Identification Technique]

Amidst their shock, the crowd continued their actions, controlling the alchemical machine to drag the Blackwing Scale Snake onto the dock.

Its massive body coiled and piled together, emitting a strong fishy stench.

The huge wound on its head was even more astonishing, clearly indicating how fierce the battle had been.

“Master Mage, mighty indeed!” someone couldn’t help but praise.

“This is a second-rank geopulse creature—yet you’re so young and already a second-circle mage,” another marveled.

Under normal circumstances, only a second-circle mage could slay a second-rank geopulse creature.

So this understanding was perfectly reasonable.

Of course, Gao De wouldn’t bother explaining or correcting them.

Just thinking that he had truly slain a powerful second-rank geopulse creature, Gao De unconsciously brushed his hand against the hilt of Northwind.

This was no comparison to Aldrich, that “fake second-circle mage”—the Blackwing Scale Snake was a genuine second-rank beast, formidable in combat.

Though he had relied on the power of Zhen Ice Magic Weapon, nonetheless, he had now demonstrated the ability to kill a second-rank geopulse creature alone.

As a first-circle mage.

In the rigid hierarchy of the mage system, achieving such a feat brought no less satisfaction than solving the final, hardest problem on a college entrance math exam.

Amid the exhilaration, Gao De was even more awed by Su Nai’s power.

If a first-circle mage overcoming a second-rank foe was already this difficult, how much harder would it be for a fourth-circle mage to defeat a fifth-rank one?

He wondered whether he’d ever attain such an extraordinary power.

At least for now, it seemed extremely unlikely.

But nothing was certain.

Because each time a mage ascends a circle, their newly awakened specialization offers a chance to “leap over the dragon’s gate.”

Perhaps his next ascension would awaken some earth-shattering combat specialization.

“This monster has appeared repeatedly lately, terrifying everyone—but Master Mage, you slew it on your very first day! You’ve truly removed a great threat for us!”

“Sea Sentinel Mages are truly Sea Sentinel Mages—one move and you know their worth.”

“.”

Over there, the crowd continued their exclamations.

Listening to their chatter, Gao De smiled faintly.

To be honest, seeing their stunned expressions and hearing their heartfelt praise felt good.

No one dislikes compliments, especially sincere ones.

“Help me process its corpse and deliver it to” Gao De spoke, giving his address, then added: “As for the snake meat, each of you take five catties.”

This was payment.

When asking others for help, payment must be given.

Upon hearing Gao De’s words, everyone’s eyes lit up.

The flesh of a second-rank geopulse creature was highly valuable.

Snake meat, especially, was a potent tonic, worth even more.

“Thank you, Master Mage!”

“Leave it to us!”

“Rest assured—we’ll handle it perfectly!”

As for Gao De now

He first took out the capybara bag, gently called to the lake water, and retrieved Tuanzi.

Then

Go back and sleep like a log!

Back at the inn.

Gao De removed his blood-stained clothes and unfastened the rune gear.

On his chest, a deep bruise, its color nearly black.

The Blackwing Scale Snake’s final, powerful tail strike, carrying the force of a thousand catties, had landed squarely on Gao De’s chest.

Even with dual protection from Shield Spell and rune gear, he still suffered serious injury from the second-rank geopulse creature’s overwhelming strength.

The moment he confirmed the Blackwing Scale Snake was dead, Gao De cast a Healing Spell on himself.

Yet even so, the bruised skin remained swollen.

Every breath sent sharp, dull pain through his chest, like a blunt knife slicing flesh.

Gao De knew healing magic alone wasn’t enough.

He focused inward, channeling his dwindling mana to cast [Gem Berry Shu +].

The Gem Berries created by [Gem Berry Shu +] also possessed healing properties.

After obtaining the Gem Berries, Gao De swallowed them one after another, consuming eight in total—the maximum limit—then stopped.

A warm energy spread and diffused across his chest.

Then he channeled more mana to cast [Comfortable Slumber+].

As the spell took effect, a warm, soothing sensation enveloped him; his body relaxed, and his tense nerves gradually eased.

He could no longer hold on—he collapsed onto the bed and fell into deep, snoring sleep.

During Comfortable Slumber, his injury recovery rate doubled.

Moreover, when he had endured frostbite, [Adaptive] had already increased his body’s recovery capability to 79.6%.

That amounted to four stacked buffs.

Thus, as Gao De slept, the bruise on his chest visibly faded—from nearly black to deep purple, then purplish-red, until finally regaining some reddish hue.

The swelling also slowly receded.

Gao De was woken by a knock at the door.

But it had been nearly six hours since he fell asleep; even without disturbance, he would have woken naturally soon.

It was the Peacekeeping Office.

After hours of labor, they had finally processed and dissected the massive corpse of the Blackwing Scale Snake and delivered it to his address as requested.

The Blackwing Scale Snake was six to seven meters long; even just the cut meat weighed over six hundred catties.

Of course, the most valuable parts were its scales; its gallbladder and blood were also excellent alchemical ingredients.

This single Blackwing Scale Snake, due to its abundant edible meat, had a total value exceeding five hundred Jin Quehua coins.

—Killing monsters was always extremely profitable.

But most geopulse creatures lived in remote wilderness.

Even if a mage slew them, without legendary space-storage equipment, they could only carry back a few high-value, lightweight parts based on their own carrying capacity.

Gao De had always operated this way before.

But this time was different.

In inland waterways near the city, where water beasts were cleared, boats were commonly used for transport, making it easy to bring back entire corpses.

Gao De thanked the delivery crew and gave each of them one catty of snake meat as thanks.

Then he stored the goods in his room and took out a few “samples” to leave.

But he wasn’t going out to eat.

Eight Gem Berries filled his stomach—he wouldn’t be hungry for at least this day.

Gao De went out to find buyers for the snake meat.

The scales and other parts he could take back to Duoen and sell slowly at his own Wolma Magic Materials shop.

But six hundred catties of meat? Impossible to carry.

And unlike scales, which kept well for half a year, snake meat was freshest—and most valuable—when newest.

Edible geopulse meat had no shortage of buyers in a big city like Broster.

There were many wealthy locals who loved this delicacy.

So Gao De simply visited two upscale restaurants; aside from keeping a small portion for Tuanzi to change his diet, he sold all the rest.

At an average of five silver dragons per catty, he earned three hundred Jin Quehua coins.

Add the military merit soon to be claimed, this mission’s total earnings exceeded eight hundred Jin Quehua coins.

With the mission complete, Gao De had no reason to linger in Broster.

He spent half a day walking carefully through the city—and indeed, collected over ten new tree species he hadn’t gathered before.

The next morning.

Gao De checked out, packed his belongings, and boarded the earliest airship back to Duoen.

Abyss White Tower.

Supply Office.

“Submit mission.” Gao De strode in boldly and placed a bulging cloth sack on the table.

Old Neil looked up, recognized Gao De, and was slightly surprised: “Back so soon? You finished this mission quickly.”

Having worked in the Supply Office for years, he knew most water beast clearance missions took seven to eight days from assignment to submission.

Gao De had taken this mission on the afternoon of Spring Bud Month 1st—and now it was only the morning of the 4th.

Even his previous mission, [Crab Infestation Risk], was still in its observation period.

This extraordinary efficiency made him feel almost incredulous.

As he marveled, Old Neil expertly untied the sack to inspect the goods.

The sack opened, revealing a fearsome triangular head.

A pair of emerald-green vertical pupils sent a chill through the heart.

The top of the skull was a mess—shattered scales and dried blood intertwined, exposing bone; it was clear the creature had suffered immense injuries and trauma before death.

“This is…” Old Neil’s mouth slightly parted as he stared at the massive triangular head. “A second-rank Blackwing Scale Serpent? You killed it?”

Not only did he complete the task within three days—but exceeded it?

Recalling how Gao De had previously defeated Second-Ring Aldrich and earned three Second-Class Merits at once, he’d thought luck had played a part.

Once might be luck.

Twice? Then there must be a necessary cause.

Old Neil couldn’t help but scrutinize Gao De from head to toe.

How could a commoner mage accomplish what noble mages struggled to achieve?

“I killed it. You may not know, Master Neil, but the specialty I awakened upon reaching First-Ring is combat-oriented, especially effective against geopaths—so slaying monsters is much easier for me…”

Gao De revealed partial truths, attributing his ability to repeatedly defeat higher-ranked foes entirely to his specialty.

It was a universal explanation.

Because specialties awaken randomly; no one knows what kind a mage will awaken or what they can achieve with it.

Deep down, Old Neil still found it hard to believe.

Specialties are important—everyone agrees—but could one specialty truly let Gao De overcome Shen Ming’s level suppression? He still doubted it.

At that moment, Gao De smiled “sheepishly” at Old Neil. “Can this count as a Second-Class Merit?”

Old Neil fell silent, flipped through the mission sheet, carefully verified it, then nodded. “According to mission classification, you earn one Second-Class Merit.”

Gao De smiled.

Though not as rewarding as his last haul of three Second-Class Merits, that mission had been far more complex and carried additional rewards.

One Second-Class Merit was more than enough.

On the Sea Sentinels’ Second-Class Merit exchange list, apart from the Berry of the Gods, every other rare First-Ring spell formula cost exactly one Second-Class Merit.

That meant another rare spell formula in hand.

“By the way, this too,” he pulled out the brain of the Sawtooth Puffer he’d slain on his first night at Lake Es Mier . Much smaller than the serpent’s head. “Besides the second-rank Blackwing Scale Serpent, I unexpectedly found a first-rank Sawtooth Puffer and took care of it.”

Master Neil picked up the Sawtooth Puffer’s brain, examined it carefully, then said: “First-rank Sawtooth Puffer. That’s one Third-Class Merit.”

Gao De nodded, satisfied.

Little by little, enough Third-Class Merits could be exchanged for spell formulas.

Old Neil had already taken a parchment from his drawer and began meticulously recording Gao De’s latest military merits.

Moments later, after finishing the record, Old Neil looked up—and found Gao De still standing there.

“Is there something else?”

“Master Neil, I’d like to exchange this Second-Class Merit for the spell formula of [Identification].” Gao De made his exchange request.

During his last review of the exchange list, he’d already planned which spell formula he’d claim next.

So the moment he received the merits, he made the request without hesitation.

Master Neil blinked in surprise.

Mages who immediately used their merits upon earning them were rare.

Still, he quickly recovered, filled out the exchange form, had Gao De sign it, then summoned staff to take both the mission record and exchange request for review.

About half an hour later, the staff returned with the spell formula Gao De requested.

“Thank you.” Gao De took the formula, bowed, left the supply office, and headed straight for the finance office to claim reimbursement.

Old Neil picked up the approved military merit record and stood.

He went to the internal archives of the supply office and found Gao De’s merit ledger.

The ledger was still new.

Old Neil placed the new merit record inside.

“I’ll earn another Second-Class Merit soon.”

For some reason, he suddenly recalled what Gao De had said last time when exchanging a Second-Class Merit for a common First-Ring spell formula.

Back then, he’d wanted to warn Gao De that Second-Class Merits weren’t easy to earn.

But seeing those three Second-Class Merits, he’d held his tongue.

Now… Gao De had proven his “boast” was no empty words.

“His momentum is far greater than Jia Deng’s was back then,” Old Neil murmured.

Jia Deng’s sudden rise had made many believe he’d eventually enter the “Light Sentinels.”

But the outcome far exceeded anyone’s expectations.

Now, with another “Jia Deng” appearing, Old Neil’s first instinct was unease.

Yet he couldn’t say exactly what he was worried about.

First floor of the Mage Tower lobby.

After completing reimbursement, Gao De stood once more before the crystal panel, selecting missions.

But luck had run out.

This time, every mission listed on the crystal panel had level restrictions—minimum Second-Ring mage.

All tasks above have level restrictions, with the lowest restricted to Second-Ring Mages.

Among mages, First-Ring mages vastly outnumbered Second-Ring mages.

But among Sea Sentinels, it was reversed.

Here, Second-Ring mages were the most numerous.

Under such conditions, it was common for First-Ring mages to find no missions available.

First, such low-rank missions were often handled locally by town guards—no need to report to Sea Sentinels.

Second, such missions were rare to begin with, so competition was fierce; few ever remained unclaimed.

To ensure mission efficiency and success rates, Sea Sentinels always rated missions beforehand and imposed strict level restrictions.

Below the required level? No mission could be accepted.

But Sea Sentinels had considered that some mages might be truly extraordinary, possessing cross-rank combat power.

Thus, beyond strict level limits, they added an exception: military rank.

A mage could accept a mission if either their mage rank or military rank met the requirement.

For example, missions restricted to Second-Ring and above could be accepted by anyone with military rank of Warrant Officer or higher, regardless of mage level.

Of course, this was irrelevant to Gao De, a mere First-Class Probationary Mage.

He maintained good spirits.

No missions today? Then return home, reflect, and wait.

(End of Chapter)

(End of Chapter)