Chapter 961: How Should I Repay Him? Eva

"First question: What’s inside this special trait ring of yours?"

After Su Qingli left, Xu Jingming kept his mind net active to sense his surroundings and asked.

It’s called the Star Dome Ring.

Qiao Lin muttered softly, then spoke with a touch of gloom:

"Those two martial seals: one is an SSR-tier enhancement technique, the other an SSR-tier body cultivation art, each with two and three uses remaining respectively."

"Those three rare flowers and herbs are all SSS-tier—I planned to use them as ingredients for crafting SSS-tier pills later."

"As for those vials of pills, they’re all Grade Nine: the ‘Tianchun Pill’ for healing, and the ‘Ranxue Pill’ for desperate battles."

"And this last one is the Red Cloud Fruit—you know what that is."

After speaking in one breath, Qiao Lin felt her heart was bleeding.

These were all her accumulated treasures over the years, especially those SSS-tier rare flowers and herbs.

The pills she eventually crafted could help her break through from Eighth Peak to Ninth Rank!

But now, all this accumulation was gone.

"Oh?"

Xu Jingming’s eyes lit up with a smile: "Good. Now they’re all mine."

No wonder she was an SS-tier prodigy of the Xinhuo Divine Temple—her ring’s contents were worth more than most Lower Ninth Rank experts.

What intrigued him even more was that Qiao Lin had an SSR-tier body cultivation martial seal!

That SSR-tier body cultivation art might prove crucial for his absorption of the Magma Beast’s essence blood.

But now wasn’t the time to use the martial seal.

Suppressing his anticipation, Xu Jingming asked again:

"Second question: Why did you stay on the eighth level?"

Ambushing newcomers near the entrance to rob their space rings was indeed a smart idea.

But this was a trial opened by an unknown civilization—anyone who reached the highest level of the Breakthrough Tower first might gain the Noah civilization’s blessings!

Under these circumstances, delaying entry to the next level to rob others’ space rings was like picking up sesame seeds while losing a watermelon.

"Here, take a look yourself."

Qiao Lin seemed to have accepted her fate, waved her hand, and her smart armguard immediately projected a screen showing a progress bar with several lines of text below:

Void Stones consumed: /

"What’s this?" Xu Jingming frowned in confusion.

"It’s a virtual progress bar that appeared beside the teleportation channel to the next level."

Qiao Lin explained, "You must consume ten million Void Stones to activate the teleportation channel."

She waved again, and the holographic display shifted from the progress bar to a list.

'Fire Essence: Transforms elemental fire abilities into SS-tier, price: Void Stones.'

'Water Essence: Transforms elemental water abilities into SS-tier, price: Void Stones.'

'Supreme Divine Blood (Dragon): Transforms enhancement abilities into random SS-tier dragon-type abilities, price: Void Stones.'

'Supreme Divine Blood (Bear): Transforms enhancement abilities into random SS-tier bear-type abilities, price: Void Stones.'

'Fruit of Life God (SSR): Heals injuries, restores indestructible matter, removes all negative effects including poisoning, bottlenecks, weakness, etc., price: Void Stones.'

'Holy Yuan Pill (SSR): Enables an adept to break from Upper Eighth Rank to Ninth Rank with zero side effects, price: Void Stones.'

'......'

"This is the exchange list that appeared alongside the progress bar. Originally, the text was inscribed in Noah script by spiritual force, but it’s been translated into our language."

"You can exchange Void Stones for items on this list; the Void Stones spent accumulate onto the progress bar above."

Qiao Lin added.

"This is the depth of the Noah civilization? Truly terrifying!"

Xu Jingming’s eyes gleamed.

The list contained many items—besides resources costing hundreds of thousands of Void Stones to transform abilities into SS-tier, there were many other valuable goods.

The cheapest item required only ten thousand Void Stones to exchange.

"You need to accumulate ten million Void Stones to enter the next level."

"I’ve been stuck on the seventh level this long and only gathered three million Void Stones—it’ll take a long time before the next level opens."

"But judging from that lightning dragon that appeared, this level has monsters too, so I don’t need to worry too much."

"Also, I need to hurry and gather more Void Stones."

Xu Jingming thought silently.

Resources to transform abilities into SS-tier were extremely rare.

He himself didn’t need them, but he could give them to his teacher and Qiuyun and the others.

Plus, some of the SSR-tier fruits and pills on the list could be useful to him too.

"Next question: Where in this area are the fiercest beasts most numerous..."

While Xu Jingming interrogated Qiao Lin and others to gather intelligence, Su Qingli also arrived at the underground chamber.

"Eva, how do I use the Red Cloud Fruit?"

Su Qingli asked softly.

Eva had suggested the Red Cloud Fruit as the solution to remove her side effects.

For convenience, Eva’s main consciousness had entered her space ring and came down here with her.

"Peel the skin and eat the flesh."

Under little Eva’s guidance, Su Qingli peeled back the crimson outer skin of the Red Cloud Fruit, revealing the molten-red flesh inside, like lava.

She opened her mouth and chewed and swallowed the flesh in a few bites.

Immediately after swallowing it all, her body reacted.

Heat! Her entire body felt as if submerged in a pool of molten lava!

No—it was even hotter than that!

The SSR-tier heavenly treasure she had used was called ‘Tianyuan Earth Milk,’ which could help her break through to Ninth Rank within a few years.

But it also left irreversible damage to the meridians absorbing Yuan energy.

Over the years, she’d tried other heavenly treasures to heal the damage, but none worked.

Now, under this searing heat, the damaged meridians began repairing themselves!

"It’s working!"

Su Qingli’s face flushed with excitement.

One minute later, the burning sensation faded slowly, and the previously broken meridians were restored to their original state.

"The Red Cloud Fruit’s effect has passed. Try now—can you absorb Yuan energy?"

With nervous anticipation, Su Qingli began practicing her ability cultivation method.

Whoosh—

Yuan energy from the air flowed into her body.

Previously, this energy could never be absorbed or converted into her own power.

But now, it entered through her pores, spreading along her meridians throughout her body.

Continuously strengthening her physique and spiritual power.

"Success! My side effects are gone!"

Su Qingli, usually cold and composed, lost all her former calm.

Her fair face glowed with excitement, and her well-developed chest rose and fell rapidly.

Four years!

She had been stuck at Lower Ninth Rank for four years!

In those four years, not a single moment passed without her dreaming of absorbing Yuan energy and breaking through again!

And now, her dream had finally become reality!

After a long while, her excitement gradually calmed.

"All of this is thanks to Jingming."

"Without him, I wouldn’t have known about the Red Cloud Fruit, let alone obtained it from Qiao Lin."

"So the question is—how should I repay him..."

Su Qingli fell into deep thought.

The Thunder Martial Hall had already been promised away.

With Xu Jingming’s current strength, she couldn’t help him further.

But by her principles, such a great debt must be repaid.

"Wait—I still have Eva. I can ask her."

Su Qingli remembered Eva, the artificial intelligence, and quickly asked.

"Sister Su wants to repay an S-rank...?"

Little Eva’s lips curled into a charming smile. "Simple. Give yourself to him."