Chapter 50: The Correct Way to Use the Summoning Ring

“Στοιχε?οεδ?φου?。”

On the street, a massive magical array appeared on the ground, and a giant earth elemental emerged from it.

It gathered surrounding cement slabs to form a body ten meters tall, nearly as high as a four-story building.

As it walked, it emitted thunderous roars, leaving deep footprints on the cement road.

Fang Shi watched this scene, sneered, and kicked off from the tenth floor, leaping straight down.

Carrying the force of gravitational potential, he thrust forward with his sword.

“Piercing attack activated.”

“Target struck hard.”

“You dealt 20 points of damage to the target.”

“Crash!”

Half of the earth elemental’s head, over a meter wide, exploded.

Shattered stones sprayed into the air.

Even the earth elemental’s innate 12-point armor could not withstand Fang Shi’s strike.

“Summoning Ring III (Earth Elemental)”

“Durability: 6”

“Endurance: 10”

“Quality: First Rank”

“Effect: This ring permanently holds a Level Three Monster Summoning spell, restricted to summoning earth elementals. Usage: 0/1 (auto-recharges).”

“Weight: 5 grams”

“Evaluation: This was a wizard’s casual creation, later falling into the hands of a pair of Shi Long spouses, then becoming a young dragon’s treasured possession.”

Long before Fang Shi obtained this summoning ring for the earth elemental, he had already prepared for this day.

Had it not been for the scarcity of primal energy on Blue Star, which slowed the ring’s energy recharge,

Fang Shi would have summoned and slain the earth elemental five days ago.

A Level Three Monster Summoning spell always summons a First Rank creature.

Turth, had it not been for the secret realm’s mechanics and being tricked by the system’s hidden power, would never have awkwardly summoned four Level Five earth elementals.

This earth elemental was specifically reserved by Fang Shi as the target for his first kill of a First Rank creature.

To claim the reward for the first kill of a First Rank creature.

Had it not been for the requirement that earth elemental summoning demand a suitable environment—stone or other earth-based material—

Fang Shi would not have summoned it on the ground; he would have summoned it from a hundred-meter-high building and dropped it to its death.

That would have been far easier than this battle.

“Boom!”

The earth elemental, with half its head shattered, did not die—it seemed its energy core was not in its head.

Its remaining mouth let out a thunderous roar.

“Crash!”

The earth elemental went completely berserk; blinded, it charged wildly in all directions.

Cars were crushed into iron pancakes; tall buses were flung into the air.

Fang Shi had already leapt off the elemental’s body and climbed to the rooftop of a nearby building, moving across the rooftops.

When he reached a large building, Fang Shi deliberately ran to the elemental’s side and mocked it.

The elemental’s remaining ear twitched.

Hearing the sound of its enemy, it ignored everything and slammed into the building beside it.

“Boom!”

The ten-story building was punched clean through with a human-shaped crater.

【Double Force】

Fang Shi unleashed again.

He now possessed 17 points of strength.

When Fang Shi killed the Level Six Firefeather, he received a Level Six first-kill reward.

The reward was a bronze chest.

From it, he obtained a Giant’s Belt.

“Giant’s Belt I”

“Durability: 4”

“Endurance: 10”

“Quality: First Rank”

“Effect: When worn, your Strength attribute increases by 1 point.”

“Weight: 150 grams”

“Evaluation: What kind of giant’s belt is this?

I’ve never seen such a weak giant.”

This one point of strength coursed through Fang Shi’s body as if he had always possessed 17 points.

No resistance, perfect execution—that was the wonder of a magical item.

Combined with the Double Force boost, it equated to 22 points of strength.

Add the acceleration from gravity and the advantage of his sword piercing a single point, his strike was earth-shattering.

The earth elemental did not stand idle; it had already clenched its fist and punched upward.

“Crash!”

A massive collision occurred; had Fang Shi not deliberately made noise, the elemental’s agility would never have reacted in time.

He deliberately waited for the elemental to punch, then did not dodge—he charged straight into the elemental’s massive fist.

A violent recoil surged through him; Fang Shi calmly dropped his sword and shook his arm repeatedly to dissipate the force.

He pulled out a small knife and slid it down the elemental’s arm.

Because force is reciprocal, Fang Shi’s strike caused the elemental’s entire arm to shatter.

This was one of the earth elemental’s weaknesses: though its body was made of rock and incredibly hard, its toughness was abysmal.

Any significant damage would cause it to spontaneously disintegrate.

Had it been a flesh-and-blood creature of equal size, Fang Shi could never have achieved such results.

He could only pierce it like a toothpick, and that would be the end of it.

This shattering was fatal—the earth elemental lost its balance and collapsed onto the building.

“Crash!”

Fang Shi ran down the elemental’s body, grabbed the axe he had placed aside, and swung it at the elemental.

This was why he chose to fight the earth elemental here.

Fang Shi had already ordered Zhaowen Army to prepare certain items, to avoid the accident of his steel sword flying from his hand—and also to confirm the building was empty.

Otherwise, Fang Shi could not have retrieved his steel sword now.

It was buried under a pile of massive rocks; in the midst of this fierce battle, going to find the sword would have been suicide.

“Crash! Crash! Crash!”

This axe was a heavy chopping axe meant for firewood; no one knew where Zhaowen Army had found it.

With each swing, the sluggish earth elemental could not resist.

Even though the First Rank giant earth elemental had an agility equivalent to 12 points,

to Fang Shi, it was utterly inadequate.

It became nothing but a lamb awaiting slaughter, torn apart limb by limb under Fang Shi’s blows.

“Slashing attack activated.”

“Target received fatal damage.”

“You dealt 6 points of damage to the target.”

“Target deceased.”

“Extracting target’s soul energy. You gain 210×[1(base)+0.2(level-up)×1+1(rank-up)]=462 experience points, 46.2 survival points.”

“Detection: Player has reached Level 5.”

“You have obtained partial information on the advanced class Earth Sword Saint.”

“You have obtained partial information on the advanced class Earth Axe King.”

“Crash!”

This was not over. Fang Shi leapt along the elemental’s body and reached its right arm.

Carefully hacking and digging, he finally extracted a fist-sized energy core.

The energy core was earth-yellow, like a fine amber gem, with dark stone sediment settled within—it was the essence of earth elemental power.

Normally, elemental beings’ energy cores immediately return to the Elemental Plane upon death.

But the attribute panel was too overbearing: when the earth elemental’s life ended, it directly drained the soul energy from the core.

Thus, the earth elemental’s soul within the core perished.

It could not even return to the Elemental Plane.

Moreover, this extraction has a very high priority; Fang Shi has hardly ever heard of any monster that can resist it.

Even the followers of deities are dragged away without mercy.

In other words, if killed by someone from Blue Star, you can’t even become a ghost, let alone reach Heaven or Hell.

That’s why Fang Shi went to such great lengths to kill the earth element and obtain its energy core.

Otherwise, why bother? He could have simply used Weakness Insight to shatter the energy core directly—making the fight much simpler.

Of course, this is only possible because Fang Shi’s current raw power is strong enough; otherwise, it would all be futile.

“Splash!”

As Fang Shi pulled out the steel sword, he heard footsteps approaching.

“Tap-tap-tap.”

A young militia member walked over, carrying a massive travel pack.

“Advisor Fang, Commander Zhao sent me to deliver these to you.”

He wiped his sweat as he set the pack down.

“Thud!”

Fang Shi tried lifting it—heavens, it weighed close to fifty kilograms. Zhao Wen Army doesn’t care if he kills me with this.

Of course, that was a joke.

He currently has 17 points of strength—equivalent to a clean jerk of 280 kilograms—so fifty kilograms is effortless.

Though it slightly reduces agility, Fang Shi’s innate aura keeps the Firewing Birds far away.

As for the zombies? Just a bunch of trash.

“Tell them I’m leaving right away.”

Without waiting for the young militia member to reply, he took a few strides and vanished swiftly.

“So graceful. So powerful,” the young militia member murmured.

He had watched the entire battle between Fang Shi and the earth element from afar—such a massive creature could have caused a disaster even before the apocalypse.

Though the super-large earth element had low agility, its sheer size meant its charge speed reached over twenty meters per second.

Anyone with even slightly slower reflexes was reduced to a pile of pulp.

The young militia member stared at Fang Shi’s retreating back, filled with deep envy.

“I wish I could have strength like that.”

…

“Name: Fang Shi”

“Race: Human”

“Attributes: Strength 17 (+1), Agility 16, Constitution 16, Intelligence 14, Perception 21, Charm 15”

“Class: Level 5 Martial Master”

“HP: 56/56”

“Experience: 625/15000”

“Attribute Points: 2”

“Survival Points: 1572.5”

“Race Specialization: Versatile I”

“Life Skills: Focus 12…”

“Class Skills: Stealth 8…”

“Personal Trait: Extraordinary Perception”

“Personal Specialties: Iron Will I, Athlete I, Photographic Memory I, Resilience I, True Dragon Armor III, Fang’s Breathing Method III, Divine Step I, Lightning Reflexes II, Weakness Insight I, Longsword Mastery I”

“Class Specialties: Gale Combo I, Unarmed Attack I, Steel Bones I, Shatter Punch I, Reflexive Evasion I, Master of Initiative I, Cannon Punch I, Leap Step I, Immunity to All Illnesses I”

“【Immunity to All Illnesses I】: Martial Masters can control their body’s immune system. They are immune to all diseases except those of supernatural or magical origin (e.g., Corpse Rot, Beast Transformation).”

This was Fang Shi’s current profile.

Having reached Level 5, he was even stronger.

Moreover, the injury to his foot had fully healed after days of rest.

Fang Shi was eager to set out and seek the path to greater strength.

He had already decided on that path: find the Trial Tower.

The Trial Tower was a structure that descended upon human settlements after the apocalypse—every town inhabited by humans had one.

As the name suggests, its purpose was to let players undertake trials.

The main reward for completing them was accelerated efficiency in training skills and specialties.

Such a powerful effect—simple and brutal.

This was one reason why Blue Star’s humans rapidly produced legendary experts after the apocalypse.

In other realms, how many legendary experts didn’t endure decades, even centuries of hardship to rise?

Only a few divine descendants and geniuses could reach legend status within just a few years.

But on Blue Star, such cases were common—that was the power of the Trial Tower combined with the attribute panel.

Fang Shi liked to stay on the rooftop and gaze into the distance precisely to search for the Trial Tower.

Though called a tower, it was only about ten meters tall.

In a city filled with high-rises, it was hard to spot.

Moreover, this tower had another trait: it vanished suddenly and reappeared randomly anywhere in the city.

Thus, even after his rebirth, Fang Shi didn’t know where the Trial Tower would appear now.

He knew where it would appear in the future, but waiting that long was too long—he had to search for it himself.

Fang Shi remembered how many people rushed to the Trial Tower after its effects became known.

At first, its mobility made it hard to find, but later, information spread, and everyone knew its location.

Even after human settlements were established, dedicated personnel were assigned to locate the Trial Tower, ensuring constant access.

If not for the requirement to complete trials and spend Survival Points to use it…

Everyone would have wanted to live inside the tower 24/7.

No one would leave until they became the Sword God of Shili Slope.

Fang Shi agreed to distribute flyers partly because he hoped to search for the Trial Tower along the way.

He’d help out while looking for the Trial Tower.