Integration

As time passed, Wang Shuo's understanding and mastery of his skills deepened.

In this battle, the monk was like a blacksmith as he hammered and tempered the crude brick that was Wang Shuo.

Under his opponent's pressure, Wang Shuo's usage of his various skills gradually broke through to a whole new level.

It was not an increase in power but an integration of skills.

At first, Wang Shuo was wholly suppressed by the monk. He only had a chance to counterattack once every ten moves, and most of them were useless attacks.

Slowly, he was able to make two or three moves within ten. He could even occasionally seize an opening to retaliate.

After an unknown period of time, when Wang Shuo could already fight back against the monk, the monk's offensive plummeted all of a sudden.

At first, Wang Shuo thought that it was a ruse. But he could feel the power of the monk's attacks was indeed weakening.

In less than a minute, he could only defend himself and no longer fight back.

At the same time, the golden light from him dimmed, and the defensive golden bell barrier around him suddenly dissipated.

"He's out of mana!" Wang Shuo confirmed his guess.

It had been roughly an hour since the start of the battle.

He remembered that during the second round fighting the berserker, he looted a bottle of Colossus Potion, which could replenish his stamina limitlessly within an hour.

The pill that the monk had taken at the beginning was likely something similar.

Upon understanding this, Wang Shuo was overjoyed.

He charged in head-on with the Mountain Splitting stance, completely disregarding how the monk had aided him as sparring partner for so long.

At this moment, the monk was not even half as strong as before. But he had no intention of giving up.

His monk staff transformed into a spirit snake that coiled around him as it tried to divert the staff's power away.

"Stubborn resistance!"

With a jolt of his arm, Wang Shuo quickly brushed away the monk's defense. The remaining force surged into the monk's body through his own staff.

Without the golden bell's protection, coupled with his drastic decrease in strength, the monk was an arrow at the end of its flight. The blows raining down on him forced him to retreat again and again.

"Goodbye!"

Wang Shuo took a step forward and ended his opponent in a clean sweep.

[You killed Holy Mountain Martial Monk Shalong (Projection).]

[You receive Projection Treasure Chest x1.]

Ignoring the cheers around him, Wang Shuo closed his eyes and began to consolidate what he learned from this battle.

When he returned to his senses, he was at the stone door once again.

Wang Shuo heaved a long sigh and then laughed heartily.

Although this battle had been a little challenging, compared to his gains, everything was worth it.

This battle honed everything he had learned to a heightened mastery.

Although his improvements were not quantifiable in numbers, he was confident that he could defeat his previous self within ten moves.

Of course, the prerequisite was to remove the Mystic Turtle Armor.

"Speaking of which, isn't the Mystic Turtle Armor a little too overpowered?"

Wang Shuo was perplexed.

The Green Dragon Staff was also mystic-tier equipment. Although its grade was slightly lower, the difference was too significant.

Thinking back, he didn't receive any system prompts when he equipped the Green Dragon Staff…

"Is there some sort of secret behind this?"

Wang Shuo suppressed his doubts and opened Shalong's Projection Treasure Chest.

[Shalong's Holy Clothes: Cloak]

Grade: Upper Yellow Tier

Blessing: Cloud-stepping Vajra +1

Property: Incorruptible +1

Description: Shalong's Exclusive Holy Clothes 1/3

Note: Gather all three Exclusive Holy Clothes and receive the blessing Eight Vajra Techniques +1

[Salon's Holy Clothes: Armor]

Grade: Upper Yellow Tier

Blessing: Vajra Armor +1

Property: Incorruptible +1

Description: Shalong's Exclusive Holy Clothes 1/3

Note: …

[Shalong's Holy Clothes: Armament]

Grade: Upper Yellow Tier

Blessing: Demon-subduing Vajra +1

Property: Incorruptible +1

Description: Shalong's Exclusive Holy Clothes 1/3

Note: …

[Small Revitalizing Pill]

Grade: Yellow Tier

Description:

1. Consume before class advancement for an increase of 0.1 Physique. (Maximum of 3 per person.)

2. After class advancement, consume within one hour to restore all stamina. (Ineffective for martial monks level 1 and above. Ineffective to consume a second pill within a day.)

"Another good item!"

With a thought, a pitch-black pill fell into his palm. He threw it into his mouth without hesitation.

Instantly, a warmth washed over him. His whole body felt bloated, and it took a long time for the feeling to disappear completely.

Wang Shuo looked at his Physique that has risen from 4.5 to 4.6 and nodded in satisfaction.

He assessed his strength. Although the change was not much, it was apparent.

If he had been weaker than the monk before, he wasn't now.

"As expected, the higher the attribute, the greater the value."

After digesting the pill, terms such as 'internal energy' and 'level 1 martial monk' flashed through Wang Shuo's mind. But he immediately pushed away these thoughts.

Right now, he was only twenty meters away from the stone door. So rather than guessing, he might as well charge through it.

Most likely, all his doubts would be solved by then.

Wang Shuo swallowed a Five Grains Pill and closed his eyes to rest.

In a blink of an eye, two hours passed.

The sun was already high in the sky, and the scorching sunlight blazed the earth. But when it landed on Wang Shuo, it was like a cool breeze brushing against his face. All of the heat was filtered by the Mystic Turtle Armor.

"It's time."

Wang Shuo took a deep breath, stood up, and strode forward.

Amid the cheers, a rough and unpleasant female voice said arrogantly, "Filthy human, are you ready for your punishment?"

Wang Shuo glanced at the source of the voice. A tall and muscular humanoid female covered in blue scales stood in the middle of the arena.

In her hands was a blue staff that looked like a tree root, and she was pointing the tree root at him with a look of contempt.

Wang Shuo already knew that these projections had intelligence, so he naturally wouldn't fall for their taunts and indulge them. "I really don't understand how a hybrid product like you can have such a baseless sense of superiority."

After he finished speaking, he didn't give his opponent the slightest chance to respond. The Green Dragon Staff flashed out without delay.

At the same time, a huge black wolf crawled out of a void.

Although the beast was big and muscular, it was strangely inept at close combat.

Seeing the incoming onslaught, the scaled woman sneered as she pointed her blue staff forward.

"Frost Path!"

Shockingly, her initially rough voice suddenly became ethereal and melodious. It was as though someone else was speaking.

But this was not time to care about such trivial details.

Because with her voice, a layer of ice crystals had stealthily covered the arena beneath their feet.

The sudden turn of events caused Wang Shuo to lose his balance, and his entire body flew out with a whoosh.

"Cold Lunar Icicle!"

A meter-long icicle appeared out of thin air. The scaled woman waved her short staff, and the icicle stabbed at Wang Shuo like lightning.

Bam!

A blue barrier instantly appeared and blocked the assault.

Wang Shuo heaved a sigh of relief. But at the same time, shock crashed through him.

Although this icicle didn't pierce through the barrier, the impact was far beyond Shalong's.

The blue barrier even trembled unstably, as if it was about to break at any moment.

"Ah, turns out it's legendary equipment! Human, hand over this equipment, and I'll let you go. How about it?" The scaled woman's surprised voice reeked of uncontrollable greed.