piratefiction Chapter 390 The Whip of Pain, the Corrosive Poison Skill Tree!
Chapter 390 The Whip of Pain, the Corrosive Poison Skill Tree!
Chapter 390 The Whip of Pain, the Corrosive Poison Skill Tree!
In Fangzhou's view, it is very likely that these three fossils originally contained some ancient artifacts, and that soul crystals were indeed born under the erosion of time.
However, after being buried underground for countless years, these fossils, which were originally hidden ancient wonders, have been decayed into ordinary stones by the power of time, losing all traces of their original existence.
However, the original soul crystals are still preserved in the fossils that were buried before them.
The crystallization of the soul is formless, intangible, silent, and tasteless.
Based on Ark's current detection capabilities, quantitative analysis is not possible.
He had never heard of the existence of soul crystals from Sandru or Su Xinyan before, which shows that humans don't know much about this substance.
Therefore, he could only make a possible guess based on his own personal experience.
In the future, as his strength increases, he may be able to analyze the origin of the soul crystal through more diverse and powerful detection methods.
Currently, Ark is still in a state of knowing what it is but not why it is.
However, just knowing how is enough for him to become stronger.
As Fang Zhou was excited about discovering another mature channel for accumulating soul power, the other students watching him cut the stone were already whispering and discussing among themselves.
"Stop looking at them. There's no point in gambling on stones chosen based on color," one student said impatiently.
"If he manages to gamble out an ancient artifact, I'll eat all the stone dust on this ground," another student teased with a light smile, eliciting chuckles from those around him.
"Don't be discouraged, junior Fangzhou. There are still five pieces left. You've only solved a small part of it." The welcoming female student breathed softly, encouraging Fangzhou.
Fang Zhou remained calm as he picked up the fourth fossil and began grinding it to the size of his palm, at which point he suddenly paused.
The surrounding students immediately fell silent, their eyes fixed on the stone in Fang Zhou's hand.
"Huh? This is interesting!"
"The stone has changed; it's no longer black stone, but has taken on a dark, inky black color."
"Are we really going to let him get away with it by sheer luck?"
A soft gasp of surprise erupted from the surrounding students.
"Junior, please be careful when cutting the stone now."
Do not make any sudden movements, as the hidden ancient artifacts are extremely fragile.
If too much force is used, the ancient artifacts inside will be destroyed.
The female student hadn't expected this to actually happen. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly and cautiously reminded him.
Fangzhou's movements slowed considerably, and as he rubbed his fingers together, the items would occasionally fall down with a soft rustling sound.
It was intermittent, no longer as continuous as before.
Black stone dust drifted down, the stones grew smaller and smaller, and the ark's movements became slower and gentler.
The stone dust on the carpet piled up higher and higher, and the black inkstone core in Ark's hand was eventually worn away and exhausted.
"Alas, what a pity, it's just a stone within a stone."
"What a waste of my emotions. I thought there were some real ancient artifacts."
"You guys are too easy to fool. Do you think gambling on stones is that easy?"
Nine times out of ten, they're empty. Otherwise, why don't these students who discovered the strange fossils cut them open themselves?
Are they still making money themselves?
"Junior, you're actually quite lucky."
"To be able to gamble on a stone within a stone on the very first try, even an ordinary person couldn't do that." The female student tried to comfort Fang Zhou in various ways, while also preparing him psychologically for the outcome to come.
Nine times out of ten, people gamble on stones and end up with nothing; it's all too common.
In her view, the Ark was created on a whim, and the possibility of it selecting a fossil containing precious stones was extremely slim.
Fangzhou smiled but did not answer. Instead, he took out the fifth piece.
The fourth piece just now contributed a full 200 points of soul power to Ark, which made Ark even more confident in its next choice.
He carefully ground it, and this time it only took ten breaths to grind away the black stone skin on the surface, revealing a bumpy yellow mud ball.
The appearance of this mud ball immediately attracted the attention of the onlookers.
"what?"
"Could it be another stone within a stone?" another student guessed, his tone tinged with uncertainty.
"It seems so."
However, something is strange. This loess is encased in a hard, black stone skin, which should have compressed it into a smooth surface, so why is the surface uneven?
One student asked, puzzled, and the other students nodded in agreement.
Fang Zhou's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the yellow clay ball in his hand, but a slight thought stirred within him.
He continued to rub, the gray sheen like a knife, the soil turning to powder and falling away.
The powdery soil, mixed with many clods of earth, fell one after another onto the pile of stone powder at his feet.
"Could it really be something?!"
Some trainees stared wide-eyed in astonishment upon seeing this.
"It's hard to say," some people said, their tone uncertain.
"I feel like it is, it seems like it really is," someone whispered.
Fangzhou remained unaffected, focusing intently on kneading the mud ball in his hands.
His movements were slow and meticulous.
A moment later, strands of dry mud powder began to fall.
As he moved, a long-buried ancient artifact was gradually revealed to everyone.
"My goodness, there really are ancient artifacts!"
"They actually opened one!!"
"Are you kidding me? This kind of jade gambling is actually possible?"
"Fang Zhou's luck is off the charts! He actually managed to stumble upon an ancient artifact through sheer luck."
Exclamations of surprise rippled through the trainees, and the atmosphere inside the tent instantly became lively.
The female trainee instinctively covered her mouth, staring at the scene in disbelief.
She had participated in many jade gambling fairs before and met all sorts of people and customers, but she had never seen such a dramatic scene.
"There really are ancient artifacts!"
Among the original yellow clay balls, a somewhat mottled and decayed long rope-like object lay quietly.
"Soul crystals detected. They can be absorbed as soul power. Begin absorption?"
After Ark silently confirmed this, its attribute panel absorbed another 100 points of soul power from this rotten rope.
Now, more than the soul crystals it contains, Ark is concerned about whether this long, rope-like ancient artifact still has any use.
Amidst various gazes of amazement, envy, and jealousy, Fang Zhou remained calm, carefully channeling his magical power into the long rope.
Immediately, he got the answer he wanted through the attribute panel.
[Unnamed Ancient Artifact] (White Common, Artifact) A broken whip unearthed from fossils, usable only by those with negative energy. It contains eerie and unpredictable energy; wielding the whip can produce a piercing soul shriek, penetrating energy shields and causing excruciating pain to single enemies within a certain range, making it difficult for them to concentrate on combat or casting spells.
It turned out that this was not a long rope, but a broken long whip.
Furthermore, it has the ability to penetrate shields, causing pain to enemies.
Although it doesn't directly cause damage, it can still serve as a unique item to interrupt enemy spellcasting.
Fang Zhou was overjoyed; this was exactly what he needed.
Previously, in the Iron-level simulated battlefield, he had already felt that he was still somewhat lacking in control skills.
He had no inspiration to develop new control skills in the short term, so he simply used this broken whip as a temporary solution.
He carefully examined the long whip in his hand; although its exterior was mottled and decayed, he could still sense the eerie energy it contained.
Since we intend to use it for a long time, we can't just leave it as a broken whip.
After some thought, Fangzhou decided to name it "The Whip of Pain".
The name is both concise and clear, and accurately reflects the effect of this extraordinary object.
Fang Zhou enveloped his right hand with necromancy, then gripped the Whip of Pain tightly, flicking it slightly to create a whip-like motion.
Crackling sound.
A piercing, soul-piercing scream suddenly rang out.
Although the voice was slightly weak, it caused the expressions on the faces of the others present to suddenly become quite interesting.
Those around him frowned, as if they felt a pang of pain.
Several trainees instinctively took a few steps back, their faces showing shock.
The difference in value between a usable ancient artifact and one that has been completely destroyed is enormous.
The students present all showed expressions of shock and envy, as if they had witnessed an incredible miracle.
"An ancient artifact, a still-usable ancient artifact!!" Someone rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing, as if in a dream.
"Fangzhou hit the jackpot. Why don't I have that kind of luck!" someone sighed, their emotions a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment.
"Junior, congratulations!"
This, this, is the most complete ancient artifact I have ever seen!
The female trainee was so excited that she was almost incoherent, her eyes shining brightly.
Fang Zhou smiled slightly and said, "It was really lucky that we were able to discover such an ancient artifact."
Its specific function and completeness are unknown; further evaluation by professionals is needed.
He placed the Whip of Pain into his spatial storage capsule and, ignoring the envious glances of others, continued to work on cutting the stone.
The black fossil was rapidly eroded in the gray shimmering light, eventually disappearing into nothingness, leaving only a small patch of stone dust on the ground.
After the last few black fossils were dissected, just like the previous ones, there were no ancient artifacts found.
Fangzhou wasn't surprised; when it comes to gambling on stones, nine out of ten times you lose.
Gambling has never been a way to get rich; on the contrary, it often leads to financial ruin.
This is not the development path for Ark.
He knew from the beginning that his main purpose in coming here was to obtain the Soul Crystal, not to pursue ancient artifacts.
However, Ark also gained 200 points of soul power, thus successfully achieving his goal.
This jade gambling shop has a total of three counters.
Ark has already bought all the fossils that the central counter sensed contained soul crystals.
There are still two counters available: a low-level counter with 50 contribution points per fossil and a high-level counter with 200 contribution points per fossil.
Ark currently has plenty of contribution points, so naturally it won't miss out.
Fangzhou also discovered that the fossils in those high-end gambling stone counters, each worth 200 contribution points, did indeed have some interesting details.
It was far fewer in number than the medium-sized counters, but the Ark still sensed six fossils with the aura of soul crystals emanating from them.
In addition to the five fossils that Ark selected from the low-level fossil cabinet, Ark spent nearly 1500 contribution points and absorbed nearly 2000 points of soul power in this round.
In addition, he also unearthed three ancient artifacts from these fossils, but unfortunately, all of these artifacts had lost their function.
The attribute panel doesn't react to them at all; they're just for show, barely qualifying as an archaeological decoration.
Fangzhou wandered around the jade gambling tent for a while longer, making sure no one had slipped through the net, before leaving the tent satisfied.
2300 contribution points were exchanged for nearly 3000 soul power points, as well as a rare item called the [Whip of Pain] that could be useful at the Black Iron rank.
This deal was very profitable for Ark.
Of course, in other people's eyes, Fang Zhou was a spendthrift who squandered thousands of contribution points to gamble for a usable rare item.
However, due to Ark's illustrious reputation, no student dared to show such an attitude in front of Ark.
Before leaving, the female student who was greeting guests said to Fang Zhou very professionally, "Junior Fang Zhou, our jade gambling shop will be updating its inventory every two or three days."
If you're still interested in gambling on jade, you're welcome to come again!
After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and said, "However, a little gambling is harmless, but excessive gambling is harmful to health."
Although you, Fangzhou, are very strong and talented, and have no shortage of contribution points, you should still know when to stop and act within your means when it comes to gambling on stones.
After all, they were all students at Haicheng Military Academy.
Although they opened this jade gambling den to make money by exploiting human weaknesses, they didn't really want to bankrupt their school's students.
Especially if the person being scammed is Fang Zhou, a rising star, even the military academy instructors might not let them off the hook.
Fang Zhou smiled heartily at the female student who was greeting him and said, "Thank you, senior sister. Let me add your contact information."
Please be sure to let me know when the jade gambling shop releases new items.
As Fang Zhou added this senior sister as a friend, he thought to himself that the contribution points he had accumulated over the past few days would come in handy again.
I've just gained nearly 3000 points of Soul Power, so I can start gradually deducing the Corruption and Poison skill tree when I have some free time.
Then, these newly derived skills are uploaded to the Human Union Skills Library, and corresponding contribution points are awarded.
With this virtuous cycle, it won't be long before he can deduce all of his Iron-rank skills.
Perhaps we can also enhance the general skills of the current Iron-level combatants in the Corpse Clone form.
After all, his clone was now directly facing the Skeleton Lord, who commanded tens of thousands of soldiers.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with increasing your individual combat strength as much as possible.
Additionally, if there is an abundance of soul power, Ark can also consider maxing out the proficiency of all skills of both its main body and clones directly through the attribute panel.
This would also save him the time and energy of constantly practicing.
Full of confidence, Fangzhou left the jade gambling market and began searching for the resources he wanted at various stalls.