Chapter 023: Departure

Well, that was good news.

A few minutes later, under Hada’s enthusiastic invitation, Yun Xi enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Then, she left the village together with the village chief and Hada.

“Grandpa, Big Brother, you must come back safe!” A little girl’s tender voice called out behind them as their figures gradually disappeared into the distance.

——

Unlike the village, which was protected by spiritual energy formations, the outside world was always shrouded in a strange, eerie mist.

Even in the brightest early morning sunlight, the surroundings still looked dark and gloomy.

The village chief was clearly experienced with travel. About 500 meters outside the village, he began instructing Hada to use Appraisal regularly to check the road ahead.

“Village Chief, how far is it to Qinglan Town?” Yun Xi asked.

“Not far, just about 200 kilometers.”

That’s not far? …Well, by the standards of the Fallen Gods Continent, 200 kilometers was indeed close.

If they walked nonstop, it would take about 50 hours. Including rest, they’d reach their destination in four to five days.

“Do you go to Qinglan Town often?”

“Not really. Maybe once every three months—mainly to restock supplies and sell the pollution-free crops and other goods we produce.”

“Yun Xi, Qinglan Town is a big place. You must be cautious when you get there and avoid provoking the powerful.”

“With your talent as a spellcaster, you could consider joining a faction that specializes in spellcasting. But never sign a contract blindly. Be sure to read it carefully.”

The village chief had a high opinion of Yun Xi and couldn’t help but offer a few more reminders.

“But you don’t need to worry too much. There are rules in place for newly arrived adventurers—no one is allowed to trouble you without reason inside the town.”

Yun Xi hadn’t known about this in her past life.

“Got it. Thank you for the advice.”

“Grandpa, can I stay in Qinglan Town for some training too?” Hada, who had been listening to their conversation, couldn’t help but ask.

He had only been to Qinglan Town once, last year. Compared to their village, the massive town was like heaven and earth, and he had been fascinated by it ever since.

“No. Not until your Fireball Spell reaches Level 11. Once you do, I won’t stop you from going wherever you want.”

“What? That’ll take forever! Grandpa, you’re so sneaky!”

He wasn’t wrong. Leveling up as a spellcaster was notoriously difficult.

Each level gave only one free skill point, and to level up Fireball, he first had to improve Mana Control.

Even though Hada was already a Level 11 intermediate spellcaster, all of his skill points had to go toward Mana Control.

That’s because core class skills like Mana Control couldn’t be leveled by repeated use—only by allocating skill points.

Fireball, on the other hand, could be trained through usage, but—

Levels 1–10 required experience equal to (current level × 10). Levels 11–20 required (current level × 100), and so on.

If Hada didn’t invest points and wanted to level Fireball to Level 11 through practice alone, he’d need to cast it (470 + 1100) = 1570 times.

That number might not seem high, but each cast had to use the maximum mana available for his level to count toward proficiency.

Without White Crystal Stones to replenish mana and relying only on his natural recovery, Hada could only cast it 1–2 times per day at most—even if he did nothing else.

So even at the max rate:
1570 ÷ 2 = 785 days = around 2 years to reach Level 11 Fireball.

And that’s assuming he was already Level 11.

With the village chief’s help, reaching Level 10 was easy. But 10 to 11 was a major threshold that most couldn’t easily cross.

The time and effort required would be even longer for an ordinary person…

Yun Xi shook her head. She was only Level 4 right now—no use thinking too far ahead.

——

Time passed slowly.

The three of them walked along the road. Occasionally, they encountered low-level wraiths, which the village chief eliminated instantly.

By the roadside were many wild fruits, thriving under the influence of spiritual energy. Unfortunately, they were all deeply contaminated by dark energy and couldn’t be eaten.

Seeing Yun Xi’s curiosity, the village chief took the time to explain.

“Yun Xi, once we’re in Qinglan Town, you can buy some books on plants.”

“If you find rare spiritual herbs or materials in the wild, even if they’re polluted, there are still people willing to buy them.”

“As for these ordinary fruits, they’re worthless. Purifiers won’t waste their time on them.”

Yun Xi nodded in understanding—she knew a bit about this already.

Buyers were often factions with Purification Magic. Their specially trained purifiers focused all their efforts on mastering this spell.

No matter how badly contaminated a rare herb was, they could purify it completely for use in food or medicine.

Based on her previous plans, the next spell she wanted to learn was Fireball or Appraisal. Purification would come later.

Which one she’d choose first would depend on her situation after settling down in Qinglan Town.

They continued onward, taking breaks here and there, but encountered no real danger. Yun Xi even took part in several battles.

She killed five Level 1 wraiths and one Level 2 wraith, earning 50 + 20 EXP, and leveled up from 4 to 5.

[Level: 5]
[EXP: 50/60]
Gained (6 + 2) free attribute points (from kills + level-up)
Gained (1 + 1) free skill points (from kills + level-up)

She allocated the attribute points to Spirit and Constitution, and used the skill points to enhance Light Shield.

[Spirit: 42]
[Constitution: 19]

[Light Shield Lv3: Consumes 10–300 Mana to form a protective aura around the user, granting 138–326 defense points (based on Spirit × Skill Level + Mana spent). Can be stacked infinitely. Cooldown: 2h.]

With her Spirit stat now at 42, each cast of Light Shield could provide up to 326 defense. Casting it 8 times per day would give her a total of 2608 points of shield.

By the time she finished assigning her stats, they had reached the outskirts of Qinglan Town.

“Once we pass through this forest, Qinglan Town is just on the other side.” After four full days on the road, even the village chief looked a bit weary.

As for poor Hada, his dark eye circles nearly reached his chin, and he looked utterly exhausted.

Yun Xi, on the other hand, had a Constitution stat equivalent to a Level 10 martial artist. Her stamina far outmatched the two of them, though she made sure not to show it too obviously.