"There's no battle without injuries. It's only natural. Stop blaming yourself, okay?" Gu Ning could feel Windsor's guilt and offered comfort.
"Mn, I understand." Windsor sensed he genuinely didn't hold the morning's incident against her, feeling slightly better. She closed her eyes and nestled into his chest.
Gu Ning stroked her hair while sorting the afternoon's loot. With four people fishing and a Level 12 rod, he'd earned plenty of white stones. He upgraded the other five rods to Level 4—now owning six rods total (one starter, one from last night's talent, four from Demon Realm lord kills).
After upgrades, he had 2,472 white stones left. Time for his talent ritual.
First, the Lingerie Blueprint. Useless for now—he could buy clothes on the trading channel. He used his talent:
Trajectory Anchor Scroll (Single-Use): Records the user's movement path, allowing one-time teleportation to any recorded point.
Hmm, like a recall scroll. He activated it; a glowing line mapped his recent steps.
Next, he grabbed a blue-quality water cup and used his talent:
Pet Card (Purple).
Perfect. The blue pet card had summoned Xiaolan, his trusty mount; this purple one should be even better.
Activating the card, a red flame swirled into a 20cm-tall sprite: red dress, fiery hair, winged, clutching a tiny staff. She opened her eyes, smiled at Gu Ning, and fluttered onto his quilt.
He booped her soft cheek and checked her stats:
Fire Elemental Spirit (Purple)
Level: 5
Strength: 37
Agility: 37
Defense: 36
Skills: Fireball, Scorching Aura, Flame Bind
Three skills and Level 5—on par with Xiaolan, who'd also hit Level 5 today alongside Windsor. Gu Ning remained Level 3 but was two XP away from leveling up. Truthfully, he cared more about upgrading his talent quality, though such items were rare—he'd only seen one on the trading channel, from Li Chong.
He named the sprite "Huohuo" (Firefire), straightforward as always. Her biggest value? As a living battery. He instructed her to use Scorching Aura in the fishing gallery to power the ship. She kissed his cheek and flitted out.
For his final talent use, he eyed his items. Most were white/green; the only blue was an Arrow Tower Blueprint he wanted to save for his future territory. Remembering yesterday's 10% discount coupon, he spent 100 white stones to craft a Purple Stone:
Amethyst: Rare elemental crystal for upgrading elemental spirits.
Beautiful but confusing—couldn't elemental spirits level by killing monsters? If not, Huohuo's growth would depend on rare crystals like this. He sighed, shelving the worry for later.
Checking the chat channel before bed, he found the world频道 (channel) buzzing about him.
"I swear, I saw Gu Ning chasing Noxina with my telescope! He must've killed her!"
"Gu Ning's ruthless—killing allies for loot!" Wakana Kazuki attacked.
"Wait, killing lords drops their loot?!"
"Lucky! I haven't met any lords."
"Why isn't Gu Ning defending himself? Breaking our pact to kill fellow Spiritual Realm lords!" Wakana pressed.
Even Danton chimed in: "Curious about this too."
"Won't answer? Guilty conscience?" Wakana sneered.
Gu Ning fired back:
"I killed Noxina. What, Wakana? Gonna avenge her? You got the guts?"
No explanations—he knew lies spread faster than truth. Let others debate.
"Witnessed it! Gu Ning's a traitor!" Wakana煽风点火 (fanned the flames).
"Cruel! Killing allies for supplies!"
"Maybe Noxina provoked him? His score's too high to need her loot."
"Bet his points come from murdering allies!"
"Unlikely—I haven't seen a single lord in three days."
The debate raged: some accused him of greed, others guessed personal恩怨 (feuds). Gu Ning muted the noise, trusting time to vindicate him. For now, sleep—tomorrow held new challenges.