On the walls of the bathhouse ahead, a row of girls leaning against the white bath towels, their fair long legs seemingly endlessâ¦
All the members of the Phoenix Tail Flower were there, Snow Gooseâs Aiko, and Klrona as well.
Itâs worth mentioning that although Luluâs title was âFrost Wolf,â her Battle Qi was of the Steel System, so the red pool water was beneficial to her.
Among the group, Lulu and Tasya were the more experienced witches, with a far greater tolerance for pain than ordinary people. They leaned calmly against the edge of the pool, enjoying the power enhancement the waters provided.
As for a newcomer witch like Monica, she could only sit for a while before she had to jump up as if her butt was on fireâ¦
Klronaâs twin pigtails were undone, her wet pink hair clinging to her back, holding Aiko with a reluctant face. Since Aiko was âphysically challengedâ and couldnât withstand the aggressive energy in the pool water, Klrona had to hold her to cool down.
âWhy are there so many peopleâ¦â
Isa was dumbfounded.
She thought Lin Da had fallen asleep.
Yet here was a whole bunch of people in the public bathhouse?
Beverages and wheat beer cans were piled up on the nearby table, alongside leftover fruits and pizza.
It was clearly a scene of a joyful party!
Outside, rumors were flying everywhere, saying that Lin Da and Lia were about to have a life-or-death showdown.
And what Isa saw was, these two having a bath and partying�
Liaâs bath towel was a bit open, glaring at Lin Da with shame and anger, her feet kicking Lin Daâs stomach: âGet lost, I donât need your massage, I can soak on my own!â
âEh, Isaâs here?â Lia paused slightly, waving her hand: âThis has nothing to do with you, go back.â
Isa staggered as though struck by a heavy blow, nearly falling.
âYou see, we are tempering our bodies with dragon bloodâ¦â
Lin Da took his hands off of Liaâs shoulders, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
âOh, I see, thatâs how it is⦠I really shouldnât be here, sorry for interrupting you guys.â
Isa felt a sourness in her heart, like a guest who encounters a family happily eating precious food just as they arrive unannounced, a feeling of awkwardness clear to see.
Whoâs closer and whoâs farther away was now distinctly clear.
âWait a second.â
Lin Da grabbed Isaâs wrist.
âItâs not what you think! You know that Ice type users are incompatible with bathing in dragon blood. The volatile energy inside could actually harm your magic circuits.â
Lin Da said helplessly, âI invited Lia and the others over for a reason. For the adventure in the Dragon Forest, I promised Lia a reward and havenât given it yet. Iâm also short on gold coins, so I decided to invite them to bathe in the dragon blood to settle that matterâ¦â
Isa wasnât the only one not invited; Oru and Klyne, the couple, were also not called.
Lin Da planned to save a bit of dragon blood to pack separately for these two old teammates. Oru was male, and it wasnât appropriate for him to see his female teammates in their bath towels.
Within the large bath, red mist curled up, the teammates groaned in pain, and under the cover of bath towels, smooth shoulders and fair legs were revealed in glimpses of springtime.
When Isa heard his explanation, her expression softened a bit, murmuring, âSo thatâs how it isâ¦â
Dragon blood was extremely precious; if he had invited the Ice Flower girls as well, there wouldnât have been enough to go around. The only reason he invited Snow Gooseâs people was because he owed Lia a reward.
Thinking this way, Isa felt much better.
âSince youâre here, stay and chat. We plan to discuss the exhibition match with you once weâre done bathing,â Lin Da moved a small stool for Isa.
âBy the way, where did you get the dragon blood? Can I maybeâ¦â Isa trailed off, hesitant.
Lin Da caught the hint, saying, âWe got lucky in the Great Mystery Continent, thereâs still some left. Iâll package some for you to use with your teammates.â
The blood from the Forest Dragon, there was a whole bottle.
This group bathing only used half of it.
âThatâs too kind of youâ¦â
Isa demurred verbally, but her face showed eagerness as she produced a Savings Card from her ring, âCalculate how much itâs worth in gold coins, Iâll transfer it to you.â
âThatâs too formal, we adventurers are supposed to help each other out, and those are your own words,â Lin Da chuckled, filling a thumb-sized crystal tube with dragon blood and handing it to Isa, âMention gold coins again, and Iâll be upset.â
Isa bit her lip, accepted the crystal bottle, and bowed solemnly, âThank you.â
Every winter, her father Yao would cough continuously, vomiting deep purple blood, a chronic ailment from being injured by the Cold Poison Feathered Serpent in his youth.
Diluted with Warm Sun Flower-infused water, dragon blood could effectively alleviate Yaoâs condition.
âThe power of this dragon blood is indeed terrifyingâ¦â
Lin Da jumped back into the pool, feeling a fiery pain all over, and soon his skin swelled and reddened.
âNot as good as this young lady, hehe,â Liaâs face was flushed with red, still not forgetting to taunt him.
Lin Da ignored her and quietly looked at the transparent message box in the bottom right corner:
[Soaking in dragon blood, Defense +1]
[Magic Defense +1]
[Strength +3]
[Agility +1]
[â¦]
Dragon blood could function as body tempering, and anywhere on the Mystic Continent, it was in high demand.
âMiss feels the strength welling up!â
Lia showed off her fair arms, flexing her muscles.
The one who benefitted the most among the crowd was Lia, with her Fire Fighting Qi.
The violent energy contained within was most compatible with the Fire Series.
Isa said, âI havenât congratulated Snow Goose on becoming an Iron Level Adventure Team yet. Lin Da, your Phoenix Tail Flower should be close too, right? Can you catch up with the 15th floor of the Great Mystery Continent?â
As the three teams made rapid progress in the World Tree, their strengths had greatly increased.
The current member levels of Phoenix Tail Flower are:
Team Leader Lin Da, Level 35.
Kafni, Level 35.
Lulu, under the Diamond infusion between floors 11-13, also advanced to Level 35.
Monica, Level 36.
Tasya, Level 40.
And with Snow Goose breaking through the 14th floor, advancing to an Iron Level adventure team, the member levels also saw significant improvement.
Team Leader Lia, Level 34.
Aiko, Level 33.
Klrona, Level 30.
Oru, Klyne, Phyllis, Level 30.
On Isaâs side, Ice Flower Adventure Team breaking through the 16th floor, reached an individual strength of Level 33.
The former rock level team leaders had all advanced to Star Rank, standing at the apex of White Dove City.
The three looked at each other, filled with a multitude of feelings.
After some thought, Lin Da replied to Isa:
âThe randomness of the Emotion Secret Realm on the 14th floor is too great; Iâve decided to prepare a bit more before going.
Our main goal now is the performance competition.
As reputable adventure teams in White Dove City, we canât mess it up.â
Isa nodded, âThatâs what I was thinking too⦠but the three of us, we arenât a match for Abner, are we?â
[Mindâs Eye] Abner, long renowned.
For nearly ten years, he has been the ceiling for adventurers in White Dove City, with some calling him âinvincible below Moon Rank.â
His Shadowless Sword Technique, swift to the extreme, slays opponents in the blink of an eye.
Spectators often donât even get a clear view of the fight before itâs already over.
Itâs also because of the presence of Abner that many Iron Level adventurers from Red Heart City and South Rock City dare not act too arrogantly.
âSolo killing an Epic One-Star Monster, a Level 35 Earth-Traversing Dragon.
Fighting alone against an entire Iron Level team from Red Heart City and coming out unscathed.
Making it onto the Adventurerâs Weekly, yet declining an invitation from Azure Sky Universityâs admissions departmentâ¦
These accomplishments are indeed frightening,â Lin Da remarked.
The adventurer Abner, who poses a huge offensive threat with incredible speed at the same time, was virtually unsolvable in earlier stages.
Unless Klrona could be developedâ¦
Lin Da glanced at the girl with pink hair and a flat profile.
This kind of ultra-hard tank is Abnerâs nemesis.
But the current Klrona can only be considered among the stronger frontliners.
Against Abner, she would be cut down in a combination of moves.
âEven soâ¦â
Lin Da turned towards the two girls, one silver and the other red, and said solemnly, âEven so, we only have one path to victory!â
It wasnât that Lin Da was obsessed with fame.
The performance match itself was meant to be a friendly spar, aimed at showing off muscles, attracting merchants and nobles to invest.
But Weylon told him that on the day of the performance match, reporters from Cangqing Province would come.
And itâs the largest newspaper in the province, reporters from Adventurerâs Weekly!
The key to unlocking version 3.0 lay in the Ice Abyss Training Camp in Cyan City.
The way to get a ticket for the training camp was to âappear in the Adventurerâs Weekly at least twice.â
There are no small number of people who have made it onto the Adventurerâs Weekly once; many of these involved an element of luck, such as defeating a powerful Magical Creature that was secretly sick or injured without others knowing, or they just performed beyond their limitsâ¦@@novelbin@@
The requirement for entry to the Ice Abyss Training Camp, to appear in Adventurerâs Weekly at least twice, significantly reduces the factor of luck. What remains are the truly genuine adventurers with real skills.