Chapter 10: Searching for the Mana Node—Lin Xian’s Struggle

Edegar reached out his hand.

“Come on, we have to find a Magic Node within four days to save your half-buried body.”

Although Leaf Zhi was a special Undead who retained all his memories, he also inherited the traits of the Undead — durability!

Even if the injury reached the core Soulfire, as long as there was a large supply of magic, it could quickly recover!

Otherwise, with Leaf Zhi’s personality of exhausting himself every few decades until his cultivation was completely wasted, he would have been long dead by his own hands!

The wounds on Leaf Zhi’s body looked severe now, but by rough estimation, as long as he was buried in a large Magic Node and forcefully shut down to sleep for twenty or thirty years, the injuries would completely heal!

However.

Large Magic Nodes were mostly controlled by powerful Kingdoms and Churches, or were found in monster-infested unclaimed territories.

The nearest possible location for a large Magic Node was deep within the Giant Oak Forest, over a hundred kilometers away.

Edegar alone would manage, but bringing Leaf Zhi along would take at least a whole day even at full speed.

That’s not counting the time needed to deal with any monsters encountered on the way and the time to find the precise location of the Magic Node upon arrival.

Time was tight — they had to move immediately!

“Wait!”

Leaf Zhi didn’t reach out.

“Where are you planning to take me?”

“Of course, to the Giant Oak Forest.”

Edegar replied as if it were obvious.

He glanced at Leaf Zhi — who, if he were any other race, would have been unconscious from severe injury — and felt a bit puzzled.

“Only in places where monsters roam can you find unclaimed Magic Nodes to help you recover. The Giant Oak Forest is dangerous, but for you, it’s safer than a human town. What are you afraid of?”

After feigning death, Undead were nearly indistinguishable from ordinary skeletons.

Monsters had low intelligence anyway.

If Leaf Zhi slept underground for a decade or two, he’d wake up completely unharmed!

He’d experienced this kind of thing more than once.

So why was he suddenly worried about the safety of the plan?

Leaf Zhi shook his head, then nodded.

“It’s a long story. In short, just help me find a small Magic Node to keep me going. I won’t go into deep sleep this time.”

Edegar frowned, unable to understand.

But he didn’t press the issue and nodded.

“Alright.”

The Bright Church people were nearby and already knew Leaf Zhi was severely wounded.

They had probably already gone to the known large Magic Nodes in the Giant Oak Forest, waiting to trap him.

Looking for a small Magic Node could help them avoid this group of pursuers.

With this, four days didn’t seem so urgent anymore.

Leaf Zhi was stunned by Edegar’s decisive answer.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why?”

“Why?”

Edegar repeated without hesitation.

It sounded extremely perfunctory.

Leaf Zhi’s face darkened.

“Can’t you show a bit of sincerity? We’ve known each other for almost a hundred years. Aren’t you going to try persuading me at least?”

“Would you listen if I did?”

“……”

Edegar narrowed his eyes, wearing an expression that said, “See? I knew it.”

Leaf Zhi felt a bit embarrassed inside.

“Ahem, but don’t be scared when I tell you the reason!”

Edegar was about to nod, then paused.

“Usually, when you speak in that tone, it’s never good news.”

“No, this time it really is good news!”

Leaf Zhi’s voice suddenly grew serious.

“Because we’re about to welcome a huge number of helpers. As the organization leader, I can’t sleep!”

Edegar’s eyes widened slightly.

“With our organization’s reputation, can we still find newcomers on the Aeltia Continent?”

Leaf Zhi scratched his head.

“In a sense, I didn’t exactly find them on Aeltia. It’s a long story…”

“Then make it short!”

Edegar cut in.

“What do you need me to do?”

What the Watchers lacked most right now was manpower!

If they had enough people, Edegar wouldn’t have to avoid the Bright Church’s pursuers just for a single unclaimed Magic Node!

Even if the helpers could only do manual labor, Edegar would still welcome them!

At least, as a former Paladin of the Bright Church, he wouldn’t have to dig for skeletons on the wastelands!

At that thought, even his eternally icy face warmed a bit.

Leaf Zhi gave a thumbs-up.

“I was waiting for you to say that!”

“I need to find a Magic Node to temporarily delay my injuries. The size doesn’t matter, but it must be far from the activity areas of the Kingdoms.”

“And there must be a water source nearby and enough arable land. The wasteland should be big enough to grow plants to feed at least a hundred helpers!”

Hearing this, Edegar lowered his head in thought, then nodded firmly.

“Alright.”

The light sphere in Leaf Zhi’s spiritual sea was dumbfounded.

What?

How did someone so simple-minded become a Paladin?

Not asking the reason was one thing, but how could he agree to such a demand?

Any fertile land would have been claimed by the Kingdoms long ago.

How could there be a Magic Node far from the Kingdoms, with water and farmland?

And where did Leaf Zhi get hundreds of helpers?

It had spent a whole day with Leaf Zhi and hadn’t seen him contact anyone!

He’d just been fiddling with that mysterious blue sphere!

Don’t tell me hundreds of big men will pop out of the sphere?

Edegar hoisted Leaf Zhi’s skeleton frame and stood up to set off.

“Wait, let me take a photo first!”

Leaf Zhi struggled down, the blue flames in his eyes flickering.

He recorded Edegar and the Rinwind Plains behind him, then lay back on Edegar’s back.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“You seem to have more and more secrets.”

Edegar muttered softly.

With that, he casually picked up the old hoe he’d brought and leaped away.

***

Blue Star.

Late at night.

Lin Xian lay tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.

Images from the  official website he saw during the day kept flashing through his mind, making his heart itch like a cat’s paw scratching at it.

A company that could so boldly send out so many paid reviewers must really have some virtual reality game technology, right?

Like Aisi Corporation.

They dared to release the concept trailer for  because they’d bought a brainwave sensor patent not long ago.

Lin Xian suddenly sat up and slapped himself.

“My brain really must have been kicked by a donkey!”

Even with such a shoddy official website, Lin Xian’s curiosity about the possibility of  having virtual reality game technology couldn’t be killed!

He rolled out of bed, turned on the lights, and pulled out his chair.

He opened the comment section for  and muttered to himself.

“What if the page I saw during the day was a pirated copy? With all the knockoff websites online these days, who knows what the real official site even looks like?”

Lin Xian silently cursed himself for being so stubborn.

If he weren’t so stubborn, he wouldn’t have stuck to being a game blogger for so long.

He clicked the paid reviewer’s link again.

The same three-minute loading time.

Lin Xian’s sense of foreboding grew.

Thankfully, this time the page wasn’t black and white anymore, and the layout had been slightly improved.

But it still couldn’t hide the rough war-torn style of the  official website.

Lin Xian felt disappointed.

The site he saw during the day was really their official site.

Even if the  game company did have virtual reality game technology, with the speed their website was being built, who knew how many years it would take to finish the game?

All hope was lost.

Just as Lin Xian was about to shut down his computer, a few bright colors caught his eye…