Chapter 63: Rewards (1/2)

Chapter 63: Rewards (Part 9)

Su Chen retrieved his blade, then sat on the ground, sapped of all his energy.

While he had won the battle, he had also sustained some heavy injuries.

Ulrich’s body began to release bits of starlike light. Those were dots of Origin Energy.

Su Chen hesitated for a moment, but still decided to raise his hand.

This battle had taught Su Chen the value of strength.

Without enough strength, one could encounter dangers at any time. This made it so that he no longer cared about where the Origin Energy dots originated from. Origin Energy was Origin Energy, and it was pure in the first place. It did not depend on the race.

At this time, the metal-eating bug had finished eating the three pieces of starsilver and returned.

Su Chen watched it with vigilance. He did not know if this bug would go crazy upon discovering that Ulrich had died.

However, he was relieved very quickly.

The bug, which seemed vicious outwardly, used its head to prod Ulrich. Upon discovering that there was no response, it actually just walked to the side and went to sleep, completely ignoring Su Chen.

This made Su Chen feel somewhat speechless.

Since the giant beetle was not interested in him, Su Chen also needed to rest.

After realigning his bones and applying medicine, Su Chen lay on the ground, resting peacefully.

As he rested, he began to replay the battle in his mind.

Old man Ulrich had six to seven – or even more – Origin Skills. His strength was not to be taken lightly. There were three reasons why he had been able to kill Ulrich. Firstly, he had an advantage in equipment. Five Origin Tools gave him a nontrivial increase in strength. The old man only had one magic staff, and very clearly it was just a common amplification staff, amplifying the intensity of fire-type Origin Skills. However, the Origin Skills that he controlled were not all fire-type. This was one of the reasons why the old man had lost. Secondly, ancient Arcana techniques were not easy to chain together nor meant for close-quarters combat. As soon as Su Chen drew near, it was difficult for Ulrich to hit him. In addition, the space in their environment was limited, so Ulrich wasn’t able to dodge well, which gave Su Chen the opportunity to attack. Thirdly, Iron Cliff’s presence and the giant beetle’s lack of maturity had given away Ulrich’s final opportunity.

However, the main reason that he had been able to win was because of the metal-eating bug’s weakness.

In reality, Su Chen should have recognized the giant beetle’s thirst for metals from the very beginning. However, his attention had been captured by Ulrich, so he had overlooked this point. He hadn’t thought of it until later.

If he hadn’t thought of this idea, then the one dying would have been him.

From this, one could easily see that in battle, it was incredibly important to preserve a clear mind.

Because his mind had been clear, he had quickly discovered the weakness of the giant beetle. Because his mind had been clear, he had used Soul Eye at the most critical moment, which prevented Ulrich from turning the tables on him. Powerful strength needed to be paired with a clear mind; these were essential conditions for success.

This was what Su Chen had understood after his battle, and was also the requirements that Su Chen had placed on himself for the future. Every time he battled, he would need to remind himself of this. He would review his mistakes and correct his progress.

After resting for an unknown period of time, the broken bones in Su Chen’s chest finally began to hurt less.

He stood up again, then walked towards Ulrich.

It wasn’t until this moment that he finally saw Ulrich’s appearance the most clearly.

The old man’s face was filled with wrinkles. He was incredibly old, and he was frighteningly skinny. No wonder he possessed no strength. Ancient Arcana had no techniques for cultivating the physique. They only studied the intricacies of Origin Skills themselves, and this was reflected in the old man’s appearance.

Compared to humankind, their eyes were blue. This was one way to discern the difference between the Arcana race and humankind. However, he never saw that second pair of eyes; perhaps it was just a rumor.

Upon taking away the magic staff, Su Chen began to search Ulrich’s body.

There was absolutely nothing. No pouch, no storage ring.

This made Su Chen feel extremely disappointed.

But after thinking about it again, he realized that Ulrich could not have brought nothing with him, especially if he was attempting to train a metal-eating bug.

Unless……

Su Chen turned his head around to look at something.

Ulrich had walked out from that dark area off to the distance.

He first walked over to Iron Cliff. Upon seeing that he wasn’t seriously injured – he had only fainted – Su Chen picked up the crystal lamp and walked into the distance. The yellow light scattered the darkness, and Su Chen very quickly saw that there was another cave not far away from where he was.

It seemed as if that cave was Ulrich’s home. All of his belongings were inside.

There was a lot of stuff inside the cave.

Apart from items necessary for survival, what attracted Su Chen the most was a large workbench.

The workbench was covered in all kinds of strange vials and jars, as well as a few notes that recorded the experiments.