Chapter 173: Honestly, Didn't Feel Anything
Bai Pu didn't give Blood Spider any time for psychological preparation and directly started the lesson.
"You must be good at discovering all the forces that can aid in completing the task. For instance, this Inert Potion formula, even if you don't know how to use it, you should find an Alchemist among the natives and commission him to make it! Often, by doing so, you can uncover one or two small side quests..."
Blood Spider's note-taking suddenly stopped, and she raised her hand to ask, "How did you know the exact location of Ista Town?"
"I guessed. I've always been lucky."
Bai Pu didn't mention that he calculated it, and calmly said, "If it were you, you could follow the Blood Ring's Chidao. Because Chidao itself is built for transporting grain and military supplies between different towns and manors of the Blood Ring. Even if you're headed in the wrong direction and don't find Ista Town immediately, you can still find the next Blood Ring Manor, making it only a matter of time before you find Ista Town."
"What should we do next? Should we go find Crimson Wings?" Blood Spider was already convinced, and aside from still doubting Bai Pu's character, she completely trusted his abilities.
"Of course, we need to find Crimson Wings, but we have to wait for Qin to complete her work first," Bai Pu said.
"What work?" Blood Spider picked up her notebook again.
"I commissioned her to make some Alchemy Potions for me. This includes an improved version of the Inert Potion specifically for the First Generation Mutants. She needs some time to research," Bai Pu explained.
Blood Spider had a sudden inspiration, "Since that woman named Qin listens to you so well, even handing over the criminals she caught to you, couldn't you have her go with you to complete the task?"
"I can't." Bai Pu looked at Blood Spider with a surprised expression, as if he was puzzled that she could ask such a question, and said as a matter of course:
"The Expeditionary Army has just managed to occupy Malmo City, securing the beachhead for Duke William's main force, which holds significant strategic importance. Cwieg and Qin are the two pillars of Malmo City, one in the open and one in the shadows. She couldn't possibly abandon her duty of guarding Malmo to join me in running private errands. We at least have to wait until Duke William's main force arrives before I can hope to invite Qin to provide limited assistance.
"From another perspective, the Spirit Realm Will wouldn't allow me to complete an SS-level task by being conniving!"
Qin is a Level 6 Enhanced Leader. If she participated in Bai Pu's job-changing task, the SS difficulty rating would immediately drop to below A-level.
Even if Bai Pu completes the job-changing task with a 100% completion rate, what about A-level difficulty? Even a 100% completion might not be as good as Bai Pu's current Enhanced Elite Template!
According to the Second Transformation information Bai Pu gathered, the second job change for an Awakened at the Level 4 threshold is an important test for the Spirit Realm Will to assess the Awakened's development potential, which is completely different from the evaluation standard of the initial job-change Trial Task!
The Trial Task for the initial job change can be done with some cleverness since at that time, you haven't awakened, you're just an ordinary person starting with nothing in the Spirit Realm. Even cleverness means one's own wisdom and ability, which counts as part of the potential.
The second job-changing task completely prohibits cunning because the Awakened has already grown through the low-level phase, making it more of a "unit test." The test process prohibits blatant cheating!
The Spirit Realm Will, as the "teacher," wants to see the examinee complete high-difficulty tasks with their own capability and tenacity without relying on external direct assistance!
"Understand? These are the reasons why I didn't ask Qin to step in. Even if we face the Blood Ring's Awakened in confronting Crimson Wings, Qin cannot be involved!" Bai Pu summarized.
Blood Spider surprisingly caught on, nodding and saying, "It's indeed possible to confront the Blood Ring's Awakened because, looking at the map, the Signa District where Crimson Wings appears is located in Karsk Province, not far from Stockholm, especially when compared to Ista District, where the Blood Mist Butcher appears.
"According to the intelligence you just mentioned, Blood Ring is also actively capturing these First Generation Mutants, so it's very possible we'll meet Blood Ring's Awakened when we head to the Signa District. Am I right?"
"Yes." Bai Pu nodded slightly, as this was rather an obvious logic.
Blood Spider also figured out who Bai Pu was cautious about—
The A-level wanted criminal under the Superstar Alliance, Level 6 Heroic Profession—Hidden Snake!
Thus, waiting for Qin to complete the Alchemy Potion, making adequate preparations, and then heading to the Signa District would undoubtedly be a wise choice.
"But what if the Blood Ring's Awakened get there first and captures Crimson Wings?" Blood Spider couldn't help but ask.
Bai Pu laughed, "They won't just kill Crimson Wings; it's not that easy to capture her alive. Besides, even if they catch and enslave her, it won't matter. Our main task enemy is the Blood Ring Fortress, and there will always be opportunities to encounter Crimson Wings in the future."
Then Bai Pu took out the intelligence recorded by the Scout Team in the past two days and began drawing the Blood Ring military distribution map.
His brain worked quickly, and in just half an hour, he completed the military distribution map for the three regions (Skona, Karsk, Kalmar).
"A main task that was estimated to take 72 hours; you finished it in half an hour?"
After receiving the "Main Task 1: Intelligence Collection Complete, Can Be Submitted" prompt, Blood Spider wanted to pry open Bai Pu's head to see if it was packed with smart chips.
Bai Pu frowned and said, "A main task should be completed when you have spare time. Who would waste all the task time on it?"
Blood Spider lowered her head in shame.
"However, now is not the time to submit. I don't think Cwieg is qualified to activate Main Task 2 for us, so we should wait until Duke William arrives."
While waiting for Qin, Bai Pu seized the opportunity to have Blood Spider instruct him in Advanced Fighting—essentially acting as a training partner.
Bai Pu was like a sponge, constantly absorbing nutrients to improve himself.
This particularly appealed to Blood Spider, and she agreed enthusiastically.
The various Combat Specializations of close combat types for Awakened have common aspects, such as Advanced Equipment: After achieving Advanced Level 5 in Two-Handed Swordsmanship, Bai Pu's Advanced Equipment specialization in One-Handed Swordsmanship and Two-Handed Hammer Specialization are also gradually increasing, now approaching Advanced Level 3.
And improving the Advanced Equipment Specialization makes it easier to advance in Advanced Fighting Specialization. After all, aside from specific techniques, the rest are fundamental tips on force exertion techniques and timing, which are common.
The principle of mastering one method to master many methods holds here.
Blood Spider seized this opportunity to teach Bai Pu a good lesson, starting with hand-to-hand combat and later grappling moves, leaving Bai Pu slightly disheveled.
Bai Pu's Fighting Specialization was suppressed by Blood Spider, and his Agility was also severely restrained.
But later, Bai Pu changed his tactics, endured taking three punches and a kick from Blood Spider, lunged forward to grapple her waist, relying on his high Power and refusing to let go, eventually turning the tables.
"Clap, clap," the sound of applause came.
"That was a wonderful fight." Qin's smiling voice rang out, "But the posture you two have now, doesn't it easily lead to misunderstandings?"
It was only then that Bai Pu realized his whole face was buried in the chubby ghost pattern on Blood Spider's chest—he had just lunged forward while grappling her waist, exerting force with his entire body to try and topple Blood Spider over, including his head, and coincidentally, this was where the chubby ghost was positioned...
"Let go of me!" Blood Spider said in embarrassment and anger.
Bai Pu quickly released, wiped his face, and seeing the shame and anger in Blood Spider's eyes, hastily explained, "There's leather armor in between; you don't actually feel much."
As soon as these words were out, Blood Spider's glare became even more furious, wishing she could draw her Set Dual Blades and give Bai Pu a good punishment.
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