Chapter 79: Another Path

"Monster cards, including spiders, skeletons, coyotes..."

"Equipment cards, covering weapons, armor, and protective gear..."

"Class cards, spell cards, quest cards."

"Random cards, special cards, rare cards."

"Badge cards, membership cards... The strangest thing is there are even map cards, including secret realms and camps!"

Luo Yong walked alone in the spider secret realm, spiders of all sizes crawling past him from time to time. As usual, these monsters ignored him completely, treating him as one of their own, or perhaps as just another rock or blade of grass in the landscape. He wandered along, muttering to himself and paying no attention to where he was going, bumping into the occasional spider and kicking it aside, or stumbling over rocks and falling into muddy pits. Yet he seemed entirely oblivious, lost in his own thoughts, gesturing as he recited to himself.

Had anyone seen him like this, they would surely have taken him for a madman.

Suddenly, a spider the size of a watermelon jumped onto his head and settled there, unmoving, as if it had found a convenient traveling post and was hitching a ride for a stroll.

"Get off!" Luo Yong brushed the clueless creature off his head and waved his longsword. With a clatter, four skeleton soldiers emerged from nearby, gathering around Luo Yong and automatically slaying the spiders that approached him.

Luo Yong rubbed his forehead and lay down, breathing deeply, drained of strength. "It's still not working... I'm still far from it..."

It had been some time since he returned to the spider secret realm, and Luo Yong was single-mindedly searching for the "mutated spider monster." The elven lady had accompanied him in his exploration for a while, but, seeing no progress, had gone off to try another approach.

Luo Yong, meanwhile, had not been idle; he had obtained a few rune stones to increase his level from the elven elder. Truthfully, these weren't of much use—real strength was something one had to cultivate for oneself, and external aid could only go so far. When it came down to it, these things couldn't make the difference.

For example, after equipping the rune stones, Luo Yong had instantly reached level 20. Yet his energy and stamina remained at the level of an eighth-level hero. So, although he could summon four level-20 skeleton soldiers at once, the effort left him mentally exhausted, as if his mind had been sucked dry.

Fortunately, he had restorative potions and some ability to recover on his own, so he would soon be back on his feet.

Lying on the ground, Luo Yong flipped through his collection of cards again and again, growing ever more disheartened. The set closest to completion, the spider cards, was now at a strange impasse. Either, as he suspected, he needed to find and slay the mutated hidden variant to complete the set, or, in the worst case, the final card was the legendary Crimson Spider Queen Adela, the one said to devour dragons, and he would never be able to finish...

As for the other cards, there were all sorts, and he still had a long way to go before completing any set.

He was nearly ready to give up on that road, focusing instead on increasing his level with rune stones and boosting his energy and stamina with secret elixirs—two approaches at once. That way, his strength would be no less than a hero who had leveled up through normal means, perhaps even greater.

In short, the heavens never seal off all paths.

After resting for a while, Luo Yong cleared his head. Since there was no rushing the card collecting, he might as well let it be—after all, there was another way to grow stronger.

When the time came, he'd show off his longsword encrusted with rune stones, and be sure to leave everyone dumbstruck!

With this thought, Luo Yong began quaffing his energy and stamina elixirs. After downing both, his strength rose directly to that of a ninth-level hero.

"The most important thing in life is to be happy!"

"Why be so stubborn about it..."

Isn't leveling up just leveling up, no matter how it's done?

In the end, Luo Yong could only comfort himself this way.

"Damn it, am I really going to spend my time in this world amassing a pile of cards I can never complete? If that's the case, I might as well not bother!"

Annoyed, Luo Yong simply closed off his info screens, pulled a scroll from his storage, unfurled it, and activated the magic circle within.

Thus, he truly became—

A magic swordsman.

Since such a class really existed, Luo Yong didn't mind spending on a class scroll to make the lie reality!

After casually dispatching a few more spiders, Luo Yong decided to leave the spider secret realm and join his teammates in exploring the Lion Island secret realm.

Later, once everyone's level had increased, they would all head to his own Forest secret realm together.

Leveling up and exploring, both at once.

Though he gained no experience from killing monsters, he could still find gems and equipment. In that sense, he lost some and gained some—his heart felt instantly balanced.

Of course, Lilian's secret realm was her own, unrelated to the team, and she had no intention of opening it up for joint development with the elves, as Luo Yong had done.

At least, for now, she had no such plans.

Still, that didn't stop the team from exploring her secret realm.

To be fair, when Luo Yong discussed it with her, he offered his own Forest secret realm as an exchange. As a team member, she could enter freely as well.

Through these exchanges, Lilian had benefited greatly and found it harder to cling to her strict sense of "fairness."

After all, Luo Yong was the one giving more.

Perhaps, this was what it meant to be a true leader!

It was also likely the reason these beautiful women followed him so loyally and chose him as captain...

With this thought, Lilian began to let down her guard, realizing that this man was different from the rest.

Yet, as far as Luo Yong was concerned, he was just an easy mark with more money than sense, easy to fool!

Ahem.

But that was fine.

So long as he was happy.

"Sunflowers, moon grass, starfruit trees..."

Just as Luo Yong was musing, a voice drifted over from afar, reciting something.

And then—

"Dodo!"

At once, Luo Yong recognized the voice. The alchemy sprite had been busy lately with her forging practice, burning through a lot of materials, and was now close to mastering her specialty.

Of course, during this time, she'd also frequently cooked magical meals and brewed potions for the team and for the freeloading elves who came shamelessly to share in the bounty.

Every time, the crowd would gather round, and after tasting the magic food or receiving a secret elixir, would erupt in collective exclamations, praising Dodo's skills to the skies, declaring her unmatched on heaven or earth, nearly lifting her onto a pedestal...

Fortunately, after the elven lady Yan Bao'er returned for a visit, this phenomenon improved a bit. The younger elves came by less often for free food and drink.

But that girl Veil had made herself at home, and somehow grown inseparable from Dodo, never missing out on a single benefit.

Yan Bao'er could only shake her head at this.

"Ah! Master!"

Dodo, startled by Luo Yong's voice, cried out in surprise, clearly not expecting to run into him in such a vast secret realm, caught red-handed.

"What are you all doing here?" Luo Yong, with his four skeleton soldiers, approached quickly and burst out laughing at the scene before him.

Dodo wasn't alone—Veil was with her, as was the chubby Geer.

And sitting on Geer's shoulder was a little girl.

"Sally, aren't you supposed to be studying with the sage? What are you doing here?"

Luo Yong's gaze swept over each of them, then landed on the colorful spider that was, in fact, the transformed secret realm key.

"Master, Dodo is looking for some alchemy materials!" Dodo quickly explained her presence.

"No, Dodo, don't tell him!" Veil jumped up, hugged Dodo from behind, and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"The sage is busy and doesn't have time to teach Sally right now," the little girl said, timidly, as if she'd done something wrong and didn't dare meet Luo Yong's eyes.

"Uh, Luo Yong... Captain, we, uh..." the chubby one stammered, unable to get out a coherent word.

"What is a sunflower?" Luo Yong asked.

"You heard that?!" Veil, realizing Luo Yong had overheard, gave up blocking Dodo and hurried her to explain everything.

"Veil found it in an ancient book. By using a special method to refine it, you can create a mysterious elixir that makes a person incredibly powerful!"

"Is that so?" Luo Yong replied noncommittally, wondering if such an elixir really existed. He made a note to ask Bao'er when he had time.

"Don't go asking Sister Bao'er!"

At that moment, as if reading his mind, Veil—who usually had little interest in Luo Yong—interjected quickly, "She doesn't know, so there's no point in asking!"

"Oh? But you're not her—how can you be sure she doesn't know?" Luo Yong countered, raising the classic question: how can you know what someone else knows?

"You... Anyway, just don't tell her!" Veil insisted stubbornly.

"Still, bringing all of them here to collect alchemy ingredients for you, you owe me a proper explanation," Luo Yong said.

"Well, actually..." Veil hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said, "It's a legendary elixir that can make women even more beautiful!"

"Eh?!"

"Roar?!"

At these words, Dodo turned to Veil in surprise, and Sally's mouth formed a round "O," her whole expression transformed.

For women, no matter their age, the allure of beauty was always irresistible.

"Wasn't it supposed to make you stronger?" Luo Yong asked, entirely without emotion.

"For women, becoming beautiful is becoming strong!" Veil replied solemnly. "Beauty can make a woman powerful!"