secret dice.

Chapter 747 The Real Gains

It’s different!

Luo Jun's eyes lit up the moment he saw the Freedom Machine activate.

Although other modules directly affect combat effectiveness, judging from the difference after the energy core was replaced, the Yang attribute module is the most crucial component of this mech!
This time, Luo Jun didn't dare to experiment in the basement. Let alone unleashing his skills, he was afraid that the surging energy alone would cause the basement to collapse.

After thinking it over, Luo Jun put the Freedom Machine, which was equipped with five modules, back into the hibernation coffin and stored it in the Treasure Box.

At this point, he had taken stock of all his gains from this mission...

Yet?

Luo Jun breathed a sigh of relief and finally took out one item.

A masterpiece of nature!
He opened the chess box, reached over the compartments containing various cards, and finally lifted the lid of the small box in the very center.

Inside, there are five chess pieces on coin-sized bases, each with an exquisitely crafted chibi-style human figure. These correspond to five top-tier summons: Elontan, Ashlia, Lilith, Gabriel, and Sima Xin.

Previously, there were only these five pieces in the game of Creation and Craftsmanship, but now, there is an additional hidden square below the square of this piece.

After Luo Jun opened it, there was a brand new chess piece inside.

This piece is significantly larger than the previous five. Its base is as large as the chess piece itself, and with the human figure carved on it, the entire piece appears enormous in its box, feeling quite heavy in the hand. Moreover, the texture of this piece is completely different from the others; it is crystal clear, reflecting a rainbow of colors under the light, resembling crystal or jade, giving it an immediate impression of preciousness and fragility!
Do you remember one of the features of the Creation Chess game? Those who die in the Hidden Cave will become part of Creation. If they are ordinary, relatively weak creatures, they might be transformed into a creature card. Those that can become chess pieces are naturally very powerful creatures.

After the tenth round, Luo Jun had checked the Creation Chess set to confirm the identity of Miyamoto Haru, who had died within it. However, the chess box remained unchanged. His initial guess was that the enemy's Creation Chess set was a copy; although it functioned the same, it was essentially two different items, as evidenced by its different cooldown times and resource costs. Since Miyamoto Haru had died in the copy, she wouldn't end up in the original.

Another possibility is that Miyamoto Haru didn't die at all.

In any case, this chess piece is not Miyamoto Haru, but a creature that truly died in the genuine Creation Heavenly Chess Cave!
Luo Jun looked at the chess piece in his hand. Its crystal-clear shape resembled a basic human form, but it lacked facial features, making it look like a mannequin...

That's right, this piece was the Divine BOSS that Luo Jun relentlessly suppressed and dragged to his death in the last round!

As the energy swept across the board, Luo Jun deciphered the information about the chess pieces.

Forbidden Life: Activation requires 100 million breaths of vital energy to summon a forbidden life that exists for 13 seconds. After 13 seconds, the life will completely collapse, and the piece will disappear forever.

really!

In the eleventh round, Luo Jun clearly had the opportunity to kill the BOSS before it had drunk the essence, but he insisted on waiting for it to drink the potion, and then risked his life to make it die in the cave, all for this reason!
To be fair, Luo Jun did underestimate the level of the Divine BOSS. Even with multiple survival abilities and the assistance of dice, the process of fighting against it was still extremely dangerous.

But at least, the final result was worthwhile!
This forbidden life form is undoubtedly the final boss with god-level abilities! This can be seen from its outrageous consumption of 100 million yuan of energy and its ability to exist for only thirteen seconds!

Although it's a one-time use item, it can summon a god-level helper, which can be enough to turn the tide in critical moments!

The only thing that bothered Luo Jun was the duration of those thirteen seconds.

Even without considering its ability to absorb monsters to prolong its life, the battle with the divine BOSS lasted for several minutes. Although not long, it was enough to kill Luo Jun twice.

These thirteen seconds are way too short...

But then I thought, thirteen seconds would require 100 million units of energy; if it really took several minutes to summon, who knows how much that would cost? Besides myself, is there really anyone who can summon this thing?
In any case, Luo Jun has gained another trump card, which is his biggest gain from this mission!

After sorting through his spoils, Luo Jun removed the barrier and returned upstairs, only to find that Gabriel and Sima Xin were both somewhat wary.

"What's wrong?" Luo Jun asked curiously.

"Master, what did you do in the basement just now?" Sima Xin asked with a solemn expression.

"Is there a problem?" Luo Jun frowned, thinking to himself, "Didn't I set up a barrier?"
"Just now, we sensed a mad, bloody, and ferocious aura emanating from here. Although it was very faint, its purity was extremely high. It was probably... a being at the Ascension level!"

Upon hearing their words, Luo Jun immediately realized that they were referring to the Free Mechs who had obtained the Mad King's Demon Core!
It seems that with the blessing of the Mad King's Demon Core, the Free Mech's status has reached the Ascension level. At the moment of its awakening, even the soundproof barrier could not completely block its aura.

Of course, the Freedom Mech is not yet complete, and even when it is, its abilities will be limited, and its combat power will likely differ from that of a true Ascension user. But without a doubt, it is more than capable of dealing with ordinary peak-level opponents.

Thinking of this, Luo Jun smiled and said, "Don't worry, that's your new colleague."

"A... colleague?" Gabriel looked surprised, hesitated for a moment, and tentatively asked, "Is this new colleague... easy to get along with?"

“Uh…” Luo Jun scratched his head: “It might be a little difficult to get along with it.”

"So fierce and difficult to get along with?!" Gabriel's face immediately darkened.

Luo Jun's original plan was to use the teleportation staff to return, pick up the package, rest for a day, and then use the teleportation staff to fly back the next day.

However, because of the Chaos quest, he has already used the teleportation staff once today, so he has to wait another day. He can only teleport back tomorrow at the earliest.

Furthermore, he had promised Dean Su to help with the orientation exams. Today is Friday, and tomorrow should be the exam day. He'll go back on Monday; the kiss of life should be arriving soon. Luo Jun looked outside; the sun had already risen, and the weather seemed quite nice.

These days I've been busy fighting or cultivating, so let's relax a bit today! Looking back, I haven't really explored Ningdong properly in the past year or so. This hometown where I was born and raised actually feels a bit unfamiliar.

After leaving home, I found a breakfast stall nearby and ordered a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe) with two eggs added. I ate it as I walked.

That's right, Luo Jun didn't take a taxi or a bus; he used his most frequently used method, walking, to explore the city on foot.

The difference is that his old neighborhood was in the city center, but the villa he lives in now is closer to the suburbs. Compared to the bustling neighborhood and morning market of his past, the suburbs now have wide roads and neat buildings, but they lack the vibrancy of everyday life and are somewhat dull to walk around in.

However, Luo Jun didn't seem to care. He appeared to be strolling leisurely, but in reality, both his pace and stride length exceeded those of ordinary people, and he seemed to have a special gait, never taking a break. If you didn't look at any reference points, anyone would think he was taking a slow walk, but when you tried to catch up with him, you would find that even jogging might not be enough to keep up.

Taking such a leisurely stroll, he reached the old town by midday.

Hmm? Qianyuehui?
Luo Jun, holding the fried chicken cutlet he had just bought across the street, glanced at the shopping mall not far away.

Without realizing it, I've come this far?
Seeing the mall's sign, Luo Jun couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. A year ago, it all started here. By chance, he encountered the polluters who were kidnapping children, and then was unwittingly drawn into the Chaos Mission, which led him to meet Elder Yuan and begin his life as a cultivator.

Passing by the same place, Luo Jun, on a whim, went inside.

A year has passed, and several shops have changed businesses. The hot pot restaurant he used to crave but couldn't bring himself to give up has become a self-service barbecue restaurant. Now that he has money, the restaurant he used to long for has closed down, which is quite a pity.

Luo Jun walked uphill with a touch of melancholy, and somehow ended up at the movie theater, where he watched some of the most popular films.

"The Wilderness Hunter 2?" Luo Jun was somewhat surprised to see this name.

A year ago, the birthday gift he had been longing for was a movie ticket to the first "Wild Hunt" movie. He never expected that a sequel would be released in just one year.
But then I thought about it again, and the movie wasn't actually that difficult to make.

Logically speaking, "The Wild Hunt" is a fantasy story, with the main plot revolving around hunters with supernatural abilities battling monsters. The film is almost entirely composed of special effects shots, and the scenes are large and realistic. The production cycle for such a visual effects blockbuster should be quite long.

However, Luo Jun only learned after becoming a cultivator that the Wilderness Hunt series was actually produced by a film company under the Ling family.

That's right, Ling Yao, the protagonist of Wild Hunter, is the number one person below the Feather Transformation level in reality... no, he's no longer below the Feather Transformation level. In short, many plot points in this movie are based on Ling Yao's or other hunters' experiences. As for the visual effects, there's no need for them at all. The Wilderness world is full of monsters, and the skills of various cultivators are readily available. Even the best special effects team can't match the quality of practical effects.

Of course, although the protagonist's name is Ling Yao, he is not the actor himself. As the ace of the Ling family, Ling Yao has all sorts of difficult missions to conquer, so he doesn't have time to film this kind of thing. The male lead is named Ling Jun, also a member of the Ling family. Although his strength and talent are not great, only at the Qi Cultivation Realm, he is handsome and sunny, and has a lot of acting talent, so he took on the important task of playing Ling Yao.

To be honest, although the actor is also very handsome, Luo Jun felt that he was still a bit lacking compared to Ling Yao himself... It's not that he wasn't good-looking enough, but rather his temperament, that kind of confidence and domineering aura that comes from strength, which is not something that can be easily acted out.

Even so, Ling Jun's performance was quite successful. Coupled with the unprecedentedly realistic special effects and the carefully crafted plot, the Ling family's first film not only raked in billions at the box office but also gained a lot of fans.

As a large family, the Ling family operates a huge hunter guild and needs funds everywhere. In addition to the development of the [Wilderness], they also want to expand into other businesses.

The number of cultivators is ultimately limited; the market for ordinary people is the real blue ocean, and film companies are one of their many attempts to enter the secular world.

Since the release of "The Wilderness Hunter" last year, Ling Jun has gained some fame in the industry. Coupled with the backing of the Ling family's substantial capital, he and other artists from the Ling family have been thriving in the entertainment circle, appearing on variety shows and opening social media accounts, gaining a large following and reaping considerable profits. The Ling family has even leveraged this success to sign many ordinary artists, expanding its business significantly. In just one year, it has developed into an entertainment giant that cannot be underestimated.

To ordinary people, this is undoubtedly a remarkable success, but within the cultivation community, it is still believed that the Ling family is going astray, and many people scoff at this decision.

Of course, this wasn't something Luo Jun should care about. Although he missed the theatrical release, he did watch "The Wild Hunt" online after it was released on streaming platforms. He had to admit that it was well-made, but for someone who had already experienced real fantasy, it was only interesting, not particularly thrilling.

But since we've run into each other today, let's just watch the sequel.

Luo Jun arrived at the counter just as a giant screen movie was about to start. Although the movie had been playing for a week, the attendance rate was still very high. In the hall with more than 300 seats, only a few corner seats were left.

Luo Jun didn't care, bought a ticket and went inside.

Fire safety public service announcements had already started playing in the screening room. Luo Jun sat down in the far corner, and after a moment, the movie finally began.

Luo Jun recalled that the story of "The Wild Hunt" ended with a human settlement being attacked by monsters, and Ling Yao stepping forward to lead a team to kill the powerful monsters, causing the beast's nest to retreat. However, the post-credits scene left a foreshadowing: deep in the wilderness, a golden eye suddenly opened, foreshadowing the appearance of an even more powerful monster.

The story of "The Wild Hunt 2" picks up where the first film left off. It opens with a scene of "Ling Yao" hunting. The camera work is smooth and the action is clean and crisp, giving the audience a different audio-visual experience and grabbing their attention.

The opening was rather formulaic, but the action scenes were indeed quite good. However, even with Luo Jun's keen eye, he could tell that the monster he was hunting, while looking ferocious and intimidating, was at most a level three or four, a level that even actor Ling Jun himself could barely handle. This action scene would be quite exciting to the average person, but to Luo Jun, it seemed rather childish.

He even noticed that, probably for safety reasons, the monster's movements were not very coordinated when fighting Ling Jun, as if it was subject to some kind of restriction. However, it was not visible on the screen, so it was either removed by technical means or its energy ability was not captured on film.

In short, the fluid action scenes that ordinary people find exhilarating were, in Luo Jun's opinion, somewhat awkward due to the monster's restrictive movements, making some of the actors' actions appear comical and deliberate. At a crucial moment, Luo Jun couldn't help but burst out laughing.

His laugh had a significant effect; the two little girls sitting in the front row turned around and glared at him.

Oops, looks like I disturbed someone. Luo Jun gave an apologetic look, put away his smile, and continued watching the movie.

(End of this chapter)