My exclusive card pool

Chapter 134 Unsolvable Pollution

Only after everything was over did Wang Xi have time to check the black apple tree.

He tried to absorb the etheric crystals growing around the tree, but because they were not yet fully formed, he was unable to obtain even a trace of energy.

According to Pinocchio, he discovered a small vein of aether crystal in a small cave, but the crystal inside was almost completely mined out... It is unknown whether it was dug by the Spinning Wheel Merchants, the Northerners, or both.

In short, Wang Xi missed the right time and missed out on a huge wave of opportunities.

Fortunately, he soon discovered that the black apples on the tree also contained energy, and in a very concentrated form.

Wang Xi reached out and plucked one; it felt icy cold to the touch. The round, deep black apple was heavy; it didn't feel like a fruit, but more like a solid iron ball.

"Black Apple: The fruit of an apple tree contaminated by an unknown force. It contains abundant energy and pollution, and eating it will cause unpredictable consequences."

eat?
Who would dare eat this!

What if it mutates like the "weak goblin" and really becomes a green-skinned goblin?
He used Caius for absorption.

In a flash, the black apple in my hand disappeared.

However, it was this very bite that made me realize what was happening.

This was the first time Wang Xi had encountered Caius having an upset stomach.

The energy was indeed absorbed, and quite a lot of it, a full 1000 points.

Energy: 3865

But then, Caius started vomiting.

The energy data fluctuated violently, with the numbers jumping up and down and flashing incessantly, as if some kind of data malfunction had occurred.

It immediately plummeted.

It dropped from "3865" to "3365" before stopping, having vomited up half of it.

This is not over yet.

Now it was Wang Xi's turn to feel bad.

He suddenly felt dizzy, had a buzzing sound in his ears, his vision turned red, and his murderous intent surged.

He immediately realized something was wrong.

Is this a sign that I'm about to turn to the dark side?!
No!

I haven't eaten yet!
It was Caius who ate it, it has nothing to do with me!

Fortunately.

Whether it was the "Heart of Pinocchio" protecting its master, or the pollution being attracted by something within him, it all rushed into the "Gear Mark".

Click...

All I could hear was the sound of gears turning in my chest.

"The gear brand has been blackened."

Current corruption progress: 10/100

Now Wang Xi is better.

The dark energy emanating from him faded, and he returned to normal.

'This tree is too eerie...'

Wang Xi secretly broke out in a cold sweat.

Even Caius couldn't completely clean up this pollution.

He thought about it for a moment, but ultimately didn't dare reach out to pick any more fruit to absorb. The tree was full of energy, yet it was like a tempting, sweet poison; who knew what would happen if he continued to absorb it?

Just to be on the safe side, Wang Xi restrained his greed.

'Neither the Black Lake nor this Black Apple can be dealt with for the time being... they're simply unsolvable problems.'

Wang Xi thought.

He vaguely sensed that the corrupted scenes in the main world's labyrinth might be a reflection of the future of another world—and the source of all this was likely this unknown pollution.

However, he is currently at a loss as to how to address this issue.

...

...

Wang Xi was unaware of the consequences if the Northerners' sacrificial ceremony were successfully completed. No matter how dismissive he was, he couldn't believe it wouldn't be anything good.

Fortunately, the surprise attack that night successfully interrupted the ceremony and also annihilated the northern high command and elite troops.

With this, the war in the North came to an end.

However, the pollution problem remains unresolved, like a dark cloud that hangs over the Kingdom of Mulu and weighs heavily on Wang Xi's mind.

Wang Xi didn't intend to bother with the rest. So, he issued a series of detailed instructions to the projection to carry out—to return to Randall, completely reclaim their homeland, and then lead the puppet army and the monster army to continue north.

Crossing the glacier, heading straight for the heart of the enemy.

The elite troops of the North have been almost completely wiped out, and the remaining tribes are just a bunch of rotten fish, the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled. They should be easy to suppress... or at the very least, they can be driven out of the North.

Wang Xi didn't care about the specifics of how to fight.

He boarded the candy carriage and chose to return.

Projection hosted

World: Fairy Tale

Exploration: 19.8%

"Legendary Status: 35 (Your actions, leading an army of three hundred under the name 'Queen's Sword' to aid the North, reclaiming the three earls of the Principality of Dunkirk, annihilating the elite forces of the North, and capturing the tribal leaders, caused a sensation throughout the kingdom. People respectfully call you 'Prince Snow.')"

"Advent Cooldown Countdown: 12 hours and 59 minutes"

"Retirement Preview: You lead reinforcements northward and successfully suppress the various tribes in the north."

"During this process, you discovered a pitch-black skeleton in the Snow Wolf tribe where the Great Chief of the North resides. The people of the North call it the 'Ancestral Spirit'."

"At this moment, you suddenly realize the real reason why the people of the North are going crazy—they have all been affected and corrupted by this skeleton, and have fallen into darkness."

"When you led your entourage back to Daphne, it was already spring. The entire capital city lined the streets to welcome you, with colorful flags waving and handkerchiefs and flowers fluttering in the air."

"Under the sunlight, the honor guard sounded horns and drums, and Queen Siana and her court ministers personally greeted you and publicly bestowed upon you honorary awards."

"The good times didn't last long. Three months later, an urgent call for help came from the Magic Forest—Black Lake had gone berserk!"

...

…Wang Xi opened his eyes and sat up from the sofa.

He rubbed his temples.

Black Lake Rampage...

Is it a pollution outbreak?

Wang Xi frowned and speculated.

He couldn't think of any other reason besides this. His expression turned serious.

This fairytale journey to another world allowed him to get up close to the Black Apple Tree, giving him a direct understanding of the terrifying nature of the source of the blackened pollution.

No wonder the three witches were helpless against the Black Lake.

From the large-scale corruption of the Northland to the rampage of the Black Lake in the Magic Forest, this series of events gave Wang Xi a sense of foreboding...

It's like a massive disaster that's about to sweep through the entire fairy tale world.

With his own thoughts in mind, Wang Xi ordered a simple meal and shared it with Liuli. He kept his promise and ordered two extra bottles of iced Demon Soda for Liuli, making the child jump for joy.

In the afternoon.

Wang Xi sat on the living room sofa and began drawing cards.

The Northern Warrior and Shaman card pools contain a total of twenty wild cards.

As usual, he started by smoking the lower-quality ones.

Wang Xi doesn't believe in metaphysics, nor does he engage in the practice of using "padding" techniques.

He simply had a habit of saving the best for last, like when eating sunflower seeds, he would crack the small ones first and save the plump, round ones for later... Even in his past life, when playing games, he would never use the high-quality items in his inventory until the durability of his basic weapon was used up.

Even after completing the game, I still had a bunch of brand-new, top-tier weapons left, which I never even touched.

"Consume 1400 energy points (1965 remaining)"

In his mind, fourteen green orbs of light shone one after another.

buzzing-

A series of wild cards floated in front of him.

Wang Xi glanced at them one by one.

Half garbage.

Seven cards is acceptable.

"Berserk," "Blood Rage," "Long Axe Mastery," "Flying Axe Mastery," "Horseback Archery Mastery," "Bloodstained Glory," and "Extreme Cold Bloodline."

"Mastery" is a passive skill card that is a level higher than "Mastery".

The abilities "Berserk" and "Blood Rage" are very similar. The former is activated actively, which can greatly increase strength and speed and reduce pain; the latter is triggered passively after blood is drawn, with a similar effect.

The drawbacks are also obvious. These two skills can make people lose their temper and rationality, and due to the excessive stamina consumption, their duration is not long, and they will leave the user in a period of weakness afterward.

"Bloodstained Glory" is somewhat similar to a certain enhancement direction of the "Rendall Body Tempering Method" back then. If Wang Xi remembered correctly, it was called "Bloodstained Battle". The more severe the injury, the stronger the combat power.

As the name suggests, "Extreme Cold Bloodline" has strong resistance to cold environments and can reduce the damage caused by low temperatures to a certain extent.

These all fit Wang Xi's stereotype of barbarian berserkers.

He put the cards aside for the time being.

Continue drawing from the Shaman card pool.

"Consume 600 energy points (1365 remaining)"

buzzing-

The first five dark green cards that popped up were the first five.

"Frozen Injuries", "Cold-Blooded Divination", "Ancestral Blessing", "Cold Breath", "Ice Wall".

What Wang Xi didn't expect was that even a deep green card could produce junk.

He couldn't use the cards "Cold-Blooded Divination" and "Ancestral Blessing" at all.

Because Wang Xi has no ancestors?
of course not.

He doesn't have ancestral spirit beliefs, or rather, such things don't exist in the main world.

The former can predict and divine things, whether it is accurate or not is another matter, but it is somewhat of a reference; the latter is the buff spell that the shaman provided to the warriors during the Battle of the Lake, giving them the fighting power of beasts.

But both require the power of ancestral spirits.

It's not necessarily true that it's unusable.

The maze is so vast that it contains all sorts of wonders.

Maybe someone will draw the "Ancestral Spirit" and use that person's ancestor as an auxiliary character.

Wang Xi put the other dark green cards aside and took the last card—a blue card originating from the chief shaman.

"Frostfire Curse (Skill Card)"

"Quality: Blue One Star (Upgradable)"

"A forbidden secret technique that only the most gifted shamans of the North can master. It does not burn flesh and blood, but greedily devours magic and life, wrapping around the target like a conscious living thing until it is drained dry into an empty shell."

"Upon use, you will master this secret technique. It has a certain casting delay, and upon release, it will lock onto the enemy, burning the target's mana. If the target has no mana, it will burn their life force. Each use will consume a large amount of mana."

"Eh?"

Wang Xi was shocked.

He never expected that he would actually draw out the chief shaman's trump card.

That was the trick they used back then; it almost burned him alive. Fortunately, he managed to survive the night thanks to the massive amount of magic he had absorbed.

If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't have survived.

Wang Xi thought about it.

Finally, he listed the three green cards "Long Axe Mastery", "Flying Axe Mastery" and "Horse Archery Mastery", as well as the two dark green cards "Cold-Blooded Divination" and "Ancestral Blessing" for sale in the "Hat Hole" section.

He has no use for any of these, and directly crushing them into experience points would be a waste. Selling them for money would be a resource conversion with less loss.

After doing all this, Wang Xi thought for a long time.

He plans to combine the cards of the Northern Warriors into a powerful combination, but he must find a way to make up for its shortcomings.

So, I carefully filtered through the platform again and finally found two cards that I liked:
— "Blue Mood" and "Delayed Gratification"

(End of this chapter)