Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

Chapter 118 Blue Level 4 Source Energy Skill

The level-five ice demon was covered in countless tiny golden-red sparks, and soon the flames began to swell rapidly.

"It works!" Sui An stood on the watchtower, somewhat excited as he watched this scene, but he was soon disappointed.

The humanoid ice demon let out a sudden roar, and for some unknown reason, countless ice crystals around its body flew out and dissipated on the spot, its original four or five-meter-tall body suddenly dropping to less than three meters.

But the intense flames of sin that filled the sky also dissipated into the air as the scattered ice crystals burned away.

"I can't believe there's such a way to do it!"

But at this moment, Fang Si had already rushed out on his own initiative. His arm was still recovering and his body had shrunk considerably, so this was the best opportunity for him.

Indeed, having lost both arms, the ice demon tried to open its hideous maw to bite, but Fang Si was faster, twisting his body and gathering his strength to slash its chest.

With one, two, and three slashes, a massive ice core was plucked out by his straight blade, thrown back into his territory, and blasted to pieces by a lightning magic bullet.

A blue trophy fell to the ground.

Instead of looking at the spoils, Sui An turned his gaze to the illusion to the south, where a large number of ice demons had gathered. Ice demons were also frantically chipping at the walls around his territory. These were all ice demons that had been added after he moved away from the elemental statues.

Once again, Sui An manipulated the illusion to clear out the surrounding ice demons. After they gathered together, Sui An used the Flame Sword in its initial mode to deliver two consecutive blows.

Since it's already been used, there's no need to drag it out.

The effects of the Flame Lotus were extremely powerful. Not only were low-level ice demons melted, but even the ice cores were melting. They dissipated completely before the Sin Flame could even take effect.

On the projection, the number of ice demons surging from all sides had greatly decreased. Sui An frowned and still chose to recall the Sword Star Totem.

The longer this thing stays in the air, the greater the potential for unknown dangers.

"Phew~ That was so exciting! I never thought I'd be able to fight three level-five ice demons at the same time!"

Sui An let out a long breath. In today's crisis, if he had lost even one Sword Star Totem, his barrier would have definitely reached its limit.

Even the three-in-one barrier was severely shaken by a single attack from a level five ice demon. If it continued to attack and accumulated damage to a certain level in a short period of time, the barrier would break because it could not mitigate the accumulated damage.

This thing doesn't have any source energy techniques, but even a casual strike from it is stronger than an attack from someone else that's imbued with source energy.

Once the three-in-one barrier is destroyed, one will have no means of defense and will basically be a sitting duck.

Fang Si sat on the stage, and Sui An reopened the stage for him.

He glanced at the projector on the monitoring station and said softly, "It's been almost an hour. At yesterday's pace, it should be almost finished cleaning up."

"Indeed, there are not many left now, not even worth using illusions to lure them."

Sui An also breathed a sigh of relief. He put the six elemental statues back in their original positions one by one. These scattered ice demons were no longer a concern, and the elemental statues were enough.

He glanced at the blue sphere of trophy that Fang Si had brought back and discovered that it was something he had never encountered before among all his trophies: Source Energy Technique!

【Skill Name】: Alloy Body 【Skill Quality】: Blue 【Skill Level】: Level 4 【Skill Category】: Passive Skill 【Skill Effect】: Slightly increases the basic physical strength of metal-type combat professions. When actively activated: Increases the basic physical defense ability according to the user's profession level, increases the skin's resistance to piercing and cutting by sharp weapons, and slightly increases the user's strength. The effect lasts for a maximum of ten minutes. The active amplification effect can be canceled at any time. After use, it takes some time to relieve the physical burden.

[Learning Requirements]: Professional level ≥ 4, Metal Source Energy.

"This is good stuff!"

Sui An was pleasantly surprised; this was the first time he had ever obtained a mid-level item.

The level 4 source beasts I killed before mostly dropped low-level items, with only mid-level materials dropping, but those were green materials and had limited value.

"But who should I give this to?" Sui An had a headache. He secretly glanced at Fang Si, who was recovering, wondering if Fang Si had even looked at it himself.

To be honest, under normal circumstances, he would hand it over to Wang Zhen without hesitation, and Wang Zhen would just give him a price based on cost as a token amount.

But at this moment, this trophy orb was obtained through a battle that put him at a higher level, and coincidentally, it also possessed metal-type energy and met the level 4 learning requirement.

Sui An believed you when you said this thing was dropped by God for Fang Si.

When coincidences reach an extreme, they cease to be coincidences.

Blue level 4 source energy skills are not exactly commonplace. Aunt Zhao only has one green level 4 source energy skill, Erhu's Gale Strike, which is a level 4 green skill.

Only Wang Zhen's Whirlwind Kill Spear was a level 4 blue weapon, so its power was astonishing. Even physical-type professionals of the same level would be killed if they were hit by it.

However, the rest of their minor source energy skills are low-level and their effects are gradually becoming dispensable, especially burst-type skills.

Based on what I know, low-level energy skills, apart from some special skills and active attack skills, become less effective after advancing to the intermediate level.

The main reason is that lower-level skills have less restriction on the output of source energy per unit time.

Imagine a low-level energy source as an engine. If you pour level four and level three energy sources into it, the efficiency of its power conversion is limited because the pipe is only so thick. So the effect is slightly improved, but not much.

However, if you use level 3 source energy to fill the intermediate source energy technique, you won't even fill half of the tube, so the engine will naturally have a hard time turning.

"Well, everything has to be based on relationships, but also on fate."

Sui An quickly made a decision. Regardless of Wang Zhenyuan's distant position, Fang Si and the others were currently fighting desperately against the Ice Mist Tide, and increasing their combat strength would be a positive help in the coming time.

"Fang Si, here's something for you~"

Sui An tossed the spoils to Fang Si, who opened her eyes in surprise, reached out and caught the spoils she had just tossed, her face full of doubt.

"What does this mean? Is it for me?"

"Employee benefits are 50% off, you can use it for now~" Sui An waved with a smile.

Fang Si was stunned for a moment. He did not continue to refuse, but glanced at the contents of the trophy orb. Soon, he showed a look of surprise and his voice became urgent.

"How many Originium do you want for this? I'll pay you back."

"Hmm, I don't want money, how about you work for me and risk your life?"

Sui An was in a good mood and started joking around with a smile.

Fang Si was stunned, but he quickly replied with a smile, "Sure, at least let me sell for two or three years~"

"Okay, then sell to me for two or three years first~"

Sui An rushed into the house without waiting.

"Have you earned enough merit points yet?"

At this moment, his biggest concern is whether he has enough materials to upgrade to level three. Level five requires too many materials, and he definitely doesn't have enough right now.

"7138!"

"Excellent! It was worth the near-conquest of our territory. We're just 62 points away from reaching level three. Once I finish clearing out the rest of the area..."

That's about enough!

"Exchange for two sets of materials first, make it, and then upgrade it later."

In the courtyard, a new building slowly began to solidify from the ground, immediately attracting the attention of the three people.

"What is this?"

Fang Nian glanced at it a few times and noticed that the bottom was different from the existing buildings, but no one answered him; they all just focused their attention on this spot.

Sui An walked out of the house. Judging from the blueprints, the building was just a regular statue, nothing special compared to the Sword Star Totem or the Witch's Altar.

The round base is very shallow, only about 20 or 30 centimeters high and about a meter wide, and its color looks like it is made of copper.

Above the base is a statue of a goddess, made entirely of jade, with a slight icy blue hue.

The figure on the statue is dressed in some peculiar clothing, which looks like some kind of tight-fitting garment, highlighting the goddess's tall and curvaceous figure.

Her long, soft hair was tied into a thick braid with a bow-shaped decoration at the back. Her bangs covered most of her right eye. She wore a lily-shaped hairpin and swastika-shaped earrings, all of which made her look pure and elegant.

He held a long spear with a strangely shaped tip in his right hand, and his left hand was clenched into a fist with his index and middle fingers together, as if he were performing some kind of hand seal.

"Is this the image of the Goddess's Spirit-Sending Talisman?"

"It just looks like one of those life-size anime figures~"

Sui An scratched his head. Apart from its ice-blue color, which lacked the realistic colors of a figurine, the statue in front of him was extremely similar.

The statue gradually solidified, and suddenly, it shone brightly, its icy blue light shooting into the sky, dispersing the icy blue mist above and shooting straight up into the vast sky, all the way to the horizon.

"What's that noise?!"

Such an unusual phenomenon left Sui An dumbfounded. This was the first time he had encountered such a strange noise while constructing a building. Was this the prestige of a golden building?

The one-meter-thick blue beam of light in the sky gradually thinned, but at some point, a peculiar ball of light began to descend along the blue beam.

The shape of the sphere of light gradually became visible to everyone. In the center was an ice-blue spherical gemstone, with what appeared to be a six-pointed snowflake pattern inside, and a peculiar frame that seemed to be made of metal.

The ball of light gradually landed behind the statue, eventually merging with the bow binding the hair, and the strange phenomenon that had lasted for days and nights quietly dissipated.

Sui An stared intently at the statue, feeling as if it had come to life, or even as if it were scrutinizing him.

"Is this some kind of divine intervention into the statue?!"

He had some guesses, but wasn't sure.

After the peculiar prop was integrated, the statue itself did not change; only the prop retained its original appearance, and its material was somewhat different from that of the statue.

Sui An looked up and saw three pairs of eyes staring at him. He immediately regretted putting the statue in the courtyard; he should have kept it inside the house.

But if I bring it inside now, will it ruin my image?

"Hmm, a new building, something special."

The three people's eyes remained unchanged. Anyone could see that something was amiss. If it weren't for the ice mist tide enveloping the land, countless people would have witnessed that strange phenomenon.

"It's very special, so it can't be displayed outside!"

Sui An ultimately decided to put it inside the house and clicked to upgrade it. He felt that the energy fluctuations on the statue were somewhat unusual, and if someone with ulterior motives saw them, something unexpected would happen.

As the statue was moved into the room, Fang Si suddenly let out a long sigh of relief.

"Mysterious, powerful, I almost couldn't breathe—"

"Is it really that powerful?" Upon hearing Fang Si's words, Sui An frowned.

Why do I feel that this thing is very lively, not like an inanimate object?

Fang Si nodded solemnly: "Architects don't cultivate source energy, so your sensitivity to energy is very low, but I'm different. This goddess statue makes me feel like I'm not on the same level as it. The fluctuations of its power are too mysterious."

"The two of them can also sense it a little, but their level is too low to distinguish whether it is a strong fluctuation or just the overwhelming power of the source energy."

"Tiger, do you feel anything?" Sui An raised his head and looked at Wang Hu.

"Yes, I think it's stronger than those three level-five ice demons!" Wang Hu nodded without hesitation.

Fang Nian felt the same way: "I am also very sensitive to source energy. I have an indescribable feeling. I feel that this thing has a very peculiar force field, which is completely different from the force field of the source beast containing source energy. It is ethereal, but it is like the sky pressing down, making people feel heavy-hearted."

Fang Nian's words sounded even more fantastical than her brother's, causing Sui An to frown even more deeply.

It looks like this thing needs to be hidden even more carefully.

"Don't tell anyone, if you don't want to be in trouble—"

For the time being, Sui An could only issue a verbal warning. He hadn't expected that there would be such a clear difference between high-grade and low-grade buildings in this world, just like how combat professionals could sense the source energy level of source beasts or other combat professionals.

While it is impossible to accurately determine the quality of a building, it is possible to discern its strength or weakness.

He glanced at the projection on the monitoring station and found that there were hardly any new ice demons entering his warning line anymore.

"There shouldn't be any problems now~"

"I hope so~" Fang Si said with some concern. "I was worried that the fire attribute energy fluctuations of your sword star would attract stronger source beasts, but now I'm more worried about the impact of that light pillar just now."

Sui An was getting a headache from Fang Si's antics: "No way, this is an ice-attribute building~"

Fang Si said with a sullen face, "Yes, if it's something like metal, I'm not too worried. Fire and ice are both associated with ice demons, so it's hard to say—"

"No way, I've been using this Sword Star for so long and nothing's happened. Don't scare yourself!"

Sui An waved his hand, unsure whether he was speaking to Fang Si or trying to convince himself.

He watched as the last ice demon was eliminated, and then expanded the Thousand Winds Barrier to a level three range.

"Let's collect some Originium while the Ice Demons are gone; we've used up even more today than the night before last!"

By now, his consumption has exceeded four thousand source stones, which is simply frightening.

After all, six Sword Star battles consume 240 Origin Stones, while killing a Level 5 Ice Demon only yields one Level 5 Origin Stone after deducting merit points.

Even with the premium, it's worth at most 20 coins, but you'll spend at least 40 coins, so fighting the Ice Demon will really be a loss.

In other words, it relies on using illusions to gather monsters and benefiting from area-of-effect attacks to sustain itself.