Seeing the Watcher pick up an ordinary mineral rock, both Sonia and Diya shot him urging looks.
Not all resources produced by a resource point were usable by sorcerers. Roughly only one out of ten yields contained Void Realm energy, evolving into essence materials capable of feeding sorcery spirits.
This was why only knowledge creatures could manage resource points—the production cycle was simply too long. Before a sorcerer could direct their sorcery spirits to excavate materials suited for themselves, their soul energy would be nearly depleted, forcing them to exit the Void Realm.
Only knowledge creatures, who had no stay limits and could even survive within the Domain of Stillness, could manage resource points for extended periods. Furthermore, knowledge creatures did not merely reap without consuming; they themselves loved eating these essence materials. Records indicated that the larger a resource point, the more pack creatures it harbored. Perhaps pack creatures could multiply their kin by absorbing these materials.
Occasionally, large creatures would raid resource points. Yet just as sorcerers struggled against pack creatures, large creatures could not necessarily overcome them either. Generally, their relationship was not a life-and-death struggle; in most cases, the pack creatures would proactively hand over a few materials—like tossing scraps to a dog—to keep the peace.
This was also why this White Velociprey quarry held so many stone materials. Aside from the White Velocipreys' hoarding habits, they needed to keep an emergency stockpile to pay protection money whenever large creatures came to extort them.
Yet whether sorcerers or knowledge creatures, all they needed were the essence materials suffused with Void Realm energy. As for the rest—the mundane, non-glowing rocks devoid of distinguishing features—they were fit only for White Velocipreys to sharpen their teeth on or play dodgeball with.
Then, in the very next second, the Sword Princess and the Witch saw the rock in the Watcher's hand suddenly crumble into fine powder, slipping down through his fingers.
*I see. Does he want to show off that he learned some destructive miracle capable of instantly pulverizing rock?*
*Clap, clap, clap!*
Sonia and Diya both began clapping with convincing approval. But then they watched as the Watcher frantically unleashed his power on the rocks, clearing a huge pile of them in short order before turning toward another pile and vacuuming them up like a whirlwind.
*The Watcher must be under an awful lot of stress in reality...* Sonia thought, pitying him slightly as she called out, "All right, all right, Watcher, we all know you're amazing! Don't waste your sorcery power like this—"
Diya, however, realized something. "Watcher, could it be you can actually use these worthless materials?"
"Yeah!" Yaxiu said excitedly as he watched another rock crumble to powder, a wisp of gray spiritual light flowing into his palm. "These are this resource point's greatest treasure!"
[You decomposed Void Realm Stone (Extra Large), obtaining 6 points of ore essence.]
[You decomposed Void Realm Stone (Medium), obtaining 3 points of ore essence.]
[Do you confirm you want to decompose Molten Fire Stone (Special)? You decomposed Molten Fire Stone, obtaining 15 points of ore essence.]
All the ordinary rocks piled up in the resource point could be decomposed by the game system into ore essence. Essence materials naturally could be as well, yielding ten times the essence of an ordinary rock of identical size.
However, the game seemed to default to assuming a player wouldn't decompose essence materials, which was why nothing had happened when Yaxiu picked up the Sword Heart Stones earlier.
By the time Yaxiu completely cleared out the resource point, he had gathered a total of 950 points of ore essence! The quarry, once packed with heaps of stone, was suddenly stripped bare. Nothing remained on the ground but a layer of stone dust. The mine tunnel had become so spacious that it would have moved any White Velociprey to tears.
Soon enough, Sonia and Diya learned what Yaxiu's rock pulverizing was actually for. They watched him return to the sports car parked outside the quarry and speak toward the hood: "Upgrade: Wicked Edge!"
*Vroom, vroom, vroom!*
The sports car let out a fierce, rumbling roar. Its front bumper began to morph and fold over itself. Within seconds, it had transformed into a terrifying front bumper as razor-sharp as a blade, leaving no doubt that once this beast revved up, it could effortlessly slice through any trash foolish enough to stand in its path!
While his two companions stood stunned by the transformation, Yaxiu hungrily scanned the vehicle upgrade tree on the light screen before him.
[Wicked Edge - Level 4: Impacts inflict 400% tearing damage; energy consumption reduced by 60%. Ore essence required for next level: 600.]
Scavenging just this one resource point had raised the front-bumper blade modification straight to Level 4!
Aside from Wicked Edge, another modification available for that same slot was Vanguard Stone Shield, which was obviously geared toward defense. Only one modification could occupy a given slot; replacing a component required dismantling the existing one first, which refunded 50% of the essence spent.
Sensing that plenty of ramming and bulldozing lay ahead on their journey, Yaxiu naturally prioritized unlocking Wicked Edge.
Of course, more importantly, the essence he currently possessed was only enough to unlock Wicked Edge anyway.
There were dedicated components for headlights like "Petrifying Gaze", for the windshield like "Refraction Curtain", for the exhaust vents like "Poison Mist Surge", for both sides of the chassis like "Boiling Chainsaw", and even a seat component called "Alchemical Throne" that accelerated the absorption of golden sorcery power—each one made Yaxiu salivate.
The bad news, however, was that unlocking these components required massive amounts of essence, and not just a single variety.
Level 1 of Alchemical Throne, for instance, required 200 gem essence, 200 crystal essence, 200 mercury essence, 200 wood essence, 200 ore essence, and 200 gold essence, clearly requiring him to plunder seven different resource points to gather them all.
The good news was that on the entire Time Continent, Yaxiu seemed to be the only one capable of decomposing these worthless materials to obtain essence, so no one could compete with him for them!
Given enough time, Yaxiu would surely be able to upgrade this autonomous sports car from the Affordable Luxury Edition to the top-tier flagship model. When that day came, he could rampage across the Time Continent—slaying any man in his path and crushing any knowledge creature under his wheels!
Now brimming with motivation to scavenge scrap, Yaxiu hopped into the car and urged them, "Hurry up and get in! Let's aim to conquer another resource point tonight!"
Sonia and Diya quickly adapted to this change. After all, the Watcher had already displayed far too many bizarre abilities. Compared to teaming up in the Void Realm, Pure Spiritual Light Special Drinks, and forcing operators to train and recreate, utilizing ordinary materials to strengthen a sports car was hardly anything to make a fuss about.
This time, Yaxiu instinctively took the front seat. Sonia hesitated for a moment, then decided not to hesitate any longer and pulled Diya directly into the back row with her.
Surprised by the Sword Princess's sudden intimacy, the White Queen lowered her voice and chuckled, "Sword Princess, you're so cute."
"Huh?" Sonia blushed, tossing her head with feigned pride. "Of course I'm cute."
Yet with just that light remark, most of Sonia's resentment toward this new teammate dissolved.
Although she was still disgruntled about having a stranger suddenly thrust into their party, the Witch's performance in combat had just proven she wouldn't drag them down. Sonia could grudgingly accept the new teammate's presence.
Sonia had only been emotional when she first entered the Void Realm. After being separated for six or seven days, the Watcher had brought someone new into the team the moment they reunited; anyone would have felt upset. Couldn't he have delayed her joining by a day so the two of them could have a proper private talk first? Couldn't he have given her a heads-up beforehand? Did he really have to act first and report later?
Even if Sonia didn't truly mind, she had to throw a fit to make the Watcher realize her displeasure. Honest, obliging folks were always the easiest to bully, after all. She hoped everyone else in the world was nice and honest—she just had no desire to be one herself.
What annoyed her wasn't that the new member might encroach upon her interests, but rather that this behavior subtly implied the Watcher didn't trust her enough. Would she have adamantly opposed it? As long as he guaranteed the newcomer would be useful, she would have gladly accepted her.
*Couldn't you at least pick someone plain-looking? In my experience, most women that gorgeous are up to no good...*
Once she cooled down, however, the red-haired Sword Princess recognized the newcomer's value. She was a realist by nature; so long as a bottom line wasn't crossed, emotions could always yield to benefits. She had learned long ago that sulking achieved nothing aside from making oneself look ugly.
And yet...
Sonia gently nudged Diya aside and took the leftmost seat in the back, leaning against the car door. With her arms crossed over her chest, she stared out at the reverse golden rain, wearing an expression that practically screamed: *I am deeply aggrieved, but I refuse to say a word.*
*Look at me! I'm still angry, and I don't want to get close to the new teammate!*
*Look at me right now! [○?｀Д′?○]!*
Chapter 217