Water vapor condensed on the moist wall and then flowed on the surface of the crystal stalact.i.tes that were large upside and small downside, gathering into a drop of translucent Stone Milk at the tip!

“Di Da!”

Right when the Stone Milk was condensed and was about to fall into the lake down below from the tip of the stalact.i.te…

Hum!

A yellow light emerged and swept across the tip of the crystal stalact.i.te. This drop of Stone Milk seemed to be frozen by a power and turned yellow, unable to move anymore!

“Di Da!”

Several seconds later, the yellow light finally disappeared, and the drop of Stone Milk hit the lake, making ripples spread out!

“I've finally made a breakthrough!”

Ji Ye, who was sitting cross-legged next to the lake of Stone Milk, looked slightly exhausted.

“Earth's Boon: Adept!”

After spending his EXP on training for half a day, he finally improved another skill to the level of “Adept”.

“Mental Strength Level: Extraordinary Rank-5!”

Correspondingly, his mental strength had also finally reached Extraordinary Rank-5, a tipping point for qualitative changes.

On the Land of Inheritance, the mental strength, apart from being used to launch mental attacks, could also make one think and react faster and sharpen their senses.

It was why Ji Ye could hit and break the arrows shot from the Eagle Men with the tip of the Black Serpent Sword on the ocean, which was no different from blocking bullets that were flying at a high speed with the tip of his sword!

However, Ji Ye was able to do that only because he had foreseen their movements. If they had attacked him from behind, it would've been barely possible for him to react in time.

Even if he took action the moment he heard the flying arrows, it would still be too late.

That was because the Green Light Arrows of the Eagle Men seemed able to ignore gravity and the friction in the air. They had little noise during their flight. Also, the arrows from the Commander-level Eagle Men were even faster than sound.

Ji Ye had learned that when Lu Zhishen engaged the Commander-level Eagle Man on the cliff, he didn't infer the source of the arrow with its sound either.

Instead, Lu Zhishen noticed the green light in the fog thanks to Ji Ye's reminder and then promptly smashed the arrow away.

However, now that his mental strength had reached Extraordinary Rank-5, Ji Ye obtained an ability that was similar to “the sixth sense”, which allowed him to detect the anomalies within a certain range.

Remote sense was a qualitative change caused by the advancement of his mental strength into Extraordinary Rank-5!

If an Eagle Man were to attack him from behind, Ji Ye would be able to prevent his critical parts from being wounded. With his talent in Healing, he was definitely much more confident than before!

However, speaking of the Eagle Men's ambush…

“Are the Eagle Men still not taking any action?”

After the breakthrough, Ji Ye walked out of the cave which had been named “Stone Milk Cave”. He looked up at the sky where the sun was about to set.

It had been half a day since the second batch of players logged off. Naturally, Ji Ye didn't log off. He wasted no time training and making breakthroughs in this cave that contained abundant energy.

At the same time, he was defending this place in case of the Eagle Men's attack.

Actually, the fort itself wasn't vulnerable to the Eagle Men's a.s.sault. After all, it was heavily defended with more than one artillery.

The resource points were actually trickier. If the Eagle Men were to steal or sabotage the resources that could directly improve strength, such as the Red Pip and the Stone Milk, it would be a huge loss.

“Not yet!” the soldiers and his two guards outside the cave replied.

“Collect the Stone Milk and let's go back to the fort. Be extra vigilant tonight!”

Ji Ye frowned slightly.

The Stone Milk could be collected, and since the Red Pip's plantation was near the Eagle Men's territory, it had always been well protected. So, he didn't really need to worry.

The real tricky resources were those that had originally been on the aliens' territory.

For example, the Purple Wood in the Forest Monsters' settlement couldn't be moved away, so the Eagle Men could possibly launch an attack.

“Maybe I should establish a professional scout or sentry troop!”

Thinking that, Ji Ye returned to the fort with two guards.

Theoretically speaking, he could defend any of the resource points. With his Rank-5 strength and his items that were full of Transcendent power, the Eagle Men wouldn't end well if they ran into him!

However, the Eagle Men's a.s.sault was only a possibility, and there was telling what their target would be. So, it would be better if he stayed in the base and reinforced any place when it was attacked.

Also, one other thing happened after he returned to the fort. His Fusion talent had cooled down.

The time it took to fuse the healing jade pendant was surprisingly short, and the talent had already cooled down at this moment.

It wasn't dark yet. The Eagle Men wouldn't launch an a.s.sault just yet.

Therefore, there was enough time to use the Fusion talent once more.

However, what should he fuse?

Ji Ye had two options.

Firstly, he could fuse the two Extraordinary-Rank 5 Superior purple sticks he got after killing the Forest Monster King. He might get a Perfect offering after the fusion.

His other option was rather astonis.h.i.+ng. He could fuse Earth's Boon with the Five Thunder Heavenly Spirit Technique that he acquired from Gongsun Sheng.

The Five Thunder Heavenly Spirit Technique was the central art of Master Luo, who was likely to be a Legend. It was also why Gongsun Sheng, who wasn't very popular, could pa.s.s the test of a Perfect offering and arrive at Twin Dragon Mount!

What did the Five Thunder mean?

It was not the phenomena that came with lightning.

In fact, the Five Thunders, according to Daoism, were Heaven Thunder, Earth Thunder, Water Thunder, G.o.dly Thunder, and Shrine Thunder!

“The Heaven Thunder is related to the order of seasons, fortune and disasters, and the purge of evils and plagues.

“The Earth Thunder is related to the reproduction of all creatures, the execution of demons and monsters, and the removal of ghosts.”

Those two kinds of thunders were directly related to divine retribution and reincarnation. They certainly couldn't be mastered by him yet!

“As for the third kind… The Water Thunder is related to rainfall and drought and the removal of evil dragons and snakes.”

This kind of thunder was naturally very close to “thunder” in the general sense.

But they weren't exactly the same.

That was because this kind of thunder could attack the creatures in the water other than invoking rainfalls.

If Ji Ye had mastered the Water Thunder earlier, he probably could have annihilated a great number of Mirage Monsters with it easily. This kind of thunder could even suppress the Flood Dragons!

Of course, Ji Ye didn't think that the suppression would always work. All that mattered was which party was more powerful!

As for the fourth kind, the Shrine Thunder, it could summon the G.o.ds!

The gold-armored generals and the heavenly soldiers he summoned with his talismans when Gongsun Sheng arrived were essentially such “thunder”.

The last kind was G.o.dly Thunder, which was the thunder of five elements that were mainly responsible for slaughter and punishment.

Just as what the Biography of Jigong said, when struck by the five thunders, one was actually struck by the five elements—Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth!

Earth's Boon and the Five Thunder Heavenly Spirit Technique were sort of contradictory and couldn't be cultivated at the same time, but it didn't mean that they couldn't be fused.

“I should probably fuse the techniques!”

Eventually, Ji Ye made a choice.

He needn't get a Perfect offering just yet. After all, a ritual required both an offering and a Soul of Civilization of the same level.

The aliens near Twin Dragon Mount had all been eliminated except for the Mirage Monsters, which only had half of their population left. Even though there were more resources in the ocean, it was unlikely for an Extraordinary Rank-5 Commander to emerge among them.

Therefore, he could only get the Soul of Civilization from the Eagle Men.

In such a case, it was pointless to fuse the offerings, because it would be impossible to welcome another hero before the battle against the Eagle Men. It would be a more sensible choice to fuse the skills.

Having already understood the two techniques, Ji Ye only needed to sit cross-legged on the ground to fuse them.

With glittering light popping up from him, he received the result of the fusion about half an hour later.

[Unt.i.tled]

[Level: Extraordinary]

[Rarity: Superior]

[Description: This is a branch skill after fusing Earth's Boon into the Five Thunder Heavenly Spirit Technique. By condensing Earth Thunder Power in the spleen, you can control Earth Aura and perform the Daoist techniques such as Distance Reduction and Rock Relocation!]