I Can Enhance My Talents Using Unlimited Skill Points

Chapter 435: A Problematic Woman

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Chen Yiming decided to observe the situation in secret. After the middle-aged man failed again and again, he suddenly stopped attacking and stayed hundreds of meters away.

The middle-aged man did not continue to attack, and the group of young men and women did not counterattack or continue to run. The two sides remained in a stalemate for a few minutes.

Finally, a young woman broke the silence. “Senior Zhu Qun, it’s just some source ores. We can’t be sure that there’s really essence energy inside. It’s very likely that it’s just a pile of rocks.”

“Look, both sides have fought for more than 10 kilometers. This is not a good situation in the forbidden death zone. What if we are targeted by the terrifying existence on the mountain?”

The middle-aged man did not reply. His expression was dark, as if he had not really given up and was still thinking of a way to deal with the group in front of him.

Seeing this, the group of young men and women took a few steps back with the woman who had spoken up at the center and assumed a determined stance to fight their opponent together.

This action clearly told the other party that no matter how they threatened them, even if their seniors’ cultivation level was high, they would not split up to escape. That would only cause them to be caught by him one by one.

Splitting up and escaping in different directions was a common way for a group of relatively weak people to deal with a powerful enemy. However, the actual effect might not be good. It was equivalent to leaving things up to luck.

Behind the short slope, Chen Yiming heard the woman mention a terrifying existence on the mountain.

He turned to the nearest mountain in front of him. In such a huge world, the mountain was an existence that was as eye-catching as a landmark.

After taking a few more glances, he could not make out anything. The environment on the mountain did not seem to be much different from below it. There were just some bare rocks and strange flowers and plants.

Soon, he retracted his gaze and continued to hide in the dark, eavesdropping and not moving.

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment before saying, “Leave half of the source ores behind, then I’ll leave now and not pester you any further. Otherwise, we’ll just drag it out and see who can last longer.”

As soon as he said this, many of the young men and women opposite him revealed angry expressions.

This was too shameless. First, he had tried to kill them, but now, he was demanding to split the loot.

It had to be known that the source ores each person carried were not something they had just picked up, but what they had dug out at a huge risk to themselves. The team had already sacrificed several people for this.

The middle-aged man smiled and continued, “Little girl, you’re their leader, right? You have to think carefully. I’m just one person, and you have more than 10 people.”

“No matter what, the blood essence of those at the fusion realm is much stronger than yours. In a situation where I can dodge your combined attacks, you will definitely not be able to defeat me.”

When the young woman heard this, she subconsciously tightened her grip on the sword in her right hand.

If this senior called Zhu Qun was not lying to them, they would indeed be in a dilemma.

In the end, the combined attacks were a combination of everyone’s strength. Although they could fight against their opponent for a short period of time, their strength was not gathered on any one person. Instead, they were on the defensive side.

Now, they had two choices. The first was to trust the other party’s words and hand over half of the source ores for this pursuit to come to an end.

The hidden danger was that after they handed over half of it, if the other party went back on his word and continued to force them, would they have to hand over the rest of the source ores?

It had to be known that even after they worked together to defend themselves, and they still lost half of the bargaining chips they were risking their lives to protect, the people in the team might waver in their determination to protect the source ores with their lives?

Once they were not united, the team might even be wiped out.

The second choice was to fight together to the end and continue to retreat outside the forbidden death zone. However, the speed at which they fought and retreated would definitely be as slow as a turtle compared to their normal speed.

This way, even if the middle-aged man continued to force them, there was a high chance that the commotion caused by the long journey would cause both sides to self-destruct.

This was the forbidden death zone. Both sides would definitely not have a good outcome.

“Mining the source ores is similar to gambling on the blue planet. Without opening it, no one knows the situation inside. However, even so, these people are willing to risk their lives.”

In the distance, Chen Yiming could sense the intense conflict over the source ores.

Although he did not see where this group of young men and women had obtained the source ores from or what price they had paid, he could tell the value of the source ores from their determination.

The young woman was given only a few seconds to make her choice. Under the pressure, every second of hesitation would only cause the hearts of the people to waver.

Soon, after weighing the pros and cons, the young woman said to her companions in a low voice, “If we hand over the source ores so easily, what’s the point of risking our lives to enter the forbidden death zone?”

“In any case, we’re going to die anyway. If we can leave this place with the source ores, who knows if we might be lucky? We might be able to use the essence energy from the source ores to break through to the next level in one go.”

When the middle-aged man opposite them heard this, his expression turned ugly again.

On the other hand, the group of more than 10 young men and women seemed to have a clear goal again. The people who had been angered earlier also calmed down.

Then, the group of young men and women did not stay any longer. They turned around and walked forward in small steps, but they kept most of their attention behind them, wary that the middle-aged man would suddenly attack them again.

The middle-aged man did not give up. He followed the group of young men and women.

Behind the short slope, Chen Yiming muttered to himself as he watched the direction in which these people had left, “It just so happens that neither side is willing to give up easily. This saves me the trouble of thinking about which side to follow.”

After waiting for a while, he followed the middle-aged man from afar.

Now, a group of young men and women at the inscription realm were carrying a large number of source ores and were being targeted by a middle-aged man at the fusion realm.

Without realizing it, the two sides were targeted by another powerful god.

The three parties moved forward in the forbidden death zone.

…

In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed.

Chen Yiming, who had been following them all this time, had a better understanding of this forbidden death zone.

The middle-aged man and the group of young men and women first avoided the nine mountains. What surprised Chen Yiming was that the positions of the nine mountains would change.

Such huge mountains would actually appear randomly in an area in the forbidden death zone every few hours like a mirage.

Another thing that needed to be avoided was that when the mountain first appeared, there would be creatures that would go down the mountain and patrol the surroundings before returning.

These creatures were from different species. There were humans and beasts among them. The common characteristic among them was that their skin was dry and black, sticking tightly to their bones. It looked like their bodies had completely lost their moisture.

After walking through many areas in the forbidden death zone, there did not seem to be any traces of mines on the surface.

However, Chen Yiming had seen people like that group of young men and women taking advantage of the fact that the creatures were patrolling to enter the mountain.

Then, before the creatures returned to the mountain, those who entered the mountain would come out carefully. Some of them had heavy cloth bags on their bodies, which should contain the source ores.

He also saw someone who was unlucky and bumped into a creature that had returned to the mountain.

The battle began instantly, but the duration it lasted was very short.

The creatures patrolling the mountain had a mysterious power that could strip away one’s life force. Coupled with the environment in the forbidden death zone where one’s blood essence was continuously depleted, almost no one was their match.

Therefore, those who were unlucky would naturally become dried corpses and be brought back to the mountain by the patrolling creatures.

…

In the forbidden death zone, in a small valley in a lower terrain.

The valley was less than a kilometer wide, and there were some strange flowers and plants growing there. At the lowest point in the middle, there was a spring that had formed from the accumulated water.

After taking a few sips of water, the middle-aged man finally chose to give up and leave. At this moment, he looked much older, and there was a strand of black hair at each side of his temples that had turned white.

A person’s blood essence was closely related to their life force. When one used up too much of their blood essence, there would be signs of one’s lifespan decreasing. A wisp of white hair appearing at the temples was a bad sign.

Chen Yiming placed a space anchor on the middle-aged man without anyone noticing. After that, he would decide whether to chase after him based on the situation.

“These people have already exhausted their energies so much after entering the forbidden death zone once. If they return empty-handed several times, I’m afraid they will never be able to recover from the losses.”

He turned to look at the group of young men and women.

After confirming that the middle-aged man had given up on leaving, they entered the small valley and prepared to drink some water before continuing on their way. However, compared to before, each of them already had the same appearance as the middle-aged man.

Among them, the young woman leading this group was slightly better off, but she had also changed from a young and beautiful woman to a mature woman in her thirties.

A group of people dragged their tired bodies to the spring and squatted down.

The men heaved a sigh of relief and took a deep breath. Immediately, the spring water turned into a small fountain of water and entered their mouths.

A woman was also about to drink some water when she saw the reflection in the water. She suddenly exclaimed and fell into it, creating two splashes of water.

“We were a little unlucky this time and were chased down by someone. However, this is your first time entering the forbidden death zone. After suffering this loss, you can still recover even without the help of essence energy.”

Someone at the side comforted the woman in the water.

This was the first time the woman who had fallen into the water had followed the team into the forbidden death zone, but she had already encountered the predicament that forced the middle-aged man to back off.

At this moment, she could not accept the fact that she had suddenly become middle-aged. Under normal circumstances, the team would plan how long they would stay in the forbidden death zone based on the calculations of the consumption of blood essence on the journey back and forth.

During the few minutes that the team was resting,

someone said worriedly, “Sister Wen Qi, do you think that Zhu Qun will calculate the timing and ambush us outside the forbidden death zone in advance?”

Wen Qi, who now had the appearance of a mature woman in her thirties, was the young woman who had led the team previously.

“That’s a possibility. After all, everyone’s physical condition has already reached this stage. It’s no longer possible to change the direction of our movement too much at this point.”

Wen Qi sighed and nodded.

Actually, she had done a rough calculation in her heart. At the time Zhu Qun gave up and left, she had thought that the other party had not really given up. Instead, he was preparing to find help to stop them.

“In that case, why don’t we just open the source ores and cut off Zhu Qun’s pursuit? Let’s treat it as a cleansing of the impurities in our bodies and further strengthen our basic talent,” the person from before continued.

As soon as he finished speaking, the group fell silent, even Wen Qi, who was leading the team.

Due to the special environment that continuously consumed one’s blood essence, the forbidden death zone was not suitable for cultivation. If one used the essence energy that could help one break through here, it would be equivalent to wasting it.

After all, these people did not have the same conditions as Gao Shuai. They did not have a large amount of essence energy to cleanse themselves, and they had risked their lives to bring the source ores out of the mountains. No one knew if they would lose their lives here the next time.

In other words, if they wasted one opportunity, they might not have another.

Soon, Wen Qi broke the silence. “From the perspective of our survival, it’s naturally better to open the source ores. However, most people have to agree to this, and we have to split up after this.”

“Otherwise, if some people decide to open the source ores, and some people decide not to open the source ores, there will be a huge problem among the team. I’ve experienced such internal strife and bloodshed before.”

Wen Qi specially emphasized that if they did not agree, there would be a huge problem within the team.

A few kilometers away, Chen Yiming nodded after he heard this.

This was easy to understand. Opening up a source ore was just like gambling. Some people were extremely lucky, while others were unlucky.

The group was right next to each other, so it was inevitable that some people who had lost the bet would be envious of those who were extremely lucky. They had just joined forces to deal with the middle-aged man, but when the time came, they might even attack their companions.

In fact, even in an environment like the forbidden death zone, because it was an environment unsuitable for cultivation, the probability of attracting jealousy was greatly reduced, but it was not impossible.

…

About a few minutes later, this group of people reached a consensus and decided to open the source ores on the spot.

Each of them was feeling uneasy. The team spread out and only stopped when they were at least a kilometer apart.

During this process, everyone became vigilant. They were worried that the middle-aged man might suddenly return, but in reality, this did not happen.

The reason might be that the middle-aged man felt that if he continued to waste time on them, the benefits would not be proportional to the price he had to pay.

Chen Yiming used the space anchor to target a spot behind Wen Qi and appeared a few meters away from her. He stepped out of the void without making any sound, wanting to see how the other party would open the source ore.

After confirming that the middle-aged man would not return, Wen Qi focused all her attention on the cloth bag she had taken from her waist. Then, she took out a piece of source ore.

The source ore was a little grayish-white, but it wasn’t much different from ordinary stones. At the very least, Chen Yiming couldn’t tell from its appearance.

At this moment, an ancient stone saber was held in Wen Qi’s other hand. She carefully cut through the piece of ore in her hand.

From her movements, it could be seen that she was very skilled. She was careful, but her speed was not slow. The thin pieces of stone kept flying to the ground beside her.

Soon, the last slash completely cut open the source mine. There was nothing inside, and it was completely solid, just like an ordinary stone.

“Things aren’t going well from the start. Looks like her luck isn’t that good!”

Chen Yiming, who was like a ghost behind her, looked at the two halves of the stone that had been abandoned on the ground and thought to himself.

Wen Qi was not discouraged, and seemed to be used to it. She quickly took out another piece of the ore from the cloth bag and started to cut it open bit by bit with the stone knife.

However, there was also nothing in the second source ore.

Next, the third piece, the fourth piece… she continued until the cloth bag fluttered in the wind and all the source ores inside had been opened. There were only stone pieces on the ground, and there was no sign of any essence energy.

“Is this woman unlucky, or is the chance of finding a source ore with essence energy that low to begin with?”

Seeing this, Chen Yiming was puzzled. After all, this was the first time he had come into contact with opening the source ores. The woman in front of him had opened nearly 20 source ores, which was quite a number.

At this moment, sobbing sounds rang out one after another from afar.

Needless to say, someone must have also found only stones and risked their life to bring out the source ores for nothing.

“Wait, there seems to be something wrong with Wen Qi.”

Chen Yiming suddenly recalled that from the beginning to the end, although the woman not far away was also very serious about opening the source ores, he felt that something was amiss.

That’s right, she did not feel as dejected as she should when she failed in her gamble on the source ores.

“Zhu Qun, you old fellow, you almost forced me to reveal myself. Consider it a good thing that this bag of source ores didn’t drop anything. Otherwise, I would definitely make you suffer.”

Wen Qi put away her stone saber and patted the stone dust off her hands as she cursed under her breath.

In stark contrast to the others, she did not care too much about the bag of nearly 20 source ores that did not have any essence energy inside.

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