"The Strange One"

After giving Zhang Luan a little complaint, Aruola focused on healing the wound with soothing green light.

Under its glow, the area tingled with a faint itch. Black scabs flaked off, revealing fresh skin.

Zhang Luan stretched comfortably. He pulled the core from the damaged Azure Righteous Sword.

When he’d defeated that monster, his experience bar surged a full level. Six or seven more kills would get him to level 16. But at that rate, he’d probably spend all his life points and die.

Indeed, spending life points should be moderate.

Unless you had plenty of lives.

Zhang Luan examined the core. Its details appeared before his eyes.

[Core Fusion]

Status: Damaged (Irreparable)

Effect: Fuses energy, creatures, spirits, or objects into a new lifeform. Grants automatic ability [Shell]. HP fixed at 1. Destroying the core eliminates the lifeform.

Description: From a distant empire, crossed dimensions during an experiment.

Reading this, Zhang Luan finally understood the Library Spirit’s mutation. It must have fused Afan Yin’s lingering power and commands with strange elements, becoming what they’d seen.

Aruola grew curious too. Zhang Luan tossed the core to her.

She lacked a system but had Identification Skill—more useful than system panels in some ways.

"So this insulted Sister’s power."

After learning its purpose, Aruola didn’t hesitate. She clapped her small hands together. The core shattered into dust, vanishing in a cool breeze.

Zhang Luan watched, a black line forming on his forehead. Useless or not, it was his loot. Destroyed without a trace for collection.

His anger flared. His face clearly showed displeasure. He pinched Aruola’s cute cheeks.

"Hey, that was mine! You destroyed it? How will you compensate me?"

"It insulted Sister’s power. Destruction was necessary. Why touch my face again? I don’t understand this action’s meaning."

Her confident attitude made him angrier. He rubbed her cheeks, feeling slightly better.

"Even if it insulted your sister, it was my loot. Fine—I’ll let it slide since you’re cute. Compensate me later, got it?"

Though annoyed by his meaningless gestures, Aruola knew she’d broken the core.

"Mm. I will compensate."

Her serious expression made Zhang Luan unable to resist. He rubbed her cold, cute face again, feeling a strange sense of achievement.

"So that’s the top floor, right?"

Standing at the staircase, staring at the ordinary ceiling above, Zhang Luan felt reluctant to climb.

"Yes. The highest floor. Sister left something there. Though the evil spirits are gone."

Aruola nodded. Afan Yin’s legacy could destroy evil spirits. The mutated monster had eaten them all, but they’d arrived. Besides, the Mage Tower’s exit was on the top floor.

Zhang Luan took a deep breath. For some reason, he sensed something strange would happen after ascending.

"Hope no more weird stuff happens."

He stepped onto the stairs, climbing slowly. Surprisingly, nothing occurred.

This floor seemed no different from a normal tower top. A window showed the outside, enchanted to be invisible from beyond.

At the center stood a device with upward-flowing blue light strips. Floating inside was a weapon resembling both a spear and a cannon.

This was the legendary artifact from his past life, lost to the outside world.

Zhang Luan approached it, grabbing the weapon. Its details appeared.

[Wind Flower Snow Moon] (Magical Device)

Tier: Legendary

Effect 1: Absorbs and stores all energy, usable anytime.

Effect 2: Switches between two forms: [Wind Flower] and [Snow Moon]

[Wind Flower]: Spear. Adds stored attributes to attacks. Boosts attack speed by 40%. Each hit reduces enemy defense and resistance by 1% for 60 seconds (no stack limit).

[Snow Moon]: Heavy cannon magical device. Releases all stored energy for a powerful Snow Moon Beam, dealing massive AoE damage. Damage = (200% Intelligence + 300% energy consumed). Reduces all hit enemies’ resistance and defense by 20% for 100 seconds (stackable).

Zhang Luan smiled satisfactorily. His fifty years of life points were well spent. As a legendary item, this far surpassed his other two—actual combat power boost.

The others? A pot usable as a helmet. A necklace that turned you female. Which was normal?

Moreover, this solved his mana shortage. In battle, when out of mana, he could draw from its stored energy. His sustained combat ability would greatly improve.

One drawback: the spear form. He knew no spear skills and had no interest in learning. He could adapt close-range archery skills if needed.

Aruola scanned the room. Her gaze settled on the device holding [Wind Flower Snow Moon]. She tapped it lightly. With a crackle, the light strips scattered, forming a light screen under magic guidance.

"What’s this?"

"Sister said if someone brought me here, I could leave the tower. She left a message for that person."

Zhang Luan’s eyes shifted. For him? Unlikely… In his past life, the Mighty Thunder Sect toppled this tower. Only Wind Flower Snow Moon appeared. Afan Yin wouldn’t let her sister die here. This message was probably for the one she truly awaited.

That person wasn’t him.

The light screen unfolded. A charming young woman’s face appeared. Her silver-white hair swayed gently. She opened her captivating amber eyes.

"This should be our second meeting."