Luca calculated that in order to break through this mental barrier, he would likely have to wait until he reached level 70, allowing his mental power to surpass the one-million threshold.
The higher the level, the more experience was required. Above the mid-tier, the experience needed for each level increased exponentially. Reaching this kind of power in a short time was almost impossible. But at least there was some hope.
After all, this was the Sea of Mist, a place teeming with high-level rare monsters and hordes of creatures, not to mention the Mutated Mermen—a special race. If they kept grinding monsters around the clock, maybe by the time they reached the Death Black Sea, Luca could indeed hit level 70.
But whether or not he could break through his mental bottleneck and reach the divine soul level was still uncertain.
Luca sat in the captain’s chair, looking at the map on the navigation table, lost in thought about how to best increase his mental power.
Just then, light footsteps approached from behind. A faint, pleasant fragrance tickled his nose, and then he felt soft hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them.
“There’s no need to rush. We still have time,” came the calm voice, softer than usual. It was Sophia. Her technique was fluid, not awkward at all. Back in Riverfall City, when Bronte was busy with affairs of state, she would often massage her father’s shoulders. This was a skill her mother, Madam Lenna, had taught her.
“How did you get here? Are you feeling better?” Luca didn’t turn around, instead resting his head on her soft chest, his tensed spirit gradually unwinding as he enjoyed Sophia’s gentle massage.
Sophia nodded slightly and answered, “The Ice Divine Rank is recovering its strength, and I’m feeling much better now.”
Luca wasn’t surprised by this. He possessed the Solar Divine Rank, though broken, he could still feel its power. It constantly nourished his body and divine soul. Sophia’s Ice Divine Rank was no weaker than the Solar Divine Rank, and hers was a complete divine rank, which made it even more formidable. Read new chapters at empire
As he thought about this, an idea suddenly came to him. He opened his eyes wide and quickly pulled Sophia closer.
“I have an idea!” Luca’s face broke into a smile as he saw the puzzled look on her delicate face. The ability to learn divine spells required divine soul-level mental power. His own mental power wasn’t up to par, but Sophia’s might be. She had a special bond with Zenobia and possessed a complete Ice Divine Rank. If she were to train in divine spells, she might actually be more suited for it than he was.
After discussing this with Sophia, she was momentarily stunned. If she could indeed learn divine spells, it might be the key to suppressing Zenobia.
After thinking for a while, Sophia hesitated before saying, “I should be unable to use Solar Divine Rank’s divine spells.”
Different divine ranks corresponded to different laws, and very few didn’t conflict with each other.
Moreover, the Solar and Ice Divine Ranks represented the laws of Sunfire and Frost, two inherently opposing forces.
Luca thought for a moment and said, “Well, we’ll find out by trying. Maybe it really is possible.”
With that, he summoned the Solar Divine Spear, and golden light flickered in the captain’s cabin.
After hearing Luca’s idea, the Solar Divine Spear showed a contemplative expression on his face. After some thought, he said, “I remember that the Lord has indeed used a sealing divine spell of a different attribute before. Maybe you could give it a try.”
As he spoke, he lightly tapped his forehead, and a golden light orb appeared. Inside, there was a golden rune, resembling the Sunfire law rune, but it was more intricate and obscure.
Then, the Solar Divine Spear gently pointed, and the golden rune floated toward Sophia’s forehead. Sophia’s gaze briefly wavered, but she quickly regained clarity, and a new memory appeared in her mind.
Instinctively, she activated the power of her Ice Divine Rank. Tendrils of cold air began to rise from her body, and the temperature in the captain’s cabin plummeted. The water in the glass on the desk froze over in an instant.
Ice-blue divine power gathered at her fingertips as Sophia extended her hand into the air, trying to sketch out the divine spell that appeared in her mind. A divine aura began to spread, far stronger than when she had previously used the Ice Divine Rank. Divine spells were, after all, a unique application of divine power.
However, after only a few strokes, the incantation in the air trembled and then suddenly shattered with a loud bang, transforming into specks of blue light and dissipating into the air.
“What happened?” Luca’s smile froze, stunned. Hadn’t it been fine just a moment ago?
Sophia furrowed her brow and said, “This rune is difficult to control. A slight mistake will cause it to fail.”
The Solar Divine Spear laughed and said, “That’s normal. If divine spells were that easy to control, that would be strange. As long as there’s no rejection, it’s fine.”
Upon hearing this, both Luca and Sophia sighed with relief. This meant that Sophia could indeed learn divine spells, giving them another tool in their arsenal against Zenobia.
For the next two days, Luca didn’t see Sophia.
She spent every day in her room, practicing divine spells, not even coming out to eat. Luca tried to persuade her a few times, but to no avail. In the end, he could only feel helpless, though he understood her determination.
Now, by putting in just a little more effort, perhaps in the future, when facing Zenobia, they would have an additional chance of victory.
Over the past two days, Luca had not been idle either, focusing all his attention on raising his level and mental power.
There were plenty of monsters in the Sea of Mist, so finding them wasn’t difficult. However, the mist blocked Perception, which made hunting monsters inefficient. Yet, Luca couldn’t stray too far, as he had to stay close in case something happened to Sophia or the others. After a few days, he had only managed to raise his strength to level 63.
This situation continued until the fourth night, when things suddenly took a turn.
In the surging sea, shadowy figures flickered, and then humanoid monsters with sleek, scaled bodies appeared, turning transparent. They silently breached the defenses of the two ships, climbing aboard without a sound.
Their eerie golden vertical pupils fixed on the captain’s room, filled with hatred.
It was the Mutated Mermen!
Not only had Ellie not returned, but Luca had also killed so many of their kin. There was no way they would let that slide so easily.
After boarding the ships, the two leaders of the Mutated Mermen exchanged glances and made several hand gestures. Instead of going after Luca immediately, they headed straight for the barracks where the soldiers and sailors lived.
Knowing Luca wasn’t so easy to deal with, they decided to lie low and wait for an opportunity to strike. They would wait until their reinforcements arrived before making a move.
However, their plan was well thought out, but they had no idea that Luca was already prepared for them.
Once they entered the barracks where the soldiers resided, before they could make a move to invade and take over the bodies, they suddenly caught a pungent, unbearable scent in the air. It was sharp and stinging.
“Clear Spirit Grass?!” The moment they smelled it, almost all the Mutated Mermen’s faces changed simultaneously. Without thinking, they turned and fled.
Their ability to remain hidden was indeed powerful, but direct combat was their weakness. If they were discovered, it was almost certain they wouldn’t make it out alive from the hands of that man.
Though their reaction was swift, unfortunately, the restlessness they felt from instinct was something that couldn’t be suppressed by willpower alone.
Before they could even leave the cabin, the Clear Spirit Grass triggered their visibility, causing their scales to stand up one by one, rapidly turning red. Even the vertical pupils in their eyes turned crimson, and they couldn’t hold back a maddened, frenzied roar.
“ROAR!!” The painful roar echoed through the night, and at almost the same time, the soldiers on guard immediately changed their expressions and rushed toward the source of the sound.
Inside the captain’s room, Luca, who had been drawing magic runes, froze for a moment, then his face lit up with a smile.
After waiting for days, he had finally gotten the chance to deal with these creatures!
With a thought, silver magic runes appeared beneath his feet, and Luca’s figure instantly moved from the captain’s room to the ship’s cabin of Windrunner Ship.
One by one, the Mutated Mermen, bloodied and rolling on the floor, caught Luca’s eye.
“These specially crafted cigars really are effective. Looks like Sharp wasn’t lying after all,” Luca couldn’t help but mutter, then waved his hand to stop the soldiers who were rushing over. “You can go back, I’ve got this handled.”
It had taken him this long to finally encounter these creatures, so of course, he wasn’t about to let his subordinates steal his experience.
The soldiers exchanged confused glances but still respectfully obeyed his orders and retreated.
The golden spear materialized in his hand, and soon, the entire cabin was filled with the desperate, pitiful screams of the Mutated Mermen. The sounds, carried by the fog-laden night, echoed far, sending a chill down the spine of anyone who heard them.
[ Ding! You have killed “lv65 Mutated Merman Warrior (Common),” and gained 630,000 experience! ]
[ Ding! You have killed “lv68 Mutated Merman Mage (Rare),” and gained 1,340,000 experience! ]
[ Ding! You have killed “lv71 Mutated Merman Leader (Leader),” and gained 2,260,000 experience! ]
…
A series of kill notifications appeared before Luca.
Under the effect of the Clear Spirit Grass, these Mutated Mermen had no resistance at all, all of them becoming lambs to the slaughter.
The experience bar, which had been stagnant for days, began to rise rapidly.
Before long, the light of leveling up enveloped Luca once again.
[ Ding! Your level has risen to lv64, gaining 300 free attribute points! ]
Feeling the surge of power within him, Luca’s eyes lit up as he looked at the fallen monsters.
Compared to blindly searching for monsters on the sea, nothing could level him up faster than killing these Mutated Mermen. Not only did they drop a lot of experience, but they also dropped Merman Pearls that increased mental power—truly a blessing for a player like him!
With that thought, Luca swung his spear with even more enthusiasm.
Watching Luca wreak havoc in the cabin, Isaac and the others couldn’t help but swallow nervously. They didn’t dare to get too close.
After eliminating all the Mutated Mermen, Luca’s level had successfully risen to 65.
He had also gained 79 Merman Pearls.
After using them, his mental power skyrocketed to 300,000, and his base attack power reached a terrifying 2.4 million!