In the void of space.
Five small icons appeared at the corner of his vision.
They were: [Heroic Spirit Shelter], [Spiritual Inheritance], [Card Collection], [Secondary Heroic Spirit Summon], [Lord of Heroic Spirits]
— — -These were the five Functions of the Heroic Spirit Sequence.
Liu Ping silently looked at them, then suddenly muttered to himself: "I don't seem to have used some of these abilities yet."
A line of burning text appeared in front of his eyes:
[You've been busy studying the human empire's knowledge and infusing Soul Points into the Heroic Spirits, so you haven't used the [Spiritual Inheritance] ability]
Liu Ping nodded.
When he first arrived at the Empire, he had seen a Slumbering Entity outside a small village at the border.
At the time, the Sequence gave me a way to inherit his power.
After I left, I didn't have the time to do this.
And now, all three Heroic Spirits have awakened.
— — I should think of a way to increase my strength!
Deep in the darkness. The sound of footsteps could be heard.
Andrea revealed herself and said, "This is a collapsed tunnel. We're trapped in the middle, unable to move forward or backward."
"So that's how it is, I understand" Liu Ping said.
He casually released a holy light to illuminate the darkness, as well as the ancient murals on the walls.
Indeed.
This is the underground tunnel between the Empire and the Ceylon Kingdom ruins.
When the monster was chasing after me, the tunnel collapsed.
The Forest Banshee sent me back here.
"What do we do now?"
Andrea asked.
"We have to think of a way to dig a way out — — we can't keep being trapped here, and there are a few things I need to report to the Empire." Liu Ping replied.
"I want to use all my strength to open a path, but I don't know where to go. If the entire tunnel collapses, it'll be even more troublesome." Andrea said.
"That's true, let's take it slow." Liu Ping replied.
Andrea casually swung her hand.
Ancient weapons appeared from the void of space around her.
"Digging a tunnel … we need to choose two suitable weapons to use, Liu Ping, what are used to digging tunnels?"
She asked.
Liu Ping stared at the weapons and asked: "Andrea, where did these weapons come from? Are they the manifestation of an ability? "
"No, they've been with me since the beginning of my memories." Andrea replied.
"How many do you have in total?"
"I'm not sure. In short, every time my strength increases, a large number of more powerful weapons will appear."
"This is interesting." Liu Ping said.
Andrea picked a long halberd from the many weapons and tossed it to Liu Ping. "How about you use this to dig?"
Liu Ping took the halberd, and lines of burning words appeared in front of his eyes.
[Evil Exterminating Halberd.]
[It has three attributes: Sharpness, Magic Penetration, and Sting.]
Liu Ping said happily, "Alright, I'll use this."
With the halberd in hand, he walked towards the end of the collapsed path.
Andrea casually picked up a shield that was as tall as two people and dragged it on the ground with one hand, following closely behind him.
Next.
Liu Ping continued to dig the tunnel.
Andrea, on the other hand, used her shield to transport the stones and dirt.
Several hours passed.
They had already dug out a long tunnel.
Liu Ping suddenly stopped what he was doing and whispered, "Listen."
Andrea listened attentively.
At the other end of the tunnel, the sound of digging could be heard.
"Someone is also digging a tunnel, and it's not far from us!" Andrea exclaimed.
Liu Ping nodded and fell into deep thought.
He did not know if the other party was a friend or foe.
If it was that monster's people, he might not even have the chance to escape this time.
Andrea whispered, "Why don't we hide for a while?"
"Alright." Liu Ping Approved.
Andrea turned into a card and was kept by Liu Ping.
Immediately after, Liu Ping reached out and pulled out the "Rock of Nothingness".
Boom!
An inconspicuous rock fell and lay quietly in the pile of rocks.
Time passed slowly.
The digging sounds on the other side became louder and closer.
Suddenly —
A surprised female voice sounded. "We dug through!"
Another female voice sounded. "We did, but where is Liu Ping? Libertas, answer me. "
Libertas' voice sounded. "Impossible, my ability can't be wrong. We should be able to find him today. It's in this direction."
Three figures walked in from the other side of the tunnel.
Standing in front was Libertas, who had a confused look on his face.
Xiao Mengluo carried a huge iron hoe that did not match her figure at all. Hua Qingkong summoned a team of Rat Men and was busy moving rocks.
Xiao Mengluo stared at Libertas and said coldly, "Is your ability useful or not?"
"It can't be wrong!"
Libertas held a white card in his hand and glanced at it.
There was a line of small black words on the card.
"Start digging from the fifth fork. You will find a friend you haven't seen in a long time."
Libertas tilted his head and thought for a few seconds, then slapped his forehead and said, "I know!"
"What?" Hua Qingkong asked.
"He must be dead and buried in this tunnel. That's why he didn't react when he heard such a loud noise! We can find his body! "Libertas said.
There was silence all around.
Xiao Mengluo and Hua Qingkong stared at him.
If looks could kill, Libertas would have been killed countless times.
Suddenly, a voice sounded from the depths of the darkness.
"Why are you all here?"
Liu Ping walked out from the depths of the tunnel and appeared in front of the three of them.
He looked at his three friends and saw the labels "LV 12 Archer", "LV 9 Assassin", and "LV 15 Spirit Summoner" appear above their heads.
— — -They've all improved very quickly.
I'm only LV 4 now. Seems like I have to catch up to them.
The three of them were stunned.
Xiao Mengluo rushed forward and jumped into Liu Ping's arms.
Hua Qingkong heaved a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Libertas puffed out his chest and said proudly, "How is it? I told you, we'll definitely find him."
…
"So you've always had a special ability that allows you to get a suggestion card every 12 hours?"
Liu Ping held Libertas' card in his hand and asked with interest.
Libertas said, "Yes, this was originally my trump card. If not for finding you, I wouldn't have revealed it."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Liu Ping," Hua Qingkong said with a serious expression, "I'm sorry, my spirit was controlling my body at that time, so I couldn't stay and fight with you."
"It's fine, your spirit made the right choice. We weren't a match for that monster at all." Liu Ping comforted her.
"It's not like that. When it comes to fighting, I can't let any other entity make decisions for me — — not even a spirit." Hua Qingkong said seriously.
She opened her hand and let Liu Ping see a torn card in her hand.
"This is a Spirit Medium Card. I've already destroyed it, so I won't summon that spirit again from now on."
Liu Ping looked deeply at Hua Qingkong, "I've never blamed you, and I definitely won't blame you in the future."
In fact, this was how a Combatant should do things.
— — -If a summoned creature can make decisions for a Professionist, then what would a Professionist be?
A puppet?
"That's good then." Hua Qingkong smiled.
Liu Ping then looked at Xiao Mengluo.
Her eyes were red, her face haggard. Ever since she saw Liu Ping, her gaze never left him.
"Why are you all here?" Liu Ping asked.
Libertas glanced at Xiao Mengluo and sighed: "She couldn't find you, and I joined the Assassin Guild, so I often received some news and knew that you all appeared in Cold Hammer Town."
"Your teacher went back to the imperial city. I went to ask him and heard that you'll be reporting to the Naturalist Society." Xiao Mengluo said.
"But you didn't have to make a special trip here." Liu Ping said.
"You still don't know what happened." Xiao Mengluo said with a serious expression: "His Majesty the Emperor ordered to kill all people who explore the Ceylon Kingdom, and Libertas said that you all arrived at Cold Hammer Town, which is the closest to the Ceylon Kingdom. I knew that the situation was not good, so I had to come here personally."
Hua Qingkong interrupted: "Liu Ping, now you and I are both wanted."
Liu Ping looked at Libertas, then at Xiao Mengluo, and felt a little touched.
"The situation is already so bad?" he said softly.
"Actually, it's not completely so. After all, on the surface, we're just the Empire's energy exploration personnel. The order to arrest us says that we're too close to the Ceylon Kingdom." Hua Qingkong said.
"They don't know our real identity." Liu Ping said.
"Yes." Hua Qingkong said.
She took out a brand new identity card and handed it to Liu Ping.
Liu Ping took a look and said in surprise: "Border sentinel, Li Chaoyuan?"
"You and I both have special backup identities." Hua Qingkong continued, "Two days later, the commander-in-chief will inspect the border. At that time, we will return to his side as the soldiers' representatives and report this incident."
"Why don't you contact the war sequence directly?" Liu Ping asked.
The three of them looked at each other, and deep worry appeared on their faces.
Hua Qingkong broke the silence, "The war sequence no longer responds to any calls and has entered a state of complete isolation."
Liu Ping said: "Then the Empire —"
Libertas sighed, "Many things in the Empire are starting to be handled by humans."
"The church is developing very quickly. His Majesty the Emperor openly supports all kinds of religions, and —"
"He abolished the Naturalist Guild, and all groups related to the Naturalist Guild were disbanded."
Liu Ping listened quietly.
The Naturalist Guild members were people who explored the unknown world. It was a cornerstone to help the sequence learn all kinds of new knowledge and obtain information to become stronger.
Now, the Naturalist Guild was completely disbanded.
This was troublesome.