Chapter 25

Could it be that such a long time was actually all within my own consciousness? But this is quite normal; people from the original world didn't say that consciousness operates at the speed of light? Perhaps I just got caught in that kind of situation...

So, does this mean that the time when my energy surged and the bone blade transformed into a strange arm armor was just an instant? I rushed forward and struck the divine shadow, and then the state disappeared, and Ban and Baker didn't see anything?

Jiran was increasingly bewildered by what had happened to him.

"I don't know... at the time, a surge of blood rushed to my head, and I was dazed. I just knew I had to take down that divine avatar. I don't know what happened after that."

Jiran couldn't explain this, so he could only fudge it. After all, this world is so wondrous, with both martial arts and magic, so a sudden burst of human potential is a reasonable thing, right?

"Such things have happened before. Bronze warriors suddenly burst with power comparable to Silver warriors, but it only lasts for an instant. If they don't kill the enemy after the burst, they are usually at the mercy of the opponent. Even if they survive, it takes at least a year or half to recover. I must say, Jiran, you were lucky." Uncle Lai turned his head and gave Jiran a meaningful look.

Jiran knew that his explanation was hard to justify, at most it would just prevent others from finding any loopholes. It was unlikely they would believe it outright. But he also had his own bitter feelings. After all, he didn't even understand the changes in his body, so how could he explain them to others?

Moreover, this involved his greatest secret, the two game systems. He could reveal a little about his cooking and forging skills to increase his importance, but the game systems were something he would have to keep to himself for the rest of his life.

Since he really did pass out, Lai and the others couldn't completely disbelieve him, at most they were half-skeptical.

However, Lai and the others weren't fools. They naturally knew that Jiran had been a mystery from the moment he appeared. But everyone has their own privacy; could they force him to reveal it?

After all, until now, Jiran had shown no ill will towards them and had even saved their lives. If he wanted to hide something, let him hide it.

"Oh, so you didn't know either! You were so cool at the time, you took down that divine avatar directly! But that guy did retaliate at the end, otherwise, you wouldn't have been so badly injured. By the way, have some beef jerky to help your injuries heal faster!" Baker didn't think much about Jiran's explanation.

Lydia had already handed over the beef jerky and was feeding Jiran. Although Jiran could move a little, he still had very little strength and had to accept Lydia's care... He could only give Lydia an apologetic smile.

"Oh... right, I remember... someone tackled me at the end and saved me... was it you, Baker?"

"Ha ha ha, it was me. I didn't expect that guy's final attack to be so strong. But my injuries are much lighter than yours. Look, I can move now!" Baker's face changed slightly when he heard Jiran's words, but he quickly returned to normal and laughed.

However, Jiran sensed that something was off.

"What are you hiding from me? Uncle Lai, what's going on?" He didn't press Baker but instead turned to Uncle Lai for a breakthrough.

"...It was a curse." Indeed, Uncle Lai paused for a moment before revealing the truth.

"Uncle Lai! Don't tell Jiran these things. It's just a minor injury, it will heal eventually. Look, Jiran saved all our lives, and now he's injured like this. Shouldn't we take good care of him?" Baker interrupted Lai, trying to shift the topic back to Jiran.

"Baker, covering it up won't solve the problem. Do you think Jiran will be fooled by this? It's better to be honest and get it over with." Erin glanced at Baker.

Baker and Ban exchanged looks, then sighed and handed the uncooked meat skewer to Ban. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you. The last energy ball was actually a curse, a curse from the divine avatar. It's not very powerful, it just locked my source of martial arts energy..."

"Source of martial arts energy?" Jiran's eyes widened. In the time he had spent with everyone, he had learned about martial arts energy and the term "source of martial arts energy." According to his understanding, it was like the "dantian" in ancient internal martial arts, a place to store and generate martial arts energy. To improve, a warrior had to continuously train the source of martial arts energy to produce more energy, and when the quantity changed, it would lead to a qualitative change, which meant advancing to the next level...

If the source of martial arts energy was locked... wouldn't that mean there was no hope for advancement in the future?

Jiran stared intently at Baker, making him feel uncomfortable.

"The divine avatar's curse is quite strong. I've tried, and I can't increase my martial arts energy anymore. But it's okay, I can still use my current energy, at least enough to get out of this forest. Once we're outside, we can find a priest from the Holy Light Church, and they should be able to remove it. It's not a big problem!" Baker still laughed.

Jiran wanted to believe him, but seeing Lai's serious expression, he felt that things weren't that simple. But he couldn't ask Lai about it now; if the result was bad, it would be too much of a blow to Baker.

"You saved me, and you took the curse for me. Baker, don't worry, I'll take responsibility for the curse." Jiran had nothing else to say, just a warm feeling in his chest.

"Hey, who asked you to take responsibility? My future belongs to curvaceous, alluring beauties! You should focus on your studies. If you have the ability, go and reach the Gold stage, or even become a Sword Saint. That way, even if I stay at level three, I can still live a life of luxury, ha ha ha..." Baker gave Jiran a disdainful look and started daydreaming about the future.

Jiran knew Baker was joking, but he didn't know what to say. After a while, he could only sigh.

"Lydia, give me some more beef jerky to help me recover faster." He decided that since he couldn't do anything now, he would wait until he could do something to solve Baker's problem... Maybe he should ask Uncle Lai about it later.

But with everyone around, it wasn't a good time to ask Uncle Lai, so he would have to wait for an opportunity.

This was the first time since Jiran met everyone that he didn't cook. Of course, everyone was experienced adventurers, and their grilling skills were quite good. Influenced by Jiran, they all liked to slice the meat and add some wild seasonings like cumin and chili, which tasted quite good.

In a sense, this was the only dish Lai and Erin learned from Jiran... After all, Chinese cuisine is vast and profound, and even the dexterous elves couldn't learn it in a short time.

After eating and drinking, everyone gathered around the campfire to rest. Each person had eaten a certain amount of beef jerky, as everyone was injured.

"This was my fault, I was too impulsive. I shouldn't have taken you to that valley, which led to such great losses. Fortunately, everyone returned safely, otherwise, I wouldn't know how to atone for it." After a moment of silence, Uncle Lai suddenly spoke.

"Talking about this now is meaningless, Lai. Even if you hadn't taken us there, we couldn't guarantee we wouldn't encounter them in future adventures. If the divine avatar fully descends, we might not be so lucky. You don't need to blame yourself, and even if you do, it won't help."

Erin bluntly threw these words at Lai, though harsh, they were not without reason. Baker immediately chimed in.

"Exactly! Even though we're injured, we have beef jerky! This time, we got a lot of stuff from those divine cultists, and it's worth the effort!"

Indeed, this time, they had looted a lot from the divine cultists.

The divine cult's own magical artifacts were of no use to Lai and the others and couldn't be sold to other adventurers. However, they could be given to the Holy Light Church in exchange for holy water and other items. The divine cult, though a heretical religion, had some commonalities with the Holy Light Church. After being processed by the Holy Light Church, the artifacts could still be useful and help in studying the divine cult.

The divine cultists didn't just carry magical artifacts; they also had a considerable amount of equipment and weapons... and even two magical pouches!

Clearly, most of these items were taken from dead adventurers, and they even had two magical pouches. Unfortunately, there were no spatial items, which seemed to be hard to obtain even for a level five priest...

Actually, a level five priest wasn't poor; he had four or five magical artifacts. But these artifacts were mostly for enhancing divine spells, with no defensive ones. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so easily cut in two by Jiran.

One of the magical pouches belonged to the level five priest and was a higher-end item, capable of holding more than Uncle Lai's. Unfortunately, it contained items used by the divine cult, which were of little use to them. But the other one was different; it belonged to another adventuring team used for storing materials!

Moreover, the divine cult didn't just kill one adventuring team; the other teams were just poorer and didn't have magical pouches. So, this magical pouch contained the loot of two or three adventuring teams!

In a sense, they did make a profit... if you didn't count the curse on Baker.