Chapter 229: Top-Tier Gift Pack

At dawn the next day, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, melting the frost on the ground.

Chen Xuan was already awake, packing dry rations and various weapons into his storage soul guide. Over the past few days, he had asked Qian Renxue to have more weapons forged—kunai, short swords, daggers—since his previous stock had long been depleted.

The chilly autumn morning air nipped at him as he stood outside, even under the warm sunlight. The temperature was dropping fast.

"Ah Xuan, be careful on your journey. I won't be going with you," Jiangzhu came to see him off, explaining that family matters required her to return home. Her parents were worried after more than ten days away.

"Did someone summon you back?" Chen Xuan frowned, thinking of that fiancé her family had arranged.

Jiangzhu nodded slightly but quickly waved her hands, assuring him that she could handle it herself. With a smile, she said, "Ah Xuan, trust me. I can take care of it. You go ahead without worrying."

"No way. This isn't child's play, and I don't trust those people," Chen Xuan replied firmly.

"Really, you don't need to trouble yourself," Jiangzhu insisted, not wanting to delay his journey.

Chen Xuan hesitated. He needed to head to the Star Luo Empire, but Jiangzhu's safety was equally important.

"Here's the plan: I'll leave a shadow clone to escort you home. Once everything is settled, return to Qian Renxue's palace."

He formed hand seals, creating two shadow clones infused with ninety percent of his soul power and a portion of natural energy to sustain them for a long time. Instantly, he felt his immense strength drain away, leaving him weak and unsteady.

"Now I'm at ease," Chen Xuan said, sitting down and exhaling deeply. His legs almost gave out from the sudden loss of power.

Jiangzhu held him up, her eyes filled with concern but also warmth. She was deeply moved by how much he cared for her.

"Brother! How could you leave without me?" Soon, Qian Renxue and Chen Yiyi arrived. Yiyi, thrilled at the chance to leave the palace, was beaming with joy.

But Chen Xuan crushed her excitement with a resolute tone. "You're too reckless. I'll only feel at ease if you stay with the Crown Prince. Stay put in the palace."

Yiyi's cheerful face immediately fell into a pout. "No! I want to go with you! The palace is so boring!" She clung to his arm, shaking it vigorously, begging to leave with him.

Yet Chen Xuan remained firm. Only by staying with Qian Renxue would she be truly safe.

"Enough, Yiyi. Stay with me and focus on your training," Qian Renxue said, pulling the pouting girl back.

Jiangzhu also comforted her, promising to take her out for fun someday. Chen Xuan reassured her that after returning from the Star Luo Empire, he'd take her on a world tour. That finally calmed Yiyi down.

"Brother, you better keep your promise, or I'll ruin all your romances!" Yiyi threatened playfully, baring her little white teeth.

Chen Xuan's mouth twitched, but he let it slide.

"I'll leave a clone with you. Its illusion abilities might come in handy," he told Qian Renxue, who nodded. She did need illusion-based soul masters to control certain members of the royal family.

"Alright, I'm off," Chen Xuan said, activating the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport away from the palace as Yiyi and Jiangzhu waved goodbye.

After leaving the palace, Chen Xuan boarded a luxurious carriage pulled by two swift black horses, galloping out of Heaven Dou City an hour ahead of schedule.

The carriage bumped along the rural roads towards the Star Luo Empire's border.

"Ugh, I need to recover my soul power quickly," Chen Xuan muttered, bouncing around inside the carriage like a ball, his backside already sore from the ride. If he hadn't drained most of his soul power for the clones, he wouldn't have had to endure this.

"Wait, I almost forgot! I still have two upgrade gift packs I haven't opened yet!" He suddenly remembered the rewards he had received upon reaching levels sixty and seventy, which had been gathering dust in his system's storage.

As he began meditating to recover his soul power, he summoned the system interface, preparing to open the gift packs in hopes of obtaining something useful.

These so-called "gift packs" were actually bundles of smaller rewards. Reaching Soul Emperor had earned him six mini-packs, and advancing to Soul Sage added seven more.

"Ding! Two standard gift packs detected. Would you like to fuse them?" A mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

"Fuse? What's that?" Chen Xuan blinked in confusion as a glowing blue screen appeared before him with a large red confirmation button.

"Ding! Please make a selection soon!" the system urged, enlarging the confirmation button as if eager for him to press it.

Chen Xuan rubbed his eyes. Had the system become smarter after his recent ordeal? It felt less robotic than before.

He didn't rush to confirm but asked what benefits fusion would bring. Would it yield better items?

"Ding! Fusion of standard packs can create higher-tier packs: Advanced, Top-Tier, and even Divine."

The system explained that one hundred standard mini-packs could be fused into a Divine Gift Pack, ten into a Top-Tier Pack, and five into an Advanced Pack.

"Are you kidding me? Why not ask for a thousand while you're at it?" Chen Xuan rolled his eyes. He had only earned thirteen mini-packs from breaking through two levels—where was he supposed to get a hundred? Did they expect him to become a God-King?

"A hundred packs? You might as well rob me!" he grumbled.

The system fell silent for a long moment, as if seriously considering his complaint. After a few minutes, it responded.

"Ding! As this is the host's first time using the fusion function, all requirements are now halved."

The screen changed instantly. A Top-Tier Pack now required only five mini-packs, and an Advanced Pack required just two.

"Wait, seriously? It actually reduced the requirements?" Chen Xuan was skeptical. Since when was this system so accommodating?

But he had to admit, he needed this feature. Previous rewards had often been underwhelming—gold coins, ordinary soul bones, a silver short sword, and a mediocre sword manual.

"Might as well give it a shot. Let's see what a fused pack can offer," he thought, pressing the confirmation button.

The gift packs in his system storage vanished, merging into thirteen streams of light that combined into one golden gift pack and four red ones.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, you've received one Top-Tier Gift Pack and four Advanced Gift Packs. Open them now?" the system prompted.

Without hesitation, Chen Xuan opened the gleaming Top-Tier Pack.

A beam of golden light shot out, settling onto the blue interface, displaying the item's details.

"...Ah!" Chen Xuan's eyes widened in disbelief.

A single blade of grass.

"Are you kidding me? I spent five gift packs on this?!" Chen Xuan felt like his world had collapsed. He stared blankly at the screen, utterly speechless.

"You've got to be joking! A blade of grass?! This is your so-called Top-Tier Gift Pack?!"

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