Eryx finally turned his attention to the third item—a round vial filled with a dark shimmering liquid.
"It must be an extraordinary item as well, right?"
Eryx's heart was beating fast due to excitement. Just two items alone were worth 70,000 Energy Points. He could not help but hope that this item would be worth at least 30,000 Energy Points. That way, the total would be a hundred thousand energy points.
How much could he improve with so many energy points?
He could not help but wonder in amazement.
With a trembling hand, Eryx reached out and touched the third item.
⟪A Drop of Storm Lion's Blood Essence: 25,000 Energy Points⟫
Eryx: "..."
He stood still for a moment, staring at the words floating before his eyes.
His heart pounded even harder now. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. This single vial, this small, dark liquid, was worth 25,000 energy points. That meant he had just about 95,000 energy points in total from these three items.
The same as the other two items, he was completely unaware of this item's true value and usage.
However, the lack of information about items didn't affect him at all. His excitement grew as his thoughts raced.
What could he do with that many energy points?
How much stronger could he become?
He could push his cultivation to new levels, maybe even break through several stages in one go. The possibilities seemed endless, and the thrill of it all made his hands tremble.
For a moment, Eryx felt overwhelmed. He never imagined he would find such treasures after spending a few days here. His excitement was so intense that he could hardly think straight. He stood there, grinning widely. He was unable to contain the surge of joy rushing through him.
The most shocking part was that the dark shimmering liquid in the vial was only a single drop of Storm Lion's Blood Essence. Yet, this single drop alone was worth 25,000 Energy Points. What if there were more drops of Blood Essence?
Just the thought of this made Eryx tremble in excitement.
He wanted nothing more than to extract energy points from all three items. He could hardly control his desire. Nevertheless, he still somehow managed to keep his excitement in control.
Taking a deep breath, he closed the box and placed it in his storage bag. He then carefully scanned the entire room, leaving only after he was certain there was nothing else worth taking.
Exiting the chamber, Eryx took a few seconds to calm his excited heart. Then he walked to the second chamber on the left side of the corridor.
The wooden door of this chamber was similar to the first chamber. Eryx didn't waste his time. He directly extracted the energy from the runes and pushed open the door, only for it to crumble.
This time, however, he obtained 600 Energy Points. Obviously, the reserve energy supporting the runes on the second wooden door was slightly higher than the first one.
He entered the second enthusiasm, only to shudder as the cold wind brushed past his body. He stopped in his tracks and looked at what was in this chamber. It was a giant statue of a lion. The statue seemed to be made of mud, but it was lifelike.
Eryx could feel an eerie aura coming from the statue. It wasn't just a regular statue, something about it felt strange and unsettling. The air around the lion felt heavy and sharp. The room was silent, but it felt like the statue was watching him.
There was nothing else inside this chamber other than the lion's statue.
Eryx felt the chill in the air grow stronger second by second. His heart raced, and a part of him wanted to leave. He felt danger, an intense sense of danger coming from the statue. He instinctively took a step back, but before he could do anything else, a loud roar echoed through the chamber.
"Roar!"
To his horror, the mud statue began to move. Eryx froze in shock as he watched the lifelike statue actually coming to life. It transformed into a real lion. Its eyes gleamed with a fierce light, and its massive body felt like it was filled with deadly power.
The lion growled at Eryx. It opened its mouth wide, as if it was ready to swallow him whole.
Before Eryx could react, the lion pounced, coming at him with terrifying speed.
Eryx felt paralyzed by fear.
Truth be told, although he fought against several demonic beasts in the past few days, he never felt a sense of dread. He always had the confidence to kill the beasts.
But this time, it was different. He felt like a tiny ant in front of this mud lion. He felt an actual sense of death, and this deathly sensation caused him to freeze on the spot. His body refused to move. He wanted to run, to escape this place, but his legs were not responding. His heart raced as the lion closed in, and he could feel the cold grip of panic tightening around him.
At the very last second, Eryx forced himself to move. With sheer willpower, he broke free from the paralysis and threw himself to the ground in a desperate roll. He barely dodged the lion's deadly attack, but it wasn't enough. He failed to escape the lion. The lion's paw suddenly slammed down on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Urgh!" Eryx groaned in pain. The force behind that slam almost crushed him. It felt like his insides were being torn apart. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his vision blurred from the pain.
The force behind the lion's leg was immense, and Eryx struggled to breathe. In that second, every inch of his body screamed in agony.
He instinctively grabbed the lion's feet, wanting to push it away. However, the moment he grabbed the lion's leg, a translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
⟪A Strand of Storm Lion's Will: 10,000 Energy Points⟫
What?
Eryx was surprised and then overjoyed. But he had no time to show excitement. The lion was about to tear him apart.
Without hesitation, he immediately chose to extract the energy.
The mud lion stopped moving all of a second. The power and energy it showed just now seemed to have vanished in that second. It transformed back into a mud statue, but this time, there was no sense of life in it. It felt like a real statue made of mud.
Eryx pushed hard and actually shattered the statue's leg pressing his chest. Finally, he managed to escape.
"Huff!" "Huff!"
"That was dangerous!"
Eryx gasped for breath. If not for the system, he might have died here. Fortunately, the system could extract energy from anything. The mud lion was obviously not a real lion. The strength it erupted with earlier was enough to easily kill even Golden Core Realm warriors, and that terrifying strength belonged to only a strand of Storm Lion's will. And this strand of Storm Lion's Will was moving the statue.
If the lion was real and alive, then Eryx would never have been able to absorb energy from it before killing it.
A red light suddenly glowed in the mud lion's eyes.
Eryx was stunned when he saw this. He thought the lion's matter had been dealt with, but obviously, that was not true.
This time, however, he felt no danger. Even so, his first reaction was to retreat.
Before he could react, the mud lion's eyes shot two beams of light that intersected midair and joined, becoming one.
Just like that, the beam of light entered Eryx's forehead.
Suddenly, his surroundings darkened.
Eryx found himself standing on a high cliff. The giant lion stood tall on the cliff's edge in front of him. Its massive body was covered in sleek silver-gray fur, which shimmered faintly as the wind swept through it.
Its deep blue mane crackled with arcs of electricity, flowing like storm clouds as the wind whipped around it. The mane seemed to pulse with energy, reflecting the power of the storm within the beast. Its eyes were glowing with an intense stormy light. Eryx felt as if this lion's eyes were like twin lightning bolts, ready to strike.
"Roar!"
The lion roared loudly. Its roar reverberated in every direction.
The sky darkened instantly. Dark clouds gathered and chaos started within them as red and blue bolts of lightning rumbled dangerously. A storm seemed to be taking shape in the sky. A strong wind was born.
And then, lightning descended from the sky in the valley below.
Eryx was unable to see what happened next. He only witnessed silver lightning flickering and covering the lion's body, and the next second, it dashed forward. Its speed was terrifying. In an instant, it had already disappeared from Eryx's sight, leaving behind traces of lightning that burned the place where the majestic lion once stood.
Obviously, this lion was the Storm Lion.
This was the first time Eryx had witnessed something like this. He was still in deep shock when his surroundings changed. He found himself back in the second chamber, with many new pieces of information in his mind.