Seeing Mingyue's troubled expression, everyone cautiously drew closer, like mice encountering a cat.
"I shouldn't have hesitated and felt fear when facing a powerful opponent, leading to my teammate getting injured," Jinxi said bashfully, nestled in Wen Qingtian's arms. Seeing Ji Shiyou injured while saving her, she felt immense self-blame.
"It's not your fault. It's all my fault. My ability level is the highest. When facing a strong opponent, I should have charged forward first. Instead, I let Jinxi face the mutated frog. In terms of personnel deployment, I also didn't do well enough, putting Bu Zhi and Tian Shang in danger. It's all my fault," Ji Shiyou, the vice-captain, took all the blame, his face red as he spoke.
"Brother Ji, don't say that. It was Tian Shang and I who held everyone back. Our ability levels are low, and we will train harder. We've let everyone down," Bu Zhi and Tian Shang hurriedly apologized to everyone when they saw Ji Shiyou taking all the responsibility.
"Enough. I asked you to summarize your mistakes, not to perform a 'loving family' act here. If you still haven't realized where the mistakes were made this time, then survival will be difficult in the future. What's the use of high aspirations if you can't even survive? You are all emphasizing the opponent's strength and your insufficient ability levels, even disliking your own abilities for not being suitable for combat. That is the biggest mistake. The abilities I used to kill the mutated frog earlier were all below level three. I asked you to watch closely then, but did you learn nothing?" Mingyue became even more exasperated after listening to everyone's accounts, realizing her earnest efforts were in vain.
"I'm saying that abilities should be used flexibly, not rigidly. Just like Mingyue earlier, she used her not-so-strong water ability to melt the ice spear. She utilized the property of ice dissolving in water, which not only kept her safe but was also the most effective and energy-saving method. Therefore, we must master the characteristics of our abilities to achieve victory in battles," Wen Qingtian, seeing Mingyue truly angry, quickly offered his insights. Bu Zhi nodded repeatedly. How had he never thought of this? He could also generate water spheres of that scale. He was a water ability user, always thinking his attack power was low, so he didn't dare to act, especially after seeing the frog's strength.
Drawing parallels, Tian Shang also recognized her mistake. Her wood ability usage was monotonous, always just entangling opponents. She had never considered hardening her vines to pierce the opponent's weak points. It seemed she needed to explore more variations in the future.
"Wen Qingtian is absolutely right. Every ability is a force of nature; there's no inherent superiority or inferiority. As long as it's applied correctly, it can produce unexpected results. There are no useless abilities, only incompetent people. This is the secret of power. Also, remember this: no matter how terrifying the enemy, you must not panic. Calmly analyze their weaknesses, and then you can achieve cross-level kills even if they are higher ranked." Seeing understanding on everyone's faces, Mingyue shared her combat experience from the Great Desolation and her understanding of power.
"What are you thinking about? Is there anything you don't understand?" Seeing Ji Shiyou holding his injured arm, a thoughtful expression on his face, Mingyue walked over. Green light emanated from her hand, and the cold poison on Ji Shiyou's arm was immediately dispelled, his flesh visibly regenerating.
"I'm wondering, how could your steel needles kill the frog when flying daggers couldn't even pierce its skin?" Ji Shiyou said, flexing his recovered arm, still puzzled.
"It's simple. The frog's skin is tough and covered in mucus. Flying daggers require too large a contact area; they would just slide off before piercing. Steel needles, on the other hand, have a small point of impact, almost negligible, making it easy to penetrate the skin. Then, by using abilities to gather them or change their shape, like into blades, you could kill the frog," Mingyue's explanation enlightened Ji Shiyou. He rushed to the frog's corpse and experimented repeatedly. Indeed, as Mingyue had said, the effect was significant, and the entire frog was easily dismembered.
"Huh? What's this? A crystal core? Mutated animals also have crystal cores now." A flash of light emerged from the frog's flesh, discovered by Ji Shiyou. He picked it up, and it turned out to be a level six water-attribute crystal core. He immediately called everyone over to see. Looking at the crystal core emitting a soft white glow, they exchanged glances, then tacitly dispersed and rushed towards the corpses of the mutated insects. They weren't wrong; the mutated insects also had crystal cores within them. However, their levels were mostly low, one or two, with only a few reaching level three. For instance, the mutated mantis Ji Shiyou had killed yielded a level three metal-attribute crystal core from its body. Although the crystal cores were of low grade, everyone dug them up with enthusiasm. Even a mosquito is meat, after all. Moreover, there were many of them; the ground was littered with tens of thousands of mutated insect corpses.
After two hours of busy work, carrying a large haul of crystal cores, they moved to a new campsite. The previous location was a mess after digging for crystal cores and was too disgusting to stay in any longer. They rekindled the fire, this time to roast frog legs. Ji Shiyou detached the two hind legs of the mutated frog and brought them over. One was placed on the fire to roast, and the other was given to Mingyue to store in her spatial dimension. The plump frog legs, after the skin was removed, were roasted until slightly charred. Smothered with Ji Shiyou's secret sauce and sprinkled with sesame, cumin, and chili powder, the dripping fat onto the flames released an intoxicating aroma. The bite was tender and juicy, with a spicy and slightly sweet flavor flooding their mouths, instantly satisfying their ravenous appetites.
"Bu Zhi, this is for you. Absorb it." After the feast, Mingyue handed the level six water-attribute crystal core, extracted from the mutated frog, to Bu Zhi. She then kept the level three crystal cores and stored the rest in her spatial dimension for everyone to take and cultivate. Their ability levels were such that crystal cores below level three had no effect on their cultivation, so Mingyue kept them. They had already learned on the road that crystal cores had become a form of currency, so they would be useful in the future.
After a night of cultivation, Bu Zhi successfully absorbed the crystal core and directly advanced to level five water ability, also gaining ice ability, though only at level three. Now, Ji Shiyou had metal and strength abilities, Ji was spirit and fire, and Bu Zhi had water and ice, making him the third dual-attribute ability user in their team. Although they hadn't slept, the energy replenishment from the crystal cores left them feeling no fatigue; instead, they were energetic.
When dawn broke, Ji Shiyou made a pot of meat porridge with the leftover frog meat from yesterday. After sharing it, they set off for Jiangcheng. The journey of half a day was remarkably peaceful, with no zombies or mutated animals and insects encountered.
"Something's wrong. It's too quiet. There must be something strange!" Mingyue suddenly stopped everyone, halting their advance, her brow furrowed.