Survival for All: I can deconstruct projections and synthesize everything.

Lin Xiao's figure moved swiftly and nimbly through the misty forest, appearing and disappearing repeatedly.

With the ability to use Instant Step, Lin Xiao no longer needs to travel normally.

Each time Lin Xiao disappeared and reappeared, he would always appear 33 meters away from where he had just appeared.

The instant step skill, which has no cooldown, allows Lin Xiao to move freely through the misty forest.

However, after using Shunpo a lot, Lin Xiao still discovered a weakness that Shunpo had, which wasn't really a weakness.

Each time you use Instant Step, there is a brief moment of stiffness after your body appears. This time is very short, about 0.1 seconds.

This 0.1-second pause might be a weakness in the eyes of an expert, but in the current beginner stage, it can be almost completely ignored.

Suddenly, Lin Xiao's figure, which had been flashing continuously in the misty forest, stopped.

Then, with a quick turn, he reached the top of a nearby tree and hid himself.

One second, two seconds, a minute passed, and nothing happened on the ground.

But Lin Xiao didn't dare to be careless at all, and kept his figure hidden in the buds at the top of the tree.

After waiting another minute, a figure slowly emerged from the forest ahead of Lin Xiao's original destination.

The figure looked somewhat ethereal, carrying a long lantern on its back, on which two words were faintly visible.

Lin Xiao stared wide-eyed, trying to see the words written on the lantern, but as the figure arrived, a thick fog also enveloped them.

This made it impossible for Lin Xiao to see the words written on the lantern, but he could still vaguely make out the figure in the mist.

"Who is this? A survivor?"

But Lin Xiao quickly dismissed the idea; a simple survivor wouldn't pose a significant threat to him.

The figure that appeared with the mist walked slowly, and the warning signals on Lin Xiao's cockroach-skin coat had already been raised to the highest level.

Lin Xiao had a feeling that this illusory figure was even more terrifying than the hundreds-of-meters-long figure that surrounded his safe house last night.

Then, something terrifying happened to Lin Xiao.

The illusory figure stopped walking, and the thick fog instantly engulfed the area, making it impossible to see anything in front of one's face.

At that moment, Lin Xiao heard a voice: "Sir, since you are here, please show yourself!"

Instantly, Lin Xiao felt a chill run down his spine; the voice seemed to be speaking right next to his ear.

But Lin Xiao knew that the source of the sound was the illusory figure below.

Because of the fog, Lin Xiao could clearly see that the figure raised its head and looked at the place where Lin Xiao was hiding.

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Xiao instantly arrived on the ground.

Only then did he see what the two characters on the lantern carried by the illusory figure were.

"Spiritual intelligence?"

Looking at those two words, Lin Xiao muttered to himself, while pondering, "Could it be... a native of the Misty World? And a merchant at that?"

[Special Event: Congratulations! You have encountered a native of the Misty World, the Soul Merchant, who is waiting for your transaction.]

"What would you like, sir?"

At such close range, Lin Xiao did not see the spiritual merchant's lips move, but his voice still rang out abruptly in his ears.

As soon as the spiritual merchant finished speaking, a phantom interface appeared in front of Lin Xiao; it was popped up by the Mist System.

It was the Spirit Merchant's trading interface. Lin Xiao looked at it and found that there were only five items on it.

The first item was a pair of boots, for which the Fog System provided a brief description.

[Phantom Boots: Tier 1. When worn, each step leaves a phantom image in place, confusing enemies and making them unaware of your true location, while also attracting them.]

The second item looks like a compass used by a feng shui master.

[Five Elements Positioning Compass, Tier 3. This compass can be used for divination and to locate the enemy's position. After locating the enemy, the compass will randomly select one of the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) to attack the enemy.]

The third thing looks like an eyeball.

[Spirit Control Eye, Tier 3: Can control mist creatures of Tier 3 and below. The stronger the user, the shorter the control time, with a minimum of 5 seconds.]

The fourth item is a skill book.

[Clone Bomb, Tier 2: Can create a clone that inherits certain attributes from the original body and can activate the bomb carried within the clone.]

The fifth item was a scroll.

[Talent Level Up Scroll, Unknown Rank]

"!"

"Talent Rank Upgrade Scroll?"

Lin Xiao turned his gaze to the fifth item. He hadn't expected to find something that could improve his talent level so quickly.

Not only this scroll, but also the equipment, skill books, and their descriptions all looked incredibly tempting.

But... Lin Xiao glanced at the transaction requirements, and his mood immediately plummeted.

All five items must be traded using Source Crystals; even the first-tier Phantom Boots cost five hundred Source Crystals.

The scroll for enhancing talents of unknown rank was priced at a staggering 10,000 source crystals.

"They're ripping people off!"

"And it's the second day now, and I still haven't found any trace of the Source Crystal..."

Lin Xiaochou scratched her head in frustration, and in the end, could only look at these things and sigh in despair.

"Oh, Yuanjing, where are you?!"

Seeing that the person in front of him had not made a transaction for a long time and had not taken any action, the Soul-Driven Merchant simply closed the transaction interface.

But he didn't leave. Instead, he took out a flyer and stuffed it into Lin Xiao's hand.

Then, a thick fog enveloped them, and at the same time, a strange wind arose, making it impossible for Lin Xiao to open his eyes.

Three seconds later, the strange wind, the mist, and the spiritual energy all vanished.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao had no choice but to pick up the flyer and read it.

[Summoning Soul-Exorcising Merchant: After igniting this item, the corresponding Soul-Exorcising Merchant will appear before you within three minutes.]

Lin Xiao's eyes lit up when he saw this introduction.

"So, if I reach the required number of Source Crystals, I can summon this Soul-Driving Merchant again to continue the transaction?"

After learning about it, Lin Xiao solemnly put the flyer into his backpack.

"I wonder what level of spiritual intelligence combat power that person was just now; it was probably at least level three..."

Lin Xiao was still somewhat shaken by the oppressive force of the spiritual merchant she had just encountered.

"It's time to go... For survival, we need to go deeper. Yuanjing... where are you?"

Lin Xiao muttered to himself as he used Instant Step again, traversing the Misty Forest and leaving his previous location.