Looking at the Mutated Dark Energy Crystal in his hand, Shi Feng immediately pulled a Direct Subordinate Guard Summoning Scroll from his inventory and began chanting.
The Mutated Dark Energy Crystal was essentially a special form of dark power. Its primary function was to help the user better control dark energy. For players aligned with the dark factions, absorbing a Mutated Dark Energy Crystal could enhance their constitution and life force while also boosting the potency of their dark powers — somewhat similar to a bloodline, though far less effective. Still, it was an incredibly rare and valuable item.
Shi Feng hadn't expected that randomly killing a single Mutated Dark Venom Scorpion would drop something like this.
If players from the dark factions found out, they'd be driven mad with envy.
In his previous life, countless dark-faction players had ventured into the Dark World specifically to obtain Mutated Energy Crystals, yet the number who actually managed to get their hands on one could be counted on a single hand.
However, Shi Feng wasn't a dark-faction player, which greatly diminished the crystal's value to him.
But the Mutated Dark Energy Crystal had another use — one that was widely considered the least practical option by everyone in the Divine Realm. He could have his Direct Subordinate Guard absorb the crystal's power, giving the guard a small chance to awaken and obtain the power of the mutated energy. The probability was incredibly low, not even 10%. But if given to a dark-faction player, the enhancement was guaranteed at 100%.
And any player who obtained a Mutated Energy Crystal would never waste it on a Direct Subordinate Guard.
Of course, there had been a few exceptions in his previous life — players who obtained a crystal but couldn't use it themselves and didn't want to trade with dark-faction players, so they gave it to their guards instead. One of them had succeeded, catapulting a Gold-grade guard to mastery of fire power. That guard's combat strength skyrocketed, eventually advancing all the way to a fifth-tier class.
Generally, in the Divine Realm, only Dark Gold-grade guards had any chance of advancing to the fifth tier. For a Gold-grade guard to reach that level — the difficulty went without saying. And once advanced to the fifth tier, the guard's combat power was every bit on par with those Dark Gold-grade guards.
At the time, it had caused a massive stir throughout the Divine Realm. People agreed that trading one Mutated Energy Crystal for a fifth-tier Direct Subordinate Guard was an incredible deal. Many players who absorbed Mutated Energy Crystals couldn't necessarily advance to the fifth tier themselves, and a fifth-tier guard was far more powerful than a fifth-tier player — though once killed, they couldn't be resurrected as easily. Still, with that level of combat power, even superpowers would take notice and afford the owner tremendous importance.
Now, the Mutated Dark Energy Crystal was completely useless to Shi Feng. He might as well let his guard try.
As Shi Feng finished the incantation, a summoning magic circle appeared before him, and in the next instant, a breathtaking figure materialized — Anna, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.
Anna's level had already reached 80. Her leveling speed was absurdly fast — it had to be said that having an Epic-grade Direct Subordinate Guard handle high-level quests made everything incredibly easy and efficient, and leveling up became much simpler as a result. Her strength had increased considerably as well; even a level-80 third-tier Blood Blade Demon likely wouldn't stand a chance against her.
However, in the Dark World, the moment Anna appeared, a powerful force of the world pressed down upon her, causing her base stats to plummet. In terms of actual combat strength, she was now far inferior to a third-tier Blood Blade Demon.
Shi Feng wasted no time. He handed the Mutated Dark Energy Crystal directly to Anna, and her beautiful eyes lit up immediately, a trace of excitement in her expression — she was clearly very interested in the crystal.
Without needing Shi Feng to do anything, Anna began inscribing divine runes and chanting incantations on her own.
When it came to utilizing energy crystals, NPCs were far superior to players. Nearly any type of mutated energy crystal could be utilized by NPCs, unlike players, who couldn't absorb all varieties — it depended on their faction and lineage.
In an instant, a massive golden magic circle formed beneath Anna's feet.
One layer… two layers… three layers…
The appearance of the magic circle was so brilliant that it nearly turned the pitch-black surroundings into daylight.